Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: #southweststorytellers

  • Barefooting 50 States: Louisiana

    Barefooting 50 States: Louisiana

     

    “Have you done Louisiana yet?”

    Mark Varnes, a fellow barefooter, left a comment on one of my Facebook posts. He invited me to ski with him in Louisiana as part of my Barefooting 50 States for my 50’s quest.

    The next thing I knew, I had an assignment to speak in New Orleans, just 45 minutes from Mark’s secret spot on the Pearl River.

    Serendipity.

    Or synchronicity, as Wayne Dyer would say.

    I hopped on a Southwest flight, grabbed a rental car, and took off for the river. I met up with Mark and two of his buddies, Brad Ripp and William “Doc” Kutun. All of us were over the age of 50–and we all shared a crazy passionate love for barefooting. Like me, Brad got back on the water just recently–after a 25 year absence. We spent the afternoon barefooting up and down the Pearl River, one of the most calm, tranquil spots I’ve ever barefooted in. Whenever there was a tiny ripple on the water, Mark drove further down the river until we found glass again. As a result, my feet were burning on my first run! On my second run, I decided to try a backward deep start behind the boat–something that had eluded me during the last several barefooting trips. The start was smooth and I found myself up and about–but I couldn’t find my way around the wake. I let go as I was afraid I was going to fall–but I was so, so, so happy to have accomplished the backward longline start once again!

    Each of the guys took turns footin’–and I was impressed with their skills! I still have a ways to go to catch up!

    On the way back to the dock, one of the guys pointed out an alligator lazing between the trees. Fortunately, the boat was going so fast that I missed it. I was really glad I was done footin’ after they found a gator! Check out the amusing alligator sign in the video that Mark put together:

     

    Want some help putting together a Passion Quest of your own? Check out Karen’s book: Unwrapping Your Passion.

     

  • Southwest Storytellers: Sharing Travel Stories and More

    Southwest Storytellers: Sharing Travel Stories and More

    I love to travel–and I especially love to travel on Southwest Airlines. And this year, I have the honor of being among a wonderful group of #SouthwestStorytellers. Throughout the year, a team of us will be sharing our travel stories and having some LUVing fun with Southwest Airlines.

    Early this year, I met up with the team for the first time at the Southwest headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Before arriving, I stopped in at the Ziglar headquarters to see Tom Ziglar and Howard Partridge. (You can find their stories in my book, Unwrapping Your Passion.) This was my first time at the office and Zig Ziglar’s spirit was everywhere. Zig has touched millions and millions of lives everywhere with his wisdom about sales, business, and life.

    Howard and Tom were in the middle of a Ziglar Business Boot camp. While Howard was talking, I spied a big bag of Southwest peanuts lying on a table. I had seen pictures of Howard with the Southwest peanuts and pretzels, but I wasn’t sure what the story was behind all those snacks.

    Turns out, the story can be found in Howard’s new book, The Power of Community.

    During one flight, Howard began to tease the flight attendant about the lack of peanuts on his tray when he awoke from a nap. Southwest Airlines attendants are often playful and fun, the company is known for excellent customer service. Howard ended up with more peanuts than he bargained for–on that flight and more. Howard began tossing the peanuts to clients at his business events and entwined business lessons from Southwest in his talks.

    “When you create a sense of community among your team members and you have a solid mission, it spills over to your customers, creating loyalty and therefore resulting in higher profits,” Howard writes in The Power of Community.

    Both Howard and Tom are on a mission to help people grow–both personally and professionally. Check out their upcoming workshops and conferences: Ziglar Events

    Now, on to Southwest…

    What an amazing company. I have been flying Southwest for a long time now and I choose them every chance I get.  As a deaf traveler, the company is very accessible–I can receive text alerts for gate changes and flight information. I can sit up front where I can lipread the attendants and they can get to me quickly if there are any changes in flight. Whenever I’m in a situation where I can’t use my videophone to call Southwest–they’ve been incredibly responsive through Twitter. And check out the Southwest Airlines intern who is deaf: Southwest Intern Defies the Odds and Soars.

    There are eleven of us who make up the team of #SouthwestStorytellers:

    Dani Austin

    Justin Forsett

    Lucas Hoge

    Joey Price

    Kody McCormick

    Kyler McCormick

    Leslie Harvey

    Rob Sesser

    Rocky Turner

    Sakura Considine

     

    We met for dinner the first evening and got to know one another. Kyler and Kody McCormick are also from Illinois–and we discovered we knew a fellow barefoot water skier as a mutual friend.  The next day we took a tour of Southwest headquarters–learning about operations, social media, and their specialized training. In one area of headquarters, the meeting rooms are named for the different languages that employees speak. Of course, I had to stop and take a picture of the American Sign Language meeting room!

    You can read more about each of the storytellers here: Meet the #SouthwestStorytellers

    I had such a blast getting to know the other storytellers and learning their stories. We all love to travel–follow the hashtag and watch for our adventures! I’m on a quest to barefoot water ski in all 50 states during my 50’s and I’ll be touching a few states this year.

    And I’m patiently waiting for the day that Southwest touches down in…

    Hawaii!!!!  I can’t wait to barefoot there!