Successful people make it look easy, but most had to work hard to get to the top of their fields, often starting out waiting tables, scooping ice cream or working construction jobs.
The recent Twitter hashtags #firstsevenjobs and #first7jobs prompted some of the world’s most famous (and a lot of not-so-famous) people to share how they got their starts in the world of work.
Buzz Aldrin, the Apollo astronaut who was one of the first people to walk on the moon, first washed dishes at an ice cream shop in New Jersey.
My first job as dish washer was at Bonds Ice Cream in Upper Montclair, NJ for $.35 cents/hour. https://t.co/cGRVpaHvZm
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) August 9, 2016
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the hip-hop Broadway musical on the life of Alexander Hamilton, started out making slushy frozen fruit drinks at his aunt’s store using a “Slushee” machine.
#first7jobs
Slushee machine at my aunt's store
Intern for WNET
McD's…register
Data entry
Drawing 1 model
Community paper writer
Teacher— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) August 7, 2016
Stephen Colbert, the host of the TV show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the CBS network, worked construction and cleared restaurant tables as a busboy.
#firstsevenjobs construction, bus boy, cafeteria server, library data entry, futon frame maker, futon salesman, waiter
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) August 7, 2016
Debra Sterling, who launched GoldieBlox, which creates toys to get girls interested in engineering and technology, worked first as a coffee-shop barista.
Barista
Sales associate
Receptionist
Camp counselor
Brand strategist
Marketing Director
Founder/CEO#firstsevenjobs— Debra Sterling (@debbieblox) August 7, 2016
Mira Sorvino, the Academy Award–winning American actress, started out watching other people’s children as a babysitter and teaching English in China.
#firstsevenjobs
Babysitter
ESL teacher in Beijing
Copy editor
Waitress
Script reader
Bartender
Chinese tutor— Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) August 7, 2016
