Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1187276
WEEKLY EDITION JULY 3, 2019 Lessons from Sharon Paulsen By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director…Continued from page 2 3. Y ou ' ll dr am at ic a ll y i n c re a s e s al e s if yo u p u t yo u rs e l f o u t th e r e . Whether at the WWETT Show, the PSAI Convention, or driving around Abilene in her distinctive Cadillac, Sharon never sat back and waited for things to happen. She made sure they happened. She would stand — or sit in her motorized scooter — in the aisle outside the PSAI booth and try to make eye contact with everyone who passed. If they looked at her, that was all she needed. "How are you today? Are you in portable sanitation?" she'd ask with an eager smile. Nobody in portable sanitation was going to get past her without stopping into the PSAI booth. Once I left her and Lou in the booth while I grabbed a bite to eat. When I came back she had collected 19 business cards, handed out 12 membership applications, and gleefully predicted which ones would actually join. Then she and Lou left to walk the show. An hour later she was back with 5 more cards she'd picked up from operators talking to vendors in booths along the way, and she had a prospective member following her. 4. P la y t o yo u r s t re n g th s . Sharon undoubtedly had many gifts and talents, but she couldn't do everything. So she played to her strengths. While Lou ran Can Doo Budjet Rentals, she'd often be carrying out some other activity for the family, the business, or a volunteer role. Even so, if while motoring around Abilene she saw a construction site without portable units, she'd either stop off and have a conversation on the spot or call back to the office to get someone right on it. She didn't pretend to have deep expertise in the intricacies of portable sanitation. Sharon mostly left that to Lou. But she used her winning ways to spot business opportunities, to support business success by relating to customers with the interest and spark that were her trademark, and to attend to home and volunteer obligations so Lou could mind the store. 5 . C e l e b ra te w h e n e ve r y ou c an . When Sharon and Lou got married in the early 2000s, they were not "kids." So they decided they'd make the most of the time they had, and resolved to celebrate not just annual wedding anniversaries but monthly ones too. When I first met the two of them they'd been married 131 months, and when she passed last week the total was 198 months. One hundred and ninety-eight times Sharon and Lou took the time to recognize the gift of their time together and to delight the rest of us with stories about it. So take a page out of Sharon's book. Whether it's your monthly wedding anniversary, your baby's first tooth, getting the dog house broken, having your first $50,000 in gross monthly sales, or something else that is good in your life, take the time to relish it and celebrate. PAGE 15 CONTINUED ON PAGE 16