Liann Ackerman
Liann Ackerman
Slapjel Mortgage Solutions
Email: mortgagebyliann@slapjel.ca
Phone: 705-795-3775
January 2026: What was your first paying job? How old were you and what are some things you learned there? Do you have a favorite memory of that job?
Contributor of the prompt: *Cindy Rose Ferguson
My parents always instilled a good work ethic in myself and my three older brothers. We also knew that if we wanted spending money, we had to earn it. We didn’t get allowance like some of my friends, so we never really had cash.
When I was 15, I got my first job working at a dry cleaner. The store was in the Sheppard Centre in downtown North York (at the time) and a very busy spot. The clientele was mainly business folks that would ride the subway into Toronto and drop their clothes off before they left. They would pick up the cleaned clothes either that same day or the next day when they returned from work.
It was a very simple job, I just had to take the clothes from the customer, tag them and put them in the right place for pick up by the actual cleaners. When customers were picking up their clothes, I used the tags to find them on the hanging racks and gave them back, after taking the payment. At the end of the shift, I would close the store and that would involve counting the cash drawer and putting the funds in the safe within the store. I didn’t need to balance the cash as that was done by the manager.
As a lot of the customers were on their way to or from work, they were sometimes in a rush or tired from the long day. I usually worked after school and some Saturdays, so I didn’t get the rushed drop offs but more of the tired ones at the end of the day. Dealing with someone in a bad mood or tired made me learn how to be empathetic and patient. Customer service was key and being young, it was my first experience with the public in that regard.
The most memorable moment for me was not necessarily a good one. I was working alone, as I often did, and three male teens came up to the counter and wanted to exchange a $100 bill for $20s. I didn’t have a problem with that, so I gave them 5 $20s. The male that I gave the money to counted it out and said, ‘there are only 4 here, you still owe me one’. As I hadn’t counted it out in front of him, I thought I had made an error, so I gave him another one. He said thanks and they walked out of the store laughing. The next day when I went to work, the manager said that we were short $20 from the day before and right away I knew that I had messed up. I let her know what happened and she was very understanding. From then on, I always count change out when giving it to someone! Lesson learned the hard way!