DAYMAKER
A few times each year, I interrupt the regular Inspire
message to bring you a special announcement.
Today, I am writing to share a simple, yet profound
idea that has been championed by a remarkable man
named David Wagner.
David's idea is to be a Daymaker. Just as you'd expect
a Daymaker is someone who intentionally does things
to "make someone's day"... several times per day,
every day.
The idea is to intentionally look for small ways to
do nice things for others. Then quietly do them.
I want to share a quick story about how all of this
got started. David owns a major hair salon and spa
business that does over $25 million in annual sales.
A number of years ago, when David still provided
services to his clients, a woman came in for a hair cut
several weeks before she was expected. During the
visit, David was wondering why she had come back so
far ahead of schedule, so he asked if she had something
special to go to that night. The client responded that
she did not.
A few days later, David received a letter from this woman.
In the letter she thanked David for the care and attention
he provided and went on to explain that the real reason
she had come in that day was that she wanted to look
nice when they found her. She had planned to commit
suicide that evening.
She explained that David was so nice to her, and he
made her feel so good and so worthy of care that she
realized that maybe life really was worth living. She
did not commit suicide, but rather sought professional
help to improve her life.
It was at that moment that David realized that he had
absolutely no idea this woman was planning suicide
the very day she was in his chair. He realized just how
tremendously powerful the little things he did could be.
He changed the title on his business card to read:
David Wagner, Daymaker
He decided to write a book about being a Daymaker.
It is a small little book. He got a small publisher to
print a small initial run. It became a run-away success.
Not from advertising or promotion, but from word-of-
mouth. Friends telling friends. The entire print run sold
out. Another print run was ordered. Those sold out,
and the next print run is just now becoming available.
The book had such a wonderful response that the trade
association for the salon industry decided to support David
and his Daymaker idea. This group, TSA (The Salon
Association) officially proclaimed that Wednesday, April 29th,
2003, would be Daymaker Day.
The Good Morning America show last week was the start
of a month long tour of our country where David is going
from city to city to tell the Daymaker story. At each
stop along the way, salon owners are volunteering to help
David by being Daymakers too. They are going into
homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald House, Children's'
Hospitals and the like to volunteer, bringing a bit of
beauty into the lives of people fighting some big problems.
I'm proud to be able to say that David Wagner is my
friend, and I wanted to share him with you. He has a
web site at:
http://www.daymakermovement.com/ His book is "Inspiring" and it is full of wonderful quotes.
I'll close with a quote from his book:
DIRECTION
You've got to think about the big things
while you're doing the small things,
so that all the small things
go in the right direction.
- Alvin Toffler
Being a Daymaker is a simple idea. It is easy to do.
More than anything, it is an attitude. I find that my own
day improves in a major way when I hold in my mind
the idea of being on the look out for ways to make
someone else's day. You might want to try it too!
Thanks for listening.
Regards,
Michael Bledsoe, Publisher
Inspire
Home
Pages: 1
