Day 68: Deb Hollenbach
“… certainly the obvious things like sermons and stuff, but sometimes it can be hidden in a magazine article, just this one sentence that jumps out at you or this one thought, and it can almost be life-changing. That is sort of where I have found inspiration.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you very much for participating in the Get Inspired! Project, and I am very excited to be able to interview you. Out of the gate, though, can we first hear who you are and what you do?
Deb Hollenbach: Sure. My name is Deb Hollenbach, and my current position is an Executive Assistant to the owners of a retail store fixture company in Leesport, Pennsylvania. We have been around for almost 40 years. I haven’t, but the company has! So that is what I do at this time. I have held a number of positions in the organization, but that is the hat I am wearing today.
Toni: Okay, great. Now, as part of the preparation for the interview, what we are trying to do is find out different people’s approaches to inspiring others as well as what they need. So, in order to do this, we are asking 4 questions. So the first question is who do you inspire, and how do you do that?
Deb: Well, you know, it’s interesting, because I never really had an opportunity to think about it before until, in discussions with you, learning about the project, so it is a great concept. I would like to think that I inspire my coworkers, especially lately. It has been a rough couple of years in the workplace — and very difficult to stay positive, given what we are all facing — but I am fortunate that somehow, and I am not sure how, I am able to somehow remain upbeat and positive and professional.
And I find that if given the opportunity, I find myself sharing this with my peers from time to time when they are complaining or they are being negative. It is just a role that I step into and feel kind of comfortable. Now granted, sometimes they look at me like I have 3 heads, but I think in the end I have seen evidence where a little bit of it actually sinks in with them, and I have actually perceived a bit of a climate change with them after we have spoken. And I basically tell them that they have a choice, and once they realize that and consciously make that choice, that they seem more at peace in their work environment.
I also think that friends and coworkers have been inspired by some of my personal life journeys and challenges that I have endured over the past couple of years, simply by the fact that I still can get out of bed basically functioning and can even occasionally smile and be optimistic. So, that is what I would like to think; I don’t know if that is the case, but that is what I believe.
Toni: So basically, the way that you believe that you inspire others is through, you mentioned, giving people a choice. When you talk to somebody that is having a bad day at work and you are drawing from your own personal experiences or the choice that you have made, what do you do?
Deb: Well, I basically just say that. I certainly don’t discount their feelings, but I just had to cut through it all and at the end of the day I just say to them, “Look, you know, I hear what you are saying but you have a choice; you can either stay or go or you can be positive and make the most of the day or the situation, or you can’t.” I suppose in a very nice way it is telling them to either — and this is going to sound harsh — but either shut up or put up kind of a thing. Unless they are really, truly going to make some kind of a change, why waste all this time being negative; it just doesn’t make any sense to me.
When I tell them my approach, they are like “Oh! That might actually work!” and I have seen them try it and then I notice that their step is a little lighter, and they are not walking with their heads down, and it just changes their aura a bit. That is what I have experienced.
Toni: That sounds fantastic! What do you do in order to help explore potential in others, for someone to raise their potential and to recognize their own voice and potential?
Deb: Well, again, I don’t have the ability anymore, I don’t have the position anymore to actually practice this professionally; I am not currently in a management role but perhaps a mentoring role. But, I know that in the past I would do exactly what I just spoke about, which was understand where they are coming from, but then, you know, cut right to the chase and say “You know, here’s your choices.” I think that in some way lifts them up.
I do think I may do more exploration of potential certainly with my children. We talk, they talk, I listen, and again, not to sound blissful, but I know that there is nothing that they can’t do if they really want to do it, and I think we would all say that about our children, especially my daughter. So to be honest, there is really not a lot of exploring to be done with them because — as far as I am concerned with them and, quite frankly, anybody else if they can get themselves to this place — the sky is the limit.
Toni: What do you see for yourself, when you look around and you are either in the work environment or drawing from your personal experience, what do you need for inspiration? What inspires you? What things do you look for?
Deb: It does not take much these days. I have learned that I have become much more open in the last couple of years for a number of reasons, so I am like a sponge. I am very inspired by the conversation of certain friends, by sermons that I hear, by speeches that I hear famous people give, actors, and things like that.
I am very, very inspired by the written word, by what I read. Like right now, I am on this kick where I will read a passage in a book or a quote and I just go nuts. I read it over and over again, and I keep coming back to it, and I actually type them and I have this on my desk. It is called “words to live by”, and it is these different quotes that just really, really hit home, you know?
It’s just amazing how just a simple phrase can just inspire me. It gets me through the day. One of my favorite ones that I am on a kick now with is “To get something that you have never had before, you have to do something that you have never done before.” I just repeat these; they almost become like mantras.
Or, if I am reading a book, a novel, and I read a passage or a sentence that really is inspirational, I will get out a highlighter, and I will highlight it and I will just keep coming back to that. So, again, certainly the obvious things like sermons and stuff, but sometimes it can be hidden in a magazine article, just this one sentence that jumps out at you or this one thought, and it can almost be life-changing. That is sort of where I have found inspiration.
Toni: You find inspiration in the written word in various, I would say, platforms — whether it is in a sermon or in a magazine or a book or a speech — but what do you need? Is that what you need to be inspired is that written word, or are there other ways that you think that when you search, what do you need for inspiration? Because how you inspire is by telling people they have choices and to provide an optimistic point of view in their current situation is what I heard earlier in this interview. Is that the same thing that you would go look for, for your own inspiration?
Deb: Well, I guess that sort of marries into question 4 in that I don’t know what it is, but I just think that life experience is what I need to be inspired. And that often, in turn, produces opportunities. Even if the experience itself is less than pleasant, it is inspiring in that it does produce challenges, but then again opportunities. That is a hard one to kind of get my hands around. I don’t feel it is tangible.
Again, I go back to thought processes and things like that, and what you do in your own head as far as gaining inspiration. I think 90% of it is up to you, up to the individual of being open to it and being inspired, allowing yourself to be inspired and open-minded to it. As far as what I need, again, I need to live life and let the experiences happen and turn them into opportunities and move along in that direction.
Toni: Basically, what I am hearing from you is that life is what you need for inspiration, but it’s the permission to be inspired.
Deb: Yeah, you have to be open to it.
Toni: And to keep your eyes open.
Deb: Yes, that’s what I mean … you can’t be reading a book or reading a sentence … I refuse to just gloss over something. When I read it and it really strikes me, I will write it down. It is almost like obsessive-compulsive disorder; I obsess about it, and you can’t take anything for granted.
Toni: If we marry that with the fourth and final question, in what do you need to explore your own potential. And when you are looking and you are exploring for tools and resources to help you explore your own potential, where do you go for that?
Deb: Again, it is almost the same answer. It is life experience. It is reading. It is learning. It is experiencing everything in any given day to its fullest, and being present in the moment and, again, not taking any of it for granted. And lastly, faith. My faith plays a big part in everything that I do from the beginning of the day to the end of the day.
So again, I think it’s just being open to those life experiences even if they are not good, even if they are bad. You can turn that around into something positive and be inspired by it. I have been inspired by things that have happened over the years, and the fact that I was able to learn from them and get through them, and then pass that on to others who need those tools.
Toni: So basically, so whether you have been through a very tough experience in your life or at work, what you are saying as far as what you need to explore your own potential is to learn from that, so that you can go to that challenge again or handle it differently, or share what you have been though.
Deb: Mostly share, because I feel that that sharing is inspiring. It inspires people, and people might see, “Wow, you know, if she could get through that or if she can be positive at work, why can’t I?” It seems kind of cyclical, if that is the right word. It just all comes full circle and, again, not knowing that much about it and having not thought that much about it, I am sure there is a lot more that could be explored and tie it all together, but it is a heck of a concept. I don’t hear that word very often, “inspire”; you just don’t. It’s a great word, and it is a great concept, and I think we could all use a lot more of that in our lives, both giving and receiving of it.
Toni: I think based on the interview that you have just given as far as who do you inspire and how, and then what do you need for your own inspiration, it does tie to how you explore other people’s potential plus your own. And you have given an absolutely fantastic interview on that. I know that many people will appreciate that and learn from this interview. I thank you so much for your participation and your willingness to be part of this project.
Deb: Thank you, and thank you for including me and good luck. I think you are on to something great!
Toni: Thank you!
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