He was, in fact, an interesting person, and far more so than I ever gave him credit for at the time. I was actually perpetually oblivious to all the things he was trying to do for me until much later.

In my first 2 weeks working he signed me up to have breakfast with him, one other employee, and Kenneth Cole. Like, the actual guy. He put it on the schedule, but didn't see me in advance of it, and I didn't actually look at the schedule (literally didn't know where we kept it yet) so I missed it. He and the other employee showed up to work where I had been standing outside, freezing, wondering where they were and they couldn't believe I had skipped breakfast with Kenneth Cole.

I couldn't believe he had apparently invited me...he used to pull me aside all the time and critique my sales. I have a very hard time with selling things to people so it always rubbed me the wrong way, and I found it especially frustrating because he never seemed to do it to anyone else.

When I finally quit he fought very hard to keep me, and I just couldn't understand why. He was always critiquing me, and I felt like I was terrible at the job. On that last day he showed me the sales numbers for all of our employees, and it turned out I had the 2nd highest sales. I was flabbergasted.

Cleaning out my locker I asked a girl that I didn't know very well what it was all about, why had he been constantly critiquing me if I had such strong sales? She turned to me and said,

"Don't you get it? You were Joe's little star. He was grooming you."

I did NOT get it. Not at all. About a year later I returned, wanting to see Joe and other old friends. I had realized a handful of things.

First, that Joe poaching me at all was a huge leap of faith.

Second, that the "KC Cash" I got was probably as much his doing as that regional manager and he wanted me to be dressed in our clothes to show me off better to the higher ups.

Third, that our store was a season ahead, which was more important than I realized at the time. We were the smaller store on 5th, and we were meant to showcase what would be coming down the line for the next season. Our customers were more unique as a result, and my private client book (customers you shop for, come in on a day off to dress, etc.) had a couple seriously trendy, affluent people in it.

The job, the clothes, the critique, the breakfast I missed with Kenneth Cole, I didn't see any of it at the time, but I can only imagine what a different life I would be living now had I pursued what Joe was putting in front of me.

I'm not at all disappointed at how things have turned out for me, but it's kind of startling to look back on a major turning point that you were completely oblivious too at the time.

For Joe's part, he wasn't there when I went to visit. I've never talked to him again. Fun fact - he was, I believe, a Philippino B-Boy before coming to NY, and the only person I was still friendly with at KC that day I went to visit implied he had returned home.

On the off chance that he comes across this extended series of comments about my time there, someday - let me say that my memory of all of this is over a decade old now, so I may well be getting some of the bits and pieces wrong.

EDIT: I have an inkling of what he saw in me, now, and I think it is all personality and my genuine joy talking with and sharing my expertise with strangers. It was a huge asset at the time, though I didn't realize it, and something I'm learning to make better use of myself now.