The Proof is in the Puddin’ – Are You Eating the Pudding?

As the saying goes – “The proof is in the pudding”. So what the heck do they mean by that? Per Grammarist, it means “that the end result is the mark of the success or failure of one’s efforts or planning”. Well, I can certainly relate to this in many ways.. but specifically with Hurricane Harvey!!

Yes, Hurricane Harvey basically totaled my house with 3-4 feet of standing water, let’s not even get started on the jet-skis or boats riding down the middle of my then very under water street which caused an excessive wake. Who’d ever thunk that you’d need to put a “No Wake Zone” sign in your front yard? LOL

After we did what we could inside, I convinced my husband to leave and put ourselves on “the list” to be evacuated… long story short, we ended up walking out in shoulder high sewer water down the middle of my street to safety.  My networking friend, Cynthia Tevis, and her husband found a way to get to us and welcomed us into their home for about a month. So, my point isn’t to share minute by minute of our day but to get to this next part… where I was overwhelmed with community love.

Would your relationships stand the test of Harvey?

What I mean is… when push comes to shove, would you have a community willing to travel around town, tear down sheetrock, empty sewer water out of your kitchen cabinets and help you in any means possible? Amazingly, mine was… so I want to share.. so you can understand the value of friendships, not just for personal but also for business, because for me, some folks start as clients and networking associates but end up friends.

This wasn’t intended to be all about me, but to give you some idea on the type of people that I have surrounding me in my life. Sure, it hasn’t always been buckets of love but when push came to shove, they came out in GROVES. Let me show you:

• Kickboxing friends emptied and washed out your kitchen cabinets & few salvageable things that were filled with sewer water – while gagging on the stench
• Several friends (6) to wash at least 2 huge bags of laundry and store for you
• Networking and kickboxing friends to sweat through several days of August heat with no AC to tear down drywall and trash your sewer ridden belongings, dragging them to the curb
• People around the world (yes.. the world) who do and don’t know you to donate to a donation account that yet another friend set up
• Constant friends thinking of you, praying for you and sharing your donation account or pictures
• My STL (Share the Luv) FB group created a blogging gift package for business owners and bloggers all for a donation to me
• Clients who, after receiving my email about the devastation and my plan for the month of September, allowed me to keep the money and not do the work but to focus on me
• Folks who wanted to feed my family or bring us meals
• Heck, even a friend in my ladies shooting group (A Girl & A Gun) replaced my margarita machine and the startup stock (this isn’t a joke folks, this is a real struggle)
• Other A Girl & A Gun chapters collected money and supplies and physically brought them to our chapter in here League City
• Various folks who sent gift cards and money
• Friends who have offered to refinish furniture
• Friends who have offered me furniture when our house is livable and cars to borrow while searching for a replacement since both motorcycles and cars were totaled
• Friends who brought food, water, snacks, cleaning supplies as they came to the house or just offered to bring stuff by

There are just no words to explain the devastation I have felt due to this storm but also the outpouring of love for me, my family and my well-being… it melts my heart.

So, are YOU eating the pudding?

Remember that “the end result is the mark of the success or failure of one’s efforts or planning”. So, whatever you are planning for your business, remember that you don’t have one without people. Remember that business is about relationship building. You don’t have to be an extrovert to network and build relationships, now it might take you longer as you maybe more selective, but that’s okay… the point is to make the effort. Maybe you don’t know how to network or build your business. That’s okay, because there is help out there and you don’t have to be the most peopley person out there. You can still build relationships without having 500 bffs. Don’t judge!

The point is to put pieces into the funnel, into your pipeline and start fostering those relationships. Hopefully you never have to suffer something as catastrophic as hurricane damage to need these people in your life… but your business does. Without people, remember, you don’t have a business but just a product or service to sell.

I think I got off topic a few times but you get the gist… like can suck and it will… but having the right folks in your personal and business life can make a difference. Plan for the success of your business!

If you need help building your online presence through Facebook, LinkedIn, or blogging for your specific business… please let me know as I would love to help you succeed with your online visibility!

~Kristen