Does life experince equal writing experience?

Today I am tasked with applying for jobs online. I have recently gone through some major changes, and I can't help but wonder how they are affecting my writing. One of the characters in a story that I am currently working on works in a shoe store. I used to work in a shoe store. I was the manager of said shoe store, so do I find myself drawing from my own experiences? Yes, I do. That doesn't mean that I think you have to work in a shoe store to write about working in a shoe store. I do think there are some things you need to experience for yourself before writing about. I would feel uncomfortable writing about an emotion if I had never experienced it for myself. I'm not sure if I would have given this character a job working in a shoe store if I had not had the job working in a shoe store myself. With other characters, other professions make sense. I find myself having to use google a lot. I would actually like to find people in a few of those professions and ask them for more details about their jobs. There are some things you won't know unless you've been in their position. I find that it is easier to write things that I know, but I also love learning about new things and writing what I've learned.