In a world where a lot of people are less than happy with their jobs, coworkers, clients and overall lives, I want to give a shout out for gratitude and happiness this week. Here are my five W’s on work. I hope reading these causes you to pause and take stock of the reasons you have to be grateful.
Who
The Who of this equation comes in three parts:
Employees – I have the privilege of working with great people! My employees and subs are a delight and do amazing work (check out the blog on my team). I couldn’t be prouder of the work they do and the people they are.
Clients – Okay, I just want to say it here and now….our clients ROCK! From local businesses we work with, to the East Coast and the UK, they are the reason we exist as a business and without them we wouldn’t be having any fun at all. Thank you to our clients for trusting us with your stories, for giving us the freedom to be creative for you and for letting us push you past your comfort zone sometimes. We are incredibly grateful for each of you that we work with directly, and the companies you represent. We value working with people that we enjoy and believe in, and we believe in each one of you and the ways your business touches the lives of the communities you are a part of. Thanks for letting us be a part of your success.
Vendors – Our media partners in TV, Radio, Print and Internet Marketing are people I appreciate greatly. We do things a little differently here at the Bubble and I think a few of these folks find us a wee bit crazy, but I am honored to work with a handful of amazing local sales reps who take care of us and take care of our clients.
What
I love what we do. We have the joy of helping other businesses grow to be who they want to be. We have the privilege of helping them tell their stories and understand more deeply what they have to offer the community and the world. We get to tell stories in print, radio, TV, video, and online content creation. We have the privilege of seeing how businesses help each other and help the communities they are in. Not only that, we get to have fun doing what we do! We have the joy of becoming creative with everything from apartment rentals to youth services, nut harvesting to bunion surgery, IT/networking to healthcare, financial planning to drinking wine! We love that every day we get to learn more about what other businesses are doing and how they do it. What a great gig!
Where
We live in Chico, a nice mid-sized Northern California town of about 120,000 souls. I know it doesn’t sound glamorous if you are a city person, but we LOVE doing what we do in Chico. There aren’t enough good things to say about this place, from the incredible people who live here to the stunning beauty of Bidwell Park, to Chico State University and all the fun that comes with being in a college town. We feel pretty privileged to get to do what we do in a town where we have a pace of life that means we are living. A place that values relationships and connection. A place where family matters and you see people you know at the grocery store and in the restaurants. Not everyone’s cup of tea I’m sure, but we are pretty stinking happy to be living in Chico!
Why
We are grateful that what we do has purpose and meaning. The “why” of what we do is that we love to tell the stories of people and businesses, to help them find their unique offering and position themselves to stand out. We love helping businesses who provide a great service or product to become known for their excellence. We believe that each of the clients we work with has a unique contribution to make to the community and to their own employees, and we do what we do because we want to help draw out and increase the impact of that contribution.
When
As much as I sometimes complain about the ever changing world of Google or the latest trend I haven’t yet caught up with, I recognize that we live in a time where we get to do things that are pretty amazing. We have the opportunity to literally reach the world with our businesses and stories, to be in a “small world” as it comes to how we connect. We have the opportunity to provide education and expertise in ways we never could before, and we have the challenge and joys of marketing to an incredibly savvy generation of customers who demand and expect more of us. We like when we live, and are grateful for what it allows us to do.
So, during this season of thanksgiving, take some time to reflect on your own 5 W’s. Perhaps like me, you will see that there is more to be grateful for than to complain about, and your gratitude will be a spark of hope and encouragement for others too.
