When Once Favorite Companies Fail You
An emotional song plays during the start of my 46-minute wait on the phone to talk to someone in the customer service department at JetBlue Airlines. 46 minutes is actually half the time I usually have to wait to reach someone due to them changing a flight schedule on us. But I patiently listen since it’s vital I reach someone.
Picture yourself at 8:30 a.m. walking up to the JetBlue Newark counter to check two bags within the two-hour suggested arrival time before your relaxing vacation flight, only to be told your flight was cancelled. Imagine this flight had been changed one other time before after you booked and paid for it without a call to make sure the changes were suitable. Then consider the fact, the JetBlue flight prior to this cancelled one, was also changed without notice making your end destination in Seattle instead of San Francisco because according to them “we didn’t have enough people on the flight.”
As a 30-year event planner with a strength troubleshooting urgent scenarios, I immediately approached one of 4 agents to try to figure out how they were going to get us on their next flight. To my chagrin, their next flight was at JFK airport at 7 p.m. “Impossible,” I said to the male agent as I saw their sister airline American Airlines had a 10 a.m. straight flight to Las Vegas which would get us there in time to pick up our pre-paid car and drive four more hours to Sedona, Arizona to our pre-paid hotel. I wasn’t going to lose time or money due to their problem.
“You used travel credit so I can’t help you, I don’t know how to do that transfer,” the male staffer said with no energy in his voice. “Get your manager then,” I demanded. After 10 more minutes of a manager not showing up, I noticed the American flight was already full so I left my husband to attend to this incapable staff member and went to United Airlines where the man there booked a straight flight for us leaving at 10 a.m. for only $200 one way per person easily.
I messaged my husband and told him to make sure the male staffer at the counter cancelled our trip and put the credit back in our travel bank. Supposedly, he did until we received messages that we were booked on a 7 p.m. flight out of JFK to Las Vegas, which believe it or not, got delayed to 9:30 p.m. after we got their second notice. By the time we got their repetitive changes to our travel plans, we were already across the country in our rental car driving to Sedona, Arizona.
Assuming this man canceled our return flights but not trusting him, we booked a return flight home on United Airlines again for more money but our trust level of United was more important than the cost. More than three times, we tried without success to reach JetBlue via phone and website on our vacation to no avail, never getting anyone who could even answer us. As I sit here now typing this blog post, I am waiting to see if I can finally get someone to justify the cancellation and lack of refund to our account, but all I hear is music.
Do I want to be rising my blood pressure level to rectify this situation? No, but it is money owed to us and if we left it up to JetBlue, they would keep it and say it was our fault for not taking both flights. As the continuing music plays, I think of this wisdom to share with you:
* If your first or second customer service experience with a company is so bad, do not under any circumstances use them again. We trusted a company that used to be great thinking they would rise to the occasion again, only to be fooled by their horrendous business attitude. I don’t blame the pandemic for this mishandling and mismanagement, I blame JetBlue.
*Money is not abundant so do not give it away to a company that doesn’t make you a priority. There are other companies that will make you feel like you are their best customer like United Airlines did for us immediately and through both flights
* Sharing poor customer service experiences are necessary to warn other consumers of terrible corporations. Save someone else the pain of a bad experience by sharing your thoughts with others. It is good business to do that.
Wednesday Wisdom: Bridges
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business
The golden boulders shimmered in the sunlight surrounded by brilliant blue sky so clear you felt you could touch it from deep down in the canyon. The only way to traverse rugged gullies was across rock bridges icy from the deep February cold in Utah’s stunning Zion National Park, which we did slowly in awe of God’s creation.
Just across state lines in her sister state of Arizona, Devil’s Bridge, an elevated rocky expanse awaited our arrival. Willing to walk six miles in and out to reach it, we dared ourselves to try. The red rocks of Sedona have a way of calling you to try or regret not exploring them for life. Perhaps the Devil, himself, was daring us to reach it, which we finally did in late afternoon hours after a difficult rocky climb, as evident from the photo.
Later in the week, not even close to the natural bridges of nature, were the man-made ivory, Greek style bridges taking pedestrians across the bright lights of Las Vegas Boulevard so visitors could dance on sidewalks with Flamingo dancers, shop in high-end stores, eat in world famous chef-owned restaurants, or view the Bellagio Hotel’s stunning fountain display. Crosswalks weren’t allowed in some places along the crowded sidewalks and roads, only bridges.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides two meanings for the word bridge, the first, a structure carrying a pathway over a depression or obstacle; the second, a time, place or means of connection or transition. What I can tell you for sure is experiencing the Southwest for the first time in my life had both types of bridges – physical and mental – one of them expected and the other one not. To sit in the sun’s rays, high above earth’s floor, after an exhilarating experience to get to your destination, you can’t help but contemplate the journey and destination.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to think of the bridges in your life – physically and mentally – you have traversed to get you to this point in your business or personal space. How much have you changed? What bridges lie behind and before you? Are you content enough to bask in the sun of where you are now or do you need to get up and cross another new bridge? Are you willing to transition mentally into a new space calling you?
Bridges are all around us, even if we don’t live in the natural beauty of Utah or Arizona. We can go out our door and cross one now or wait. We can move past a point in our lives now or wait. We can carry ourselves above and beyond our current situation and transition into a better place if we desire. I hope you follow my footsteps and do just that. It will be worth the new adventure.
Friday Feeling: Women Keep Your Maiden Names for History’s Sake
Friday Feelings, Motivation, Inspiration for Women, Females, History
My beloved Aunt is known for many things – her giggles, crystal blue eyes, deep dimples, and her love for our family. At every family occasion or holiday gathering she speaks to “the group” and starts by saying, “You know you belong to the most wonderful family in the world – the Chamberlains.” We all hoot and holler to ensure she knows we agree with her.
One of the things she is most proud of is the “Chamberlain Brothers.” Her father – my grandfather – was one of seven boys who lived during World War II. We always hear stories about them especially since my great grandfather was chosen as “National Father of the Year” because he had seven sons and five of them were fighting during World War II.
A couple days ago I was approached by one of my company’s members about submitting stories about women in my family who had anything to do with the Women’s Rights Movement. I called my family historian – my Aunt of course – and asked the question. She said, “Tracy, I don’t think any woman in our family was an activist but to be honest with you I know more about the men than the women.” I said to her in a loving voice, “Doesn’t that seem strange we don’t know enough about the lives of the women in our family since we are both women?” Her famous giggle was not present after that question.
Three years ago my youngest sister, an activist in her own right, decided to change her married name back to our family name because she realized in searching our grandmother’s lineage that women get lost through history because we drop our maiden names. I loved my maiden name and actually made it officially my middle name when I got married in 1989 after attempting to convince my husband to hyphenate our names. He was right it would have been too long “Chamberlain-Higginbotham” and I knew I wanted children and wanted to share their names. But after my sister changed her name back to her maiden name, I decided to use my full name on all documents and in my writings not to torture anyone who has to write it but because I want to have a name legacy.
We are born to our full names. We are that person until the day we get married and change it. We also agree in that moment to be lost in history. I want to encourage every woman with this blog post to consider using their full name from this point forward to create a legacy for themselves. Hillary Clinton is also known as Hillary Rodham Clinton. Why can’t we all be a three name woman?
I wish I had given my sons “Chamberlain” as their middle names so the history of the “Chamberlain Boys” as my aunt called them was in their names and not just their blood. Women owe it to themselves and to the generations of women to follow them to be able to find out about their female relatives through history and know what they did to change the world for the better. Let’s start today using the names we were born with and our married names if we have one.
Wednesday Wisdom: One Step at a Time
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners
“To change the world, start with one step. And however small, first step is hardest of all,” is one of my favorite song lyrics and goes hand-in-hand with this time in January when most people have already failed at some of their New Year’s resolutions. It only took 3 weeks for that bright, fresh start to fade into normalcy. I read somewhere that instead of making a full one year of resolutions, you should start with a daily resolution and repeat it day after day, until that first step – aka resolution taken – becomes your normal stride and daily action.
This makes sense if your resolutions include: losing weight, reworking your marketing plan, decluttering your office, taking up a new fitness regimen, or planning more excursions in 2022. Nothing gets done all at once, unless we have Jeannie in the bottle making it happen in a blink of an eyelash. So, what can you do this fourth week in January to reset your mind about accomplishing small and big goals?
I have some advice for you. The past two years, I learned how to make impactful, daily differences for an organization I have fallen in love with called Global Citizen, whose mission is to build a movement of 100M action-taking Global Citizens to help achieve their vision of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Their movement is of engaged citizens who are using Global Citizens platform, taking action on the issues, and earning rewards for their actions.
This past year, I took 174 actions to defeat poverty, demand equity, and defend the planet easily from my chair in my office in Syracuse. Next week, my husband and I will enjoy one of the rewards, two tickets to the NHL All Star Game in Las Vegas, something I choose in their lottery system of rewards. Sure, we have to pay to get there and stay, but what a fun and exciting reward for simply texting, calling, sharing, emailing, and lending my voice to issues that move me.
All it takes is checking their website weekly (daily sometimes) to see what I can do to help, who I can call or email, and in doing so rack up rewards that can thank me for my time. I would love to get more involved with them since I love their mission so much. It makes me feel like one single individual can make a small, yet large, contribution to the world, alongside others.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to consider what ways you can help our globe or the issues closest to your heart on a daily or weekly basis to make an intrinsic difference in your life and others. Donating time, knowledge, or money doesn’t take more than daily intention. I bet you could come up with a quick list of 3 things you could do starting today, every day or week, this year to make a difference in our globe, nation, or your own community.
By doing so you’ll give yourself a meaningful resolution that makes you feel proud every day and lights your heart with warmth and charity. Then, take one step at a time, to accomplish your other personal New Year’s goals, remembering in 2022 we can help the world and ourselves simultaneously.
Reliving the Women’s March on DC Through My Eyes
Remembering the Women’s March in DC – 2017
Five years ago today, almost to this minute, I was walking along the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C., with some of the women who came on my company’s Women TIES buses to march at the first Women’s March on DC. We wanted to remind the new administration that women matter and make up a larger percentage of the American population. We were organized, peaceful, empowered; and it was one of the best days of my life.
Below is a repost from my experience so you can “feel” it for yourself. As you know, more women’s marches followed annually and me and my company co-organized the 2018 Central New York Women’s March, promoted the 2019 Seneca Falls Women’s March, and attended the 2020 New York City Women’s March. Due to the pandemic, there was no Women’s March last year or this year; but don’t worry I feel there will be more coming!
Read on. Stay empowered. Speak up for women’s right and pay inequality until we can march again.
ORIGINAL POST – January 2017
“She believed she could, so she did,” is the saying on the bracelet on my left arm given to me by my friend Susan Bertrand of Maureen’s Hope Foundation, worn all the way the Women’s March on DC and back. Not only did I believe but so did the 110 women who traveled with me via bus with an friendly bus driver who performed a light show for us as we sang Donna Summer songs when the trip got long.
After landing in Fredrick Maryland for the night before the March, I threw a dinner reception for all these women who did not know each other. Some were in their 70s, a few in the 20s, some African American and some white, a few were Jewish and others Catholic but we instantly bonded over one cause, one heart beat and in unity. A dance party broke out which most women took part in until the hotel manager made me shut it down. Only women would dance together in song so joyously.
The father of two girls and wife who were in the next room, told me they were marching for women’s rights and asked if their family could join us. Next thing I knew I was dancing with 12 and 9 year old sisters smack dab in the middle of our big dance circle. “Y.M.C.A.” played and the two girls happily danced in the center of the circle of grown up women. At the end, I gave them both shirts and told them to continue to fight for what they believe in from this age forward. They hugged me three times and hopped off to bed because they were getting up at 4 a.m. to go to the march. You would have thought Santa Claus was coming to town.
The next morning after boarding a train to DC at the end of the Shady Grove Metro line, I struck up a conversation with two twenty year old college students from Maryland traveling in to stand up for “human rights”. We shared our hopes and dreams during the 30 minute train ride. They became new sisters in solidarity.
Then we stood, marched, held up signs, spoke to old women, young women, young girls and men all with different reasons for attending. We witnessed a group holding a 6’ long pink yarn uterus for a woman’s right to choose. We shouted up to a Canadian women in the tree with her daughter telling us we could move to Canada if things didn’t work out in the USA. We broke into chants, songs, hymns, and hugs with people we did not know.
In front of the Capitol Building, I ran into my ESPNW contact and was interviewed about the importance of supporting female athletes and why equal pay for women counts. Later that night the video was aired. In it you’ll see the enthusiasm that jumped into the interview with me – other women. I embraced it. It was about sisterhood – energetic, happy, sisterhood.
On the train ride home, I sat with a young transgender youth who proudly told me she had changed her gender. He was 15. Next to him was a young girl in the arts. They both told me about why they marched on Washington and their dreams. They shared photos with me. We hugged as we departed and I told them to keep up their own dreams and fights. They thanked me and went on their way. My heart was changed forever in that moment. People are good. Children are good. Our future will be good because of them.
I returned home with a much larger pink heart than I ever had before – and that is saying something after 22 years of serving, promoting and inspiring women in New York State – and a new urgency to create a larger company that has four distinct divisions – one for business, one for sports, one for equality and one for life – all for women. I will hire women to help me so we can spread our message stronger from this day forward. I know I can do it because, “I believe and I will.”
Below are more photos from Women TIES Marches that followed:
My Word of the Year – Undaunted
Thursday Thoughts, Wisdom, Inspiration for Women, Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners
As I looked up at the brilliant blue sky with puffy white clouds slowly stumbling across its span, I deeply contemplated my word of the year. The concept of your word of the year is instead of setting a variety of New Year’s Resolutions, you choose one single word to be your focus of the year. I only heard of this concept three years ago after someone presented me with a book that helps people choose their word after answering questions and doing visual practices. Today, I was using my own blue sky and white clouds as my single word palette and drawing board.
Three years ago, I also lost all my hair to alopecia, making this natural extrovert a hermit of sorts, hiding in the shadows to hide my condition since I was not comfortable with my new look. Born with an adventurous athletic and entrepreneurial soul, retreating to the confines of my beautiful home and property was unnatural yet protective and healing. Just like grief stages, moving onto the fourth year of dealing with this medical condition has me gently moving back to my self again with some sort of acceptance.
In fact, “acceptance” was my word of the year, three years ago as I struggled with my condition. Just like watching a shy child open up to new friends or a flower stretch its petals in the morning light, my word for this year feels like it’s been simmering and ready to launch every chance I face my new true image. So, finding the appropriate word of the year has been like my brain going through its own Thesaurus, searching for the exact right word.
A few words have entered my mind – fearless, adventurous, awakening, reclaiming – but none of them are exactly right. Yes, they are words I plan on being in 2022 but not the exact one. With Covid-19, also isolating me due to my unpredictable immune system, the need to burst out of my cocoon feels essential this year. I’ve been in the larva transformation stage since 2018, emerging not quite as beautiful as a multi-colored butterfly, but of my own God-given new creation defying traditional beauty norms.
So the word that finally came to me and feels right is, “undaunted,” because that is what I want to be in all aspects of my life. Undaunted – flying without fear. Undaunted – speaking my truth to certain people in my life. Undaunted – revealing new happenings in my business. Undaunted – walking out the door without a hat to cover my perfectly round, bald head. Undaunted – trying any and all sports, fitness activities, or events at the age of 58 for the first time because this is my new bucket list for the rest of my life.
I don’t need to be fearless or confident to move forward, I must be undaunted which means courageously resolute especially in the face of danger or difficulty: not discouraged. The word has the tenacity, boldness, and “break out of the cocoon feeling”, I have been searching for. Watch me re-emerge.
Wednesday Wisdom: The Value of Repurposing
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Business Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
Just like you, my email inbox gets filled with enticing offerings from new online searches, familiar brand names, and even twenty-year old business connections. Typically, if they aren’t filtered out by my spam box, I remove them before opening them up unless the email subject catches my eye. As a long time, Oprah fan, having her very first printed magazine and appearing via video recording on one of her 1998 TV shows, I opened her latest invitation to join her new Oprah Daily endeavor.
Reviewing the diverse membership benefits, including a live streamed class with Oprah called “The Life You Want,” I noticed how she is using her library of past inspiration, education, guests, TV show fodder, and magazine articles in this new effort. She is reappointing catalogs of previously used materials in a new, exciting format to further her business and fellowship, and to draw people back into her brand. “Just brilliant!” as my English friends would say.
As Lauren Debter in a Forbes article stated, “Brands already have a vast archive of collections to pull from and repurpose for the digital realm.” Another online business called Econsultancy said, “Repurposing content is a fundamental part of inbound marketing activity. Or it should be if it currently isn’t.”
You might be actually astonished at the depth and width of your own archive of materials to repurpose in 2022. Do you have files of past speeches, articles, client presentations, and conference materials? Could they be broken down, and reused, in a new podcast, blog, or YouTube format giving your old work, new life, and attracting old and new customers back? Could they become new webinars, recordings, and speeches if you tweaked them a bit?
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom, still in the early weeks of the New Year, should motivate you to consider repurposing past written, spoken, or viewed materials, into new digital formats or even old formats. Pull out your marketing plan and add repurposing old marketing materials with details, dates, and tasks to plan and implement this year.
There is no harm in repurposing your own material, in fact it is smart according to marketing experts and Oprah. If she is doing it successfully, shouldn’t we all?
Soothing Customer’s Minds
Inspiration, Motivation, Business Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses, Female Business Owners
I was on my way to an important out-of-town doctor’s appointment when I realized I walked out of my office without important documentation from my Internist. With only twenty minutes until I arrived at my appointment, I called my doctor’s office hoping someone could assist me. When the receptionist heard my urgent plea she said, “Mrs. Higginbotham, of course I can do that immediately for you.” Relief rushed through my mind.
On the way back from the appointment I wondered how many times throughout the business year we soothe our customer’s minds or requests with the same reply. I’m not sure it’s possible to say – “Absolutely I can take care of it this moment for you” one hundred percent of the time, but why not strive to say it more often. You never know when that statement could make your customer’s day, create a loyal client for life, or provide an excellent testimonial for your blooming business. At times, the quickest action and simplest answers are what our clients need to hear.
Sometimes when we get busy running our companies, checking our task lists and rushing to complete projects, we forget that our customers are the most important part of our business. How we treat them, what we say and how often we deliver on something, can make all the difference in the world to them. I can also mean securing a customer for life and sparking a testimonial that sells your company to others better than a business plan.
Remember to take time for your clients. Slow down. Answer the phone, more than you typically do. Respond to requests promptly. Call a few customers you’ve been meaning to call. Remember sometimes a sincere one line statement like “Absolutely I can do that for you” can make your clients feel they are your number one priority. What’s better than that?
Being a Badass Businesswomen Works
Thursday Thoughts for Women in Business, Female Entrepreneurs, Woman Who Own Companies
After a national business services company billed me without notice for an annual subscription, the women I’ve been watching on the show Ozark popped into mind as I challenged the payment, asked for a refund, and demanded it slightly more aggressively as I would have until they said it would take two weeks to get the money back. I said, “It took you one second to take my money and you’re telling me it will take two weeks for you to give it back, that doesn’t sound fair.”
Typically, I’m emphatic to customer service people, but this corporate policy frustrated me since small business owners rely on cash flow, and conglomerates don’t nearly as urgently. When I hung up with the representative, I was told I’d see the money in two weeks with nothing else I could do about it, so you can imagine my surprise when the money was back in my Pay Pal account under 30 minutes of the call ending.
With a slight pat on my back for being more antagonistic than usual, I flashed to two main characters in Ozark, a NetFlix movie series, Wendy Byrde and Helen Pierce. They came to mind after watching last night’s episode where they outwitted men in a casino plot. I personally love the wild, outspoken Ruth Langmore, another female character, every time she speaks, plots, and makes demands with her southern drawl. In fact, when I googled an article on these female characters the best title I read was, “The Women of ‘Ozark’ Redefine the Male-Centric Crime Genre.”
Maybe I love the show so much because it spotlights powerful women, and maybe I was a bit more demanding today watching their example. So, I’d like to share some wisdom from today’s experience to inspire you:
* Don’t be afraid to ask (or demand) a refund when you deserve it.
* Don’t forget about automatic subscription renewals that can catch you off guard. Check when they are due, and stop them in advance if they aren’t needed.
* Don’t hang up when the customer service representative doesn’t give you what you ask for. Demand to speak to someone higher up.
* Keep an eye on your money since more and more corporate terms are favoring big business and not smaller ones.
* Act fast when you see a discrepancy in your books or bills.
We all can’t be hardcore, badass business women like Ruth, Wendy, and Ellen dealing with the mob, but we can take a few of their bold, assertive attitudes and use them to our advantage when they are needed. If you haven’t watched Ozark yet, join in and witness some strong women running the show, and get prepared to speak up more often for what you want. You have more power than you imagine.
Wednesday Wisdom: Elation at Work and Play
Wednesday Wisdom, Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners and Small Companies
Equating jubilance with snow shoveling on a five-degree day might not be anyone else’s idea of bliss, but it was for me, as I struggled to stop shoveling my driveway to come in and write this Wednesday Wisdom. See, when you love what you do, in life and business, delight tickles your spirit and keeps you gratified.
I love writing about as much as I love super cold, rosy cheeks and an ear full of Harry Styles “Watermelon Sugar” inspiring me to stop shoveling for a quick dance in the driveway in my snow pants in instant joy, hoping or maybe not, that a car doesn’t drive by for a peek at life as a home-based woman entrepreneur taking a healthy business break.
Compelling me to leave the lovely (and I mean it) freezing temperatures was my zeal for communicating with my members and women who follow me weekly. As inspiration for writing this piece, bubbled in my silly snowy soul, I was as eager to come inside to type my wisdom out as I was to eat snow. The tug at more snow time versus writing time was like sitting on a see-saw with a childhood friend going up and down in glee.
Eventually the dutiful business owner in me, left the youth in me outside, and in I came not wanting to take a shower to warm down my cool cheeks as if they were a gift for robust living. I’d rather type my inspiration still sweating with cold cheeks than not write since I felt the rush of needing to get the words
on the page.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is not about winter exercise, a rosy face, or communication, it is about finding what you love to do and doing it joyfully every moment you can until another joy calls to you to stop what you are doing and begin something equally as satisfying.
I believe a good work day includes joyful moments of personal and entrepreneurial duties that collide into an amazing positive mood of happiness and accomplishment. It is what I want you to think about when you are done reading this and your spirit is calling you to play joyfully at something you love equally as your business passion. Elation is found everywhere and in everything if choose it is what we crave and want to experience.
Women TIES 
