Thankful Thursday

Hello again my wonderful friends & fam!
Just checked my stats and I see I had a few visitors the last few days... for some reason Im stoked! I like to think that deep down Im some author waiting for a breakthrough. Maybe this will be my chance to get "discovered" just like all the customers apparently waiting to get discovered on Karaoke night at Longshots? Im kidding of course. I just like doing this, you know, things I dont have time for!

Today I am going to talk about something I am thankful for. I wish I had this great idea about something that inspired me, but really I just stole the idea off my cousin Craigs blog (he has Metal Mondays, like the idea of a Monday theme. PS- check out his blog http://egger29.blogspot.com/ ) So now my Thursday theme is "thankful".

Turns out, I am thankful for SO much in my life. But Im gonna talk about my staff today.

I was an employee for many years, and worked at such jobs as babysitting, The Saskatchewan Liberal Party (ya, I know, weird job for a 14 yr old) Lakeview Gardens, Galaxy Cinemas, Boston Pizza, Electric Motor Services, Rapunzels Aveda Salon & Spa and probably a few shitty ones in the mix. Ive had crazy bosses, asshole bosses, pervert bosses, psycho bosses, you name it. So becoming a boss was a struggle for me because its SO hard to draw a line between being too slack and too hard. I tried to take the good and bad from my past experiences with authority and put it to action! As it turns out, I fall way too hard on the slack side. Surprised?

I guess the way I try to go about things is just keeping mutual respect. There are bosses I worked my ass off for, but given the chance to speak a word to them outside of the workplace, not a chance in hell. Others that I just want to party with everyday, but where was the "line"? When and how do you seperate boss from friend and when is it time to lay down the law or give a hug? BUT watch out.. hugs can be sexual harassment!

Although Im not an ideal "boss", I think the secret to management is empathy. There are times when I have a girl come in who had a tough situation in her personal life, and all she needs is a hug and to know that she has a safe place at work and can count on me and her co-workers to give her that support. Recognition is also huge. People just HAVE their good days and bad days and you cant always dwell on all the bad things. If Jane is on time every day for a year and one time comes in a few minutes late, maybe not freak out about it. Let them know it was noticed, but give them the benefit of the doubt once in awhile. Nobody is perfect.

Its tough working with females though, no doubt about it. You deal with a lot of passion, heart, drama, relationship b.s., PMS, and modd swings like none other. But at the same time, there is nothing better than working with these girls. They are all intelligent, beautiful, have a great sense of humour, and for the most part, very hard working gals.

When Im gone, I miss them! I cant lie about it! These girls have become my life and are such a huge part of why my business has become as successful as it is. Nothing better than walking into a room of these gals laughing and having fun... so thank you my girls for making every one of my usually stressful days worth it. You have my word, and my heart!

But god damn it.. stay off your cell phones when youre on shift!