Tammi's World

My Own Personal Angel

Honest to goodness, I'm really not easily intimidated. I'm not "cocky" as it were, but I do know I can hold my own in most situations.

All that being said, I was a bit nervous/apprehensive/rattled about this past trip. For a couple of reasons.

I've always heard that New Yorkers are tough to do business with. The ones that I've dealt with eat sales people for snacks, moving on to upper managment types for the main meals. YIKES. I have a lot of pride (sometimes my downfall) and wasn't in the mood to be humiliated on any level. Yeah, wasn't something I wanted to come back and talk to the team about.

Also - I'm flyin' without a net in this job. Oh, I have the backing of my managment, but I'm the decision maker on most of my business. I like that, but it's also very scary. I've been told in several positions it's my call, but when it all came down to brass tacs, someone else took the hit if things went wrong. Now? Yeah, that would be my ass flappin' in the wind.

So - I was kinda anxious. Especially Monday night. As I sat in the hotel room I quietly started to have a melt down. Just a mini one, but a melt down none the less. I poured over my presentations. I fired up the laptop and reviewed my line offerings just to see if I missed anything. I kinda sorta started to obsess.

Then I had a phone call. From Michele. She and I were going to get together that evening for dinner and she was going to show me a bit of her beloved city. (Seriously, there is no better tour guide than someone that LOVES their home. NYC as seen by Michele, Chicago as seen by Blackfive. You can't help but see it all throught their eyes. Hell, they sould both be on the Chamber of Commerce for the cities they live in!) However, it just wasn't to be. Michele had a sick little one over the weekend and was down herself with the flu.

But that didn't stop her from calling me. And her reason for calling was to put me at ease for my calls the next day. Now stop for just a second and think about that. She was sick and exhausted yet she took time (and energy) to call me to put ME at ease.

The conversation was short (that time) but it still did the trick. I had a good day and felt much better about things.

The next evening she called to see how things had gone and to get me ready for the next day in Long Island.

Then we got to have a real conversation. And it was marvelous. As she stated in her oh-so-kind-to-me post we talked business and blogging. People and perceptions. Again, it was just what I needed.

She wanted to know every detail from my calls. She gave me feedback and encouragement. All of a sudden it didn't feel like I was flyin' without a net. As silly as this sounds that conversation gave me the confidence to know I'd made the right decisions - not just business but on how I handled people. You see, sometimes I worry that I've misjudged people. Handled the situation wrong. And it's come back to burn me. Personally and professionally. But she assured me that I took the best route.

So I just wanted to say Thank You Michele. Thank you for being there. I wouldn't have called. Anyone. I don't like to bother folks in the evening - I have this obsession with family time and hate to step into that. You taking the time for me meant more than I can say.

And more than that, I can say I'm looking forward to going back. I feel like I held my own, on several levels. And next time Michele? We're making that dinner and a show. For sure!

Posted by Tammi at November 2, 2006 05:28 AM | TrackBack