I MET A LOT OF OUTSTANDING PEOPLE DURING MY TENURE IN THE COUNTRY COACH MARKETING DEPARTMENT.
ONE SUCH PERSON WAS THE ENERGIZER BUNNY.
ONE SUCH PERSON WAS THE ENERGIZER BUNNY.
The Energizer Bunny
Once
upon a time there was a bright little red haired girl. Her mom and dad divorced
and so she bounced from one to the other. She tried to be worthy
of the love of both her parents. She grew up doubting herself. It was very
important to her parents to have a pretty daughter. She didn't really feel
like she fit in… She was feisty, though, and not a quitter. She taught herself to dance, and she
was the BEST dancer in the school (and something I witnessed firsthand at a rally years later). It
was a difficult childhood. One day her mom brought home a new boyfriend. Opal had a bad
feeling about this one…and she was right. When Opal was feeling brave enough,
she went to her mother, who became very angry
at her ‘lies” and kicked her daughter out on the spot. Scarcely into the double
digits in age, with only her little Girl Scout metal dinner kit tucked under her arm
and the clothes on her back, she left that house. She found work in
restaurants lying about her age. She determined to rise above her situation,
she worked hard! She put a roof over her head, and she survived. Not only
survived, but eventually thrived. She learned the 'business' from the ground up eventually managing catering operations. In a sad turn of fate, her mother passed away
later in life from a terminal illness and she bequeathed quite an inheritance
to her adult daughter. I like to think it was her way of making amends for letting
her daughter down decades ago. My friend told me she’d rather have had her mother
than all the money in the world. That’s just the kind of person she is.
I met her when she walked in for a job interview. Petite little gal.
Long red hair and the most beautiful bright eyes. Always impeccably dressed and
yet, what I was most struck by was her personality. I knew I liked her within
moments of hiring her. And smart, my word, I envied her knowledge. In her role
as Events Coordinator, she taught me so many things I didn't know of the
catering business! What entrees to choose because they plate well for a huge group, which entrees to avoid. What items to Always require on a breakfast buffet, what is appropriate pricing for a pony keg, so many details. I was a rally planner of owners events with huge budgets and
she was my right hand. This woman was the Energizer bunny!
Our company’s management at the time had us severely understaffed in my
department and I was working 60 hour weeks. She matched me hour for hour, week
in and week out. When she said finally, “We need more help or I need to look
elsewhere,” I did everything but throw a big girl fit asking for extra help for
her. I failed. She left ...Today
this little dynamo is very successful with a beautiful family. Anyone meeting her would never guess the road of hard knocks this girl traveled.
I came out of that work experience a far
better person for having spent this time with her. I think my work ethic grew even stronger because of
her. To this day, she is a kick in my butt when I
need one. I am reminded No Obstacle is a dead end if you have the will to keep fighting, the
determination to rise above your current situation, and the belief that there
IS a way through it and beyond it. Never say quit. Always get up and try again. Believe in oneself even if it may seem no one
else does.
This amazing Country Coach friend is an Overcomer in the purest sense of the word.
(story shared with her permission)
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