Spring of 2005 I received the news that I got accepted into a summer program to study abroad in Paris for 2 months. I would be able to finish the French part of my studies in Paris, what?! I was beyond excited. My scholarship covered tuition and housing. The one thing I needed to figure out was how I was going to pay to get to Paris, and be in Paris for that time. Before leaving, I had four weeks to work and save as much money as possible to make this opportunity happen. I looked at bartending jobs, working as a server, retail, but I wasn't landing the "right" thing. I was talking to a friend I went to high school with, and she began telling me about this crazy internship she had done last summer where she made $12,000 selling educational books door to door. I immediately thought it was a scam and that she was lying about the money she made. She was a close friend, so I felt comfortable sharing my thoughts with her. She laughed and showed me her check and pictures of her experience. I did some googling on the company, and man the reviews out there were brutal. I shared them with my friend, and she introduced me to other people that had sold books as well. Some had just finished their first summer, others had done it 3+ summers. It made me feel more comfortable about the idea. My gears started turning. How in the world can I get accepted and convince them I can do this 12 week program for 4 weeks. My friend connected me with a recruiter for the program and after several interviews, I got in. I was excited and mostly nervous. I ended up selling books for four weeks that first summer, made $4,000 and was able to have an amazing experience in Paris and travel around France and Italy before returning to Miami for my sophomore year at UM.

The company is called Southwestern Advantage. I ended up selling books for 5 summers, it was a life changing experience. Aside from parenting, it has been the most rewarding yet challenging thing I've done. So where did I spend my summers selling books you may ask? First summer Huntersville North Carolina, second South Charleston South Carolina, third Newark Ohio, fourth Chattanooga Tennessee, and fifth summer Charleston West Virginia.

Before heading out to where we would be selling for the summer, all students go to Southwestern's headquarters in Nashville, TN to train. It's called Sales School. It is intense. We train for 14+ hrs a day during the course of 7 days. There, they taught us everything needed to be successful. How to do the sales pitch, how to answer objections, how to map out the area to be worked, how to prospect and be efficient with time, how to keep inventory, accounting, do deliveries of the books, essentially how to run a mini business. During the 12 weeks, every summer I spoke with about 2,000 families. I really got to be very intimate with these communities. It was a trip! The goal was to show the books (do a demo) to 30 families a day, sit down and do the "full pitch" to 20 families a day, and when those numbers were met, on average I got about 7 customers a day. So if you do the math, I dealt with a lot of rejection. Every, single, day, for 12 weeks a summer. 

Every summer I worked about 80 hrs a week. My biggest check was $37,062.95 (that was my last summer and the most fun I had). I was able to self fund a lot of fun traveling because of this crazy internship. Beyond the cash, there were many valuable lessons and skills learned in those 5 summers. I was able to land great jobs out of college, manage, and share sales trainings with top level execs at big companies. I’m really thankful for the sales training and invaluable IRL communications skills I learned in those five summers. I also got to see and experience the whole spectrum of humanity. I met some of the nicest people I’ve ever encountered who cooked me dinners, cheered me up with pep talks, and gave me hugs when I really needed them. I also met some of the meanest people. What left a big mark is that the majority of people are good at heart, and want to do good. Looking back, I'm glad I got to see it all. 

I left this experience with a sense that I could really speak to anyone, with confidence. Getting a no, is no big deal. I'm thankful for that perspective. I also learned that you can really have fun doing anything. How much fun I have, is really up to me. I can't control people and situations, but I can control how I react to them. I also learned the power of commitment and showing up. Putting one foot in front of the other, doing the thing I promised I would do (even when I wanted to quit so many times) was really rewarding. When the day or week couldn't get worse, but I just kept going, things magically would work out.

I made some amazing friendships too. The coolest part is that whenever I meet a person that also sold books, there is an instant bond. Selling books is an experience that is hard to put into words, writing about it has been challenging. I also have the craziest stories from the book field, the type that sound like "I walked to school in the snow uphill both ways" lol, but mainly funny ones too. If you're ever interested to hear them, ask me! I'm happy to share. 

I would love to know if you’ve ever heard of this crazy summer internship before. If you ever sold books or had someone stop by your house. Please share your stories with me. I love hearing about book stories. What’s a crazy thing you’ve done that has had a big impact on how you approach and live life? I want to know! If you want to continue the conversation, send me a note @valgtaylor.

Thank you for reading! 

With love,

~From Val