By: Andrea Mac | July 13, 2023

If you can only take me in small doses, here’s what’s new:

What I am working on this week: A slew of client work. I sold it, now I need to deliver it, coach it, present it, analyze it, and work it. 

Something I’m nervous to put in writing: I am beginning the process of applying for TedX talks. Eek. Big stage, big stakes.

My favorite business tool? I live by Grammarly.

This volume of the Prequal newsletter is going up later than I would have liked. But I have a good reason. Something amazing happened last night.  

I have been working with a client on a one-on-one coaching engagement, and we recently wrapped up our year-long engagement. Much of our time together was spent virtually, despite living only a few towns away from one another, so we thought a fun way to celebrate the culmination of our working relationship was by going to dinner together with our spouses.  

My husband and I were at the restaurant having a great chat, enjoying the fact that we were out of the house and getting to talk uninterrupted. That’s a novelty when you have four kids. My client texted to let us know that he and his spouse were running late. No problem. My husband and I were happy to have a mini date before a fun couple's dinner.  

Mid-chat, I got emails on my phone confirming that I had been enrolled in AppleCare coverage for two products – a laptop and an Apple watch. I had not ordered any Apple products. But I do have a teenager who’s headed off to college in the fall. That teenager had left my house just that morning for an extended amount of time, and might I add, not in the greatest mood when she left.  

We immediately suspected she’d gone on an Apple shopping spree. We texted and called her right away and said, “You need to tell us right now if you used your graduation money to buy a laptop and a watch without our permission.” She denied the accusation and swore up and down that she had not. 

Having no choice but to believe her, we turned to the next likely culprit – spam. My husband suspected the emails were spam, and I started to get anxious that I'd clicked links and invited malware into my phone. As we’re researching the email address associated with the AppleCare account and Googling about spam on your phone, my client shows up. 

This client has three daughters and had spent some time during his career as a chief technology officer. If anyone was going to appreciate what just happened, it was him. We started to tell him the story, and that was the moment he pulled out an Apple bag with a laptop and watch - for me.

I was stunned. 

In order to understand the significance of this moment, you need to know where he came from. 

When he engaged with me a year ago, he was going for a CEO position. But his was not a straightforward path to the C-Suite. 

He immigrated to the US as an adult from Africa. Even though he completed schooling in his home country, he had to do so again here. He rebuilt his entire life in the U.S. with a young wife and daughter in tow - first becoming a CPA, then CFO, and now actively pursuing a role to become the CEO of a community health organization.

One of my A+++ skills is getting people ready for high-stakes opportunities, so he was referred to by a former client of mine/friend of his. Before we started this engagement, I let him know that I typically work with women, and he thanked me for taking him on as a client. If you read the first edition of this newsletter, you know I am driven by the impact I can make in the world, and this client was poised to make a big impact.  

This CEO role was incredibly important to him, and he didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We developed messaging plans, did role-playing, and mapped the entire process all way through final negotiations, ensuring that he had a resource in his corner every step of the way. 

Needless to say, he got the job. He’s a week into his new role as CEO. 

But back to this Apple bag and my stunned face. 

My client said after he handed me this gift some words that I believe are the true gift he gave me. To paraphrase, he said something close to this:

“When I picked up this gift, the store didn’t let me write a card. So I will say to you what I would have written. It took a lot of people's sacrifices and contributions to get me here. Before l left home, my mom didn’t have anything to give me but she shared this advice: ‘Along the way you will meet people who will be the helpers. You need to be on the lookout for them, and you need to accept the help.’ 

You are one of the helpers on my journey and this is a thank you to you. This is about the appreciation for what this means to me and those I support.”

He‘s right. It is not about gifts. It’s about impact. How we choose to spend our time and share our talents matters. There’s a trickle-down effect that happens when we use our gifts to help others make an impact. 

This amazing human being now leads an organization that provides quality care to 170,000+ patients. My time with him, was not about the money I was paid or the gifts I received. It’s about how impact is made. And impact is made through relationships. 

Then we had an amazing dinner. 

All-in-all, a pretty great night.

Here’s to your success,

A.

P.S. Are there any Resources you want us to create next month?