Lipstick. Laptops. Life.

Prologue.
The Ship Is Sinking

When the ship is sinking, the first thought of a sensible person is to lose the dead weight, reposition their crew and try to head back to shore as fast as possible.  However, in 2008, I temporarily lost my mind. Not only did I make some bad investments with money I had slaved for years to make, but I also kept thinking that I could turn some of the turkeys at my business into eagles.  I really believed they could soar the skies of success just like I had.   Now, don’t get me wrong. I was not that bad as a business owner that I only hired turkeys. I also employed a handful of eagles who managed key accounts. However, just like in real life, the few beautiful eagles at my business were in a league of their own, while the flightless birds just pecked around aimlessly.

Not to blame the turkeys entirely. I had also spent some of this hard earned success traveling. I went to England, Spain, and Africa on a three week Safari, as well as Portugal and Mexico.  While most Americans were hoping to take their one week paid vacation, I was globetrotting, managing clients and staff from a distance and letting the turkeys roost.  My kids were pretty much grown and ready for college. I had plenty of money saved and business was great. I even bought two franchises and opened retail stores. One of them was in Beverly Hills, California. “This is fun,” I thought. “It’s like playing Monopoly.”  Only I wasn’t playing with Monopoly money. It was hard earned American dollars.

Then, overnight, we lost six accounts at the agency. Unhappy clients.  No worries, I told the turkeys. (After all, I didn’t want to hurt their feelings). They were doing the best they could. I brought in six more accounts and hired a new Chief Turkey to manage the other turkeys. Shortly after that, we lost two more accounts. The recession was to blame. Then two more dropped. The economy was hurting their business.

“It’s OK.” I told myself. “You have worked through at least two other recessions, you will be fine.”

The eagles were closely holding onto our prized accounts and the turkeys? They had so much potential I kept telling myself. They would improve. They just needed more training.  I must admit, I was beginning to feel a bit nervous. And, as time went on, I began to look a little closer at the turkeys and began questioning just what were they doing. Then we lost three more accounts and I finally started doing the math.  Yikes!  We were down almost 60% over the same time last year. The reality of which didn’t actually hit me until I was standing at Los Angeles International Airport  after missing my flight to Mexico and having a conversation with my Chief Turkey.  She was complaining about the attitude of a client. A client my agency had managed for over 18 years!  All of a sudden, I wished I wasn’t going to Mexico.  I wanted to be at my desk. I wanted to go home and cry. But something told me, NO.  This trip you have to take. This trip will change your life.