By Renee Plaza
Special to Delaware Business Times
Mike Reath is the general manager of WDEL, a news/talk radio station in Wilmington that was one of the first
100 broadcast radio stations to be licensed in the United States.
What was your first job?
When I was 15 I had my first job at the family-owned bakery, Weiners Bakery in Strafford, Pa. In the summer I worked the counter from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $3 an hour. When I started high school I only worked fewer hours just a couple days out of the week. It was a hard job to do having to get up so early, but I learned a lot from my experiences there.
Did working at the bakery impact future jobs?
It definitely impacted all of my future jobs because working at the counter was my first taste of sales experience. I wasn’t able to bake so I dealt with a lot of customers and of course some were unhappy with the cakes or other pastries they received. Customer service is important in any job, so this was a good experience for me to have as a first job.
What lessons did you learn from this experience?
I learned a lot from the bakery and its owners. It was a family-owned business that enabled me to learn a number of lessons about small businesses. Summer jobs generally help kids learn responsibility and accountability, but I had the extra advantage of learning from the owners. At the bakery I learned directly from the business owners how they run their small business and just how everything works. It gave me a new respect for them because I learned to realize just how difficult of a job they have.
What were the best and worst parts of the job?
The best was by far being able to sample and enjoy the best sticky buns that I have ever tasted. But I also learned basic selling skills. In the end, no matter what type of job you have, it usually comes back around to taking care of the customer.
The worst was being a teenager and having to get up at 4:30 am in the summer to go help unload the truck and get the counters set up for the day. I was 14 when I started so I had to ride my bike in the dark to get there. At least there wasn’t any traffic.
Do you have any specific favorite memories from any particular day on
the job?
I liked the other kids that I worked with and we became friends. We helped each other, especially on killer days like before Thanksgiving or Christmas. Also, the owners were two of the hardest working people I ever met. They were first in and last out. I learned that when you run the place, most of the time you’re working harder than anyone else.
What do you wish you knew then that you know now?
How little stress there actually was back then compared to the careers that most of us hold as adults. Those were fun times and I wish that I’d enjoyed them just a little bit more
