Livin Off The Wall

On Monday morning I began my day by reading this message:

Excel and Propel
The dawn of a new era is upon us! We’re setting sail and off on an incredible journey for God’s glory. Do join us- in spirit and in truth- and let’s experience the difference of a lifetime filled with adventure and joy! It’s time to excel in all we do and propel to the next level with God’s grace, power and might leading us along the way. As you celebrate Valentine’s, let your heartfelt appreciation and gratitude be not only to each other, but to God for His favor and unselfish love to us. Thanks and enjoy your week. With Happy Hugs and Warm Hearts, B.M.

No, this message didn’t come from one of my inspirational books or an email forward. This message was at the top of our weekly production schedule at work. The president of our company wrote this to us.

I was just as shocked as you are. It made my heart smile to read this. I was even more blowed by the fact that before we started our weekly staff meeting she led us in prayer. She being a beautiful, successful, Black woman of God who has turned a simple dream into a multi-level business that is cutting edge. Her reputation in the community and the nation is as sweet as a freshly picked mango.

I’ll admit, I had my reservations about her. It seemed to be deja vu all over again when i walked in to her office for the first time. Here I was again meeting with the head of a Black owned company. The female owner was promising me that if I proved myself after the first 3 months I could choose any position I liked and I could negotiate a better salary. Hmm. I had heard that before. Remember the Miami Times? Yeah. She never delivered on her promise and cussed me out after I had just worked my ass off planning and executing a job fair for the company.

But I had to let that go. I can’t expect to receive a full blessing if I’m still holding on to the past.

This week has been remarkable. Guess what? I write and create for a living.

For real. That’s what I do. When clients sign the contract we take care of their marketing needs. This week I wrote copy (wording) for a client who has a consulting business but she doesn’t have any literature to give to potential clients. She doesn’t have business cards or letterhead either. In 45 minutes I wrote her a brochure explaining her business and by the end of the day my copy was sent to Creative Services to be laid out onto an originally designed brochure with original artwork and logo.

I also wrote a media advisory for the National Traffic and Safety something or other. I basically had to encourage African Americans to buckle up for safety. We handle local and national marketing accounts, but our niche is targeting the Black community.

It’s a big beautiful building. It has been newly renovated with state of the art equipment. The first floor is a big open space with cubicles. My cubicle is about 6 feet wide and 8 feet long. The walls are about 5 feet high, and I’m 5’1″ so I can’t really see over them.

There’s a mixed crowd in the Communications Department where I work. There are whites, Blacks and Hispanic people and we all have different talents. The thing we all seem to have in common is a pleasant attitude. I’ve never seen so many people who just, are cool with each other.

Everyone pretty much works on their own. The projects are divided up with everyone taking a part. I may do the letter to the editor and the media advisory. Someone else does the PSA and the faith based letter, while others take their part.

The key word around our office is accountability. Every morning by 10am we all have to email our daily to-do list to the President of the company so she has a record of the projects we are working on. At the end of the day, we have to log on to our intranet system and log in all of our activities for the day. We have to account for EVERY MINUTE we were there and type in what projects we were working on and how long it took us.

We do this because at the end of the month, the computer adds up all the hours worked on the various projects and then it bills the client who pays an hourly fee for our services.

If I was allowed to go to work in my draws and a t-shirt, I wouldn’t feel more at home. But even in stockings and a form fitting dress skirt I am deliriously happy every morning I go in there because I know that I’ll be brainstorming all day and writing copy for various clients. All I do is think and write.

Ofcourse my first assignment went sour. She sent it back to me saying that I missed my mark completely. I was shocked. ~smile~ But it challenged me to step my game up and by the time I turned in my next copy she was congralulating me on a job well done. And then I did it again. And again.

I’m consistent with my work because I LOVE what I’m doing. How can I effectively communicate your message? You have something to say but don’t know how to say it? I can take care of that for you. I was BORN to communicate. Words are my heartstrings.

I know you won’t believe me when I tell you that opportunities are presenting themselves to me left and right. I almost cried at work today. Ok, I did cry. but I made sure to go to the bathroom so no one saw me. Honestly I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful to be able to work in Marketing.

I know it’s not a big deal but this is really FUN to me. It’s stuff I would do for my friends for free if they had businesses. It’s my PLEASURE. Not only is it PLEASURE, I’m getting paid. And I’m making more money than I’ve ever made in my life.

I’m kinda in shock about this week’s activities. I don’t believe I am this blessed and this happy.

A friend of mine called me last night to lecture me about how “crazy” I am in regards to Kanye saying, “Sometimes you take it too far. You see things in people that aren’t even there. You give people too much credit.”

What’s so wrong with that? I see people in a way that they don’t even see themselves. I see visions for them on a grand scale and I believe bigger and harder than most. Does that hurt anyone?

It almost blew my natural high but I realized that everyone doesn’t have my heart to uplift. I still don’t understand why my girl was telling me that, it was neither uplifting nor inspiring, but then again, she was high so who knows what was going on in her world.

All I know is that when the time comes for me to fully walk into my destiny, I’ll know who the chicks are who can see my vision and won’t try to stall my faith and my uniqueness. I know I don’t think like most people. I know I see things differently than the average person.

And that’s why I’m me, Ms. Tee.

Just as off the wall as I wanna be.