Proud Papa

I received a shy email yesterday from my daughter in which she passed on a recent accolade she received on the 10^th anniversary of her employment at a prominent Madison Avenue company. I’ve made it a policy not to mention names or personal information on Frail Deeds but as any proud father is wont to do I’d like to brag a little bit about the superstar that is my daughter. I’ve edited the letter she received from her firm’s vice president substituting her old nickname “Cali-Daughter” in place of her name and removed all of the company identifying information. It’s still a ringing endorsement of my long held views as to her uncompromised excellence and intelligence. It’s nice when other people see the same things I’ve always seen in both my “kids”:

This Gal

Today I have the privilege of acknowledging Cali-Daughter for her 10 years of service here.

Back in 2007 I was already deep into managing Replenishment when I was asked to take on additional responsibility. Cali-Daughter was working as a temp at the time and my partner thought she would be a good fit for my team. I brought her in as a temp, helping to keep the wheels on the bus while we figured out our longer term strategy. Cali-Daughter quickly proved herself as essential to the team, contributing from the get-go to standardize the reporting and processes, which set the foundation to enable us to continue to take on new businesses while keeping the team small. Ultimately Cali-Daughter came on board full time and took on the responsibility for managing replenishment across all brands.

Yes You Did

There is a philosophy around hiring where you should look for people that fill in the gaps of your own skills. Some of you may know, I can talk and I can talk a lot. Cali-Daughter is a listener. She can find the nuggets of relevance from all of the cross talk and BS to get to the heart of the issue. That same listening skill is evident in her ability to articulate a strategy, troubleshoot a problem or brainstorm on new ideas. Cali-Daughter’s impact goes beyond Replenishment. During the dark days of the transition our colleagues came to Cali-Daughter again and again to understand this new system from a business stand point – Cali-Daughter took the time to write process guides that bypassed all of the tech speak and help the broader teams understand how to actually get the work done. Cali-Daughter’s ability to bridge the business needs and system functionality has allowed for a parallel track at the company. In addition to the ‘day job’ of managing the replenishment businesses mentioned earlier Cali-Daughter has also worked very closely w/ IT and other partners on testing, reporting and business process, always with an eye to simplifying and streamlining.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. For almost 2 years Cali-Daughter worked on the west coast, but kept east coast hours. She is so ‘present and available’ to her colleagues that most did not even notice, or it barely registered.  It is a great example of how a partnership w/ HR allowed us to hold onto a valuable employee who was willing to do whatever it took to continue working here. 

Cali-Daughter’s partners throughout the company jumped at the chance to provide feedback to me……from senior people who value Cali-Daughter’s attention to detail, dedication and the ownership she takes in running her businesses, from her co-workers on our small but mighty team who value her organizational skills and thought partnership as we set a new course for the future; from her broader working team, all around the company, who value her collaboration, and attention to detail. 

All true, all relevant, all valuable. But the secret sauce to Cali-Daughter, I believe, is in the comments from those same groups that mention her kindness, her willingness to take time out to explain an issue and answer any question, her enthusiasm in taking on a new challenge and the help and guidance she provides to anyone who asks. So Cali-Daughter, on this 10th anniversary, allow me to offer, on behalf of all of your colleagues here,  an enthusiastic and heartfelt congratulations and sincere thanks for all of your contributions and especially your kindness over the last 10 years.   Well Done!

The Lucky Mentee

The Little Girl Who used to Demand After Work Hugs

I’m sure you can now understand the depth of my pride in the gal who used to greet me in pigtails and up thrust arms when I’d return home from work all those years and seemingly only minutes ago. I’m so glad the FBR has such a powerful and relevant role model to grow up with. I was finally able to connect with them yesterday although I caught the FBR in the middle of play dough gyrations. She assiduously ignored me for most of the conversation until I convinced her to start throwing play dough balls at the screen which I would react to. She thought this was great fun as I tried to hide and then dodge the balls. While we enjoyed the time, I’m not sure my daughter was completely on board to having her kitchen pelted with all this debris – it was fun though.

Wish I Could Have Done This After Reading that Letter

I also connected with my Favorite Panamanian along with the Neighborhood Mafioso who had arrived at the condo. They were out on the beach catching the sunset so intense pain was inflicted as I cowered in the Man Cave waiting for the heat to beat back the frigid basement temps. My wife is importing a full stable of female cousins for the weekend – I predict an extended period of laughter will likely ensue. She sent me these pictures from their recently completed time in Panama City.

At the Canal with my Wife's Uncle

Patriots' Game Gathering

Cuna Indian Stand

Touring Casco Viejo with Lucky Uncle

Then Up to the Mountains in Boquete

The Beach Sunset Last Night that Had me So Jealous

As any self-respecting movie nut undoubtedly noticed the Oscar nominations came out this week. I was generally happy that the Shape of Water, Lady Bird and Three Billboards were deservedly recognized but sad that Wonder Woman was snubbed. I’ll be torn between Saoirse Ronan and Frances McDormand in the lead actress category. I haven’t seen Phantom Thread yet but it seems to me that any time Daniel Day Lewis breaks wind the Oscar voters fall all over themselves to fawn. It must be like how the legions of Patriots haters must feel each year around this time. This gives me a few weeks to check out as many of the nominated films still out there.

In a huge twist of fate I spent another evening at the movie theater where I took in I, Tonya. I was wondering about this since I vividly recalled the scandal involving Harding and the infamous attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. The movie provides a new monster who can take her place in the pantheon of cinematic villains right next Dr Lector, Jason Vorhees, and Norman Bates. I’m not talking about the skater but her mother played in a towering effort by Allison Janney as possibly the worst maternal figure ever portrayed. I thought Margot Robbie was too attractive to play Tonya but she nails it combining Harding’s redneck character along with her powerful physicality. The movie is told through a mockumentary style with repeated breaking of the 4^th wall by the central characters. The film starts out declaring it was put together from dramatically conflicting personal statements from the people involved and there is abundant dark comedy laced throughout this story. The funniest part is that this all really happened and the people involved were really this clueless. We all know someone like the buffoons Harding’s life was surrounded by and if anything the film was testimony that Harding really is sympathetic in that she didn’t end up as an axe murderer (that we know of) considering her mother and husband. Well worth the watch and especially for the performances of both Robbie and Janney.

The Bad Cinema project count remains at #99 out of 100, as I steel myself to complete the task this weekend.