Earlier this month, we profiled Mark Cooper, who was first featured in the New York Times. Cooper went from being a top executive in a security firm to a janitor making $12 an hour after he was laid off, becoming the face of the unemployment crisis here at OTM. So it was with great pleasure that we reported on Friday’s show that Cooper has landed a new full-time job as a security director for an international company.
Cooper told us that while his new position doesn’t pay as well as his previous executive job, the prospect of returning to that salary is high. He says his potential to success in his new role is “off the charts” and he couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity to get back into his desired line of work.
So how did a man who just weeks ago said he had to fight back “despair, discouragement and depression” to get up every morning to go to his janitorial job just in order to put food on his family’s table turn his life around? Cooper credits it to due diligence, an answer to prayer and persistence.
Persistence has become something of a watchword for many in Cooper’s same position. It was even something President Obama singled out in his latest news conference as a trait every American should possess as we navigate this economic crisis together.
Our Money Desk called Cooper a “leader” and an “inspiration” for others facing the task of finding a job in the most difficult market in decades. His message to those people? Be humble. Don’t think that any job is beneath you. Just have patience and perseverance and trust that things will work out in the end.
Watch the video above for the full segment from Friday’s show.