One of my favorite parts of this job is personal shopping - I love to pick out the perfect laptop bag or business tote for my customers. I also love to hear my customer's stories about their business lives - the ups, the downs, the triumphs, the drinking to forget.
So I thought it would be fun to combine my love of personal shopping with my love of personal stories and create a contest!
Here's the deal - between now and March 15, you tell us your occupation, laptop size (if you have one) and your 10 most memorable business experiences in the comments below.
Based on what you share with us, we'll send you an email recommendation for what we think would be your ideal career bag (plus a special discount code!).
After March 15, we'll pick our favorites of the lists you've submitted and give you all a week to vote for the one you like the best. Whoever gets the most votes wins their ideal career bag!
When you leave a comment, there is a field where you will enter your email address. DO NOT put your email address in the comment itself!
We'll only use your email to send you your laptop bag recommendation - I promise we won't auction off your email address or give it to someone who wants to sell you a timeshare in Boca Raton.
In your comment, make sure you include:
- Your occupation
- The size of your laptop (if you have one)
- Your 10 most memorable business experiences (good, bad, ugly)
Be sure to leave your comment by March 15! Here is my list to help you get inspired:
I am an online retailer and laptop bag designer and I carry a Mac Book. And my 10 most memorable business experiences are:
- I once pulled a file folder out of an attache case and out flew a tampon across a conference table full of men.
- In 1989 my wholesale company won a national sales contest for most products sold.
- I designed one of the first line of business cases for women in 1994 and sold it to a major luggage company(Hartmann Luggage) After signing the contract, I took a shot of tequila and jumped up and down on the bed in the hotel room.
- Resigning my position at Hartmann Luggage because selling out to big company was not what I thought it would be.
- I negotiated a licensing agreement with Rawlings Sporting Goods Company in 1999. When we were awarded the license all of the guys in the company were taking bets on whose idea it was. They all thought that it was my husband's idea and were shocked to find out it was mine.
- I got our first line of business cases for women in Macy's New York and did a personal appearance at the Herald Square Store (my 15 minutes of fame).
- Opening my first showroom in the Dallas Trade Mart in 1982.
- Doubling the size of my first showroom 2 years later.
- Selling my showroom to a competitor in 1990.
- The day I quit my job of 16 years to start Careerbags.com. Really scary and really exciting and the best business experience I have had so far!
Hi Ellen! I'm a marketing to women consultant with a 17” laptop. Here's my list of 10 memorable business moments:
1. The night I shared a glass of prosecco with my sister after completing my last day in Corporate America. Had worked 24/7 for 22 years with no more than two weeks off a year. I think it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
2. The day I got the business cards for my own business. First time it really felt real. (now I need a cool business card holder and bag with a place to store them.)
3. Seeing the first hardcover of my book The Soccer Mom Myth. I think it was one of the proudest moments of my life. (I need a bag big enough so I can always carry a few copies with me to give away)
4. Speaking at a major conference in Toronto and my luggage never arrived, so I had to present in jeans and flip-flops. I told the crowd what had happened. No negative repercussion and I learned everyone has a lost luggage story.
5. When I found out a male co-worker who didn’t have anywhere near my experience or workload was making $10 grand more than I was.
6. When I went to a conference and there were actually more female than male speakers. It was one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended.
7. When first meeting with a major client and I was introduced as his project lead. He was quite upset because he thought I was a secretary. (I was the only woman in the room and had offered him coffee when he first arrived)
8. Doing tequila shots with my new boss at my first real radio job. LOVED that guy. He put on the station mascot outfit (a Bee) and walked through the halls clapping his hands. LOVED that guy.
9. Learning to ride the subway to work in NY. Nothing makes you feel as powerful as knowing your way around a NY subway.
10. Walking into a meeting in a beautiful new designer suit. I felt like a million bucks and nailed the presentation. Now all I need is a hip new bag to complete my outfit! I like a tailored classic look, but with a little sumpthin’ to make it look trendy.
Posted by: Holly Buchanan | February 19, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Hi Ellen
Congratulations on an amazing line of products! I'm an attorney in New York with a small practice so I can stay home with my kids. I have a Dell Latitude D810. My ten memorable moments are:
1. When I worked as In House Counsel for a company in NYC, I used a breast pump two times during the day and then stored the breastmilk at work to bring home to my then 10 month old boy. One time the CEO banged on my door and asked me how long I was going to be so we could discuss a contract. I was very annoyed that he chose to speak to me knowing what was going on right then.
2. A week later the same CEO asked me how long I was going to keep "this pumping thing up". I had to educate him on proper HR skills and the legality of breastfeeding and associated activities in the workplace. It felt great humbling someone who obviously tried to embarrass me about something I was entitled to.
3. One time I refused to give in to a foreign corporation negotiating a deal with us because I did not agree with their terms. The CFO supported me, the CEO did not - he wanted the deal signed as quickly as possible. Holding out paid off and I pushed a multi-million dollar deal to closing under my terms.
4. I managed to increase benefits for all employees at one company and implement flexible hours so people could have more of a work/life balance.
5. I worked for an amazing group of partners at one point and every week we'd play a different practical joke on one of them. The VP of Sales was terrific and we pretended to have him served for destroying building property when he sped out of the parking building and damaged the gate that didn't go up quickly enough. It was all caught on tape and we actually worked with the building to forgive him but we had a lot of fun convincing him that he was actually being sued for $10,000. He laughed afterwards.
6. Quitting my job in the city and taking a big pay cut so I could have a small firm at home and spend more time with my kids.
7. Realizing how much help I can be to other parents that want to start their own business so they can put their families first.
8. Helping my husband launch his own business as well so we can both have careers and be with each other and our kids.
9. Negotiating a multi million dollar deal with a large software company and having the executive team at the final negotiation table and later telling me I did an excellent job. They later announced the same to the company. It was nice to be recognized.
10. At a smaller company I worked with, one of the women was also using a breast pump. There were no offices that didn't have windows so I let her use our small kitchen for the 20 minutes she needed twice a day. There was no lock so I kept an eye on the door and put a large sign on it saying DO NOT ENTER. Despite the sign, one of the Vice Presidents went to walk in one day and I saw him at the last minute reaching for the doorknob and screamed at him to Stop, don't touch that door, read the sign. He was so startled that he turned around when I screamed and fell on the floor. He said he developed a fear of going near the kitchen for a few months after that. I felt like the watchdog for Mom's rights.
Posted by: Liz | February 25, 2009 at 10:59 PM
Hi Ellen, I am a senior executive with the Land Transport Authority in Singapore. I carry a Lenovo X61. My 10 most memorable business experiences are:
1)I was travelling with a group of African delegates and I was carrying a huge bag with cables, adaptors etc in one hand and another laptop bag in another hand. It was their last day in Singapore and at the farewell moment, each of the 25 of them lined-up to give me a hug, and I was helpless to "defend" myself because I had too many things to carry!
2)The fire safety department came to my cubicle to warn me the dangers of having my own espresso machine on my desk and how I could cause a fire. Ya, right.
3)My boss let out a 1-minute long fart during a discussion and I pretended I didn't hear/smell anything. It was horrible.
4)I was the emcee for an Asean Road Conference and I announced the wrong stuff over the microphone because I was reading from the wrong emcee script.
5)One of the "Ice Queen" Directors finally spoke to me, asking me where I got my Mobileedge Milano laptop bag from.
6)I spilled coffee all over my table and onto the important invoices and documents, so I ended up spreading them all over the coffee to dry them up. The coffee stains can still be seen.
7)There was a last minute request for a visit by the Traffic Police Department for a Chinese Delegation and I had to work 48 straight to plan out a 5-day programme, all to be written and presented in Chinese.
8)I am upgrading the 600+ electronic carparks in Singapore (FOC!) and this is the most meaningful thing I think I have done for the nation.
9)During my 7-months secondment to another department, I managed to share my knowledge of the history of land transport with the grassroots.
10)I bought a Ducati Monster (motorcycle) with my biggest paycheck and a backpack (laptop bag) to carry my laptop while I ride.
Posted by: Ting Karlea Alyssa | February 26, 2009 at 08:19 AM
Hi Ellen! I'm a copywriter, playwright and blogger with a Dell Inspiron 1520 15" laptop. My laptop is strangely plus-sized (no too wide but too thick) and doesn't seem to fit most of the usual 15" laptop bags, so I'm really hoping for some good suggestions! My 10 most memorable career experiences are:
1. Being one of two students invited to "Share Our Writing" at school. I was in Grade Two. It really went to my head.
2. Successfully writing a chapter in a sheriff's repo manual on how to "seize bees" without making any jokes.
3. Losing an argument with law enforcement in which I asserted that "officers are authorized to use force..." was a better sentence than "officers are authorized to use THE force..." Use the force, Officer Luke!
4. Having my first play published.
5. Realizing that the number of freelance writing jobs I've done finally outnumbered the temp jobs I've had.
6. Being asked to be writer-in-residence at a company I'd been dying to break into for several years. And being sad that "writer-in-residence" didn't mean I got to actually live there. What a rip.
7.Reading a comedy piece - about Pa Ingalls taking a dump - on national radio.
8. Putting together a simple website for my mom's business which helped her accomplish in six months what she thought would take five years.
9. Co-founding LintBucket Media, a social media marketing agency, with my partner in life and in crime.
10. Seeing the slogan I came up with used in a national ad campaign for a major Olympic sponsor.
Posted by: Rosemary Rowe | February 26, 2009 at 03:46 PM
Much as I'd enjoy a personally-selected bag for my Fujitsu Lifebook tablet PC, I'm really in this for the storytelling. I'm an artist and playwright who built a dream job at university, but gave up her dream jobs teaching in her own studio and operating a funky independent art supply store to do it. So I'm all nostalgic about my art-business experiences:
1. Taking a plaster bandage cast of the torso of a very generous, very pregnant friend . . . and nestling her newborn daughter under it just two weeks later.
2. Translating between French tourists and the Spanish guide in the Galapagos Islands, using a bit of high school French and a lot of sketchbook illustrations.
3. Learning American Sign Language to teach drawing to a Deaf boy who wanted art lessons more than hockey skates.
4. Every time I taught egg tempera and watched the self-deprecating housewives blossom a little bit when it turned out being able to separate eggs is an essential skill!
5. Shopping for silverpoint supplies and pigment in Florence, Italy, literally in the shadow of the Duomo.
6. Anatomy classes: Showing twenty-year-old women a real female pelvis and a real fetal skull, and watching every one of them mentally reviewing her birth control precautions!
7. Last weekend, sitting sketching in a butterfly conservatory, when a passing mom said exactly the right thing to her daughter, "Yes, she's drawing. Isn't that great? If you practise a lot I'll bet you could do that, too."
8. An artist-in-the-school gig at a Labrador high school . . . in the grade nine *science* class.
9. Preventing two unnecessary circumcisions (boys 8 and 10) with timely advice and educational diagrams for mom. Really.
10. Every time I overheard a student passionately explaining my studio rules to a newcomer:
* Don't put down anyone's work, especially your own.
* Don't lick the brushes.
* No adult slave labour.
* You can quit but you can't whine.
Posted by: lccarson | February 27, 2009 at 04:13 PM
Hi Ellen. I'm an academic coach for teenagers and I'm the inventor of the MuseCubes (a product I'm currently learning how to manufacture/market). I have a MacBook. Memorable moments in business, here we go: In no particular order.
1. Every day with my students. Yesterday poked his head into my office and told me he needs to meet with me earlier rather than later because he needs HELP! I just about died that he asked for help...I've been waiting for him to do this all year. :-)
2. Hearing myself say the words "Somebody should invent..." and then deciding that somebody should be me! Hence: www.Musecubes.com (a set of dice with verbs on each side that tell you what to do. when you're feeling stuck you roll the MuseCubes and then follow the directions: shake and howl, whoop and twist, etc. )
3. Getting an email today from a customer who used the MuseCubes for short breaks at a recent board retreat. She's got the video to prove it...I can't wait to see it.
4. Losing my temper in front of my classroom of 16 7th graders, and realizing that I'm not meant to be a traditional teacher.
5. Attending a "Learning and the Brain" conference and watching how EXCITED I got about all the sessions that talked about the importance of movement to learning. This is when I knew for sure that I'd found "my people."
6. Leading a workshop called BrainJazz and having one of the attendees be so gleeful in a movement activity he threw his body across the room.
7. Writing my first paper on "imagination and improvisation" It will be published any month now.
8. Having my mother talk to her church about getting me to come teach a workshop on incorporating movement into worship. They're flying me down in May.
9. Teaching teenage parents how to be peer educators.
10. Noticing that most of my "most memorable moments" are from the last few months. Thanks for asking me to tell stories -- and thus helping me see that I seem to be truly thriving in my new self-made career as an entrepreneur. Thanks for asking us to tell stories!!!
Posted by: Gretchen | March 03, 2009 at 09:59 PM
I am a senior production artist, graphic designer, and volunteer webmaster for a local animal shelter. I have a 17" inch Mac PowerBook and Macbook.
1. When I was 15, I shamelessly began my book publishing career as the girl inside the costume at children's book promotions.
2. I worked hard and when the graphic designer for the store developed stage 4 cancer, he rewarded my hard work by mentoring me. I have never been prouder than when a dying man taught me how to be a desktop publisher.
3. I once got fired over voicemail. To add insult to injury, the manager sent another student employee, with whom she'd been having an affair, to my dorm room to bully me into returning the used mini-fridge she had given me. I don't think I have ever been more humiliated.
4. A former boss once locked me in a room with over $20k worth of equipment, a screwdriver, and components to install. His faith became the foundation of my professional confidence.
3. I had a job where I was relegated to receptionist, even though I had been hired as a network administrator; the business development manager couldn't bear to stand by and let a little girl do a man's job.
5. The best thing that ever happened to me was getting laid off from that job. Not only because it freed me from a situation I thought I couldn't escape but because it taught me that I am bigger than failure.
6. At one job, the head of the in-house print shop offered to give me a ride on his motorcycle. I was terrified, but I did it anyway. I not only conquered a fear, but I gained the respect of a male-dominated workplace.
7. One of the highlights of my career was being asked by my old boss to follow him to his new job working for the DoD. I credit this time I spent under my boss as the crucible of my career where I learned all of the industry best practices that would serve me well in years to come.
8. I was shamelessly taken advantage of at one job, with someone else taking credit for my hard work and experience. What I gained was a much better sense of how not to undersell myself in the future.
9. When I was 6 months pregnant, my company went bankrupt. The owner stiffed employees over a million dollars in total pay. I had no prospects for finding a new job given how pregnant I was and later I wasn't even able to file my income taxes because we had not received W-2s.
10. The best moment of my career came when I sat down with my husband to discuss my post-baby job. My husband and I agreed the job wasn't working out, so I tendered my resignation. I made clear that I no longer wished to work for this company.
My boss panicked and offered me a position working from home. I had nothing to lose so I negotiated hard. I now work from home making 60% more money than I did when I first started. I am also staying true to my self-worth and not underselling myself.
Posted by: lunasmom | March 04, 2009 at 08:04 PM
HI Ellen,
I am a film and video writer producer and I own Zan Media, with my husband, Don. Our business is named after the first initial of our 3 kids, Zack, Alex and Niki. I have a 17 inch Macbook Pro.
1. The best thing ever did was give up practicing law which was no fun, to do what I do now, which is great fun.
2. I've been self employed for 29 years so I've learned to live with fear.
3. We recently produced a video for a homeless shelter that ends homelessness by teaching residents how to cook and serve. Each resident was introduced at the end of the meal for a community group, and there was a standing ovation for them; at the same time they were the "stars" of our video. They were beaming with pride for the 1st time in their lives, and I was too.
4. We hold our morning production meeting while hiking.
5. We had a large department store account for many years, and used to shoot their commercials in the middle of the night at the 13 story landmark store. It was eerie and great fun.
6. The first check we received was for $111,000 and it was the largest check I had ever seen. OK, we had to pay for the crew, talents, props,
etc. but it was fabulous to deposit that check.
7. We produced our own indie suspense film a few years ago and I never worked so hard and felt such satisfaction.
8. We produced a video on the dangers of methamphetamine for a sheriff's department in NO California which was distributed to 4,000
high schools kids. Four women were watching us while we were filming at the county jail and asked to participate - all were in jail due to use of this drug. We've been told it's really been effective for the kids.
9.We became a certified green film and video production company last year. Our business can be unnecessarily wasteful, so we were very happy to achieve this distinction.
10. We produce school bond PSA's pro bono and so far, they've all passed!
Posted by: Chris Scioli | March 05, 2009 at 09:22 AM
Hi, Ellen!
I'm a social media consultant and blogger based in Vancouver :) I have a 15" Macbook Pro.
My 10 most memorable business moments:
1. Laying off 15 people at once (we felt it would be less cruel than one at a time) during the dark days of the dot bomb era.
2. Heading off to a meeting thinking it was one or two of us around a table, then arriving at the client and finding out it was a pitch to their 20 member board of directors
3. Meeting my department for the first time after being hired to be their Managing Director and realising that I was still wearing my running shoes from walking to work that morning with my business suit.
4. Having my first job interview that I was flown somewhere for (from Toronto to Lincoln, Nebraska or all places) - oh the anxiety of what to wear, what bag to carry and what to eat during the lunch meeting
5. The first time I attended the prestigious TED conference. I shopped for a couple of weeks trying to find the perfect conference bag - cool, but not TOO cool. Functional and a little trendy. I obsessed. And I ended up modifying this terrible Puma bag. It was sad.
6. Getting served with my first cease and desist letter - first as a blogger, but also, later, as a corporation. Legal wrangling never loses its charm.
7. Co-founding LintBucket Media with my fabulous wife! And getting our first business cards together.
8. The first time I was quoted in a national newspaper. I still get quite a thrill being an "expert" in print publications. Oh, and last year I was quoted in Inc. Magazine - so cool!
9. I actually had this "business" moment in high school band. I was angry after a marching performance one night at a football game - it hadn't gone as well as I'd wanted and people were goofing off in the stands. My band director told me that I can't control everything and sometimes stuff will happen that will be disappointing, but as long as I tried MY best, I can always be proud. You just can't control other people. I try to remember this lesson even now.
10. My first international consulting gig - for a pharmaceutical company in Amsterdam. I felt like I'd finally hit "the big time".
Posted by: Kate Trgovac | March 08, 2009 at 03:04 PM