Mary, the Iron-Fisted Goddess of Holiday Order

Ten years ago, I would have laughed if you'd told me that one day I would slice 1/2 inch patties of cookie dough from a tube and have the nerve to call them Christmas cookies. Until just a couple of years ago, I annually devoted one entire pre-holiday Saturday exclusively to silver-polishing duty.

Yes, Mary Rogers has dramatically lowered her standards for holiday perfection. I ate this year's Thanksgiving dinner, on Thanksgiving Day, in a restaurant. Gasp! When out-of-town family arrived over the holiday weekend, I had no meal planned for the 10 of us. We were going to "play it by ear". I had heard of this ear thing, but never tried it myself. I didn't have enough beds for all, but we figured it out.

Other people, who regularly just go with the flow, play it by ear, wing it, figure it out as they go, have driven me crazy my entire life. I needed a game plan, meal plans, sleeping arrangements, matching china and silver, a schedule, little matching condiment bowls for the dining table, clean place mats, Christmas bows that match the darned wrapping paper. These other people seemed so disorganized and happy and it drove me absolutely nuts. These were fine organizational skills for my career, not for a happy family.

Somehow, through magic fairy dust or complete and utter burn out, I have found my way to the other side. I wish that I could give you the magic formula, the road map, the secret answer to how you get there, but it is honestly just turning a switch in your mind. When I didn't spend hundreds of dollars at the grocery store, hours upon hours preparing the house and the perfect meal, guess what happened? Well, everybody had a much better time at Aunt Mary's house than they used to. And so did Aunt Mary. I enjoyed time playing games with my grown nephew and his dad, I slept in the next morning and let my husband make breakfast that included Spam. I sat in my robe while others made their plans for the day. It was the best time we'd spent together as a family in a long time.

The difference was that Mary, the Iron-Fisted Goddess of Holiday Order had left the building. With any luck, she won't come back for Christmas.

What's in a name? The Story behind Marigold.

The first time I saw somebody spell the name of my company "Marygold", I knew I had a problem. That was never the intent of the brand name. Sheer coincidence, I swear. If you are a gardener, you would understand.

Here was the idea for the company:

• Bring a lot of attention to women in business, a diverse and sometimes wildly individualistic group.
• Highlight their numbers, but accentuate their personal uniqueness and flair.
• Offer organization and structure to the group with out stealing the glory of the spotlight
• Deflect criticism of women in business in general, and of women business owners more specifically.
• Be a strong champion for others with well grounded financial structure for company growth.

Well, a gardener, familiar with Marigolds will see the analogy:

• Marigold plants make excellent border flowers, drawing the eye to the entire garden without being the showpiece. The flowers within the garden, delphinium, salvia, snapdragons, impatience, hollyhocks, geraniums, etc... are the showy, flamboyant, gorgeous centerpieces, they just need a structure to pull the viewer's focus together in an orderly fashion.
• Marigolds are considered excellent companion plants because they ward off insects from the other flowers in the garden.
• Marigolds are hardy suckers. It isn't easy to kill a Marigold! They are tenacious little workers requiring little to no attention.

We are almost 5 years into the Marigold Experiment, how well have we done to achieve what we set out to do? Love to hear your comments!

Your friend,
Mary Rogers

Sitting on a footstool....

I'm trying to keep up the pace with all that is happening this week. Currently, I'm sitting on a footstool in the back of the Marigold booth at the Chamber's EXPO, hovering over a laptop writing this blog. Isn't technology great.

The question every one is asking me today is "How do you guys do EVERYTHING you do?".

Well, honestly... we end up doing things like I am right now: Sitting on a footstool, huddled in a corner, blogging on a laptop! At 7PM last night our team was in full swing at Chef du Jour at Phil's on Front, 9PM the team is putting the finishing touches on the Expo booth, 4AM we're getting Mary in the Morning ready to roll, then everyone over to EXPO to spread the love. The Marigold e-News goes out this afternoon, hence the blogging in the corner while the team chats with visitors to our booth.

We all love what we do, and I hope it shows. There is never an internal crisis or a"feels like a distaster" moment that doesn't leave us laughing our butts off. We cover as much ground as we can, cut ourselves a lot of slack, bring along as many people as we can on the sweet ride of life and help folks make money and contacts in the process.

You are always welcome to join in our fun, as a listener to Mary in the Morning, a visitor to a Marigold event, a sponsor of either, etc... Do join in!

Menopause, Madness and Mary

If there were more women in the U.S. House and Senate, the Health Care Reform Bill would include subsidized disability leave for women going through the stages of menopause. Unfortunately, not the case.

I have been extremely open and vocal about my own experience with peri-menopause and have been flattered and somewhat surprised by the praise from doctors in our area for making it a more comfortable conversation for women to have with their doctors, therapists, husbands and friends. I encourage women to learn as much as they can about their choices in managing symptoms. Marigold is bringing Dr. Pamela Smith to Traverse City this Thursday (11/12) to speak on the topic of our competitive edge, at all stages of our lives. Although her presentation will be of interest and relevant to all ages, I cannot say enough about the difference her approach to menopause made for me. Click here for reservations.

I was only 43 when my body started playing tricks on me and never would have guessed that it was the beginning of menopause. Soon after my body betrayed me, my mind walked out the door. I can honestly say that there were moments when I thought I had early-stage Alzheimer's Disease. No joke. I was very concerned that I would have to quit my job and find a new line of work. Can you imagine being Mary in the Morning, live on-air and having a hard time focusing on what the guest was saying... praying they wouldn't stop talking until I found my mind? It happened. It happened a lot. Still does, but not nearly as frightening. Ok, so I forgot what pimentos were called, and I refered to a bird house as a bird box(?????). But I can generally get through the day now with my sense of humor guiding the way.

No solid sleep, night sweats, wild mood swings, mental dexterity of a raw oyster, irregular periods so heavy I couldn't leave the house, etc... This is why I talk on the show about menopause. Some women have no idea that this is what can happen. For some, it is a walk through the park, for me it has been like a terrorist attack on my very being.

I now take a handful of supplements daily, give myself B12 shots in my thigh twice a week (has done wonders for fatigue), and although I still need to regularly tweak my dosages, I'm working with my doctor and feel that I am in charge. Ok, maybe not in charge, but I am definitely a deputy of my health.

I hope you will come to Marigold Over Lunch and get the most up-to-date research available on the topic of Female Hormones and Your Competitive Edge. I am living proof that arming yourself with information is the best offense.

Hormonally yours,
Mary

Zing Train Take-away

Marigold brought Zing Train to town last week and the 150 people who took part in all or some of the day have been raving about the content shared by Stas' and Ann from Zingerman's. I think each person had a different aha moment that they wanted to share as soon as they got back to their own business.

Mine was this: Customer service isn't just for customers. Customer service extends to employees, co-workers, vendors and yes, even competitors. How we treat other people and organizations contributes to our brand and reputation in the community.

If a co-worker is being crabby, instead of blowing them off or complaining about their bad attitude, maybe an offer of help would break their bad-day cycle.

• To the receptionist about to explode: "Looks like some one really teed you off, can I answer phones for you for 5 minutes so you can take a break?".
• To the vendor or supplier sounding overwhelmed by your order: "I know you guys are crazy right now, want me to call you back in an hour?"
• To your business partner who can't focus on your conversation: "I can see you have something important going on that's distracting you, should we shelve this project for a few days?'

In each of these cases we could legitimately complain that the other person was not being "professional" or whatever other derogatory term you choose. But haven't we all been there, when a kind word of understanding without a bunch of questions would have been sooo appreciated.

Unless this is a chronic situation, being helpful in their "moment" creates such a better environment for everybody.

Mary