I told this story to my daughter the other day, she never knew this about me and she thought it was the coolest thing ever, so I thought I’d share here.
I was your typical 20 year old high school drop out loser. I was working a minimum wage job, living in a derelict trailer on my parents property, and I drove a beat up '76 Toyota Corolla. I didn’t have much going for me, but the one thing I did have, was an optimistic disposition.
It was new years eve, 1998. Me and my girlfriend got a hotel room in downtown Seattle so that we can bring in the new year in the city. After midnight, when the party was dying down, we were in our room listening to the radio. For whatever reason I thought it was a good idea to call the radio station and ask if I could come an hang out. Obviously, the DJ gave me a hard pass. Then, my girlfriend called and asked the same, this time he agreed. So around 2AM we got in the car and headed up to the studio. Security asked what we were doing, we explained and he rang the DJ. After a few minutes, the elevator door opens up and out he comes. Then my girlfriend asked, “do you mind if my boyfriend comes too”? He hesitated, but reluctantly agreed.
As we entered studio, I see a beat up couch with a hand written sign saying “Kurt Cobain slept here” and band posters plastered to the walls. It smelled like piss, doc martens and flannel. I was home!
We hung out with the DJ for a couple of hours. He let us answer the phones and showed us how everything worked. It was one the most memorable moments in my life. As we left, I asked him, how can I work here? I’d be happy to just be a janitor there. He said, swing by during business hours and fill out an application. So 3 days later I did.
As I turned in my application, I noticed an endless stream of kids doing the same. Turns out, every 6 months they hire a “street team” to work promotions and events and they were about to hire a new team. So I hand in my application which ends up on a stack a mile high.
A few days later, I got a call from the hiring manager asking if I can come in for an interview. Hell yes I can! The interview went ok. And I went on my way. As I left the studio, I see several other kids waiting to be interviewed.
Now, I was not the coolest kid on the block, in fact, I’m quite the opposite. I was not popular, I had but a few friends, I had no fashion sense at all, I was poor and came from a modest upbringing. I was a joke, a nobody. Knowing this, I thought, what can I do to stand out, to show them that I can be somebody?
A few days after the interview and nothing. So I pick up the phone and I called the station and was able to get the hiring managers number. I called him directly, asked him if they filled all the positions yet and reaffirmed my interest in the role. He said they were still interviewing and had about 200 in total. So I asked when will they be done and I’ll check back then. Another week goes by and I hear nothing, so I call again. They have narrowed down their choices, and I was still in the running. I reaffirmed my interest in the role and said I’ll check back later. Well, they didn’t give me the chance to check back, they called 2 days later to not only to offer me a spot on the 8 person street team, but to work full time in the office!
Me, a high school drop out, a joke, a nobody, beat out 200 other kids and landed a role of a lifetime!
And the craziest thing is, within 2 weeks I went from working a minimum wage job a clothing store to a crazy night hanging out with a DJ at my favorite radio station to working at said station full time.
And that’s the story of how I met Elliot Smith.
Opportunities are made, not found. If you’re waiting for something to come along to grab on to, you’re going to be waiting forever. You need to make opportunities for yourself, find what you want and go get.
