CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

As the co-owner of a company that operates children's dance program in at the time, 100 communities,  I had the challenging job of finding the right individual to work in our office and help coordinate all 100 directors.  It needed to be a very special person as the employee would need to wear so many hats.  They would handle parent phone calls, motivate the instructors, lead training workshops, teach dances and institute new policies.  In essence, she would be an extension of myself.  I felt very strongly that this person needed to have a good value system and deal with issues the way I would want them dealt with.  She would need to be intelligent, have a charismatic personality and would need to be self-motivated.  

I searched through my mind thinking of people I had worked with in the past or had made contact with through my work and our summer camps.  I work with thousands of dancers, coaches, and instructors each year. I thought back to a former dance assistant of mine.  She had worked with me when she attended our local college and had moved on to St. Ben's, graduate from there and was working in downtown Minneapolis. I didn't really think she would even be interested, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.  I didn't have her current phone number so I tried her parents home (I wondered if they still had the same phone number, as it had been so long).  Her mom answered the phone, and I said, I don't know if you remember me and I explained who I was and that I was trying to reach Carrie.  She gave me her current number.

Carrie's mom got off the phone and called Carrie at work right away.  "Cindy Clough returned your call," she said.  Carrie paused dumbfounded, "Mom, she could not have returned my call, because I did not call her."  You see weeks earlier, Carrie had been thinking about Just For Kix and told her mom she was going to call, but she hadn't gotten around to it.  She had felt a calling to apply for a job at Just For Kix. She did not feel fulfilled in her current job.  

 When I talked to her I asked her if there would ever be a chance for her to move to Brainerd and work full time for Just For Kix.

Within 3 weeks Carrie was working in the Just For Kix corporate offices.  In that short span of time, she quit her job, found a place to live and moved back to Brainerd. 

Carrie and I always wonder what drew us back together.  Was it fate? Was it divine intervention? Whatever it was, it was strange because we hadn't talked for years and then out of the blue we both filled a big "need" for the other person.  Whatever it was....we're just glad it happened.  

Cindy Clough

Just For Kix 

Dance Programs and Camps