They were just two young kids, with no idea what life would throw their way. They have grown up a lot since then, had some highs and some lows. But look at them now, they are parents with two awesome little boys. Life has been pretty good them over the years, and as they say, the best is yet to come. Happy Anniversary to the best girl I know.
This morning on Wall Street was like most Monday mornings, except for one thing, my wife. It's not everyday that you get invited to the floor of the stock exchange, but on this day that was the case. Now my wife is successful - which allows me to do what I do, write a critically acclaimed blog read by millions every day. OK that was a little bit of a stretch, but she works and I take care of the kids. She wasn't on Wall Street representing business or kicking off the next great IPO, she was there for something else, charity.
Jenn on Stock Exchange floor
My wife doesn't have much time to do anything but work and come home and spend a limited amount of time with her family. It can be tough on her and us. She would like to be doing so much more, that's just the way she is, if there were 25 hours in a day, she would probably try to be on the go for 26. It's part of what makes her successful. But it doesn't give her much time to do what she loves, giving back.
She was approached at work recently to donate time, money, whatever she could to an organization called Action America. Now they are one of many charities dedicated turning the unfortunate events of 9/11, into a positive movement. It's made up of corporations, individuals, and non-profits all committed to honoring those affected by the attacks and unifying the country through positive action. So when she was asked at work to help out, my wife jumped at the chance.
Which brings us to this morning.
Action America was asked to ring the opening bell on Wall Street, and my wife got invited to attend. Now unfortunately she didn't get to actually ring the bell, that honor went to Kevin Connolly from Entourage, who is kind of acting as the celebrity spokesperson. I am thinking my wife should have done the honor, she is much better looking than the actor, but I understand they need star power for these events.
The important thing here is that this was all done for a good cause. I am in no way implying that you need to donate your time or money to this particular charity, just if you have the time or ability donate to any, please do. There are a million different causes all looking for help, and the more people that get involved the better. Let's make this a better place for the people that matter most to us, our kids.
Let's face it, stay at home moms far outnumber the stay at home dads. I don't think that is going to change anytime soon, if ever. But with the increasing amount of dads staying home to help raise their children, Consumer Package Goods companies like Unilever and Proctor and Gamble have an opportunity to target a huge untapped market. Now, obviously they do focus some of their advertising to us, but it's usually in the form of mens products. That's all fine and good but as a stay at home dad I am not only shopping for myself but the entire family as well. It's not just moms strolling the supermarket aisles looking for diapers and medicines, I can tell you I see more men in the grocery store every single week.
I love my wife, I really do. But there are some things that just drive me crazy. When you have been together for 15 years it's bound to be the case. She has some habits that I don't like, none more so than her addiction to bags. She is not unlike a lot of women I am sure who collect bags like they are going out of style. The difference though is that while some women have a bunch of Gucci or Coach bags, my wife has a huge collection of gym bags, plastic bags, and reusable shopping bags. They are all over my house, each filled with a little bit of something. Everyday she comes home with a new bag, and everyday it drives me a little more nuts.
An AOL bag doubling as a briefcase
A gym bag with some dirty laundry
A reusable shopping bag filled with shoes
A Macy's bag filled with MORE shoes
A ziplock bag with hair rollers
Another ziplock bag filled with hair and skin products
Another gym bag with smelly gym clothes
Thankfully this ISN'T a collection of Gucci or Coach bags as that would be a very expensive addiction. I just have to remind myself of that. There is one bag in our house that I hope she doesn't find. If she did, she just might have a heart attack at the thought of what she could do with it.
Of course a bag full of bags that I HOPE she doesn't use
Before we get into things, I am not going to get into what a great show this is (it is, please get rid of Zoe though) I am merely stealing the title from the show and a friend of mines blog with the same name. I would think this title would get your attention a little more than what I would have liked to call it, "Timbo the Clown and his Collie Bailey." Seriously, if you saw that other title you probably wouldn't have given it a second look but I will get into that other title later. With Easter fast approaching I am reminded of a day 15 years ago, a day that would change my life forever.
Our Wedding Day October 22, 2000
Everyone has a story about how they met their better half, some are more interesting than others; bars, grocery store, work, gym, wherever. Well I did meet my wife at work but it almost didn't happen. It turns out in the early spring of 1996 there was a job opening at a small TV station in Elmira, New York for a reporter/ photographer. I had made a phone call to the very intimidating News Director at the time John Herrick and set up an interview, surprisingly for the next day. I didn't know at the time what a dump this place would be, but to this day it's still the best three months that I worked in television. When I walked in for the interview, I passed a young woman in the hall, not really paying any attention to her as I was a little bit nervous about the interview. Little did I know, that a decision made by her opened the door for me to start my career as a news photographer. She had interviewed right before me and decided not to accept his offer of employment and decided to just go back to school go on vacation and figure things out. I was offered the job, pretty much the moment I sat down. Fast forward two weeks and that young lady is now working at the station. It turns out the place is like a revolving door for people in our business. You get in, make a resume tape, and get the hell out of there as soon as you can. When another opening came about, she was offered the job again, and this time she took it. Thank God she did because it was the day before Easter 1996, April 6th to be exact, that our two paths crossed again. That was the day that I officially met my future wife, and the mother to my two kids.
Summer on Seneca Lake 2010
We were assigned the typical nonsense story that day. Not much happens on the weekend in a rural upstate New York town, so the big story of the day was the Horseheads Easter Carnival. I know what you are thinking, there IS actually a place called Horseheads. It's a lovely place, a place I hold dear to my heart, if for no other reason than its the place that I was introduced to my wife. Obviously at the time we did not know that day would mean much more than seeing the star of the Carnival, Timbo the Clown. To this day Timbo the Clown still pops into our heads, and it's usually with some deep television reporter voice that we say, "Timbo the Clown and his Collie Bailey kicked off this preEaster celebration." I will show you why in a minute. We spent the day together, pretty much goofing around asking people what they were making for Easter dinner. Our other big assignment was to find out if people were eating Turkey or Ham. I know this place sounds ridiculous but for those that have worked in small town TV you know what I am talking about. We still ask each other around the holidays if we would like ham or spiral ham. So much of our lives revolve around that one weekend in early April.
I guess that Timbo the Clown was the original Neil Clark Warren, without even knowing it. He's the eharmony guy for those not in the know. It's hard to believe that day was 15 years ago and how much has changed since. We dated, got married, had kids, bought a house and I still have my partner in crime. If you told me that day this is how life would have turned out, I would have signed on the dotted line for even half of it.
There are four days in my life I will never forget: My wedding day, the day Tyler was born, the day Carter was born, and the day before Easter 1996. Without that day none of the others would have happened. I will always look back to that day 15 years ago as the day Timbo the Clown and his collie Bailey came into my life and more importantly as the day I found someone to share that memory with. What about Timbo the Clown you ask? Funny thing! It's not too often you find video of the day you met.
It's hard to believe that reporter did not make it all the way to the network level, but I think she is doing fine anyway. We still get through Horseheads a few times a year on the way to my parents house. I always wonder what happened to Timbo and his dog, he is surely dead by now, the dog I mean. Do you have a story like this? I would love to know how you met your other half.
It's not everyday that your wife is plastered all over the news. From Yahoo finance, to The Street, to CNBC, she is everywhere. My wife just got a big promotion at work and we could not be more proud. I never fully understand what she does but for her to be recognized in this way is just awesome. She has sacrificed a lot over the years to get where she is today and it seems that hard work has not gone unnoticed. The following is a press release from AOL, but you could google her and get all the same information, how cool is that?
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New York, NY – April 14, 2011 – AOL Advertising today announced that Jennifer Willey has been named Industry Practice Head for the CPG and Health categories. Willey will be responsible for partnering with sales leadership to execute a national industry-specific strategy in the two categories, in addition to playing an active role in generating new business. She will also represent AOL at industry events providing insights and trends in the industries. She will be based in the New York office.
Five Industry Practice Heads, including CPG/Health, Travel, Automotive, Finance and Entertainment, were announced today as part of the newly formed Industry Development team led by John Burke who joined AOL earlier this year. Technology and Retail Industry Practice Heads will be named in the next month.
“The Industry Development team is the next evolution of our strategy to be the most customer centric sales team in the marketplace,” said John Burke, Senior Vice President, Global Sales Strategy. “The Industry Practice Head brings domain expertise, strategic vision and significant client experience in their respective categories.”
Burke continued, "Jennifer Wiley is a big picture strategic thinker with enormous passion for the Consumer Packages Goods and Healthcare industries. She understands how these industries work, the challenges they face as marketers in the digital age and what is important to them moving forward.
I am excited to see how she will engage with the industry in new and innovative ways to drive premium advertising experiences around compelling content, products and customer interactions."
Willey joined AOL in 2010 as Health Category Sales Director, overseeing sales, account management and strategy for Pharmaceutical and Consumer Healthcare advertisers across the US. Prior to joining AOL, Willey held various roles in sales and management at Everyday Health, RealAge (a division of Hearst), Yahoo and TV Guide. She has been solely focused on creating innovative digital solutions for Health and CPG brands for the last decade.
“I’m thrilled to be recognized as a leader in the CPG and Health industries and honored to take on this leadership position at AOL to build out and execute our national strategies,” said Willey. “AOL is devoted to creating innovative, strategic platforms, products and solutions for marketers. My in-depth experience and deep roots with clients will help me thrive in this new role.”
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A big congrats to my better half, a great wife and a wonderful mother. I love you so much and could not be more proud of you.
We were assigned the typical nonsense story that day. Not much happens on the weekend in a rural upstate New York town, so the big story of the day was the Horseheads Easter Carnival. I know what you are thinking, there IS actually a place called Horseheads. It's a lovely place, a place I hold dear to my heart, if for no other reason than its the place that I was introduced to my wife. Obviously at the time we did not know that day would mean much more than seeing the star of the Carnival, Timbo the Clown. To this day Timbo the Clown still pops into our heads, and it's usually with some deep television reporter voice that we say, "Timbo the Clown and his Collie Bailey kicked off this preEaster celebration." I will show you why in a minute. We spent the day together, pretty much goofing around asking people what they were making for Easter dinner. Our other big assignment was to find out if people were eating Turkey or Ham. I know this place sounds ridiculous but for those that have worked in small town TV you know what I am talking about. We still ask each other around the holidays if we would like ham or spiral ham. So much of our lives revolve around that one weekend in early April.
