She was a great storyteller. Many years ago, in front of a packed audience at an addiction conference in Las Vegas, this woman had the audience in the palm of her hand.
As an unknown publisher of a tiny company, I spotted her in the dining room that evening chatting with another woman. Uninvited, I boldly approached her table and led with something like, “I’d like you to come to work for The Change Companies. We can help you grow in the field.”
She was kind. She told me she already had a publisher. She then introduced me to her editor, a senior member of a world-renowned publishing company. Red-faced, I made a quick and clumsy exit.
This evening, I finished a great book: Atlas of the Heart, from five-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brene Brown.
My embarrassment still lingers after all these years.
But I sure know how to pick them.