Blogger Posts
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| Getting my workout on! |
My good friend,
+Bo Bozeman, recently lost his lab, Herschel, to cancer. We all hear about dogs being "man's best friend," but it's rarely as true as it was with Bo and Hersch. Bo and I bonded over our love of dogs and his dog's name, as my first "adult" dog was a Herschel as well.
Bo and Herschel were inseparable - side by side everywhere they went. As Herschel began to show his age, Bo added a new member to his family - Munson (In case you can't tell - Bo is a HUGE
+Georgia Bulldogs fan!). Munson was a lab puppy and, as one might expect, a holy terror. No matter what Bo did to work with Munson, Munson wouldn't listen. This was a far cry from Bo's first baby - Hersch. Herschel knew hundreds of commands and would even fetch his toys by name - my personal favorite being "Kill Tebow," a stuffed gator that, when Bo would shout, "Herschel - KILL TEBOW!" Herschel would go get from anywhere in the house and squeak like crazy.
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| My dogs sitting (and staying). |
After Herschel passed, I saw Bo's frustration with Munson starting to build, so I got Bo (and Munson) a present - I got them a
Dogtra remote training collar. For anyone who knows me or has met my dogs, this is the same device I use to work with my two pups (shown to the right). I can take them anywhere off leash and know that, even in a busy area, they will come when called. My older dog will even sit or lie down from 100 yards away and will stay when I call my other dog. The younger dog isn't there yet - but I'm confident she will be soon. The idea is that they get a buzz (like a cell phone) when they do something well, and a small shock (not painful) - meant to mimic a mamma dog's nipping/discipline when they hear the word "no." It's a fantastic tool for off-leash command training, and, for working dogs like mine and Bo's, it allows us to work with our dogs to keep their minds busy and their confidence high. If you want to read more about how discipline and work equate to confidence in dogs (and people), you can
read one of my old posts here.
It has been about a month since Herschel passed and Bo started working with Munson on the Dogtra, and I woke up yesterday morning to see this post on Bo's Facebook page:
While I'm happy to hear that the training is going well, I want to make sure that Bo understands - I didn't make his dog listen and stay close. I didn't make Munson more obedient. Bo did. He did the work. All I did was provide the tools and some basic instruction. Bo and Munson took it from there. I appreciate his appreciation for the collar- but I saw a valuable lesson here, and it is the connection between a Blog post that, from the title, should be about exercise but is instead about dogs.
I have some killer workout equipment at my house - a Concept2 Rower and a Precor Elliptical. They don't make me in shape. If I want to get in better shape, I have to use them.
For those of us who are fortunate enough to be leaders within businesses or any other types of organizations, it is critical that we understand and teach that it is NOT our responsibility to "get people into shape," literally or otherwise. It is our responsibility to
give them the tools, the instruction, and the support - the Dogtra and follow-up phone calls -- the workout equipment and accountability --the systems, knowledge, and push -- that will allow them to be successful.
It is our job to arm our people for battle, but ultimate victory or failure is in the hands of the combatant.
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| In memory of Herschel Bozeman. (Hersch and "Kill Tebow") |
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| Attendance at the Event Was Almost 1000 |
February 22-24th 2013 marked a major milestone for the DMC Atlanta team. At a major national meeting for companies in the outsourced sales and marketing industry, DMC President, +Adam Dorfman, was honored for his contribution to the direct sales industry.
Since opening DMC Atlanta in 2003, Adam has helped to build a team of over 30 offices generating over $1M a month in revenue. In recognition, Adam was presented with an award, honored as Keynote and Closing Speaker for the event of almost 1000 attendees, and presented with a watch to celebrate the achievement. As a bonus - Adam's family, including his father, +Larry Dorfman, Mother, Stepmother, Stepfather, Grandparents, and wife, +Lara Dorfman were in attendance to celebrate.
Additionally, Adam, Director of Operations +Jenna Huss, and Senior Partner Chris Auwarter all spoke to breakout groups to educate other managers and team members.
Senior Partner David Ahn was awarded top sales office for AT&T for 2012 out of over 100 companies nationwide.
Senior Partner Chad Harpole was awarded a brand new 2013 BMW Convertible for outstanding organizational growth.
We pride ourselves on being a team comprised of nothing but the best - and we proved this through our expansion and quality in 2012.
Congratulations team!
For the full set of pictures, visit our FLICKR page!
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| Chad with the keys to his new BMW |
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| AD having way too much fun in a breakout group. |
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| Some fatherly advice before the speech. |
I am fortunate enough to have been raised with the mentality that, no matter what you do, become the best at it, and learn to love it. If your job is to shovel horse manure, become the best shovel-er you can be, and do it with a smile and with pride-knowing that, sometimes, just doing your best is enough. I found this article on LinkedIn this morning, and I wanted to share. I love the idea of "giving yourself a promotion at work today." Great words for a Monday morning! (Link to the original article is HERE.)
"Our intention creates our reality." -Wayne Dyer
I have two secrets to share, about my first job in life. Here's the story:
Fifteen lousy bucks.
That's how much I earned my first night on the job selling Crunch ’n Munch in the fall of 1996. While in college at Boston University, I had taken a job as a vendor at Fenway Park and the Boston Garden (then called the Fleet Center). I was a snack hawker who walked up and down the aisles selling product. What most people don't know is that vendors are paid only in commission and tips—the more they sell, the more they make. And it's a seniority-based system- you have to work for years to get to sell the good stuff, like beer and hot dogs. My first day, as the low man on the totem pole, seniority-wise, I had been assigned a product called Crunch ’n Munch. I sold a grand total of 12 boxes and made the legal minimum, $15.
I decided later that night that while it was fun being at games, I wanted to at least make a decent living hawking Crunch ’n Munch. So my second day, (here's secret #1), I gave myself a promotion, and I decided to become not only a ballpark vendor, but an entertainer at work—a little singing, a little dancing, a little screaming, and a lot of goofy Dave. I sold 36 boxes, three times as many as the first night. I stepped up my efforts for the rest of the week. I'd be the first person to admit that I had no real talent as an entertainer. My only assets were passion, fearlessness, and the attitude to think of myself as an entertainer, not just another hawker. I began to scream at the top of my lungs each night, in an effort to pull attention away from the games and toward the buttery toffee popcorn with peanuts I was selling.
The attitude change paid off. Within weeks I had developed a persona as the “Crunch ’n Munch Guy," and regulars began to take notice. The in-stadium cameramen liked my shtick and began to feature my goofy dancing on the large-screen Jumbotron during timeouts. WhenThe Boston Herald published an article about me, a fan actually asked me to autograph her box of Crunch ’n Munch.
Secret #2: I decided at that moment to promote myself from ballpark vendor / entertainer to local celebrity. I asked the woman to borrow her Sharpie, and proceeded to sign unsolicited every box of Crunch 'n Munch I sold that night. Somehow, I helped change perception in the building by the end of that night - not only did you have to buy a box of Crunch 'n Munch, but you had to get it autographed by the Crunch 'n Munch guy.
Over the next three years, I was featured in The Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Fox Sports New England, and ESPN Sportscenter. I also sold a lot of Crunch ’n Munch. At my peak, I was selling - and signing - between 250 and 300 boxes per game and making, with commission and tips, between $400 and $500 a night—an excellent living for a college kid. There I was, utterly talentless, but using my attitude and others' perception to generate a nice income.
Eventually, of course, three years later with a college degree in hand, I decided to retire as the Crunch 'n Munch guy. But the lesson remained:
Redefine your job at work, change the way people perceive you - and you can become limitless.
There are many examples of people "giving themselves a promotion" at work:
There's the salesperson who becomes an expert consultant and whose customers come to him for help - driving sales through the roof.
There's the marketing assistant who becomes a thought leader by reading countless books and industry articles and then writing for the company blog.
There's the intern who works tirelessly to solve company problems and quickly not only gets noticed, but becomes indispensable.
There's the small business owner who becomes a spokesperson for her industry by doing media appearances and writing - creating the impression of a bigger business - and soon, actually growing a bigger business.
No matter what your job title is, you can get creative, choose to see your role differently, take on new tasks, and make a huge positive impression on customers, prospects, colleagues, and bosses.
What are you waiting for? Give yourself a promotion at work today.
---Now it's your turn. Have you ever redefined your job? Have you seen someone at your organization whose creativity ln defining her job led to great things? Have you seen organizations who support this type of thinking in its employees (or discourage it)? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!
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| Give Yourself a Promotion at Work Today |
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| Meet Hope! |
DMC Atlanta is excited to kick off March Madness with an awesome new
member of our administrative team! All smiles here in the office now that we
have Hope!
+Hope Welsh grew up in Chickamauga, a very small town near Chattanooga,
which is many times mispronounced. She attended
the University of West Georgia and completed her degree in Psychology in only
two years. While Hope joined the DMC
team in June of 2012, she has transitioned into a managerial
role, acting as our newest administrative recruiter. Hope’s philosophy is "work hard and make people
smile."
With her contagious laugh,
occasional snort, and incredible work ethic, Hope personifies this every
day. We asked Hope to complete this questionnaire so that everyone can get to know Hope a little better. Enjoy!
(Written by guest BLOGGER and DMC Atlanta Head of HR/Recruiting
+Ainsley Linus)
Hope's Essentials
1. Monkey cup- What Hope and her husband, Adam, drink out of at home and Hope's Charm necklace- The necklace has three different stones representing each family member's birth stone
2. Hope's Wedding Ring- Austrian Vintage Wedding Ring,
priceless; over 100 years old, passed down from her husband's great great
grandfather (Sorry, guys! She's taken!)
3.Hollister perfume- The only perfume Hope has worn since middle school! (no joke)
4. Hope's camera- Her go-to. She brings to every important event and believes a picture can capture a memory.
5. iPhone- Hope's IPhone 4.
6. Hope's favorite running shorts - she loves them so much that she doesn't ever wash them! (kidding . . .)
7. Hope's Bible- What Hope's parents gave her the first time
she left home to go to college. She keeps it at her nightstand and reads
from it every night before bed.
Ok, so I guess I need to start by apologizing for my lack of blogging at the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013. Not sure how I let it get away from me. Is it technically procrastination if there is no due date? Or, maybe I've just been too caught up in the new season of Real Housewives of Whatever. (kidding on that one).
2012 ended up being a truly banner year for our team at DMC. We grew from 11 offices to 33. We almost tripled in revenue. We promoted a bunch of new partners in the company. We got involved in amazing charities and gave back to the community in the form of
blood drives,
Operation Smile,
MOvember, and more.
In a sentence: It was awesome.
But it's time to move on. If we spend our time looking at what we did, we might lose focus on what we are GOING to do.
In January I had the opportunity to attend my first CES (International Consumer Electronics Show), where we met with potential new clients to expand our retail and B2B programs. I also had a chance to tour the Zappos! headquarters in Las Vegas and sit down to learn from some of their truly wonderful team members. Reading Tony Hsieh's book, "Delivering Happiness," was eye-opening for myself and
+Jenna Huss , so we have decided to take some cues from their culture to improve our own.
We have always put an intense focus on our people, our growth strategies, our community involvement, and our corporate culture - now we just need to remember to have fun while we're doing it! That's our top priority for 2013 - to have TON of fun, to reward our people's hard work, to give as much recognition as humanly possible, and to break last year's record for growth by having a team of happy, well-supported, learning, growing people who love what they do. We've installed a Wii and Foosball table in the lobby, had a day of massages for our top performers, hosted a record-breaking 34 donation blood drive, and this is JUST the beginning! We have big plans, so stay tuned.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read, and I promise to do a better job keeping everyone in the loop with what we have going on in DMC Land! Check out the pics below - just a taste of what's to come in 2013!
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PS: I've put a new focus on reading in the last few months. Here are some suggestions:
- Delivering Happiness Or, if some of you have short attention spans, you can always read the comic book version here!
- Learned Optimism
- Tribal Leadership
- The Five Levels of Leadership
In my commitment to read and learn more, I've also remembered that I'm not a great reader. If anyone else has this issue and is an auditory learner, I highly recommend Audible.com!
Here are some pictures from our first day of MOvember!
CLICK HERE to join our team!
CLICK HERE to join our team!
CLICK HERE to join our team!
CLICK HERE to join our team!
CLICK HERE to join our team!
Today is Halloween. Everyone knows what that means - tomorrow is the beginning of the most wonderful(ly creepy) time of the year - MOvember. Beginning tomorrow, myself along with the other men (and some very furry women - or at least fake-furry) of
DMC Atlanta will be taking on MOvember - Face First- for the next 30 days. We're joining the fight against cancers that affect men.
I believe that whenever we have a chance to raise awareness of something that will touch all of us at some point in our lives, it is our responsibility to do so. With great power comes great responsibility, and no power is greater than that of the 'Stache. It's ability to attract strange looks while simultaneously repelling women is unequal to that of any other form of facial expression - except perhaps teardrop tattoos - you know, because that usually means you've killed someone.
You can help in multiple ways:
- Join my team! CLICK HERE and become a part of something furry and big - kind of like Mr. Snuffelupagus - but not.
- Donate to my page! CLICK HERE to make a donation.
- BOTH! (do it . . .)
- Share this BLOG on Facebook/Twitter/Flickr/anythingelsethatyoucansharethingson!
I will update this BLOG and our website regularly with pictures and videos, so stay tuned. Please don't judge our creepiness - but do revel in all things 'MoTacular.
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