Like most of you, as I prepare to cook, bake, fry and roast our dinner this Thanksgiving holiday, I find myself reflecting on the many things I am thankful for in my life. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you my “28 days of thanks” and get straight to my top five reasons I’m thankful as a marketer this year.
5. A supportive family
I promise, this is my only sappy reason why I’m thankful this year. If you’re a marketer, or know one pretty well, you know we’re all a little bit craz– I mean, creative. Many of us are potentially undiagnosed ADHD and are unfairly compared to the dog from the Pixar movie “Up.” But seriously, it takes a lot of patience to deal with a creative mind. I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing family that supports my career ambitions and is proud of me. Hats off to all of you who put up with folks like me 24/7!
4. Business challenges
Without challenges in business, as a marketer I would have no real purpose. Challenges promote creativity. There’s no better feeling in the world than solving a problem. I even enjoy living vicariously through other marketers as they find solutions to their challenges via case studies and articles. Their solutions inspire me.
3. An amazing network of SMEs and colleagues
Indianapolis is a hot bed of marketing subject matter experts. I’ve been fortunate in my career to meet many of these folks and work for a few of them as well. I’m constantly learning from these folks, retweeting them and reading their blogs. I’m thankful for their experience, creativity and wisdom.
“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” – Edmund Lee
2. Marketing technology
I’d hate to think where my career would be without marketing technology. I started my career at a CRM company nearly ten years ago. I have worked with some amazing marketing technology companies through the years, all – believe it or not – based out of Indianapolis, and have learned a tremendous amount from each of them. Today, I work for an innovative lifecycle marketing company that is changing the way folks think about marketing automation. Life is good.
1. Right On Interactive
Since first learning about Right On and seeing lifecycle marketing in action, I knew I had to be a part of this organization. I’m thankful for the opportunity to not only work with such a forward-thinking company but also to market it every day I go to work. I enjoy the group of professionals I work with every day. I appreciate and celebrate the challenges we help our partners overcome. I admire our leadership and our core values: engaged relationships, excellence, initiative and integrity/respect.
Whether you’re celebrating Thanksgiving this week or not, I hope you take the time to celebrate the numerous blessings you have in your life — big or small. Happy Thanksgiving!
