Communications Pro Blog

Archive for July, 2010

Another Magical Day
By Barbara Sherf

Despite the heavy rain, the day started on an up note with a meeting of the Professional Care Alliance of the Delaware Valley. There I met some very interesting individuals who deal with the senior population; a target audience for my new Memoir Writing and DVD offerings.
The meeting was hosted at the lovely BrightView Independent & Assisted Living facility in East Norriton. Community Sales Directors Lynn Degenhart and Vicki Bosler graciously served as our hosts. The made-to-order omelets were a huge hit among the 60 or so attendees.
I was invited to the meeting by my new networking buddy Jennie Zehmer of Here 2 Home. I met Jennie at a recent National Association of Women Business Owners meeting and decided she’d be a good person to network with. “Where do you live or work from?” I asked following the meeting. “Flourtown,” came her response. She is a neighbor who provides a service helping seniors move from their primary residence into a retirement community. Although she shared a neat story today about helping an elderly woman move into her boyfriend’s home. Too funny. I love good stories. That’s a good story and a hook for a press release I’m writing about her and her company.
The program, is typically run by Mimsye Katz of Katz Senior Services, who was unable to attend and moderate the meeting. I had met Mimsye the previous week when she came out to a Memoir Writing program I gave at Spring Mill Presbyterian Village and she encouraged me to join the group as a handful of members were sharing what they are passionate about. Typically I like to go to a meeting before joining a group, but based on Jennie’s recommendation and the fact that I wanted to share my passion for memoir writing and DVDs, I signed up on Monday night. Karen Devine of Medical Home Care capably moderated the meeting and graciously agreed to let me talk about my passion, even though she was just going on my word that I had signed on as a member. I guess I look trustworthy or something. You should read my previous blog on “Would You Lend a Stranger $35?” Somebody did for me. True story.
Paula Goy-Severino of Liberty Lutheran Services kicked off the passion part of the program by speaking about her passion for dressing professionally and using good etiquette in the business world and in life. So often we race to send e-mails out, but do we even take the time to address the person by name and sign off properly. Or do we just get to the business at hand? Good points and Paula was passionate in her delivery. As a public relations specialist and speech coach, I found her remarks refreshing.
Next up was Felcia Benson of Medical Home Care who shared her passion in the form of her farm full of rescued animals in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. She has had a number of health issues that appear to be under control at the moment, but instead of having children, she and her husband put all of their money into this farm where they have all kind of rescued animals, including two horses – one that is half blind. If you’ve read my previous posts on Spot the blind horse and his subsequent death, you know I have a soft spot for blind horses. Slides of the animals appeared on screen and she shared her story and their stories. It was really touching and a unique format in which members got to share something about themselves instead of their primary work.
John Hist, who has a company called Select Senior Service Providers shared stories about helping his mother get on track with her bill paying and how he helps seniors make good choices regarding retirement communities, elder attorneys and any industry that provides services to seniors. His stories were moving and from the heart. Clearly he has a passion for his work.
A woman by the name of Negar (rhymes with guitar) Jahanbin, Director of Operations for Synergy Home Care, then shared her passion for drum circles and she introduced the concept to the audience. We had fun drumming, clapping and beating on the table. The audience was really jazzed. How could I top that?
I told the group that I do public relations and speech coaching on most days, but a new area I have gotten into is helping seniors get their life stories on paper and DVD. I shared how I had done this with my father and we co-authored a book called: Cowboy Mission: The Best Sermons are Lived…Not Preached.” The book, initially intended for just the family, is now in its 6th printing and ‘Charlie’ is hopping around South Jersey doing book signings and author readings. You can get a copy on www.blurb.com. I explained how this new area of my business is really a passion and that it is something I’d like to pursue. My message was very well received.
Then it was Jennie’s time to shine – and she did because she is passionate about what she does. I saw her in action when taking publicity photos recentl yand I saw that what she really brings to the table, in addition to passion and compassion, is her sense of humor.
After Jennie gave her fabulous talk, individuals lined up asking for more information about both of our companies. It was indeed a magical day with a magical group.
But the day continued to get magical. My husband and I had gone furniture shopping and then for a bite to eat. I had the good fortune of bringing an umbrella into the restaurant with me, and upon leaving the eatery we saw that the umbrella was absolutely needed. So he offered to use it to go to the car and come pick me up. Once he did this deed, I handed the umbrella off to another couple who were waiting under the overhang for the rain to slow down. They were shocked that I would give them the umbrella. Truth be told, it had seen better days and my favorite horse umbrella was still in our vehicle. As a matter of fact, I have been doing this for about a year now. It’s called My Umbrella Project. There is no web site. The concept is simple: whenever I see inexpensive umbrellas I buy a bunch and stick them in my car. When it’s really raining hard, I’ll pull up to somebody standing at a bus stop and hand them an umbrella. I don’t attach my contact information. I just tell them to pass it along. You should try it. It’s really fun. Now I even look forward to rainy days! There is a story about how this came about (having nothing to do with me standing in the rain)…but I suspect it is the subject of another blog.
From there I wanted to see if BJ’s had a book Oprah recommended called “Women, Food and God.” As I was entering the store, I noticed a woman’s purse left in a cart. That could have been my purse, I thought, and quickly snatched it. I didn’t go through the purse, but clearly a cell phone was popping out of the outside pouch and so I grabbed it and called the last number dialed that was marked “Mom and Dad.” The phone rang and it was actually the woman’s sister who answered. I told her where I was and she said that it must have been her sister’s purse. We had a laugh over the fact that her sister is also named Barbara. She said she’d try to call her sister at home, which she did, but there was no answer. I offered to return the purse to the owner, but the sister said she’d come up to BJs instead. So I stood outside of BJs for 10 minutes and handed off the bag. I know in my heart, as someone who had her purse stolen once, that I made somebody’s life a tad easier. I handed the sister a business card I had made up of our rescued golden retriever, Simba, and suggested that if she felt compelled, Barbara could make a donation to the Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue.
Then it was off to get a quick haircut and upon leaving the Flourtown Shopping Center I stumbled upon a family of four walking into a storefront with a sign Martial Arts out front. As a former print and broadcast journalist, who still occasionally writes for The Chestnut Hill Local, I followed them in and discovered this fabulous individual who has quite a following -and for obvious reasons.
Ran Zohar runs Personal Power for Martial Arts. He shared with me that he came to this country from Israel as a child. He studied martial arts since he was 8 and had a dream of one day owning his own martial arts facility. He and his family have been in business for nearly 15 years, and in Flourtown for just over a year. Business in mid-July seemed brisk and with good reason.
Parents I talked to said that not only are their kids getting in shape, they are learning discipline and building their self confidence. I am hooked on the whole concept and will be writing a story for the Chestnut Hill Local and helping Ran with PR. I also hope to be writing about my experiences going through his program. Stay tuned.
Ran also shared with me a new web site he has put together called PhillyKidsClub.com. His idea is to get child-oriented businesses together to cross promote and pollinate. Right now the site is free and it is really very professional with videos of the 14-year-old host named Isabella Pelle, of Ambler, who has a third degree black belt and teaches at the school. She has been taking Ran’s classes since she was 6 and has quite a presence. Hhhmmm, could I incorporate the martial arts into our Public Speaking Boot Camps. Anyway, Ran and this gal and this site, are going places and they are taking me along for the ride. Mark my words. Buckle your seatbelts and way we go!

Barbara Sherf is a communications professional who started CommunicationsPro.com nearly 14 years ago. She helps individuals with speech coaching, public relations and now capturing their life stories. She welcomes your comments.