What's your story?

What’s your story?

The most incredible stories often come from people who cross our paths that we are unlikely to take the time to know and sometimes don’t even notice.  They pass quietly through our lives and are forgotten moments after they are out of our sight.  Often we are distracted by our surroundings, our cell phones, our thoughts.  They are often waiters in restaurants; checkers at the store; people who help us carry heavy items to our car.  I am equally guilty of this.  But every now and then, I pause and take the opportunity to learn more about a person and their life and more often than not, I am amazed and inspired.

Recently, I was sitting in a restaurant in Las Vegas.  The waiter, Nicola, asked where we from while taking our drink order with his very heavy accent.  So I in turn asked him the same question.  He had just moved here from Italy two months ago to have more of an opportunity in life.  It seems in Italy the older people have a “job for life” and for obvious reasons employers no longer do that.  But if you don’t have a “job for life” the banks will not loan money for a home or a car.  It’s hard to find work and there was not much opportunity.  The last three presidents were appointed rather than elected and his comment was “that is not a democracy that is a dictatorship.”  He spent over 7 years trying to get his green card.  He was so proud to be in America. 

  

We often become discouraged and displeased with our country and our government, especially with all the dysfunction in our federal government.  But seeing our country through the eyes of an immigrant, gave me a real sense of pride in our country and our way of life – it’s certainly not perfect, but so much better than so many other places.  It opened my eyes by seeing through another person's eyes.

It was a slow evening in the restaurant and I spent quite a lot of time talking to the Nicola.  His journey was amazing and his pride in a simple job waiting tables was inspiring.   Shortly before we left the restaurant while Nicola was tallying our bill, a few of the other waiters standing together commented chuckling that he loves to talk.   I couldn't help but think – what is your story?  Do you have a compelling story or do you just sit by letting the world pass, biding your time?  I can tell you, Nicola received a very large tip at the end of the evening.  We felt bonded to him because we had shared in his story.

A compelling story elevates you as a person and can also elevate your business.  It bonds people to you and makes you memorable, helps you stand out from the crowd.  I love learning people's stories.  

Our company, Stowebridge Promotion Group, was born in upstate New York when my husband and I realized that raising three children with two parents, both working corporate jobs, didn't work.  He was winding down on a position that he held and started the company in the basement of our home.  Today it has grown to over 20 employees with a strong passion for helping customers market their business, build their brand and thank their customers and employees. Our roots have led us to create a great company that understands the importance of family while still having a passion for taking care of our customers. 

Our passion for helping customers has also led us to create a very unique type of promotional company. We never like to say no or we can't.  We have a full graphics art department so our customers never have to worry if they don't have their artwork and to create some very cool designs for the products we produce.  We also have invested in a full production department so we can make promises others can not by producing it ourselves, making our company different than our competitors which consist mostly of sales staffs.  While it can make for some long days and late nights, we love that we can help our customers, especially when they are in a time crunch.

So what is your compelling story?