The Interview.

I sat down and Alex walked around to the other side of the desk. I couldn’t help but notice the way her hips swayed as she walked. She traced one hand on her desk as she walked around it, then turned and sat in her chair, leaning back slightly as she looked at me.

I sat up straighter. “This is it!” I said to myself, “my time to shine!” I met her gaze, determined to give the best interview I could!

She touched the screen of her computer and gazed at it for a few seconds. “Your resume has a lot of references, but you haven’t spent a lot of time with people you were employed by.” She looked from the screen to me, “As an employer, you have to understand this could be interpreted to mean that you weren’t a very successful employee for many of these businesses.”

I started to feel a bit nervous. “I know… it’s a bit tough to explain, but I’ve been self-employed my whole life. I’ve worked as a consultant project assistant/administrator. I have worked from my own home office, remotely assisting with and completing projects. Occasionally, I am asked to travel to various businesses to sit in person and work with their teams.”

I started to feel more confident as I explained what it was that I did and how I accomplished it. I went through how I started out as a small-time project assistant working with a company managing digital assets and how I had acquired most of my work through word-of-mouth. I would finish a project then list myself online as an available consultant through a consulting agency with my skill-set and growing list of successful projects.

“That is why it appears as though I haven’t been hired on for very long at any one job. I simply perform the work required of me and move on to the next opportunity.” I finished what seemed like a rather detailed speech and took a large breath.

“Have any employers offered you a position, full-time?” Alex inquired, her gaze was penetrating. My body wanted to squirm, but I **** myself to remain still and calm.

“Yes, most have. I just didn’t have the passion to work at their firms in a full-time capacity.”

“What makes our business the kind of opportunity you do wish to work at in a full-time capacity?” She emphasized “do” with a tap of her finger on her desk. I knew she was trying to appear intimidating… it was working, but I didn’t let it show.

I looked past her where a large window showed other buildings framing a large green space and thought carefully. At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer, but then it occurred to me. It was so simple!

I looked back at her, “You’ve been shopping at one of your retail stores, haven’t you?” I asked, then continued, “The one down on 35th and Robson for instance?”

She looked a bit puzzled by my question. “Yes. Of course. I visit all our shops regularly to ensure the quality of our product and service to our customers.”

I smiled at her. “That’s probably a lateral reason as to why I’m here, but the main reason is because when I go shopping at The Rad Hatter, I get a customer experience that is…” I look at her desk pointedly, “A higher quality.”

She looked at me dubiously, like I was trying to brown-nose my way into job.

I sighed. “I know it’s probably what you’d expect to hear out of any potential new employee. Maybe it would help if I take the time to explain things.” I thought for a couple seconds longer and continued, “When I enter the store, I’m greeted by someone who genuinely looks like they’re happy to be there. When they smile at me and say, ‘Welcome to Rad Hatter my name is…’ whatever their name is…, ‘let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you and I will be happy to assist’, I feel like they actually want to help me, but at the same time I don’t feel pushed into buying anything.” I grin as I describe my own experience in her store. As I look into her eyes, I can see a slight sparkle and as much as she tries to hide it, her own smile creeps out slowly. I **** myself to carry on, despite wanting to stare at her beautiful face as she listens.

“I could spend an hour in the shop, but no one will bother me. There is always someone nearby and paying enough attention, so I feel comfortable just looking up and waving and they walk right over to answer my question.” Alex sits quietly as I convey my sense of happiness associated with one of her shops.

“The other day, I was in the shop with one of my sisters. She’s a bit of a larger girl and we were looking at clothes together. One of the other patrons made a snide remark about her weight as we were being assisted by one of the staff…” I looked down at my lap and frowned as I recalled the experience, it was painful to recollect such a negative occurrence happening to someone who I cared about deeply. I paused a second before continuing. “I remember feeling so upset. I looked down at my sister and she was pretending she didn’t hear, but I could see her eyes were watery.”

I paused again, looked up at Alex and was caught off guard by her expression. Her eyes were narrowed slightly and her eyebrows knitted. She had an intense look of cold anger and for the first time in a while she spoke up and asked coolly, “…And? What happened?”

I stumbled a bit over the next words, “I-I had wanted to say something… to defend my sister, but before I could I heard a voice speak and say angrily, ‘excuse me!?’” Alex nodded slowly, as if that was what she expected. I continued, “I looked up at the girl who had insulted my sister and she had a shocked sort of look on her face. I followed where she was looking and saw that the store clerk had stood up and despite the fact that she was much smaller than the girl she was confronting, she had a sense of confidence in her, like she knew what the other girl had said was wrong and… I don’t know, it was hard to describe, but she looked like she was about to kick some ass and chew bubblegum, but she was all out of gum.” I grinned as I said this and Alex laughed.

“Anyway,” I went on, becoming more serious again, “she stood up and looked her right in the face and told her, ‘You’re welcome to leave. No one will be permitted to speak to any of my customers in my store like that!’”. Alex and I smiled at each other, as you do when you share a story that has a good ending with someone.

“The point of that story,” I took a deep breath and the sincerity that came as I spoke was very natural, “Is that the reason I feel this place is where I want to go to on a daily basis and hang my hat for the entirety of a day, as many days as you’ll let me, is I am inspired by that employee, I’m inspired by the company,” I look at Alex, “And I’m inspired by the people who are responsible for running the company and giving its staff the confidence to approach customers in a situation like that one and defend those who would be bullied.”