“Be the River, Not the Rock”

In any business, it is vital to evolve with the times. My goal has always been to be “the river,” flowing downstream through the rapids and over the falls, trickling, rushing, always moving. I have never wanted to be “the rock,” wedged somewhere far upstream, breaking the rhythm of the current and bound to a bank of sediment forevermore.

But at one time, I was in fact “the rock”:

To say that the Technological Age took me by surprise would be a gross understatement. I grew up in a pre-computer world (imagine that). Even until a few years ago, the word “technology” still conjured images in my mind of the first memory-typewriter, a “cutting-edge” innovation which I was introduced to in college.

I never thought of computers as an intrinsic part of life or commerce, and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, I found myself staring (blankly) at the blink of a cursor almost every day. When we first brought computers into the New York Kids Club offices, I played it off with great panache, asking others to “check my e-mail” or “pull this document up” for me. My staff probably thought I just liked having things done for me – but NO! It was worse than that, far worse, my dirty little secret: I didn’t know how to work the computer!

My staff encouraged me to have a website built for the NYKC. “Why?” I would ask indignantly. “Our work is so personal! Websites are so impersonal!”

Then, for my 40^th birthday, my brother had a website built for the New York Kids Club. Apparently, he agreed with my staff. And that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks: I was being a rock.

Like a whirlwind, a new kind of learning sparked to life for me. Terms such as “Search Engine Optimization,” “Keyword Copywriting” and “Viral Marketing” suddenly became commonplace. Now I had the “user experience” to consider, in addition to my face-to-face clients. Customers who might log on to the NYKC website at 11pm, after a long day and a busy schedule with the kids – what did they want? I was stunned to discover that many of our customers actually preferred a private experience through the computer to speaking on the phone with a live human being. Foreign as that idea was to me, I was (and still am) determined to be “the river.”

When I look back on it now, I realize I should have reacted faster to the advent of the Internet, and I consider the fact that I didn’t to be a failure to some degree. But failure is a part of business. Without failure, there can be no growth. And without growth, you will forever be “the rock.”

“It’s Not A Dirty Word!”

Some people think that “money” is a dirty word. I don’t think it’s a dirty word at all. In fact, I think that the word itself, as well as the full scope of its meaning, is quite nice.

When people ask me, “Why did you start The New York Kids Club?” it is always a very complex and yet a very simple answer. Essentially, I started it for the same reason anyone starts a business: to make money.

I say complex as well as simple, because I consider it an incredible bonus that I happen to be passionate about my work. I adore children (my own four and everyone else’s too!) and my work brings me a great sense of fulfillment and joy. But just because I love my work doesn’t mean I’m willing to go bankrupt over it. In my view, passion on-the-job is great. But profitable passion is better.

Welcome to my personal blog. Here you will find my musings on business, female entrepreneurship and practical parenting tips, as well as the latest news on developments at the New York Kids Club. The only thing you probably won’t find on this blog is sugar-coating.

Now let’s get down to business!