B_wed #4: A Givers Gain! A Vendor Shout Out!

This one is for all my fellow vendors out there. Whoop Whoop! Don’t think I forgot about y’all. As an industry we have been rocked with uncertainty for months now and many of us, if not all of us, has felt at one point or another the sense of hopelessness. But amongst the new rules, the rescheduling and the tireless efforts to stay open there is a pretty miraculous thing that has been happening… empathy.

Seeing once competitors and fellow entrepreneurs aligning to create or be a part of projects that not only do good things for the community but for the business or businesses themselves. But overall just being each other’s cheerleaders has been a true eye opening experience.

I cannot say I came up with the phrase “a giver’s gain”. Nope. That one is stolen from the books of my local BNI chapter in Bristol. A group of 40+ individuals who originally served as a weekly networking meeting to sell my company and business into a supportive second family invested in the success of each and every person. If you read my earlier blog posts I shared my own personal journey through this virus and mental struggle it caused and without the support of my BNI family I don’t think I would have the strength to strap up my boots and keep fighting on.

What does this mean for you, nothing! That’s right, nothing. In the group we have a very talented photographer, Stacey Lanz Milliken owner of Stacey Lynn Photography, who approached us to come out and shoot photos of the newest service we had launch, the mobile DJ sound truck. Why? Because she believed in what we were doing and saw the benefit of being a part of it. Heck, I am writing this blog to give her even more praise and thank her in an effort and hope that you check out her website listed on our recommended friends page. But the reason I say it means nothing to you is because the empathy that Stacey showed us in our time of need is not one-off but universal. All of us in the industry are suffering. Our livelihoods ripped from us. But the thing we all still have is our talent that we can share. And that is something that we should all have in our network. If you don’t, then take this down time to build it. Find the individuals who align with you beliefs and your company’s beliefs. Seek out guidance and projects to help you fellow vendor and community at large. Show the empathy that you hope to get in return and the return will be tenfold.

At the moment I cannot repay Stacey for the help she has given, nor the other members of the Bristol BNI group, but I feel indebted to them. And not in a bad way; in a way that makes me think outside the box and look for opportunities that I can give to gain for them.

Our industry is filled with emotion; I think it’s time for us vendors to put the emotion back into the industry.

  -Mikey Blaze

Gaining Giver at B_entertaind DJs and More