Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

Yesterday, I attended The Loan Fund’s Founder’s Breakfast (Disclosure: TLF is a long-time client and I planned the breakfast. I was also a sponsor.)

The event wasn’t your typical blah event at a chain hotel with dim lighting and cold rooms. We held it at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum, in a room with killer panoramic views of the mountains to the east and north. That alone took the event up a notch, so we didn’t have to spend a lot on decorations and such. And, the Fund’s staff actively worked the room, making sure people were comfortable, juice glasses got refilled and things ran smoothly. It was a terrific, positive experience, with a lot of good news about entrepreneurial success and opportunities to counter all the bad headlines we’ve been reading lately.

(Did ya get that marketing point in the last paragraph? “Experience” “Actively” “Good News” Hmmm… )

I came away from the event re-energized and feeling great about the good in the world – not the least because of the nuns. (Yes, I said nuns.) The Loan Fund receives a lot of support from various orders, and one of the founding members, Sister Marie Luisa Vasquez, is a member of the order of Adrian Dominican Sisters. She’s been on the board for 20 years, through thick and thin. And, she brought (as she typically does to all events) what I think of as her “nun posse” – a group of tiny ladies with big smiles and twinkling eyes. I complimented one sister on the button she was wearing (with the mission of the order) and asked if she could get me one. At the end of the breakfast she came up and pressed hers into my hand. I’m not Catholic and I could never be a nun (I think I may be too tall…;-) among other things), but I wholeheartedly agree with what the button says:

Seek Truth.

Reverence Life.

I’m sure the good sisters and I would differ on many things, but we can certainly find common ground on these three.

Tags: perspective, Mary Schmidt