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I’ve been at Barefoot for almost 12 years. I worked my way up from a Designer to an Art Director to a Associate Creative Director to a Creative Director. And now I’m a Partner. Seven years ago when I was promoted to an ACD, I made the transition from peer to boss. (Not the end-all-be-all boss, mind you, but a boss nonetheless). It was strange. One week I was brainstorming concepts and presenting my designs along side my co-workers, and the next I was evaluating their ideas and deciding whether they were good or not. I had to make a mental transition, as did everyone around me. I have to say, the first 6 months I questioned every decision I made and more often than not found myself at home questioning my decisions all over again. I mean it was just one person’s opinion, right? My opinion. Gulp.

I found myself constantly looking to Doug to help me figure out what to do, what were the best decisions and how I would know. And why was it that he always seemed to have the right solutions for things and I didn’t? I so desperately wanted to be that person who knew the right thing to do and make the right decisions all the time. The fact is: what I didn’t realize then, was that I was thinking about things the wrong way. I was never going to have all of the right answers, all of the time, and that was something I had to learn to be okay with. While it’s still my goal, I also understand that it may not be an entirely realistic goal. Don’t get me wrong, I still strive for perfection, but there are still plenty of times that I still find myself going to Doug for advice and guidance on things.

Through the years and with the help of a lot of smart people around me, I finally realized that being wrong and needing someone’s help are not bad things. And once I could truly realize that… BOOM my confidence was better, my decisions were smarter and I found myself able to grow even stronger.

Could it of really been that simple? In hindsight, everything seems simpler and clearer, right? For me it was about growing up—and more importantly, being open to growing up, which is a powerful thing that doesn’t happen overnight (at least not for me) in fact, I’m still working on it everyday.

I have been savoring Daniel Gilbert’s book Stumbling on Happiness for the past several months. (I trade-up for books, and when I come across one I really like, I’ll deliberately read it slowly, forcing myself to put it down, all as a means of extending the pleasure.) Anyway, in Gilbert’s chapter on rationalization, he talks about our “psychological immune systems.” We all cook the facts and interpret reality in way that allows us to reach the conclusions we want to.In one example, people were told that they scored either very well or very poorly on an IQ or job performance test. They were then given the opportunity to peruse articles on the accuracy and integrity of such tests. Interestingly, those that were told they performed well spent most of their time reading articles that touted the importance and validity of such tests. Those who were told they they performed poorly spent most of their time reading articles that disputed the importance and validity of such tests.What does this mean for marketers? Simply put: We must think of how we can help people rationalize their decisions to invest in a trade-up purchase. At Barefoot, we call this “Reasons to Rationalize” (RTR) something every bit as important as the well-known and established marketing term “Reasons to Believe” (RTB). What information and insights via traditional print vehichles, such as detailed and enticing brochures, and non-traditional vehichles, such as insightful, fact-filled e-newsletters, might be provided to help a buyer rationalize her decision to trade-up–before, during and after the actual purchase?Many trade-up purchases happen with a tinge of guilt or uncertainty, after all, there are more affordable options available. Yet we hunger for these things that make us happy. The good news is that our brains are designed to help us feel good about our purchases; we just need a the smallest of pushes to convince us of what we already want to be convinced of.

Every year for the past 8 years Barefoot has been a big part of a local organization called Happen, which inspires creativity in kids and their families. It was founded by Tommy Rueff back in 1998. What makes that so special is that Tommy was one of the original partners of Barefoot. I worked with him here when there were only 3 employees. So, I have a personal connection not only with Happen but with Tommy and all the good that he does for so many people, especially the kids. He’s a true inspiration to me.

Happen is an award-winning non-profit arts organization, founded for children and adults to share creative experiences that strengthen today’s family structure both personally and within our community. Their vision is to every day, create a positive environment where shared creative experiences happen that participants look back on as life-changing. You should go to their site, look around www.happeninc.com and check out all of the cool things that they do.

So, every summer we participate in a program called “Lights. Camera. Learning in Action.” This is a program where every Tuesday in July, a group of kids from 8 homeless shelters across Cincinnati come together to make a movie. It’s written, filmed and produced by them, and they design, create and illustrate all of their own props. It’s really cool. At the end of the session, their movie will premiere on the big screen in a local movie theater at Cincinnati’s Union Terminal (a renovated, art-deco train station) in front of all of their parents, the volunteers and the Happen employees. It’s awesome.

I’ve been volunteering for this every year since it started, and it’s always amazing to see these kids—who are less fortunate and have experienced a life I can’t even begin to imagine—having this time to forget all that’s going on in their lives and just have fun. They’re treated like stars. They’re empowered and filled with more and more confidence every week. And you can see it on their faces.

It makes me happy and proud to see all of the people who volunteer from Barefoot hanging out and experiencing this together. I think it’s incredible that we can take time out of our busy days to give back to something so special—and help support the efforts of one of our original Barefooter’s.

Tommy doesn’t know a lot of the 60-something employees we have now, but that doesn’t stop him from taking them all in as if he had worked with each one of them personally for years. I’m thankful that I had the chance to work with him, but I’m even more thankful that I can be a part (even if it’s just a small part) of the dream Tommy left Barefoot to pursue all those years ago.