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

CapasGroup founder Brad Capas tells us that his family owned a restaurant in Key West that proved to be more than a first work experience for him—it was a way of life. “We lived on the floor above the restaurant, and it seemed like I was always working—washing dishes, busing tables, or doing any number of odd jobs whenever extra hands were needed,” he says. As he got older, the rule was that he had to check in with his dad before going out. “On countless occasions I spend the next several hours not on my date, but rather flipping burgers or shucking oysters.”

Dezer Development prez Gil Dezer tells us that he got his start in the working world quite a bit further north than his current home base in South Florida: he used to valet park cars and hand out flyers on the street in New York City. Gil’s the one in the center, snapped during last year’s groundbreaking for Porsche Design Tower Miami, which these days is 90% sold.