Not a lick of marketing insight here!

In all fairness, I have to beg your forgiveness.  You see, this post has absolutely nothing to do with marketing or branding.  It is 100% purely personal and you won’t hurt my feelings one bit if you pass on reading it. I promise the next post — we’ll be back on track.

At 44, I can look back on my life so far and smile.  I’ve enjoyed some successes that I’m pretty proud of.  I’ve written a book, launched and maintained a marketing agency, built a work environment that honors the people who work there, created a successful blog, blah, blah, blah.

All of the noteworthy things listed above pale in comparison to my great accomplishment.  My daughter.

If you’ll indulge me…I’d like to brag on her for a moment.  She’s a great student, a good kid and quite beautiful.  But what gives me the greatest pride and pleasure is her heart.  And this week, she was recognized for the remarkable young woman she is growing up to be.

It was the last day of school earlier this week and there was an awards ceremony.  Her school has a special award, named after a boy who attended the school and sadly died of a cancerous brain tumor.  The award is given to one student who best embodies the traits of this young man.  The only other requirement is that they have to be involved in the drama program as he was very active in the program while he was in school. The students vote for who they believe:

Has good ideas
Participates fully
Has an exemplary attitude
Has a love of learning
Personal interest and motivation
Makes classmates smile; sense of humor
Is everybody’s friend
Doesn’t give up

My daughter knew she had been nominated by several classmates but the winner is kept secret until the awards.  Here’s a portion of what her teacher said as she announced the award:

…Most of all, though, this year’s recipient symbolizes the spirit of this caring young man.

Peers who nominated her described her this way:  "she makes everyone happy; she has no enemies”  . . . “She is always happy and ready to go” . . . “Drama is her thing and she always has the right attitude” . . . “She might struggle but she always tries hard and the best that she can” . . . “She is very good at acting and loves drama” . . .  “She is a very funny, kind person and she’s always positive and smiling.  She’s everyone’s friend”. . . “She is always very nice to everyone and is very involved in Drama and Thespians” . . . “She is so creative and such a great person.  She can get anyone to laugh.  She loves acting and never gives up.”

And then she said my daughter’s name.  (We had been notified in advance, so we were there, waiting in the wings.)

Wow. 

And then, that 13 year old confidently took the mic and told her entire school how honored she was to receive the award.

I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes.  I know the sky’s the limit.  And I know, no matter where she goes from here — she is indeed my greatest gift to this world.

Thanks for indulging my parental pride.  Now…back to marketing & branding!