Insights on what makes an incredible businessperson.



(Yes, this novel has a point)





I feel like I've worked non-stop for the past two years trying to build my business and work my way up to being a "somebody". This weekend I decided to take a break and pay some attention to remedying the ugly wallpaper situation in my foyer. I'm glad I did. It gave me well-needed time to think about what actually defines success and where I want to go with my business. I started thinking about successful businesspeople… Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, CEO's of major corporations, politicians, marketing guru's, places you always see ad's for… then I made a mental list of successful businesspeople I know. My grandmother was at the top of that list. Why had I never thought of this before?



My grandmother is a Realtor, in an over saturated market where you can't go 10 feet without seeing a real estate ad, billboard, sign, website, card, publication… something. We live in a city where there are 900+ licensed real estate agents and about 200,000 citizens. With an average family size of four you can knock her target market down to 50,000 people – that's 1 real estate agent per 55 people. (I suck at match so my calculations are probably completely skewed but that's not the point of this anyway) One per 55 people though, wow, and I thought OUR market was over saturated. How do *any* of them make a living? People don't move *that* often and a ton of those people are renters.




Knowing that at least half of these real estate agents are part time – stay at home moms, weekend workers, people just doing it to have something to do and not depending on the income at all (compare it to the weekend warriors, Uncle Bobs, and part time photographers) I can't help but wonder how in the world my grandmother has stayed in business for 55 years and *thrived* in this business, not just managed to hang around, she's done very well. You won't see her face on a billboard or even a simple ad in a magazine – so HOW? When *everyone* else is spending all these advertising dollars, have big fancy offices, and tons of people working for them is my 76 year old grandmother still even paying her bills? She has a small, run down office and no associates at all…



That got me thinking about the things I've learned from her over the years – things I never really thought that much of until today. I remember a time probably 5 years ago when I was at her house and answered the phone.



"XXXX residence, this is Melody."



"Can I speak to XXXXX, please?"



"Sure, may I tell her who's calling?"



"This is Barbara."



I thought nothing of it, handed my grandmother the phone (she's always on the phone) and went about my merry way. My daughter, then two, wanted to say hello to whoever it was and did – for about 3 minutes (also not uncommon). When my grandmother got off the phone I asked her which Barbara it was (she has several friends named Barbara). Her answer was "Bush". I thought she was kidding. She wasn't. My two year old had just been on the phone with the former first lady telling her about her Barbie dolls. My jaw dropped. I asked her why she didn't tell me so I could have taken my noisy child somewhere else to play while she was on the phone. Her response was this: "Melody, you don't treat people differently just because of who they are. You treat everyone like a friend, like they're part of your family. That's how you succeed at life." Excellent advice but…but… but… I had no idea why in the world Barbara Bush would be calling my grandmother, so of course I had to ask. Apparently they'd been friends for years & years, who knew? Why didn't *I* know? "Melody, you don't brag about who your friends are. They don't make you who you are and they don't deserve to be treated like a commodity instead of a friend. People don't stay your friend if you're not genuine with them and don't treat them with dignity."



She truly lives by those principles. The woman has met every president, every first lady, stayed in some of their homes, been in the newspaper more times than I've purchased one in my lifetime, been ABWA's "Woman of the Year" at *least* 5 times, has won just about every civic award a person could win but she never brags about it. She's not well known by the general public (no face on a billboard) but every builder, politician, developer, and everyone who's anyone in her area of business knows her. She treats them all the same. Her tone on the phone doesn't change between a conversation between a guy who's buying a $4 million piece of property and the guy who's struggling to buy a $30,000 lot with a trailer on it. She's honest, blunt, to the point, but at the same time genuine, friendly, and caring to every person she meets.



What I discovered that I've learned from her over the years is priceless – to be genuine, not let it go to your head, don't strive to be like someone else, be content with every client, every success, don't treat people differently based on the service they choose, how successful they are, or where they live. Be thankful that those people chose you, trust you, believe in you, no matter how much they spend. Someone who places a $100 portrait order could refer you a $10,000 wedding and they won't do it if you didn't treat them the same way you've treated people who spend 10 times that.



I'm glad I took the time to ground myself for a little while… I was getting to a point where I was envious of the success of others, the locations people were getting to shoot at, the fame, the recognition. After thinking about my grandmother and her (unnoticed by most) success I realize that it's not about that. She does what she loves, she helps people – I've never seen anyone work SO hard to help people get financed for a home in my life and she'll work 10 times harder to get that $60,000 house financed than she does to sell multi-million dollar property but she does it, happily – I've never, not once, heard her complain about it. I do what I love, what I'm passionate about and I'm going to try a lot harder to be thankful for that and to conduct my business the way she conducts hers, to succeed at LIFE not just in my profession.



I'm sorry this is so so long, it's just what was on my mind and I thought it might help someone else who's in the position I was in before this weekend. BE HAPPY with what you have, be honest, be genuine, help others, treat *everyone* as though they are your friend and you WILL succeed at life.

That is really great food for thought, Melody. Thanks for sharing.

Wow!! What a cool grandma Can I have her for awhile??? Thank you so much for sharing. I'm thinking about all of this now....

wow melody that is an amazing story deffinetly worth the read. Thanks for taking the time to share it!

How cool Melody, I read every word of it!! There are some great insights in what you have written. Im thankful that we are at the bottom of the wedding photographer ladder, at least we are on the ladder, and can bring a style, quality, and light-hearted approach to our clients! Thanks for sharing!

AAAAAAAAAAAAA-men!

Thanks for sharing that Melody - it is so true!

Thanks Melody, I needed to hear that today. Well, actually, everyday . . .
--Amanda

Thank You for sharing that Melody!!!
Candy

Thanks guys! I didn't actually expect anyone to read my entire novel but I'm glad you did. She's am AMAZING woman in so, so many ways and I can only hope to be half as successful as she is. Thinking about the way she does business has really caused me to re-evaluate my entire business plan and everything I do in life. Thanks for allowing me to share

Melody - what a great story/lesson - thank you for sharing!

Isn't painting great therapy??
(I've been doing a lot of painting lately w/a move to a new place and also find it's a great time away from the computer to Stop And Think )





Isn't that SOOO true?

I mean really... if we fast-forward twenty, fourty, sixty years from now... who do we remember? The award-winning individual who was rich & famous or the people that really made a difference in our own lives?

Thanks for the reminder!!

Thank you for sharing this with us. That's cool that she knew Barbara Bush. It's a great lesson too. Thanks.

Thanks, Melody, for taking the time to post this! And give Grandma a big hug from all of us, as she (through you) has given us all a lot to think about & live by.

Thanks for helping keep all of us grounded

[inserts tongue firmly into cheek] You're not using your Gran's friends to prove you're better than us are you Melody?? [/tongue]



Your Gran would have gotten on famously with my Pop - grounded, level and infinitely suprising. cool.

I'm still gonna brag that I'm your friend!!!! neener neener!






seriously, tho, thanks for the great thread!

I want to meet your grandma! Amazing lessons that I don't want to forget, that's for sure!!!

Next time throw some sex & hot dudes into the novel, tho, just for kicks & giggles!

What a great story and lesson!! Thanks so much for sharing that Melody!

Hey Melody,

Thank you for sharing such a personal, poignant story about your Grandmother's wisdom. She is a sage! I copied her thoughts into my "favorite quotes" journal. So many people, in so many professions, get caught up in the whirlwind of perceived success. The truth is, all that really matters is relationships. Treating folks like friends, with the dignity they deserve, is the key to a successful life. Thanks for anchoring all of us with your grandmother's humble words of wisdom.

Best,

Rachel

Thanks Melody, that is so awesome!

Rachel, I love to read everything you write, and look forward to meeting you some day.

Melody, I got goosebumps like 10 times reading that!! What an AMAZING, encouraging! I've just printed it off and hung it on my corkboard, and on the public corkboard here too.
Yous should submit that story to the PPA's Professional photographer magazine!

Awwwwww! That is awesome! Totally worth the read.

Thanks so much for posting this story, Melody! I read every word and will probably read it again when I finished writing this. There is so much truth to what your grandmother says....wise, wise woman.

Wow, Meoldy. Your story is awesome. I love it!

Have you ever considered incorporating writing into your photography somehow? Or writing "aditorials"? I think you'd be good at it.

Airika

Painting is AMAZING therapy. I may have to do the entire house now. It's the greatest! I'm going to do a mural in my son's room, that should give me a few months of therapy, haha. I'm glad you liked the story





You know it IS true. When Ronald Reagan died people didn't talk about how famous he was, they spoke of what a great MAN he was and the amazing things that he accomplished. Same goes for Monte Zucher when he passed away a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for your perspective on it Liana, very insightful.




Thanks Airika! (and everyone else, I'd forgotten about this thread with all the other crap going on)

What's an "aditorial" exactly? It sounds like fun! I'm actually offering photo storybooks now when I get to write cute little stories about like and incorporate them with the images & that's been a lot of fun I'd definitely like to look more at incorporating writing with the photography though.

As I understand it (someone correct me if I'm wrong--please), an "aditorial" is much like a magazine editorial, except that you pay a magazine to let you write it and you include your own pictures to go with it. You've proabably read tons of those "featured weddings" in bridal magazines--well apparently, many of those articles are paid for and written by wedding photographers. That, I think is referred to as an "aditorial." There many be a more techincal name, but it works for me!

Ooooh.... cool idea I'm definitely thinking about how I can utilize that now.... Thanks!

No problem--it's the least I can do after you wrote my consumer complaint letter for me. That, and I loved the story of your grandma and honestly think that you should consider incorporating writing into your marketing. If you have the gift, use it! and you have "it!"

Awwww sweet post! I'm glad I got the chance to meet your hero. :-) She's a wonderful lady with a lot of wisdom!

Thanks for sharing great stories. Sounds like succesful women run in your family!
I know you will use her advise and put it to the best growth of your biz.

Melody - not only do I dig your grandmother now (she's the kind of person I'd love to know), but this is *awesome* advice - for life, not just in business or some aspect of life. It makes me a little nostalgic reading it, because life changes so much, and such words don't come out of someone half her age, you know? I sometimes wonder what kind of advice WE will give our grandkids....I hope it's as good, and meaningful.

How did I miss this the first time?? Such a great story and a great post. And true, too!

(And I'm not surprised by Mrs. Bush choosing your grandmother as a close friend - she is an awesome individual and from the story, so is your grandmother. )

Thanks for re-sharing this Melody.

Ginger - thanks for bumping this! I missed it the first time.

Melody, if you see this - thanks for sharing your novel! Awesome!

This story sounds like it's straight out of Chicken Soup for the Photographer's Soul. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed it.

oh wow! How did I miss this? Melody- your Grandma has just touched and inspired so many more lives through you!

I hope to meet you one day! This story and her outlook and perspective are both so real! I love it.

Thanks

Add me to the list of rejuvinated and inspired people after reading this. It was really, really just what I needed!

wow. thanks so much for who ever bumped this up - waht a story!

Great post Melody, glad I ran across this.

Thanks for the great post and great thread.

Now, where can I find a house for $60 K?

Thanks guys!





The Ghetto

Not to sound like a broken record, but thank you for your inspirational poem. I hope you dont mind if I print it up and pin it on my refrigearator (I constantly need to be reminded, and fridge is the perfect place for that )

EDIT: I did not realize that it will turn out to be 2 1/2 pages long . I will have to do some snip snip (again I hope you don't mind)