Who has opened a door for you, either in your career or your personal life? Who has made a positive impact on your life? To whom will you be forever grateful?
Have you considered using social media as a way to honor and thank them? This blog post is a tribute to three amazing women who have opened doors for me.
Helen Hand, President, Colorado Free University
Since taking over as President in 2004, Helen has provided direction and vision to this lifelong learning center, which has been offering classes to adults since 1987. As she states in her LinkedIn profile, CFU is more of a learning network than a traditional school.
I first met Helen in 2012, when I took the 11 courses required to attain their Online Marketing and Social Media Certificate, and I appreciated her accessibility and assistance during that process. When I completed that certificate, I offered to be a CFU instructor, should she need one for future social media classes.
Just nine months later, in September 2013, I took on the teaching of four social media classes and have been teaching there ever since. Throughout all this time, Helen has been a tremendous support, and routinely tells me how much she appreciates my involvement with CFU.
This teaching opportunity has helped me to hone my skills as a presenter and has contributed to the growth of my social media tutoring business.
Nancy Walsh, Member Services Director, Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce
Nancy has been the Member Services Director for the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CWCC) for nearly 10 years. In this position she has been instrumental in the growth of the organization, which was founded in 1988.
From the moment I met Nancy at a new member orientation she led in June 2013, I was impressed with her graciousness, warmth, and openness. She is the reason I chose to join the CWCC, allowing me to take advantage of the tremendous offerings available to chamber members.
As a result of Nancy’s encouragement, I have taught several LinkedIn seminars at the chamber, become an active member of the chamber’s Business Owners Roundtable (a group she helped to create), and have led one of the chamber’s business referral groups.
All these activities have brought me greater visibility within the chamber and have led to an increase in both my tutoring clients and my speaking engagements.
Judy Rough, Senior Director of Business Development and Strategy, Society of Certified Senior Advisors
When I first met Judy, early in 2015, I was struck by her passion for serving seniors. A Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) herself, she eloquently articulates that passion in the summary section of her LinkedIn profile:
“My passion and my life’s work is to change the culture of our society by elevating the status of older adults to a national treasure. The more professionals are educated about the contemporary issues of aging, the closer I will get to this goal.”
A member of the staff of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA) since 2013, and in her current position since September of 2014, Judy is exceedingly familiar with the professional development needs of people who hold CSA certifications, one of which is a stronger online presence.
To help address that need, Judy organized a four-hour workshop called “Perfecting Your LinkedIn Profile to Improve Your Online Presence,” which was a pre-conference offering of the 2015 CSA National Conference. She tapped me and another social media professional to co-teach this workshop, which was quite well received by the over 40 people who attended.
Judy and I are now brainstorming other ways we can collaborate to bring more LinkedIn training to both CSAs and others in the Denver metro area.
How About You?
How have you honored the people who have opened doors for you? In what ways have you (or could you) use social media to pay tribute to them?
About Joyce
Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.
She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.
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