Ready, Story, Go!

Today, after almost six months without contact, I gave a courtesy call to a client, the representative of a wonderful organization that I’ve really enjoyed working with in the past.

Are you in the car behind me, she asked.

No, I laughed, should I be?

She continued, you see, I’ve just turned off the highway into your town.  I thought maybe you saw me in the car? 

No, I was just thinking about you, wondering what you guys are up to, how everything is?, I replied, I’m in my office!

How strange, she said.  Will you come and meet us for coffee, we’re getting together, she added referring to her colleague, we’d both love to see you and have some ideas and plans to discuss with you! 

I’d love to, I said.

As I drove up to the coffee shop where they were meeting, I was smiling to myself thinking about how the universe delivers every single time….. I realized that it is exactly a year since my first meeting with these wonderful women.

It was the same kind of day; with a warm breeze, the feeling that spring is here and summer not far away.  The purple blossom on the big tree at the edge of my neighborhood had just taken me by surprise.    Every year it seems to appear overnight and then there is the magical two weeks where every day you think it can’t possibly get more beautiful, and it does!

Exactly a year ago, I had responded to a query on a local forum.  They were looking for some support in public speaking skills and it is a non-profit who’s ideology I love!  They asked to meet with me immediately.  The meeting happened the very next day.  I had done no preparation whatsoever.  I met with them and simply told them my story; the story of who I am, what I do and how I could help their organization.  And of course why I wanted to!

I was not at all nervous, I was not even slightly stressed.  I just told my story. 

And they loved it.  Two days later, when a presenter dropped out of an important meeting they were holding, guess who they called?  Yes, and I jumped at the chance to work with them and that led to another 6 workshops.

Never underestimate how powerful your story is. When you are ready to tell it at the drop of a hat, amazing opportunities arise.

I have seen this happen again and again.  When you can easily and eloquently articulate what it is that you do, what your blessings are in the world and how you can serve others…..the universe delivers the chances for you to do just that!  And you’ll get well paid for it too!

Just as the blossom on the trees sneak up on me every year, the opportunities to learn, grow, serve and contribute are there at exactly the right time, sometimes hiding, sometimes right in front of my eyes.

The trick is to pay attention, to notice the beauty, the opportunity and to be ready to take action and be truly grateful as it manifests.

Your story is the key to being ready to take action – so if you don’t know how to tell it, now’s the time to find out!

There has never been a better time for you to start realizing how powerful your story is! 

I’d love to hear about chance meetings that became opportunities for you, won’t you write a comment below?

Best wishes and best stories

Lisa

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6 comments on “Ready, Story, Go!

  1. Hi Lisa,

    My favorite chance meeting happened just after graduating from culinary school. I had taken a year off from my marketing consulting business to finally do something “for me”.

    Anyway, I was shopping at Neiman Marcus and ended up meeting the General Manager. (I thought he was just another shopper.) When the conversation turned to what I did for a living I told him I was considering a career change.

    Long story short, he planted the idea that I should follow my heart, and hired me as a pastry consultant. I used that credibility as a springboard to launch a pretty successful catering/restaurant consulting business. My relationship with the store lasted five years.

    I’ve since gone back to my old career but would like to create an information or service product within that niche. Any ideas?

    Cheers,

    Brenda

    • Thanks for sharing your story Brenda….why not take a look at the Story Community Mastermind program…perfect for getting lots of ideas and support as you discovery and create your new story! best wishes, Lisa

  2. Back in 2002, I was working full-time as a producer, writer, reporter for a my city’s government access cable channel. One day I was out in the field with a cameraman doing a story on the one year anniversary of 9/11. As we were about to head back to the station, a woman approached me, and gave me her card. I’ll just call her “Grace.” She was the president and founder of a local writers group. Even though I was always looking for positive stories to cover in the city, and I’m a poet, and an avid reader, I never called her.

    In 2004, I was still working in the same job, but had also taken on the position of production supervisor. In this position, I had to attend city-wide communications meetings. “Grace,” that same woman I’d met in 2002 ended up having to attend the same meetings on behalf of her department. She was a wealth of information and was still running her writers group. And… still I didn’t call.

    In 2007, I’d attended an out of state writer’s conference. Upon my return home, I decided that if I could travel five hours away to attend a writers conference with people I didn’t even know, in a city in which I didn’t live, then I should give back to my hometown writers group and volunteer. I called “Grace” who was still running her writers group, and volunteered for her annual writer’s conference and have done so every year since. After the work I’d done with her volunteering that first time, she made me her assistant, much to my surprise. The position is unpaid, but it doesn’t matter, because I love the work the organization does to promote literacy and writing in the community.

    Jump to 2009 and I’m laid off from that job full-time job with the government cable access channel; a job I’d had for 13 years and thoroughly loved. By then, “Grace” was hosting an Internet radio about all things literary and was having trouble with the person who was supposed to be producing the show. She was desperate for someone who would be committed to making the radio show work. I told her I would do it, since producing was right up my alley.

    So, here we are in 2011, and even though I’ve got a part-time job with a boutique public relations company, I also operate my own creative communications company (a business I revamped after my 2009 lay off). I’m a copy writer, and I edit manuscripts for fiction and non-fiction authors, and poets. Guess where the bulk of my clients come from? That’s right. “Grace” refers them to me. And right now, thanks to her, I’ve got clients to last me through the summer. I also started an independent publishing company with two good friends, publishing poetry. I get lots of guidance from “Grace” about all things literary and publishing related.

    “Grace” says she is grateful to have me on her team. Well, I’m very grateful that I met her back in 2002. I would never have guessed that we’d be working together so closely right now or that she would be helping to grow my business. (Oh, my website is currently under construction).

  3. Thanks for the post Lisa. Several years ago, during a period of unemployment, I was thinking that living abroad for a year or two would be just the thing to “broaden my horizons.” I spent hours and hours at the local university’s resource centre looking through information on volunteer organizations and various volunteer programs. I contacted a few but did not even have the credentials to volunteer! Long story short, three months later I was approached by my sister’s friend asking if I’d be interested in working as an English conversation teacher to middle-school students living in Japan, and get paid to do it! Three months after that, I was living in small village in Hokkaido. It was one of the more challenging and satisfying periods of my life.

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