Gone Fishin'

Ever year the Downtown Kalamazoo Retail and Restaurant Association hosts a Connecting with Customers conference, the businesses in the area are invited to have their staff attend the conference, to learn, expand and challenge their thinking on customer service and every year, the food co-op, where I am lucky enough to work, sends it's staff members, I jumped at the chance

This year they hosted an extraordinary conference about the Fish Philosophy of customer service.
Today's conference resonated with me for many reasons, and I'm going tell you about it!

I got up earlier than normal this morning, to ensure I had enough time to get ready( I was still late- which I hate!) I managed to frag myself out of bed without too much coaxing from the alarm clock, always an accomplishment, got dressed, then proceeded to wake my dead asleep toddler from her adorable slumber, administered some food, got her dressed and once I was done with all of that, it was time to leave, actually we should have left about three minutes earlier, Dressing Charlotte speedily is not my forte just yet, but all Matt had to do is slap some shoes on her and let the dog out, which is minimal for him, and I got him an extra five or ten minutes of sleep, so I felt very accomplished as we set out into the early morning.

As we drive towards my work, I am always excited, barely able to contain myself, this morning, I was bursting at the seams, geeked to be doing something different outside of my norm, I also have a passion for teaching excellent customer service, so I enjoy any new thoughts on the subject.

I got to work a few minutes late, grabbed a cup of coffee, to chase away my grogginess that was a result of getting up so early.

One of my co-workers gave me a ride to the event and as we drove over I sat in the back of her car, happy to be in the company of friends, excited to see even more buddies.

As my co-worker weaved her way through the labyrinth of the parking garage, I thought, " I miss doing stuff like this myself, I never thought this was something I would never do again( get a parking ticket, struggle to find a space, level after level)how much we take for granted!"
Ten, I caught myself,
"Dude, this is not something to be upset about, you are sitting in a car, with friends, not in a hospital with doctors, you are sitting here on a nice day, dipping a delicious, creamy, hot cup of coffee, you are alive, and you're about to do something new and exciting aaand some of your good friends are gnna be there!" i told myself

"Yeah! you know, you're right! I'm alive, it's all good." I responded.

So I walked into the conference with my head held high having successfully talked myself down off of a self-pity ledge

I immediately liked the presenter, she had a perky sense of humor and loves our town, which pretty much everyone does, seriously come and visit, it's awesome!

Now, the Fish! philosophy of customer service is based on the customer service practices of the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, there are four basic philosophies, these are what caught my attention because all of these ideas are things I've had to purposefully incorporate into my life to get through this seemingly insurmountable challenge:

##1: Play: Have fun! bring a spirit of joy and innovation to what you do and the people you interact with.

When I was first released from the hospital it was very easy for me to sit on the couch and wallow in my misery, now that Charlotte is mobile and I am a tad more agile, fun has been creeping it's way back into my life and, guess what? I enjoy every day more! And I'm more enjoyable to be around.

#2Make Their Day: Find a way to make a positive impact on the people around you.

Well, I'm constantly trying to find ways to do this for Charlotte and Matt, because if they're happy, so am I! Everything works just a little better if both of them are happy.

Bet#3: Be There: I've blogged about this one before, really, it's about being present with what you're doing.

Since I've intentionally started being present in my life, I have found I get more enjoyment out of everything, Matt and I get along better, and my attention and cognition is better.

#4: (this is the big one)Choose your attitude: When this one popped up on the screen I screamed "YES!!" In my head. Everyday we have a choice, we can either be happy, pissed off, sad, or any other thing we decide, it's up to you.

I spent years walking into jobs with a shitty attitude, because I was young, didn't like one of my co-workers or the customers and on those days, my attitude just got worse, why? because I decided I was going to be annoyed by everything that day, so I was, no one could make me happy or convince me to behave otherwise. But since I made the decision to be happy everyday I am above ground, I don't have days like that anymore.

The basic wisdom I can impart from this is that any of these philosophies can help in your everyday life, and I can only hope that this blog helps people who may be going through something tough in their life, so here's my message on how to get through it: play, make their day, be there and choose your attitude.

At the end of it all, I felt ready to go, energized, happy to be alive and ecstatic to live in such a super community!



#3