What Pizza Delivery Did For Me

I’ve been officially working since I was 12. Being a member of the military family did have one perk, and that was plenty of opportunities for work experience. I was pretty proud to be receiving a paycheck, albeit a small one, at that tender age. Sure, it wasn’t exciting to deliver and file punch cards (earlier form of information storage – after all this was the late 70s). But it taught me that I could create my own destiny if I chose, and it’s a lesson that I took to heart.

When my father retired, I entered the civilian life as a high school graduate, and was shocked at the difference in lifestyle. Gone was the regimentation and opportunity. But I never lost my focus of taking on work experience, no matter how unconventional the job for a young woman back in the mid-80s. I’ve worked at gas stations, washed and waxed planes, and did whatever I thought was necessary to learn something new from the ground up. I was hungry for experience.

While I was going to college, I decided to go against conventional wisdom (read: my parents) and take on a job as a pizza delivery driver. It seemed like something fun to do, where I could meet people and be creative. I didn’t think about financial considerations like wear and tear on the car, because this job was diverse and liberating.

I soon took on the job of driver’s trainer, which was a new position to my Domino’s store at the time. We had so many workers, of all ages, coming on board for the opportunity to make some extra cash. Because the pizza business is a fast moving one, we needed to ensure that quality covered our drivers as well as our product. We were all part of the whole product experience.

Taking this new job to heart, I wanted to do my best because I saw the potential in making their lives easier through information. How was I to know that this would be my first baby steps that would launch my love for creativity and data?

Pizza delivery is not as easy as you might think. Drivers pitched in the pizza making (after washing their hands) when we got slammed, which happened on Wednesday nights (hump day), Friday nights (start of weekend), and Sunday afternoon (sports). They handled order routing to ensure that the pizzas got delivered under 30 minutes like the guarantee said, and there was some creative routing to make it happen. They dealt with phone orders and irate customers. They restocked depleting supplies so that the pizza makers wouldn’t have to stop their work. And they handled their cash to make sure that all money was properly collected and delivered to the store. For a part-time job, that’s a lot of responsibility.

I enjoyed this work because I got a ton of on-the-job training in all aspects of the business. But my driver’s training experience taught me even more:

1. People skills – I trained a lot of military guys who were older than me. It taught me to appreciate their differences, and tailor my approach to each individual.
2. Organization – I collected data (such as apartment maps, road maps, school locations, etc.) and made training packets for each new driver. Everything that they needed for the job was covered in this guide. I used my own experiences as a driver to write usable training material.
3. Responsibility – Because I was the official trainer, I was accountable for the actions of all drivers who trained with me. Their actions reflected my success or failure, and I let them know either way.
4. Patience/Perseverance – Not every trainee caught on quickly. Sometimes, I would have to continue the training after the allocated time. But I always put myself in their shoes, and kept at it until the training clicked. Some of them became our best drivers.
5. Accountability – When I made mistakes, I would work hard to correct them and learn. No one gets everything right every time. That’s especially true when dealing with the handling of money and people.
6. Creativity – I made the job into what I envisioned, as there was no precursor to rely on. I had the power to mold it to my interests while engaging the trainee’s needs so that everyone won.

Job satisfaction is what we make of it. Not everyone is going to love their job, but they can create their own opportunities that will follow them into the future. If I hadn’t taken this job, then I might have never found my passion. Dominos helped illuminate a confusing time as I sought to find who I was. It made me see the benefits of obtaining entrepreneurial skills, instead of just seeking a job. And it helped me land my first new car (VW Scirocco 16V) under my own power. Opportunities can be found in the least likely of places, and it’s up to each one of us to recognize them when they arrive. Thanks, Domino’s, for helping me make my opportunity count. I may have derailed a few times since then, but I never lost my passion.