Labor Day has come and gone, which means we have start thinking about work again. We asked some OC real estate execs to tell us about their first-ever jobs. (Everyone remembers those jobs, usually more fondly than they deserve.)

R.D. Olson Construction prez Bill Wilhelm says that at 15, he convinced the local Taco Bell manager he was reliable, and she agreed to hide him in the back, frying taco and tostada shells for the first six months. Once he turned 16, he had the opportunity to work the cash register and manage the front line, prepping orders and getting them out to the customer. “After a year, I took over the assistant manger’s duties and then quickly stepped into the role of manager,” he tells us. “I even hired my older sister, which resulted in a food fight, but mostly we worked really hard.”

Berkadia VP and mortgage banker Jackson Cloak tells us as a kid, he made rubber-band guns and sold them to local toy stores, showing an enterprising streak at a young age (we wish we’d thought of that). His first job after college was an options trader for Solomon Smith Barney.