Internationally renowned events planner, and founder of Extraordinary Events, Andrea Michaels, was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her inspirational and deeply personal book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life.
Andrea Michaels shares her personal voyage to personal fulfillment, as one intertwined and often indistinguishable from her very successful business career.
Thanks to Andrea Michaels for her time, and for her insightful and intriguing responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.
What was the background to writing this book Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life?
Andrea Michaels: To me, writing is the ultimate form of self expression. I love to write. I love to paint pictures with words. I have lived a very full, often challenging, and seemingly stressful life and have “coped” and so often folks have asked me things like, “how do you stay so calm?” or “with all you’ve been through you should write a book. So I thought, “yes, I should” and it would be not only a fun way of sharing my thoughts but also might help empower people facing those same (or similar) challenges and better yet, demonstrate that no matter what comes to us, we can survive and live fully in the moment.
What I find most interesting is that so many people are baffled by the title, but it’s accurate. My inner (and sometimes outer) self is definitely a wallflower.
BUT what drove me the most was that to me books are the ultimate “I was here and I have a place in history” experience. Whether Charles Dickens or Margaret Mitchell, books will live on long after we are gone. And I wanted to be a part of that. When I received a notice that the book was registered in The Library of Congress I was thrilled. No matter that every book written is registered there. MINE is, too.
Your book is about lessons in business and in life. Very often the two aspects are separated in business books but you take a different approach. How did you reconcile the life and work balance?
Andrea Michaels: I really believe that they are the same. A business divorce and a personal divorce can be much the same. Betrayal of trust is the same no matter the relationship. Lying and/or cheating are lying and/or cheating no matter where they take place. I learned valuable lessons about my personal life from business experiences and vice-versa. How to communicate with a client is no different than the skills is takes to communicate with family or friends. Dealing with the stress of relationships is the same. Whether you cannot pay your home bills or your business bills takes on the same aspects. So how do you deal with those challenges? The same way. Head on. With solutions and not self pitying denial
You are an events planner. How did you become an events planner?
Andrea Michaels: By accident. I was going to be the next Sidney Poitier (for those old enough to remember) in “To Sir With Love”. I was going to change the world; save youths and turn deprived young criminals into achieving and productive members of society. My degree is in Criminal Sociology/Psychology and I went out to be the un-caped crusader. While I was going to school (simultaneously raising a toddler by myself) I found a part time job with a bandleader (a long story, but it’s in the book) and typed and filed for $2.00 an hour. But had fun because musicians are fun people to be around. Well, I graduated and did my Don Quixote years but found that I was accomplishing nothing.
I didn’t save anyone and I was getting more and more depressed. I stayed in touch with the bandleader and kept telling him that there was much opportunity for him in a non-existent industry (events in the 1970’s) and one day he called me and said, “if you’re interested in rejoining me and developing that industry, come back” (another long tale) and I did. Event planners didn’t exist; events hardly existed, but I like challenge and I have a very fertile imagination so instead of just booking bands I decided there was more that could be done and started doing things like themed events, headliners for corporate events, and thus it grew. So did the industry.
Andrea Michaels (photo left)
You write about the problems faced by women with the glass ceiling. What are the challenges faced by someone in the events planning profession in circumventing that problem?
Andrea Michaels: There is often still a “good old boys network” in some industries, such as automotive. Though the events industry is very accepting of women, we still have to work with clients who are not quite as receptive to working with women. And this is true of many international clients who are not as forward thinking as we are in the U.S.A. So the challenge is met by acting very professionally, being very well educated in the businesses of our clients, and not acting too aggressively in making our position known. In other words, beating our “femaleness” into the ground gets us nowhere.
Acting with dignity gains us far more. The days of flirtatiousness to get business (“Mad Men” is not today’s world) is gone. I think women always need to take the higher ground. Drinking with the boys is not the way to gain respect. Having men on your team is a good way of evening the playing field and operating with a team approach gives you a good safety net of making your client comfortable under all circumstances. And I would tell anyone no matter what sex they are, if you meet a client that you don’t click with, don’t force yourself on them. Give it up to someone else on your team who is a better match. In the end, it’s getting business and making them happy that counts.
One of the themes of your book is creative problem solving. How can a business person develop a sense of creative thinking to meet the challenges in their business as you did you did in yours?
Andrea Michaels: My stance on this is always the analogy of taking a road trip You know the destination and you need to figure out the best way of getting there. If you reach a dead end or a detour, what do you do? Do you stop and sit there forever? Do you turn around and go home? Or do you figure out the best alternate route and keep driving? Well, that’s business, too. When facing an obstacle or challenge, you figure out the best way of getting to your “destination” and you take that route. That’s how you problem solve. Not by dwelling on or analyzing the problem ad nauseum, but by thinking of possible solutions and acting on them decisively.
One of the intriguing aspects of your book is that each chapter represents a challenge and a solution. What lessons can a business person draw from your experience in overcoming problems?
Andrea Michaels: That there is ALWAYS a solution. And in business and in life, stressing out about the challenge accomplishes nothing. Clear thinking and a positive attitude can solve anything and usually quite quickly. Add to that honesty and transparency about what the problem might be is also a good road to take. Hiding reality accomplishes very little. Several readers have told me, “Oh, I never could have handled that situation” (a typical chapter) and my answer is, “of course you could” Nothing I’ve done has been monumentally inventive; just the realization that I wasn’t going to read about it in the New York Times a hundred years from now and that no one lost their life over it puts it into much better perspective.
How are the lessons learned in working with people in the events planning profession applicable to one's personal life?
Andrea Michaels: People are people. Some are creative. Some aren’t. Some communicate well. Some don’t. You always need to look at the other person (business of personal) and see things from their perspective and then communicate with them in a way they will understand. To be trite, listen. Always listen. It’s not about what YOU have to say. It’s about what THEY have to say. With that in mind, if you respond to what you’ve heard, everyone will think you’re the smartest person they’ve ever met.
What is the one piece of advice would you give to anyone in business or entrepreneurship about meeting challenges?
Andrea Michaels: Don’t stress out about them. They are a very normal part of everyday life.
Be honest with yourself and with everyone else.
Always aim for the highest ground and never be sucked into doing less than your best.
(Sorry, you’ll have to pick one if three are too many)
What is next for Andrea Michaels?
Andrea Michaels: I’m 67 years old and I have no intention of “quitting”. I love the challenges of life and business and I want to continue to have fun teaching, mentoring, exploring and growing my world every day. Maybe another book?
************
My book review of Reflections of a Successful Wallflower: Lessons in Business; Lessons in Life by Andrea Michaels.
No comments:
Post a Comment