Part I: Started From the Bottom

When I first landed in Austin, TX, I pursued my passion for writing, but it didn’t pay anything. I earned my living thanks to random gigs and freelance jobs, but the search for each individual project was time-consuming and draining me of all emotional energy to even think about writing.

Then, one day a friend suggested I apply to Juiceland, a juice-and-smoothie shop in Austin, TX.

I felt intrigued and the timing couldn’t have been better.

South by Southwest (SXSW) festival was about to begin. It was a two-week timeframe where Austin’s population, new employment opportunities, and demand for fruit smoothies skyrockets. The jobs sprout up from nowhere, seemingly beneath the cracks of the city streets to offer their shade to the in-need residents of Austin. The downtown shop in particular needed employees willing to accept minimum wage and begin work immediately.

“Count me in,” I said.

My work began in the dish pit. The sounds of blenders blending, loud music and shouting filled the kitchen around me. Unable to hear my co-workers, I became friends with the dishes. I found the activity meditative, enough to enter subtle flow-states between the demands of my supervisor. All the while, my dish friends asked little of me. Only that they be washed, soaped and sanitized before setting on the rack above my head to dry.

It was humbling to stand on the bottom rung of the job-ladder knowing I had once held an office job with a $40K/year salary. Dish work wasn’t the most intellectually stimulating task, but there was something strangely special about its simplicity, and I felt it offered some unseen benefits.

Dish work allowed me to stretch my self-compassion muscles, reminded me to remain humble, and to cultivate gratitude. Instead of thinking about what I wanted, the situation pushed me to be thankful for everything that I had. I learned it’s okay to start over and to have faith and trust the process. Dish work also gave me the opportunity to practice bringing the mind back from its wandering ways. I smiled at my co-workers who handed me dishes and sipped smoothie remnants from the bottoms of dirty blenders. The job kept me fed, sheltered and allowed me the time to pursue my writing.

After SXSW ended, the shop manager encouraged me to stay on. I guess my dishwashing skills impressed her, skills that my dish friends must have spoken to her about.

Despite the offer, I was hesitant to accept. Many thoughts came into my mind. There must be other jobs better suited to my interests, I thought. I’ve fallen down the societal hierarchy, I thought. I want location-independence and freedom, I thought.

But sometimes you can’t have everything at once. I had to make sacrifices for the future. And when this became my reality, it was important for me to accept this psychologically. A friend recently reminded me about cognitive dissonance, that our beliefs change to fit our life situations and how we’re willing to put them aside in exchange for happiness.

Stability, flexibility, and accepting new belief systems ultimately helped outweigh my concerns. Here, I could have reliable work, build relationships with others, take off a week or two if needed, learn a thing or two about the service industry, and help hydrate the people of Austin.

Perhaps the smoothie life was exactly what I needed.

Part II: The Front Lines

Shortly after the busy-ness of SXSW ended, I accepted part-time employment and was promoted to “front of house” where I took up my new position as “Register”. The job of Register was simple enough: take orders and complete the transaction—but my attention remained tunneled. Which of these buttons do I push? What was that you said, again? I smiled to customers to buy myself more time. Slowly, as I internalized the menu and our point-of-sale system, I unshackled my psychic energy and became free to engage with customers. Thus began my attempts to casually chat during each transaction, a difficult feat since the shop was often very busy and filled with long lines of thirsty people.

There, I began to learn about how to connect with people in two minutes or less. Doing so is an art, one I am still perfecting and often fail on, but the art is worth sharing.

How to Connect with People in Two Minutes or Less

Observe.

The first step when trying to connect with someone in two minutes or less is to look for clues. Try to read them up and down. Check for sweaty clothes, yoga mats, earphones, jewelry and tattoos. Every piece of their body can reveal insight into their lives, schedules, habits, and routines.

For example, headphones are an easy conversation starter. “What are you listening to?” It’s a fun question because it’s potentially vulnerable, especially if they’re willing to admit to Brittney Spears’ Toxic. If they mention podcasts I’ve hit the jackpot because I listen to a lot of those.

If they’re wearing sweaty clothes: “How was the workout?”, “Where did you go?”, “Any tips for training?”, “Who was the trainer/teacher?”

Also, be on the lookout for smiling faces. Compliment them. These people are intentionally being mindful and sending positive energy into what is otherwise simply a business transaction. It takes more effort to smile and ask someone how their day is going than not doing it. Love them and compliment them for their actions!

Finally, while observing, it’s worth paying attention to see if they actually want to talk to you in the first place. I’d say about 85% of people are willing to chat with me and the remaining 15% have little to no interest in me. I don’t blame them—my hair has become a bit unkempt these days. I allow them the freedom to choose. If they prefer talking on the phone, chatting with their friend, or stay disinterested, I do my best to hold that space for them and smile as they leave.

Ask Basic Questions… But Mostly, Listen.

“How are you today?”, “how has your day been?”, or “any fun plans tonight?” are all good openers. These harmless questions signal predictability and instantly build sub-conscious rapport. Immediately after asking a question, begin listening!

Keep in mind that if you ask, “what’s been going on?”, most people will say “just work”. This is a dead-end! Do not ask any more about work! Acknowledge you heard them (“you and me both, sister!”) then shift the conversation to something else: weekend plans, holidays, anything future-related. This could bring insight into friend groups, family units, and hometowns. Even so, I’ll often break this rule and ask them what they do, if they like it, or why they do it. I’ll then ask what it is they’d love to do if they allowed themselves to pursue anything of their heart’s desire.

Be Vulnerable.

If a customer asks me a question, I know I’ve done something right. It’s likely they feel acknowledged and now want to reciprocate that feeling. Set the tone early—dive into whatever’s on your mind. I’ve adopted the mindset that everyone out there knows something I don’t. Maybe I’ll get great advice or make a strong connection. I’ll usually bring up my book writing and tell them about this blog.

Enjoy the Results.

By talking (more so listening) to people in this manner, I’ve connected to artists, writers, Olympians, executives and YouTubers. I’ve been drawn a crayon drawing by a kid to hang in the shop. I’ve been told the friendliness of the shop sealed the deal for an out-of-country family to move to Austin, things I simply can’t say for my corporate clients. While each example sounds great, these cases are outstanding and few and far between. Usually, I fail. But I’ve found it best to remain process oriented, carry no expectation, and meet others wherever they’re at in that moment. The gems will come!

Part III: I Am What I Eat

Working at a smoothie shop has certainly sparked my interest in learning more about my body. I’ve become a pseudo-doctor; customers tell me of their aches and pains and expect some recommendation. A piece of the puzzle on the journey to better know myself, I believe, is knowing my body and the sciences behind the food I consume. I’m no expert by any means, but here are some worthwhile tips I’ve picked up while on the job. Hopefully, by putting this out there, I will receive better advise.

Breathe.

I was recently reminded of this advice by a good friend and nutritionist how this is possibly the best, most simple, and affordable advice for anyone looking to improve their overall health and well-being. We often “forget” to breathe. Although it runs on auto-pilot, we can use the breath for our own benefit, as a tool to bring oxygen into the brain and as an anchor for our attention to ground us into the present moment.

Micro-Nutrients.

Apparently, there are 31 micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) required by the body, essential to cell reproduction, and if any one of these micro-nutrients is missing from your diet, your cells are dying more quickly than they should. A micro-nutrient test, although fairly pricey (~$300), will show which ones you’re missing and recommend foods to add to your diet. I haven’t pulled the trigger on this one, but I’m considering. Let me know if you have insight into this.

Fasting.

Digestion is an energy-intensive process, so much so that it’s difficult for the body to simultaneously repair itself. When the stomach is empty, the body switches into rapid healing mode (very scientific). One way to kick this into gear is to shorten your eating timeframe. A shortened eating window, let’s say eight hours (10am-6pm), can help to improve mental clarity. Personally, I’ve found this to be the case.

There are worthwhile benefits of fasting and intermittent fasting. Nothing new with that advice, but I’ve just begun to experiment with fasting until dinner and during these days I feel much more awake, aware, and happy.

Sugars.

Apart from stress, emotional baggage, drugs, and alcohol, sugars are perhaps the single greatest threat to a healthy body. I still consume them (they’re in nearly everything), but I’m aware of their effects and have become too sensitive to consume too much.

Smoothie-Specific Health Tips:

Reduce Sugars in Smoothies.

Substitute coconut water or chia water for juices and unsweetened almond milk for standard almond milk. Also, bananas and strawberries are high in sugar. Here’s an awesome article I found ranking fruits by sugar content while also explaining the benefits. Realize it’s not all bad and there’s plenty of benefits to consuming fruit. You’ll be fine so long as you consume in moderation. Add protein powder to slow sugar digestion.

Drink Vegetables.

If you’re going to drink a juice, drink mostly vegetables. Otherwise, although it’s not the worst thing in the world, drinking fruit-juice is essentially like drinking a ton of sugars.

Add Fats and Fibers to Smoothies.

The body needs these to properly absorb nutrients. Consider adding coconut oil and avocado or supplement with necessary foods later/earlier in the day.

Part IV: Part-Time Employment… Feasible?

I’ve been grateful to work this job while pursuing other activities I enjoy such as writing, editing, reading, and looking inward. For anyone curious about this lifestyle’s feasibility, working part-time so far seems a viable avenue, but it is not for everyone.

Living off part-time work requires creativity and improvisation. Most likely, you’ll need affordable housing, a healthy savings account/financial situation, few responsibilities, and a higher tolerance for a lower standard of living. Internally, it requires shedding egoic feelings of self-identity through one’s work, discipline, and surrendering material desires.

The reward is increased time-freedom, but that in and of itself isn’t necessarily valuable. It can actually create more internal chaos since a schedule is no longer handed to you. For me, the difference lies in how I spend my time in the grand scheme of things, the bigger picture. I’m now able to pursue inner-work while still moving forward on other pursuits (writing, editing, reading).

Our time is limited. May we all spend it wisely. May we be grateful for what we have, pursue our passions, connect with ourselves/others, breathe, and accept responsibility for where we are at in life, whether we are at the bottom or the top of the job-ladder.