Chick in Charge of her Nerves!

Ok, ok, I know I was supposed to write this week about time management, BUT...... the Indigo Girls just taught me a lesson.

Actually, I had to RE-learn a lesson and thought I'd pass it along in case you need a tune-up, like I did. Here's what happened, my producer on Mary in the Morning informs me that I'll be interviewing the Indigo Girls. Just like that. Its true that we interview very famous important people, and I should be behaving like a professional at this point in my broadcasting career (Ha!). Truth is, I still feel like I've been plunked down into a dream and when these big interviews pop up, they tend to happen very fast, maybe an hour ahead of time you get an e-mail that the celebrity is available and you either take it or lose it.

Understand, I am a huge fan of the Indigo Girls, their music got me through a rough patch in another life. But I know NOTHING about interviewing musicians. I'm comfy discussing marketing efforts and municipal budgets, not gigs and riffs.

Here's the lesson I RE-learned. Prepare as best you can and confess your nerves. Emily Saliers (the blond) calls my studio and casually says, "Hi Mary, this is Emily. You ready?". Keep in mind that I am still learning all the knobs and buttons over here and now I have an idol on the phone with me ready for her interview.

I wanted so badly to present myself as a seasoned pro. As soon as I heard her voice I bailed on that. "Hi Emily, I have to let you know that I don't get many chances to speak with rock stars and I'm more than a bit nervous. So, I'm going to do my best here, but anything you can do to help me out would be greatly appreciated..."

... Long pause of beastly silence.

"Hey, no problem, I've done thousands of interviews, we'll be fine", Emily graciously says with a casual tone. We chatted for a few moments and got to work. She was great and in the end said some very nice things to me off air. Whew!

The lesson is that I don't always need to be the Chick in Charge. If I'm going to learn new things, grow, expand, I need to accept the possibility that I might look completely inexperienced, because guess what???? We all are when we are learning.

Check out Indigo Girls at Interlochen on June 23rd!

This is the fun part....

I was asked to consult a business on some areas of concern regarding slipping sales, dipping response rates to marketing efforts and an overall slowdown of business. The manager seemed despondent, depressed and frustrated. They have a great product, superior service, yet they were not keeping pace with their plan.

Call me Little Mary Sunshine, the annoying optimist, but..... in my opinion this is when the fun starts. This is where you can tell who LOVES running and marketing a business and who just relies on formulas they learned in a seminar in 1996.

All of the business books you've poured through, the magazine article case studies you've pondered, the blogs you follow, the tips and tricks you've heard along the way when times were good. Now is the time that you get to actually put those golden nuggets of DIY in place and see what works!

If you love business and especially marketing, these are the best of times, when creative business minds produce their finest ideas. Perhaps motivated by fear or necessity, but regardless, you are forced to shake things up a bit. It is easy to get lazy when sales are steadily going up, your employees are enjoying healthy paychecks, and your clients pay their bills on time. So, now is the time to become the clever whipper-snapper of days gone by, when you were still fighting to show off your stuff.

Let me also say that for those of us who sign the BACK of a paycheck, now is also the time to show off your best stuff at work. With layoffs looming, you want to show off your best stuff when times are tough. Present a cost savings idea, dig deeper for new business, show your enthusiasm regardless of the economy.

Bottom line: Your attitude makes all the difference, for you, your co-workers and your own economic future. If you approach these challenges with enthusiasm, passion and the spirit to find the winning combination of efforts, you will not only increase your chances of great success but also gain the self-confidence of having come through it all a winner, no matter what.