Blogger Stories: Pamela Slim

Pamela Slim's story is proof postive that bloggers are indeed the friendliest people. From email exchanges with Guy Kawasaki’ to links from Tom  Peters, in a flash her blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, had 20,000 hits, lots of link love (500+) and the start of relationships with people from over the world. The experience gave her the extra courage to realize she could make another dream come true .. her own business.

Blogger Story Teller: Pamela Slim, Escape from Cubicle Nation

While pushing my son in his stroller around my neighborhood a few weeks ago, I reflected on the ten years I had been a consultant to large corporations.  In the last few years, I had seen a level of misery among employees that was so profound that I decided to get out of that work altogether and focus on coaching and developing entrepreneurs.

But I still had so much to say to the management that seemed oblivious to the true feelings of their employees.  I started to fantasize about delivering a keynote speech to a room packed with CXO-level executives.  My son must have noticed that I started pushing him faster and faster the more I thought about the presentation, until I was almost jogging home. 

As soon as I got him down for a nap, I sat down and wrote “An Open Letter to CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs Across the Corporate World.” The original version had four main ways that I thought leadership needed to radically change or risk losing great employees.  A few nights later at about 10:30pm, I was reading respected entrepreneur and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki’s blog and I thought he might be interested in the post. 

So I sent him an email, never expecting to hear back from him.  Thirty minutes later he responded and asked if I would be willing to add six more points, to create more substance to the post.  I got right on it, and sent the final version to him at 1:30am.

The next day, he blogged about it.  By day-end, I had 3,500 hits to my blog.  Ten days later, I had over 20,000 hits, with over 500 links to the post from other blogs.  I received hundreds of heartfelt and supportive emails, saying things like “Like many, I loved the letter.  It made me laugh, gasp, and it actually brought tears to my eyes.  There's almost too much truth there to bear; it is more than unfortunate that such a letter is even necessary, but, alas, I fear it is.”

And “Thank you for speaking so plainly, frankly, honestly. Thank you for being the voice of so many people who are afraid to speak up and take action. I’m inspired by your blog and your words… keep doing what you are doing! “ ( I got a few hate emails too from people who misinterpreted my use of Che Guevarra’s picture with the post, but that is another story!)

I knew I had hit a nerve when I saw a link to the post on Tom Peter’s website. 

This experience has opened my eyes to the power and reach of blogs. When we speak our truth and it finds the right people, the level of exposure can be amazing.  I am fortified and inspired to move full-force in my new business direction as I realize that there are many people out there who get value from my perspective and experience.  I am humbled by the way so many people have shared their personal stories since reading my post.

Technorati Tags: Blogger_Stories, Pamela_Slim, Tom_Peters, Guy_Kawasaki, Business_Blog

Comments

[Monica Powers]

Wow, what a story. I agree you most definitely hit a nerve with many people--I know you did with me. Many of us are torn between the notion of succeeding in the traditional sense (within the bounds of the corporation) or aligning ourselves with a personal calling beyond the rigors of office politics and cubicle constraints. I'm glad you had the discipline and courage to put your ideas out there. ¡Y le echaste muchas ganas! Congratulations.