A cup of tea?
A cup of tea?Hi, my name is Lisa Olinda. I am the Chaos Whisperer.
I thought I would take a few minutes today to introduce myself and let you get to know me. Whenever I say that phrase “getting to know you,” I just start mentally humming the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I.
(Singing) “Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me.
Getting to know you. Putting it my way but nicely.
You are precisely, my cup of tea.“
Today, let’s focus on you “getting to know me.” and hopefully, I will be your cup of tea!
Here are three thoughts to provoke you, two ideas to inspire you, and one item to act on!
Three Thoughts to Provoke
Number One. Youth.
I was born in Temple, Texas, and spent my childhood in Harrisburg, Arkansas. I was a tomboy who loved nothing more than roaming the woods, reading a good book by the stream, and getting my two older brothers in trouble.
Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn wrote,
“…It’s the little things that smoothes people’s roads the most.”
As kids, we spent some time getting into mischief, but mostly we tried to help our neighbors and small community.
Number Two. Teens.
As a teenager, our family relocated. In many ways, I still loved being a tomboy, but I had to transition into a young woman. It was a difficult time, BUT I learned so much.
As a junior in high school, I won a State Secretarial competition and some lesser awards in music. Senior year we completed a field trip to the local IBM office, and I was introduced to computers. I was hooked! That became my dream.
John F. Akers was the president of IBM around this time. He is quoted as saying,
“The people who are playing it totally safe are never going to have either the fun or the reward of the people who decide to take some risk, stick out, do it differently.”
When I was a teenager learning to type on a manual typewriter, I could not see the future. It felt like an impossible dream. Boy, I have enjoyed the ride of getting to know tech.
Number Three. Career.
When I married, we relocated to Delaware. Working hard at JP Morgan paid off, and I and went from being a clerk in the Treasury Department to a lead Administrative Assistant in Data Services.
My career paused when my first son was born, but soon I discovered I missed my administrative and tech side. Volunteering helped, and I started helping missionaries and ministries. When my third child was born, I branched out and started helping consignment stores. I assisted them in getting established and improved their systems and processes.
By the time my fifth child was born, I was still helping missionaries and non-profits. I decided to start my own business. After a few years of cold feet and a lot of research, Olinda Services was birthed. I love the creativity of choosing what I learn about, whether I want to continue doing it and helping my clients grow their business.
My motto…
“Keeping you on the path to success!” –Lisa Olinda
Two Things to Inspire
Number One.
Oh, painful memories! One of my first significant clients had a big speaking engagement in India. I communicated “to” her that she needed a VISA, but I didn’t communicate “with” her. The day she was scheduled to leave for India, I received a call from her at the airport. She wanted to know where her VISA was because they would not let her board the flight without it.
I just knew I was fired. I would have fired me!
She was very wise in how she responded to me. She said we all make mistakes, but it is what we do with those mistakes that define us. Wow! What a growth moment for me. I adopted the practice from that time forward of…
“Turning breakdowns into breakthroughs.” –Lisa Olinda
Number Two.
My third boss was a busy minister. My job was to keep him organized and manage the church database of 5000+ records.
I would regularly go to him with questions. One day he stopped me. I can still remember standing in front of his desk. He said,
“Instead of coming to me with questions, why don’t you come to me with solutions?”
Do what? That changed my philosophy of work from that day forward. Now when I respond to an email, my thought is, “am I just pinging this back to the person, or am I presenting a solution.”
Your Action Item
I dubbed myself the Chaos Whisperer a few years ago because it is my job to reduce the chaos in my client’s business.
What chaos is in your life? Do you need help finding the solution? Surround yourself with people who will take a breakdown and turn it into a breakthrough and bring you solutions.
If you would be interested in having a 15-minute session with me, visit https://calendly.com/lisaolinda/15min and schedule a time, or you can send me questions at lisa@olindaservices.com.
Additional Resources
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