Tag Archives: networking

Pay Attention to What Comes Before You

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Our everyday actions ripple through dark times like butterflies, touching many hearts. Every day, I say to myself…pay attention to what comes before you.

Blue butterfly against a blurred background
Image by Adina Voicu, Pixabay

This week I ventured out to a favorite health food grocery store. I met a man in one of the aisles shopping carefully for his family.

He starts laughing and joking about figuring out price per unit in our heads, no calculator. I laugh and share a little about taking a personal finance class in college recently, where everyone had to learn that practical math for their degrees.

But there is something else happening too with him, some sorrow and fear.

I stop and pay full attention, encourage him to talk. I can do this. I have the time.

Turns out he has been staying home raising his kids for the past 12-13 years. But his wife, who has been supporting them, has her work connected to the CDC. The CDC isn’t talking. So, she has the feeling her job will end soon. She has asked him to look for one quickly.

His past job searches have not been positive experiences despite his advanced degrees and practical experience. He was doubting he could do it, and he was feeling the pressure.

I start talking about my recent job finds for people with advanced degrees through our local community colleges. I talk about contracting/temp work to bridge employment gaps, and how I have seen how that works for hundreds of people including me. Everybody has a chance at temporary work.

He starts recalling when he last talked to the local colleges. Plus, he recalls he did temp work long ago. Not so hard. Funny memories. His darkness is lifting rapidly.

I verify he lives near the store. Yes, in fact, we live near the same small town. I suggest a local temporary agency with many jobs in the area. Plus, I suggest the annual statewide 100 Best Employers list that helped me find that agency and other businesses in this area.

After about 10 minutes, his mood has shifted from tense and sad to cheerful and hopeful.

We say goodbye, wish each other good luck, and move on with the shopping.

Who or whatever force pulled me to go to that store and meet him at that moment…thank you! And thanks too for slowing me down to stop my own agenda and be open to him. Why these things happen are a mystery to me. But they do happen all the time, remotely and in person.

That is what I mean about paying attention to what comes before you.

Featured image by Adina Voicu, Pixabay

Writers with a Voice

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I have always loved writing. I took every English class available in high school and college. I arrived in technical writing as a volunteer. For three years, I wrote technical directions, training materials, and software tips at The Standard before being promoted to a Systems Specialist role.

In recent years, I was fortunate to work on two large highly-skilled technical writing teams. I found it was common for writers on my teams to be a bit introverted when speaking to their peers across the organization. When I attended local DITA and Write the Docs networking events, I watched very talented and creative writers struggle to overcome their shyness, to find their voice.

I was a shy kid and teen, writing more than speaking. I broke out of it thanks to my mom and a local community theatre group. Acting roles and lessons helped me build the confidence I needed to speak in front of others. I became a receptionist immediately after high school at a local newspaper. While I was studying journalism, I learned how to use my voice to soothe agitated callers and greet anxious strangers. Later in life, I used my voice to launch quickly and naturally into my software trainer career. In recent years, I moved my voice online, switching my career focus to video and eLearning production.

Thanks to all of these experiences, I am a technical writer with a voice. It is rare to find others who understand and share my interest in both voice work and technical writing.

I was delighted this week to find a talented writer with a voice. I found Jeanne Faulkner through LinkedIn. Jeanne is a “writer, author, editor, writing coach, podcaster, voiceovers, advocate, registered nurse and then some.” I thoroughly enjoyed Jeanne’s podcast titled Raising Money-smart Kids exploring how and when children can learn financial responsibility and budgeting, a critical life skill.

There is a place in this world for writers with a voice.