mizChartreuse || redefiningSuccess

I know a woman who thinks she’s successful because she lives in a nice high-rise and drives a luxury car. A man I met the other week at Twisted Spoke felt the need to validate himself by talking, unprovoked, about his $25,000 credit card limit. Some people define success as “getting a job and making money.”

I don’t think it’s that simple. The woman I know rents her apartment, leases her car, and can barely afford either without overdrafting her account each month. The man at the Spoke’s credit card was declined when I ran it for a $40 lunch tab. As for me, I work and make money–but those two factors aren’t what make me feel successful.

What is success?

“Athletes may have one definition of Success, and a stay at home mom may have another. A musician may see Success as a number one hit, and a Doctor may see Success as a surgery that went well. It really depends on the perspective of life you have.” -Doug Firebaugh

Indeed, people see success differently, because we all have different ambitions and goals. I doubt we can come to a consensus about THE definition of success, but I believe at its core, success requires exemplifying excellence, finding personal satisfaction in your actions, and enriching others. These don’t even necessarily have to be related to your job or career (although they should be), but these factors should infiltrate every aspect of your life.

I have a number of wonderful examples of people whom I consider to be quite successful, at least based on my brief interactions with them. They might not be millionaires, self-professed gurus, reaching thousands of people, nor saving lives–but they made quite an impact on mine and are great examples of Redefining Success.

Last Friday, I was running errands and my boyfriend Sean asked me to stop at the local Home Depot and pick up an extension cord for our refrigerator.

I don't even know what this type of plug is called.

Upon entering the Home Depot at 1300 S. Clinton Street, a guy in his 20s approached me, asking if he could help. I told him I was looking for a 9-foot refrigerator-compatible extension cord that had the plug pictured above. We walked to three different cable sections with no luck, so he took me to the appliances department and introduced me to Lula.

Lula was very no-nonsense and knowledgeable about the situation. “I know we have to have that sort of extension cord in here somewhere,” she mused as she rummaged through the displays of cables. “Do you guys even organize this section?” The other two just kind of shrugged as the Woman on a Mission searched some more.

Finally she stopped. “Hm, maybe you should go to a different Home Depot location. We should have that cord, but it is air conditioner season right now…”

“Yeah, that’s why I need the extension cord,” I told her. “We’re putting in a new window A/C unit, and are moving our refrigerator a couple feet to clear the space around the kitchen window.”

“Wait, so you need the cord for a fridge?”

“Correct.”

“Hold on a second. That doesn’t even make sense,” she told me. “Refrigerators don’t run on [insert some voltage here]. They run on [insert some other voltage here].”

“Well…that’s what the cord that is coming from behind our fridge looks like,” I tried to explain. “We just want to take that plug that is currently in our wall outlet and extend it.”

“But that’s not right,” Lula insisted. “Come with me.” She walked me to the refrigeration section. “You bought your fridge in the States, right? Look.” She showed me the cable coming from the back of a General Electric.

“Whoa,” I said. “Maybe I should call my boyfriend and ask him to look behind our fridge to see what was really going on.”

“Holy shit,” Sean said over the phone to me. “You are right. She’s totally right. There’s a whole other cable connected to the fridge in the back. I’m SO glad she knew enough to tell you to double-check this.”

Lula smiled.

“See? I told you!” she said, and it wasn’t the least bit cocky. “It’s probably not good for you to be running your refrigerator on a cable like that.” Then she showed me exactly what I needed, a regular 9-foot extension cord that goes into a normal outlet.

What an interesting, amazing moment. Another Home Depot member could have just sent me off with a cable that could have blown the entire electrical circuit in my apartment. Lula took the time to get to the bottom of my issue, and educated me as to what exactly I needed to accomplish our project. I thanked her profusely.

As I left the building, I tweeted: “Lula at Home Depot just saved me and @bokeen from blowing up our kitchen. Smart woman!”

Shortly thereafter, I saw this @reply to me:

I’m so pleased and impressed with the exemplary service Lula provided me last Friday–instead of just sharing it in a private message to Home Depot, I had to at least share the story with the readers of this website.

I interacted with this woman for such a brief moment in time, but in those ten minutes, she impacted my life in a tremendous way by being knowledgeable, patient, and gracious. She didn’t stop until she solved the problem. She probably saved my landlord from having to purchase a new fridge and re-wire our circuits. She saved me a trip to another store where I may or may not have figured out what I needed.

I don’t know how much money this woman makes nor the kind of car she drives; she’s probably not famous nor spends her nights drinking Cristal in nightclubs. But as I said, none of that stuff matters. She gave me excellent service, enriched my life, and I could tell just by her explaining how voltage works that she enjoys what she does.

“Home Depot: More saving, more doing?” Absolutely.

Lula at Chicago’s south loop Home Depot is just another example of a fierce woman Redefining Success.

What are some of the times you’ve experienced great service?