What is Love?

Some say love is never having to say you are sorry. Others say it is being able to shoot someone who outdrew ya. The truth probably lies somewhere in between and with Valentine’s Day in the US right around the corner, many of us are thinking it through.

After the song “What is Love” by Haddaway works its way out of your brain, set to thinking and writing about what you believe love is. 

So that is the rule for this week's Let's Blog Off Post.

Well, what is love? The possible directions I can take with this post are limitless. If so compelled I could talk about fleeting adolescent romance or Silver Anniversaries. I could discuss the passion and love that drives SEC football fans to arise at 3:30 AM on Saturdays in the fall to start tailgating -- and for some, never going to bed. I could talk about my love of cheese grits and fried catfish and how they always make me feel at home no matter how far away I may be. I could regale you with my love affair of warm sheets right out of the dryer. Perhaps you'd like to know about how I love the way a fresh can of tennis balls smells when you first open it or how I love peanut butter so much that I have seriously put it on every food type to see if it enhances the flavor.

I could do all that, but I won't.

I want to talk about something more serious: The Love that comes from a profession.

What is required to love one's job? Is it plush furniture in a corner office, or friendly co-workers, or all that lofty compensation & personal time off? Is it the fringe benefits? Is it the office March Madness pool or Super Bowl party? Is it a casual Friday or after-work Happy Hours? Or is it none of those at all? Do we actually derive the love of work from the satisfaction of a job well done?

Do I presume that every employed individual that makes a decent living loves his or her job? No. In fact, many folks abhor what they do so much that they allow it to consume them and ruin their lives. Conversely, there are many people who work unglorified positions, making average wages, working long, tiring hours who love what they do. So what separates them? Pride. Pride in what we do.

Unlike many of my colleagues in the building industry, I do not have the pleasure of designing a family's dream home. I do not wield any architectural prowess, thus the joy that must come from envisioning a building that perfectly matches the surrounding landscape, designing it, and overseeing as it comes to life will never be one I experience. Likewise, I have never set foot inside a dated kitchen or bathroom, listened to a customer describe how they want it to be, then through my renovation, made that a reality. The pride and attention to detail these professions require leaves little question regarding the LOVE that is poured into them by the men and women who wear the badges of Architect, Designer, Remodeler, Homebuilder, Developer, etc.

It is no small secret of being a successful small business owner; if you don't have a passion and love what you do, you'll never work hard enough to achieve success. Conversely, as business motivation author Ken Blanchard puts it, "If no one will pay you to do what you love, you have a hobby, not a career."

So in order to succeed you have to 1) love your work and 2) people need to be willing to pay you to do it.

All this introduction leads me to my point. I love what I do. Although, I will never help a homeowner picture the addition that could be added to their house to give their children more play room, or expand their cramped workspace, or afford them the master bathroom they have dreamed of, and unlike a teacher, I will not give a child the gift of knowledge so she can go forth to one day walk on the moon, cure disease, or become a Senator, I'll say it again, I love what I do.

The best I can hope for is to help create a comfortable mood in an interior space with a earthen toned paint or a vibrant, uplifting space with a sunflower-yellow or pastel orange paint. On exterior surfaces, I help customers make a lasting investment in a paint alternative that is higher in quality and delivers longer lasting performance.

This is an admirable task, and one that I aim to take pride in and do well, but can I love my task equally as an architect loves his? Is my job as important and thus, requiring of as much passion? These are the questions that I often ask myself. And I have arrived at this one simple answer. Yes.

We may find ourselves in roles far from the ones we dreamed of as children -- I'm certainly no Paleontologist even though Jurassic Park had me convinced I'd spend my life unearthing dinosaurs. But to take pride in all that we do, that is true love. I take pride in creating a great customer experience, in completing the little tasks with a superb fashion, and bringing an enthusiastic attitude into every aspect of our business.

To me, there is no greater satisfaction than to have a customer call to thank me, not for the quality of work done by one of our distributor's application teams, not for the outstanding performance and reliability of our paints, but because throughout the process, I made the situation an enjoyable and pleasant one for them.

We cannot sit around hoping that our desk jobs will suddenly transform into the work of Disney Imagineers - but we can learn to love what we do because we love taking pride in all that we do.

The inspiration for this post came to me while listening to this song -- it captures the essence of the idea much better than I could ever hope to.

I commit my heart to the challenge of being the best I can be, and I take pride in every aspect of my work, and for that, I love what I do.

What about you? Do you love your job? If so, why? If not, why aren't you seeking something better?

Check out some more of the "Let's Blog Off" Gang below!!

What is being creative?

This post is part of a bi-weekly blogging event titled Let's Blog Off. This week's topic is: 
How do you define creativity? Is creativity the balance between imagination and talent that bring ideas to life?
Is creativity a true differentiator though? Do you believe that “uncreatives” exist or do you believe all of us have a spark of it on some level?
_________________________________________________________________
Before you delve into this blogger's take on creativity, allow me a moment to explain why this will not be a life altering read. For the better part of the past 2 months, I've been working 80-90 hour weeks and have only taken Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve off. I italicized off because anyone who owns a small business will agree, no matter what you are doing, where you are, or which day of the week it is, you are always working in some capacity. 
I'm not complaining but simply stating the facts. I love what I do; I thrive on the challenge, and the people I have met along the way (especially some of the great folks in the Letsblogoff community -- meet them here) have been the wind in my proverbial sails. 


This past weekend was me hitting the reset button. I tuned out the world and focused on me and nothing else. Because I was 'resetting', I forgot to write this post and wasn't going to, until I decided tonight to give it a go.

Jim & Jamey at the 4th Annual Brad Arms
Noah Harris Memorial Golf Tournament
in 2008 - Raising money to send care
packages to troops in Iraq.
Charity founded by Jamey Burrell.

Growing up, in addition to playing varsity football, I was a highly competitive golfer. Golf was a part of my personality. Character, integrity, mental fortitude, and creativity are defining aspects of a golfer. Years have passed since feeling the pressure of having to hole a putt for my high school team or teeing off in front of over one hundred spectators, but the butterflies still swarmed my belly when I stepped on the course this weekend. It had been almost a year since my last outing, but like riding a bike, standing on the first tee, the passion for the game and the knowledge of how to score well returned to me.


Golf is a great metaphor for life and business, and perhaps that is why so much business takes place on the golf course. The game has a tricky way of exposing one's true self on the course. The game will humble the mightiest of athletes and anoint the quietest of men kings. 

But the reason I bring up golf and why it is relevant to this post is that I didn't realize until yesterday while on the course the amount of creativity the game requires. To a beginner, the game seems simple. Hit the ball as far as you can and get it in the hole in the fewest amount of strokes. Playing with my roommate, I realized this skewed perception. He couldn't understand why I insisted on hitting irons off certain tees when I clearly possessed a long and accurate shot with my driver. Furthermore, he was perplexed when, at times, I admittedly chose to hit 'away from the hole' in order to avoid potential danger when I had shown quite accurate precision all afternoon with my approach shots. 


"Why not aim at the flag instead of the certain of the green," he questioned, "or pull out your driver and bomb it down the fairway." 


My answer is simple. I explained that golf is a game of strategy and creativity. You take a look at each hole. Analyze and understand where the risks lie. Obviously, at differing skill levels, there are differing risks presented on each hole. Each hole will play differently to the golfer playing the hole. 


Sometimes you need to lay up, sometimes go for it. The shot may require you to work the ball (by swinging in such a way to produce side-spin on the ball) left to right and other times right to left. You may need to hit the ball high to fly over a tree but in times of heavy wind, you may be forced to play it very low. Some situations allow you to attack the pin whereas in others, you must play defensively and away from danger, make par and move on.

Image Credity: Ikeahackers.net

Why is this a creative task? It's simple. There is no instruction manual about how to approach a hole. You are provided dimensions (length, width, etc) and knowledge of the obstacles (sand traps, water hazards, etc), but you will not find a pictorial 'how-to' guide like an Ikea instruction manual (although I'd love to see one) in your golf cart. A golfer must rely on their innate ability to not just play the shot but to envision the hole and the different ways that it can be played before ever striking the ball.


A golfer does not always make the right decision as evidenced by the enormous amount of How-To Books that help people cope with the frustration of the sport, but if he is wise, he uses his creative competencies to most effectively harness his talents in order to get the ball in the hole whilst minimizing risk. 


And so it is in life. Some of us have a greater sense of Creativity than others, but I think it can be easily defined as looking at a situation and taking a unique approach to it. It may be an obvious or totally fresh approach to an age-old situation, but the creative person is smart enough to know within them exists a better way to address a certain problem and brave enough to then execute it instead of succumbing to the pressure of hitting driver on each hole because that's just the way it's done.


Creativity is simply being unafraid to be YOU.

What's Your Pepsi Taste Test??

Yesterday, I had an extremely insightful conversation with well-respected marketing guru (he won't label himself this out of humility, but I will, I've researched his track record) Mark Schaefer of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. Mark and I discussed many topics, and I listened with an attentive ear, hoping to absorb as much of this man's knowledge as I could in the hour conversation he had alloted in his day specifically for me. When time came for me to speak, I told him of the conception of Eco-Protective Products, our goals and core-values. I recounted to him success stories, and other stories where we faltered in our actions but learned valuable lessons. 

Courtesy: Schick

As if he were a new customer, I explained why Eco-Protective Products offers greater value to potential clients versus an established named brand paint supplier. I poured my heart into the conversation because I pour my heart into our business.


Mark was patient, allowing me finish before he finally spoke, and his message couldn't have been more of a bucket of cold water to the face kind of wake up call. No this isn't an Ad for Schick Razor's but that image (right) pretty much sums it up.


I'm paraphrasing and embellishing Mark a little here, but his message was clear to me: Where is that heart, that person behind the business in your marketing message? Why is all of what makes your company better absent from your website, blog, and Twitter account? Why are you so cookie cutter and bland -- just trying to be another sheep in the herd? Do you want to your marketing message to be a carbon copy of your competition, competition whom you've admitted is bigger and more well known? Are Green and Sustainability the only legs on which your business stands, or is Eco-Protective Products something more? Something better?


It boiled down to him asking me, "What is your Pepsi taste test"? What sets you apart from the herd? In our industry's terms, do we want to be a substitute for Sherwin Williams, PPG, or Benjamin Moore? And the answer is no. We want to be more. What about you?

• Do you want a to give your customers and partners a more fulfilling and valuable experience versus the competition? 
• Do you offer higher quality, longer lasting products and services?
• Does your company offer more cost-effective solutions?
• Do your customers know your business beyond the sale; do you know your customers? 

If you answered YES above, don't be afraid to promote those facts!

Hey that's me (left) & Richard Feis (Right) of
Greenhaven Group in Atlanta, GA
Featured product (floor & panels on wall)
Eco-Coat 1500

So What to Expect Now


Moving forward, we will not be abandoning our core message of practicing sustainability in design, construction and daily life, but we will also give you a greater opportunity to learn about what comprises Eco-Protective Products. 

1. On our website, you'll see us highlighting more what differentiates us from bigger paint companies than makes us so similar. Here is where we WANT your feedback. Where do other companies fall short? What can be done better to make your life and painting experience easier & better? You guys, our customers and friends, will help develop the future of Eco-Protective Products.
2. Featured on both this blog and on Eco-Protective Products' site, you will see new faces -- some recognizable -- some may be you!! We are going to feature our customers because nothing defines a business more than its customers.
3. We are also inviting our partners, friends, and employees to begin guest posting. This writer does not have all the answers, but I'm sure one of my far more knowledgeable colleagues may have the answer a reader is seeking. So if you're interested in guest posting, shoot me an email here.
4. More personal stories -- we are a family owned business. As a part owner, I have done everything from help unload and blend raw materials in order to produce paint, to being integral in every step of the customer relationship process (first contact all the way to product application and onto shaking hands with a happy customer/ new friend when the project is completed). I want to share with you our experiences to provide you a window into the men and women who comprise Eco-Protective Products

In closing, whether you are a small business owner, a marketing professional, or just a person in this world, Mark struck a chord with me, and I want you to think about whether we should be spending our energy comparing ourselves, both similarities and differences, with our competition and the rest of the herd, or should we concentrate on describing WHO WE ARE and what makes us unique, makes us better.

We thank you for taking the time to read this post, but we really want you to be a part of the discussion moving us forward in 2011. Please, share with us a comment below, or if you prefer, you can email me directly here or call, (888) 809-8995 Ext 102.

Thanks again and warm regards,

Jamey Burrell
VP, Marketing & Business Development
Eco-Protective Products