January 30, 2011: Orlando, Florida day 3...

Heaveno!

Well, today was a good day.  First off, the weather here is beautiful this time of year.  I slept in to get some much needed rest, let the boys go off and work out, and took it easy talking with Sonny, or I should say Dr. Jackson.  She has a B.A. in art, an MBA, and an EdD!  Very cool lady!  She's also an extrovert and a talker like me, so we have hit it off well.

We met up with one of Joe's old clients who lives out this way and had lunch, then went back to Dean's office.  Dean rolls in his very own unique way.  It has been GREAT being around him, because he is extremely successful, and does things HIS WAY.  Sometimes I struggle with not being in a cube at an office 10-12 hours a day, like that is how I am supposed to work.  Now, I KNOW that THAT is not how I am supposed to work; it's just not my style.  I tried it for years in my 20's.  I'm just not cut out for it; I need to be in different environments and in and out of spaces and places and in front of different people... in other words, I need my scene to constantly change.  Sometimes, when I am working from home coaching a client while walking out on my back patio, I just feel like "I'm not doing it right."

Never mind that it is the highest per-hour work I do, I do it from home, I LOVE it, and I am extremely effective at it.  I get hung up because of how it "looks."

Hanging around Dean has REALLY shown me that I owe it to myself and all the people I will serve by doing things exactly as I need to.  For an office, Dean owns a duplex of 1 bedroom apartments.  The downstairs is where his wife works and any other staff that have to come in to do work.  Upstairs is Dean's creative land.  The back bedroom is his idea room where there is a giant ( like classroom sized) whiteboard, a conference table, and nothing else.  There are two locked doors between him and any distractions when he is in there creating.  It is brilliant.

Well, I had the honor of stepping up to Dean's white board today and pouring out my plan onto it while Joe coached me for probably an hour.  Chet and Dean also chimed in whenever Joe asked them to and they both had great input.  Joe also video taped the entire coaching session for me to go back and watch, and also to have others watch to see what pops up for them as good ideas.

I love my friend Joe.  He has simply gone above and beyond the call for me.

In fact, if the spirit moves you, maybe send him a thank you for all he is doing for this cause.  I think that would be really cool!  Just start posting on his facebook page.  Heck, it is public.  There hasn't been anyone who has put their reputation on the line more times than Joe by letting me speak on his stages, at dinner parties he throws, etc.  Just the introductions alone... see, the more people I get introduced to, the more people who know other influential people find out about EB.  THAT is a good thing.

After our session, we came back to the house for a wonderful home-cooked meal by Sonny, and then we headed back out to "The Lab" as Dean calls it so Joe and Dean could work on their "I Love Marketing" platform.  I began implementing a bunch of the ideas we had from our session immediately.

Well, I am beat.  I'm in better spirits, but I need some sleep now because we are getting up early tomorrow morning.  (not sure why... I'll keep you posted.)

God night.

P.S.  A big THANK YOU to Sara for watching Ali and taking this (and others) absolutely divine picture of our sweetie!  And yes, Amanda, Ali IS coming to MN.  Now, WHO is throwing the SuperBowl Party????