My husband is not a planner. When we go out, I pick the restaurant. If I don’t have a wedding on a Saturday night, I’m the one who decides if it’s bowling or art gallery or movie or skeeball. I planned the entirety of our Italy trip. In the four-odd years we’ve been together, I have seen him put together a handful of house parties and one birthday party – four years ago on my last birthday (yep, I’m a leap day baby!). So imagine the extent of my surprise, believing we were going to fancy dinner, when I came out of the elevator to find tons of friends and my PARENTS and BROTHER yelling “surprise” at me. (All photos are compliments the wonderful Marcella Treybig.)
Most of the people who read this blog are around my age, so it’s likely you have been job hunting on Craigslist. When I was doing it, I was mostly looking for administrative stuff because it’s where my skill-set was when I left college. Who could really do much besides use a computer, read, write and type? Pretty much every listing wanted someone “detail-oriented.” Because they said they wanted it, I said I was it, even though I had this strong nagging suspicion that I really wasn’t even remotely detail-oriented.
So I’ve just come back from a sumptuous cheese feast with some clients (hi guys!), where I really couldn’t mesh better with a couple. These people get me and I’m pretty sure I get them. And I thought maybe it was time to muse a bit on “personality-based marketing” and how it’s so great not just for my business but for me as a regular old person who sometimes feels brash or awkward or unappreciated.