For as long as I have written this blog, I have always tried to maintain a very high level of transparency. It’s important to me that readers are able to share my life experiences with me whether they be good, bad, disappointing, painful, scary, or uncertain. At times, it’s been frightening to be so open with my life and emotions, but I always understood it was the only way I could truly allow people to know the real me. If you’ve followed this column, then you have been right alongside me during some interesting times:
• Launching a new company
• Struggling to find new clients
• Speaking at prestigious industry events
• Giving my wife CPR after a cardiac arrest and the subsequent days wondering if she would survive
• Selling my company to PromoCorner
All of those events – each one of them – evoke different emotions in me and take me back to very specific moments. For example, I recall the excitement-filled anxiety I felt before speaking at commonsku’s skucon event in January of 2016. Even though I’m generally very comfortable speaking in public and I knew the subject matter, I was going to be doing so in front of people I respect, such as Mark and Catherine Graham, Paul Kiewiet, Danny Rosin, Jason Lucash, and Kirby Hasseman to name a few. I can still feel my heart racing and my palms sweating as I walked onto the stage, and I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything in the world. That anxiety made me feel alive.
Emotions are what make us feel. Without feeling, I don’t believe it’s possible to experience life.
I love music. More specifically, I love guitar-driven rock music with Van Halen being my favorite. From the slight anger of “Unchained” to the reflective “Right Now,” their music moves me emotionally. I’ve seen them perform live somewhere around 20 times and I have never left a Van Halen show without feeling that I could conquer the world. That is a powerful emotion.
People who know me – even just a little – will tell you that I am rarely rendered speechless. In just about any situation I am seldom without a comment, remark, joke, or quip. Last Wednesday, I received an anonymous gift that not only stunned me into silence, it brought a burst of different emotions. An unnamed group of “promo friends” sent me an exact replica of Eddie Van Halen’s famous red, white, and black striped “Frankenstein” guitar. Along with the guitar came a note that explained why it was sent to me and read, in part:
“Over the past several years you have given much of your time, talent, and energy into helping others and we don’t want you to think it goes unnoticed. You have raised the bar in the industry and never asked for anything in return. To thank you for what you have done and what you continue to do, a group of people came together to express gratitude. Keep pushing us.”
Candidly, I struggle to feel worthy of the gift or such recognition as I don’t know if I’ve truly done anything to deserve it. I’m honored to accept the gift and will cherish it – and the feelings associated with it – for a lifetime. I mentioned above that the note and guitar evoked a flurry of emotions and I’m not ashamed to share that I cried last Wednesday. Those tears were a mix of joy, gratitude, and humility – the very same emotions I instantly feel when I look at the guitar today. Perhaps the most puzzling part about the gift is that the people responsible have chosen to remain anonymous. After numerous calls, texts, and emails, no one has taken credit for this breathtaking act of kind terrorism – and maybe that’s what truly makes this entire event that much more profoundly meaningful to me.
So, other than to attempt to express my own gratitude to the “guilty” parties, what’s the point of all of this?
I could tie in some sales, branding, or marketing lesson, but it would feel trite to do that. To me, the point is that in a world where it seems the news is always negative, so many positive and beautiful things happen and it would be a crime not to share them. This guitar and accompanying note represents the beauty that dwells within each of us. The surprise and delight in receiving such a thoughtful gift from an anonymous group of friends is a feeling I get every time I look at the guitar.
Perhaps the lesson is that expressing and receiving thanks is one of the greatest human pursuits. To the readers of this article, I hope this inspires you to reach out and convey your gratitude to someone you feel deserves it. To the silent senders, I hope they smile when they read this and it evokes the emotion of joy within them, secure in the knowledge that they really got me.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium sized-promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and developing winning RFP responses, and presenting winning promotional products solutions to Fortune 500 clients. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.