In business, the basics are all you'll ever need, says Ellen Rohr.
I started working at age 14, and I have had about 100 jobs since. I would get a job doing whatever I was interested in doing or learning about. At some point in my life, I was into snow skiing. I liked skiing, and I wanted to get better at it. So, I got a job teaching skiing.
When I first started, I didn't know a thing about teaching how to ski. So I went to the teaching clinics and memorized the basic "A"-level beginning lesson. By sticking to the prescribed teaching plan, I could take a never-ever first-timer and make a skier out of him. If we started at 9 a.m., I'd have that person skiing, turning and, best of all, stopping by noon.