It was 1972 and I was still working at Atlantic Records. As much as I loved it there, I wanted my days to be free to go on auditions. I had done a few modeling jobs and had just signed a contract with Marshall Management to handle me as an actress. I had to find a way to make those auditions.
While I was working at Atlantic Records, I became close friends with a couple members of the J. Geils Band. Every time that they came into town we would head over to the garment district. They would buy lame fabrics, rhinestones and sequins to put on their clothing. At that time, these things weren’t being manufactured for the masses. Yes, the Queen of England had hers and Liberace had his, but they weren’t all over the street.
I was fascinated and started buying the rhinestones, sequins and studs to put on my own clothing. I had them on everything that I owned. My t-shirts had them. My jackets had them. My hot pants had them. My jeans had them. Even my boots had them. Everything sparkled!
I was becoming very good at this. I was a walking advertisement. Friends and strangers alike started to ask me to put them on their clothes. Since everything I did was by hand, it was very time consuming. I decided to start a business doing this. I would call the business “Giggles” custom trimming. I would have my customers give me a piece of their clothing, then I would return it a week or two later with a “one of a kind” design on them. Everyone loved them. Since I worked around lots of rock, pop, rhythm and blues bands, I had lots of work.
I now thought that I had found the perfect job. I could audition during the day and work on my clothing in my spare time. Well, it worked for awhile. I had lots of customers until the manufacturing companies started mass producing things. I just couldn’t keep up. My work was a much higher quality, but so were my prices. Eventually, I sold most of my trimmings. I still have a small container of rhinestones in my sewing tin. I’ll probably never use them, but I smile everytime I see them.
My name is Billie Walter. I feel qualified to write about this topic because I did not go to college and have had more than 20 different careers and over 225 different jobs. I get bored easily and prefer to move on rather than stay in a dead-end job that I hate. If you have an adventurous spirit, then there are many, many careers or jobs out there that are available for the taking. On this site I am going to tell you about some of my experiences and also inform you about some of the opportunities that are available for you to consider. You’ll be amazed at the many opportunities awaiting you, even if you don’t have a college education.