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Surprising 6-Figure Salaries
From selling porta-potties to train conducting, these five go-getters are bringing home six figure salaries by working jobs you may not expect.
by Blake Ellis - 8/31/2011
Drives Trucks 600 to 700 Miles a Day
Name: Jeff McGee
Job: Semi-truck mover
Salary: $160,000
Age: 37
Hometown: Duluth, MN
I got a degree in science and I wanted to be a physician. But when I had a kid, I needed money and I needed it fast.
Since I was getting very few job offers in the medical field, I got a job as a truck driver. I didn't get any sleep, I was overworked and gained lots of weight from sitting in a truck all day and night. And I only made about $45,000 a year.
One day, I got talking with a man in a truck stop who told me how he worked as a semi-truck mover and made over $100,000 a year. So I looked into it and applied for a job.
Now, I deliver semi-truck trailers from one place to another. Not many people know about this industry because it's so much more specialized than just regular truck driving. As a transporter you pick up semi trucks straight out of the factory and drop them off at individual dealers.
I love it. I drive 600 to 700 miles a day, have my own vehicle, get as much vacation time as I want and the company flies me to each factory and puts me up in a nice hotel.
Adds Glam to the Porta-Potty Business
Name: Eliza Kendall
Job: Luxury porta-potty business owner
Salary: $100,000 to $120,000
Age: 54
Hometown: Harwich, Mass.
I never thought I would end up in septic. I started out working as an event organizer for a lot of top companies, until I saw a little porta-potty business for sale.
I realized that there was really nothing out there that combined porta potties with upscale events. So I bought the business, which came with six porta potties and a little trailer with a men's and women's room in it.
Being brought up in a wealthier area, I understand understated elegance. It's not shag red rugs and plastic flowers -- it's cleanliness and things like fresh water in the toilets, lattice work, fresh flower sprays to keep it smelling nice and motion-activated lighting. I even have my own line of amenities like lip balm and lotion that I put next to the sinks.
I started going into Ritz-Carlton bathrooms to see what they do different from a Motel 6 and that's what I would do with my porta potties.
The first year we opened, in 1996, we were in the black -- and we slowly built from there. About 90% of our business is weddings, and we also do special events and fund-raising parties. We charge $345 per unit per weekend, and $850 for the trailer with two rooms.
Teaches Life Skills to High School Students
Name: John Williams
Job: Life coach
Salary: $108,000
Age: 31
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
I work as a life coach for high school students, so I'm basically a mix between a career coach and therapist.
After graduating from Brown University, I started out as a Latin teacher for a small high school. As a teacher, I realized there were lots of skills that I wished I had learned in high school but didn't, so I started meeting with students on the side -- helping them with everything from leadership, beliefs, communication and learning styles.
We would talk about what they wanted to get out of high school, and make goals. For example, I worked with a very, very shy 9th grader, who had really poor self esteem and incidents where he was bullied pretty badly. So I helped him to change his perspective and focus on his strengths, and a year later he started getting involved in a band and being a lot more confident in himself.
I worked with students like that on the side for four years, and then decided I wanted to do it as a full-time job instead. I now meet with three to four students a day, and I have quite a few clients in other states who I talk with over the phone or on Skype.
I save money by meeting them at coffee shops instead of paying rent for an office. Each 50-minute session costs $135, so it works out to be about $108,000 a year -- compared to the $36,500 salary I made as a teacher.
Films Sports Events
Name: Steve 'Ya-Man' Brangle
Job: Live sports TV camera man
Salary: $100,000 to $150,000
Age: 51
Hometown: Apex, NC
I always wanted to be involved with sports. I ran in high school and thought I might want to be a foot doctor. But at North Carolina State University they didn't have a pre-med program, so I ended up taking random classes that interested me, and one was a radio and TV class.
I kept trying to get into radio, but doors kept opening for me in TV instead. When a bunch of us from my class applied for a job with a local TV station, I guess I was the least out of focus during my filming test, because I got the job. It was mostly agricultural stuff I had to shoot, but eventually I started doing freelance at the same time and began taping basketball games.
Doing freelance was rough the first couple years because no one knows who you are. But as the years went by, I started doing stuff for ESPN and national networks.
Now I film college basketball, college football, NBA, NFL and the Little League World Series. I've loved sports from day one, so I would have been at these games as a fan anyway. Now I'm getting to do paid work and be a fan at the same time.
Keeps the Trains Running on Time
Name: Derek Teed
Job: Train conductor
Salary: Expecting $100,000 or more
Age: 25
Hometown: Aberdeen, SD
My salary is based on the jobs and terminals I get assigned, but if they pan out as expected, I've been told I should break $100,000 this year.
I just graduated from the University of Minnesota and served two deployments to Iraq as a medic. Yet, I somehow landed a job that requires just a GED or high school diploma and pays over $100,000 in some areas.
I'm used to a tough lifestyle and am good at working away from home and at all hours -- and that's why the railroad pays you so much. You could get called up any time to work. Like today, if I wanted to go to a bar and have a drink, I couldn't because if I was called and I showed up after having a drink, I would be fired on the spot.
I've done five shifts so far, and four of them were 12-hour shifts. As a conductor, you're responsible for the whole train -- the cars, communicating with the dispatcher and making sure everything is set up and in order. You're the one out there making sure you have the right-away on a track, so that two trains coming at each other don't hit.
So far, it's going alright. I'm really tired, but I make enough to support myself. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone's pretty well off, so a lot of my friends went for doctor degrees and whatnot. And I'm out here making more money than any of them.
From selling porta-potties to train conducting, these five go-getters are bringing home six figure salaries by working jobs you may not expect.
by Blake Ellis - 8/31/2011
Drives Trucks 600 to 700 Miles a Day
Name: Jeff McGee
Job: Semi-truck mover
Salary: $160,000
Age: 37
Hometown: Duluth, MN
I got a degree in science and I wanted to be a physician. But when I had a kid, I needed money and I needed it fast.
Since I was getting very few job offers in the medical field, I got a job as a truck driver. I didn't get any sleep, I was overworked and gained lots of weight from sitting in a truck all day and night. And I only made about $45,000 a year.
One day, I got talking with a man in a truck stop who told me how he worked as a semi-truck mover and made over $100,000 a year. So I looked into it and applied for a job.
Now, I deliver semi-truck trailers from one place to another. Not many people know about this industry because it's so much more specialized than just regular truck driving. As a transporter you pick up semi trucks straight out of the factory and drop them off at individual dealers.
I love it. I drive 600 to 700 miles a day, have my own vehicle, get as much vacation time as I want and the company flies me to each factory and puts me up in a nice hotel.
Adds Glam to the Porta-Potty Business
Name: Eliza Kendall
Job: Luxury porta-potty business owner
Salary: $100,000 to $120,000
Age: 54
Hometown: Harwich, Mass.
I never thought I would end up in septic. I started out working as an event organizer for a lot of top companies, until I saw a little porta-potty business for sale.
I realized that there was really nothing out there that combined porta potties with upscale events. So I bought the business, which came with six porta potties and a little trailer with a men's and women's room in it.
Being brought up in a wealthier area, I understand understated elegance. It's not shag red rugs and plastic flowers -- it's cleanliness and things like fresh water in the toilets, lattice work, fresh flower sprays to keep it smelling nice and motion-activated lighting. I even have my own line of amenities like lip balm and lotion that I put next to the sinks.
I started going into Ritz-Carlton bathrooms to see what they do different from a Motel 6 and that's what I would do with my porta potties.
The first year we opened, in 1996, we were in the black -- and we slowly built from there. About 90% of our business is weddings, and we also do special events and fund-raising parties. We charge $345 per unit per weekend, and $850 for the trailer with two rooms.
Teaches Life Skills to High School Students
Name: John Williams
Job: Life coach
Salary: $108,000
Age: 31
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
I work as a life coach for high school students, so I'm basically a mix between a career coach and therapist.
After graduating from Brown University, I started out as a Latin teacher for a small high school. As a teacher, I realized there were lots of skills that I wished I had learned in high school but didn't, so I started meeting with students on the side -- helping them with everything from leadership, beliefs, communication and learning styles.
We would talk about what they wanted to get out of high school, and make goals. For example, I worked with a very, very shy 9th grader, who had really poor self esteem and incidents where he was bullied pretty badly. So I helped him to change his perspective and focus on his strengths, and a year later he started getting involved in a band and being a lot more confident in himself.
I worked with students like that on the side for four years, and then decided I wanted to do it as a full-time job instead. I now meet with three to four students a day, and I have quite a few clients in other states who I talk with over the phone or on Skype.
I save money by meeting them at coffee shops instead of paying rent for an office. Each 50-minute session costs $135, so it works out to be about $108,000 a year -- compared to the $36,500 salary I made as a teacher.
Films Sports Events
Name: Steve 'Ya-Man' Brangle
Job: Live sports TV camera man
Salary: $100,000 to $150,000
Age: 51
Hometown: Apex, NC
I always wanted to be involved with sports. I ran in high school and thought I might want to be a foot doctor. But at North Carolina State University they didn't have a pre-med program, so I ended up taking random classes that interested me, and one was a radio and TV class.
I kept trying to get into radio, but doors kept opening for me in TV instead. When a bunch of us from my class applied for a job with a local TV station, I guess I was the least out of focus during my filming test, because I got the job. It was mostly agricultural stuff I had to shoot, but eventually I started doing freelance at the same time and began taping basketball games.
Doing freelance was rough the first couple years because no one knows who you are. But as the years went by, I started doing stuff for ESPN and national networks.
Now I film college basketball, college football, NBA, NFL and the Little League World Series. I've loved sports from day one, so I would have been at these games as a fan anyway. Now I'm getting to do paid work and be a fan at the same time.
Keeps the Trains Running on Time
Name: Derek Teed
Job: Train conductor
Salary: Expecting $100,000 or more
Age: 25
Hometown: Aberdeen, SD
My salary is based on the jobs and terminals I get assigned, but if they pan out as expected, I've been told I should break $100,000 this year.
I just graduated from the University of Minnesota and served two deployments to Iraq as a medic. Yet, I somehow landed a job that requires just a GED or high school diploma and pays over $100,000 in some areas.
I'm used to a tough lifestyle and am good at working away from home and at all hours -- and that's why the railroad pays you so much. You could get called up any time to work. Like today, if I wanted to go to a bar and have a drink, I couldn't because if I was called and I showed up after having a drink, I would be fired on the spot.
I've done five shifts so far, and four of them were 12-hour shifts. As a conductor, you're responsible for the whole train -- the cars, communicating with the dispatcher and making sure everything is set up and in order. You're the one out there making sure you have the right-away on a track, so that two trains coming at each other don't hit.
So far, it's going alright. I'm really tired, but I make enough to support myself. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone's pretty well off, so a lot of my friends went for doctor degrees and whatnot. And I'm out here making more money than any of them.
