Thanks so much to all you fabulous, accomplished women who submitted your 10 most memorable business moments! I've sent each of you my personal recommendations for what I think would be your ideal laptop bags.
It was hard to choose a winner - your lists were all so unique, inspiring and entertaining! But in the end, I went with artist Linda Carson's list as my favorite.
Linda blogs at Linda Teaches Art and her artistic sensibility and funky laptop bag style inspired me to choose the Veronica London Wirkin Laptop Bag for her. Congratulations, Linda!
Here are Linda's 10 Most Memorable Business Moments:
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Learning American Sign Language to teach drawing to a Deaf boy who wanted art lessons more than hockey skates.
- 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!
- Shopping for silverpoint supplies and pigment in Florence, Italy, literally in the shadow of the Duomo.
- 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!
- 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."
- An artist-in-the-school gig at a Labrador high school . . . in the grade nine *science* class.
- Preventing two unnecessary circumcisions (boys 8 and 10) with timely advice and educational diagrams for mom. Really.
- 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.
Thanks so much for sharing, Linda! I really loved reading about your experiences. Hope you enjoy your new Wirkin.
You don't have to enter a contest to get some personal shopping help at Career Bags. If you need some help choosing from our wide array of fabulous laptop bags for women, shoot me an email ellen[at]careerbags[dot]com or give us a call toll free at 1(877) 261-7953.
