Work Wanted

Work Wanted.
That's the classified ad column where - in desperation - I placed MY FIRST personal ad [I mean as first time in my life] in our hometime journal: The Gisborne Herald. The ad pitched my services as a freelance project manager with "enquiries" [NZ is sort of faux British] to my mobile.
Turning to the newspaper capped off a week of hoofing it around town where I'd just walk into any place that looked remotely in need of a business consultant/communication expert/leadership coach/faculty member. I'd cruise in unscheduled and uninvited, but definitely not unwelcomed.
This very grass roots attempt to find employment - or actually ANYTHING to DO here - prompted a fair share of "good on you's", which is where I learned this lovely expression. Our atta boy with an extra shot. Kiwi's love to throw it around and it just feels good. But a "good on you" is not the same as "you're hired." Thus, the personal ad. I found it amusing to see that the day my ad appeared, I was nestled between sheep shearers, log cutters and a handyman.

No one called.

So, back to the streets went I. Fast forward 4 weeks and these spontaneous and wonderfully random drop-ins have resulted in the following "jobs".
1. I am giving the guest lecture next week to the local Rotary Club. The title? Obama's Election: Lessons on Leadership. This opportunity resulted from one of my walkabouts. I walk by Catherine Gillies's office almost daily. The glass window outside her office has phrases like "transformation" and "commitment" and "client service" etched into the glass. Already, I'm drawn like a bee to a blooming rose. The signage also mentions she is an accountant. Bingo. This lady would be a perfect contact for me. I had just peeked in to set up an appointment with her receptionist, who when going for Catherine's diary [so much more civilized a calendar] learned Catherine's 4 p.m. appointment had cancelled and would I like to see her RIGHT NOW. [I was slightly mortified as I was dressed in cut-offs and a halter top - not even a smudge of lipstick. Not exactly the first impression I had hoped to leave]. But she was available and I decided this was fate. Synchronicity. Right place. Right time. Within minutes of our introduction and CV swap, Catherine was on the phone to another woman who runs the local Rotary Club chapter. Next thing I know, I am the guest speaker. They hold their meetings in the Irish Rover Bar, which is also the home to Tuesday night blues jam and Thursday night male strippers. I'm just hoping the right crowd shows up for my presentation or all parties will be vastly disappointed. Meantime, I now have an excuse to watch endless CNN reruns of Barack being brilliant [even though he is still smoking and obviously is picking the wrong breed of dog] to prepare. I intend to wow the crowd with my insights about our new president and - fingers crossed - establish a few business leads.

2. Yesterday I received my first job offer. For money. On one of my treks, I stopped into the Community Law Centre. [Details about that visit can be found on "Not Tattoo".] In my subsequent e-mails with Robyn, the director, she was intrigued by some of my workshop topics. Yours truly is going to do a communication workshop for a group of Maori men who belong to the Maori Business Council. This is more fabulous than I can imagine as I will have an opportunity to immerse myself in the culture as I develop the session. Not to mention there is a lemon tree in the Centre's front yard and four of those fresh pieces of citrus are sleeping in my kitchen.
3. Today, I received details from the chap who runs BDO Spicers education and training business [appropriately titled Management & Business Education] as to the rate they will pay me to lead some of their workshops AND to do some work for the office to review their marketing and training materials. Steven replied to an e-mail I sent out to about 35 Chamber of Commerce members [all contact info was right on the web] introducing myself and sharing some basic info about my practice. BDO Spicers is affiliated with BDO Seidman and owns 60% of the accounting/consulting market in New Zealand. We had coffee last week. Steven, Carol and I. Carol takes spinning at the Y and I'd seen her BDO water bottle. [Should I introduce myself? Jeez, she's here having some time on her own. But if she works for BDO, maybe she can open a door. But she's sweating. No, not cool] I can't tell you how relieved I am that I DIDN'T approach her after class to plead for an introduction. It was so much better that she just HAPPENED to be Steven's colleague who runs the training session and I could tell a small world story. [Hi. I've seen you at the Y. Yes, I took class on Wednesday. I noticed your bottle. Yes, that IS funny] There's nothing like a small world story to blur the lines between strange and familiar.

4. A woman named Vanessa responded to that same Chamber e-mail. She was lovely. Her return e-mail slightly apologetic: "I can't really use your services, but I wish you good luck." She then proceeded to forward my e-mail to Melanie. Mel owns The Tile Shed and is the programming chair for the Business Professional Women's association. This was a double play. Based on our first meeting - which took place in her retail store which sells high, high quality tile installed by her quite feisty husband - Mel hosted me at the monthly BPW meeting and has put in motion the opportunity for me to do a workshop for the members. And possibly a Hunger Project briefing [www.thp.org]

Meanwhile, I meandered over to Vanessa's with latte [one sugar] in hand to thank her for the connection to Mel. Vanessa is a tycoon of sorts. She owns quite a bit of real estate; has a life insurance company; and a macadamia nut orchard. She is soft spoken with huge brown eyes and a two-month kitten named Lucky that naps on the chair next to me while we talk. Life insurance sales have slowed in Gisborne so Vanessa doesn't really have anything for me to do - even as a volunteer - in her office. However, she is one of the primary nut growers in the country and a huge advocate for the New Zealand organic macademia trade. We get to talking about the challenges of competing against the Aussies [who apparently dump low quality, low price product on the market]. Her gameplan is to create a distribution channel to high quality retailers...and one of her targets are the wineries.

Did I mention we are leaving tomorrow for Hawke's Bay, one of the two main wine regions in the country. I'm going to about 20 wineries this weekend, I offer. Do you want me to take some samples with me and see if I can open some doors for you? Vanessa considers the idea. OK. We discuss the following plan. I will bring 20 sample packets of various chocolate covered, salted, roasted, caramel corn macademia nut packets with me. As well as some flyers about her company. In addition to my tasting the wine, I will encourage the wine people to taste her nuts. I am certain I will find several people interested in learning more about adding these Mercedes quality, organic snacks to their gift baskets and retail outlets. And, if the economy doesn't improve, a whole new career for me.

5. Today I read to toddlers at the library. I used every bit of learning from my Northwestern master's degree in cognition. The book was called Kuia and the Spider. I paused often to ask the children if they had seen a spider. Or gone to the beach on the page showing kids with pails at the water's edge. I had them count the number of grandchildren sleeping on the mat. And identify the colors on the page. As I reveled in being apply to apply 3 years of intense graduate studies to Toddler Time, I wondered if the seven kids in diapers appreciated the fact I was priming them with Situated Cognition and my reading approach was heavily influenced by constructivist learning theory. No matter. Rangi and Barbara - the childrens' librarians - did. After my debut performance, I was invited to become a volunteer reader in the schools. Every Wednesday through June. This experience will do nothing for my Charles Schwab account, but I haven't been this excited about my "work" in a long time.

So, the ad didn't work. But I did. And it looks like I will.