Always Adapting: Life Working With a Small Business Owner

While Temple University and other professional experience has done so much in shaping me into the man I am today, I am extremely grateful for the insight I have gained throughout my internship. Owning a small business has always been a goal of mine, however I lacked necessary experience. Working at Craze for Rayz Tanning Salon alongside my lovely mentor, Rita, has shown me that owning a small business means that you must be able to change course in the blink of an eye. The story of this salon is pure inspiration being that Rita opened her doors in 2008 during the heat of the recession. This salon has weathered an economic collapse, housing crash, and a global pandemic yet still financially performs 14 years later. This is because Rita has always made the necessary moves in order to keep the doors open. Whether that is learning how to do all maintenance in house, in house laundry services, or even creating a merchandise case she has made it happen. She has never given up, and that is the spirit that drives so many small businesses in this country.

I look to take that same spirit, and eventually open up my own small time car dealership. This has been a dream of mine since I was a young man being that cars are my life. Being able to learn how low overhead and self taught skills can be the difference between staying open and closing the doors has helped me set my sights on success. I truly believe that when I look back in 10 years, I will credit my experience working alongside Rita to a lot of the success that I will find in my post graduate life.