Last night my son came home, after having dinner out with friends, completely astonished. He declared, “We had, possibly, the worst waitress ever!” Liam went on to explain how this woman managed to earn, “worst waitress ever.” She was rude, discourteous, curmudgeonly, and, arguably, incompetent. As he shared his story with us, I remembered another story about Okemo Mountain Resort when we used to have a home there.

We were riding the ski lift, unintentionally, with a Mountain Ambassador. As we got to talking, he shared what it was like to work for the then owners of Okemo, the Mueller family. He talked about the family feel and the committment to excellence. He explained, “The Muellers would say, ‘It’s OK to be in a bad mood—just don’t come to work with it.'” I loved that line! Of course we are all going to have bad days, but you represent the brand, and the brand can’t have a bad day!

I’m going to let you decide what the Muellers words mean to you. We could pick this apart and perhaps realize that ultimately, beyond the corporation that we work for, we are our own brand. That waitress Liam experienced definitely represented the restaurant, but she also represented herself—poorly, I might add. Your mood, be it rude, discourteous, and curmudgeonly, or maybe it’s superior, condescending, or short-tempered, justified or not, represents you and your brand. Every day you represent your brand and the world sees it. How’s your brand doing?

Let’s GO! WE GOT THIS!

Beth