Yesterday, I received a request from a publisher to review my bio and “correct or update as required.” The bio they had was from 2008. A lot has happened since then. And I giggled a little bit out loud as I made some updates that I was particularly proud of, including contributing to Forbes.com, getting a nod from the ABA Journal for the blog for the past four years, some cool media appearances and being named to the Philadelphia Business Journal‘s ’40 Under 40’ class of 2012. It’s been a good few years.
I’m often asked how I manage to keep my career and my sanity together all while raising some pretty amazing kids. My advice is rather simple:
- Trust your gut: nobody knows what you’re capable of more than you.
- Work hard.
- Surround yourself with really good people.
I’ve always been particularly emphatic about #3. You can have the best job in the world and it can suck if you don’t like the people you work with.
I have a great office. I did the hiring. I picked talented, hardworking, phenomenal folks. And I am grateful for all that they do for me.
Today happens to be Administrative Professional’s Day. In a few minutes, I’ll be headed out the door with the rest of my office to take my Office Manager, Raelynn, to lunch.
This is what you need to know about Raelynn. She’s a really hard worker. She’s smart. She’s an excellent problem solver. But that’s what you expect in an Office Manager.
Here’s what you don’t expect. She puts up with my Christmas music a little later than most people would (and by a little later, I mean that it’s still on my iPod now). She tolerates my craziness: I laugh out loud – a lot – and in an open office plan, that means that she gets to hear it a lot. She’s heard a whole lot more IRS hold music than most tax attorneys, thanks to my speakerphone. She occasionally shares her desk with my daughter, Amy, who has opened up her own “law firm” in our office (there’s some stiff competition since she’s open 24 hrs a day, 6 days a week, according to the signage). She bakes cookies and other yummy stuff for client meetings – and for our office. She sends texts in the morning if she’s stopping by Starbucks just in case I want something different.
People aren’t always nice to the person who answers the phone or the person that they first see when they wander into the office. But that would be a huge mistake. Those are often the coolest people in the room. And they’re the ones that keep the office going. Trust me. They deserve your kindness and respect. Because folks like me would be a complete mess without them.
So, for today, I wanted to say a huge thank you to Raelynn, my Office Manager. And here’s hoping that you take a minute or two out of your day to say thanks to the people who make your life better.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – Mark Twain
