I want to share a motivational story I read on Reuters today. It’s about Andrea Wachner, a young woman from California who dreaded attending her ten year high school reunion where she was known as a “drama geek”. Andrea left California immediately following graduation from high school in 1995 for New York to pursue a career in the field she loved, drama, and never looked back — until she received an invitation to her high school reunion.
Andrea did not want to attend her high school reunion where she felt everyone would simply try to show off how much better they were than anyone else (a little background — the car of choice in her high school parking lot was BMW, followed closely by Mercedes and an occasional Hummer). Competition was fierce during her school days, and she knew that wasn’t going to go away ten years later.
That’s when Andrea came up with a creative idea.
She hired a stripper to attend her high school reunion as her. She hired a film crew who followed the stripper throughout the reunion pretending she was filming a documentary (remember, she was known as a drama geek back in the day, so it wasn’t that far-fetched). Andrea gave the stripper an ear piece and from a hotel room above the ballroom where the reunion took place, Andrea watched and coached the stripper throughout the evening.
The results are hilarious, and Andrea edited them into a 40-minute documentary (you can see the trailer from YouTube below).
Here’s the best part of the story — Hollywood heard about Andrea’s story, and now, she’s writing a movie script, shopping a reality television series, and more. She has appeared on CNN and will be on Good Morning America. Her life has changed thanks to an out-of-the-box idea. Andrea was willing to use her strengths, take a risk, and create a product that is unique, interesting, and buzzworthy.
The lesson to learn is this — know who you are, what your strengths are, and then think of ways you can combine the two in a unique way. You never know what might happen when you focus on your strengths and making yourself happy. Women don’t do that enough.
What do you think?
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored ten books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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