rescuedeskva.com Blog

I am a loyal and dedicated attendee to most events hosted by the local chamber of commerce. Once or twice a quarter, the chamber hosts an educational breakfast session with a local speaker who entertains the audience about everything from networking to sales to doing the books.

At last month’s event, an interesting phenomenon caught me off guard, twisting my insides into a rather liberated – albeit it a little confused – bundle of goo.

My inner introvert lost her first fight. Ever.

She NEVER loses a fight! She’s calculating and convincing and scrappy. She’s quick to remind me that I’m more comfortable laying low doing my own thing, not drawing too much attention to myself. She regularly points out that public recognition shoves me so far out of my comfort zone that I end up with a bruise.

But, I think she’s finally met her match. My inner business owner.

I wandered into last month’s breakfast event, pleasantly surprised to recognize a few faces and pleased to rekindle a few connections. I made my way into the standing-room-only, 60-person classroom, parked myself toward the back, and settled in for the presentation.

I noticed a woman I knew from a previous event up in the front of the room, helping the speaker set up.  Then, loud enough for God and most of the room to hear, she pointed me out to one of her colleagues.

“Hey! That’s Rachel! The Rescue Desk lady I told you about! You should meet her!”

Not only did her colleague turn to look at me, but so did half the room. In fact, I’m pretty sure the cars driving by outside slowed down to rubberneck.

Here’s how the 5-second dialogue played out in my head.

Inner Introvert: Ohmigod, ohmigod…everyone’s looking at us! Wha’dowedo?! Wha’dowedo?!

Inner Business Owner:  Dude, pipe down! This is AWESOME! Lookit all the people who just heard not only your name, but the name of your business! Wooo-hooo!!

Inner Introvert: Ohmigod, ohmigod…but EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT US! WHA’DOWEDO?!

Inner Business Owner:  I’ll TELL you what we’re going to do. We’re going to stand up, smile, say hello, shake her hand, and tell her how nice it is to meet her. Then, just because you’re a pain in my ass, we’re going to smile at everyone else in the damn room.

Inner Introvert: Ohmigod, ohmigod…BUT…BUT…

Inner Business Owner:  But nothing!  If you don’t chill out RIGHT NOW, I swear I’ll bust out the business cards and start sending them down this row of strangers….

It’s about time my inner introvert got her tail-end handed to her on a platter. She was long overdue.  

I think this is a lesson every introverted business owner eventually learns. In fact, no matter what your personality, I think everyone’s inner business owner needs to be a little feisty, willing to take whatever heat is necessary to protect a new and growing business. Introvert be damned.

A few weeks ago, I made the leap and upgraded my chintzy little MP3 player to a full-blown, 80-gig iPod.

I am not an avid music buff. I like what I like simply because it’s the backdrop to my life. I like blues because it adds texture to an already-mellow evening. Classic rock is the anthem for my “leaving it all behind” daydream to become a roadie. Classical tends to inspire my creativity. Country is the soundtrack to my northwoods-loving alter ego.

But, as I peruse my new iTunes store, I got to thinking. What would my eclectic collection of tunes say about me?

Admit it … you have songs on your iPod that you’d be mortified if anyone knew you not only listened to, but also had on your “Most Often Played” playlist.

But, an even more random train of thought is what those artists would say if they knew they were parked right next to each other on said playlist?

Would Shania Twain and KT Tunstall get along? Who would win the fight between Heart and Poison? Would a duet ensue between Etta James and Tom Petty? Would Tony Bennett buy Norah Jones a drink, or would he be too busy chatting with B.B. King? Or what about Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Muddy Waters and Madalyn Peroux … now that’s a “We Are The World” group if I’ve ever seen one.

I think our iPod collections are one of the truest, purest representations of who we are. It’s the soundtrack to our personality – old-school, new-age, classic-rock, Top-40 all rolled into one.

An appreciation for this hodge-podge of personality goo is something I bring with me to most of my client meetings. A big part of why I love doing what I do is because I get to know and partner with a huge variety of wildly fascinating people. To me, the people I work with are much more than the projects they send my way … they’re also duck-hunting, dog-training, opera-singing, model-train-loving, fashion-forward, diverse hobbyists of all shapes and sizes.

So here’s my random thought for the day. Next time you meet someone new – whether it be a big-wig CEO, your kid’s new teacher, or the eccentric guy who moved in down the street – remember, don’t judge an iPod by its playlist. 

Like most small business owners, I’m always conscious of presenting my best self to clients and business acquaintances. I have a quality (albeit relatively small) collection of jackets, skirts and business suits, I never leave the office without my bag filled with business cards and brochures, and I walk into every meeting and event fully pulled together.  After all, who’s going to trust a professional virtual assistant to keep them organized if she’s not organized herself?

But, let’s face it, sometimes always putting my best professional foot forward takes its toll, especially after several weeks of back-to-back meetings, networking events and staying on my toes when clients call.

My pulled-together self has a secret weapon – R.U.N.  When I execute the launch sequence for R.U.N., I do so far out of sight from my day-to-day professional self.

Codename: R.U.N.

Operation: Rachel Up North

My family has a dinky little two-bedroom cabin that’s planted right into the middle of the Wisconsin north woods.  It’s the first place I run to whenever I’m lucky enough to have a brief lull in my busy schedule.

The first thing I do when I get there? I scrub any trace of makeup off my face, I pull on my favorite pair of old jeans, get my trusty red baseball cap down from the closet, and slap on an oversized $3 sport watch I picked up at a local flea market.

No business suits, no leather-bound portfolios, and no PDA tethered to my hip.

The “raw” me lives like this for two or three days … scouting the nearby trail for firewood, wading in the nearby creek with my dog, taking early-morning hikes looking for a glimpse of the resident black bear, living on hot dogs, and quietly meditating in front of the fire … and doing it all in ratty jeans, baseball cap and cheap watch.  The only technology allowed (per the insistence of my mother) is the 15-year-old microwave in the kitchen.

Last time I returned from a recent three-day retreat from my north woods hideaway, I got to thinking how imperative it is for me to occasionally get back to basics. It’s undeniably one of the biggest weapons in my business-building arsenal. When I’m R.U.N.ing, I simply let whatever happens, happen. I let my thoughts come and go freely. I don’t let a clock dictate my day. I ban the words “I should” from my vocabulary. 

It never fails to provide me with the energy and enthusiasm required to tackle challenges that await back at my office with gusto, and gives me the perspective I need to think outside the box.  I liken returning from my R.U.N. to the middle-of-the-night answer that comes after days of swimming around in the muddy waters of a seemingly impossible question. 

So, take it from me, sometimes the best thing to do when you’re feeling claustrophobic under mounds of paperwork and projects is find a place where you can spend some time just “being.” Be with yourself, be with your family or friends, be with your thoughts.  But, most importantly, just be.

And don’t forget your baseball cap.

My office sits at the top of a hill, right on the edge of a nice little neighborhood. As I sip my morning coffee, I often catch myself staring out the window contemplating something I read in the morning paper, or taking a few minutes to think through the best way to tackle my day’s to-do list. I watch the garbage truck rumble by on Wednesday mornings, kids flying off the bus at the end of the school day, and usually oblige my dog by looking out the window when she lets out a warning bark that alerts me when another dog is incoming from 100 yards out.

This morning, I saw two young boys playing around on the sidewalk. All of a sudden they crouched down, and both went flying down the hill at mock speed on their “wheelie” shoes.

My first thought? “OHMIGOD, they’re going to KILL themselves!”

Of course they didn’t, and they clearly didn’t share my panicked enthusiasm as evidenced by the whooping, squealing, and high-fives that drifted up from the bottom of the hill.

But, it got me wondering. Whatever happened to the days when my first reaction wasn’t a high-pitched freak-out? When was it that my initial thought was “That looks like BIG fun! Let me try!”

I understand that as we get older, we shed pieces of our youthful invincibility every time we survive yet another mistake, risk or challenge, vowing “Holy crap, I’ll never do THAT again!”

But, I think it’s important to try to hold onto at least a little piece of that for as long as possible.

I like to call it Educated Mischief.

It’s kind of like taking “calculated risks,” but runs a little deeper into our inner-selves. It’s that part in all of us that longs to tap into our wisdom and experiences, simply so we can see if we truly can buck the system, take a chance, and put all the faith we can muster in ourselves … and come out ahead.

It’s like taking our years of life experiences for a spin,  putting them to use in ways make traditional conformists cluck their tongues and shake their heads.  It gives a voice to our inner defiant child who wants nothing more than to say “Oh yeah?! Watch me.”

I think anyone who dares to ignore conformity has the capacity for educated mischief. In fact, I think it rears its head in all of us at least once in awhile. It’s the career-ladder-climber who dares to strike out and work for herself. It’s the Mom who doesn’t take any crap when it comes to defending her kids. It’s the guy who musters up the courage to stand up to his bully boss. It’s the high-powered suit-wearing executive whose absolute favorite part of the day is evening … when she moonlights as a dog-walker.

It’s the kid who channels months of wheeling around in the driveway just to fly down a hill.

Don’t be afraid to partake in a little educated mischief. Embrace your inner rebel and let it out to play once in awhile, and see where it leads you. You might be surprised what you find when you trust a little unconventional wisdom.