Joe Fasula
Co-owner of Gerrity’s The Fresh Grocer Supermarkets
Tell us about your first job. What did you learn and how did it impact you moving forward?
About my first job:
It was Gerrity’s Supermarket, I started working here. My first full-time job was 14 years old. I worked that summer, and I worked my first 40-hour week at that time. I would go to work with my dad when I was a little kid. He had me tag along to work. I probably started working earlier than most people. He had me bagging oranges and getting shopping carts when I was 12 years old, just for a couple hours. Even younger than that. My first 40-hour week was the summer when I was 14 years old. I did that every summer.
What I learned:
I think I learned a lot of the things that anybody who is working in the retail or service industry learns: how to work with people, how to deal with customers, that the public can be tough at times, but that it’s very rewarding, too. I love, even to this day, when I can help a customer, whether it’s helping them find a product, or helping them come up with meal ideas, or on our hardware side, when I can help them find something that’s going to help them complete a project in their home, or help them pick out a grill, I just love helping customers. I definitely got a love of the business, and quickly recognized it was probably something I’d want to do for the rest of my life. I toyed with the idea of going into the medical field when I was in high school, and needed to decide which way I wanted to go with the career. My dad and I sat down and talked about it, and I decided I wanted to stay with the family business, and I never regretted it, it was the right thing for me. I really love being in a retail business. I always tell people that I love food, and I love people, and the grocery business brings both of those together. And now we have the hardware stores, and that brings another dimension of being able to help customers.
What advice can you give to anyone entering the workforce?
I would say the best advice I always give people is, that it’s not as hard to excel and get ahead as you think it is. If you can show the employer your value to the organization and if you take that little bit of initiative, something beyond what they would expect, it just sets you so far apart from everybody else. As long as you’re working for somebody that’s a good boss or a good employer, they’re going to recognize that very quickly and you’re going to set yourself apart from the crowd, and there’s so much opportunity because employers are so hungry for hardworking, dedicated and motivated people, people that take initiative. Employers are dying for that.