Speak well, or become invisible ...

I was the youngest in a family of five children.  I am also the mother of two daughters.  Spending the first half of my life in a large family, and the second half in a small one has helped form my perspective. 


It seems to me that in most small families there is usually more “Mom” and “Dad” to go around. In addition, with fewer children, parental patience seldom gets worn as thin.  A parent of only one or two children will often remain obligingly attentive even if their child is saying something disorganized, uninteresting or even nonsensical. 


Of course all big families start out as small ones.  In the early years, most parents enjoy a sense of amazement with their first child, and equal fascination with their second. 
As a family grows, the dynamics change. A child born into a large family must adapt to a hectic environment that makes little room for individual preferences.  For a child in a large family, being listened to is a 'sink or swim' proposition instead of an entitlement.  Get to the point, or get lost in the shuffle, period.


I picked up on this very quickly.  The only way to hold the floor long enough to complete several consecutive sentences at the dinner table was to be very coherent and reasonably entertaining.  Thinking on my feet sometimes helped me run the gauntlet of three older brothers with minimal hazing as well.  These skills naturally translated to my excelling in theatre and competitive speech when I went to school. 

I turned sweet sixteen and needed a job ...

We never know what’s on the flip side of our disappointments.  Speaking of flip sides, I had planned to get a summer job flipping burgers.  Due to a wave of armed robberies in our community, my parents vetoed my Hamburger Stand agenda.  I kept looking, and got hired as a Field Interviewer for the Denver office of a Cincinnati-based firm called Burke Marketing Research. 

I stayed at Burke for three years, and made thousands of phone calls to households all over the U.S.  I talked to people about the products they used, the TV shows they watched, and the ads they remembered.  Most interviews included open-ended questions.  We took down the respondent’s verbatim answers in speedwriting, and probed any ambiguous adjectives for clarification.  (For example, if a respondent told me that Jergens Hand Lotion was nice.  I would then ask, “You mentioned that the hand lotion was ‘nice.’ What do you mean by ‘nice?’)

Our quotas were high, and this job took stamina, but through the course of it, I gained insight into people’s casual perceptions and memories. I also learned to try not to use adjectives that don’t mean anything. 


College led to an editorial career ...

During college, I went to work as Secretary with the Denver Bureau of International Thomson Business Press.  I ended up majoring in English, getting promoted to the Editorial Department, and taking a job in L.A.


I studied and became more skilled at the spoken word ...

In L.A., I ended up rooming with an aspiring actress, and she encouraged me to register for a course in Television Acting at a local Community College.  Several months later, I noticed a classified ad in Dramalogue: Valmar Oleska, the owner of the Los Angeles Theatre of Arts was giving away a Work Exchange Scholarship. I answered the ad on a lark. My stage audition may have left them cold, but I was a spectacular typist.  The school awarded me free tuition to weekend classes in exchange for evening secretarial work.  In time, I was able to supplement my income emceeing large corporate parties and events, and I did some small on-camera and voiceover jobs as well.


I had always liked the thought of becoming a teacher ...

I wanted to do something more creative than trade magazine work, but needed something stable.  There was a teacher shortage in L.A., and some friends of mine were preparing to take an exam and get an Emergency Teaching Credential.  I decided to do the same.  After passing the exam, I learned the basics of the Berlitz Language Method, and began teaching Adult ESL. The Berlitz method uses only the language it teaches.  Teaching in English was necessary, because the ESL students in L.A. came from all parts of the world.  Learning to face a classroom filled with immigrants and refugees from various walks of life, whose native languages ranged from Spanish, to Farsi, to Russian, to Armenian to Japanese, and beyond was engaging work and I enjoyed it.

I stopped teaching full time in 1993 when we moved to Memphis from Los Angeles, but I have enjoyed several opportunities to work as an adjunct writing instructor since them.


And so on ...

One thing led to another, as it usually does.  By 1996, I was married, living in Memphis, raising two daughters, and on the brink of starting a company with my husband. 


If you’ve read this far, thank you for being so interested.  When we meet, it will be your turn to tell me your story.  I'd love to hear it.


 Back to experience

 

How, where and why I learned to communicate well:


  2. 2 GOOD REASONS TO CONTACT ME ABOUT CREATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES:

1.)  YOU'RE NOT CONFIDENT THAT YOUR BRAND OR IMAGE IS WELL-DEFINED AND CONSISTENT ACROSS THE BOARD.


2.)  YOU NEED A FRESH IDEA ON A LIMITED BUDGET.


See other good reasons to contact me.

FUNdamental Question:

Has your business gotten so data-driven that you're losing touch with your own judgement?

Business is about people. 

Data only matters when it's

truly relevant and accurate.