Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I HAVE A DREAM AND I AM FOLLOWING IT!

Twelve years ago, I encountered what you might call a mid-life crisis. I needed to reassess my life’s purpose. My background had been in education and sales for 40 years, launching and operating three successful businesses, with special expertise in high-tech retail showrooms. But, sadly, my heart was no longer singing its song.

Eager to take some reflection time and get my life back on track, I headed out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to work on a dude ranch. It was the first time I’d ever gone anywhere alone for an extended period of time. During the months I spent on the ranch, I got to see myself in a whole new light. The summer was rich with emotional challenges, spiritual upheavals, and personal transformation. In the end I reconnected with my life’s passion and realized that after having multi-tasked my way through my working and family-centered years, life’s lessons and those earned as a professional are inevitably entwined.

Today I’m an author, speaker, and sales coach, and haven’t strayed too far from my original path. I offer professional sales coaching and training services to companies and individuals who are seeking to build quality relationships and loyal trust—first with themselves, and then with their customers.

I feel grateful to be living in a slightly out of the way part of California, with beautiful gardens, dogs and cats, and a later in life husband who has introduced me to the wonders of his Mississippi upbringing, which has also helped me come to terms with who I am.

Writing my book, Just Treat Me Like I Matter, turned out to be a natural progression of my dream as an advocate for the art of selling as a craft, as a business, and as a way of living. Even though it took 10 years for it to materialize, the fruit it bears is a culmination of my practiced teaching concepts, life lessons, and the numerous opportunities I’ve been afforded along the way.

I hope that my brief story here will enliven other LinkedIn Power Women to connect more fully with their life’s passion or if needed create a new window of opportunity to make that happen.

All my best,
Diane

I’m committed to creating possibilities for other sales professionals to find their true purpose. To learn more about my services and me, visit www.dianemariepinkard.com

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