It’s Not All Small Stuff

I almost lost my daughter last Friday.  No, I’m not kidding and no, I don’t mean in the relationship sense.  My daughters and I are best friends.

I mean drowning – in the ocean – in Jamaica.

It was really weird, because from the moment she told me she was going to Jamaica with friends, I felt unease.  That is really not like me – normally I would say Wow!  Great!  Have a fantastic time!  But something was just nagging at me …

Fortunately for me, she told me the story after she came home, knowing that would be the best way for me.

It all started with a trip to the beach.

She and one of the girls had been out on the catamaran on Thursday and had the most beautiful experience, that when they went back to the beach on Friday, they cajoled  their third friend into accompanying them, even though she was fairly adamant that she didn’t want to go.  The sky was sunny and clear, except for a little darkness far away towards the other side of the island.

About 5 minutes into the trip, the wind started kicking up and the guide attempted to turn the catamaran back to shore  — without success.  He then had the bright idea for all of them to go to one side of the thing to give him the leverage to turn.  As the waves were kicking up, a good-size wave came up under the catamaran and dumped them all into the ocean.  Nicole and Amy were freaking out at first, trying to swim toward the boat.  The guide yelled for them to stay away from the boat, and in an instant they found out why – it violently righted inself and took off like a shot.  There they were – out in the ocean – not even able to see land.

As the boat took off, Nicole and Amy became instantly calm, knowing that there was nothing good that would come from being hysterical.  After all, they both are moms of three and have seen hysterical up close and personal.  Now, in case you’re wondering why I’m not mentioning friend #3, she was hysterical the entire time and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

The guide at this point didn’t seem very worried and told them to all hold hands – that he was sure someone would have seen the boat flip and would send a rescue boat for them.

It was at that point the guide, whose name was Patrick, started to peer down into the water, looking around.  When Nicole asked him what he was looking for, he told her his face was getting dried out from the salt water and he was just getting it wet.  Kindly of weird since by now they were in the middle of a full-fledged thunder, lightening, pouring rain and violent waves type of storm.

So there they bobbed, getting dunked constantly by the waves, being force-fed salt water by the ocean and trying to remain calm.  About what seemed like 15 minutes or so into the ordeal when they didn’t see any boats, Patrick wasn’t looking very assured at all.  He wasn’t hysterical, but I believe the phrase “he looked scared shitless” may have been used.

After Amy and Nicole tried to sing for awhile (Row, row, row, your boat – where the hell are the boats?), they realized that they were being pulled farther and farther out to sea.  If they caught a good wave and were lifted up, they could see land – not their beach, but what looked like a small island in the distance.  Nicole and Amy decided to swim toward the island, even though they knew they would not be able to make it.  Patrick was telling them – no!  stay here!  But at that point they didn’t think bobbing in the middle of the ocean was the best plan either.  They started swimming in the direction of the island, with friend #3 in tow, and Patrick following.

You’re probably wondering about the boats.  Well, they did see the boats and tried to yell for them, realizing they were just wasting their strength because the boats looked like little dots and of course couldn’t hear them.  And there was a lifeguard on the beach that did see the boat flip over and immediately ran for a wave runner.  Another wave runner and two other boats followed and were looking for them the whole time.  It’s a very big ocean, however …

Long story short(er), a guy on one of the boats noticed “birds” flapping in the distance and wondered what the heck they were doing in the middle of a storm.  Yep!  That was them!  When Amy and Nicole were finally deposited into one of the boats, it ran out of gas at which point Nicole yelled “Are you kidding?  You rescued us in a boat that didn’t have gas?”

No, I’m not kidding – you just can’t make this stuff up!  So they were told to jump into the other boat as the boats were violently being smacked together, and they made the 20-minute boat ride back to shore.

Patrick finally confessed to looking in the water for man-o-wars which can wrap around your legs, causing painful stinging, numbness in the limb and respiratory distress.  Nice.  I would have been thinking sharks, but  what do I know?

I can’t possibly tell this story as humorously as Nicole can (because I’m still trying to find the humor in it), but I did manage to laugh while she was telling it – she has an amazing sense of humor (husband and 3 kids – I guess she has to).

Talk about seeing what’s truly important in your life.  I always try not to sweat the small stuff – and I think I’m very good at it.  But this was not small stuff …

I hope I never ever have to go through what millions of mothers have gone through – because this close call was as close as I ever want to get.

Nickey Hollenbach

Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC

http://www.ptconciergeservice.com

The Most Unexpected Pleasures

Like Susan Boyle, for example.

By now there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs and articles and discussions about this 47-year-old woman on Britain’s Got Talent.  I personally have watched this video over and over day after day since I first saw it posted on Twitter, over a week ago.  The YouTube videos have been viewed millions – yes millions – of times.

If you live on another planet and haven’t heard about this yet, please take the time to watch this video.  Unless you have a heart of stone, I guarantee you’ll be happy you did.

I really don’t need to say anything more.  I just wanted to make sure that everyone that I can reach with this blog will take the time to watch this most important video.  Important, you ask?  Yes.  As human beings trying to live harmoniously together, this is one of the most important instructional videos you’ll ever watch. 

I hope you learn a lot about yourself from this.  I certainly did.

Nickey Hollenbach

Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC

www.ptconciergeservice.com

That Which Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

I’ve been living that saying pretty much since

 

my daughter was born 26 years ago with congenital gastroschisis followed by unbelievable events during my “interesting” life.  (Boy am I strong, but that’s a story for another time.)  Today I want to talk about the strength of a friend of mine.

 

Your Life Can Change in an Instant

 

I remember saying to her one time how amazed I am at how your life can drastically change in an instant.  And you can say that to anyone, but until someone has had a life-altering experience, they just politely agree, not REALLY knowing what you mean.

 

I had dinner with my friend last week. We had lost touch for a bit, so it was nice to get together and catch up with the latest happenings in our lives. I knew that Sharon had been in an accident and was still recovering, having seen her briefly around 8 months ago. She walked in on crutches – still – after 9 months! But even prior to her accident, there were challenges for Sharon to overcome.

 

It was the coolest art gallery,

 

In March of 2007, Sharon had to close her business of 10 years – really great art gallery which, unfortunately, was located in an area where the town decided to do major road construction that lasted forever. No one could get to her studio easily, and her business took a nose dive once the construction began. Her business was her life and this was a devastating experience for her to overcome. She then lost her home and was forced to move in with her boyfriend of 3 years – not a good thing.  Finding work was becoming increasingly difficult. Her big break came in February of 2008 when she found a good paying job doing something she really enjoyed. Unfortunately, the company was fairly new and began to struggle. On July 1^st (Sharon’s birthday) of 2008, she was laid off. Just prior to being laid off, she purchased her first motorcycle. She had always wanted a motorcycle and was so excited about riding. After some practice in parking lots, her boyfriend encouraged her to venture out on the back roads. Although she was very nervous about venturing out so soon, she agreed to the ride. This decision was life altering.

 

A broken leg; a broken life

 

Sharon broke the femur of her right leg in an accident on July 10^th. She spent 10 days in the hospital and many months of dealing with the aftermath. Her relationship with her boyfriend ended after she got out of the hospital (nice guy, huh?), and she has been living with friends for the past 8 months while trying to get back on her feet, physically, financially and emotionally.

 

With all of the obstacles in her life, Sharon continues to be positive about her future. She is determined to get her life back together and her outlook remains positive. She realizes that there are many people that love her and care about her. “This is only temporary!” she says. “This will make me better than ever!”

 

Life is a challenge

 

We can never be fully prepared for all of the obstacles thrown in our paths, but we do need to learn from our experiences and let them form us into who we need to be. I know that Sharon has been doing a lot of soul searching – which is never a bad thing. She is thankful for her family and friends and to be alive. She is continuing to heal.

 

Never ever give up

 

If you are experiencing a difficult time in your life – for whatever reason – please don’t give up.  I promise you tomorrow will be better; it’s just that sometimes tomorrow takes longer to come than we’d like. Someone once told me to take one day at a time.  I can’t repeat what I told that person at the time, but I now see the wisdom in those words.  Sometimes that’s all you can do. 

 

Nickey Hollenbach

Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC

www.ptconciergeservice.com

Follow me on Twitter

 

 

Spring Cleaning

Aren’t those two words to make you cringe!!  It makes ME cringe, anyway.  I have no love for cleaning.  But isn’t spring a great time to “clean” other things in your life?  Think of all the wonderful things that happen in Spring – the weather, the new plant life, lawns are green again, trees are budding – it’s as if everything is awakening to another year.  And now that we’re past the dreaded April 15, there’s nothing but pure joy ahead of us.  Now those of you who are not sharing in my opinion of the pure joy thing, let’s try to adjust your attitude a bit.  Even if there is something going on in your life right now that is stressing you to the max, remember:  you are the only one who can lessen that stress.  Don’t wait for circumstances to change on their own or that you’ll just wake up tomorrow stress-free.  YOU have to make the effort, take whatever steps necessary to destress yourself.  We are all so busy we fail to take the time we need for ourselves, which I find pretty amusing in the narcissistic society we live in today.  And those of you who are more on the side of “the glass is half empty” need to destress the most.  Now I’m sure you’ve all read countless articles of how to destress, all the “how-to’s” and self-help advice out there (really, click on these links, they are good articles), but what I’m referring to is your attitude on life.  I completely agree with the different ways to destress – yoga, meditation, a healthy lifestyle – they are definitely something easier to change than your attitude and will work wonders to improve your mental state.  But I’m still talking about your attitude on life.  While some of us are glass half-full types naturally, I really understand that there are the half-empty people out there who are just who they are.  As I’ve lived more life (graceful way of saying aged), I’ve definitely become even more laid back about a lot of things which isn’t a bad thing.  Because it’s all in my attitude.  I’ve gone through some pretty stressful things in the past year, and I’d be lieing if I said I didn’t have bad days.  EVERYONE does.  But if you can keep a great attitude – which sometimes takes talking to yourself and telling yourself that tomorrow will, indeed, be better – those bad times will pass much quicker.  Those of you who know me know that there have definitely been some difficult times in my life – those of you who don’t know me would be amazed.  (Maybe I’ll finish that book I started some day.)  But my whole purpose in this paragraph is to tell you, you CAN be a happier person. 

Here are a few things to use as your mantra:

1. At least I’m not living in Iraq.
2. I have my health, a roof over my head, and plenty to eat.
3. I have someone who loves me; I love someone.
4. I have at least 1 good friend I can count on.

Now I say #1 tongue-in-cheek, because when I said that to someone recently, I was told – I wouldn’t live in Iraq.  What I mean is what if you were born in Iraq and your country was in a civil war and you didn’t have enough food, electricity, sewer service and you didn’t know if you or anyone you knew would be alive by the end of the day.  And you know what?  I’ve heard interviews from people who are living in Iraq who way they are living in hell, but they are dealing with it.  Wow.

No. 2 – I lumped all 3 in this one because you may have to modify that a bit, i.e., if you are in poor health, etc.  My heart goes out to you if you are in poor health – that must be a trial in and of itself.  But I have known people in poor health – even people who were dying – who have kept their sense of humor and a good attitude.  And that is my hope – that if I am ever in a situation such as that, that I am able to keep my sense of humor.

No. 3 – Never underestimate the power of love.  Family, friends, spouses, significant others – your dog, cat, bird!  Shower love on whomever you can, whenever you can. 

No. 4 – Friends can be extremely important in your life.  Friends you can count on, that is.  I’ve had plenty of friends that actually weren’t as good a friend as I thought.  But I have friends that I know I can count on for anything!  And what a great destresser it can be to talk to your friends.  If you profess that you don’t have any friends – go out there and meet people and start a friendship.  Friendships take time to develop and to nurture – be a good friend and you’ll get a good friend.

Find your mantra and use it.  Improve your attitude on life.  You will be a much happier person.  Remember:  every day you’re miserable is a day of your life you’ve just wasted.

The Personal Side

Last week I was a speaker at a women’s meeting.  I wasn’t scheduled to be the speaker – the scheduled speaker had a family tragedy and couldn’t make it.  So the day before I got a call from a member of the group and asked me to speak about virtual assistance.  It’s not new to the net, but you’d really be surprised how many people have still not heard about it.  I’m going about trying to change that. 

I have to tell you – I had a blast!  I talked briefly on women in leadership and all the crazy surveys, studies, etc., etc., on present-day women and why it’s taken so long for women to be in leadership rolls.  I could have spoken for hours on the subject!  And afterwards I met some really neat women who came up to me to ask me about VA’s and to tell me how much they enjoyed my little talk.  Fun stuff.  Getting up to speak in front of a room full of women I didn’t know would have been daunting to me a decade ago.  Now it was just another thing to experience in life – my attitude was properly adjusted.  If an opportunity comes up for you to do something a little outside of your comfort zone, why not consider doing it?  Adjust your attitude and go for it!

The Business Side

I feel as if I’m repeating myself, but why don’t you have a VA yet?  Don’t wait until you’re drowning!  Hire one now to be able to call on when you need her.  This goes along with destressing – we are all so very busy in our lives, why not get help?  Whether it’s getting help with the little personal things you are having trouble keeping up with because you’re too busy running your business, or you need help with your business tasks:  correspondence, email management, administrative tasks.  Wouldn’t it be great to be confident in passing along some tasks to your VA to handle for you?  Why should you be taking your time to do certain tasks that your VA could be doing?  Be an entrepreneur and join the throngs of businesspeople who have found their very own VA to help keep their business running efficiently — and DESTRESS.

Don’t be a procrastinator – find one now!!

Great site to visit – article on eMediaWire about Virtual Assistants.

Nickey Hollenbach

Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC

484-919-0637

nickeyh@ptconciergeservice.com

 

Save Your Money!

Welcome back!

The Personal Side:

During my time served in law offices, I used to look around and marvel at the waste – the wasted time, the money thrown out the window.  Don’t get me wrong – I believe that most law offices are run tightly and efficiently.  I just wasn’t familiar with them first hand.  Without getting into great detail, I’ll give you an example.  When your staff is completely bogged down and work is coming out of their ears, they’re coming in weekends and staying late nights, wouldn’t you look for ways to manage the workload more efficiently?  Your staff will eventually get burned out and make more mistakes – it’s human nature.  Maybe hire a part-time staff person, perhaps on a temporary basis, to catch up on filing, closing files, rearranging files –  small but necessary tasks that your staff was having trouble keeping up. If I were managing an office, I certainly would not have paralegals filing, photocopying large jobs or closing files.  Would you rather have your $25 per hour staff filing or getting work out the door that you can bill – some of it that they can bill – and hire part-time staff at $10 per hour?  That’s one small example of people just not thinking about the big picture.  Like hiring Virtual Assistants.   In staying with the law office scenario, you hire a VA to do overflow work at $35 / hour.  You turn around and bill your clients the usual $75 / hour paralegal fee and your staff is now happier because they are not insanely swamped,  and we all know a happier employee is a more productive employee.  Your initial thought may be – $35 / hour!  I only pay my staff $25 / hour!!  Really – do you?  How much a month do you pay for their medical benefits?  How does it impact you when they are out sick or on vacation?  Are they working for you every second they are sitting in your office taking up space and working on equipment that you maintain?  Hmmm – I wonder how much you are actually paying them per hour.

The Business Side:

What business owner doesn’t want to save money (and time – usually one and the same)?  I just can’t think of any reason why an entrepreneur or small business owner wouldn’t want to use the services of a virtual assistant.  Actually – any size business that has overflow or a project to get done that doesn’t want to bog down their staff.  Let’s look at the facts (bulleted just like a tie would want to see):

• no payroll taxes
• no extra equipment / space
• no equipment maintenance
• no sick days
• no snow days
• no vacation days 
• no benefit packages

That’s right, folks.  Virtual assistants are never too sick to work, being snowed in doesn’t affect us in the least, we have our own benefits packages and we are never on vacation when you need us!  We obviously own and maintain our own equipment and you pay us directly and 1099 us at the end of the year.   What a deal!

Don’t waste another day without your very own VA!  Give me a call any time and we can discuss whatever your needs may be, whenever they may be.  Because again – that’s the beauty of having your own VA.  We’re there when you need us for as long as you need us – and that’s how you pay us!

 Next:  What this Virtual Assistant can do to help your business get going, stay going and improve productivity.

Hello world!

I am so excited to start blogging.  What took me so long?  Wish I knew.  Can’t go back . . .

I’ll be sharing what I do, how I do it, why you should connect with me and all sorts of great tips and ideas.  So visit me often and see what I’m up to!

The Personal Side:

I am also very excited about the whole virtual assistant thing.  How could I have gone into an office every day – a very poorly run office – and just put up with it for all those years??!!  Oh yea – the paycheck and benefits.  Now I remember!  But here’s the thing:  one day you will wake up and realize that life is so very short on this earth, if you have the chance to change it, you must grab that opportunity!  I am one of the lucky ones – that opportunity arrived and I have definitely grabbed it.  And if you are reading this and wondering how you, too, can be your own boss – make a plan.  Decide what it is that you love to do and what you are good at doing.  I was in a place where I was wondering why I went into this line of work (which is a different story for another time).  I started wondering what it is that I truly wanted to do.  Then I realized I really love what I do – it was just the environment in which I was doing it!  It’s funny how you can get caught up in the environment you spend so much time in – look the other way when you see how wrong things are, actually trying to justify the means to an end.  And some people will never realize what they do is so wrong – or they just don’t care.  You definitely can’t change other people – but you can change yourself and feel good about yourself and what you do!  So if you are unable to make such a drastic change but really want to – make a plan!  Get set up, do your research and save money.  You will truly love yourself for it and the world will look even more like the beautiful place it is.

The Business Side:

My future blogs will detail exactly why it is so beneficial for someone to have a virtual assistant and why virtual assistants are NOT just a typing service.  The client base is vast, and even if you do have a specialty (mine is law), you can assist virtually anyone with virtually anything.

So stay tuned!!

Nickey Hollenbach

Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC

484-919-0637

www.ptconciergeservice.com