It was 1988 in Alexandria, Virginia, and 500 trees were headed my way on a truck from Pennsylvania. They were scheduled to be dropped on a nearby vacant lot in three hours when I got a call out of the blue, in the middle of my work day, from the owner of said lot. She was FURIOUS. She lived out of town, but she happened to be in the area when she saw our sign (“The Alexandria Jaycees Annual Christmas Trees Sale”) on HER lot without HER knowledge! She screamed that there was no way in hell that we were using her lot.
Nothing like being blindsided! I was the volunteer president of the Alexandria Jaycees (“Jaycees” was short for the Junior Chamber of Commerce), and I knew that those trees were gonna be dumped there whether she liked it or not. In the days before cell phones, there was absolutely no way to get ahold of the truck driver coming down from Pennsylvania with the trees. But I also knew that we had paid her realtor (or a realtor) $150 to rent the lot.
I was in a panic,
but I didn’t have time for a full-blown meltdown. I took a deep breath, waited a few seconds for her to calm down, and then launched into my explanation, talking as fast as I could. I gave her the name of the realtor that we had rented the lot from and told her that we were a non-profit organization of about 500 young business leaders. The annual Christmas tree sale was one of our biggest fundraisers and every single penny of that money was going toward taking underprivileged kids shopping for Christmas gifts. I said that every year, the local dime store would open early on the Saturday before Christmas, so that the Jaycees, the mayor, and whomever else wanted to volunteer could take the kids shopping. Prices were slashed to rock bottom and every kid got 50 bucks to spend.
I explained how fun and chaotic it was with the kids being so excited and that they usually bought gifts for their family first and THEN themselves. And while the 50 bucks went a long way, most of us taking the shoppers around had a hard time keeping track of the tally, so we’d invariably go to check out and be over the limit. . . and wind-up pulling money out of our own pockets to cover the overage. Who wants to make the kids put their toys BACK?
Aside from the tree sales, I also explained that there were many, many other projects we did for the Alexandria community: from haunted houses to the annual Red Cross Waterfront Festival in Old Town, Alexandria. All of the money we made from every one of these projects went right back into the community.
Where in the word do you put 500 trees???
“Jan was the Keynote for our 2024 Annual Conference. She and her team were great to work with as a planner; very professional & prompt in getting back to me during the booking process & leading up to the event. Jan was the perfect person to start our day; she had the crowd laughing from the get-go! People left the session feeling upbeat and energized. Feedback from the attendees has been very positive & I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Jan again!”
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When I finished one of the best and most sincere
sales pitches of my life, there was silence. Then she said, “What a great organization! I didn’t know any of this. You need to call my realtor and get your money back. I’m donating the lot to the Jaycees for your sales.” WHEW!
My next call was to the realtor who pushed back a bit until I reminded him that the owner hadn’t received any money for the lot rental, and so he was doing something pretty illegal by renting out a property that wasn’t his. The check was in our P.O. box the next day.
I was able to save our tree project (and the kids’ Christmas) because I made it personal. I could have pushed back and sent her our contract with her realtor, and dug my feet in, but I didn’t. Not only was there no time for that, but I just KNEW I would be able to explain to her that we were doing a good thing for the kids and community.
As you roll through life with a billion things on your plate, make sure you are connecting PERSONALLY as well as professionally. Know your story and why you’re doing what you do. Then, if you ever get in a pickle, like having 500 trees headed towards you with nowhere to put them, you won’t panic (as much).
You’ll just tell your story, and someone may just step up to help out.
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