Old friends, new friends

State Farm Executive Vice President, Rand Harbert with me at City Line Operation Center in Dallas on Monday, December 5, 2016

Monday was a bit of old and a bit of new.  The holidays seem to bring the best and the worst out in people.  Monday was full of the best.

Above you'll see me with an old friend of mine, Rand Harbert.  He's second in command at State Farm in Bloomington.  We share much in common and I've beens fortunate to be able to connect with him over the years.  And most often at the holidays.

You see, we go way back.  I was an Auto Underwriter and member of the Women's Networking organization in Ballston Spa when I first met him.  He was our Agency Vice President - whose office was in PA - just outside of Philadelphia.  When he was scheduled for a visit to our area for a meeting, WNET gained access to him as a guest speaker on the topic of networking.  I worked with his then assistant, Michelle to schedule and was point of contact the day of the event.  She was wonderful - admirable for her poise, brilliance and graciousness.  That day she gave me a tip to connect with Rand and I've never forgotten.

Don't worry, I've stayed in touch with her as well.  She's gone on to be a State Farm agent, an agency consultant and now has the privilege of leading a group of agents as a Sales Leader in the Philadelphia area.  We've exchanged emails over the years and I was fortunate about a year ago to escort a tour of our facilities in Dallas where she appeared out of nowhere.  So grateful!

Back to Rand.  Four years ago I reintroduced myself to Rand at the "Holiday in the Atrium" festivities where our then Chairman, Ed Rust shares his philosophy on the past year and his plan for the following year - all while doing so with kindness and caring through our Merry Christmas event at HQ.  It's in person and exciting to get an up front seat or standing room for the event.  That's something I miss about not being in Bloomington each year.

When I was invited to a 90 minute Q&A with our new Chairman, Michael Tipsord (below - blue shirt) and Rand I jumped at the chance.  It was like the good old days.  I was fortunate to sneak in with Rand and remind him how we'd met - he hugged me like the gregarious Texan he is and whether he remembered or not he made me feel special.  We snapped a quick photo and wished one another a Merry Christmas.

Below are the members of my department that we also invited to the event.  They were much more interested in a photo with our Chairman so I arranged for that to happen as well.

I believe it's important to find people to look up to - to admire and recognize for how they've impacted your life.  I also believe it's important to act as though someone may feel that way about you one day too.  That's the privilege of the rite of passage.  Truth be told, Rand is likely only a few years older than I am, yet he amasses so much wisdom and has the platform to share.

My Christmas miracle was that hug and photo op yesterday.  It gave me a renewed hope for the future of the company and that good people are all around us!

Chairman and CEO, Michael Tipsord in the center (blue shirt) surrounded by CCC Sales employees after his Q&A for the Dallas location on Monday, December 5, 2016