Group of mature women dressed in elegant summer dresses facing the door and giving a round of applause - Handy Entertainment

Good People

How to get ahead

for job-seekers and other good people

Here’s how to get ahead. Before the pandemic, I had the joy and privilege of guest lecturing once a semester for Dr. Boo’s class on Events at Georgia State University [I recently spoke again.]

My Secret Sauce

Towards the end of those presentations, I’d share my ‘secret sauce’ with the students.

My secret sauce is writing thank you notes. It is my guilty pleasure (along with ice cream). I get so much joy out of it that it should be illegal. When I write a thank you note, or even send a thank you email, I feel all the feels. Sometimes, I just sit there in a puddle while writing or typing my thoughts and feelings. I do it for me. It just happens to be something that lets other people recognize the impact they have and gives them joy.

Influencing Others

Which brings me to how what we do influences others. I used to pick up my favorite son from school every afternoon. One day, when we picked up my mail there was a cool looking letter. I asked him to read it to me while I drove. It was from one of the students in the lecture I had recently given. In it, she thanked me for my presentation to her class. I told my son about the lecture and the part about ‘thank you’s.’ He looked at me in surprise and said, “She’s really smart.”

I hired her. (She was, and is, a remarkable woman and IMHO ‘really smart’!)

No Expectations

I want to explain what ‘How to Get Ahead’ really means. For me, getting ahead means growing. Going beyond the petty stuff and living in gratitude.

Let me add that if liking or even expecting a thank you seems oddly quaint, it is. To better understand why it’s important to me, and most importantly, for our clients, I strongly recommend reading one or both of these phenomenal books: Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara, or Setting the Table, by Danny Meyer. Both lay out the meaning of true hospitality and touch on the basis of everything we do at Handy Entertainment: “The only thing people will remember about your event is how it makes them feel.”

We look forward to helping you take your event to the next level!

Venue: Piedmont Driving Club

How to Get Ahead