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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.

It’s taken a while. Many, many years actually. But I’ve finally gotten to a place where I can enjoy myself while I’m away from the office on business. I’m talking about the occasions where I’m staying at an amazing locale, or engaged in one of those “business” trips that while required, seem primarily like pleasure to those who stay behind. It’s a good thing, because my travel schedule the past couple of months has been brutal, but softened by the places I’ve been visiting and staying so there’s no need to feel sorry for me.

From mid-March to the end of April here was my schedule.

I started by going to San Francisco for a AAAA’s Forum Meeting. We stayed at the Campton Place Hotel for our two day meeting and while there were lucky enough to visit two of the country’s hottest advertising (or interactive) agencies: AKQA and Butler Shine Stern & Partners. It was a great trip from a learning standpoint, and a chance to see inside two agencies I admire.

Right after that was a personal trip (Spring Break with the family) to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We stayed in a villa managed by Caribbean Villas called Hawksbill. The villa was awesome and we had a great time visiting with friends that traveled with us. We ended up spending much of our time at the beach at the local Westin. Our villas overlooked the resort and it was just minutes away. While I absolutely have no guilt about vacationing with my family, this trip was worth mentioning as it happened in the middle of a bunch of somewhat cush business trips.

Immediately upon returning from St. John, I took off for Jacksonville (FL) to visit one of the franchise locations of one of our newest clients: Freedom Boat Club. While this trip involved staying at a very average hotel for two nights, it was on the ocean, and we ended up spending some time out on one of our client’s boats to get a firsthand feel for the experience. That didn’t suck.

I was back home for just a few days, and then it was back to Florida, this time to Naples for the AAAA’s 2007 Management Conference which took place at the Ritz-Carlton. Unfortunately, this year’s conference’s content wasn’t as helpful as in year’s past, but it did give me some time to contemplate Barefoot and where we’re going. I came back convinced we’re on the right path, but I did identify a couple of key opportunities, so the trip was time well spent.

The next trip was to the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit 2007. This is my second year attending the Luxury Summit. It is a great opportunity to spend time with some of the preeminent brands and services that consumers rocket for in their “Pursuit of Happiness,” and this year it was held at The Breakers in West Palm Beach. My wife Becca attended this conference with me as it took place over our anniversary weekend. Great conference. Great learnings. And for the most part a great location.

Back home, and then off to NYC a few days later for a quick trip in and out.

This post did have a point when I started, and if it seemed to evolve into a personal travelogue from an insufferable travel snob, bear with me for just a few more seconds.

The point is that in the past I would have felt guilty about any one of these trips, let alone all of them back to back in a relatively short timeframe. Yet these were all valuable business trips (including Spring Break actually) where I was either strengthening my understanding of our clients, meeting potential clients, or gaining insight into where we should be moving Barefoot to stay a step or two ahead of the rest of the agency world.

So how did I shake that guilt? First off, I realized that when other Barefooters are out on the road on cool projects, I don’t begrudge them joy, I’m happy for them. We’ve recently had team members coordinating conferences in Hawaii, shooting videos with Forrest Griffin in Vegas, attending SXSW in Austin, and attending the Miller Distributor Conference in Vegas. I’m happy for them. I know it has a legit business purpose, and I truly hope they’re enjoying themselves while they’re there (ummm, not too much though).

Realizing that I was happy for others in similar situations was probably the epiphany for me, but to be honest, I’ve also just come to grips with the fact that people are going to think what they’re going to think no matter what I do. So I do what I know is right for Barefoot, and have stopped worrying what others might think.

Net I spent the month of April traveling, enjoying myself, relaxing where possible, but working hard when duty called.

One of the things we at Barefoot are very proud of is that we are able to create a place where people like to work. I had a final interview with a candidate last week and asked her why she decided to accept our offer (versus the others she had). She said, “Every person I spoke to, both current Barefoot employees and past Barefoot employees, all agreed on one thing: it’s an amazing place to work.” We try very hard to make it that kind of place, so it’s extremely gratifying to hear it. We hope all of our employees are pursuing their own happiness by being here.
Interested in joining us? Check out our jobs listing and see how you could become the next Toe at the ‘foot.

Before you start reading this, I already realize there are many people who think of Procter & Gamble as a strange cult-like environment. That’s still up for debate. But, there’s one thing about the place that no one can deny…it’s a place that you build life-long friendships even after you leave to pursue your dreams.

Last month, the P&G Alumni Network held another P&G reunion in Cincinnati and it was done right. An opening cocktail reception at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a full day of enlightening presentations by current and former P&G executives and then a wonderful dinner hosted by A.G. Lafley, the current CEO at P&G. Oh yes, did I mention that while this is a P&G Alumni event, Procter & Gamble actually sponsors it and senior managment attend the 2 1/2 days of activities. Now that’s an interesting concept…support those who leave the company in the same way you’d support current employees.

Now, why might someone waste a precious weekend to spend it with people you may have worked with 10 years ago. You might actually run into an old boss who fired you. Or, even someone who you compete with now as you’ve both moved on to different companies. I’d argue that no matter what the situation, you actually miss some part of the place where you might have started your career. You may have been closer to many of the people there than you thought at the time. Life-long friendships were created in those P&G days for me and a reunion is an easy way to keep in touch.

There’s also a bit of intrigue in this whole reunion concept. What is everyone else doing today in pursuit of their dream? Are they happy? Are they passionate about what they are working on? Think about it, these are people who started their careers making and marketing soap, diapers, drugs and anti-aging creams. Can you get any more exciting than that?

Well, during the weekend, I spoke with old friends who are now working to build very different businesses. They are now marketing purses made by Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer watches, Naked Juices, Moet & Chandon and Ray Ban sunglasses. They’ve come a long way from diapers. There is no question that their consumers have chosen these amazing brands as their own personal brand to rocket for.

We all must pursue our own dreams and passions. But along the way, we make friends. And when those friends become lifelong friends, all the hard work purusing thoses dreams become worth it. I’m glad I attended the reunion this year. If you were there, let me know what you thought too.

I just had the opportunity to give two colleagues a raise. That’s one of the greatest joys of being a manager: rewarding talent and hard work with good ol’ fashioned cash. What makes it especially gratifying is knowing that at least a portion of their new-found income will no doubt be spent on things they rocket for. That means that the real reward for smart work here at Barefoot is not only the satisaction of a job well done, but also the happiness it allows you to afford. And that’s the way it should be.

I can honestly say that I have genuinely loved coming to work everyday* for the past 11 years. (*Yes, I’ve had some crappy days too, probably more than I can count, but hey, this is real life, isn’t it?) But, by and large, I’ve mostly always loved it and that’s always seemed very normal to me. But, there was a time when I thought that maybe that was the wrong way to feel.

About 9 years ago, I went through (what I still consider today to be) the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. It all started 9 years ago when I had my girls, Zoe and Orion, who would from that point on, be the best and most important part of my life (even more than designing, which for a long time, I believed nothing would top).

One of the reasons that made this such a difficult time was not because I was sleep deprived or scared that I wasn’t going to know how to change a diaper (although that did kind of freak me out too), it was because I couldn’t reconcile the fact that I had these two amazing little babies that needed me more than anything but I still wanted to keep working. My mom didn’t work until we were older and I guess somewhere inside, I believed that I was supposed to do the same thing. Stay home and be the best mom I could possibly be. But for whatever reason, my story didn’t really end up that way.

For me, part of making the decision to come back to work was a no brainer. I had to keep working, we didn’t have enough money to live on just one income, but after doing a little math, we realized that we were making just enough money combined that even after sending our girls to daycare, we would be doing slightly better with both incomes than with just one. This also made our decision to leave our girls in someone else’s care a little easier to make (but not easier to do). We needed too.

I often wondered if we would’ve been okay on just one salary, would I of still made the decision to go back to work and would I be where I am today? I guess that’s something I’ll never know.

So, we when our girls turned 6 months old we sent them to daycare. We ate more than our fair share of Corn Flakes and Ramen noodles to be able to pay their tuition every month, but we did it and it worked.

Something I remember clearly to this day, (and probably one of the reasons I am so loyal, not only Barefoot, but to Doug) was the fact that Doug was so amazing about working with me to make coming back after my pregnancy as easy as possible. He was so incredibly flexible with my schedule, understanding of what I was going through and sensitive to what a hard time I was having leaving Zoe and Orion. (Which was amazing considering, at that time, he didn’t have any kids of his own.)

With all the pressure that I felt, either from people around me or just the good old “society” pressure, I felt like I wasn’t making the right decision by going back to work instead of being a stay at home mom. And for what it’s worth, that feeling didn’t go away for about 7 years. So, now back to the reason that this was such a difficult time for me—it came down to one thing; aside from the fact that I had to work, I also wanted to work.

Was that bad?
Was that the wrong decision?

I wondered that for a long time, but now, I can officially say, 9 years later, that going back to work was the best decision I could of made, not only for my girls, but for myself too. I worked harder than I had ever worked. I knew that if I had to be away from them, then I wanted to be at a place that was fun, a place where I was surrounded by great people, and where I was able to do great work and be happy.

Check,
Check
and
Check.

I came back not only with the mindset that I was going to do everything in my power to make everyday I was away from my girls better, but I also came back with more drive and ambition than I had ever had before. It wasn’t just about me anymore. I needed to work not only for myself now, but I also had this great little family that was counting on me. And what better incentive to be the best I could be, than those two little babies?

So that’s what I did, I worked harder, I worked more efficiently, I tried to work better everyday. All so that at the end of the day (which was 4:58 and counting”¦) I could go home and be with Zoe and Orion. Over the years I had plenty of late nights riddled with guilt because I wasn’t home on time. At one point, I even made the decision to leave Barefoot to spend more time with my girls for a while. But ultimately (6 months later) I came back. Not only because I missed it, but because I was a better mom when I worked. I would spend more time with them. Quality time. From the moment I walked in the door they were my only priority. Every second with them counted more, maybe that was guilt driving that, but I was okay with that because I was spending more time with them and they were benefiting from that. So, for years this was how things went. Things were busy. At times they were really hard. Especially when they were old enough to participate in sports. How does a working mom pick up her kids from pre-school (30 minutes from work), change them and get them to soccer practice by 5:30? That one I never quite figured out. So, we were the 5:45ers. That was about the best I could do some days, other days we were the 6:00ers and I was okay with that too. That’s how I was able to make it work. I did the best I could, as often as I could, and tried not to beat myself up over any shortcomings I had that left me just shy of being crowned super mom of the year. I did my best. And that may have been one of the first and most valuable lessons my girls learned from me.

Since then they’ve learned that hard work pays off, being passionate and dedicated is important and that doing something you love to do is probably one of the best gifts you can give yourself.

Our girls are smart, funny, kind, independent and strong.
(Says me, the ever-objective mom, right?)

But that’s how I see them and I believe that is who they are. So, how do I know I made the right decision all those years ago? Well, now when I call home to let the girls know that I’m going to be a little late, they tell me it’s okay, not to worry and just do a good job. When I get home, they ask me if my day was good (and more often than not it is) but when it’s not, they tell me that they can’t all be good days and that tomorrow will be better. I don’t think that kind of perspective and wisdom can come from 9 year olds if they grew up feeling neglected or abandoned. So now, all these years later, I can sit back, smile and say that I’ve done the right thing, no matter how hard it was for me to believe all those years ago. I believe that being a good mom isn’t just about spending time with your kids, but it’s also about being happy. Happy with your life. Happy with your choices. And happy with allowing yourself to be unsure and to let things work themselves out. And for all of that, I can honestly say that I’m happy.

I wanted to publicly congratulate everyone at Barefoot for having an amazing show at the Cincinnati ADDYs again this year. If you saw the article on cincinnati.com, you’ll know that Cliff Peale of the Cincinnati Enquirer prominently mentioned not only our Best of Show award for the Mickey’s site, but the fact that we won significantly more awards than any other agency. Not that anyone is counting, okay, maybe there is someone out there counting.

Allow me to tell you a little story. Along time ago (approx. 12 years) I attended my second Addy show, and after coming home with a wee bit of hardware (a great feeling then, as it is now), I dissected the Addy book. I counted who won what, and because I’m a bit of a dork - I also created a chart of golds, silvers, best of show, developed my own scoring system to give more weight to Best of show, etc. All of which was very obsessive/compulsive of me (I apologize to the National Association of O/C’s as I mean no offense, and neither did the snickers man-kiss ad or gm’s affront to suicidal robots everywhere). Jodi Greene was kind enough to remind me how mental I am/was Saturday night as I went on record back then saying I wanted to be the agency at the top of the list. Perhaps one of those things better kept to oneself, but apparently I said it aloud.

That was the beginning of our efforts to put Barefoot atop the local agency heap. And while I personally think we have been there for some time (talent and results, not size), it’s always nice to have the validation of talented advertising peers from around the country.

At any rate, Jodi had an interesting observation. She wondered if there was any 2 or 3 person agency out there today making that same list. Or if less mental than me, just vowing to topple us from our place as the best agency in the city? I bet there is, which means we’ll keep pushing to stay on top.

Starting tomorrow.

Today, I’m just going to be happy about how we did Saturday. I’ve often observed that when you’re pursuing something that’s very worthwhile, and incredibly important to you, you’re sometimes not sure what to do with it when you get it. In this case, I’m just going to enjoy it for a moment. We’ll renew our efforts tomorrow. And we’ll raise the bar higher. Our goal is no longer about being the best agency in Cincinnati (it hasn’t been for a while), or even the region. We want to be, need to be, striving to be one of the best, if not the best, agencies in the country.

Nights like Saturday just reinforce the progress we continue to make.