I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Simply the Best
A few weeks ago Tina Turner passed away and I cannot tell you how sad this made me...still makes me.
I recently shared a story from the early part of my career when I was working a dream job in TV production. (If you missed it, you'll find it here.)
During that time, I had the pleasure of meeting many famous and not-so-famous artists from the music industry.
For the most part, they were very cool, kind, and collaborative.
Some were weird.
And some were typical rock stars even if they weren't actually stars.
But Tina Turner was a whole different kettle of fish.
She was a huge icon, promoting her Simply The Best album and tour. In all honesty, I'm not sure if there was anybody bigger at that precise moment in time.
She was what they call in the biz 'a huge get.'
The entire production office was buzzing about her visit to our studio. And I was so jazzed about being assigned her 'person,' the one who makes sure she's got everything she needs, that I called all my friends to let them know I was going to be meeting one of my favorites and an absolute legend.
I wasn't allowed to tell them who it was until after, so there was some fierce betting about who it could be.
About 30 minutes to showtime my boss meets Tina and her people at the stage door and escorts them to the green room.
That's where I'm waiting with a whole bevy of butterflies in my belly.
And then Tina walks in with one other person—that's her entourage—that's it.
My boss introduces us and Tina takes my outstretched hand in both of hers and says, "Oh, I know Lauren. We're old friends. How ya doing, Lauren? It's so great to see you again."
Um, wait, what?!
The only way Tina Turner knows me is if she remembers me from her Private Dancer concert at Wembley Arena. I was the one dancing wildly and singing at the top of my lungs to every song in the second-to-last row, all the way up in nose bleed country.
It takes me a minute to recover and I ask her if she needs anything.
"All I need is for you to sit down, tell me about yourself and how you've been."
I don't have any recollection of what we talked about because we sat chit-chatting like we were, in fact, old friends.
Then, she went out and did her interview.
Before she left, she hugged me tight and said, "You take care, Lauren. I know we'll be seeing each other soon."
It wasn't until I was onto my next career that the fantastic lesson of that meeting dawned on me.
Tina not only demonstrated what humility is but she showed me just how disarming it can be to put others at ease and what an incredible act of kindness it is.
She was by far the classiest act I've ever met in my life, and I will treasure my experience with the undisputed Queen of Rock n' Roll until the day I die.
I know conventional wisdom says that you should never meet your idols. But, man-oh-man, I did, and it was glorious and so was she!!
Until next week,
PS - If you missed it, last week I talked about Loss Prevention.
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I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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