Pro From the Start: Professionalism Segmentism

 While I've never received official training on “how to be a professional”, I've come to realize I've been a professional my entire life, throughout all of my endeavors. From living in my car to competing in triathlons and everything in between, I've consistently approached life with class, curiosity and a healthy, harmonized penchant for personal achievement.

If I were to drill down on how I obtained my professionalism, I'd say it was a blend of observation (watching other's behavior) as well as my incredible indomitable spirit shining through, in which I naturally gravitate towards being a professional, and a stand-up member of this world.

One of the things my upbringing gave me / instilled in me from a young age is no excuses. I could have easily made the choice to emulate lazy behavior from my maternal grandfather (who I collected recyclables with and learned how to open his beer cans at the tender age of 5) or my uncle's girlfriend, who watched soap operas on repeat, permanently indenting herself on the living room couch.... but I didn't. I looked to better role models, including my paternal grandmother, Barb, who earned a living as a registered nurse for 59 years. I didn't fully appreciate her while she was living, but after the past 15 months of family member betrayal and harassment, I understood her journey and actions to an incredibly high level.

This “no excuses” mentality led me to form beliefs about others and when I got into the workplace and at one point, I falsely believed I could change/fix the way people thought of me. I never made excuses for anything, often segmenting my personal life. Frankly, I wanted to be given every opportunity as a teenager/young adult. Here are a few stories, which illustrate my my point. These stories are very relatable to many people living in the USA today, no doubt about it!

First up: Applebee’s & Dunkin Donuts!

During the summer of 2001, while holding down multiple jobs to make my college tuition payment, I didn't tell my Applebee's manager I was also working across the street at Dunkin Donuts - because I wanted as many hostess & serving shifts as I could get. You could only imagine the surprise on his face one morning, when he saw me behind the D&D counter, waiting to make his coffee order. Btw-I don't think the modern-day 'hustler' term was used in the small Massachusetts town I worked in, but yeah, you could say I have been a hustler from the start. I can't even tell you how tired I was when I would work an opening D&D shift, often getting up at 3:30am... then driving back home to nap a few hours before my waitress shift began. (Especially, on those double shift serving days! Often, I’d be sipping coffee & blasting some good tunes on my commute in order to stay awake!)

Next: BMO & Triathlon

When I first began my triathlon career in late 2011, it was easy to fit training into my daily life, despite working many hours. My family life was quite simple (no children or members living nearby) and I could easily devote many hours to my new sport, which I loved. Some people ask how I found the team I trained with for over a decade... funnily, it was a "Google Search". 

I decided in order to appear (and I truly was) my best professional CPA-self, I wouldn't talk about my extra curricular activities. Secretly, though, it was so exciting for me to embark on a Tuesday evening track practice and a fun departure from my senior business analyst position. This 75-minute weekly training session provided almost immediate stress relief from the immersion of having my head buried in complex IRS tax code! By the way for you music geeks: our go-to track was the same high school American musician and record producer, Lindsay Buckingham attended.

One night as I was leaving for track session, a co-worker pressed where I was going. When I mentioned 'Track Practice" and they said "You still do track?" to which I countered: "Still?? I'm just getting started!" Hahaha - reflecting, it probably looked funny/different for an adult to be going to track practice to a bunch of - well, let me put it bluntly - lazy people! But for me, it was always fun.

When I finished my first Ironman triathlon in 2013, I decided to make a career shift into nutrition, as I felt so inspired and ready to do so. After a particularly stressed out tax season, I began to research nutrition programs and discovered Bauman College. 

In 2014, I transitioned from full to part-time employment with BMO to focus on my studies and carefully arranged my work schedule (thanks to my wonderful boss, Sharon!) to also compete in the 2014 Ironman Lake Tahoe event held in late September. That race ultimately got cancelled (due to air quality issues, darn wildfires!) and it became glaringly obvious my role in corporate culture, as I was sitting in a boardroom with colleagues the week after. Some of the general talk included an investment manager (who I’d known for years) casually mentioning "Gosh, could you imagine being in the water when they cancelled that race?" And inside, I thought to myself: “wow, yeah, I can barely eat this week it made me sad.” They truly had no idea the extent of what I did on the outside, while I wasn't grinding away at numbers.. or pretended to? I’m not quite sure…. At one point I was asked to represent BMO at a cycling event, which I politely declined. Hey, if it benefits and helps a company’s image they’ll support your activities, but if not, they have no real interest. That’s just how it is, folks! And all events are not worth attending… I always show up with integrity, intention and purpose to events.

I did think it was funny/ironic my client in that particular meeting mentioned she liked my Dooney & Bourke Ironman bag - given her net worth, at that time, was ridiculously higher than mine and her outfit probably cost more than my triathlon bike. But, always a true professional, I smiled and politely thanked her, only years later realizing what a phony she was/is. Money can't buy you class: a truism I've seen time and time again.

Present Day 

I only have room in my life for professionals. This doesn't mean someone needs a professional certification or degree - no, I'm referring to being professional as: clean and classy. This means I've had to shed many relationships, as when I reflect on these college-graduated contacts and their garbage behavior… I simply refuse to have contact with them. Some of the most successful people I've met have started multi-millionaire businesses and never graduated high school!

May you be blessed with solid co-workers!

Heidi