There's the intern who works tirelessly to solve company problems and quickly not only gets noticed, but becomes indispensable. There's the marketing assistant who becomes a thought leader by reading countless books and industry articles and then writing for the company blog. There's the salesperson who becomes an expert consultant and whose customers come to him for help - driving sales through the roof. There are many examples of people "giving themselves a promotion" at work: Redefine your job at work, change the way people perceive you - and you can become limitless. There I was, utterly talentless, but using my attitude and others' perception to generate a nice income.Įventually, of course, three years later with a college degree in hand, I decided to retire as the Crunch 'n Munch guy. At my peak, I was selling - and signing - between 250 and 300 boxes per game and making, with commission and tips, between $400 and $500 a night-an excellent living for a college kid. Over the next three years, I was featured in The Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Fox Sports New England, and ESPN Sportscenter. Somehow, I helped change perception in the building by the end of that night - not only did you have to buy a box of Crunch 'n Munch, but you had to get it autographed by the Crunch 'n Munch guy. I asked the woman to borrow her Sharpie, and proceeded to sign unsolicited every box of Crunch 'n Munch I sold that night. Secret #2: I decided at that moment to promote myself from ballpark vendor / entertainer to local celebrity. When The Boston Herald published an article about me, a fan actually asked me to autograph her box of Crunch ’n Munch. The in-stadium cameramen liked my shtick and began to feature my goofy dancing on the large-screen Jumbotron during timeouts. Within weeks I had developed a persona as the “Crunch ’n Munch Guy," and regulars began to take notice. I began to scream at the top of my lungs each night, in an effort to pull attention away from the games and toward the buttery toffee popcorn with peanuts I was selling. My only assets were passion, fearlessness, and the attitude to think of myself as an entertainer, not just another hawker. I'd be the first person to admit that I had no real talent as an entertainer. I stepped up my efforts for the rest of the week. I sold 36 boxes, three times as many as the first night. So my second day, (here's secret #1), I gave myself a promotion, and I decided to become not only a ballpark vendor, but an entertainer at work-a little singing, a little dancing, a little screaming, and a lot of goofy Dave.
I decided later that night that while it was fun being at games, I wanted to at least make a decent living hawking Crunch ’n Munch. I sold a grand total of 12 boxes and made the legal minimum, $15. My first day, as the low man on the totem pole, seniority-wise, I had been assigned a product called Crunch ’n Munch. And it's a seniority-based system- you have to work for years to get to sell the good stuff, like beer and hot dogs. What most people don't know is that vendors are paid only in commission and tips-the more they sell, the more they make. I was a snack hawker who walked up and down the aisles selling product.
While in college at Boston University, I had taken a job as a vendor at Fenway Park and the Boston Garden (then called the Fleet Center). That's how much I earned my first night on the job selling Crunch ’n Munch in the fall of 1996. I have two secrets to share, about my first job in life. "Our intention creates our reality." -Wayne Dyer
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