Greetings, All!
September 2021

I just celebrated, in fact, I'm still celebrating a very big Birthday. This one is different from all the rest. Every day, every connection means more, full of reflection from the many seasons of my life...and the lessons I've learned from each experience at my every age. Introspection. Humility. Gratitude. Like a continual waterfall of faces, places, choices I've made. What a great parade of colorful humans and teachers of every age along the way!

When I was younger with toddler children and a business that was like an always-hungry, always needy little bird waiting to be fed, I was always in a hurry! I hustled my kids every day to ‘hurry up!', Mommy's got an appointment at the office, 'so much traffic this morning...'

That was my life in those years and I never realized how much i was missing. I never looked beyond my own focus. My grandchildren knew better...getting them out of their car seat and stepping out of the car on our way to wherever we were going, took forever, as Jordan or Juliana would stop and study each small rock or leaf or bird's feather or cloud shape in the sky. I missed all this before! But, you bet I'm doing it differently this time, grateful for the second chance...and all the second chances that come my way now, grateful to see the miracles all around me!

I want to change the way we age. I want to serve...still. I want to do work that matters...still.

To the Changing Hands, when I bought my supply of September's birthday cards and was stopped by an Elder woman. She couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds and she had to be in her late 80's. There she was, in 110 degrees of heat talking to people about the five petitions she was representing, educating those who would listen. Yes, I signed everyone, breathing in her passion and commitment. Her work was important to her. She inspired me... and I was grateful.

There are so many Elders like her. I look for them...they are my champions!

Aging is a verb unlike the many generations before us. We have more options, choices than ever before to embrace Age with Awe and aliveness!

A friend lives in Gold Canyon in a glorious home with mountains all around. She has rented her home through AirBNB for 4 months and is literally getting paid to go on vacation for 4 months, and STILL make money! C'mon, is that a great idea or what???

Another friend sold her very successful business and moved to Idaho after years in Phoenix. She was ready for adventure. She had no idea what that would look like. She is thrilled when she sees deer and cows and horses pressing their noses against her cabin window. She is more alive every day!

Then, an amazing podcast from the Modern Elder Academy talked about a solution to burnout by ‘chasing awe.' Can you imagine ‘awe walks' every morning? Or listening, like really listening, to music...and dancing? Discovering the significance of insignificant things deepens our breathing and energy. I live in an historic neighborhood in downtown Phoenix, across the street from one of the oldest elementary school in the city. There is nothing finer than my sitting on my front porch listening to the children play and laugh. Fills my soul, ya know? Remember to use micro- gestures like smiling or, because of masks, more eye contact with every one, yes, every one in a greater effort to connect and really SEE each other.

What a thought... Tell me what you think about these ideas. Do they inspire you to chase your own version of Awe? How can you tackle Aging as a verb? Whatever age you are now, there's more to see, more to experience, more to learn about your Self and others. Give it a try, will you? Awe is the fuel...

A Customer's $350 Lego Set was Missing Pieces.
The Company's Response Was Brilliant
Find every opportunity to delight your customers.
Written by Jason Aten

When John found the Mos Eisley Cantina LEGO set at Target, he bought it. It's not an easy set to get. The set has over 3,000 pieces and will cost you $350--if you can even find it in stock. The book of instructions is 400 pages long. If you're buying this set, it's clear you are a pretty big fan of both LEGO and Star Wars.

If that's you, you might imagine the excitement of opening up the set, sorting the pieces, and following the instructions to build it. You might also imagine that, if you spent hours working on it--only to discover that you were missing a bag of pieces--that would be pretty disappointing. That's what happened to John.

The response John received from LEGO is so good, it's worth sharing. It's also an incredible example for every business.

Here's what the email says:

Dear John,
Thanks for getting in touch with us and providing that information! I am so sorry that you are missing bag 14 from your Mos Eisley Cantina! This must be the work of Lord Vader.
Fear not, for I have hired Han to get that bag right out to you.
Have a bricktastic day and may the force be with you.

What I do know is that it might be the best customer service email I've ever seen. Not only did it apologize for the mistake, and clearly explain how LEGO would make it right, it did it with a sense of personality. That might be the most impressive part of the entire email.

Whoever wrote the email clearly knows their audience and took the time to make it fun. With what is arguably very little effort, they turned a disappointing situation into something delightful.

By the way, delight is maybe the most powerful thing you can do to generate loyalty among your customers. It doesn't take much, but even little things like knowing your audience and responding accordingly can go a long way. Making someone smile is easily the best way to remind them why they became a loyal customer in the first place. When you look for ways to delight them, even when something didn't go right, you can't go wrong.

Please enjoy the full article at https://www.inc.com/
Image credit: Getty images

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Please, if and when you have a customer service experience worthy of note, share it with me! You will be sending this business new customers...and I'll treat you to a consistently fabulous customer experience at Dutch Bros...my pleasure! Email us HERE.

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