My Career Goals Essay – It Began at St. Cecilia HS

Most of us did not start thinking about what we want to achieve in a career path, until we reached our senior year of high school. We probably had childhood dreams of being in some sort of service profession, but nothing became a concrete goal until college was on the horizon.

My Career Goals Essay

When I was in 7th grade I took a family vacation to northern Italy, in the Tuscany area to a town called Pietrasanta. This was where my mother was born and had married my father during World War II. It was my first time on a jet airliner and I thought it was extremely cool!

Despite the flight delays from JFK International Airport in New York to London and then on to Pisa, Italy, plus the rough air turbulence on the way back home, I knew then that I wanted to be a pilot when I got older. This held true all the way through my senior year of high school.

I am the youngest of four siblings. My two oldest sisters went to public school, graduating from Teaneck High School. However my youngest sister Barbara and I were sent to Catholic school, starting at St. Anastasia in Teaneck and then on to St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, NJ.

Unlike public school, St. Cecilia was a four-year high school, grades 9 through 12. Once I began grade 10 I started taking classes that would benefit me in becoming a pilot. Algebra, Geometry, Advanced Math, and Physics, all subjects I didn’t quite excel in but were needed to be a pilot.

My Goals Were Changing

It was my goal to either join the Air Force or go through the civilian course at what is now known as Vaughn College of Aeronautics in NY. Long story short, my goal of becoming a pilot ended and I wound up taking a nighttime photography course at NY Institute of Photography.

During the day I worked for my father’s vending machine company and did some freelance photography work when I had time on the weekends. My career goals were in a constant state of change. Then in 1984 my father retired and signed over his business to me.

Even though this was not what I had envisioned as my career, it was a great learning experience for me. Not many 21 going on 22 year old young adults can claim that they run their own company. It was during this time that the foundation of my entrepreneurial spirit was born.

Somewhere around 1986 my oldest sister got caught up in Amway, a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company and had recruited me into it. Though this did tap into my desire to start my own business, I didn’t like the concept that much and there didn’t seem to be much flexibility.

Work Should Be Fun

I have always believed in being in a career that is fun and not a job you do just to collect a paycheck. Being a pilot would have been a fun job, at least for me at that time. Being a freelance photographer would have been fun too, but I was still searching for what was right for me.

For one year in 1987 I worked retail in entertainment software

Near the start of 1987 I closed down the vending machine business, selling what we owned to another local vending machine company. I learned a lot about business and management in the three years as owner, but I had my sights on getting into video game software.

I started working for Software City. This is where I reconnected with Daniel Kitchen, another alumnus from St. Cecilia, when he came in to make a purchase. Along with his older brother Garry and others, they were the Activision East Coast Design Center in Glen Rock, NJ.

After reconnecting, Dan and I used to visit local video arcades to play all of the then popular games like Space Invaders, Zaxxon, Missile Command, and many others. Dan told me that he and his brother were going to start their own video game company and asked if I wanted in.

I Found My Unexpected Career

The reason why I started working retail at Software City was that I recognized how popular video games were becoming. I wanted to be associated with them in some way, but after Dan’s job offer I was now switching from an outsider to someone who helped develop the games.

Talk about a fun and really cool type of job. This new company, Imagineering, Inc. was the developer name and Absolute Entertainment, Inc. was the publisher name. Imagineering developed games for other companies and Absolute published our own titles.

That’s me 4th from left in the back behind the female employees of Absolute Entertainment, Inc.

In early 1988 I started out as their lone video game tester working on Atari 2600 and 7800 games as well as Commodore 64 computer software. Then in mid 1988 I started working on games for the 8-bit NES, Nintendo Entertainment System. The companies were growing fast!

More people needed to be hired and I went from lone tester to Lead Tester then eventually to a Quality Assurance Manager of an entire department. I went on to work for a few other video game companies and continued to rise into a Producer and Designer. I LOVED my career.

Change Is Inevitable

Most people do not stay with the same career for their entire life. In my case I was becoming burnt out and I needed a change. After 12 years developing games I tapped into my past career achievements and entrepreneurial spirit to start a work from home online side hustle.

At the start of the 21st Century the internet was mainstream, the majority of the world was now connected. Companies like Amazon and eBay were booming and ordinary people could now make money online from practically anywhere in the world that has internet access.

Though I was still very much in love with my video game development career, I knew half way through my 25 years in the industry that I needed to start a new career path. Being able to make money online can coexist with a 9 to 5 job, especially during its growing phase.

Starting any kind of business whether it be offline or online will take lots of time and effort, this is why I started while still in the video game industry. I started selling on eBay in 2000, found my niche of products and became an eBay Power Seller by 2006 and Top Rated by 2008.

Part of my career goals essay was to become successful selling on eBay

When Career Change is Unforeseen

The financial crisis that occurred in 2007 into 2008 temporarily killed my career in the video game industry. I struggled from 2009 to 2011 when the game company I was working for drastically downsized and moved to the other side of the country where it eventually died out.

Fortunately I had my still going strong eBay business. Even though my sales took a 30% drop, I was still doing pretty good and I started to diversify to make up for the loss in sales. In 2012 and through the first half of 2013, I landed my last big hurrah in the video game industry.

Another unforeseen career change was coming but it was not what I expected. Now that the economy was limping back I wanted to take my eBay business and create my own e-commerce website, bypassing all of the eBay and PayPal fees. I needed my own website.

Though I did not know how to program a website I was willing to learn. Much to my surprise I found a way to personally build a website WITHOUT having to program it. This of course is when I was introduced to Wealthy Affiliate and their exclusive easy website builder program.

The Birth of a New Career

I joined Wealthy Affiliate as one of their Free Starter Members in August of 2013 and was able to take the first 10 of 50 lessons and build two WordPress websites, that I did not have to program myself. What were the 10 free lessons I received at Wealthy Affiliate? See below image.

10 Free Lessons in Wealthy Affiliate Training – Get Your FREE Access Now!

When I tell people about Wealthy Affiliate many seem to at first think it is some sort of money making program based on its name. Though its name can sound a bit misleading, Wealthy Affiliate or WA for short, is really nothing more than a complete learning and building experience.

As a member you are provided with all the training, tools and resources you could possibly need to build an online business in any chosen niche, from the ground up. Even though their core training focuses on Affiliate Marketing, it can be applied in any other form of internet marketing.

After taking the first 10 lessons and being able to learn so much and see how easy it was, less than four minutes to build a website, I had to become a Premium Member to see where this new potential career change would lead. After all it was only going to cost me $49.00 per month!

A Small Investment for a Huge Return

As mentioned above, I became a Free Starter Member of WA to learn what they had to offer so I could build my own e-commerce website. After my experience trying to make money with Amway all those years ago, I was a little shy about making money in Affiliate Marketing.

My fears were put to rest once I learned why Affiliate Marketing is better than Multi-Level Marketing. There is a BIG difference and in Affiliate Marketing it is easier to make money because you are not actually selling, plus you do not get involved with the actual sale.

How Successful Is Affiliate Marketing? Check Out These Stats!

That may seem strange and it did for me too at first, but in a nutshell as an affiliate you get paid a passive commission for recommending someone else’s products. Unlike with most MLMs, you are marketing products people have heard of and are actually looking for.

Learning all of this was 100% Free! No credit card or experience is required to start. The remainder of the training and resources helps you to put everything together and grow your business. This will only cost $49.00 per month and there are NO upsells. It’s amazing!

My Career Goals Essay Continues

Just like with my 25 year career in the video game industry I have embarked on another fun career that is not only rewarding but also has longevity. More and more people are purchasing multiple types of products online and this is huge for the Affiliate Marketer.

The concept of Affiliate Marketing is so simple and inexpensive to start and operate. Thanks to the easy to follow Wealthy Affiliate Training and website building, I have yet to build my e-commerce website which I originally came here for. I LOVE making money in this way!

This is by far the best way to make money online that I have found. It does take some time, effort and patience on your part to get it going. Then it takes more time, at least a year, before you start seeing some consistent flow of income. Hard work will always pay off in the end.

There will always be a lot of online scams that promise you big earnings, easy income and “done for you” systems that make you earn money on autopilot. Do not fall for that easy-money making hype. When you hear and read stuff like that, I can guarantee you it is a scam.

Being able to earn passive income with an Online Affiliate Marketing business is how many are and will be doing so for the foreseeable future. Affiliate Marketing is a global industry. In 2019 it reached $12 BILLION in sales and 81% of major retail brands rely on Affiliate Programs. Get in while the getting is GOOD!

Do you want a real fun and easy way to start your own internet business? Take the time and small investment to learn the proper way. Join me today for free. I will help you get started plus help you along the way. If you have any questions now, leave them below and I will reply back.