This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
Okay, it’s week four in January, and I’m exhausted. Perhaps the new year vibes have worn off and everyone’s loathing the grind again, but it’s hard to stay focused when there are so many forces against us. Distractions. Two scheduled meetings fell through this past week, and it was a reminder to me about how technology can fail us. Something as simple as having someone’s phone number (and then actually USING it) would have been helpful.
Photo: Daisy Hernandez
I had the honour of being on a panel at an event last weekend called A RADICAL EVENING OF SELF-BELIEF and it’s awesome that we all resonated with the challenges of battling against ourselves. It’s the self-doubt and the fear of failure that’s the most paralyzing, yet what we all need to get over to live life and to become our own success stories. This is the human struggle. It’s real, and it never ends, does it?
Last week, the Board of Change amalgamated with two other organizations and so we’ve got a membership here now. I’m stoked to join the community and see what we can all do (three times as strong) as a collective. It’s about time business spoke up for the environment more, because God knows the government’s doing a shit job of it.
On the conversation tip, I’m enjoying engaging more with people on a human level. And, I breezed through Kelly Cutrone’s If You Want to Cry, Go Outside again after re-reading Normal Gets You Nowhere. Despite the fact that it was written seven years ago, it’s the modern bible for women. Cutrone talks about the keys to her success being her relationships (and business savvy), not social media or well-written releases.
I’m going to buy myself a copy and see if I can even get it signed when I go to New York on my honeymoon. I may not have been able to join the Women’s March on Saturday, but I’m telling you, if you’re a woman, pick this one up.
I’ve been reading more articles about how important women are in the workplace too. A “woman’s office” would look more open, more collaborative. I’m not a fan of regularly scheduled meetings, but I would hope that when meetings are scheduled, they contain quality conversations. And this is what I feel is missing in the business world right now. A mix of intention to communicate, and quality. Not everyone gets it, but they will, in time.
This is going to sound super complain-y, but I am so sick of Vancouver businesses not returning e-mails or phone calls. Should I be texting you? I’ve been having conversations lately with other colleagues about how we act like we’re such a world-class city but everyone seems to be out doing yoga or going for coffees that no one wants to actually talk about how we can help each other grow our businesses (and not pay $12-15 an hour for Marketing strategy and implementation), so that we can actually afford to live in this city. I get the balance thing (no one loves refined sugar-free ice cream like I do), but given the price of the lifestyle we want, we should either be paying ourselves 3x more than we are, or working 3x harder than New Yorkers do. And I just don’t feel like it’s happening. You tell me!
On a personal note, I’ve now given away two items on Freecycle.org. The demand for free items there is surprising, and it’s so much more gratifying to meet the person you’re giving to vs wonder where your items are going to go when you drop them off in a charity bin or at a goodwill store. Again, it’s about quality of interactions. Why do we even need malls anymore? I pray for the day when retail space is converted to the social housing that they keep saying is so needed in the news, or rented out to consumers who want to sell or give away their unneeded items.
I’m off to the post office now to ship the second item I’ve sold on eBay this month. Yes, it’s money in my pocket right now, but I’m glad to be of service to someone who wants this item so much that they put in the effort to outbid for it. And this is all I’ve ever wanted to do in my life. Serve. And I know I’m not the only one who wants to do this. Sometimes it just seems so goddamn hard.
