Page 133 of It's Not PMS, It's You

Why couldn’t Stansfeld Investments jump into the arena of salvaging companies instead of buying them and piecing them out? With my idea, nobody would lose their job. Gary wanted a new revenue stream for the company, and this would be the perfect time to implement it.

Staying up all night wasn’t as easy as it used to be. With the help of six cups of coffee and plenty of determination, I had accomplished my goal of coming up with an idea that I was sure the company would love. An additional revenue stream for Stansfeld that could actually lead us in a completely different direction after I took over.

I was positive that my plan would also get Nick back into my good graces since it was because of his advice and his cousin, Jay, that I came up with the idea in the first place.

Arriving at the Stansfeld office, I said a quick hello to Dee and entered the conference room before most of the other staff had arrived.

I wanted to prepare and go over my notes one last time.

As everyone filled in the seats around me, we were just about ready to begin.

I took a few seconds for some positive affirmations.

I’ve got this. I’m ready to go. This is going to be flawless and well-received. They are going to love my idea.

Mason was the last of the partners to enter the conference room for the board meeting, sitting right across from me and sporting his usual cocky smile.

And as usual, I wanted to wipe it off his face, but I had bigger fish to fry.

Bagel Barney would have been proud of my food idiom.

I smiled, thinking of how different Nick was from Barney or any of the other losers I had met while trying to find the perfect match. I had come up with that ridiculous list of character traits when I had no clue that the man of my dreams was right under my nose the entire time.

“What are you smiling for?” Mason asked, crossing his arms.

“I guess you’ll find out soon, won’t you?”

Mason flared his nostrils and looked away.

Gotcha, bonehead.

Gary walked to the front of the conference room and grabbed the pen from the ledge of the white board. He pulled the cap off the pen and wrote, “New Revenue Streams for Stansfeld.” He dropped the pen back on the ledge and turned around, glancing around the room at all of us.

Here we go.

Gary held his hand in the air to quiet everyone down. “Okay, I’ve briefed you all on what’s going on and what we need to accomplish today. As you can see on the board behind me, we need some fresh ideas on new revenue streams to keep everyone happy. We’re looking for thewowfactor here and I’m confident that you are going to come up with some winners. Ruth, let’s start with you.”

Showtime.

There was no need for more coffee now.

I was running on pure adrenaline.

“You got it.” I stood, grabbed my folder of notes, and walked to the front of the room, standing in front of the whiteboard facing the staff.

This is going to be flawless and well-received. They are going to love my idea.

I set my folder down on the table next to me, grabbed the pen from the ledge, and wrote on the white board, “If You Build It, He Will Come.”

“Field of Dreams,” Steve yelled out proudly.

I stuck the cap back on the pen and turned around, pointing to him. “That’s right, Steve. This was the famous line and premise from the movieField of Dreamswith Kevin Costner. How many of you have seen that movie?”

Just about every hand when up in the air.

I nodded. “Almost all of you. Me, too.Greatmovie. Well,inthat movie, Kevin Costner’s character believed that if he built a baseball field on his property, it would attract legendary baseball players who would want to play there. Everybody thought he was crazy, but he did it anyway because he believed in the idea with all his heart and all his soul. Nothing was going to stand in his way. In the marketing world, that baseball field was essentially a product, designed to attract something.”

Many of the heads nodded.