Skip to main content

Recurring Themes...

I keep coming back to this idea about how people recover from career mistakes and how they move on. I recently blogged about Gerald Levin, who moved on from a pretty big error he made while with AOL and I obsessed over J.K. Rowlings Harvard commencement speech about failure. I guess it's on my mind lately!

The latest installment of this story is a new article from Julie Wainwright, the former CEO from Pets.com. Yep, she was the sock puppet lady. It's fascinating to get an inside look at her thoughts and the aftermath which included a deep depression. I really love this article and the 5 mistakes. My favorite mistake is #3 "I stopped believing in myself." I can speeak from direct experience on this one and while fear was a part of my mistake, it isn't the entire story. I got caught in an odd circumstance at a past job and simply couldn't/wouldn't continue to believe in myself.

The honesty and authenticty in this article is like a breath of fresh air to me.. why can't more marketing copy be written like this? Why?!

While you are reading the article - take a peek at the comments. When was the last time a "marketing blog" post generated such amazing words of encouragement and love? (Hint, the answer is never). Also notice for the record, that Julie continues to reply to many of the comments and posts.
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
Marc, great post - really enjoyed Julie's article. Thanks for sharing!
10:24 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Would Google Do: Non-Profit Edition

I've been tweeting and yapping to friends about Jeff Jarvis's terrific book " What Would Google Do " even before I've properly finishing the thing. I sat myself down tonight and plowed through the last 100 pages where Jarvis examines different industries including automotive, manufacturing, telcom, healthcare and more to see what Google would do if they were in those businesses. On one hand, I was really hoping that Jarvis had taken a look at the non-profit sector given my personal history in the sector and my ongoing interest in how non-profits operate. I'll also note that I used to write a fairly well read non-profit marketing blog . Unfortunately, the book doesn't delve into this much, if at all. I thought, instead of a basic set of notes or a book review as I usually do that I'd jump back in time and take a look at the sector with fresh, and "Googley" eyes. If you haven't yet read the book, the basic premise is that Google fundamenta...
24 comments
Read more

The Future of Non-Profit Fundraising is Already Here, and You Are Not Ready

This blog post is loosely transcribed from a talk I gave as part of a Future of Non-profits meet up hosted by my buddy  David Neff . I was asked to do no more than 5 minutes and came up with the following. I'm also posting my hand scribbled notes I used to plan the talk, may as well show you my doctor like scribble. The notes were written on my iPad mini using Penultimate in case you were wondering. And now... the talk... Hi everyone and good morning (In my head there is awesome music playing!). My name is Marc Sirkin and I'm currently a Director with PwC, focused on helping organizations transform their digital marketing and social media. I spent 10 years in the non-profit sector, with large health charities such as March of Dimes, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Autism Speaks. Most recently, I've been volunteering and doing pro-bono work for much smaller organizations focused on mentoring and youth. Before I jump in, let me warn you, I'm extremely enam...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yes, I worked at iXL

ixl Originally uploaded by msirkin . You know you remember iXL... yea you do... we bought every company with a pulse, went public and went bust. I've worked in a bunch of places including a Burger King (the manager told me I can take this job ANYWHERE I wanted - I quit after 2 weeks on Fry duty). I also delivered Domino's Pizza, did 2 ad agency internships and worked at a college bookstore. See more of my bizcards ...
Post a Comment
Read more