Enjoying What You Do, fundraising/development, good will creation, Importance of taking break, keeping a balance, making time for things you value, Nonprofit Marketing & Communications, walking, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Walk, Run, Bike, Hike, Etc. For A Cause

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Back in the days when I worked at BMC HealthNetPlan, I got great satisfaction completing the marketing & communications tasks associated with my role pertaining to “wellness.” I’ve always been someone who liked to exercise, particularly, play tennis, swim, go to the gym, and walk. Those who know me well, know that various health circumstances have gotten in the way of my being able to participate in some of the aforementioned athletic activities, but I hopefully I’ll always have my walking! Anyhow, because I was a big believer in the mental and physical health benefits of getting exercise, I felt blessed and happy to be able to share wellness tips, tools, and information with members of BMC HealthNet Plan’s health plan, as well as with prospective members.

I loved creating wellness-related flyers that the health plan’s Community Outreach team could give out at events, and I was particularly passionate about sharing that same information in the form of an advertorial for the now defunct “Boston Metro” newspaper. In addition, I maintained a section on the health plan’s website about “exercising for a cause.” On the website page, I would list various upcoming charity/cause exercise events like walks, hikes, bikes, runs, etc. I’ve always felt that such events are win-wins. The participant gets great exercise and has fun participating in the event with family or friends that they recruit to join them, and the cause/charity gets the much needed research or other funds they need to operate, as well as the benefit of awareness creation.

Mike McKenna’s Walk Across America For NECC

If you follow our Boston Digital Marketing Agency’s blog and read it regularly, you’ll know that I divide my time talking about “walking” topics and “marketing” topics. This particular post is obviously walking-related, and I’m using it to call attention to the extensive, creative, and significant “cause walk” that a friend and former co-worker from BCBSMA days is undertaking. As you’ll see from reading this article, my friend, Mike McKenna, is “walking across America” to create awareness of the challenges faced by individuals living with Autism, as well as their families, but also to fundraise to support the very important work of, and critical services offered by, the New England Center For Children (NECC).

We, here at Results C & R, just love what Mike is doing and we’ll be cheering Mike on in a variety of ways, and hope you will too. As this article explains, one meaningful/impactful way to easily support others in your lives who are challenged by a developmental or physical disability or chronic condition is to create awareness of their particular health condition, as well as raise funds to support research related to it!

So all those who walk, ride, bike, hike, etc. for a cause, we say “exercise on!” You are doing God’s work!

My Upcoming Cause Walk

I’m continuing to walk the above talk. This month I’ll be walking in Winter Walk Boston, and as I have for the last five or six years, I’ll be captaining my Jimmy Fund Walk team to raise awareness of the challenges of living with cancer and to create cancer research funds. Please consider joining me on one of these walks, and of course, any donations are always welcomed!

Important Update (afternoon of 2/7/23): So, literally within an hour of my publishing this post, I learned Mike had to put his walk on hold because of health concerns, but he assures me, he will still achieve his mission, even if his cross-country journey has to take a new form! Please continue to support NECC in the meantime!

community involvement, good will creation, Importance of taking break, internships and volunteering, keeping a balance, Making Connections, making time for things you value, mission statement, Passion, walking, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Why I’m A Jimmy Fund Walk Walker and Team Captain

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The following blog post is dedicated to my friend, Susan Clawson, who lost her hard-fought battle with stomach cancer earlier this month. Susan was an incredible woman. Despite her own battles with both thyroid and stomach cancer, she helped raise both awareness of cancer and funds for research through her Relay For Life leadership roles — roles to which she brought great passion & energy. I know I and other friends are committed to keeping her cancer-awareness and research-funds-generation goals alive!

This morning, I met with my lovely contact at The Jimmy Fund. Such a caring and kind individual and so passionate about her role in helping Jimmy Fund Walk teams generate funds for cancer research. We talked about a number of things — fundraising ideas for my “Mission Possible” walking team, and how I could share with local reporters both my reasons for walking, as well as a cute story about how I met a good friend and current cancer patient thru the walk — all to create awareness for the walk and it’s important mission. We also chatted about my own cancer journey and how treatment for abdominal sarcoma has had a lasting impact on my health, as well as my unending desire to provide ongoing support to friends and family who are battling cancer, so they never feel alone or forgotten during their cancer journey.

I also shared with my Jimmy Fund contact a “fun fact” I hadn’t thought about in a while. How Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) — the organization that receives and employs the funds generated thru the Jimmy Fund Walk to conduct innovative, life-saving research — was one of the very first places I worked when I moved to Boston after graduating from UCONN. Back then, the beautiful, state-of-the-art Yawkey Center owned and run by DFCI did not exist. I worked out of the Dana Building, which is still used today. As a temporary employee in DFCI’s HR Department, each morning as I came to work, I walked by a children’s play area set up in the back of the lobby. While seeing kids battling cancer made me teary-eyed, it also gave great meaning to working at DFCI — to help these kids and others win their cancer battles.

Little did I know — and I’m tearing up as I write this — that 23 years later, I’d be a patient myself and receiving care in the exact same building!

This October, I’ll walk in the Jimmy Fund Walk — so happy it is in-person again this year — for the fifth year!

It’s been another very busy year for me on both the work and personal fronts, but when summer rolls around, I know I need to make the time to start fundraising more for my Jimmy Fund Walk team, “Mission Possible.”

Why I Know and Have Supported So Many Other “Cancer Warriors”

There’s just not enough “real estate” on my Jimmy Fund walk page to explain why I continue to walk and raise funds for the Jimmy Fund, so that’s why I’ve taken to my blog to share my countless reasons. Friends and family have pointed out to me that, compared to the average person, I seem to have a disproportionate/very large number of loved ones who have battled or lost their battles with cancer. I won’t argue that, and there’s a reason for it — once you’ve been a “cancer warrior” yourself, friends and family members who are diagnosed with cancer tend to reach out to you for advice regarding how to physically and emotionally handle a cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Plus, you get to know other cancer patients who are on the same treatment schedule as you, or through virtual cancer support groups and discussion boards. And, a sad actuality of serving on the Braintree Relay For Life Committee for a few years was that I made friends with people who are involved with cancer fundraising because they are “cancer warriors” themselves.

All of the above explains why I have so many names listed next to my number one and number two reasons for why I walk in the Jimmy Fund walk below.

And, lastly, as a cancer patient or cancer survivor, you know what it’s like to feel so darn lonely and out-of-step with the rest of the world. As I shared with my Jimmy Fund liaison this morning, when you are battling cancer, it’s particularly hard to see the world keep spinning and everyone going about their day-to-day/everyday lives when what was previously your normal routine/life has been put “on hold,” — either temporarily or forever.

Reasons Why I Walk In The Jimmy Fund Walk

  1. IN MEMORY of family members and friends I’ve lost to a variety of forms of cancer, including lung, bladder, prostate, breast, stomach, brain and pancreatic cancer: Sue M., Felice E., and Karen T. (my college friends), Susan C., Enid L., and Patty W. (Braintree Relay For Life Committee friends), Jeff P. and Scott R. (high school friends), O.V. S. (my dad), George E. (my grandfather), Hazel S. (my grandmother), and Sharon C. (my sister-in-law), Beth M. and Jen L. (fellow sarcoma patients), Bruce M., Trece M., and Nancy K. (fellow cancer patients I met along my journey), John S. (a close neighbor’s son), Marion H. (work friend.) And, there are many others from cancer support groups I lost along the way.
  2. IN HONOR of family members and friends who have won their cancer battles or who are still fighting, including leiomyosarcoma, neuroendocrine tumor (NET), and prostate cancer, breast cancer, and thyroid cancer: Barbara and Maria S. (my sisters), Jean C., Jeanne M., Francine F., Carolyn Q., Barbara J., Chris M., and Archie S. (life-long/close friends of me and my husband), Pat E. and Dee C. (women who walk with my team), and of course, yours truly.
  3. TO REMIND others that “cancer never takes a holiday” and that, if anything, the number of individuals battling cancer is on the rise vs. on the decline, and that there is not one person among us whose life hasn’t been, or won’t be impacted by cancer in some way, even if it’s thru a loved one’s diagnosis vs. a personal diagnosis.
  4. TO RAISE VERY MUCH-NEEDED FUNDS for cancer research, especially for rare cancers, since no one treatment is likely ever going to be capable of treating each & every form of cancer. And in keeping with the aforementioned, to feel that I’m helping friends & family who are still battling cancer or, who might again battle cancer, due to metastasis or recurrence. Fundraising is a way for me to put my anger and sadness about cancer into something positive and to not feel like the deaths of those who passed from incredibly hard battles with cancer were in vain, and to remind those fallen “cancer warriors” that they will never be forgotten.

How You Can Honor Or Remember The “Cancer Warriors” In Your Life

The above is pretty simple. Donate to my “Mission Possible” team or support another Jimmy Fund walker. Or, join my team by visiting the Jimmy Fund Walk site and registering to be a member of “Mission Possible.”

And, visit this page of my site if you need help and courage to “keep fighting.” E-mail me at gail.moraski@allintheresults.com if there are fighting people, words, or songs I should be adding to this page. Plus, let me know if there is anyone you want me to honor or think of as I walk on October 2 this year!

Thanks for any support you end up giving my team and those who battle cancer!

After we published this post, we received the following coverage about our Jimmy Fund Walk team. Go team “Mission Possible!” https://www.patriotledger.com/story/lifestyle/2022/10/05/braintree-cancer-survivor-steps-up-jimmy-fund-walk/8177164001/

Blog, Blogging, Enjoying What You Do, Importance of taking break, keeping a balance, making time for things you value, Objectives Setting, Passion, walking, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Two-Walk Days and Five-Walk Weekends

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It’s Patriot’s Day here in Boston — the area in which our digital marketing agency and SEO company is headquartered. For those who aren’t familiar with Patriot’s Day, it’s most known for being the day both elite and less-elite-but-still-very-passionate runners from around the world gather to run the Boston Marathon. For many in Massachusetts, it’s also a day off since some businesses shut down to allow employees a chance to watch the Marathon or participate in other festivities occurring that day.

A day focused on extreme athleticism seemed the perfect day to write another in our ongoing series of blog posts about walking in the Greater Boston area and on Boston’s South Shore. We’ve been wanting to write specifically about the joy of two-walk and three-walk days for a while, and this past weekend afforded one such day.

I had the good fortune on Friday night to walk at a beautiful South Shore park (one that’s still a bit of a well-kept secret): King Oak Hill Park in Weymouth. In keeping with what I was taught as a child, I’ve always believed that Good Friday should be a day of reflection and a quiet, low-key day. Not too much celebrating (because of the sad and somber event associated with it), not too much noise, not too much socializing. A walk in a park felt like a good fit for the day.

King Oak Hill Park – Weymouth; Courtesy Herbert Hickey

My husband, Jay, and I visited the park toward the end of the day (around 5:30pm, I believe). The spring sun was still bright and warm and felt heavenly, and before we started walking the main pathway of the park, I announced that we were going to walk 7 laps as I recalled the last time we visited in fall of 2022, we had walked 6. I’m definitely both a destination walker and one who likes to set goals to increase my distance. Thus, I love the goal-setting allowed by a place where you can walk and track laps.

King Oak Hill Park was so enticing with its natural beauty from the trees, grass, and flowers, but also due to the old estate home, garage and other buildings. I didn’t want to leave it behind. We stayed at the park for quite a while, and met a bunch of nice people also enjoying all the park had to offer. I can’t wait to return. It’s one of my Weymouth park favorites, along with Webb Park, Great Esker Park, Osprey Overlook Park, and the several small parks/walking areas in Jackson Square that offer views of the Herring Run in Weymouth.

Good Friday walking was followed on Saturday with three more distinct walks. Up early because of construction being done at a neighbor’s house, I walked to and from a local plaza to run some Easter errands at CVS and The Paper Store — hey, the eggs needed fillings for the annual Easter egg hunt, and I needed more plastic eggs too. Between walking to and from the plaza and walking around the stores, I added a couple of more miles to the similar distance walked the evening before.

A good friend reached out spontaneously about getting together later in the day on Saturday. To fuel ourselves (or so we could claim anyhow), she, Jay, and I did an ice cream run at the Braintree Ben & Jerry’s, followed by a walk on the very scenic trails at Blue Hills Reservation. It was definitely far more of a hike than a walk and I used muscles that I hadn’t used in a while, but I was a good sore the next day and welcomed the second opportunity of the weekend to soak in nature’s beauty and all the great fresh spring air.

After our hike, our friend expressed a desire to see and be by the ocean, so off we went next to Nut Island, another South Shore favorite walking place. And, the Island certainly delivered ocean feels, smells, and views. So, so gorgeous! During times when I was battling serious illness, visits to the Island always provided so much comfort, peace, and rejuvenation, and I know this park will always remain a South Shore favorite and a place of refuge!

The fifth and final walk of the weekend was another priceless one. A walk at the end of a very fun & festive Easter Day spent at my twin’s family’s house in Hanover — with four generations of family members! After eating a variety of snack and meals items during the day — as part of celebrating Easter, my eldest niece’s birthday and the first Celtics playoff game — a walk felt like the perfect ending to the day, as well as as much needed, after so much sitting.

What made the walk so priceless was the company — me, Jay, my twin, her son and our nephew, Matthew (who in keeping with this blog’s intro, respectively, had run a BAA race, and the Newport half marathon, the day before), and our nephew, Mike. There’s only so many moments in a year, where we get can get this group together for a great walk ‘n talk. So, despite the fact that the temperature was far lower that day than the previous two, and the wind made it feel particularly chilly, we did a neighborhood walk where we talked about things Boston, Massachusetts, and global, before we headed to back to our various homes.

We’d love to hear about your two- and three-walk days and your favorite places to walk on Boston’s South Shore, in Massachusetts, New England, New York — or any place in the world, for that matter — so please do share! And, never stop walking and never give up!

Enjoy These Past Walking Blog Posts

It’s A New Year — Time To Pivot If Only Slightly

A Life Constant: Why I’ve Always Walked

Why I’ve Always Walked Part II – No Excuses

Why I’ve Always Walked Part III: Brattleboro VT (150 miles) or Bust

Acceptance of Circumstances, digital marketing agency, integrated marketing, keeping up with trends, making time for things you value, marketing consultant, Marketing Planning, Objectives Setting, pandemic marketing, Passion, Post-COVID-19 Marketing, staying current, strategic planning, Understanding Your Environment, walking, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

It’s A New Year. Time To Pivot, If Only Slightly

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After writing several blog posts in recent years about one of my favorites hobbies — walking — I was torn about whether it should be a walking or a digital marketing topic that would be the focus of the first blog post of the new year. But, then, it hit me (while I was out walking, of course) why not combine the two topics? So here goes…

Depending on how your business, organization, or you personally fared in 2021, maybe the new year/2022 doesn’t require some kind of grand gesture or large overhaul related to new beginnings and resolutions. Hey, if it ain’t broken, why fix it, right? Maybe, it’s just a matter of making some small tweaks to last year’s marketing strategy and/or the particular tactics that are part of it, or to your personal habits and mindset, so you can optimize results even further in the new year.

That’s why, while I plan to keep up with my “no excuses” winter walking plan this year, I made a small adjustment to it in the beginning of 2022. Sure, in the blog post that I linked to in my previous sentence, I sang the praises of last year’s coat related to being “prepared for opportunity.” But, I realized this winter, I needed to do something slightly different. The coat I bought and wore last year was just too heavy for my back, which started troubling me in fall 2021 (life happens). Plus, the length of last year’s coat-purchase (down to my ankles) limits the length of my stride. So, I went to Macy’s last week to capitalize on post-Christmas sales, and bought a very reasonably-priced coat that’s a bit shorter and a bit less heavy –because life circumstances, business, and marketplaces constantly change and we need to adjust to them, even if only slightly.

We’d welcome the opportunity to chat with you about what your business/organization could or should do slightly or significantly differently in 2022, based on the following and other possible or anticipated changes pertaining to:

  • your industry
  • the competitiveness or other attributes of your marketplace, such as pricing and inflation
  • consumer or business buying behavior or interests
  • technology used by consumers or businesses to gather information about products, services, and solutions, i.e., consumer and business technology preferences
  • marketing technologies and opportunities to reach target audiences

So, please let us know how we can help and don’t be afraid to make some very small or some very large tweaks to personal habits or business processes, tactics, strategy, etc. if warranted for a more prosperous, less stressful, more productive, and/or healthier new year!

Walk On!

If you’re a fellow walking fanatic, enjoy our other walking blog posts:

A Live Constant: Why I’ve Always Walked

Why I’ve Always Walked Part II – No Excuses

Why I’ve Always Walked Part III: Brattleboro VT (150 miles) or Bust

Stay Tuned For #FridayNightWalks, #DestinationWalks, and More!

Acceptance of Circumstances, community involvement, Enjoying What You Do, fundraising/development, Importance of taking break, keeping a balance, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Why I’ve Always Walked Part III: Brattleboro VT (150 miles) or Bust

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While on the neighborhood walk I just completed I gave great thought to how, and when, I developed my great love of walking, it wasn’t the first time I noodled this. In fact, I captured this in the first of my blog posts about “Why I’ve Always Walked.” I think it all goes back to the candy store trek I mentioned in that previous post and the fact that homes were pretty spread out living in what-was-then-quite-rural Burlington, CT. As a child if you wanted to play with neighbors without having to ask your parents to give you a ride, you were going to walk a bit to get to their homes. And, if you wanted your “smarties,” you were going to have to walk an estimated 1.75 miles to get them — what felt like a very long distance when you’re age 9 or under.

As some of my readers know, since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve been supporting a family member who’s been struggling. In recent months, I’ve become more and more of a caregiver. This means I need to stick close-to-home, manage the stress of seeing a loved one deal with illness, and play a big role in making sure both of our daily needs are met and that we both enjoy the best possible quality of life. Walking has been a lifesaver as far as helping me keep my stress level down goes, but it also provides for an activity and goal in life that’s just about me — something a caregiver really needs.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge In 2016

Why Brattleboro and 150 Miles?

As I also shared in the aforementioned first walking blog post, I’m a sucker for a good “cause walk” — something I consider a win-win. This spring, I signed up to walk The Kerry Fund’s “Walk Around The World.” I had set a goal to walk 50 miles during the month of May, but I came in about 8 miles under, I believe, because of the personal challenges mentioned above. But, I extended the timeframe and deadline for my goal and made it into a longer and larger one. To walk 150 miles between May 1 and Labor Day. I’m not someone who tracks day-to-day steps. Just true walks I go on whether they be around the neighborhood, to grab something at Dunkin Donuts (a beloved destination walk), or a walk at a park or on a trail.

Work and personal demands got in the way of me finalizing this post, so that the day I wrote the initial paragraph and the day I’m writing this paragraph, are several weeks apart. But, I’m pleased to say I’ve walked 120 of my 150 miles, many of them on Boston’s South Shore. That 150 miles equates to walking the distance from my home to Brattleboro, VT — a spot I love to visit. So, even if I can only visit there in my mind when I achieve my 150 miles, I’ll have to have a smoked turkey sandwich and pretend I’m at The Top of the Hill Grill.

I’m finishing up this post and publishing it on Saturday, August 7. To support my Jimmy Fund Walk team, I’m holding a drawing for anyone who makes a donation to my team and correctly guesses how many miles I will have walked by Labor Day. Will it be 150? Will it be way more? E-mail, text, or direct message me and let me know your guess after you make your donation. Whoever’s guess is the closest to the # of miles I walk before September 6 will win a $50 gift card to Legal Seafood. If there’s a tie, each winner will receive a $25 gift card. http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR?px=1010193&pg=personal&fr_id=1660

Thanks to those who support the Mission Possible Team and those who support me or join me related to my joy of walking. Walk on, and always reach out if you want to do a walk ‘n talk in my neck of the woods!

P.S. If you enjoy walking and missed Part II of my walking blog post series, take a stroll thru it!

Acceptance of Circumstances, competitive advantage, Enjoying What You Do, Importance of taking break, keeping a balance, making time for things you value, Objectives Setting, Passion, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Why I’ve Always Walked – Part II: No Excuses

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I promised blog readers and myself that I would write a follow-up post to my original “Why I’ve Always” Walked” blog post, and based on my passion for walking, additional follow-ups to Parts I and II are likely to come. But, for now, we’ll stick to Part II and its focus, “no excuses.”

Gail Snow Moraski Back From a Winter Walk in Her Puffer Jacket

Wanting to keep up with my daily walks in late 2020 and early 2021, despite anticipated dips in New England temperatures, I made sure in Mid-October-2020 that I eliminated as many deterrents to walking daily as I could in advance of November – February colder weather. There’s been a lot of social media conversation around the “best or favorite item you purchased in 2020.” And while, a few furniture purchases for my breezeway to allow for outdoor visits with friends and the family were strong contenders, for me, the award for best purchase was and is my Tommy Hilfiger Faux-Fur-Trim Hooded Maxi Puffer Coat! Thank you Tommy and thank you Macy’s! Yeah, it cost me $157.50 since I purchased it prior to late-season sales (something I normally wait for when it comes to coat purchases), but to-date, it has been worth every penny I spent on it and then some. And, there’s still a lot of South Shore of Boston winter weather ahead of me!

I specifically sought out a coat that would keep me toasty warm while walking in all kinds of Northeast winter weather — winds, rain, snow, temperatures in the teens — without causing me to sweat too much or to feel too weighed-down. This coat is light-weight, keeps me super-warm, and it’s not made of Down, and therefore, doesn’t make me feel all clammy while walking in it. And, I love the fact that I can wear a lightweight sweater vs. a really thick one under it, since the coat itself is so warm. This prevents my movements from feeling/being restricted, and I don’t feel like a walking sausage when I walk!

I also invested in these boots from Toms because the sneaker-bottom works well for me and my ongoing right hip issue, and I don’t want concerns about keeping my feet warm, or having shoes that are comfortable to walk in, to get in the way of my walking either! They’re super warm and I always love the fact that a Toms brand purchase means someone who really needs one, will get a free pair of shoes.

Be Proactive About Preventing Obstacles and Eliminating Excuses

Yeah, that was likely more than you wanted and needed to know about my walking-related purchases. As a new year gets underway, I really just wanted to remind readers that when you take an offensive, proactive approach to health & wellness goals, or to other non-health objectives, you’ll increase your chance of success. I didn’t want any excuses to get in the way of my getting the exercise and sunlight I need to keep my mind and body healthy — particularly during our pandemic when it’s so important to one’s sanity to get outside and get a change-of-scenery.

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”

I’ve always liked the expression “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” My ever-green blog post “While You Wait, Educate” speaks to this same premise. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit when associating buying a warm coat and warm boots with opportunity. But, hey, when friends have reached out to walk on a cold day, I’ve been ready for that opportunity to socialize, or when I run into neighbors while out walking, I have the opportunity to catch up a bit (socially distanced, of course!) because I’m warmly and appropriately dressed and don’t have to rush back inside/home.

With the start of a new year, I’d love to hear from my readers what preparations you’re putting in place to seize opportunities or to prevent obstacles from getting in your way of achieving an important personal or professional goal. So, please do share!

Acceptance of Circumstances, community involvement, Enjoying What You Do, Importance of taking break, keeping a balance, Making Connections, making time for things you value, Objectives Setting, relationship building, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

A Life Constant: Why I’ve Always Walked

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Walking has always played a huge role in my life. During my early childhood years, when I lived in a very rural area, my five siblings and I walked everywhere — a long, uphill trek to a small candy store, in the many wooded areas of the very country-ish-at-the-time town of Burlington, Connecticut, and around and near two different ponds for swimming to which we had access.

Moving with my family at age 9 to a less rural part of Connecticut (Bristol) didn’t put a damper on my interest in and ability to walk great distances. Just the opposite. My twin, Audrey, and I had sizable walks to school, particularly related to our junior high school, which was a forty-minute walk from our home. As part of that long daily walk, we’d stop by the houses of friends along the way, so that they could join us on the “walking bus” to school. And on the way home from junior high and even elementary school, we’d take routes home that made the trip longer, but that afforded us the opportunity to purchase favorite snacks. In addition, I regularly walked to Bristol’s downtown area to shop, take advantage of the city’s great library, and accomplish other errands.

A Few Of The Many Benefits Of Walking

As you would expect, during college days at UCONN, I continued to walk a great deal. UCONN has a very large campus, so often class location required walking long distances, but UCONN also has a beautiful pond area for walking, known as Mirror Lake — an area to which I was often pulled. I attended the Universite of Rouen in France my senior year and logged a crazy large number of shoe- and sneaker-leather miles abroad, partly due to the fact that the home of the family with which I lived was a significant distance from the Universite, and partly due to the fact that I had the opportunity to spend blocks of time in Paris and other beautiful parts of Europe. Walking is such a great way to get to know a new city or area.

Fast forward to my first apartment post-graduation in Quincy MA (where I didn’t own a car) and to my 15 years of living in Brookline MA (where most of the time I didn’t own a car). I ran many of my errands on foot, but also regularly enjoyed non-errand-related amblings all over Quincy, Brookline and Boston. I often walked numerous stops past the closest MBTA (subway) stop to my employer/job or my home, just to get my mileage and my time in nature to clear my head in.

When I was a child and in my early 20’s, reasons for walking probably tipped more to it being the means to end — a way to get to where I needed and/or to run an errand. As I got older, walking began to take on a different role in my life for the following opportunities it afforded:

2019 Jimmy Fund Walk With Lifetime Friends

Particularly during our pandemic, many of my days have been “two-walk” days, and there’s even been some “three-walk” ones — either because of the need to emotionally manage daily work and personal demands and/or the tough news we’re constantly bombarded with. Or, to have the chance to visit and spend time with friends and family. Of course, walking looks a little bit different these days because of needs to social distance and wear masks.

Since our dating days, my husband, Jay, and I have always enjoyed nature and vacation walks together, but up until recently, I’ve been the primary “neighborhood” walker in the family, but now’s he’s joining me, or walking by himself, having recognized some of the benefits of walking that I’ve shared above.

Let’s Keep This Boston Walking Blog An Active One

This only scrapes the surface of why I am and have always been so passionate about walking. If you search the “Ponderings”/blog section of our Boston Digital Marketing Company’s website using the category selection tool at the bottom of the main blog page, you’ll see we regularly write about walking. We’d love to hear why you walk, so please do share and keep revisiting our blog for new walking posts! Or, please suggest a walking topic or ask if you can be a guest blogger on your favorite walking topic.

In the meantime, walk on!

Acceptance of Circumstances, community involvement, keeping up with trends, LinkedIn, Making Connections, Making Connections and Introductions, making time for things you value, Networking, relationship building, sales, staying current, target audiences, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

How to Pivot Your Business Toward Relationship-Building in the Time of COVID-19

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By Guest Blogger, Bethany Clarke

Running a business these days is no joke. The global pandemic has put many small businesses into a tailspin. No one’s seen anything like this before and everyone’s talking about “pivoting,” but what does that actually mean? What does a pivot look like for you? 

You’re great at running and marketing your business. You’ve got the branding, social media, and your new client funnel down to a science. You’re turning a profit and you can’t believe how far you’ve come since the first days of starting out, but this COVID-19 deal is uncharted territory.

You’re not alone. Sales for many businesses have dropped this month due to the distraction provided by the pandemic, but particularly, due to its associated social distancing practices. Yes, the latter are a matter of national health, but man, are they a pain for conducting in-person sales activities. And, our current world scenario has made all forms of sales and outreach activities far more difficult and far less effective, whether they be in-person, phone, or e-communications ones. That’s why we recommend that your pivot be one that includes relationship building.

Generating Leads And Sales Thru Relationship Building & Networking

What’s the deal with relationships? They will be what sustains you through this crisis and after it is over. By reaching out to potential clients now, you can be certain that you’ll be one of the first people they come to once the crisis has receded. You can establish yourself as a credible, helpful and friendly resource in your field, and even a “thought leader.”

How To Make The Pivot Toward Relationship Building And Networking

  1. Establish connections online by devoting a half hour to posting and being present on your social media each day. That’s enough time to reply to comments on your posts or to comment on others’ posts. Always make an effort to do this, especially on Facebook and Instagram since that’s part of the algorithm that drives your posts to the top of people’s feeds. 
  1. Direct message followers who are your dream clients. Now’s the time to reach out and say “hello” and offer to help or provide information they might find particularly beneficial at this point in time. Most people have more free time lately and are craving connections. If you’re making a practice of extending your olive branch now in a very genuine/authentic and heart-felt way, you’ll be remembered by people for helping make this hard time a little easier for them.
  1. Reach out to people who operate in fields adjacent to yours and who serve the same vertical (target audiences) you’d like to do work for. For instance, if you’re a copywriter, you could connect with someone who does graphic design. In the future, when you meet a client who needs a website re-done, you can provide your client with the copy they need, and then refer them to your colleague who will design their fancy new logo or design their new website. If you help nonprofits with marketing, but there are other firms that don’t compete with you that offer bookkeeping services for nonprofits, then why not try to be referral sources for each other? These referrals can go both ways. People in your identical spaces could be competitors but what if you shifted that perspective? What if you turned them into collaborators or work referral sources? Developing a “referral circle” is an excellent way to broaden and strengthen your network and increase your customer base.

Aside from all the business benefits that come along with establishing and maintaining relationships, having these positive, collaborative, helpful relationships just feels really good right now. In this time of isolation, it’s human and healthy to crave connection with others. Making the pivot toward relationship building in your business will not only make your business stronger, but it may help make you healthier and happier as well.

Uncategorized, warriors, fighters, doing good, giving back, paying it forward

Recognizing and Supporting the Warriors Among Us

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Recent messaging I’ve been exposed to, activities I’ve participated in, and health challenges with which I’ve dealt have prompted me to remind all my readers to continue to recognize and support the many and varied warriors among us. With October just around the corner, and news media, advertisers, and merchandisers splattering pink ribbons everywhere, breast cancer patients and survivors, as well as their caregivers, come most immediately to mind as individuals who need and deserve our support, but they are a just a small fraction of the many warriors in our midst.

Because of when the Committee gathered post-summer, fall reminds me of my previous pro bono publicity work for the Braintree-Milton-Randolph MA Relay For Life — an activity that regularly provides the opportunity to meet or hear the stories of patients and survivors who’ve battled or are battling many types of cancers (including breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and more), and who are incredible fighters.

I was also diagnosed with a rare cancer — abdominal sarcoma — in September 2006, so this time of year always brings reminders of the emotional and physical challenges I faced at that time and continue to face 13 years later as a result of the chronic conditions cancer treatment and surgery left me with. In fact, on the day I’m posting this, I’m off to have some CT scans to try to identify the cause for some new digestive symptoms I’ve been having.

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At different points over the past 7 years, I have had the good fortune of interacting with cancer and other health warriors on a weekly basis because of my “sometimes” need to receive IV iron treatments (I no longer absorb iron well from food or supplements). I say “good fortune” because, while I may arrive at my hematology/oncology practice not wanting to deal with the pricks of blood draws or IV inserts, or simply grouchy because I have to give up several hours weekly to this health inconvenience, when I witness or talk to other patients about what they are going through, I realize how small my challenges are. While I don’t wish bad health on anyone and feel great compassion for those dealing with it, the courage and grace many patients — and those who help them — exhibit under really difficult circumstances is both a reminder to me of how indomitable the human spirit is and an inspiration to me to stay positive and be grateful for the gift of life.

Our Heart Speaks: An Organization Near ‘n Dear To Our Heart That Supports Health Warriors

My pro bono work for Our Heart Speaks (OHS), an organization that provides a voice and means of healing through artistic expression to individuals finding themselves suddenly struggling with new disability or chronic illness, reminds me so often how there are individuals who feel fairly rotten on a daily basis, but who, for a variety of reasons, don’t feel comfortable or have the need for regularly sharing their pain, fright, and suffering with the outside world, including friends and family. I’ve learned thru my social media work for OHS that, particularly patients who suffer from “invisible illness,” such as digestive issues or chronic pain that isn’t obvious to both the loved ones and strangers in the patients’ lives, often feel like they must struggle with their health challenges in silence because there’s no “physical evidence” that can be seen by the human beings with which they interact that they are suffering.

As I alluded to above, we must recognize that warriors come in all shapes & sizes. Some warrior souls are cloaked in the body of a 90-year old woman, and some use the body of a 5-year old boy as their vessel. Some are battling cancer, some, other terminal or chronic diseases like ASL, MS, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. And, some struggling with serious mental/emotional illness that paralyzes them, or, with addiction or social issues, such as homelessness.

Other warriors among us are the medical professionals who give their hearts and souls to their patients by helping them both emotionally and physically deal with their illness. Still, other warriors can be found in the friends and family members of those dealing with illness who do all they can to envelop their ill loved one in an invisible blanket of love. I also believe warriors can be found among the many individuals who give their free time to generate both awareness about research studies and research funds in support of a particular health challenge or social cause.

As briefly touched on above, in addition to physical-health warriors, there are innumerable warriors among us who, while not belonging to one of the four broad warrior groups above, i.e., the afflicted/challenged individual, professional caregivers, friend and family caregivers, and awareness and fund generators, battle non-physical-health challenges that seem equally insurmountable to health challenges. These include afflictions and challenges such as poverty, injustice, discrimination, and bullying. Plus mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, addiction, and PTSD.

As you do when you celebrate Halloween and seek to identify who the person is under a particular costume, make an effort to identify the warriors beneath the surface of the individuals with whom you interact. And, regardless of their circumstances, let’s all be sure to give a shout out and emotional and physical support to all the warriors we come across in our daily lives, not just in September & October, but all year long.

Keep Up The Fight: Fight Songs, Fighting Words & More

In close, and, in keeping with the above, please do let me know if you would like me to add a warrior song, individual, or organization to my “Keep Up The Fight” page. I would be thrilled to do so!