Why you should bother to remember someones name

Cassie.  She is 31 weeks pregnant and works at Pita Pit.  I visit Cassie every week on the way back from teaching one of my Pilates classes to pick up a healthy lunch.  I know Cassie's name because its on the badge on her hat.  I also know she is pregnant and how far along because I take the time to ask her this every week.  I also know she recently moved.  See the thing is, Cassie and I might be from different worlds and at different stages in our lives, but Cassie is a person.  I sometimes watch when I'm queuing for my Pita Pit and see not one person acknowledge her. 

She just goes about her work like a robot.  Cassie serves me nearly every week so I decided a while back that instead of just placing my order, that I would start to use her name- either when I greeted her or when I said goodbye.  I also decided each week I would ask her how she is feeling and how things are with the baby.

I saw a robot transform.  When she sees me each week queuing for my Pita Pit, she flashes me the biggest smile.  I only see Cassie for probably less than 10 minutes a week.  She knows what I order as I know how she's doing.  While she's making my order, she tells me how things are going.  We chat for probably 2 minutes.  Today, the 'Pita of the Day' had changed which I usually get for my husband.  She said 'no problems, we can just do the usual at the same price if you like. Cassie is great, she always puts extra tomato in at no extra cost- she knows I'm a good customer and I treat her with respect.   I told her not to worry about the new Pita and I'd try the new one and report back next week- with a twinkle in my eye and a little wink!  She gave me my order and I said- "thanks Cassie, have a great week" and left, I glanced back and saw the smile on her face.  I left feeling happy too.

I thing is, I don't have any reason for knowing Cassie's name.  I don't have children and don't know that much about pregnancy, but I took the time to ask how she's been.  I saw no-one else do this in the queue.  It made me feel positive for simply knowing I knew her name and asking about a random stranger.

I often wonder why as humans we struggle to treat others with humanity.  I've certainly worked out that you get what you give.  If you want to be ignored at Pita Pit, then Ignore the people who serve you.  Pretty simple really.  If you do the minimum, then they probably do too.

The reason I've learnt that names are important is to connect with people.  I also try to learn at least one personal thing about that person so I can connect on an even deeper level.   As many of my blog readers know, I have multiple jobs.  In my Pilates classes, I try to remember peoples names so I can connect with them on a personal level.  I use their names at the start of the class and sometimes point them out by name when they are doing things properly or well.  If I greet someone with a hello 'Agnes', they usually smile right back at me.  I feel warm and happy myself and it creates a connection.

In my business world, I've learnt through my years in Sales that knowing someone's name and something about them is a vital Sales strategy.  Again- people buy of people who just happen to work at companies.  I've also learnt that people are more likely to buy off people they connect with.  I deal with a lot of people trying to sell me things and to be fair most of them don't care about me as a person, they just want their commission.  I get annoyed and frustrated and lose respect for these people rapidly. Just think if they bothered to learn one thing about me, they might have been able to connect on a better level.

I've watched previous leaders in companies I've worked for admit they don't even know their staff's names, let alone anything about them.  Just imagine what its like working for a company like that!

I always try to make a point about knowing something about my team.  Perhaps its what they are studying at Uni, maybe its discussing the sort of cakes they are baking, perhaps its talking about their new flat.  Connecting with people is vital.  Simply put, it builds better teams.

I've certainly learnt that knowing someone's name is a vital part of my day, I just wish I had the capacity to know everyones names I deal with in a day- I could add so many more smiles into a day for both them and myself!  I challenge you to do the same and see how it changes the way you feel and makes others around you feel.

My Morning as a Dragon on Dragons Den- NZSE Style!

I do love a good negotiation.  I’ve watched Dragons Den and now Shark Tank Australia for years.  I love to listen to the comments the Dragons make and the rebuttal from the pitching party.

This morning I had the pleasure of being invited to be a Dragon on a Dragons Den Panel with 2 others for New Zealand School of Education (NZSE).  Simon Cope who runs this event for NZSE is doing a fantastic job with this programme.  What a great idea for the students to work with to teach them valuable and real-life skills in business and entrepreneurialism.  I took part in this process last year and loved it so much I was back for more this morning. 

Just like the TV programme, teams of students have to pitch their ideas to the Dragons and we get to decide if we invest or not.  The students spend time preparing based on what they have learnt- financials, legal, marketing, business plans, target markets and more.  I just love to see Entrepreneurialism shining through...these poor students would have no idea what was coming next!

The process is simple, the Dragons are given monopoly money in which we decide to invest…or not and the students have about 20 mins to pitch their idea and about 20 mins of questioning from the Dragons.

Today was a smorgasbord of pitches, mainly based on food.  Shredded was a word that I would use to describe the happenings today.  Those poor students got shredded by the Dragons, but to be fair a number of the groups deserved it!

I had to leave before all of the pitches were completed but got to be around for the first four. Here is my take on what happened and the great ideas these students had:-

Group One: International Students Concierge Service

This was my idea group.  I know International Education well and have a start-up business myself in this area.  Unlucky for them this was my area.  This team of 7-8 students started strong and then fell apart mid-pitch.  With commas in the wrong place in their financials and confusion if they meant to say costs were $5.6 million or 560,000 amongst the group and then the Dragons being told they were using Indian Accounting started to have us worried!

The idea was simple- a meet and greet service for International students at the airport as well as on-going services to show students the best restaurants and places to go.  Even supervised shopping trips.  When we saw the budget only included $7,000 for a car and no allowance for a commercial driving license as well as no research into the International Student Pastoral Care laws, it was enough to put each Dragon out.  I was the first to exit when they didn’t understand the numbers of International Students in NZ and also said they would only target Uni students.  The $2,700 price tag was enough to make me wary of there service, despite only 2 of the 7 fessing up they had drivers licenses to operate this meet and greet service.  I’m out!

 Group Two: Indian Tea and Snack Stall

I was intrigued to start with this one, despite the initial technical difficulties with the presentation.  They started off saying tea was complimentary then later added that snacks were also complimentary.  Which confused all of the Dragon as to how the business model was ever going to work!  The shop was going to be in Sandringham and the tea $2 (a change from the earlier suggestion it was free!).  The numbers were staggeringly good- $300K in revenue and $60K Cost of Goods with a staggering $240K profit!  They were going to put up $1M initial investment and wanted only a mere $84K from the Dragons for 15 percent of the company.  When we asked what they were going to do with the $84K we gave them, confusion reigned amongst the team until one student quickly said’ Marketing’, we will spend it on Marketing!  We then asked them where they got their $1M from and they quickly looked at each other and one the spot decided half of it was bank financed.  Alarm bells were starting to go off in our heads!  One of the Dragons then asked, and what’s the bank interest rate.  Another bright young student paused and said 18%!  I did some quick calculations and worked out that this would be a mere $100K in interest if not compounded, which started to make the profit margins look awfully sick.  I was also intrigued and had to ask one last question before I bowed out.  “You mentioned that you had a new market in South Auckland and you were going to offer them Home Delivery”.  I simply asked “And how do you propose to keep your tea hot delivering it from Sandringham to South Auckland.  Another lot of quick thinking later and another student says “It won’t be made of course- they will make it up when they get there”.  I then let them know I was out…..swiftly followed by the other two Dragons who also did not invest!

 

Group Three: Japanese Wheel Cakes

Firstly, I had to admit I had to do a quick Google to check what one of these was while they were presenting to make sure they actually exist.  They do!  Its like a Japanese Pancake.  This was an all-girls team of a smaller group size to the other groups.  Their presentation was slick.  The had only one competitor in Auckland and had their financials well thought through.  There were some issues around them wanting to import ingredients rather than purchase local, but they talked their way around this.  Their marketing plan was solid using social media to promote their products and allowing online ordering.  They were going to be better than their competition and be located in a different area of the CBD to their competitors who already have queues out the door.  They were also planning to stock at Gas stations and supermarkets, which their competitors were not doing. This team had costs of $206K and managed to have a reasonable profit margin of $77K (unfortunately they confused the word income with profit which all had us baffled for a bit!).  They wanted a reasonable $20,000 for 40% of the company.  The numbers seamed to stack up and the investment seamed like a cheap one.  I decided that I needed to make an offer.  I offered $10,000 for 40%.  Then the next Dragon went with his offer, which from memory was the same as mine or very similar.  We were then battling.  My time to sell.  “So girls, firstly, I loved your presentation- very slick, I really believe I can help you here- I’m a female entrepreneur and in support of a team of young females.  I studied Japanese for 4 years also.  I also have qualifications in Nutrition and I’m great at Marketing”.  Then Tony started (the other bidding Dragon)- “I have a background in hospitality……” and the fight went on!  The girls were then asked to decide which offer they would take, but they couldn’t decide- saying they would take both!  They were asked to decide which offer.  And guess what- they took my offer!  I got my Monopoly money out and handed it over.  I was now the proud owner of 40% of a Japanese Wheel Cake Company to be opened in Auckland CBD!

 

Group Four: JCO Coffee Franchise (ex Philippines)

On a totally different tack to the other food businesses, this team simply wanted to purchase franchise rights of a popular Philippine Coffee & Donut Company and bring it to NZ.  Not only this, their Donuts were HEALTHY Donuts.  Yup, Sugar would be substituted with Stevia and the Deep Frying would be done in Coconut Oil instead of regular oils.  They even gave each Dragon a sample!  We had the Donuts and were listening and chopping away.  I must say how impressed I was that the usual Stevia after-taste was not there and the fat flavour was just right, even with the coconut oil.  I was baffled.  On taking another bite I suddenly realised that the Donuts were like our monopoly money- not the real products and I was in fact eating a full sugar and full fat Donut which I would never ever eat!  Despite our attention being fraudulently gained, we continued to listen!  They had done their market research and new their target market.  Stats were being thrown at us left right and centre.  We were impressed…until they threw out a stat- that there were 4,125 people living in Auckland…wait what??  Although all Dragons were a little baffled, the group continued pitching away.  Now the numbers came at us.  They had a net profit margin of 15% and they were investing an initial $120,000 of capital and financing the remaining $195,000.  They were looking for $100,000 for 15% of the company from the Dragons.  This put their company at a valuation of $670,000.

I then asked how they were going to protect their secret recipe for the Donuts.  I was looking for a Patent. One of the team came back with the fact they had confidentiality agreements with their staff.  Not a bad start I thought!  I decided not to bid as the Donut was starting to repeat on my- that much fat and sugar is never a good thing at 10.30 in the morning!  The other Dragons joined forces and ended up stealing the company for $50,000 for 15%, basing this on the fact that the franchise fees seamed cheap at $100K!

 At this point I had to leave with 3 more groups to go- I would love to have stayed as I felt like I was just getting warmed up!

Thanks to the students for putting up with a good nailing in the Dragons Den- we hope you learnt some valuable lessons from the Dragons questions today.  Thanks also to NZSE for being a fantastic customer of Business Mechanix - I love doing things like this to show how a great partnership can work.  Thanks also to Simon Cope for asking me to be a Dragon on your Dragons Den Panel, just like last year I loved every minute and I most certainly will be going and finding the Japanese Wheel Cake stand in Lorne Street for a real sample of what I actually bought into with my Monopoly money!

Its rubbish getting rubbish removed! Auckland Council Ambassador for Clean to inspect!

Rubbish.  The theme word of the day today for me! A random mattress appeared outside my commercial buildings driveway this morning.  Given the location being the top of Nelson Street in Auckland CBD, one would have thought it was an odd place to find a random mattress.

I've stopped being surprised about what people dump in my car park.  In fact I've literally come to work and found someone has even taken a dump in my car-park, yup that was a shit day- literally! But that's a story for another day.

I was actually in a good mood this morning when I departed forwork.  As soon as I pulled off the motorway onto Cook Street and then Union Street, I could feel my day turning to Rubbish.

On Union Street, the Rubbish Direct Truck (which I have actually phoned the company and complained about twice) was yet again blocking the lane onto Nelson Street and the Motorway.  Awesome.  Some selfish Rubbish Collector parking on double yellow lines during rush-hour, and yup, blocking my lane!  This made me sit in traffic for extra time I didn't need to spend.

I then turned the corner onto Nelson Street to see my Rubbish Bins (1 has been stolen already) lying sideways across the footpath blocking pedestrian traffic.  Not far from them was the dirty old used mattress someone has dumped next to my driveway.

They say things come in threes, but seriously by 8.30am?

So the first thing I do is walk up the stairs and google for Auckland Council Rubbish Removal.  After being transferred to the right department, I find myself speaking to a lovely call centre operator.

I tell her my dilemma 'there is a mattress that has been dumped on the council verge next to our driveway'.

After many keyboard clicks later and being asked to hold the line, she comes back and asks if I'd like the reference number for the job.  I tell her 'no', I'm just ringing to report it.
She then tells me 'OK, it will take up to 5 days to remove' - I then said- 'what- 5 days!' She said, yes, we first have to send out a Rubbish Inspector.  At this point I think I was speechless.  "really" was all I could squeak out in the nicest possible way.  I said I better take the reference number down then!

I hung up and first though.  Wow- they need a Rubbish Inspector to come and have a look at a dumped single mattress.  Why?  To see how dirty it is?  They wear gloves right?  Surely all single mattresses are the same or similar size and weight.  Then I though, nope, its my rates.  My rates exorbitant so there must be a flag against my file that says "commercial building owner'- make sure they get their money's worth"!  Then I had to email everyone residing in our building to tell them its going to be there for up to 5 days.  Awesome!

I then couldn't help myself so I actually went onto the council's website and searched for the job 'Rubbish Inspector".  I was so curious about what this person would do that I needed to see if I could find out more.  No hits.  Hmm.  I tried again with the word 'waste'.  Then I smiled.  There is was in gold.  My gold plated council rates in a nutshell. 

The advert title read "Ambassadors For Clean Wanted - Expression of Interest - Greater Auckland Location - City Parks Services". 
OMG- An Ambassador for Clean.  What next!  Lets be honest here- a rubbish collector must be a crappy job.  But when I read the next line I wondered how someone let Marketing get away with this:

"Life is definitely too short for the wrong jobs so, if you love the outdoors, come and join City Parks Services!"

It then went on to say " We are currently having a number of opportunities available, so if you like an early morning start, or driving through the night we have you covered".

I though, hmm of all the people I know, I can't think of 1 that would like early morning starts or driving through the night!


The more I read the more I ended up in laughter.  There was another part to the advert that said
"

Our teams constantly deliver a high standard of cleaning across a wide range of indoor and outdoor acilities, from public toilets and sports changing rooms, to children's playgrounds and beaches.".

 By personal choice I try to avoid public toliets at all costs.  I can't imagine the excitement someone must have reading this advert to see them listed on the Expression of Interest. 

Since my day has been about Rubbish, I've taken the honest approach to adding footnotes to the advert to keep it real and be 'Authentic, my changes in red below.  Happy reading.  Just goes to show a Rubbish Day can end in laughter

Ambassadors For Clean Wanted - Expression of Interest - Greater Auckland Location - City Parks Services

https://careers.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/jobdetails?ajid=XwVyl

Rubbish Collector- Greater Auckland

Ambassadors For Clean Wanted

Rubbish Collector Wanted

Expression of Interest 

We'll be lucky to get anyone to apply so we'll call it something different

Life is definitely too short for the wrong jobs so, if you love the outdoors, come and join City Parks Services!

Its possible you;ve just lost your job and need another one, have never had a job, or perhaps never seriously considered Rubbish Collection as a career.  You have to work in rain, hail, sun and wind, its an all weather job, if it doesn't make you, it will break you.

City Parks Services is a leading provider of waste collection and sanitation services as well as maintenance of some of Auckland's best open spaces, so much so, we are proud that our organisation is going through an exciting period of growth and in need of new staff.

There is a lot more rubbish that needs collection as there are more people in Auckland in a smaller space therefore more Rubbish is generated.  With the housing shortage in Auckland, there are more people living in less houses and therefore more rubbish generated in Auckland.  There is just too much rubbish for our current team to handle.

We are currently having a number of opportunities available, so if you like an early morning start, or driving through the night we have you covered.

The truth of the matter is you'll start early and potentially work all day and probably into the night,  Potentially you'll do this while smelling rotting rubbish for the day.  You may also end up smelling like rubbish yourself.

A little about us and the fun stuff we do daily:

Rubbish is not a fun job, but we'll try and make it sound better, if we don't you;ll probably never apply!

We are a fun well-functioning team who pride ourselves on providing everyday exceptional customer service to Auckland's residents and visitors. 

We pick up a LOT of rubbish, everyday.  Even when tourists drop it, we still pick it up

Our teams constantly deliver a high standard of cleaning across a wide range of indoor and outdoor facilities, from public toilets and sports changing rooms, to children's playgrounds and beaches.    

We clean dirty dirty public toilets and have to make them really, really clean.  You have to scrub them, smelly sports changing rooms and childrens playgrounds when young kids rub sticky stuff in places really hard to get to.  Beaches also have dog poo.  You also have to pick that up too

Because it is not just about cleaning and waste, it is also about the 400,000 people a year that will visit some of our key sites (such as Domain Winter Gardens) along with hundreds of sport teams who will untimely rely on us to prepare 300 playing surfaces to a winning standard. Our teams also constantly deliver a high standard of collection and recycling services across Auckland, and we do it with our customers at heart. We also sweat the small stuff too, as we are often the ones re-planting that little garden at the end of your street. 

You have to pick up so much rubbish, you won't even believe the volume.  You will also have to do recycling - you may even have to sort our rubbish and recyclying as sometimes people put it in the wrong bins.  You have to make sure you don't leave any behind and you do it quickly.  Picking up rubbish in front of rate payers could earn you bonuses.  If you tear up a garden in the street with your rubbish truck, you will also have to re-plant that.  This means there will be variety to your job.

So, to be part of our team, if you have:

·         pride in Auckland, and a passion to keep it clean and tidy

You will need to smile when you pick up rubbish

·         an interest in driving a wide range of modern vehicles for a great team

We We haven't standardised our fleet (looks better to the rate payer if we mix it up with some old and new vehicles).  You must also be able to drive manuals as well as have an HT licesnse and drive 6-10 wheelers if needed.

·         a need to provide the best customer experience possible,  by respecting our residents property, ensuing containers  are always upright,  not blocking  driveways or footpaths

Do not knock over rubbish or recycling containers.  Do not run people over, block footpaths or be a general nuisance.  The old lady down the road will chase you and set her dogs on you

·         knowledge that in doing a "great Job" makes Auckland's visitors want to come back again and again. 

Smile and great people while collecting rubbish

·         ability to understand and follow a designated customer route, giving feedback where you can see improvements

Do not get lost.  You need to be able to use a map or a GPS

·         a good level of team spirt along with the right fitness and agility

If you drink too much beer or eat too many take-aways, you won't be able to do the job.  Spirits can only be comsumed when with the team.

·         the ability work unsupervised and follow health and safety requirements

Do not eat the rubbish, no not touch the rubbish with your bare hands and do not climb on the rubbish.  Notify a Director if you do any of the above, they are now liable and could face a fine or imprisionment for your actions.  No one is going to tell you how to pick up rubbish.  You have to do it by yourself.

·         motivation to do a great job and commitment to best practice

hold a valid and full NZ driver's licence to be able to commute between the different sites at any time

If you speed, crash, drink and drive, drive dangerously or can't drive in Auckland, don't apply. You will be like a human yo-yo sent from one place to the next collecting rubbish,  You will know Auckland very, very well.  You will sit in traffic- A LOT. 

…and you want to discover the exciting world of the outdoors, come join us today! We will have a range of work locations across Auckland that could suit you.

To re-iterate you have to work in rain, hail, sun and wind, its an all weather job, if it doesn't make you, it will break you. Rubbish is everywhere- choose your location.

City Parks Services has a range of existing and new contracts that include taking care of Auckland's gardens. This is an Expression of Interest for possible future jobs within the organisation, as they become available.  This is not an application for a current vacancy but we have plenty coming up.

You could be promoted to a gardener, we usually expect 10 years of rubbish collection experience 

Register your interest before 10 July at 10:30pm.

No one will be there at 10,30pm at night to answer your questions so we have made the closing time then.

For assistance with registering a profile, please contact us. 

Alternatively Book a Librarian session at your local community library for assistance with submitting an application for future vacancies or help with creating a CV/cover letter.

We can't be bothered helping you- go to your local library instead

Health and safety, for everybody, is very important to us so before we can offer you a job we will do security screening, criminal checks and pre-employment drug screening as per Auckland Council's Drug and Alcohol policy.

If you are a bad person, do not apply. 

Just remember a Rubbish Day can end in a good way.

Happy Abassador for Clean Day everyone!

Are you being your Authentic Self as a Leader?

My word of the year is Authentic.  Sitting at my desk in my Gym gear at 3pm is not unusual.  I am a CEO and I also run Group-Fitness Pilates Classes during the day.  I do this for my work life balance and because I love working in the health and fitness area. 

Finishing my fitness class at 1pm allowed me 30 minutes to have some lunch and 30 minutes to drive back to the office.  Thankfully my client meeting at 2.00pm was online via Skype- just like the old Telecom Advert, except I was sitting here in my Lycra and no-one was under my desk painting my toes!

My team are fully aware that I have multiple jobs and it does not surprise them when I run a meeting in Lycra.  This is also part of me being Authentic.  A few years ago I would never had dared to do such a thing, however now it enables my team to see me as a person and a leader and that yes, leaders can be real people too!

I’ve drastically taken a look at myself and my own style recently, especially my Authenticity.  As a leader I was often much more guarded about my feelings at work, choosing to present to my team how I ‘thought I should behave’. 

After having the opportunity to self assess, I now behave how I want to behave.  Being Authentic as a leader means telling people how you feel and opening up about yourself.  I am now able to discuss personal issues with staff in one on one meetings which I would never had dared broach in the past. 

I had the opportunity to float the concept of “Being Your Authentic Self with another CEO this week.  His comment was that he believes that he has to ‘Act’ in the role of the CEO as that is what is expected of him and that people have a perception of how people in that role should be. 

Pondering this thought, he also added that different types of Authenticity may be needed at different times of an organisations life-cycle, or perhaps with different cultures within an organisation.  We then discussed Millennials.  I pondered myself and realised that our organisations were quite different in culture- mine being fully of Millennials and Gen-Y, his being perhaps more full of Baby Boomers.  So I thought about this question: Does the organisational make up of these different generations have an impact on ones Authenticity as a leader?

I sat on this blog for a few days thinking of the answer and I have decided, Yes, it does.  I’ve also worked out that Millennials and Gen-Y’s like to feel like they are working with their “friends” but just as important working with people who are Authentic.  When I asked one of my Millennials in the office about this he said that having fun and achieving at work was ranked well below working with friends and Authentic people. 

This got me really started.  I then did a mini flash survey around my team asking them to rank on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most important, the following questions:

“How important is it to you that the people you work with are their ‘Authentic Selves’?

I then followed up with “How important is it to you that your leaders/ managers or superiors are their Authentic Selves?’

The results of these questions actually astounded me, both questions coming up with an average of 7.2 out of 10.  Telling me that working with Authentic people is critical to my team.  The lowest mark was a 5 and given in the ‘people I work with’ question, yet the highest mark was a 9 given in the ‘how important is it that your managers/ leaders are Authentic”.

I also had the conversation with these Millennials and Gen-Y’s about why Authenticity was important. The few I was talking to while preparing their lunch said something quite astounding.  They said- “How can you truly connect with someone if they are not Authentic?”.  We then had the discussion that connection also builds trust as this was important between both work mates , leaders and colleagues.  Trust is essential in all relationships.  So it looks like in this scenario in the workplace, Authenticity helps build Trust.  So why do we not see the word “Authenticity” sitting in many organisations company values I wonder…..

Being Authentic allows my team to see me as truly present.  I laugh with them, I share their sadness and I can also lead them together as a team to achieve great things simply because I am being myself, not someone I think I should be.  Not everyone may agree with my style but I do know that it is as important to my team as it is to me. 

Since spending the time working on myself and being more Authentic, I am finding things at work a great deal more effortless.  I have also since discovered how ‘tiring’ it is to ‘Act’ in a role all of the time.  Just imagine- having more Energy.  Those who know me well would say I have enough already!

Being Authentic enables me to feel more relaxed and to deal with the frustrations in a more seamless way.  Since I have changed my own behaviour and worked on my Authentic Self, I have also seen my team around me excel in ways I never imagined possible.  I have the best team around me in the 10+ years of working at Business Mechanix.  The company is excelling, the team are excelling and our customers are getting the best of us we can offer. 

So my gym gear is going to stay in the office and I will continue to let the people around me see my Authentic self- both the good and bad.  Keeping it real just feels good!

Is it time for you to change and truly be your Authentic Self?  Have you being acting in your leadership role for so long that you just don’t know how to be your Authentic self and be in your role? 

I challenge all leaders out there to simply ask yourself ‘Am I truly being my Authentic self?’  If you answer ‘no’, it’s probably time you ask yourself what’s holding you back?  Just think of the possibilities for yourself and the people around you…..