LOVE Tough 1.9.17

LOVE tough.

“But Angela, I think you have it wrong. Don’t you mean tough love?”

No, no. LOVE tough is much different. It is an acronym my dad came up with for me on the way to the airport for my trip back to school. Wearing my GE hard hat (a new one I got for Christmas!!!), I looked tough, but I did not feel tough. And that is when he told me to be LOVE tough. L-O-V-E stands for:

Love– lots of people love me

Opportunities– I have many of them!

Victory– I have victories to be proud of!

Energy– I create positive energy

The “tough” is to remind me that I am tough (in the strong sense of the word) because of all of the parts of LOVE I have, if nothing else. LOVE Tough is something encouraging to remember when feeling down.

This was helpful for me, as I was struggling to find my Hard Hat Mindset, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Moving on to the hard hat experiences of that day! I was traveling from Pocatello, Idaho to Salt Lake City, then SLC to Portland. It was two flights, meaning two audiences. I was wearing black yoga pants, a sweatshirt and a vest (vest on top, because I was going for the Portlander look). Immediately when I got to my seat, the gentleman across the aisle said, “Going to fix the lines in Portland?”

I jokingly said yes and he celebrated his correct guess- how he knew Portland is beyond me. I talked briefly with the gentleman I was sitting next to, before he asked me about my hat. He asked something regarding who I worked for that required a hard hat. When I said no one, he asked who I worked for in general. No one. In other words, he did not think I looked my age.

From there came the business cards and whole rundown. Before I knew it, what seemed like half the plane was to be listening, even though I was trying to talk quietly because it was 7 am. From there, Scott, the man sitting next to me, asked if I was related to my dad (last name connection from the card). I gave a card to Randy and Steve, who were across the aisle, as well. Not 1 minute later Steve was on the website checking it out. I was flattered he was intrigued enough to check it out right away, or even at all. He saw the selfies and pictures with people, and we took an entire row selfie (see below- so much fun). We all talked a while, then Scott and I continued to discuss my love of hard hats and where I want to go with them. Scott works at ON Semiconductor in my town, where my dad worked when it was formerly AMIs, so we had much to discuss. Scott if you see this- I really enjoyed talking with you! I think that if I was not wearing my hat, I would not have talked to Randy or Steve, and I do not think I would have got to see the 6 degrees of separation in action with Scott, because hearing a last name and seeing a last name are different. We probably would not have exchanged cards if I was not wearing my hat. Another connection- JUST LIKE THAT.

The flight from SLC to PDX was equally as exciting. Immediately when I got on board the gentleman in the first seat of first class very excitingly said, “NICE HAT.” I said thanks and went on my way to the coach… Maybe one day I will be a first classer too. I was so excited by the genuine excitement in his voice, that I started working on a plan of how to talk to that guy. I wanted to meet him. An hour into the flight, I went up to his seat, but he was asleep. Came up with a backup plan- wrote him a note, put a business card inside, and asked the flight attendant who had joked around about flight safety and complimented my hat to deliver it. The flight attendant reported back that the gentleman as excited and laughed. No note back, but he had my card and email so I was interested where it would go. Lo and behold, at baggage claim, “HARD HAT GIRL! Get over here! I want to meet you!” Dream come true, another connection. We chatted, he gave me his card, complimented my creativity, and told me he would follow me. Hard hat connection machine success! What will happen, if anything, is a mystery, but I was able to talk with and meet one more person regardless.

I had a few more stories from my travels, but I think 2 is enough for now.

Wishing you a great week, and remember LOVE Tough! You’re awesome!