A simple cup of coffee

This morning I walked into Starbucks for my “one more day until the weekend” coffee. There were just a couple of people in line, but standing slightly back from the counter was a young woman with bare feet, faded blue hair working its way into dreds and an old t-shirt and drawstring pants. The first thing that caught my eye was her hair. She was slightly older than my oldest daughter and I immediately remembered her blue hair disaster about five years ago. She was holding an empty water jug and had come in to get some water. Five years ago, I never would have paid much attention to her. I would have assumed she was a young, somewhat rebellious youth who was looking for something. However with my experiences over the last few years working for the Homeless Count in January, hearing about the women in need as our church partnered with the YWCA to open Angelina’s Women’s Center and then watching the birth of Sophia Way, I have learned a thing or two about this issue. She was barefoot, with a few bangs and bruises and pretty grubby. She was standing quietly, not making a scene and waiting for an opportunity to ask for water. I mentally went through all the telltale signs and quickly determined that she was most likely homeless and if not, certainly she was far from home. I don’t know if she had any money back in her van, but clearly she was there in Starbucks with nothing more than a pair of pants, a shirt on her back and her empty water jug.

When the Starbucks employee, came out behind her counter to take the container, she was appreciative and I thought I detected just a bit of embarrassment. When I got to the counter to order, I asked her if she’d like a coffee. It took her a few seconds to process the question and when she did, her face lit up and she said “really?” I encouraged her to order and her first question was “what’s good”? So the young woman at the counter and I walked her through a couple of simple questions, “what do you like?” “Strong”, “Do you want sweet?”, “No, just strong.” She was clearly out of her element in the land of $5.00 lattes, and a bit intimidated, but she was curious, bright and appreciative. The gal at the counter steered her toward a drip coffee and then proceeded to grab the largest possible cup and fill it up with just enough room for cream.  Once she added cream and took a long first drink, the look on her face was priceless. “That’s so good!” She picked up her now filled jug of water, thanked the Starbucks person who helped her and stopped and looked at me. “Thank you so much!”

Now the interesting thing is that I have a feeling that this experience has had a significantly bigger effect on my day than it did on hers. It humbled me, put my life into perspective very quickly, and reminded me how important it is to focus on helping those who have less than me. I was so appreciative that I had taken enough time to actually assess the situation instead of falling into my old assumptions. I was thankful that I knew enough about homelessness that I could see both the obvious and the subtle signs. And mostly I was thankful that I had enough in my pocket that I could share with this clearly bright, and appreciative young woman.

And the most amazing part of this morning? I got to walk into my office and work on finding new ways to build homes to house her and others in her situation. I’ll never know her life story, but for a few brief moments this morning, we shared one of those life moments that I won’t soon forget.

Resume Rules Revisited

Since I was a recruiter for so many years, I often get asked to review resumes, forward resumes or give general job search advice. I'm always happy to do so and particularly happy when those connections I facilitate result in a job found for a friend or a position filled for a colleague. This post was forwarded to me by my husband and it is one of the best quick reads on writing a resume that I've seen in a while. It's not that the information is new as much as in 10 quick "words not to use" it outlines what is wrong with many resumes:

1. Give examples, don't use fancy words to make yourself sound better. What did you accomplish and what were the results of those accomplishments?
2. Don't waste space on the obvious ("salary negotiable")
3. Be unique by using your resume to outline what makes you special and successful (everyone has "problem solving skills")
4. Describe what you did, not what your team accomplished or what you watched others do ("responsible for...")

Resume writing is definitely a skill and it's hard to be specific about what you've accomplished. However, if you can master the resume, you will find yourself in interviews that are better suited to your interests and talents.

Good luck!

Progress

Our board has spent the summer meeting every week (yes, that's every single week!) By their own decision, they looked at what we needed to get organized before we could even start our work and realized that it would take a period of continuous regular meetings to put the foundational elements into place so that we could begin the work we all came together to accomplish. The result - meetings every week. Each week we've tackled a different subject: organizational structure, fundraising, financial structure, branding and projects. From these meetings, we've built a strategic plan. We meet this coming Thursday to approve our plan and then we're off and running. It's been a busy summer and it's given all of us a chance to really get to know each other, appreciate differing opinions and approaches and laugh. There's been a lot of laughter. There's no better proof that you've got a great group, then when you hear them give each other a hard time, laugh a lot and then buckle down to business.

When you are in the middle of hard work, you forget what it's taken to accomplish all that has been done. You forget because you are so busy working, and because although most of us dread the idea of hard work, when it's done with others you like and respect, it's actually a lot of fun!

I was taken aback when a good friend (and experienced strategic planning consultant) was very impressed with the work that we'd done over the summer. Her "wow" made me sit back and realize that while the summer has flown by with enjoyable, laughter filled meetings, we've also accomplished a great deal! What likely would have taken 7 months, has now been finished in 2! We're hitting September with a plan and ready to go. More importantly, that condensed 7 months worth of work has built friendships, and a work ethic that will significantly help all work we do in the future.

I am humbled and excited by this amazing board of very bright individuals. Each brings their own area of expertise and passions and, as a whole, they will move our city to amazing places!

I can't wait to watch!

Neighbors building community

I just met my new neighbor in my office. He's just moving in. His name is Dwight and he's an author and an internet marketing guy. My first thought was "interesting, seems like a nice guy, but doesn't really apply to what I've been working on here at the foundation." Clearly I need to check my prejudices at the door. In further conversation, I learn that he not only is an author, but he publishes his work online, has quite a following and provides games and puzzles for his readers to solve. On top of that, he leads tours to the interesting places that he writes about.

He's building community and he's doing it through art and technology!

We talked a bit about the foundation and some of the conversations I've had with other members of the community. We discussed Redmond's interest in healthy living, environmental sustainability, art and technology. It suddenly became clear to me how every business in some way is connected to not only the economic sustainability of our city, but also in the building of community and engagement. We all want to connect and each person has their preferred method. Some will gravitate toward ball fields, others toward the new Redmond Bike Park (currently in the planning stage). Some will connect online through Facebook, Twitter and gaming communities, while still others enjoy the age old "meet at the mall" method. All of these different ways of connecting weave the fabric of our city. How do you like to connect? What ways can Redmond help you in your preferred way of building community?

Just a fire truck?

Yesterday I was driving south on 405 heading toward a client meeting in Tukwila. As I maneuvered through the S-curves (a term I learned as a teen listening to traffic reports), I came upon a shiny red fire truck also headed south. When I got close I saw "Redmond" in gold letters.

My first thought was, "what is a Redmond fire truck doing down here in Renton?" However, as I looked at the truck, I found myself filled with a great sense of pride. Here, right next to me was one of our fire trucks; one of my fire trucks! It was beautifully clean, polished, shiny and a large flag was securely attached to the rear, waving in the wind. I felt both protected as I drove alongside, as well as proud that our city would be represented somewhere south for some unknown reason.

I realized that over the last few months, as I've been talking with people of our city, I have gained a tremendous sense of pride for Redmond. We are an amazing city with bright, engaged citizens who want to make our city, state and world a better place. We are also a city with many who are less fortunate, who need a hand up so that they can feel engaged and a part of something bigger than the immediate need to feed themselves, or provide safe shelter for their family.

This is the heart of the work of The Redmond Foundation. How can we help build a sense of pride in our city so that each resident and worker is excited to be part of what is going on; so that each resident and worker recognizes the need to support those who are less fortunate and step up to make a difference wherever they are able. I want all citizens of Redmond to feel proud to be represented by our shiny red fire trucks headed "somewhere south" to be part of the even greater community of the Eastside and the entire King County region.

We have a lot of work to do over the next few years, but I do believe that important work has begun and I can't wait to see the impact it makes on the future of Redmond!

Things are shaping up!

How exciting to meet with people you admire, share a vision and receive responses that they not only like the idea, but are willing to step up to help make it a reality! I've had some amazing conversations with potential board members over the last few weeks and all but one have given me an enthusiastic yes!

While I've certainly been offered recommendations, cautionary conversations and some excellent advice about important areas to consider in the development process, I haven't talked to a single person who has said "no" or "not interested". There is a great groundswell to build community engagement and develop a shared vision. I am so excited to get the details in place so we can begin the conversations on a community-wide level.

The rest of the week and most of next are focused on the details, budgets, board responsibility documents, policies and procedures and by-laws. It feels slow, but it's important work and must be in place in time for our first board meeting.

Exciting times here in Redmond and they are only going to get better!

And so the conversations begin...

I've spent the last 7 months talking to people in the city (and outside of the city) about the Foundation, asking a lot of questions and learning what is exciting, what is boring and what people think is needed in Redmond.

I'm finding that connections are beginning and there are going to be a lot of opportunities to begin discussions on what can happen when a motivated group of individuals has a vision and starts a conversation about possibilities!

I just finished meeting with Carolyn Hope (a very appropriate name for a City Planner) today! She told me the story of the beginnings of Redmond's newest/oldest currently existing and hopefully soon-to-be fully designed and sanctioned bike jump park.

This "park" started as a dirt lot. The local kids saw opportunity and started building jumps. For almost 20 years this open lot has been changed and transformed (sometimes daily) into new and exciting opportunities to challenge BMX skills and practice jumps. The city is looking at the park, surrounding area and potential needs to build trails and clean up the city owned land. Officially the space is Redmond Water Utility District property. What I find is so amazing is that the city hasn't shut down the kids (which to some administrations could easily be seen as a nuisance at best and a hazard and potential liability at worst). Carolyn is working with the kids to see how the City can partner and create a designed and safe bike park. Again, this is where it gets interesting. Instead of just taking it to the adults, designers and making decisions, a coalition of kids, parents and experts has been assembled to decide how best to use the space, make it (relatively) safe and interesting to the kids.

The group has taken field trips to other bike parks, talked with the Mountain Bike Alliance and will be reporting possibilities to City Council.

They are working with professional bike jump designers and will be doing much of the labor themselves (with the help of some heavy equipment owned & operated by the City).

This is true community engagement at it's finest and I applaud the City for recognizing both the need and the enthusiasm and embracing this potential park as a true community project!

This is just one project happening in the city and I'm sure over the next few months I'll learn of many more, but I am so proud of our city (and our City) that youth are recognized and appreciated as the community members that they are and given the opportunity to step through this process of planning and design.

Next up will be the fundraising and that's where the Foundation will step in, not to do the work, but to guide and support the kids as they figure out how to make their newly designed park a reality!