It’s hard to be nervous, when your mind’s on service

Becky Bauman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:01:16 +0000

This past week redandblack.com, a student newspaper serving the University of Georgia, ran an article, I Would Bike 4,000 Miles, about Adam Nubern who is biking 4,000 miles this summer with Bike and Build. Bike and Build, is a nonprofit organization that raises money and awareness for affordable housing. Adam sold books with The Southwestern Company for two summers. “He will bike from Charleston, S.C., to Santa Cruz, Calif., helping build homes during rest stops and devoting eight days to new homes in Colorado. Of the eight routes riders may choose from, Nubern is taking the route that logs the most build days than any other trip in Bike and Build’s history. Nubern said he learned the value of a family home as a door-to-door book salesman.

After talking to hundreds of families, he said he realized how important the home is in the development of families and communities.”It’s where families come together to share and grow with one another. All the relational aspects of life happen at the home,” Nubern said.

I also learned of another two-summer bookwoman, Carolina Canavati who is biking with the Texas 4000 for Cancer this summer. She will bike 4,800 miles from Austin, TX to Anchorage, Alaska, raising money to support the fight against cancer.

I know there are countless alumni serving others and I hope to tell you more about them as time goes on. Until I sold books through Southwestern, I’m not sure I truly realized how much your life is enriched when you are serving others.

Most of the time I look at the calendar and wonder where all the time went. At the end of each Southwestern summer I felt very much the same way. However, in the midst of those twelve weeks on the bookfield there was an occasional day I thought would never end. It was those days I was grateful I had learned to help control my attitude by breaking up my goals. During my cross country years I quickly learned to focus on getting to that next tree, then the stop sign…etc. If I focused on the whole race at once it seemed impossible. At Southwestern I broke the summer down to weeks, the weeks down to days, and the days down to goal periods.

During those later weeks on the bookfield I sometimes needed a little more to keep me going. It was then I started to dedicate my weeks to different things. By far, my favorite week was Service Week. I spent my mental energy that week focusing on providing the best service I could to everyone I met. And that didn’t mean making sure they all bought books. I could have been making an elderly woman smile, or reminding parents how important it is to read to their kids. We make a difference every day. I would also give away a Volume Library set that week. What an amazing feeling! That week always flew by, and lo and behold, it was usually one of my best sales weeks of the summer. When I stopped worrying about myself and the things I wanted, and focused on helping others get what they needed, everything fell in to place.

Being service-miinded is just one of the many lessons of the bookfield. Good luck Adam and Carolina!

The Tennessean – Slideshow of Famous Southwestern Alumni

Becky Bauman — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:47:27 +0000

In my years with the Southwestern Company I have heard, as well as told, many tales of some of the famous alumni that have traversed the bookfield. After becoming Southwestern’s alumni specialist, I quickly learned that this is an often requested list of people. Unfortunately, my database of alumni did not come with a “Rich and Famous” button; so I created one. It is a subjective list of course, but is filled with the names of many bookpeople, recognizable and not. Sales people all know the importance of a golden name.

In fact, I’d like to thank Mr. Neville, the fourth grade teacher at Bow Elementary in New Hampshire, for being my golden name my third summer on the bookfield. His testimonial and recommendation of the Volume Library boosted my sales tremendously. A recognizable name has always been a great way to build trust.

Click to view the slideshow in The Tennessean

Recently The Tennessean published a slideshow of photos of the Southwestern Company and several of the locally famous alumni who have worked in the summer program. It includes local Tennessee alumni: Former Metro Councilman George Armistead III; Tennessee entrepreneur Jim Ayers; US Representative Marsha Blackburn; Retired Southwestern CEO, Ralph Mosley; Tennessee entrepreneur Ted Welch; Tennessee entrepreneur Sam Kirk; and current Southwestern CEO and Chairman, Henry Bedford.

National alumni included: Former Federal Prosecutor, Ken Starr; Texas Governor, Rick Perry; and Evangelist and Best-Selling Author Max Lucado.

Also included in the slideshow are various photos of Southwestern headquarters on Atrium Way in Nashville and student dealers in training at “Sales School.”

In seeking out our “Rich and Famous” alumni, it has been the bookpeople whose names may not jump out at you that intrigue me the most. Many of our alumni who have created successful businesses and lives do not live in the public eye. They have taken the skills they learned at Southwestern and have become the “Millionaires Next Door”.

Check out some of our Alumni Spotlights and look for more success stories of Southwestern alumni in the coming weeks.

Who do you know that sold books that should be on our “Rich and Famous” list?

The Southwestern Company Alumni Blog » Volume Library

It’s hard to be nervous, when your mind’s on service

The Tennessean – Slideshow of Famous Southwestern Alumni