Seminar Impacts Total Strangers Hundreds of Miles Away

 It seemed like a normal seminar. Dozens of PHCC contractors piled in to get a seat at Adams Hudson’s marketing seminar to gain a lesson. They got a bit more than that.

“Plumbing contractors may not think of themselves as heroes, but I do, and so do all who’ve ever had a water heater die on them,” said Hudson. “They can save the day with the twist of a wrench. Maybe this is a hero complex, but we wanted to have a positive impact too.”

That’s what led Hudson, Ink to donate proceeds for each PHCC member who accepted a marketing package to Habitat for Humanity, a foundation dedicated to eliminating substandard housing.

“Habitat helps less fortunate citizens, plus it puts local contractor volunteers to work,” said Hudson. “It’s a great way for plumbers and other contractors to get involved in the community. Aside from the charity, it’s feel-good marketing at its finest.”

From this seminar, 28 PHCC members helped push donations to nearly $300; over time, Hudson, Ink’s donations from seminars have exceeded $10,000.

“The experience has been great for everyone involved,” said Hudson. “We hope to continue our relationship with PHCC and Habitat for Humanity for a long time.”

For more information about Habitat for Humanity, and ways you can support the cause, go to www.Habitat.org.

Hudson, Ink, Corp. is a marketing firm that creates and distributes online and offline marketing and information programs for in-home service contractors, helping them market more effectively with turn-key marketing programs and strategy. For more information, call 1-800-489-9099, email info@hudsonink.com or check them out online at www.HudsonInk.com or on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Special thanks to the 28 contractors who helped support Habitat for Humanity at PHCC Connect 2014:

3rd Generation Johnson Plumbing	Mark Johnson
A. J. Lyne, Ltd.	Andy Lyne
Al Bourgeois Plumbing	Carl Bourgeois
Bell Mechanical	Keith Bell
Brian MacDonald Plumbing & Heating	Brian MacDonald
Central Plumbing & Heating	John Cersosimo
Dial One Sonshine Plbg, Htg & A/C	Dave Marquez
Doug Turner Plumbing Co.	Doug Turner
Earl's Plumbing	Greg de Veer
Enhanced HVAC	Joe Brooks
Esposito Plumbing & Heating	Al Esposito
Feddon Mechanical	Dave Feddon
Gino's Plumbing	Gino Burgio
Jack Dolan & Sons	Mike Dolan
Jeff's Plumbing & Repair, Inc.	Jeff Voss
Jiffy Plumbing, Heating & A/C	Allan Luke
John Stevenson Plumbing Heating & Air	John Stevenson
Long's Corporation	Michael Hurt
Milton Frank Plumbing Co. Inc.	Patty Frank
Modern Plumbing	Josh Hollub
Owen Geoghegan Plumbing & Heating	Owen Geoghegan
Powderhouse Plumbing	John Macone
R.E.C. Industries	Randy Hunter
Scott Harrison Plumbing & Heating	Scott Harrison
Silverado Rooter & Plumbing	Art Cake
Terry Plumbing Co.	Terry McCarthy
Tri-City Plumbing	Todd Billiot
Williston Plumbing	Ron Doughty

                              

So a guy walks into a Pawn Shop…

After our move, my drive to work went from a 6-minute meandering to a 45-minute commute. In Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, my commute is called “A mere hop.”

Anyway, the drive begins in a neighborhood on a lake, then gets a little country, then a lot rural and – depending on my route – winds through a pretty desperate-looking area. Let’s just say the burglar bar salespeople do okay there.

That’s my route today. It’ll make whatever you were complaining about seem small. The area is a curious mishmash of businesses and homes that scarcely make the definition; lots of broken glass, far more broken dreams. “Vacant” applies to many things here. Looking up from my coffee, I see a sight that’ll flat-out get your attention. Like, now.

A youngish clean-cut man is heading into a Pawn Shop, with a toddler in one arm. And a gun case in the other.

It’s about 9 am. The adjacent liquor store is doing a brisk business already. A rattling bass seems to thrum through the streets, with little hint to the source. The man and child seem purposeful amid those who clearly aren’t. He’s got on well-worn work boots (construction variety), dusted with the whitish clay that lines this river lowland.

He’s a worker. A father. Probably a survivor. And – for the moment – a little desperate. I’d venture his Halloween had frights few of us know. Thoughts flash into my mind; I pull into the parking lot across the street.

There’ve been times in my life I thought I was desperate, or it felt so. And like the “commute versus the hop,” it’s all relative. I remember nervously twirling my new wedding band under a very long walnut table among humorless bankers, denying me a loan to finance a half-rented property. The ghouls of my memory make them bloodless and cold. The truth was that it served me right; the property was a pig and I didn’t deserve the loan.

From that hardship, I didn’t even look at another piece of investment real estate for 15 years, only then scrutinizing it like an Amish father over his daughter’s first date. The next several properties over many years performed well. Desperation is a merciless teacher, but the lessons stick.

I sometimes wish I could feel what desperate immigrants felt, leaving their homeland with little money and a lot of hope when they first saw the Statue of Liberty. Now that was a commute. It meant something. Freedom. Opportunity. Yet, entitlement?

The word hadn’t been invented yet, but if it had, every immigrant on that boat would’ve beat it up. The Italians would’ve ground it into a paste for sauce, the Germans would’ve sprinkled it in beer, both savored during the first “It Is Up to Me” Victory dinner.

I believe desperation can be a good thing, shedding fluff, reducing you to your core. I’ve said before – and it’s no more popular now – that the ‘R’ word we began in ‘08 was largely healthy. Taught us to cut out waste and any indulgence of marble-lined idiocy. Those who felt that storm first-hand are changed people. Probably some bitter ones in the bunch, but all are wiser for the experience.  

I wish every ‘My-latte-is-getting-cold’ youth in America had gotten a taste of it.

Probably’d do ‘em good in the long run. They’d likely not walk into job interviews 20 minutes late, asking how many days off they get. Would probably not don the earbuds when meaningful lessons were inches from their purview. Neediness has a place.

It’s good to need instead of just want. It’s good to be denied, instead of being insatiable. It’s good to make-do with what you have, rather than make-believe for what you don’t.

Though extreme, the Great Depression gave us a pretty darn good group of Americans. It triggered more start-ups, more millionaires, more patriotism, more thriftiness, higher family values and more eventual optimism than was ever rightfully expected of any Nation. (Capitalized on purpose.) You think the recession scared them? “A mere hop” they’d say.

                                                                

How would you treat your job and family if they were truly all you had? Would you care more, try harder, complain less, reach farther? I imagine that all progress, all customers, all relationships and any small victories would make you indescribably grateful. Not a bad attitude to have, and likely contagious.

Rattled from my thoughts, the young man emerges from the pawn shop. This time, no gun case, but he’s holding the boy’s hand as they walk toward a dented truck. He lifts his son into a car seat and carefully straps him in. He gives him a little hair tousle as he departs to his side.

I imagine the boy will remember the day daddy sold his hunting gun.  It’ll be years before he finds out why. Here’s hoping their desperation won’t last, but the lesson will.

As we enter a season of thanks, may you feel a twinge of desperation, followed by a wave of gratitude.

Adams Hudson

Does This Happen to You?

Happy Old Year!

Every year for 28 in a row, my dear wife and I have had a New Year’s Eve Dinner, almost every time at home. (This year, we’re breaking that tradition for a family vacation.) Though I’m decidedly not a creature of habit – though she is -) we have the same format, and for the last 15 years the same meal:

Osso buco, risotto, plus something liquid and red to complete the Italian pretense. I get hungry just writing the words. The format is: a) what we did in the previous year and b) goals for the coming year. A more revealing discussion is: c) What we accomplished from the previous year’s goals. Aha!

To keep that last part from making me look like, “Mr. Dreamer Gets an F in Accomplishment,” my goal list has gotten more focused, more selective. (I dropped ‘Learn a second language’ and ‘Become dizzyingly tall’ a few years back.) Each year, we’re amazed at what happened, blessings bestowed, lives touched. Stuff crossed off the list.

In that time, we noticed a pattern that is contrary to what ‘most’ will tell you about accomplishment, though many have hinted. And we hit a goal this year I would’ve never, ever, thought reasonable. Let me encourage you to “do this and DO NOT do this…”

Using an old but reliable goal-setting model, we break them down into ‘business, personal, health, spiritual’. I lobbied to add a subcategory called, “Awesome cars and firearms” but my wife deemed that inappropriate. Yet there was a pattern that emerged of the ‘done’ and ‘undone’ list:

Many ‘done’ ones happened in one of two fairly odd, inexplicable ways.  

Either it just ‘happened’ as in circumstances lined up, people appeared and out of the blue (which we know is not true) situations aligned for their attainment. The serious experts in goal-setting will tell you, “When you put it down, talk about it, imagine it, it becomes real at that point.” Then, appearance is just an evolution, a manifestation from that seed. Seriously. I believe it.

Or, this happened –

After discussion, we’d make a move as if had happened. “As ifs” are very important. Then, an odd set of events would conspire to bring about reality. (I believe God knows what gifts are right for us, material or spiritual, way before we do!) One example:

We started ‘looking’ at lake houses long before we could afford a second home. We’d talk of styles, size, the view, you know, “just dreaming.” Before we knew it, we had a very patient realtor and a price range (though far below what it would take to get our inflated house idea to reality).

One night, we visited a friend’s house on a completely different part of the lake from where we’d looked before, and it had a very different topography. My wife and I looked out of the window of their gorgeous home and almost cried. It was a view we’d only seen in our minds. Our friend stepped over, noticing our jaws dropped, and began talking about how she too cherished this view.

She said, “You know, the lot next door is for sale, right?” Well, of course, we didn’t! And after we spoke to the realtor, it wasn’t for long. See, our price range was not close to enough for the house we’d imagined, but was perfect for a great lot. Those wheels were set in motion, and not long after, we began building the house we’d envisioned. We’ve since spent 7 great summers there with our kids, their friends, our friends, family, building cherished memories each time. None of this would’ve happened without a goal, a dream.

I encourage you to take your “Dream List” for 2014, share it with someone you love a whole lot, and watch what happens for you. Pick a couple items and make a move “As if” it were real. As if your business doubled this year; as if your family discord was resolved; as if your teenager became human again. Stranger things have happened.

WHEN – not if – you tell me what miracles came your way, I will be joyous, but not surprised!

Recently this got to me –

As is likely with you, we had a “goal” to eventually get free of debt. You know, education debt, car debt, house debt, all those things that bother men and women, disallowing full freedom of thought. I know you occasionally awaken with thoughts of “One day I’ll be able to…” The wall between today and “one day” for me seemed often to be debt-related.

Not any more.

Amazingly, we will retire our final debt – a mortgage payment - next week. Done. Over. Debt-free. A series of events just seemed to happen. (Right.)  And since I’m a goofball, I plan to retire it quite ceremoniously, inserting the paid document inside the newel post of the stair, topping it with a ‘mortgage button’ I gave my wife for Christmas. (Googling ‘mortgage buttons’ will explain this oddity if you’re unfamiliar, as I was.)

Interestingly, his stair is located in the lake house, where we just moved full-time. The thing that caused me such indebtedness has now become an instrument of freedom. New Year’s dinner this year will be unlike any before.

In truth, they are all unlike any previous! (If your years are starting to repeat themselves, then something is wrong!) Look at your 2014 as “The year you finally….” And put those wheels in motion. It’ll happen. Let me encourage you, here and now, this is your year, friend, I just know it.

Think of what would bring you joy. What would bring you freedom? What would allow that feeling of accomplishment to come alive in you? You are more than you’ve been. Don’t let ‘potential’ die inside you; share it with the world. It’s your time.

Tell me what YOU want to accomplish in 2014. I want you to look back in a year and say, “HAPPY OLD YEAR!” with an equal sense of accomplishment and gratitude.  Respond here. (If personal, I PROMISE not to republish. I just want to put all of you on the “Wish and a Prayer List.”)

Wishing you and yours a successful New Year,

Adams Hudson