这些年轻的商界精英的第一份工作是什么？答案出乎意料

在乔伊·茨维林格创建14亿美元的鞋履初创企业Allbirds很久之前，他是塔霍湖滑雪度假村的电梯操作员。他回忆道：“这是我的第一份工作，也是最差的一份工作。他们给我的器具并不防水，而且当时正值雨季，我浑身湿淋淋的，还得应对一直排队等待、怒气冲冲的父母和孩子。”

谷歌Chrome浏览器的工程高级总监帕里萨·塔布里兹曾经是当地泳池的救生员。他说：“我从漂流河中救起了一只快要淹死的雏鸟，还得清理优惠区洒在地上的墨西哥玉米片奶酪。”

智能家用健身设备制造商Peloton的联合创始人汤姆·柯蒂斯曾经做过停车男仆。总统候选人皮特·布蒂吉格曾给人遛过狗。全美橄榄球联盟的橄榄球业务发展高级总监萨姆·拉波波特曾经在高尔夫球场工作过，为此，她在每天凌晨3点就得离开住所。但这些早期工作能够提供一些重要的阅历，而且这40位商界精英也认为，这些工作为其后来的成功奠定了基础。敬请继续阅读下文，了解多位上榜人士对其第一份工作的看法。

卡尔·亨德森，38岁

Slack联合创始人兼首席技术官

我曾经在当地一家酒吧工作，洗过盘子，上过菜。我们的客户就住在周边社区，他们基本每天都会过来吃午餐或下班后吃晚餐。我深刻地了解到，如果要为客户提供良好体验，不仅要有好的产品，也要有好的服务和客户关系。

凯特·格列佛，37岁

Wayfair全球人才总监

我的第一份工作是舀冰淇淋，当时还是个少年。（我最终成为了冰淇淋店的经理！）我学到了很多东西，包括客户满意度以及如何与同事共事，以及最终如何管理他们。

胡梅梅，36岁

联合神经科学公司联合创始人兼首席执行官

（我的第一份工作是）挨家挨户推销刀具。这分工作迫使我直面众多的恐惧，并让我学会了如何向陌生人推销，应对拒绝，并完成交易。

艾莉森·弗里登森，29岁

Modern Health联合创始人兼首席执行官

我的第一份工作涉及在岩石上用指甲油作画，然后游说周边的孩子们把它们当作宠物石买回家。是的，我在9岁就开始做推销了。不过，我意识到自己的总目标市场仅限于销售50美分的产品，而这些产品的制作却需要耗费我数个小时的时间。这也导致我开始了我的下一份工作——我的首个柠檬汽水站。这份工作真正让我的销售能力上了一个台阶，

蒂姆·布朗，38岁

Allbirds联合创始人

（我曾经是一个）擦窗户的清洁工，但并没有得到好评。当时我在设计公司擦窗户，而当时我对设计工作也是越来越感兴趣。我曾经试着和办公室里的人交流，但后来有人告诉我别说话，专心擦窗户。经此一事，我的感受是，要让每个人都有存在感。（财富中文网）

本文节选自《全球40位40岁以下商界精英》，该榜单涵盖了我们选出的年度最有影响力的商业年轻人士。

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林

Long before Joey Zwillinger founded his $1.4 billion shoe startup, Allbirds, he was a lift operator at a ski resort in Tahoe. “It was my first job and my worst job,” he recalls. “They gave me non-waterproof gear and it was the rainy season and I was soaked and dealing with angry parents and children, who’d been waiting in line.”

Parisa Tabriz, senior director of engineering for Google’s Chrome, was a lifeguard at a local pool: “I saved a baby bird from drowning in the lazy river, and I cleaned up nacho cheese spills from the concessions area.”

Turns out even the movers and shakers on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list had some ho-hum jobs when they were younger. Peloton cofounder Tom Cortese valet-parked cars. Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg walked dogs. Sam Rapoport, senior director of football development for the NFL, worked at a golf course—a job which required her to leave the house at 3 a.m. But those early jobs can offer some important takeaways and, as our 40 Under 40 honorees found, can pave the way for success down the road. Read on to see what several of them had to say about their first jobs.

Cal Henderson, 38

Cofounder & CTO, Slack

I worked in the local pub. I washed dishes, served food. Our customers were part of the community, they would come in almost every day for lunch or after work. I learned a lot about how service and relationships are as important as the product itself when you want to offer a good experience.

Kate Gulliver, 37

Global Head of Talent, Wayfair

My first job was scooping ice cream as a teenager. (I eventually became the manager!) I learned a lot about customer satisfaction and how to work with—and then ultimately manage—your peers.

Mei Mei Hu, 36

Cofounder & CEO, United Neuroscience

(My first job was) selling knives door to door. It made me face a lot of fears and learn how to pitch strangers, deal with rejection, and close a transaction.

Alyson Friedensohn, 29

Cofounder & CEO, Modern Health

My first job involved painting nail-polish on rocks and convincing kids in my neighborhood to buy them as pet rocks. Yes, I was hustling from the age of 9. I realized my total addressable market was limited by selling (for) 50 cents goods that took me hours to make. This led me to my next job, which really took me to the next level of selling—my first lemonade stand.

Tim Brown, 38

Cofounder, Allbirds

(I was a) window cleaner. It was pretty bad. I … was working in a design office—which was a subject area I was becoming interested in—and I was trying to talk to the people in the offices. Then I was told not to talk, just to clean the windows. What I took from that was the feeling of trying to not make anyone feel invisible.

This article is part of the 40 Under 40, our annual selection of the most influential young people in business. Click here to see the additional 2019 coverage of these disruptors, innovators, rebels, and artists.