This week we connect with the stories of Kimberly Porter. Check out her LinkedIn profile either before or after listening to this episode. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-porter-thymeo/
Data is great, but humans connect with storytelling.
You can listen or get your podcast player links at https://anchor.fm/connection-requested. If you can’t find Connection Requested on your favorite podcast player, let me know at connectionrequested@youtellyours.com
Transcript:
Welcome to the Connection Requested podcast.
I'm Mark Tweddle co-founder of YouTellYours providing online team-building events to connect your remote team.
This podcast is about making better connections with other humans.
I don't know about you, but I rarely know the people who connect with me on LinkedIn. So this podcast is how we are going to get to know them.
After all accepting a LinkedIn connection should be more than just a permission to send me marketing content. I want my LinkedIn connections to be more meaningful, and closer to the connections I make in person.
And the best way I know to create that connection, that human, understanding is through storytelling.
So each week. I get a guest to try some of the exercises that we developed for our team building events.
But wait, before we jump in, I have a choice for you to make. I want you to look at our guest's LinkedIn profile, but I leave it up to you whether you press pause and have a look at it now, or whether you listen to the podcast and look at it after. Either way, I think it'll be interesting to see if your expectations or predictions match.
Enough explanation! Let's jump right in with our guest's name story. Two minutes to tell the story of your name with no preparation. No one else can tell that story better than you. You are the subject matter expert after all.
My birth name is Kimberly Ann Porter.
I go by Kimberly, mostly in professional settings. People refer to me as Kimberly, everybody else in my world calls me, Kimmy. My mom, my sisters, my boyfriends, my friends I'm Kimmy. So. That kind of all, because that's what my sisters called me. They all called me Kimmy. And my sister, even till today, she's like, it's so weird when I hear somebody call you Kimberly or Kim.
She's like, cause you're Kimmy. And so I'm okay with being Kimmy. And everybody always evolves into calling me Kimmy. Most of my clients that I've had for a long time, it's all Kimmy. There there's no Kimberly anymore. We kind of get past the Kimberley, Kimberly and it goes to Kimmy. So that's the history on my name.
There's nothing too exciting. I'm not named after every anything or anyone. I think my mom, after having a few kids just ran out of names. And so Kimberly seemed a bit it's probably the most generic American name you'll ever hear. Like Kimberly Porter, Bob Smith, you look me up. There's a thousand other Kimberley quarters. One time there was a guy. With my same name, who got her car repoed. So in the middle of the night, this repo, guy's banging on my door and I'm like, can I help you?
He's like, I've come to take your car. I'm like what? Cause I'm sitting there, like, my car is paid for like, what the heck happened? Like why is he here for my car? So I opened my garage and the guy's face just I'm like, what's going on? He's like, I'm looking for a red Honda civic. And obviously you drive a Jeep grand Cherokee.
I'm like, yeah, I didn't know what was happening here. But he felt like an idiot. He's like, do you know her? I'm like, no.
Thanks Kimberly. Or should I say Kimmy? Uh, you know, I think I prefer Kimberly. But then maybe that's just cause Mark is such a short name.
I really liked Kimberly's name story, because she told us about a specific experience. When you tell a specific story of something that you experienced, we get a view of what it's like to be you, in your shoes, and see the world as you do.
Because I'm from the UK, I had no idea. Kimberly Porter was a generic American name and it would be that popular. And you can tell me it's that popular, but when you make it really specific, like a, like a repo guy turning up at your door. Then I think I understand.
Next let's listen to Kimberly tell a two-minute story with the only direction being, start with the words, "On Monday I."
So for me, Mondays are my craziest day. I am decompressing from the weekend. And then I'm also doing all of my team huddles, my week planning strategies, tying up any loose ends that might still be out there from the week before. Getting hold of people that I need to for the week for key processes.
My team knows that on Monday, they're going to get a huge download because I need them to be doing certain things. Plus I want to be in their space. So we all get together via zoom and we talk. And we figure out what's working optimally, what's not working optimally where they want me to improve where I want them to improve.
It's just a big sharing. And one thing I really do love about my team, we've all been together for so long that there's a lot of honesty in those meetings. There's a lot of love because you know, I have a sister, who's my intern, a cousin, who's my database manager, my son who does everything I tell him to.
And then everybody else, you know. I've got my web people, I've got my business manager, I got my appointment setters. Everybody's communicating with everybody. Because one thing that I found is when I was trying to keep all my fingers in the pie, I got nothing done. So having my team on the same page is really important, but that takes all day long.
Like Mondays are nuts. So that's my Monday.
Thanks Kimberly. What I got from this story was that for Kimberly Monday is all about work and preparation for the week ahead. It's like she made the five P's, her Monday mantra. There's a few different ways to spell out those five P's, but back in the UK's Ministry Of Defense we used to say, Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Maybe a little uncouth.
Anyhow, more importantly, do you now feel that you're getting to know Kimberly? If you looked at her LinkedIn profile right now. Like I suggest you do. And you needed her services or advice, would you now be more comfortable having a call with her? I really hope so. If nothing else, I hope that you've learned that Kimberly Porter is awesome.
I'd love to know what you think. And if you have any comments or questions about this podcast, you can let me know via the comments on the show notes at connectionrequested.com. Or send the voice message via the connection requested page on anchor.com.
Please share this podcast. Preferably on LinkedIn. And keep on having fun, making the very best of connections.