What Happens When You Take The Shades Off

I wear sunglasses every day. Every season. They keep the sun out of my eyes as well as the wind.  They block all the nasty things that can fly into your eyes when you live in New York. Soot. Dirt. Dust. Falling objects from buildings. 

Yesterday I didn't.

I didn't plan on it. It looked overcast when when I left my apartment. And I was in a rush. So I forgot to take them out of my purse.

A few blocks later, the sun came out. 

The reds and oranges of the leaves that had fallen to the sidewalk appeared more robust than usual. The sky a more vibrant shade of blue. People looked a bit more alive to me.

It took me a few blocks before I realized that my world was looking brighter not just because of the sun, but because I was without my protective eyewear.

I started to reach for them. To cover my eyes with the tint of my lenses that shields me from those unexpected flying objects and the not so friendly rays of sun. 

But I didn't.

It hit me that they were also distorting how I view the world.

I continue walking, feeling a bit naked without those shades but also reminded how the slightest bit of change in routine can color the way we see everything.

And vowing to inject more of that into my life.

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Life Is So Funny

Life is so funny.  You set off to do one thing and that leads to another and yet another. Still uncertain of the circuitous path you are taking you learn to say yes to what feels right and no to what does not. 

And then one day you find yourself standing on stage in a ballroom in the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood Shores just down the street from the offices of companies with names like Oracle, Salesforce and Electronic Arts,  speaking to a group of entrepreneurs who are all part of the largest women's online community, BlogHer.  

Your topic is selling - that part of you that you thought you left behind when you closed the door to your corporate office for the last time.

What is even stranger is that it feels so right. As if all the energy centers you had invested yourself in had suddenly joined together to create your very own perfect storm.

When I think about it I can't help but giggle.

Me. 

The shy kid who literally clung to her mother's skirts - afraid to be seen much less heard. Who grew up amidst the noise, laughter and constant chatter of a big, fat Greek family that I was sure would never hear me even if I tried. 

So I didn't.

I kept my thoughts inside my head - finding safety only in the written word and a few very close friends, until the day my tenth grade English teacher, Mr. Keyes picked my essay to read aloud to our class.  I tried to crawl under the table. I don't recall what I wrote about but I still remember my surprise afterwards when my classmates told me how good it was. And that I wanted to believe them - but I didn't.

As it was - I was far from ready to be heard. Really heard. 

Over time, I stopped hiding. I learned to speak with ease. I learned not to be afraid to hear my own voice. I taught. I sold. I managed people. I gained confidence. But what I really thought, my views and perspective on what I thought important - that I kept inside the pile of  journals that were quickly accumulating.

Until one day - November 18, 2008 -  I started a blog.  And just like that I had readers. Readers who gave me assurances I could write and should - more and more of my truths. About life. About business. I had a place to share my stories. That's when it started to shift.

I've spoken many times before. In conference rooms, classrooms, to groups of varying sizes. But last Tuesday was the first time I spoke in a real hotel ballroom, on a stage with one of those mikes that clips on to your clothes. 

The funniest thing was I wasn't  afraid. 

Not really. 

I had just the right amount of fear. The kind  that I told the audience you use to propel yourself forward - not the kind that makes you stand still.

I felt something shift - yet again. I'm still not entirely clear on what that was but I do know that the nugget of an idea I've had for my next book took form. 

A week later and I am still surprised how much I enjoyed it. How right it felt to share what I know about business, about selling, about digital tools and marketing on a stage to a group that was mostly women sprinkled with a few good men. 

And when people tweeted nice things and told me after how much they enjoyed my talk I didn't second guess them. 

Like I said. Something shifted.

Life is so funny. 

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Blurred Lines

Someone asked me the other day to clarify who I consulted with. He wanted to know if I worked with individuals or organizations.

I said yes.

I don't think he was happy with the answer. I understand that. Within the traditional corporate structure - which is where he works - we are not interested in blurred lines. We want everything and everyone to fit into a box in a clearly defined hierarchy.

That is her job.

This is his job.

We like flow charts and job descriptions so one person does not interfere in another's playground.

But that's not how it works in real life. Not anymore.

Digital tools and the power of the Internet have blurred the lines. 

When I started selling no one in marketing liked the sales department. No one in public relations liked marketing. And IT - that was reserved for things like invoicing and had nothing to do with any of the above.

They were all silos that stood alone in the field.

No more.

Sales, Marketing and PR intersect and are lost without IT.

The same was true of  your professional and your personal life. The ability to check your work emails on Sunday in between the soccer game and a walk in the park did not exist in the last century. Those things waited until Monday. 

Clear lines of distinction.

Easier then. More complex now.

The more it changes, the more blurred the lines become.  

A digital strategy is necessary for the organization and the brand. But it's also something that every individual who wants to stay marketable within and without their company  needs to have.

As for who I work with - to be clear - the line is blurred.






I will be speaking at BlogHerPro a conference for professionally-minded online influencers interested in taking their business, marketing and technical skills to the next level. If that's you join me there and use promo code PRO13FF for 30% off BlogHer Pro '13 Registration!



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The Way It Was

There I was. Mingling at an event hosted by Claudia Chan trying not to think about how much my feet were hurting after being in my heels all day, when someone heard me say I used to work for CBS Radio and wanted to know where. 

Within minutes after discovering she was at WODS in Boston when I was at WOGL in Philly we were off on a trip down memory lane as we discovered the many connections we had in common. Each name had a memory attached. A funny story. A laugh. A smile. I was transported to that time when I knew what it was like to know real community in the workplace.  When going to work was about so much more than just the paycheck and the benefits. When "people" were still considered an asset to a corporation and not merely a line item. When you could really have a career path - if you wanted one. When you got promoted, the first thing you were supposed to decide was who you were grooming to take your place when you got your next promotion.

Selling radio when I started was boot camp training for understanding business in general. I was trained to be a "marketing consultant" not merely a salesperson. I learned to listen to clients and figure out how my station could solve their problems.  I learned how to write copy and create promotions. I had to learn just enough to be dangerous about how a multitude of industries operated. It was where I learned that all advertising would work. It was just up to me to convince the client why our station would work best. 

It was also where I learned how to manage with integrity amidst a lot of noise. Radio stations - especially music stations were never quiet places. The soundtrack in the offices was the same one we sent out over the airwaves. It stayed on- all day - every day - if  for no other reason than to assure everyone we were still on the air. 

Maybe all that music infused in our psyches was part of the reason we were all so happy to be at work.

This - of course- was before the Reagan era of deregulation when the focus went off the product and the people and shifted to EBITDA and stock prices.

Then it all changed. 

The sense of community fostered within the radio station and connection to the sister stations in other markets was hard to replicate as consolidation brought the fear of job cuts and the "every person for themselves era."

But while we reminisced about a time that makes me smile - still - as I type this post - I wasn't thinking about what came after. I had even stopped thinking about how much my feet hurt. 

I was awash in memories of crazy client promotions, live remotes, pink Cadillacs, and friends I made for life. And feeling extraordinarily lucky to have been a part of it all. 







I will be speaking at BlogHerPro a conference for professionally-minded online influencers interested in taking their business, marketing and technical skills to the next level. If that's you join me there and use promo code PRO13FF for 30% off BlogHer Pro '13 Registration!



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