More Than a Professional Writer, A Person Who Gets Tuff Stuff Done

What do I do? So many things! Yet, they all reflect how I use positive energy and clear communication to achieve great things.

Today, I share my list of Top 10 Accomplishments, starting with my latest endeavor: Volunteer Peterborough.The volunteer-organizational match-making website makes it effortless for non-profit organizations to find the passionate, skilled helpers they need.

Do you have a low-profile business or charity that seems to get overlooked. Women's lacrosse had that same problem until I brought an outsider's perspective to its promotions.

In this case, I led the communications team that generated a buzz about a sport that deserved more profile. Hearing the roar of a crowd of Canadians cheering on our team made it all worthwhile.

So, you need a team of people to get a job done, but where do you find them? Now do you make sure they do EXACTLY what you need? And how do they have so much fun that they ask you to do it again?

That formula comes from an experienced people-motivator who listens then hands out roles and praise in the right way. Seriously, 185 Porch Pirates for Good can attest to that fact.

Motivating people to make a difference comes in many forms. For the Aviva Community Grant, I rallied thousands of people and gave them the reason and the tools to vote for a great cause. Then we celebrated together when we secured $100,000 to build a much-needed elevator at The Mount Community Centre.

Further, I sell ideas and persuade people to jump aboard. When a group of us formed a non-profit and bought a huge former convent in 2013, we knew we had a tough job ahead. Principally, we needed to keep the money flowing as we bought, then renovated, renovated and renovated. Oh, and dealt with endless surprises within an old building.

We needed to innovate. So, we created a pooled mortgage and sold shares in it. A trusted community leader came up with the idea; he got it going and I closed the deals. This complex financial notion took a lot of education and trust. Over 18 months, we tapped out at $2 million with me selling more than half: $5,000 to $100,000 at a time.

Next, I see opportunities and seize them. When I arrived in Peterborough This Week's newsroom, we had a lot of work to do to prove ourselves. The Examiner had been in business for 150 years by that point and was ingrained in the community.

So, we focused on how their habits held them back. We nimbly jumped on things their processes didn't allow and identified where ours constrained us as well.

We had more fun. We told better stories. We built a brand that was infectious and had impact. Then, we took over our rival in 2017. It took a lot of people to roll out this strategy, but the newsroom piece was key. And I see no need to be humble about it.

Yes, our newsroom helped take out our local competitor. However, I also like to push myself to compete with my peers. After all, that makes everyone strive to be better.

With small newsrooms and great passion, we identified the stories that mattered in our communities. Not the ones that were easy to cover. The ones that really went to the heart of issues and taught readers WHY things happened the way they did.

As a result, they checked for updates more. They trusted us and made us part of their routine. And we ranked higher and higher within Metroland's regions.

Those were great days where our teams came together and built a strong business into a stronger one. Those habits remain in my DNA so I use it for other clients now. And that could be you.

When a woman called me in 2009 looking for a turkey for her Christmas dinner, I rallied some friends. Soon, we had nine of them. Next, we found homes for them as 12 more rolled in.

Within one day, we found and delivered 21 surplus turkeys.

The next year, I got organized and we delivered 111. Over the next decade, this informal cause fed 17,000 people turkey or ham for Christmas dinner. Without my team of volunteers, they would have missed out on this tradition. All this happened with no budget.

Naturally, I clarify what organizations do when they struggle to find the right words. Twenty years ago, I joined a non-profit housing board and immediately set out to create a new name and brand. It took a small team a few months, but the results made a huge difference.

Since then, I've worked with countless groups to simplify their explanations of what they do. Then I create content that reflects what comes from their hearts.

Finally, I explain why new solutions are the right solutions. And that takes some hard conversations. Years ago, fewer people understood that family dysfunction and abuse lead kids and teens to leave home. They simply cannot return and be safe.

But, someone had to tell the public why this happens.

By educating people, we inspired them to get behind and make it a reality. I'm proud to say it has expanded its services and continues to provide temporary housing that changes lives.

If you have a job that seems impossible, I can help you get Tuff Stuff Done. Just ask me how.