Junk my Car Blog

"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make excuses and those who get results. An excuse person will find any excuse for why a job was not done, and a results person will find any reason why it can be done. Be a creator, not a reactor."

The above quote by Alan Cohen, says a lot about the kind of people that the environment we work in at Junk my Car requires.

Prior to joining the Junk my Car team, I worked in your average “Corporate America” style call center for about 4 years. It did not take me so long to realize how rigid this call center environment was, as if a constant game of micro-managing and “babysitting” adults was the real job of managers and supervisors.

After proving to be able to contribute to the company as a whole, I found I was still being scrutinized for signing into my phone 20 seconds late, and threatened with being fired for being out sick because I did not pre-plan my “time off”. As absurd as this seemed, it very quickly became part of my normal life. I soon became accustomed to the constant whirlwind of work-related stresses, referring to them as the “norm” for all call center employees.

At that time, I remember talking to an employee of “Junk my Car” and being completely perplexed that this call center he worked for took into consideration the fact that he had children and a family, and was complete with bonuses, growth opportunities, and a bunch of co-workers who were actually EXCITED to come to work every day!

Still I kept drudging along, until somehow my resume crossed the path of the owner of this company. I came in for an interview, and was surprised that I sat, not with some supervisor who had never even met the CEO of the company,but with the owner himself. There was something different about this place…The break room had video games, popcorn machines, and actually looked inviting. Was this for real?

A year and a half later, I can tell you it IS real. I've been working at Junk my Car since March of 2008, and can tell you, I am STILL excited to come into work every day.

In February of 2009, The CEO rolled out this new and even more exciting reason to come to work – R.O.W.E.—the Results Only Work Environment. What did this mean? This meant that the era for micro-managing and baby sitting was GONE… I would actually be working for a company that treated adults like adults. No more rigid schedules or getting written up for being a minute late. ROWE meant that if I wanted to come in at 8am today, and at 11am tomorrow, I could do that! All that mattered was that my customers were serviced, my tasks were completed, and I did everything in my power to see to it that no one was falling off the “boat”. This was a dream come true.

Right now, the R.O.W.E. principles are starting to be used in companies like GAP, Best Buy, and each day more and more companies are turning to this new-world approach to work.

What I’ve learned since Junk my Car went “ROWE” is that it takes more than one motivated person to make R.O.W.E. possible. It takes a bunch of employees that believe 2 things: First, That they work in what is, hands down, THE best company there is to work in, and second, that what they do matters.

You see, Corporate America teaches people to make excuses—R.O.W.E. teaches people to GET RESULTS. I encourage every person reading this to adopt a R.O.W.E. attitude. Not just for work, but for life. Don’t focus on how you can explain why you didn't measure up, find a way to get where you need to be. If you want something from your life, go for it full force, and MAKE it happen. It’s not those who have good dreams that get us far in life, it’s those who are willing to do what it takes to turn those dreams into reality.

Be a creator, not a reactor.

It’s more than what it takes to be a R.O.W.E. employee, it’s what it takes to grab hold of your own destiny. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a results person!

Labels: Call Center, Corporate America, How to Junk my Car, Results, ROWE

As the summer comes to an end, I like to sit back and reflect on all the things I did. One of them was go to this year's Gathering of the Vibes. It may not be Woodstock but you sure do have the same fundamentals going on. Jiving music, ideals of love and peace, and or course green-thinking.

Old school hippies were the epitome of green-thinking from the beginning in the 60s. New school hippies are no exception. With the growth of technology and the expansion of not only the information highway but also our city highways, they have come a long way from the street corner pamphlets and home gardens.
As I chatted with a girl over a cup of coffee, I learned that she had brewed it using water from the very ocean I was looking at. I would have never known the difference if she hadn't told me. She was part of an organization called The Sky is Not The Limit. They are a non-profit that explores the use of sun batteries and desalination of ocean water using renewable resources.

Another interesting person I ran into was the "Solar Bus Guy” Gary Beckwith and his solar bus. Contrary to it's name this bus runs complete on bio-fuels. Examples would be bio-diesel, veggie oil, and waste veggie oil. The bus also had a bunch of solar cells on top that were linked to a large battery bank that generates clean energy. He was able to have some of the comforts of home like a fan in the middle of a camping ground. A girl was even able to plug in her hair dryer to his bus. He travels around the US promoting bio-fuel friendly autos and re-usable energy. When asked what I did and told him I worked for Junkmycar.com, he joked with me that we may see an influx in business once he gets his next idea on the road. He has been working on converting the cars that we use every day into bio-fuel friendly options and marketing to car companies to adopt these methods which is less expensive than making the hybrids they make now.

Hippism is more than flower power and eating vegan and I was happy to see that the old school has come into it's own with the new school. It also made me happy to respond back to what I do as a profession. As a JMCer, we strive to be as green as we can get. From our own recycling efforts in the office to being a paperless company, we are not just green-thinkers, but doers. So even though the Vibes is a once a year gig, it's nice to know in part, i'm working hippy all year round.

Labels: earth, gathering of the vibes, Green, Junk my Car, solar