Who

In 1997, Jennifer Haak Wilson opened The Shops of River Square Center and later the furniture store Spice in downtown Waco.
Jerry Larson / Waco Tribune-Herald

Jennifer Haak Wilson, 38, owner of Spice Village, a collection of shops at South Second Street and Franklin Avenue, adjacent to the restaurant row that includes Cricket’s, Ninfa’s and Gratziano’s.

1st summer job

Worked as a sales clerk at a movie rental store called Movieland in her hometown of Marlin.

Age

Wilson went to work one month before she turned 16. She obtained her driver’s license shortly after she joined the shop and used her money to buy clothes and gas for her 1981 two-door Honda Civic hatchback. As she recalls, the brown car was inexpensive and offered good gas mileage, which made it attractive.

Pay

$5.25 an hour.

Loved

“Getting to watch every movie the day it was released.”

Hated

“Watching my friends drive by or come in and get movies while I had to work. At age 16, that felt like the end of the world.”

Lessons learned

“This was my first taste of retail. I knew from this job that I wanted to have my own store someday. It taught me how to deal with the public and customers, and what a business was all about.”

Wilson went on to graduate from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, where she majored in marketing and management.

In 1997, she opened The Shops of River Square Center, where she leased space to an array of shop owners and opened her own upscale furniture store called Spice.

It became popular with tourists and with journalists and White House personnel who accompanied President George W. Bush on his visits to his ranch near Crawford.

Wilson has pushed Spice to the background, and she and her staff focus on overseeing the 70-plus stores whose owners pay her for space in what she now calls Spice Village.

Advice on summer jobs

“Take it seriously. You can learn some crucial life lessons and develop a good work ethic from your first experience in the workforce. Don’t ever treat a job as ‘just a job.’ Learn from it. You may develop a passion for it and choose that path in life. You never know. It could be a huge success.”

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