Connection on the daily...

Inspired by a “summer-camp” prompt (Simone Seol Summer Camp! Any Joyful Marketing fans out here?), vacation-vibes and bohemian coffee-house energy, I had to ask myself today: what is my spirit craving? 

I wanted to do this to get back in touch with myself, and also recenter my perspective and attitude when it comes to who I am both professionally and off the clock. 

The answer? Today (and most days) my spirit is craving connection. 

Most of you don’t know this (unless you really did look at my resume on my profile…) but most of my early “career-life” was centered around bartending. 

And I LOVED what I did. It’s still a huge part of who I am and plays a role in all of the ties I make to people in my life. 

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love what I do now.

I’m a business development representative– making connections and relationships is literally the meat and potatoes of my job description. 

Now, instead of helping someone find the perfect drink, I’m helping people reach growth goals, both for their businesses and for themselves personally. 

There is nothing more fulfilling for me than helping someone (that's my whole drive for continuing to coach!) in one way, shape, or form. Whether that’s helping them de-stress through pouring them a drink, or because they’re now connected to a strategic partner who “gets it” and will help them reach their goals. 

I love it!

But man, am I craving that daily connection. 

I miss the small talk and I miss the journey of strangers becoming regulars, regulars becoming friends, and laughter being a normal and frequent part of my day. 

Even if I didn’t make mad money (Monday’s without a patio section can be a serious drag…), at the end of the day, if my guests were laughing and having a good time, I felt happy. I felt fulfilled. 

I felt like I had done my job, not just as a bartender, but as a person. 

I helped someone laugh. I helped them smile. I helped them forget about something that’s been stressing them, even if it was only for a small part of their day.

I helped someone, and I did that daily. 

I’m blessed to work from home at a wonderful hybrid agency. While I don’t get the every-day connection that bartending brought, it literally is the best set up ever: I spend time with my cats every single day, and I have the opportunity to work from anywhere, so long as the wifi is plentiful. (This week it's Key West, Florida!)

And, as I do this promised “self-reflection”, I needed to recenter myself and think about my why:

I’m in this line of work because I naturally want to help people, and I love making connections, and growing relationships. 

What am I craving though? 

The connection to the other person across from me and the ability to impact a moment of their day–which is really a moment of their life–to make that moment happy, funny, or just less stressful–that’s what I crave. 

I miss helping someone consistently and on a daily basis through just connecting/talking with them. 

Through this reflection, I finally just asked myself:

what’s stopping me from doing this every day in my role now, and how can I fix that? 

If you’ve read this far, then I hope you’re part of that answer, because I’d love to connect with you.

Not a sales pitch or a misguided attempt to somehow sell you. (I promise!)

I just want to talk and grow our relationship–consider me your virtual bartender for like 20 mins, and let’s just visit. 

(I’ll even recommend a drink or two at the end, if you want!) 

Truthfully, I’ve met 2 wonderful LinkedIn connections in this way–they reached out to me and asked to set up a time to talk and get to know me as a new connection. It was an awesome experience, and I’m not quite sure why it’s taken me this long to try it myself, especially when I enjoyed it so much. 

So, if you too are craving connection, want to try talking with someone new, or are looking to break up part of the #wfh day with real interaction, I’d love to be that connection for you. 

Feel free to reach out :)

Cheerfully, 

Jordan