While my final time with RadioShack may not have been so pleasant, I do have fond memories of my former employees. A couple of them I keep in constant contact and get with them fairly often. Others, however, I only hear from once in a great while.
I decided to do something about that.
There was some interest in a get-together with my constant contacts, but I figured I needed someone with a little fire in her to help get things really rolling. I called Hallie. I had not heard from Hallie since before I left the company as she had left my employ in 2004, so she was quite surprised when I finally made contact with her. After a flurry of emails, texts, calls,...etc, we decided on a date, time and place.
We went through a list of folks from the last two stores I spent time managing ( I don't count Oxmoor, because a lot of my Eastern Parkway crew came with me!). Some of the employees (can I now call them friends?) followed me from store to store...loyalty is a good thing. We gave them a lot of lead time to aid in their planning. After gathering all the contact numbers needed, I blasted out a text message to them.
The responses were immediate and enthusiastic.
I kept in contact with everyone and then the day arrived. On April 4, we gathered at a local pizzaria. For several hours, we traded hugs, handshakes, updates, and of course...the fun times we had while working together. A couple ended up not being able to come, but we'll resolve that for next time.
I have to say, that I am very proud of the group we assembled. Keep in mind that some of these folks were still in high school when I hired them or when they came on board with me (or I came onboard with them). In our little group we have a lawyer, an owner of two retail outlets, a member of Homeland Security, retail managers (not just me!)...the list goes on.
We made a promise to do this again very soon. So, I'll give Hallie another call and we'll brainstorm another outing, perhaps with some activities included with a dinner...sounds like fun!
Posted by mrchipper at April 9, 2009 12:38 AM