I want you to buy this but you can't see or touch it.

I don't know what it is about sales and marketing. I just really find the challenge of going out there into the concrete jungle and finding different ways to get my message across exhilarating! Don't get me wrong, it's not just about "sales", sales in itself really sucks. Knowing you have a great product but having to wade through all those "NO's" to finally get to that eventual "YES" is enough to make you want to call in sick. I've been involved in sales for the last 20 years. I've sold cars, homes, memberships, phones, you name it and I probably sold it.

But this thing, the guard, is different for me. I wake up everyday grateful that I'm one of those few people who love their job. It's true, when you love what you do, it's not really work. And get this, I'm actually good at it. Not because I'm slick or have all the answers, because I don't. I'm good at it because I really believe in my product. I wholeheartedly believe what I have to "sell" matters. I have what most young people want these days, the ability to look that person in front of me in the eyes and just be real, be truthful. When you believe in what you're "selling" sales comes easy.

When I mention "sales" and "selling" I don't mean like how you get sold at a car lot. I mean sharing how the guard has changed my life for the better. How it has changed many of my kids' lives. I refer to the soldiers I've enlisted in the National Guard as my "kids". I've seen them come in all shapes, colors, races and  from different economic backgrounds. I've witnessed the great things these kids can do in military given the chance.

You never know who's going to be a good soldier and who's going to be a great soldier. I've had the opportunity and honor to see these kids return from Basic Training transformed into more confident, well rounded citizens capable of achieving any goal.

Yes, recruiting can be extremely difficult at times. I've had parents cuss me out for calling their home. Or there was the time I was helping a fellow recruiter at a local college and I had picketers yelling insults at me all day. Sometimes I don't get home until 10:00 pm or later only to be back up at 3:30 to repeat it all over again. I can usually count on 5 days off per month and sometimes not even that's for certain.

So why do I continue to come back for more? Simple. I've never been as good at anything else in my life as I am at recruiting and at the end of each day I know what I did counted. One day I'll sit on my porch an old man and be able to say what I did at this particular time in my life mattered, not just to me but to everyone of my "kids".

This is why I do what I do.