Pam and Doug: It Started With Retirement
Last summer we bid farewell to an amazing teammate and friend who consulted with us for over 13 years, Pam DeGrote. Her future forecast includes traveling the country with her husband Doug. Trissential wanted to give Pam something to save all the memories they will soon capture – a custom wooden box titled ‘Our Adventures – Doug & Pam’. However, upon delivery, the box had a slight crack in a hinge and also read ‘love of a lifetime’ which wasn’t what I envisioned for a retirement gift and wasn’t requested in our order. Luckily, the owners of the woodworking studio were more than happy to build and ship out a new box at no cost and in time for our farewell party – customer service at its finest!
So Now What?
Pam received the intended gift, yet now I had this other lovely box, freshly carved and stained, sitting on my desk without a home. So, I turned to Google and typed ‘Pam and Doug anniversary’ and found an article titled ‘Doug and Pam Knowles celebrate 50th anniversary‘ – better yet, the article was dated May of 2022 and they live nearby in Illinois! Now my adventure is finding someone who will listen to my crazy story!
Social Media can be a blessing and curse, but in this case, I was able to find a granddaughter of the Knowles on Facebook, Addy. After much typing and deleting, I share this interesting story in Messenger and hit send, now hoping she doesn’t think ‘Stranger Danger’ or that I’m a scam. Three hours later I get a reply and then a few more hours later an address to send this cute wooden box to – What an adventure in itself! Within the box, I placed a little card to give thanks for the trust and a polite request for a photo so I could share this story. I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Doug and Pam Knowles, who will be celebrating 51 years on April 22, 2023!
1% Better
Trissential’s day-one mission has been ‘to make a positive impact on the lives of anyone who interacts with Trissential’ and this year’s focus is to help ourselves and others become 1% better both professionally and personally. This was a roundabout way but definitely had a positive impact on me. Sending this box 400 miles to make a stranger smile, makes me ask myself ‘how can I continue to become 1% better today, tomorrow, and the next day?’
Thank You
Thank you Brandon and Hallie Chilton, the fantastic owners of YouandIcollection on Etsy who created this custom gift (twice!) for us. Thanks to Addy Knowles for replying to my Facebook message and for getting this cute wooden box in the hands of another Doug and Pam, your grandparents. Cheers to the next chapter in all of your lives, we hope it’s at least 1% better each day!
Learn more about Trissential’s mission and values here.
