Teenage Part-Time Jobs . . .
We were all teenagers at one point, and I’ll bet a lot of us had some kind of a part-time job, either during the school year, or, especially over Summer Vacation. Personally, I had a morning paper route from the time I was nine years old until I graduated from High School. And, like a lot of boys of my era, I also cut lawns on Saturdays. Plus, in the Summer, starting at about age 15, I worked at an elementary school kids day camp as one of the counselors, organizing dodgeball, kick-ball and baseball games.
And, this experience was great for me. I made a little spending money and learned how to be accountable and responsible by getting my papers delivered before 7:00 am and showing up every day at the camp at 8:00 – all via my trusty Huffy bicycle!! But, I never made any REAL money – maybe just enough to buy the latest Beatles records and a t-shirt or two.
Now, I’m looking at my five grandchildren, none of whom are teenagers yet, and wondering what the world holds for them so far as part-time employment is concerned.
And, for inspiration, maybe they ought to take a look at 17-year old Charli D’Amelio, who discovered the power of both TikTok and YouTube, and has turned her love of dancing and fashion into an empire! And, in doing so, has blown the whole concept of a teenager doing some part-time work right out of the water!
In 2021, she earned (and I hope you’re sitting down when you read this) . . . $17.5 million!! That is not a misprint! Last year Charli actually earned more money than the CEOs of Exxon, Starbucks, McDonalds and Delta Airlines . . . as a Junior in High School! Initially, I had trouble swallowing this, but my source is an article that was in the Wall Street Journal on January 13th of this year! So, as amazing as it sounds, I have to believe that it’s true. She has become TikTok’s Number One Influencer, with 133 million followers, with another 9 million subscribers to her YouTube Channel.
A native of Connecticut, now living in Los Angeles, she choreographs her own dances and posts several TikToks a day, some of which include lip sync videos along with more casual takes of her doing various daily activities. And, now, she is represented by UTA (United Talent Agency) out of Beverly Hills and landed, among other things, a commercial in this past February’s Super Bowl game! Plus, in May, she launched her own clothing line that Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister’s picked up!
So, the next time your teenage children or grandchildren tell you that they just can’t land a good job, share Charli D’Amelio’s story with them . . . because, with enough energy and creativity, all of this new technology just might open doors for them that they’ve never even thought of! And, it probably beats bagging groceries at Publix! I sure wish I had thought of this when I was 17 . . . although, to be honest, I can’t dance a lick!!!