Rochester, NY
9:05 AM
I sat down at lunch yesterday happy knowing that all those hours of Seinfeld watching had some good. I walked into the restaurant for my lunch interview (I am On the Road, not job interview) and a few of the waiters were working on a crossword puzzle. “Do you know who wrote War and Peace?” they asked me.
I paused for a second. Then the image of Jerry telling Elaine, “The original writer of War and Peace had called it War, What is it good for? But his mistress changed it to War and Peace.” Then she picked up a famous author for her job, a Russian, maybe Testicov. That was my first response, “I think its Testicov.” But that didn’t sound right. Elaine decided to use Jerry’s line on the writer. He was infuriated. Her day planner started to beep uncontrollably. Testicov threw it out of the car and ranted on how Tolstoy… “No, wait, it’s Tolstoy,” I said with a smile as I walked down to my table. They weren’t sure, but a few minutes later they came up to me and said it was Tolstoy.
My interview came a few minutes later. I was a bit nervous for Brad because I wanted to talk to him about a few of my ideas. He is what I would call a branding expert. He helps companies, large and small, incorporate their brand image into all aspects of their marketing ideas. I’m sure he’d explain it different and better, but he works on brands.
Brad was the director of brand development and marketing for Hallmark. This is a big time guy. I was nervous even though he was nice enough to call me at the request of some associates. I was looking for some help on some ideas. Once we talked and I did some research, I knew he would be an interesting interview. And he was.
I wasn’t sure what to think as I read his bio. Head of Hallmark. MBA from Harvard. Author of a book. He was now on his own, speaking and consulting. My nerves calmed as he walked slowly in, gave me a smile, and a handshake. He was in khakis and a button down shirt. After reading his experience, I oddly pictured him in a suit and in a hurry. He was the exact opposite.
I learned this is part of the reason why he wasn’t at Hallmark anymore. My tape is still waiting to be transcribed, but we talked about so many topics I had to write about this now. He went into detail about how he had been an achiever and listened to other people’s voices for a long time. He did well at school, went to Harvard, got the job he wanted at Hallmark, did well there, worked his way up, and became the head of marketing. Great. Perfect. Just as he planned. Except, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the job that sounded so perfect. All of his experience had pointed him there, but it wasn’t right. Brad was an entrepreneur. He liked building things up. He liked being on the go, making decisions, influencing ideas. Once he entered the corporate executive realm, all of the entrepreneurial things he had been doing for Hallmark ended. He was now in the politics and bureaucracy of a big company. Decisions were not made quickly. Committees were involved. He thought about leaving, but was unsure.
He knew he was good at what he did. He knew marketing and brand development as well, if not better, than anyone. As head of marketing for Hallmark he met other large national company’s heads of marketing. They formed relationships. At a conference there was a speaker talking about branding. Brad talked to the speaker and found out he made good money doing this. Brad knew he could blow the speaker out of the water. He also knew he had other companies wanting him to help them out with their brand strategies. Signs have pointed Brad to different things. In this instance they pointed for him to leave the job he had lost passion for. He left a job as the head of marketing for Hallmark to go to a job where he was the only employee.
He did consulting work and spoke to companies and organizations. And he loved it. That is still what he does. He’s had a job with a big company since. He’s lived in a few places in his life. But here he is, back in his hometown of Rochester.
What an energy he had. He was so at peace with the world. He talked about being engaged. He talked a lot about his spirituality. His spirituality came from so many places. He loves nature and talked about the oneness he feels outside. He talked about his love of trees. His cabin in the Adirondacks. His decision to move home. Taking walks on his property with his dogs. Having coffee with like minded people. Going to church. The war. People of power. We talked about so many things. I liked his idea that we are not all of these separate groups of people. Christian/Muslim/Buddhist. White/Black/Asian. American/Arab/African. We are all under one spirit and one universe. I can’t remember it all so I won’t go into detail until I listen to the tape. But it made sense. I remember saying that if the world was like that, there wouldn’t be war or some of the craziness that is out there.
One thing that struck me was that he said the people who have been the most successful after Harvard MBA school are the ones who go into the field they love. Not the field where the most money is, but the field they are passionate about. “The best class I took at Harvard was a self-actualization class. We learned about what we liked and what we didn’t. This class guided my decision making.”
My words are this: If Harvard is teaching their people how important it is to know what you like and what you don’t in regards to work, why doesn’t everyone else? All of our lives would be much easier if we were at jobs that made us feel good. Not good because of the things we can buy, but good because of what we are doing day in and day out. Top dog at Hallmark didn’t work for Brad. Perfect sales job didn’t work for me.
Our lunch went from noon to 2:30. Brad was open and honest. He was not the suit I had once pictured. He was a guy who had found what I wanted: the peace to not care what others think. The peace to go with the flow and let the chips fall.
I left our lunch feeling incredibly high and at peace. I hope he didn’t think I was a dork after thanking him so much. He gave some good advice on my other project as well. It felt good to get back on the interview scene. There is so much to learn from so many people.
It was a good day yesterday. I even had to wear sunglasses. I didn’t have to wear a winter coat either, it was 50. The snow is back today.