I got my first job when I was 15 years old. I worked at a hair salon after school a few days a week—sweeping hair, washing towels, cleaning floors, taking out the trash, and locking up at night. My older sister was a hairdresser there and made the connection. My dad, who taught me a lot about work ethic, would drop me off after school and pick me up at the end of the night.

Looking back, it was one of the most important experiences I’ve ever had.

What sticks with me most isn’t the job itself, it’s what I learned about work and how to be around adults outside of my family and school. It was the first time I really had to take direction from a boss and make sure I was busy the entire time I was there. No one was standing over me telling me what to do every minute. It was on me to find the work and to do it well.

On nights I wasn’t there, someone else did my job. I needed to be the best one, and I needed others to know I was the best. So I’d do things that weren’t asked of me. I’d be thoughtful about the customer experience. I’d wait to vacuum until customers were gone. I’d clean areas no one told me to clean. I’d look for anything that needed to be done and just take care of it.

And people noticed.

That’s something I learned really early and have seen play out over and over again since—your work speaks for you. You don’t have to tell people how hard you’re working. If you show up and give your best every day, someone will see it. And that will often lead to your next opportunity.

For me, that one job at the salon turned into many. The owner kept giving me more work. Weekend projects and big summer projects too. All different kinds of jobs I never would have expected to do, cutting down trees, painting a pool, resurfacing a parking lot, even doing electrical work. And each one built on the last. That idea—that you never know what something will lead to—has stayed with me my entire career.

I think a lot of people underestimate what you get out of a first job. Many of those jobs are rooted in customer service, and what that really means is you’re learning how to interact with people. You’re learning how to talk to adults who aren’t your family or teachers, how to be respectful, how to handle situations that are uncomfortable, and how to think on your feet.

There’s no real way to teach that in a classroom. You’ve got to experience it. You’ve got to be in situations where you don’t quite know what to do and figure it out. I remember being nervous just to ask for help when something broke or I didn’t know where something was or what I should be doing next. But you’ve got to learn to get comfortable asking questions, working with people, and taking initiative in those moments.

Those are skills that carry over into everything—your career, your relationships, your life.

And then there’s that first paycheck. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s not just about having your own money, although that part is pretty great. It’s the realization that your work has value. That connection is powerful, especially when it happens early.

If you’re starting your first job right now, everything you’re learning matters. Even the things that feel small. Even the things you don’t enjoy. You’ll use them later, sometimes in ways you don’t expect. Keep your eyes open, stay engaged, and don’t sit idle. If you’ve got nothing to do, ask what else you can help with. That alone will set you apart and make the time go by faster.

For employers, there’s a responsibility that comes with hiring someone into their first job. You’re not just filling a role—you’re shaping how someone understands work for the rest of their life. That’s a big deal. The expectations you set, the example you provide, the way you support them—it all sticks.

And if you give young people the chance, they’ll rise to it. They want to succeed. They just need the opportunity and the environment to learn.

When I think about Indianapolis, I think about what it would look like if every young person had access to that kind of first job experience—one where they could learn how to show up, how to work with others, how to interact with people, and how to take pride in what they do. Those early opportunities set the baseline for everything that comes after.

That’s why this work matters so much to us at EmployIndy. First jobs are where people begin to understand what’s possible for themselves. It’s where effort connects to opportunity. And when that connection happens early, it can change the trajectory of someone’s life.

If you’re an employer, I encourage you to step in and be part of this. Give a young person that first opportunity. It matters more than you think.

And if you have a young person in your life, help them find that first job. Encourage them to take it seriously. It can change everything.

It’s why Project Indy exists—to make those connections easier. To help young people find that first opportunity, and to help employers be part of something that has a much bigger impact than just filling a position.

Because a first job isn’t just a job.

It’s the starting point and the foundation for everything that comes next.