Seek Help - 8th Edition

Welcome to Seek Help - A space for open conversations around Mental Health, Wellness, Planning, and Personal, Business and Community Development.? It’s also a reminder that sometimes we are the helpers the world needs and how to fill your cup so you can pour into others.??

Seek Help is about normalizing asking for help and about being a resource for others.? I believe in collaboration over competition and this is my little space to talk about.? As a former Girl Scout and Mr. Rogers fan, this quote from him captures the energy here - “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”? We are not alone and when in doubt, look to the dope helpers around you (or be that helper when your cup is full).

This past weekend was the 90th Anniversary of my Elementary School, Beauvoir. I recently finished a coaching training and one of the exercises was talking about our favorite teacher and while I have had a few delights over the years (and some horror shows), my first one set the bar exceptionally high. Laurie Bloch was not only an incredible teacher but she believed that how we started is important. With that in mind, she sent each of her students birthday cards EVERY year until we turned 18!! It was truly a wonderful and impactful practice that moved me to tears when I was reflecting on it. She retired in 2004 and I had the privilege of telling her how much she (and her yearly cards) meant to me. Her birthday is in September and since I lost touch, I think I will send a card to Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School with the hopes that they can forward it to her. It's estimated that Ms. Bloch sent over 4,000 cards to over 300 students. You can read more about this incredible educational queen here from 2016. Was hoping to see her at the reception in the Washington National Cathedral , which I highly recommend if you've never been, beautiful space but I never spotted her in the large crowd.

I had to leave early to jet over to Busboys & Poets for my Grassroots Comedy Incubator Graduation showcase. I was definitely nervous but also excited because I've been secretly wanting to do Stand Up for years and I was finally ready, and encouraged, to do it and I'm so glad I did. Our group was AWESOME. It was really cool to see how far everyone's jokes, style and flow had come from the start of the class to our showcase. Everyone was funny from the start but it was very raw so it was great to see everyone's evolution and progress by the end. So I am now also a comedian (I mean I've always been a funny girl so this is probably not news to many), looking forward to seeing you in the audience soon!!

So with all the things going on, I accepted a friend's invitation to a local spa that I've been really wanting to try for a wellness event the were hosting. I will leave the spa's name out because this breakdown is more about the event and my guest experience. The event started at 2pm with workshops available until close so when 2pm hit folks started lining up. With only two registers, they were not prepared for a smooth entry. It took most people over an hour to just get through the doors which rippled into the workshops so they had them all start late. They should have treated it like a normal day and opened at 9am or even pushed it to 10 or 11am to allow folks that were interested to come early and just enjoy the facilities. The way they set it up both cut folks time in the space but also made people have to choose between workshops, enjoy the facility or shopping (cause there was a lot of each). They had vendors in the space but none of them were there representing the actual spa's services. Where was the massage chair for mini massages and to buy certificates for future services? Where was the product station with spa packages for facials and such? These things were also not well represented in the silent auction. It was almost like they forgot they had things to sell. The event was 7 hours with an over $200 ticket and no food included which is a little more than a day pass. It was almost $300 with dinner added on. Dinner was supposed to begin at 7pm. I was told my ticket was VIP (y'all know I'm spoiled) but I learned the hard way I was just a commoner that day with no dinner included after waiting in line for over 30 minutes. I told them I should be on the list and dropped the name of the person who invited me and they basically got the manager and said no dice. So I left and went to see a friend teaching a session. She and I caught up, I mentioned the situation and we realized we were both hungry (I mean I'm always hungry lol) so we went to the cafe in the space and had some food. It was about a quarter of the price and delicious. When the chef came out and saw me with my friend he was like why didn't you say you were with her and I turned to the server and said, "hey does it ever go well when people say "Do you know who I am", like do you ever not sound like an asshole" and he laughed and said "yeah no, like even when valid, it's not a good look". Which is why that will never be me, I'm actually kinda tickled when people do it on my behalf or when people are excited to see me, like who me?? So yeah we had a good laugh and I got an invite to return. Lastly, most of the people that I met were also first timers. There was not a single person all day who asked about membership, offered a day pass bundle, did anything to see if we were interested in joining the club or coming back. So overall I'm glad I went but here are a few things I encourage you to think about when creating your events and experiences:

• What does success look like for this event?
• What are the event goals?
• What are you selling?
• What's next after this event?
• How do you want to make people feel?
• How are you converting guests into customers?

One of the things I love doing is being a customer experience consultant for large events to basically be boots on the ground to make sure things are going smoothly, keep customers delighted and get inside insights to continue to improve. I did almost finished Remember Love while I was relaxing in the different rooms, recharging at the spa seemed like the perfect place to soak in some Cleo Wade. Her work is so good, usually I blast through books with lightening speed but her books make me want to savor the words, sometimes reading them twice.

I went to CreativeMornings last week to hear about Endurance from Farrah Skeiky and she moved most of us to tears with her photos and stories and realness. Sometimes you need a good cry so I just let it happen.

So as we enter Scorpio season aka my favorite time of year (my birthday is November 19th), I am reflecting on this year, thinking about what ending strong looks like for me and what next year holds. One of the tools I am using for that is my Saint Belford Curation. I was recently reminded of the Bucket List Section so I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on 5 wins and a few to dos for next year!

Completed:

• Gave Stand Up Comedy a Try
• Read more books - almost hit my one a week goal
• Got grounded - Getting back into my yoga practice and been reading my cards more often
• Learned Something New Ever Month
• Expanded my offerings and pivoted

To Dos:

• Finish writing book
• Start an open mic night
• Travel More Internationally
• Finish forming Charlotta Bass Non-Profit (about halfway there)
• Start the podcast - I've been toying with this one for far too long
• Host more events
• Write My First Script
• Design a deck
• Film a documentary
• Create more partnerships
• Build a community with more than 50k friends/users
• Get invited for a keynote to a major conference or TED talk
• Start publishing articles in major newspapers/periodic

Let's Talk Tech - I've been toying with AI, I don't love it but I also know we refuse to be cautious so I guess I'd rather be on board than get run over - Here's a recent content hack I came across - https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7122539025697026049/. What are your favorite ways to use ChatGBT??

Lastly I leave you with a card to reflect on: