By nancy VoGL
to build client relationships, i logged 22,000 miles to
34 states in 200 days...just 4 months after brain surgery.
hen I flew home after
presenting to the NSA
New Orleans Chapter
in March 2015, my
mind wasn’t on the
MRI looming on my
schedule. I was focused
on the dilemma of fos-
tering and maintaining
meaningful client rela-
tionships in this era of
never-ending technol-
ogy. I started a bou-
tique speakers bureau
long before the Inter-
net, so the way peo-
ple now connect and
communicate doesn’t jibe with my pre-
ferred way of doing business. Besides, I
feel I have a relationship responsibility
to speakers and meeting planners.
Momentarily distracted from my
thoughts about business, I flashed on
the pending MRI. So what if it’s something serious, I shrugged. This is just
one more thing to get through. To settle down, I opened the flight magazine
to an article with suggestions on growing one’s business. One tip glared at me
as if highlighted; an idea I’d toyed with
years ago, but didn’t think was feasible.
The writer left her home base for a year
to meet with clients around the country, professing it was the best thing
she’d ever done for her business.
Woman on a mission
I was suddenly jarred to the core with
the unwavering belief I needed to do
the same thing. I pulled out a notebook
and began writing feverishly. By the
time the plane landed, I had mapped
out an entire strategic plan that
included what I’d need, starting with a
van in which to live and work. From
there, a new laptop, a better phone,
portable Wi-fi, a small grill, a tiny oven,
and whatever office supplies, books,
clothes, tools, equipment, and necessi-
ties that would sustain a six-month-plus
journey. Oh, and a trailer for hauling it
all, including 400 copies of my 152-
page catalog, Portfolio of Speakers.
When I got home, I knew I’d have
to convince my less-than-visionary, typ-
ically naysayer husband, Dave, to aban-
don our rented cottage, get rid of stuff,
put the remainder in storage, and leave
Michigan for parts unknown, trusting
we’d figure it out as we went along.
Surprisingly, he was on board as soon
as he heard “road trip.”
W
Nancy Vogl with her hero,
brain surgeon Dr. Babu
