Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 39

Today I started writing a series of blogs on our various websites: www.marketingeye.com | www.marketingeyeatlanta.com | and now www.marketingeye.com.au giving readers of these blogs an insight into who I really am. I am going to try and be raw and real, with no secrets or pretense. Feel free to give any feedback on whatever you read.

Inquisitive

I am inquisitive. I ask the "why?" every single time, usually inside my head. I don't just accept things as they are. I think about why they are as they are, or why someone has said what they have said. I think about why people do the things they do. Why they are one way with one person and another with the next.

When I see a painting, I think about why the artist chose to paint the picture like they did? What was going on inside their minds when they were painting away? Why they chose to sell their painting where they did? What they really thought of the painting that they did?

I am fascinated by design. Today I walked into Restoration Warehouse in Atlanta. It is one of the most beautiful retail buildings in the world. Each piece of furniture or fitting has a unique story to be told. 

Further on my journey today, i walked past Moncler and stood watching the window display. The robots with the mannequins dressed in jackets was so creative I wonder how anyone could have come up with it. It not only made me stare at it long enough to think that in itself it is a piece of art, but it also had me completely in awe of the designer. That's a real talent. 

Inquisitive people have a strong desire that borders on obsession. They want answers - especially one's that are not so obvious.

Good marketers are born to be inquisitive. They need to be inquisitive as to why someone would buy a product or service. Why someone chooses one brand over another. If they are not inquisitive, then they usually are not the best marketers.

Sometimes I am given great topics to write about just because I am out there living life to the fullest, experiencing as much as possible. I meet people from all walks of life and am continually exposed to different cultures. This is what I really love about my world.

Yesterday I received an apology, actually two from someone. As I read it and re-read it, I realized that it wasn't an apology, it was just words so that the person could get themselves out of a spot of bother. They didn't care less about the apology, but were probably advised to do so.

I can't believe I am saying this just days after I reminded my blog readers that I refuse to reward bad behaviour - that I am in fact, not going to put any more energy into someone who I can't change or rectify their bad behaviour. At some stage, people just won't change. They will laugh it off and pretend it didn't happen.

Then what happens is you spend your time putting in place the procedures to ensure that their bad behaviour is not rewarded only to find that you have spent a lot of time and effort and at the end of the day, they are who they are, and most people if they have not been brought up properly with good manners will never change.

Most people are good. They care about others and they in general do the right thing. But we don't always get that right and when its a matter of the heart or a business deal that has been ruthlessly dealt with, we sometimes want to fight back or at least teach these people who always get away with it, a valuable lesson.

But only hours after agreeing to something, I have decided that its not worthwhile. It won't teach them a lesson and it may hurt others that don't deserve to be brought into the drama. 

Some people are not nice. Not kind. Not honourable. Not respectful. Leave them fly from one friend to another and only have people around them that they pay or support to have there.

While the rest of us can enjoy being with our loved one's, caring about not just our family and friends but others around us and showing good manners even in the worse situations.

So sorry readers... I have had a change of heart in the past few hours and for me its best. I have an amazing business to focus on and I can't afford to waste time on people that are just not nice. Karma always comes backs and bites them. I don't need to! Nor do I need to contribute to it.

If I had a magic ball, I would look deeply into it and think about what I really wanted to experience and get out of life. 

This morning I had breakfast at The Mercer Kitchen in Soho with my friend Kristina Karlsson, you know that phenomenal businesswoman who blows every other Australian businesswoman out of the water.

Bad relationships happen. They are inevitable. Particularly when you have been around for a while.

The more passionate you are about a person or anything really, the more it affects you and sends you a little crazier than normal. But mostly, logic comes back into play and you tend to correct whatever it is that went wrong.

Part of me wants to be the nice person. Not necessarily the person that everyone loves, but nice and kind. Always thoughtful and considerate.

I've gone through life largely in a good space. I have had some amazing work experiences that have led to a lot of fulfillment from that front. Personally, I am blessed in so many ways, but you know, there are some things that you really can't have everything.

More than anything in the world, I want the next chapter of my life to be happy and about helping others. I try to do the best I can to go out of my way to help people less fortunate than me and share my good fortune with those I care about.

Children are very important to any family. It is a choice that people decide to have children, and if you have been fortunate enough to have the privilege of having a child, make sure you take it very seriously.

Many of us have issues. I for one, have many but for the purpose of this blog I think I won't go into it. 

I wrote a story about narcissists in general, and thought I would dig a bit deeper as to how it actually affects the children of a narcissist. We cannot be perfect, but what we can do is try our best and identify areas that we need to improve on and make the relevant steps to do so.

With divorce once again on the rise, which is very disheartening, it's very important to think about your children and how you can ensure that the divorce isn't just about you getting a new lease in life, but about ensuring your children get the best out of both worlds.

I wish I had had children and hopefully one day I will be lucky enough to meet someone who has already been there and done that, and play a role. I love the fact that you can love someone unconditionally. I love my dog yet I didn't give birth to her. Some people say that that is not the same, but I tend to disagree. 

I am saying goodbye to being 41. It's not a sad day, it's one that I am celebrating. Why not? It's been a big year and full of surprises. I have learned more than I expected. My true friends have come out in spades and ensured that they have been there for me for both the good times and a few of the bad times.

In two days, I will be 42 years old. I write that with a huge smile on my face. I have in the past 12 months had the hardest 12 months of my life from an emotional perspective, but more recently, strangely, the best. As I get older, I keep learning so much about myself and others and I know how enriching that is. Getting older is exciting and allows me to grow in ways I never thought possible. 

When you are navigating life by yourself, it is hard to know whether you are doing the right or the wrong thing. The decisions you make in some way seem less important because all the mission critical one's were made earlier on, yet some are defined more by time. Finally I have hit that mid point in my life and it would be ignorant not to reflect and appreciate the good and learn from the bad. At least that's how I see it.

So many of my friends hit their 40's and have had mid life crisis; divorced or have done something crazy that I am sure one day they will regret. I was a little different. I went within myself and was probably a tad hard on myself and what I had achieved to date, and started this path which I have since gotten off, that was not going to make me happy long-term.

I won't deny that I am my own biggest critic, but mostly what I have learned is that I have grown in ways that make me extremely proud of the person I have become. Not the business woman that the world sees, or those so-called successes, but the person within. I am sure that sounds wrong when someone else reads this, but by saying it out loud, I am revealing who I am today.

Never give away everything, it's as simple as that.

Too many entrepreneurs get so desperate that they give away the kitchen sink when in fact all their prospect wanted to know was that they could do a good job.

As an entrepreneur, it's hard to start a business and to keep it going year-after-year profitability creating value and jobs. But many do so very successful, and yet those who fail seem to do so falling often on their own sword.