Was in Arizona all Week

Returned last night.

It was my company’s annual Manager’s Conference, held this year in Scottsdale, AZ.

It was a week learning and laughing.

My colleagues are genuinely hilarious; I jackknife-laughed at least 100 times.

But I barely documented any of it.

These photos are it.

No one can see me documenting my outfit right now, right?…

For the first time ever, I travelled without my computer.

It felt freeing, loved it, will do it again.

It was an intense week, and now my mind is mush. Opened my laptop to blog and…

I completely forgot the password to my laptop.

Sat like this in a total blank. It went on for an hour. Eventually I had to dig out the sticky-note-backup from its hiding spot.

After I hit Publish, the rest of today will be spent on the couch sitting quietly, in jogging pants doing nothing. Absorbing.

Guys I’m an “executive” now, woah.

Here’s to a strong start to your week!

xo Keri

 

 

About the First 2 Weeks of my New Job

Short answer – I LOVE it. The pace, the people, the company is very good to us, and just the nature of it – fix the dent, the end.

Remember I was excited for a world that’s not social media based? Is it EVER the opposite; these people barely touch their phones let alone laptops, haven’t seen anyone take a selfie.

It’s truly like the ad says – 9-5 & no weekends.  So this is what life balance feels like… To be honest though, I’m still a bit, “so… when’s the afternoon couch-&-Netflix break?”

Look, real outfits!  Had to sort that out.

Below is a paint booth.

All this preparation for one little dent!  When I learned this my breath sucked in, “and we charge HOW much? I want to raise the prices.”

Better join now before I figure out how to.

Dent removal tools are colourful.

As of last Wednesday- got my first new client, and made my first sale!

Went to Halifax for a week.

Screwed up pretty good on both Mondays so far…

1 – my very first day, my boss is waiting to pick me up at the press car company, and while filling up with gas I locked the keys in the car… the only set of keys, plus my phone, laptop, wallet, the works. Ya

2 -second Monday I land in Halifax for the week, out to dinner and… got food poisoning. Phone my boss Tuesday morning, “hi hi, I realize you just invested a bunch to ship me here and people are waiting but…”

Remember the 4 Core Values of Dent Wizard I said I liked?

Saw a more detailed diagram hanging in the body shop.

Can you eat alone?

In sales, you have to.

Every night by 9pm I’m in bed.

I’m just vibrating “ok whaaaat just happened… here is a car and a new email; oh I’m in Halifax now; I have a team to manage okaaaay; the marketplace is saturated but no problem right, it’s totally achievable; better be because I’m in charge of a _lot_ of revenue oh boy; woah I’m a commuter now…”

Game ON.

:)

 

 

Got a Job – I’m the OSM of Dent Wizard

I’m the new Ontario Sales Manager for Dent Wizard Canada, North America’s largest PDR company. All because of my blog.

OSM – Ontario Sales Manager

PDR – Paintless Dent Removal

My new area of expertise will be dents guys, DENTS!

2015 could NOT have ended on a better note. Remember I gave myself 4 months from quitting the paper, to finding new revenue? Skin of my teeth – made it by 1 week.

It all happened very fast. Remember I blogged “I need a job” on December 8? Shortly after it took off, and from initial contact to hiring was fast, 1 business week.

December 18 was the official hire date. January 4 was my start date.

What is the job description?

Maintaining existing accounts, prospecting for new ones, and keeping the team of 20 technicians busy and happy.

Specifically, I’m about to become an expert is these services.

Basically – keeping a car beautiful.

I work here – at Manheim.

I just walked deeper into the belly of the auto industry.

Because ready…

15,000! It’s one of North America’s largest auction houses.

What does the job pay?

Turns out dents is a $2 billion a year business I KNOW?! So it pays amazing (you don’t think I’d get this pumped about $50k eh.)

It’s a big salary plus commission, on a zero-baseline product, plus benefits, cell phone, and plus A CAR.

kk I’ll state a goal… in 18 months, bet I can crack 6 figures.

Why are Dents so Great?

There’s many reasons!

– it’s straight-forward business – there’s a dent, now it’s fixed, take payment, the end

– there’s no Tweeting about the dent! No – how many Facebook shares did my dent get?

– it’s a low-impact-karma job like, what’s the opposite of arms and drug trafficking? Dents.

– I am not involved with an auto-manufacturer – meaning, I can continue to test and review cars totally unbiased, that’s proper journalist ethics

Speaking of ethics, below are Dent Wizard’s 4 Pillars of Operation.

When I found this during my research, the bottom right quadrant is what made me really want the job.

“Integrity” – when was the last time you saw that? Exactly.

Ironically, my 1st task was… writing 300 words.

And done from the front seat of my car, ha. Learning to file from anywhere pays off in the weirdest ways.

What Will happen to KeriBlog?

It will get even better!

– the pressure is gone to make it make money, blogging will be fun again

– you think I’m lippy now? Mwahaha

– it’s a 9-5 and no-weekends job, so the blog can continue during those hours. Plus, I have about 20 cars backlogged here to blog… that I’m drowning in car content is perfect

– in a backwards way, I bet this job is exactly what the blog needed, and its traffic will take off in 2016

– I can now apply my invention – the Cashless Blogging System

– I’ll have money now, I can invest in KeriBlog.   A few months after I get my finances stabilized I’ll hire someone to renovate my blog.  Doesn’t a new theme sound nice, a new hosting company, something properly optimized for mobile…. that is now possible

I know eh, how I got so lucky I don’t know.

Here we go guys! Thanks for always cheering me on.

xo Keri

 

 

The 7 Best Words of 2015

The words were spoken by my boss on December 22, during the confirmation meeting at my new job.

This double rainbow actually happened on the drive home from the meeting.

“You’re here because of your blog, Keri.”

As in – I turned a blog into a real pay cheque.

Hence the “YA I did” camera angle.

Maybe the extra good luck came from having one of my favourite cars of 2015 for a second week…

… a 2016 Cadillac ATS.

Maybe, but probably more because hard work and the high road pays off.

 

 

In Shock since Dec 18 – Got a Job, Start Monday

Since then it’s been a lot of pacing, and sitting quietly like above, daydreaming. Somehow the world’s best-suited job just fell on my LinkedIn.

Remember when I gave myself 4 months, from quitting the paper to finding new revenue? Skin of my teeth, I was in the final week when I shook hands… and it’s like a real job guys, physical real business, and the pay is amazing.

KeriBlog can continue reviewing cars with journalist integrity, because it’s not an auto-manufactuerer… ready?…

Dents. I’m now in the dent business guys!

How it works: a car has a dent > my company removes it > accept payment > the end

Awesomely there is no social media anything,
I do NOT have to Tweet about the dent.

I work in a building that has a parking lot filled with… 15,000 cars!

Here we go deeper into the belly of the auto industry…

I have a giant post drafted about the job, but am having trouble focusing these days… from initial contact to landing the job was fast, and in 10 days I flipped my life upside down. That’s why my blog has been dark, sorry.

I start on Monday, the job requires a lot of driving OKAY, comes with a car OKAY AGAIN, I’m now “business casual” those are new clothes in the photos!, and not sure how I got so lucky guys, but 2016 just got real exciting.

xo Keri