When I was nineteen, after being told that I was unemployable for every dishwashing, barbacking, and retail position that I applied for, I found myself working as a debt collector at a third-party collection agency. It was my job to motivate people to clear out their debts in the face of mounting interest or tarnished credit scores, and I was incentivized to do so by the opportunity to earn a commission percentage on each repayment I successfully negotiated.

One of the most…