Fifteen years ago this month I made the decision to sell books with Southwestern. I vividly remember sitting in a classroom in Otto Olson at the University of Nebraska at Kearney absorbing all Curtis Rogers had to say about the opportunity. As Curtis wrote the list of advantages on the board: experience, [...]
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An article titled “The Key to good interviews: practice” was recently posted in the Boston Globe. The article centers around answering the question,
What can I do to improve my interview skills? After months of networking, I am finally getting interviews and I can’t afford to mess up these chances to [...]
Though she has been officially off of the Southwestern bookfield for nearly 5 years, Haley Price is still selling books. Only now, she’s written and illustrated the books that she’s selling.
She is the author and illustrator of Today is the Best Day of My Life. This book contains bite-sized life principles, presented in a light [...]
The Southwestern family is saddened by the loss of former bookfield great, District Sales Manager, and Director of Sales Larry Beckham, taken by cancer this past Friday morning in Houston, TX. He is survived by his wife, Shelly, and children Abigail Renee of Houston; Lesli Beckham Douglass of Knoxville, TN; William Zachary Beckham of Denver, CO; [...]
I am very proud to work at Southwestern and stand behind the principles we strive to develop in young people.
This fall, I had the pleasure of working ”check out” for a couple of weeks. Every year I really enjoy getting the chance to see the students as they finalize their Southwestern summer. Every bookperson can recall how crazy big checkout [...]
I truly treasure the life lessons I learned on the bookfield. My mentors at the Southwestern Company inspire me by not only the lessons they teach, but also the way they live their lives. One of the simpliest and greatest lessons that I learned and observed was to “do what you say you are going to do”. This [...]
One of the challenges that I encountered when recruiting college students for the Southwestern Company summer program, was conveying to a non-business major how sales experience would benefit them. Most of us quickly learn once we leave academia that everything is some form of sales. That statement has been validated every time I talk to a [...]
In my years with the Southwestern Company I have heard, as well as told, many tales of some of the famous alumni that have traversed the bookfield. After becoming Southwestern’s alumni specialist, I quickly learned that this is an often requested list of people. Unfortunately, my database of alumni did not come with a “Rich and [...]
Working in the Southwestern alumni department I thoroughly enjoy amassing stories from alumni, whether the stories are from the bookfield or what alumni have been up to since. I believe this is because I consider Southwestern alumni as my family. That indescribable bond of a summer on the bookfield ties us together. That connection was [...]
For the past 13 years my family and friends have been utterly confused trying to figure out what I do. I have spent nearly half of my life working with the Southwestern Company (no, not the airline). I spent eight of those years selling books and software door-to-door in the summer, as well as, recruiting [...]
