Steppin' Up

Today I made a decision to sell part of one of my companies and while it was an emotional decision to make, it was the right one.  I think sometimes I over think business strategies and concepts but I'm proud of myself for having the courage to step up and make a decision that is good for me and my buyer.  My turning point today was the realization that money isn't everything; sometimes giving up a little money has its own rewards.

It's Time to Hire Help

Today, I'm thrilled to announce that Ellen Lovelace as joined my company as our Vice President.  I'm past the point of excited and proud that I finally made the decision to admit that I really do need more help then I already have.  Often times, I find myself trying to do everything and the second I see the quality drop below 110%, I know its time to make a decision.  My turning point was a few weeks ago when my phones were ringing non-stop all day.  We sent a newsletter out about the 2012 National Gift Basket Convention and my email and phones lit up with questions, comments, commendations and excitement.  It was a great few days but I couldn't get anything done and missed some dates.

So, Ellen - welcome to DebbieQuintana.com!

You can read the press release here.

Honesty, Integrity. Genuine Communication.

If you asked me what my top three qualities are when looking to build strong relationships, its these:  Honesty, Integrity and Genuine Communication.  I have found these qualities are difficult to find, in tandem.  I know a lot of people who have integrity and honesty but lack the ability to communicate and while I am not a perfect communicator, I do pride myself on being a honest communicator and one that does not brown bag.  The brown bag for those of you who don't know, is a metaphor for someone who takes all of their uncommunicated issues and places them in their hypothetical brown bag.  When the pressure gets heavy or they have had enough (their brown bag is full), they dump it all on you at once.  It's shocking.  You hear things you didn't even know they were feeling; perceptions that are so far from the truth you can't believe it and while at that point, they are being honest, the delivery of their brown bag never comes across properly.

Communication, in my opinion, is an art and my turning point was a few years ago when I met my communication match.  I'll reserve the name to protect the innocent (LOL) but will tell you that this individual said to me one time, "I think you're saying that I'm lacking confidence, am I reading you right?"  And my response was, "yes, I believe you are lacking confidence as her is why..."  We went on to have a meaningful conversation that eventually led to her admitting she was lacking confidence and her and I worked together to create a plan to increase it.  I had the pleasure of watching her work hard on realizing that she is better than she realized and if she put her mind to it, she could do anything.  After all, what did she have to lose anyway?  The point here is that our relationship turned into one that has honesty - she told me exactly how she felt; integrity - she didn't act like everything was fine when it wasn't and genuine communication - she was able express herself real time.

Meeting your match when it comes to core values is important and my recommendation to you is to figure out what those core values are that will make a difference in the relationships you have in your life.  I'm very clear on the types of people I want close to me and therefore, have amazing relationships.

What's a Change Agent?

I never heard this term until my coach called me a "change agent" a few years ago.  He said there are people that are uncomfortable with change and therefore end up in the same "state" for a very long time.  I'm the complete opposite.  I embrace change and look to make change happen when I feel its needed.  Being a change agent is really, really fulfilling especially if what you're changing is going to have significant impact. Consider something in your life that you need to change and become a change agent.  Determine what the new "end state" is going to be and the steps needed to get there.  And then, get busy!  Don't let anything stop you from achieving your goal. 

Judging Before Knowing is Never Right

I spent this weekend in San Diego with several gift basket gals and have to say that it was so enlightening and wonderful.  I have spent the last several years working hard to bring resources, support and collaboration to this industry and to spend time with people that I know via the internet and phone was lovely.  It truly was.

As many of you know, there was/is a tiny group of individuals who have worked hard at judging me without knowing me and today, I had an amazing turning point.  I never really understood what "their" issue was with me and was so hurt.  It's terrible to be judged by someone you've never met or even had a conversation with but yet judging was their #1 priority.  Today, I was enlightened as to the judgement and have to say that I feel better that I understand it but it doesn't make it right.

My turning point today was to realize that if "they" don't have the decency to validate rumors, get to know me or give me a chance, then honestly - they don't deserve to take up any of my valuable mind space and I sure as hell am not going to allow them to make me feel less than I am.  It's that simple.

Purely Genuine Appreciation

There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not grateful for the support I receive personally and professionally.  However, I used to forget to say thank you and it was a few years ago when I met Stacey Vulakh and Melissa Stacey when I realized that I needed to say thank you more often.  Anytime I used to do something for either of them - small or big, I'd get a thank you note in the mail from them.  A handwritten thank you note - not a "Send Out Card" or an email, a note with postage on it.  Unbelievable!  I mean who has the time or energy to sit down, write a thank you card, address it, put postage on it and put it in the mail?  I do.

Now, I make time to do the little things in my life that matter so much to others.  I make the time.

A New Day and a HUGE Turning Point

Two weeks ago, I was notified by Cisco that my position was being "eliminated".  I knew it was coming but it was still hard to be called into the office and to listen to the words.  I started at Cisco when I was 29 years old and here I am, for the first time in my life, unemployed.  My emotions have been running very high the last few weeks.  The day they told me, I was past the point of emotional.  I drove off the campus and cried the whole way home and when I pulled up to my house, there was my husband standing in the driveway waiting for me and we're so emotionally attached, he was already crying with me.  It was a day of complete and total disappointment, sadness and devastation.  The following days was sad, then angry.  Angry that I had put in so many years of pure dedication working 50-60 hour weeks and my "elimination" was just so easy.  I left for Ohio the next day and was dreading come home because I knew it was reality time - I wasn't on vacation, I was without a job.

And then, my friend Sarah wrote on my Facebook page, "They already took 12 years of your life. Why give them one more week???" And, I quickly realized how right she was.

We got back from Ohio the following Monday and what has happened since then was past amazing.  After taking a few days to realize that this is my new temporary life, I cleaned out my home office, bought a new laptop, re-organized myself completely and realized that I'm Debbie Quintana - nothing is going to stop me from what I want to do.  It is on. 

Finding the Right Partners

If you asked me for one of the biggest lessons I've learned, I'll tell you that its all about my relationships and the people I know.  I have learned so much about people over the last ten years.  It's been a rough learning experience but now, I can honestly say that the relationships I have personally and professionally are the right ones.  I feel strongly that anyone that is close to me needs to be upfront, unassuming and honest, and when I say honest - I mean it.  While I know its not easy, I am one that appreciates people calling it like it is...for me, its just the way it needs to be.

I would seriously take a look at your cache of friends and make a decision who your close friends (personal and professional) are and ensure you have a 100% open and honest relationship them.  It's ok to have acquaintances but its not ok to confide and expect to have tight relationships with everyone.  It's those expectations that will get you in trouble.


It's really that simple.

The Sales Flip: A Much Needed Turning Point

It was about two years ago when I closed a huge deal with a very large sports organization.  The gifting needs they had spanned over three full pages of explanations including new hire gifts, gifts for visitors, congratulatory gifts, birthday, get well, new baby - you name it, it was on that three page spread.   It took me over six months to get the business and upon the final award to Gourmet Gifts, I asked them why they chose me.

The main purchasing agent responded very quickly, "The answer to your question is simple Ms. Quintana.  You took the time to understand our needs and you delivered exactly what we told you we wanted.  Many other companies came in here and told us about how great they were and tried to sell us what they offer.  You asked the right questions and delivered accordingly."

Wow.  Ok wait.  What exactly did I do right?  I flipped the sales call.  Instead of going in with a presentation about me, my company and what I have to offer, I gave them a short introduction and then used the rest of my time with them to ask the right questions.  It's like having the answers to the test before taking it.

The Sales Flip is a concept I created immediately after that experience and I've been using it ever since and almost every single time I got on a high level sales call, it works.   It was a huge turning point for me.  I had been taught to sell strong, put pressure, don't accept no - you've heard it all.  In today's economy and relationship building atmosphere, people will appreciate you valuing their time by listening.

Download The Sales Flip article that was in the June edition of Trends and Tips Gift Basket Magazine and give it a try.  You just never know - you might have your own turning point.  

Catching Up: Will It Ever Happen?

Everyone always asks my how I do so much and I guess I really didn't know how much I was doing until I took a step back.  Every year, I review how I'm spending my time - literally.  I track how I'm spending every hour of every day for two weeks.  It's brutal.  I call it a time and motion study.  I then go through and make some decisions - should I be delegating this?  Can I automate this?  Do I really need to do it?

A few years ago, something big came out of one of my time and motion studies.  The concept of procrastination.  I'm not a procrastinator by any means (I already have the 2012 National Gift Basket Convention done!).  I'm good at tackling things head on and getting them done but sometimes I'm just not in the mood to do things that are complex.  I made the decision to make Friday's "Solve Complex Problems" day.  It's the day before the weekend, I've had all week to ignore it and now its time to face it and resolve it.  Because I know that's what I do on Friday's, I'm actually mentally prepared to step up and deal with whatever it is...

Solving complex problems is never easy or I would have already taken care of it but its also rewarding once its done.  Today, I solved 3 complex problems and it feels SO good!

No, you can't know what they are...sorry.

From The Yellow Pages to Online Business Directories Are you in the race to the top?

Remember when it was the yellow pages that brought us the customers?  Wow have times changed.  I haven’t even seen a yellow pages in forever – except once in a while when I stumble upon it online.  Now it’s all about the various search engines.  

For our businesses, because the search engines is the primary way we’re found, we have to be in the race to the top and there are a variety of ways you can work  to get there.  A great way to be in the race is to have your business listed in as many directories as possible.  From the online yellow pages to gift basket directories, the more the better.  The more times you are  able to be found on the internet the better so sit down and start signing up! Some are free and some cost money  so watch where you’re spending your money but consider this….directories such as The Gift Basket Association that provides you with a listing on the www.findyourgiftbasket.com directory, is $0.27 cents per day.  Just the listing alone is worth the membership.  While you’re at it sign up on Merchant Circle, Google directory  and as many others as you can find….get into the race.

Net Max = Catapulting.

It was in 2001 when my Mom and I started a gift basket business.  We were sitting at a train crossing talking about how it would be nice to own a gift basket business.  That turned into a U-turn into Pier One Imports where we bought our first supplies.  The problem was that we were so excited about the creative part, we didn't do anything else.  No business plan, no thought around who is going to do what - not even a lot of research on supplies.  Although we had immediate success with orders, our profit margins weren't proper and we were buying supplies that we probably could have waiting to buy.  Since then, the business has grown immensely and so have the profit margins.  It took years of trial and error, risk taking, marketing tests and I can now tell you that Gourmet Gifts is successful.  In October, it will be officially ten years with a company; over 20 years making gift baskets.

A huge turning point for me with Gourmet Gifts was the realization that my family and friends weren't going to be my number one supporters (except my favorite Aunt Diane - she supports everything I do!).  I was so disappointed to see the lack of support and quickly realized that I need to put my concentration on the people that had already stepped up to help me.  I also realized that I spend money with a lot of people so expecting a little reciprocal support isn't a bad thing.  And then, I joined a networking organization thinking that I'd get even more support - not so much.  That's how The Women's Networking Alliance got started but that's another story.

This Turning Point for me developed into a theory I call NetMax.  It's a chapter in my book Avance and I've written a few articles about it in Trends and Tips Gift Basket Magazine.  It's how I catapulted my business and ultimately grew it from a small little hobby to a full on corporation.

What is a Turning Point?

I've been working since I was 15.  I've had an entrepreneurial spirit my whole life.  When I was a little girl, the neighbor and I used to put a rubber band around old newspapers and deliver them to the neighborhood.  In mind, I as selling newspapers - the neighbors, however, we're quite confused.  My first job at 13 was typing for my Mom's word processing business, The Perfect Page; followed by the baseball field "Snack Shack" manager and then my first real job at a fabric store. I was the store assistant manager at at 17 and started my second job when I turned 19, while I was graduating high school.  Those 5 years of working set the stage for who I am today. 

Unlike high school, I excelled in my jobs. I put forth a strong effort, received promotions and praise regularly and at age 19, found myself as the Secretary to the President of a major electronics company. That was a Turning Point and one I didn't handle well.  The good news is that out of all the candidates he interviewed and the people within the company who applied, he chose me as his secretary.  The bad news is that it went to my head, fast.  It wasn't long before they let me go for a more mature model and rightfully so.  At the time, I didn't care - I was going to become a police officer anyway. 

Turning Points are times in ones life where you have reached a pivotal point; felt a particular emotion that had extreme meaning or a "ah ha" moment where you realized you have made an achievement without knowing it. They aren't transitions.  They are times when you realize that something you have been working so hard for has happened; that you've made a certain discovery that is going to force major changes in your life or perhaps making a concerted effort to change the landscape of what you are doing for something up.

Turning Points aren't easy to recognize unless you're looking for them.  I remember where I was standing when I had my first official Turning Point and once I realized it, I had to sit down and take it in.  It was amazing.

...that story is for another day.

Here we go!

Over the years, I had a variety of blogs.  One of my favorite blogs was "Coffee Talk with Debbie Q."  It was the same format as my radio show - gift basket professionals could ask me questions and I'd do my very best to give them real answers that will help them grow their business and get over a hurdle.  My "mini fan mail" would come in 5-6 times a week with appreciate for me giving them some direction.  I will share a secret with you though....I had someone that managed a big portion of my business including my blogs, emails, Tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIN updates.  Working a full time job and owning a barrage of small businesses requires some delegation.  The content, however, was mine - I just wasn't the one to sit down and write it.

It was that whole process - the creation of the blog, the taking of questions and giving answers and the delegation that gave me the ability to do it all and then some.  I was able to answer almost every email that came in, take every phone call and at the time - write Avance. 

I learned that it was ok to delegate with a trust but verify methodology.  I further learned the need to be consistent.  If I went more than 4 days without writing in my blog, people were asking if I was ok.  I also learned that there are things I know that others don't and the more I share, the better.  I can't assume they know what I know and vice versa.  I have learned a lot over the years with just this one process and that's what this new blog is about.  It is my only personal blog and it's where I will share with you where my inspiration and motivation come from, the challenges I've experienced, my failures and my successes.  I hope to inspire you to discover what I call your "Turning Point".