The Wall Street Journal - 23.10.2019

A12| Wednesday, October 23, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Q

I’m trying to return

to the workforce

after taking a

three-year break to

care for my mother

after an accident. I’m an ac-

countant with an M.B.A., not

a C.P.A. Where do I go from

here?—C.W.

A:Your phrasing suggests

you’re focused on what you

see as your deficits. Think

about your strengths instead

and frame this transition as

an opportunity. Your combi-

nation of accounting skills

and an M.B.A. could equip

you for a variety of jobs that

require analytical thinking

and problem-solving skills,

from financial-advisory ser-

vices to the burgeoning fin-

tech field, says Addie

Swartz, chief executive of

ReacHIRE, a provider of pro-

grams and resources for

women returning from ca-

reer breaks.

Consider directing your search toward the

kind of work that has given you a sense of

accomplishment in the past. Update your

LinkedIn profile, and reach out to past col-

leagues and other contacts, Ms. Swartz says.

Set aside time each week to refresh your

technology and analytical skills.

Many free courses are available online,

and any training or new certifications you

gain will strengthen your hand with

employers.

Ask for informational interviews with

people in your target field, and talk with for-

mer colleagues to explore how jobs in your

profession have changed. Consider searching

on the website Meetup for groups that share

your professional interests. Other helpful

sites include Après, iRelaunch and reacHIRE.

Q

After reading your column on cul-

ture fit, I began seeing myself as a

square peg in a round hole. I was

recently hired in sales at a com-

pany where the culture is domi-

nated by cliques. Sales leads are handed to

two top salesmen who keep the information

to themselves. How can I work with these in-

groups and find a way to succeed?—M.D.

A:The word “cliques” suggests you’re

feeling left out for personal reasons. But

sales managers may have other reasons

for directing new leads to the inner circle,

says Paul Donehue, president of Paul

Charles & Associates, a Londonderry, N.H.,

sales-management consulting firm. Some

hand out leads to foster loyalty or reward

past performance. Some assign sales terri-

tories. At other companies, lead distribu-

tion is a free-for-all. It’s hard for recent

hires to make progress under this system

because veterans tend to spot more leads

and claim the best for themselves, Mr.

Donehue says.

Ask yourself if you’ve done what you

need to do to earn the respect of your

managers. If so, try to learn more about

how decisions get made, then ask to meet

with your manager. Start by saying some-

thing positive about the company, then

have a frank conversation about your con-

cerns. “It’s important to focus on facts, and

not to come across as a griper,” Mr. Done-

hue says. If you’re not satisfied with the

outcome, at least you’ll be better prepared

in a new job search to figure out whether a

prospective employer is a good fit.

MICHAEL GLENWOOD

MORGAN LIEBERMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (4)

Getting Back in the Game

After Three Years Away

sario Pedroza. He was born in Mexico and

he went through a lot of hardship. He is the

pride of our family and the reason we are

all here in America. We call him Don Challo.

(Don is a term of respect, and Challo is a

nickname for someone named Rosario.)

We did not have tools nor did we have a

lot of money, but we set out to build a car

in my garage. My

brother-in-law Da-

viddelaCruz(who

owns his own auto-

customization shop

called Wolf Pack Ga-

rage) and I worked

together, and the

whole family

pitched in. The Ford

Model T is my

grandfather’s favor-

ite. We found a 1927

Model T body in

Sacramento. My fa-

ther had an old

Chevy truck that

wasbrokendown.I

took the 350 V-

engine out and

rebuilt it.

We found a

transmission in a

José Pedroza, left, his son Armando, and Armando’s son Joshua, with the
Don Challo. The steering wheel, right, was made from a motorcycle chain.

junkyard and built

what I call a suicide

shifter; the gear

shifter is outside the

driver’s-side window.

We custom-built seats

and mounted a ni-

trous tank that blows

smoke out of the hood

so it looks like the car

breathes smoke. My

father is a welder and

he made handles for

the side-view mirrors

that look like a skele-

ton’s bony hands. The

engine’s differential

came from a 1980s

Jaguar, and we used a

whisky bottle as a wa-

ter reservoir for the radiator.

The steering wheel was inspired by one

we saw in a “Mad Max” movie. My brother-

in-law used the chain of a motorcycle to

mold the round wheel and the rest of the

parts came from scrap from other projects.

The car was entirely built in my garage.

Not once did we take it to a shop. To buy a

hot rod might cost $20,000. We built ours

for about $5,000. To finish it, I had a friend

paint a picture of my grandfather on the

door of the car. We named the car after

him—Don Challo.

It is a great feeling to drive a car that

you built from the ground up. My son

Joshua, my grandfather and I have taken it

to car shows together. Strangers ask, “Who

is the guy on the door?” I point to my

grandfather and say, “That’s him.” He loves

it! Now at car shows, people know the hot

rod. When they see it, they smile and say,

“Cool. Don Challo!”

Armando Pedroza of Montebello, Calif.,
38, a cargo-shipping coordinator, on his Don
Challo hot rod, as told to A.J. Baime.
About five years ago, we were having a
family barbecue at my house when the idea
came up: Wouldn’t it be cool to build a hot
rod? We came up with the idea to build a
car as a tribute to my grandfather, José Ro-

MY RIDE| A.J. BAIME

A Hot Rod That Honors a Patriarch

WORK & FAMILY MAILBOX| SUE SHELLENBARGER

Armando Pedroza in the hot rod he built with his family to honor

his grandfather. The vehicle’s many distinctive touches include

the portrait on the door and inside, a tiny statue, at right.

LIFE & ARTS

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