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Shopping For The Right Path
An Interview with Scott Behmer:
Events Supervisor, Mall Of America
(August 5, 1998)
Meet Scott Behmer:
At age 25, Scott Behmer has found one of his callings at an early age. As Events Supervisor for the Mall Of America in Minneapolis, Scott has found a job which he really enjoys and one which he feels is moving him along his success path.
Scott grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska, and lived there until he moved to South Dakota to attend the University of South Dakota. After graduating with a degree in communications and advertising, he chose to take the plunge and move to Minneapolis without a job or place to live. He ended up landing an internship position with Martin Williams Advertising, one of the top agencies in Minneapolis. From there he did a six month project in 1996 for the Olympic Torch Relay Event. It is there where he found his love for events marketing. Once the Olympics were over, Scott joined the Mall of America as an Events Coordinator. As he has moved from coordinator to supervisor, he has planned events from movie premieres to book signings and is loving every minute of it.
Interview Excerpts
Stumbling Into A Calling
Another Path?
Success Is...
Making The Move
Planning
Don't Drag Your Feet
I watch Dawson's Creek just to find out who the new characters are just so I can get them to come to the Mall.
Stumbling Into A Calling
I've stumbled onto one of my callings. I know I will do this for a considerable part of my life, whether I go to Disney or Universal Studios or whatever, but that's way down the line. I plan to be at the Mall for a long time. I will always be in some area of entertainment or promotion because I'm fascinated by it and too into pop culture and what's going on. Heck, I watch Dawson's Creek just to find out who the new characters are just so I can get them to come to the Mall. It's kinda sick. It's affecting my personal life (laughter). Maybe it's my age group. I grew up on the fringe where pop culture is everything.
Once I move more into the role of writing proposals and that, I may have time to teach night class at a community college or something.
Another Path?
I think because of my marketing and DECA instructors [DECA is a vocational student organization for marketing students], I think it'd be pretty cool to be a marketing teacher. All of my family are teachers, both my grandparents and parents, aunts and uncles. That's certainly in my genes. I've thought that would be nice [teaching] if this job would settle down a little bit. The more I move into a supervisor role, I'm doing less implementation. Tonight I'll be back at 9:30pm and will work to about 1:00am setting up for the Mall's 6th birthday event, but once I move more into the role of writing proposals and that, I may have time to teach night class at a community college or something. I think that would be nice.
I think everybody has something they should be doing or were born to do. That could be several things. It could be five things. But, finding one of those things and being happy with it is how I'd define success.
Success Is...
I don't have this Webster's dictionary answer and I don't think anybody really should have. I think everybody has something they should be doing or were born to do. That could be several things. It could be five things. But, finding one of those things and being happy with it is how I'd define success. For me I couldn't feel successful working at a Taco Johns or Taco Bell or anything like that even if I was the manager there because it's not what I was meant to do. Not because there are any family pressures either. I think if I chose to do that Mom and Dad or Grandpa and Grandma would be fine with it. They're incredibly supportive of me. So I'm not pushing myself to please anybody but me, but I don't know if I'm there [successful] yet. At 25 years old you can't consider yourself successful. I'm doing what I like to do and thank God because there aren't a lot of people my age that get to do that.
I still think I'm working way too many hours, but I'm genuinely happy. I know too many of my friends...and I really gauge my happiness off of my friends and knowing they are unhappy where they are working, or they're just doing this job until something better comes along. I don't have to do that. I have a house and my car's paid for and I'm feeling comfortable in the real world. At 25 that's pretty good.
Clearly I think society defines success as fame and fortune. I'm not striving for either of those. I've met some celebrities through my job and some of them need to be better grounded. They needed to grow up in Nebraska and South Dakota. I'm striving for financial stability, but I think society's definition of success is where the "s" in success is a dollar sign.
I took the opportunity when I'm young to move. It paid off for me. There's a lot of luck involved, a lot of luck, but I chose to go.
Making The Move
I went to school in South Dakota so a lot of my friends are from small towns. I'm not saying Norfolk, Nebraska, is any big city. It has a population of 25,000 and that's the size of the smallest suburb around here [in Minneapolis], but I chose to go [move to Minneapolis] and I took the opportunity when I'm young to move. It paid off for me. There's a lot of luck involved, a lot of luck, but I chose to go. I suggest to all my friends who call and say, "I'd love to be doing what you're doing. I'd love to live in Minneapolis" well move. Anybody can work at night or do temp jobs to get on your feet. Don't waste time whining about it.
I don't think planning step by step by step is that important because you can become too narrow focused and you can miss opportunities between point A and B. Planning
I don't think planning step by step by step is that important because you can become too narrow focused and you can miss opportunities between point A and B. I think it's more important to have a goal, a clear goal of what you want to do. It can't be something like "I want to be an astronaut," and you don't have a pilot's license or the physical condition and all these things. Be realistic, but just having a clear goal and enough sense to figure out a way to get there and don't wait to get started.
Don't drag your feet. Give it a shot because life's too short to waste it doing things you're unhappy doing or that's not going to get you to your goal. Don't Drag Your Feet
Brainstorm what's going to make you happy. If you feel in your heart that you need to be a lifeguard, then go be a lifeguard. If you feel you need to write a book, write a book. Don't drag your feet. Give it a shot because life's too short to waste it doing things you're unhappy doing or that's not going to get you to your goal. If my goal is to one day go on tour with Janet Jackson, which is truly my goal, then I'm figuring out the necessary steps to get there. It doesn't hurt that she has a house in the Minneapolis area and I have a house here. If that's what I want to do then I have to figure it out and do it.
© Copyright Chris Moeller & Brian Ardinger, 1998
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