Well I have my first conversation under my belt and it went.....not exactly as planned. But I guess that's the point of this entire project right? I've said from the beginning that I don't know where this journey will lead or what we will learn and this first conversation proved that to be true.
I flew to St. Louis to meet with Maxine Clark, founder and CEO of Build-a-Bear Workshops. Being the organized, professional person I am, I arrived at the office 40 minutes prior to my appointment and sat patiently in my rental car as I did some last minute preparation like putting new batteries in the videocassette recorder I bought for ten dollars on Craigslist. I decided to practice recording so when I met with Maxine I wouldn't be fumbling around and we could get right to business. I pressed play....worked fine. I pressed record.....I pressed record....pressed it again and it didn't work! I had been preparing for this conversation for a month so why didn't I test the record option before I handed over my ten dollars? First lession learned!
So I walked into the reception area with my pad of paper full of questions and notes...and no recorder. A few minutes later, I was greeted by Maxine's assistant. As she led me back through the office I began to realize just how large this operation was. It was deceiving from the reception area but as I was led to the back-- past offices, cubicles, and walls covered in bright blue, yellow and red-- it hit me what a giant entity this was and I was on my way to meet its' founder. I was led into the boardroom and was greeted by Maxine Clark.
Maxine was very gracious and personable. She asked me a bit about my background and then she began to talk. Within the first five minutes I realized that my conversation was not going to go as planned and that my questions that I had spent a month preparing were not going to be asked. Instead, I listened as Maxine gave me some really great advice about my career and career path. However, this was not what I flew there for.
My hour with Maxine went by very quickly and the next thing I knew I was sitting back in my rental car staring at my useless videocassette recorder and wondering why I wasted money that I don't have on a plane ticket to spend an hour with a power house of a woman who gave me career advice. It made me question this entire project, myself, and my journey. Either I could cry and give up or really ponder that past hour and think about what I learned from it. Surely there had to be some take-a-way....something I could share with you. And yes indeed there was.
I realized that I am not a journalist. I thought it would be easy to conduct these conversations...that I would meet with interesting women, instantly get my questions answered, and discover something enlightening that I could share on my blog. But what I realized is that those journalists that we see on tv make their job look easy because that's what they're good at....it's either their gift or they've mastered their techinque through years of practice. This made me think of my career...my job...what I do for a living. I constantly receive praise and compliments on how well I do my job. However I never truly have taken those compliments seriously or to heart. This experience reminded me that my job does take a special skill set in order to do it well. I merely overlook this fact because these special skills are something I've mastered.....it's something that comes naturally and I take this "gift" for granted. Think about your current professional role. You may be feeling stuck, like you're not contributing, not challenged. However, I urge you to think about the skills you bring to the table that make you successful in your job and the difference you make for those around you by doing your job well. Not everyone has these skills, nor can just anyone do your job. If you've lost sight of that fact because you've been in your role for a while....maybe itching to do something different....I challenge you to take a new perspective on your role and celebrate your "gifts" you bring to work every day.
I also learned to watch my expectations. I went into this conversation thinking I would get all my questions anwered....that it would head a certain way. My expectations were shattered and I was initially disappointed. However, we don't learn from our successes, we learn from our failures. Although my expectations were not met, I chose to alter them and focus on what I learned, not on what went wrong. What have you learned from your failures or shattered expectations? Come on....there must be something positive you can find. We are given obstacles, set-backs, and struggles so we can learn, grow, and ultimately find new and better possibilities.
And I learned never to buy a used videocassette recorder without first testing to see if it works. Better yet, what was I thinking buying a videocassette recorder in the first place? I am shopping around this weekend for a brand new, digital recorder.
[Although I am not a journalist, I realize that I can only get better at this "conversation thing" so I will continue to practice my interviewing technique and I am confident I will improve with every new conversation......hang in there with me on this journey. It will get better :)]
