With the holidays fast approaching, as cliché as it sounds, I find myself thinking about all the amazing people that are in my life and how lucky I am to have them. Right now, I have the best employees/assistants anyone could EVER ask for. I’ve been thinking about writing this blog for a while, but it wasn’t until I had all three of them in my house at the same time (which never happens) for a holiday party this weekend that inspiration finally hit.
Nicole
Superpowers: Finder of Lost Things, Organization
Nicole has been with me for over eight years, and at this point I’m not really sure which one of us is actually the boss. Ha! Nicole has played a huge role in the development and growth of my business, so she knows more about me and how I live than probably some of my own family. She certainly knows where more things are in my house than either Mom or I do, and her super power is that she can find anything that is lost or missing. Step back Marie Kondo, because Nicole’s organizational skills rival the best in the business. She can make an amazing amount of crap fit into a tiny space, and my life would be a mess without her. She’s a master at Tupperware Tetris. She’s incredibly smart and can solve the hardest Sudoku puzzles in five seconds or less. It’s actually quite ridiculous.
Nicole is the most honest person you will ever meet. What you see is what you get with her, and she can’t lie to save her life. I trust her more than most people in this world. Like all of us, she has her off days, but no matter the craziness that goes on in her personal life, she always puts everything she has into her work. She has bailed Mom and I out of many tight situations and has been there when we needed her most without fail. We joke that if something were to happen to me, Nicole would still have a job because Mom can no longer survive without her. It takes a village y’all, and Nicole is our rock.
Erin
Superpowers: Master Seamstress, Punctuality
A few years ago, Nicole needed to scale back her hours due to a complicated family situation, and we therefore had to hire another part-time aide to work with me. It’s harder than you’d think to find someone who is educated, likes dogs, and can lift 50 pounds that wants to work only part-time. We interviewed several candidates, but when Erin came to us through a mutual friend, we knew right away that she was a good fit. I have a dog that shows her affection by nibbling on your nose (seriously), and when she did that to Erin during her interview and Erin just laughed, we knew she was perfect.
Erin is a master seamstress and can literally make anything out of fabric. All clothes I buy for myself need to be altered, and it’s handy to have access to an in-house seamstress. Erin has fixed most of my clothes over the last few years, and she has even made me a few special pieces from scratch. My body type is abnormal so altering my clothes is not easy, but she does a fabulous job. Because Erin has been sewing for so long, creativity is ingrained in her bones. She is excellent in helping to make jewelry and to work on other creative projects I may have as well. Erin, unlike both Nicole and Darcy, is ALWAYS on time. If Erin is five minutes late, something is wrong, and a search party needs to be called. She has a dry sense of humor like me, and she is the epitome of the phrase “big things come in small packages.” Erin is one of the nicest people in the world, but if you piss her off, good luck. Haha.
Darcy
Superpowers: Singing, Making Me Laugh
Hiring Darcy felt like a plan the universe had in store for us all along. I’ve actually known Darcy for almost ten years, though not well until recently. She is an incredible New Orleans musician, and among others, she sings in a band called the Chilluns with a friend of mine. I started following her when we’d go see the Chilluns each year, and we kept up on Facebook in between.
A few months ago, Erin landed a full-time job as a seamstress at a local costume company, and therefore now only works for me a couple days out of the month. The week before she gave me her two weeks notice, Darcy posted on Facebook that she was looking for work, any work. I remember thinking at that point, “Man, it would be really fun to have her work for ME. We would have so much fun together.” When Erin told me about her new job, it felt like fate was hitting me over the head with a hammer. I messaged Darcy that night, established that she can both lift 50 pounds and loves dogs, and decided to go ahead and hire her. As they say, the rest is history.
I didn’t hire Darcy because she’s a singer, but y’all, she’s incredible. Go check out Darcy Malone and the Tangle on Facebook and YouTube. We like a lot of the same music (although my life goal is to find a Garth Brooks song she actually likes) and we have SO much fun together. Darcy makes me laugh…constantly. The best part is that most of the time she isn’t even trying, which makes every situation even funnier. She has some platinum blonde moments, but she works hard and is always a good sport about whatever crazy thing I ask her to do. She runs on a typical New Orleans musician time schedule, but I’m learning how to manipulate that! Haha. She and Nicole are polar opposites in a lot of ways, which is great for me. I split up their duties to play to their strengths, and most of the time it works really well. Darcy is a great addition to the team (plus her musical connections have some serious potential perks!).
My point is, right now I have the best team EVER. I can’t even tell you how much it means to know that I have stable employees that always have my back. Although Erin has taken a step back, Nicole and Darcy are willing to cover each other when the other needs a day off, and trust me, that makes all of our lives ten times less stressful. I not only need people that I can rely on, but I also have to LIKE being around them and vice versa. It’s really hard to spend so much one-on-one time with someone you don’t get along with. And granted, all of them get on my nerves at one point or another, and I KNOW I drive them nuts too sometimes, but that’s just the nature of being with someone so much. I love that I don’t feel like I have to be someone else around any of them, and I rarely have to put on my “mean boss” hat (it doesn’t fit that well anyway). They work for me, but they’re also my friends.
So, thanks ladies. Y’all are the best! Excited to see what 2020 brings for all of us!