For those of you who know Jill Bessey, you know that she is the director of the call center, the supervisor I send questions to that I cannot answer, the Queen Bee of the karate chopping phone answerers, and the mother of one Minnie Bessey.  Well, maybe you didn’t know she was a mother, but it’s true.  She is the mother of one ten pound, car-ride loving, bone chewing, curly haired poodle named Minnie.  A privileged pup who gets to come to the office everyday and devour crumbs and take her fair share of kisses from the staff.  Minnie is so much a child to Bessey, that she is even having a portrait made by www.barknart.com.  In all actuality, Minnie is really the boss in that relationship, but don’t tell Bessey that.

Jill’s undying love for her spoiled (but sweet) little Minnie got me thinking about my job, my old job, and the differences therein.  So, aside from my many talents as a ninja, I am also known for the speed and precision with which I can…wait for it…groom your pet!  (Imagine loud trumpet music here.)  In my old life, I managed a grooming salon for a large company, which I will not name.  And while spending the entire day with puppies and kittens and rainbows sounds like a lot of fun, I couldn’t be happier to answer the phone and talk to the very guests that will eventually be sailing the high seas with me on one of these amazing ships.

Don’t get me wrong, my last job was a good experience, and taught me a trade that most do not have, and yes, I did get to spend time cuddling with some of the cutest animals this side of the Mississippi, but the environment in a grooming salon has proven to be much more hostile than sitting amongst the Sixthman employees and guests and discussing these vacations of a lifetime.  To give you a better idea, let’s compare:

Grooming Salon

• Hi, can you groom my dog for me today?
• Sure, it will take about three hours.
• What?  Three hours!  Can’t you do it faster?
  
• Well, in order to groom safely and make your puppy look cute, I really need to give it a few hours.
• Well, I guess that’s okay. Can you make his curly hair straight?
• Well, we can’t really use any chemicals on an animal’s hair like you can with humans, so unfortunately no.
• Sounds like you can’t do anything I want.  This job seems easy enough, I could probably do it myself, forget it.

Sixthman

• Hi, can you tell me about this Elvis cruise?
• Definitely, what would you like to know?
• Well, can you tell me what’s it’s all about?
• Sure!  It’s a great tribute with several awesome Elvis Tribute Artists, Jerry Schilling, and others that knew Elvis.  It’s a four day trip filled with fun and music with a group of people all there for the same thing
• That sounds really great.  Can we go ahead and book now?
• Sure thing.  Is there anything else I can do for you today?
• No, thanks.  We’re so excited.  Hopefully we’ll get to see you on board Lisa!
• I’ll definitely see you there!

Now, this wasn’t every single customer that walked through the door, and I had many clients that were incredibly sweet and understanding.  But in grooming, you’re much more likely to find a high maintenance, overly concerned, pet owner, than an incredibly excited, overly-worked, and ready for vacation human being.  Due to my past customer service experiences, I was concerned that I might have angry phone calls and strongly worded emails when I started working in the call center, but instead I find the lovely guests of Sixthman events are just happy to be doing something fun.

Now, in order to fill the void of daily cat purrs and puppy breath, I spend time with my own pets at home, and I also groom the pets of my friends.  So, I do spend every couple of months fluffing Minnie’s fur, or washing one of the rollergirl’s mutts, or shaving a friend’s cat.  I’ll be honest, I do it for a fee, it’s minimal, but it helps pad the wallet for those unexpected expenses.  But, it’s also fun, and it keeps me in practice, and it reminds me when it’s time to wash my own stinky litter of pets.  And, I might as well get some use out of these tools that take up space in the closet.

But what exactly am I trying to say with all this?  Good question.  I’m saying, you’re my kind of people Sixthman guests – appreciative of what you have, and excited about anything extra.  You’re just looking to meet people that have the same interests as you, people that enjoy music, people that like to relax in the sun and drink a cold one, people that take advantage of what life has to offer, people that take the tough stuff with a grain of salt.  People that live loud.

So thanks for making my life more enjoyable.  And thanks for spending time to read about Minnie, because Jill wouldn’t have it any other way.  And I’m looking forward to meeting so many of you on board.

-Lisa