On occasion, Spike, Geno or I have shared some of the things that we’ve learned while working with the Fiskateers. Yesterday, I took away another lesson worth sharing. The week following our presentation of the Fiskateers case study at WOMMA ’s Basic Training event, I received a call from a representative of USAA. The very nice man on the other end asked me if the Fiskateers could send someone to an event that USAA supports called SpouseBuzz Live, to be held in San Diego last Saturday. SpouseBuzz is an online community of support and fellowship for military spouses - and this would be an in-person opportunity for many of the spouses to meet and share.
I am ashamed to admit that the linear business side of me did not immediately see the link between USAA, military spouse support, and the Fiskateers, but I did follow up with our lead Fiskateer in Southern California and Cheryl, formerly a military spouse herself, jumped at the chance to go. I was still somewhat skeptical - normally when we send a lead Fiskateer to make an appearance, they are doing it at a scrapbook show or independent store. Would the attendees care about doing a Make & Take mini album? Had I just sent Cheryl to San Diego to twiddle her thumbs for 8 hours?  That could be a waste of resources!  Too curious to wait, I solicited feedback from the organizer of the event yesterday and he responded:

“Cheryl’s booth was the most visited after the chocolate fountain and diamond give-away. She and her husband make a terrific team. They seemed to be having a good time too.”

I get it now.  Cheryl and her (ex-Marine, Desert Storm vet) husband didn’t care about how many people they touched, the hours of driving, or the extremely long day, they did it to serve and support these spouses in any way they were asked.  And, as I should have guessed, people were drawn to their spirit and passion like moths to a flame.  So, I’d like to thank Cheryl and her husband for being such positive representatives of the Fiskateer program and for teaching this (occasionally cynical) marketer the meaning of servant leadership.

You can read Cheryl’s account of the event here.

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