A little Southgate experience:
Well, this is Maya, and I haven’t written a weblog in quite a while, so I’ve decided today would be the day that I would give the world a little update.
I have been in the "working world" since I was 16 years old. I started out working in an animal hospital in Las Vegas, and then worked for a bank for about 2 years. In that whole time, I have never worked a complete summer as a full-time employee, let alone in a retail environment. I have to say, these past few months that I have worked here at Southgate Coins have been quite an eye-opening experience.
When I first came to the store in March, I had absolutely no experience in the coin world. Everything was new to me – older coins, greysheets, cardboard flips, website maintenance, you name it! I was in this entirely foreign world of valuable coins and currency, and I had no idea where to begin or what I was going to be in for as a Southgate employee. I learned about our inventory and our tools that we use on a daily basis, and I learned that through everything that goes on in our little store, we are like a little family.
Rusty, of course, would have to be the head of the family. His expertise in his field and his extensive knowledge of all things coin-related make him our own little guru here at the store. He always makes a point to give us lessons in history when questions come up about our products, and is never more than a door-knock away if we any help.
Marie would definitely have to be the "mother" of this family. She always provides for the children in the store (Amy and I), and makes a point to take care of anything that needs to be done. She always teaches us better ways to do our jobs, and makes sure that when we do well we are rewarded (sometimes with food!). She always takes care of Rusty if he needs anything, and together they certainly make the best guidance team we could have as employees.
Amy would definitely have to be the “big sister” here at the store. She is always there when I need to know where something "ives" in our store, and she always is the one I go to first if I have any questions on what I’m doing that day. She keeps me in line and is always willing to teach me something new. She definitely is the epitome of a "team player," and always is willing to go out on a limb to help out the store. We all certainly appreciate her thoughtfulness when it comes to her job.
Me, on the other hand... I am the baby here at Southgate. I had to be taught from scratch. I’d like to think that in the 5 months I have been working here, a whole world of opportunity has landed on my doorstep. To a young college student who didn’t know any better, a job at a coin shop might seem like just another way to pay the bills. For me though, once I got here I realized that it is all so interesting and complicated, and, at once, I wanted to immerse myself in it. Knowledge became an addiction to me, and man, I was in the right place to feed that addiction. There is so much here to learn and so much that the rest of American youth has no idea about.
Even though the summer break is coming to an end, and I will no longer be pulling the full-time hours here at the store, I know that I have learned more in one summer than I have in any class I have taken. I will have to go back to my part-time schedule to accommodate college life, but I can definitely state that this little family has grown on me. I plan on working here for quite some time, and I know that in that time there will be no end to the things that Rusty and Marie can teach me. Everything from all the different types of coins to how to run a small business successfully. It’s all right here, all in one place. Amy and I are two of the luckiest college students to happen upon a job like this one, that’s for sure.
Hope you all have enjoyed this little insight into what it’s like here at Southgate Coins. We love it here, and we know you must too, especially if you’re reading this.
-Maya