It’s Thursday and I walked into the building today yawning. It’s been a typical week of four evening meetings in a row and I’m just feeling exhausted. The security guard at the front desk in our Westbury building said, “I know how you feel, thank God it’s Thursday!”

I laughed and walked into the elevator. But what I was really thinking was this woman hates her job. And, how boring is it to sit at a security desk all day just waiting for the time to pass. The elevator opened on floor 2. A woman in her 40′s walked on. She was wore leggins, a long tee and Ugg boots. I yawned again. “I am so happy it’s Thursday. One more day until the weekend,” she said to me. I smiled.

I started to think about the woman who gave me a manicure at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City this past weekend. Covered in tatoos with my favorite icon (hello kitty), she bragged to me about her job and how much she loves giving people manicures.

Now, you could think that being a manicurist could be a boring job. But this woman loved meeting people and talking to them. You can tell the moment you sat in her chair how much she loves her job.

Working so many hours every week, you really should love what you do. Don’t you think?

As soon as I turned the key in the door to my office, I heard doors slamming and smelled French Toast. Could I be imagining something?

Jillian Beroza, HJMT’s graphic artist, greeted me at the door.

“What’s going on?” I asked. I told her I received a call from our burglar alarm company that they made a call to dispatch the police.

“Hmmmm… that’s weird,” she said.

Moments later, I saw Stefanie Topper, Event Planner, in her office. Now I knew something isn’t right. These girls don’t typically get into work until at least 9 am.

I heard Lori Alexy’s voice. “Come into the conference room…..” she said.
To my surprise, the HJMT Westbury staff threw me a surprise breakfast party for my birthday! The conference room was all decorated with balloons and banners. Someone brought in an electric skillet. Bacon was sizzling and French Toast frying. Someone made “yummy delicious” homemade muffins. And there were even presents on top of that! The staff made me feel really good. It was one of the nicest birthday presents ever!

Pictured below (L to R) – Kristie Galvani, Stefanie Topper, Lori Alexy, Ellen Heydt and Jillian Beroza.

After the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) Nerve Conference in Atlantic City, my forum group, the Chefs (a subgroup of EO consisting of 7 entrepreneurs from NYC) and I attended a retreat on Long Beach Island.

On Sunday, we decided to go Clay Shooting in northern New Jersey. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I was eager to go. When we arrived, I felt like I was back in the wild west. “This is where the real men are,” I joked with one of my forum mates. Another forum mate heard me laughing, and said, “this is real serious stuff. You guys need to be focused and aware. It’s very dangerous!”

Two guys came out with two huge riffles with REAL bullets. My heart started to pound. I was so nervous.

David went first, then Richard, then Arthur…. my heart was pounding so loud I thought everyone could hear… then Morris…. (Morris came down from the steps saying he couldn’t do it because of his bad shoulder.)… then Brett… then…. OMG…. It was my turn.

Being the competitive person that I am, I marched up the steps, listened to the instructions. Learned how to load a riffle and then started shooting at the clays.

“Wow, that was exhilarating!” I said. “What a rush!”

We went from one course to the next. Some of the clays were coming from the sky, others were going across the sky, and still others even hopped on the ground like a bunny! It was hard to keep the riffle steady and the riffle was very heavy. By the end of the course, I didn’t think I would make it! But I did and even have lots of bruises to prove it.

The best part of the day was when this huge, 400+ guy with one tooth, said to me, “You have a great stance and look good with a gun even if you are a girl!”

Image via Wikipedia

I can’t believe the outpouring of love I have received today. I want to thank everyone in my entire community (my friends and family on facebook, plaxo, linkedin, bebo, koornk, twitter, etc.) for thinking about me on my birthday!

And for the record, it is so nice to get a happy birthday on Facebook, but Plaxo does it so much better! They have virtual birthday cards that are really nice. Check out Plaxo when you get a chance…

I also want to thank all of you who also used the old fashioned method of communication — the telephone call. It’s not even 9 am now and I received a half a dozen calls. Thank you all so much for thinking of me and I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Could you image getting the nerve to walk across the Twin Towers, the Eiffel Tower, or even the Sydney Bridge on a tightrope?

Phillipe Petit, tightrope artist, did that and more. He’s a fascinating man in his 60’s who has challenged his body and his soul to show the world and especially himself that he could do anything he set his mind to do.

Phillipe Petit was the opening speaker at this weekends EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) Nerve Conference in Atlantic City.

And what an appropriate gig for him! He spoke in front of hundreds of entrepreneurs who challenged themselves like he did by giving up their day jobs and starting a business from scratch.

Phillipe Petit was an excellent speaker. Although he had a French accent, he was easy to understand and he moved around the stage with grace and ease. I was impressed. A man who tightropes for a living, magician, bullfighter and juggler, had no problems explaining what it takes to walk across the highest structures in the world.

Makes you think…

Long Island Business News asked me the other day, what advice I would give to someone starting out in the field of public relations. I said, determination, perseverance and the will to really want to succeed.

Phillipe Petit would agree. He would give similar advise to someone who wanted to tightrope across any tall structure around the world.