I was an introvert before it was cool

The world isn't a place that can be easily divided into two groups. But, if it could, introverts and extroverts might be the way to do it. Almost everyone understands this distinction and very few people fit into both camps.

To put it simply, you're either in or you're out.

Whatever you call it, people generally understand whether they prefer to be around other people or by themselves. At least they do today. I would submit that this was not the case in 1992…certainly not for me.

I was just getting out of school and was full of that conquer-the-world attitude. This would be easy, I told myself. Oh, how little I knew.

While in college, I worked for the school newspaper. It wasn’t your typical school paper…we had a daily circulation of 30,000. We were essentially a small city paper serving mostly college students. I was in the Journalism School, but I didn’t write for the paper; I was in the advertising sequence, so I sold (and created) advertising that made the paper possible.

It was awesome.

This new computer called a Mac SE30 (you know, the little one with the built-in monitor) had carved out a corner of the business office and all of us budding creative types begrudgingly took turns — literally, by appointment — creating ads to sell.

Turns out we were supposed to sell the ad space first, then create the ad; but it was so much easier to create an ad especially for a local business, take it to the owner and tell them that 30,000 people can see this for $50. Cha-ching! This selling thing was great.

In retrospect, it wasn’t selling at all. But what did I know. Or care. We were making commission and having a blast (not to mention building our portfolios along the way).

After two and a half years of this, they made me leave. Put another way, I graduated.

I didn’t really want to, mind you — I was having too much fun. But they told me I had to go out into the real world. How bad could it be, I told myself (I really need to stop telling myself things). This is also when I accidentally invented the phrase ‘famous last words.’

And it gets better. Along with graduation, my fiancé and I had been waiting to get married until after I got out of school. There’s a distinct possibility that I didn’t think this through as much as I could have, but I graduated on June 12 and we were married on June 20. Of the same year. Yeah.

Needless to say, I was the only unemployed person on the cruise we took for our honeymoon. Do you know how many times people ask you what you do for a living when you’re unemployed? Well double that on a cruise ship.

When we got back, it was seriously time to get a job. Lucky for me, a local group of weekly newspapers was looking for an advertising sales rep. Perfect! This would be just like in school, right?

As you can probably guess, wrong.

I started out learning about the small businesses in my territory: a bank, a furniture store, a funeral home…eek. Then, I started creating ads for them.

“Whoa, hold on there, son,” my boss told me. I was not his son, but the message was quite clear — the newspaper group had a creative department, thankyouverymuch, and I wasn’t in it. I was in sales.

It was my job to pound the pavement. To meet new people. To uncover leads.

Wait, what?

I don’t want to do any of that! It makes me sort of sick to do that. And, perhaps most importantly, I suck at that. But that was the job and I needed one, so I gave it a shot. I might not be outgoing, but I’m no quitter.

So I called. And called. And called. If I didn’t love the face-to-face thing, I could just give people a call and do this whole thing all over the phone, right? This sales thing wouldn’t be so bad after all. I had a plan, I told myself (I really needed to stop talking to myself).

There I sat, in the office, on the phone. There may have been cell phones in 1993, but I sure didn’t have one. And I quickly learned an interesting thing about business owners: unless you’re a customer, they don’t want to talk to you on the phone — because they are busy running a business.

Still, I called. Of course, no one was answering (or calling me back) but I was calling. That would have to count for something, right?

Well, about three months of calling (and no sales) and my boss was calling me ‘son’ again. I don’t think he had any kids, because he didn’t appear to be using it as a term of endearment. But the message again was clear — sell some ad space or else.

I didn’t like the prospect of ‘or else,’ but I also didn’t like meeting new people or asking these new people to buy something from me. Especially something they can’t see. Back in school, I didn’t mind asking people if they wanted to pay for the ad I had created especially for them because I was proud of what I had made…and, typically, they liked it. I was helping them, not selling them.

Now, I was selling newspapers. Granted this was a time when newspapers were well regarded (no Internet yet) and our paper was especially so…it was the source people relied on for news in my area. Why couldn’t I sell that?

Because I would have to talk to people.

And, as they were showing me the door, it still didn’t dawn on me that this was the problem: I was scared to death of people.

But I was so lucky. After a brief stint at the local General Electric plant, where I learned a ton about man-made diamonds (ask me sometime, it’s cool) and authored an employee newsletter distributed on two continents (also cool), I was fortunate to land a position with the local Caterpillar dealership. You know, bulldozers!

Aside from it being the coolest place I have ever worked — need to get away from the office for a bit? Go hop on a tractor! — the company was also heavily committed to the training and development of its people. The owners routinely brought in what we now call thought leaders for training sessions and we all learned so much about each other and, most importantly, ourselves.

I finally learned that I’m an introvert and that this would be okay. I learned why I was scared to death of people and, to my great relief, that others felt this way too!

Then, I learned the most important thing I’ve ever learned in a business environment — if you discover what the person you’re dealing with needs and you can find a way to give it to them, you will win. It’s all about adaptability.

As it turns out, it’s a lot like the field I find myself in today, content marketing.

So, if I’m fortunate enough to meet you someday and I don’t exactly make eye contact the whole time, maybe you’ll understand why.

I’m still scared to death of people, but I’m working on it!