Category: friendship

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Follow a Leader

A year ago today my friend and Tweep Saundra Hadley lost her father. She turned to twitter as a way to express her grief. What she found in return was compassion.

She found that this “social media” was so much more than a broadcast channel. She was able to connect with real people in real time that were showing her compassion and caring, in her time of need. Here is her interview with Josh Breslow: 

When I met her she was using it not only to stay connected with people who reached out to her, but has also found it a great way to do business.

She told me that it was the best peer- to peer networking that she has ever found. 

 Saundra, or @planningforever is the #1 twitter user in Evansville. She has a wide variety of topics that she posts –it is not all business. She is real, honest and funny.  

So today on this #FollowFriday, I am not asking you to just follow her, I am asking a lot more:

  1. Follow @planning forever (No really add her to your twitter stream, but follow how she acts, watch how she engages, see how she uses it and follow her lead.)
  2. Reach out to her. One year ago she turned to twitter, twitter people give her some <3 today!
  3. Really listen to the people in your stream, reach out to someone else today who needs your encouragement.
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The Story of Sparkles

I recently went to a conference and met a very interesting lady. She had bling on her glasses and bling on her shirt. She was a very energetic person and I liked her instantly. With the large amount of people that I was meeting I was having a difficult time remembering names, so I called her

  She owns Embroidme Baltimore, and at her shop. They make customized “bling” apparel.

We had several conversations about how that process takes place and I was instantly fascinated. But what I really liked was her ability to be who she was always. She let her character and personality shine even with her choice of clothing, eyewear, footwear, and handbags.

 I encourage people with social media to be who they are.

Sometimes people tell me they keep two Facebook profiles. One profile for family and friends and one profile for business associates. Often find this is not a good practice, as the person who is truly good at networking and building relationships in the community, and within their businesses find that the line of who is their friend, and who is a business acquaintance is very often blurry. Just have one and be who you are.

I was very delighted to receive a package in the mail yesterday.

I opened it, standing next to my mother-in-law. When she saw the contents she instantly said, oh. Is that from Sparkles?

Her ability to be herself on an off-line carried over into my conversations on and off-line to the point that my mother-in-law knew exactly who my package was from without looking at the name.

No matter what your business or what you’re selling. The bottom line is you have to sell you first. To do that, you want people to recognize your name in association with a particular character trait, feeling, emotion, product, or ____.  (You fill in the blank. )

As you make your next status update ask yourself:

  What does this statement picture or link say about me?

Thank you Allison… Now I don’t have to wait till I am a Billionaire.

“Every time I close my eyes,

I see my name in shining lights”

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Saying Goodbye to a Hero

First let me say, this is baseball. “You win some you lose some.” That phrase is usually reserved to the game play itself. Today I want to use it to talk about the loss of a player.

 Second let me say that what I am saying here is simply my perspective as an Otters fan and as a proud mother.

 This year we became members of the Otters Booster Club. As part of that membership, we attended the pre-game picnic where we were introduced to the team and staff of the Evansville Otters. At that picnic the host families sat with their new players. Some of the players did not have families yet, and a few had families that could not attend due to work. We were fortunate enough to have several players sit at our table. They laughed and played with my children like they had been best buddies forever.

Over his short season, my children developed a respect for one of those players: #25 Carlos Romero. In the exhibition game he made an astonishing catch. The kids beamed, proud to know such a player. After the game, they held to tradition and ran the bases. They skipped the rest of the team and ran straight for him.

We could not be a host family this year due to space issues, but we “adopted him.” We took him to eat dinner one day before a road trip. He graciously listened to my children yammer on and on. He answered all the questions. He was kind a courteous and respectful to everyone we encountered.

More than that he was a team advocate. He encouraged the wait staff to come watch the team, talked up the history of the ball park and was proud to be an Otter.  

My boys looked up to him, more as a person than a player, but as both. They insisted that we go to Sam’s to get him snacks for the road. They packed a few goodie bags with enough supplies to last him the trip, if rationed well. When we gave them to him, he looked in the bags and said “Oh good there is enough for me to share.”

During that away game two major things happened. #1 Carlos broke a bat. #2 Carlos almost broke his hand. He came home on the injured list.

That first game back we came to the field, hand drawn get well bag in hand. He said to Eric (my  6 year old) “I brought you something too!” He went into the dugout and came out with a bat all taped up.  It was the bat that he broke. He had taped it up and brought it home for Eric. He signed it for him and he went into the stands beaming.

The day after Carlos came off the injured list, he was released from the team. We all cried. This is by far not the first player we have watched go. Some we knew were the right decision, some we wondered about and figured that the trade must have been worth it. This is the first time I have really asked “why?”

I am a social media strategist. I help companies build brand advocates. I help with customer service and PR, I help with that and much more under the guise of social media.  I usually encourage people start building brand advocates from within.

So here is my take on Carlos. 

From what we saw of him during his time with the Evansville Otters, he appeared to be a good player. Due to circumstances he was not really given the opportunity to showcase his ability.

But that aside, he is a heck of a brand advocate. He loves what he does, and it shows. He loved working for the Otters, and he told the world through his facebook, and through his interactions with the community, on and off the field.

When we went to the bank, my son would see the Otters schedule and would tell anyone within earshot how great the Otters were and all about the “best player, my friend, #25 Carlos Romero.”

In talking to him about what was next for the outfielder, he was determined to continue playing ball.

Because he was a brand advocate for the Otters, he created other brand advocates. That is a priceless value to any team. He loves baseball; he loves kids; he loves community.  Add to that my opinion that he is a good player, and you have a good package deal.

I can’t do much for him right now. I offered money. He was not as concerned with money (Even though I knew he was struggling to buy his ticket home.) He was concerned about some kids he had coached, and promised more play time / lessons. He is truly a gentleman with character.

So here is what I can do: If you believe in “America’s Game” please repost, retweet, share, digg, or whatever. Help me share the news that there is a player for hire that will be more than an asset to any team.

 

  Carlos Bats/Throws: L/L HT:5’10” WT: 190
A full information sheet can be found here if you are interested in his stats.

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Valiant Defined…

debbieV

Wife of one
Mother of three
Grandmother of seven
She is:
• caring by nature– after all, she has a degree in nursing
• a business owner
• a good neighbor
• a caregiver
• a protector
• a friend  to many

This woman is many things to many people.  As I have become acquainted with her over the last few months, I feel like I’ve known her my whole life. She’s often appeared with a plate of cookies to make me feel better.  I have watched her life unfold and I am amazed at the extent to which she’s involved in, actively giving and outreaching to the community, personally and professionally.

She is a caring neighbor, weekly driving her elderly neighbor to the hairdresser, the grocery store and other places she needs to go.

She is a caring sister to her brother who is experiencing severe health challenges.

At the end of the day, she should be utterly exhausted.

However, from her social media posts and in talking to her, you would never know it. She is happy for the opportunity to care for new grandchildren. She is happy to be entertaining family on a Sunday. She is happy to drive that elderly neighbor to the salon. Her medical background helps her to act as her brother’s champion. She’s glad to go to work. She treats her employees as family, honors them and lifts them up verbally and in writing. Most importantly, she does this publicly on social media.

She could so easily think,  “pity me; look at all have to do; look at all of my burdens”. But she doesn’t see it that way. She doesn’t dread work, because she truly loves the people with whom she works, and this shows.

Valiant, is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, as “strong, courageous, to be of worth, marked by or carried out with courage or determination.”

That pretty much describes this woman, my friend, Debbie Valiant.

Debbie and her Husband Walter own AmeriStamp SignARama. They were given the Integrity Torch Award from the Better Business Bureau and are  finalists for the 2010 Small Business of the Year Award  From The Evansville Chamber.