Everyone’s career starts somewhere, and for Danna Bailey, it was in the gift shop at the Incline Railway.
During the summer in her high school years, Bailey worked in the store at the bottom of the Incline Railway selling souvenirs. Most of the time, she worked there by herself, which she didn’t much care for. That job taught her she wanted to work around others.
Real learning starts around other people, she said — by making our own mistakes and getting corrected, and watching others make mistakes and be corrected.
With that first job in the rear view, Bailey went on to get her college degree and took on a job with an advertising agency post-graduation. She recalls a meeting with a client and a nonprofit organization in which she jumped right in with her pitch, telling the others exactly what she thought they should do. That approach was about as successful as a lead balloon, Bailey recalled.