Amazon Drop-out vs. College Interns - How I got to inspire others! 7/21/19
I planned to go jogging and get a good sweat in this morning, drink coffee, work on my budget, go to the small town of Keystone and walk around aimlessly, go to the pool, have dinner at Ruby's, and then watch TV. Exciting, right? Sounded like a pretty good day to me. Now, I will tell you what I have done so far.
- Spent 30 minutes walking the dogs around right after waking up.
- Jog/walked for 25 minutes.
- Had 2 giant cups of coffee with a grilled chicken sandwhich
- Worked on my bank account, made my RV payment, & paid Capital One.
- Identified the Northeast states I want to visit.
- Started talking to some maintenance guy outside of the women's restroom.
So far, good, right?
Now let's back up...why would I talk to some maintenance guy outside of the women's restroom? Am I crazy? Partially...yes. But, I also have a habit of saying good morning to people or hello to them if they get within 5 feet of me. This is something I adopted at Amazon. So, I said Hello, and he said Hello, and then he asked if I was on some tour or something. And well, that is how you start a conversation with a stranger! Scary, right? No! This is the story of what follows... - cue dramatic Star Wars music- I crack myself up.
Guess what? He wasn't a maintenance guy. He is the owner of the campground I am staying at in Black Hills, SD! His campground has sites for RV's, Tents, and Cabins you rent out. On the property is a shower house, playground, pool, coffee & cafe shop, and common area. It's a very nice campsite with great customer service. 16 acres of the campsite are active (with spots for RV's and tents) the other couple of acres are grassy fields and hills. Himself and his wife are actually in the process of planning another campground in Texas were their vacation home is located! So, they are doing pretty good. He also participates in an Internship program with local colleges. He currently has 3 interns that spend the summer with him working for experience. So, the conversation goes on and on. I found out he worked the corporate lifestyle for 21 years and wore suits and ties. He shared that he gave it all away and 'bailed out like me' (this was a compliment to him, ha...so I took it as one) to run his own business. He works 100 hour weeks but he loves it because he isn't playing the game anymore and he works 100 hours for himself and his own business. He also takes pride in working with the Interns and helping them gain life experience with their schooling. You can tell he takes it very serious and has them work on extra assignments and he reports he is very tough on them. But, it's all for a good reason. In turn he got to learn about my corporate past, how I got to where I am today, and why I am traveling for a year. I even ran a business idea past him...because I knew he would be honest and tell me if it was a dud. He was very supportive but real. People! This is how you connect with each other! You make eye contact, you say hello, you ask questions, and treat everyone with respect. Wether you think they are a maintenance man or a business owner! After all of this...and me holding my pee for another 15 minutes an exciting thing happened. Darrell, the campground owner, asked me to speak with his interns. He asked me to share my story with them, let them ask questions, and give them advice and inspiration. He reported that he was afraid they were tired of listening to him, they could relate to my age and story, and that they needed to see that 'it' was possible. This made me feel so good!
Someone asking me to speak to young women about the possibilities of life, a chance to share my story, an opportunity to connect with others and motivate! I am so proud that I was given the opportunity to experience this!
Of course I said, 'Yes, I would love to sit down and speak with them!' Just a short hour or two later we made it happen. Now, picture this...here I am, a woman in work out shorts, no make up, hair in a ponytail, no job, living in an RV, still drinking coffee at 1:30 PM, and Happyyyyy. Sitting down and speaking with 2 bright eyed, hopeful, hardworking, young women. I had no urge to sell them something or put a glamorous twist on my life. This is me, as a human, connecting with them. Sharing the positive, hard, negative, regretful, best moments of my life story.
Myself, Shana, and KT were suppose to have a 15 minute inspirational conversation. It lasted at least an hour and I enjoyed every moment of it. I have to admit I got nervous 2 minutes before I met them! I heard Darrell call them over the radio. As soon as I heard their names I started thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is real. I'm about to give 'advice' to two young women...what do I know? Am I just going to sound crazy? They will probably think I am crazy. I look crazy, my sweater has a hole in it. They are so young and fresh they won't want to hear what I have to say. Ahhhh my chest and neck are getting blotchy and red....Just be Natural!' 'Hello ladies!' I said as I sat down with them in the cafe at the campground.
Of course, I had nothing to worry about. They were very kind and open to information and feedback. I started by asking them questions and sharing silly facts about myself. When I speak publicly I lead with laughter and lightheartedness because it calms me down and makes me feel like people can easily relate to me or let their guard down. Like, 'Hey, we are all humans, let's just have a conversation...thats informational.' They were excited to hear my story and ask me questions about my career, why I decided to quit, and how I handled bosses I didn't like. Ha, I don't know if they liked my feedback on the boss question but sometimes you just have to suck it up!
They both want to open their own businesses. Shana wants to run a AirBnB or a BnB in Arkansas, her home state. And KT wants to own a Pretzel (food) truck in North Carolina. They are both working on business plans and have 2 weeks left of their internship. They are also extremely different! Shana has all the confidence and will power but thinks she is too opinionated, she also struggled to come up with her strengths but knew exactly what her weaknesses were. So, I assigned her some homework...to identify her strengths because she has plenty of them and be comfortable with owning how strong she is! KT knows one of her strengths is time management but she feels she is too pessimistic and she doesn't appreciate or get along with her boss. She also got some homework. Of course, it dealt with identifying issues with her boss as a learning opportunity and utilize her bosses weaknesses to turn her into an even better leader when she has her own employees. I think during this conversation the 3 of us learned things from each other. We had some laughs, they took notes (which was a HUGE compliment to me) and we hugged at the end of the conversation!
My heart is so happy today! Not only did I connect with Darrell, the owner of the campground and receive great advice about running my own business but I received one of the best compliments by receiving the chance to connect with 2 amazing young women at his campground!
This is what I want to do. It came so natural. After sitting down and shaking hands with these individuals the story, advice, and words just flowed out. Darrell joined us at the end of the conversation and added that, 'he knows what I need to do after my journey.' In his eyes I need to be a motivational speaker and in the interim be a sales woman! ha. 'You could sale a cold hot tub to anyone!' I took both of these career choices as a compliment!
The main point of this entry is to share my awesome experience of connecting and motivating these young women. But, I also want to encourage you to be open to experiences and people. What will be, will be. Stay open, say yes, and if your day doesn't go as planned...be thankful! Welcome the change in plan and make the best of it.You never know, you might be surprised at what the universe has in store for you!
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