Flashback - 2013 Top Women in Grocery Award

In November 2013, I got to go to the award celebration for winning the Top Women in Grocery Award through Progressive Grocer Magazine.  I was at the "Rising Star" level.  It's pretty cool to be recognized like this! They feature all the winners in their magazine and throw a really nice celebration.  I went to some training in the morning and then a nice award's gala/dinner at night.  

This was the first time I won the award.

No pictures because since this is a flashback post and I'd have to go dig through an old external drive to find them  :)

End of January 2017

Emmalyn caught trying to put on some lip gloss.  some of it made it to her lips.  :)

Snuggles with my kiddos

We went to see this play as part of our season tickets to the winspear opera house.  We totally had spaced that we had a play that night and so about 30 minutes before the show started Peter got a reminder on his phone and we dropped everything and left (it's 45 minutes away).  This play was INTENSE.  On one side, it probably would have been helpful to not miss the first part of the show because we might have understood better what was going on.  But on the other hand, I was grateful we missed some of it because it was totally enjoyable and like I said was a very intense play.

How I really felt about the show

Each day Maxwell comes home with a folder from school and if he has an behavioral issues, his teacher will sign his folder and write down what the issue was.  Well, kudos to him - - he went all the way until the second week in January before he got his folder signed.  That's a pretty good kid. (It ended up being the only time he got his folder signed all year.)

Karaoke fun after showers

I had my leadership team in for a meeting and one of them was sick so they all wore these masks as a joke.  

Maxwell being a chef and putting some granola and fruit on his yogurt.

Joe's brother came to town for a few days and the kids LOVED having him here.

Reading with daddy

Maxwell was chosen by his teacher to be a Star Student.  He was recognized in the school assembly called "Norris Now" and I was able to go and see him. The star students ares in specific award categories that are chosen based on the school's character traits that are learned about in Character Lab (the specials teachers run this and the students go every 8 days or so).  Maxwell's teacher said that she chose Maxwell for "Curiosity" because he often asks really interesting questions about things and is eager to learn more.  Maxwell was really excited when he saw both Peter and I in the audience.

Maxwell is the front row - second from the right.  

We went out for pizza to celebrate

Maxwell came home with his second report card.  They don't say much other than he is at the expected level for everything.  (They don't tell you if they are ABOVE that level.)

A funny thing about Maxwell - sometimes he will talk in a southern accent... could be just a couple words or could be a sentence.  Whenever he does it, Peter and I just look at each other and smile.  The kid lives in Texas, it's bound to happen a little bit!

Love that profile

Love the warm days we get in the winter where we can go to the park without jackets!

Maxwell and daddy going for a run

Maxwell making a poster to take to school to celebrate 100 days of Kindergarten.  He put 100 pieces of washi tape on the poster.

Playing Doctor

Ta....da!

Tootin' My Horn

I don't toot my own horn about work but this is pretty special, so perhaps just this once.

We HAD to leave Vegas even though I was tempted to extend our visit because I had the semi-annual Excel Inter-National Leadership Conference to attend at CROSSMARK.  This is a meeting for the senior leadership at CROSSMARK (Director level and above).  Only about 200 people attend and CROSSMARK has 32,000 employees so do the math on that percentage!  There are speakers, breakout sessions, team building, awards dinners, etc.  Not something you want to miss if you are career minded.  I didn't get to go to the meeting in the fall because I was on maternity leave so I was looking forward to attending and seeing co-workers from all over the place that I don't get to normally see.  Plus, meetings always pump me up.

Well, this one was special because at the awards dinner, I unexpectedly received an award and was recognized for my hard work.  I received it for my efforts as Director on the Walgreen's CCR team (until I went out on maternity).  It was totally unexpected and much appreciated. 

When they announce the award, the person presenting the award reads a little blurb about the recipient and their accomplishments without stating their name until the end.  Usually you can tell who it's going to be after a few sentences based on specifics being given.  I was only semi-listening during the awards ceremony because it was late in the evening and I was anxious to get home to Max.  Well, I'm sitting there listening and all of a sudden I get this little tingle and I'm like, I think Jim N (Chief Technology Office/Executive VP) is talking about me...no, couldn't be!  Then he mentions CCR and I KNOW its me.  CRAZY!  So I go up to get my award and feel completely special to be acknowledged by our senior leadership group as well as my peers who are cheering warmly for me.

I asked Bob H (VP, my ex-boss, and the one who nominated me) if I could get a copy of the write up that was read because I really wanted to blog it.  (And just remember it too because like I said, I wasn't completely focused on what was being said until about 1/2 way through.)  Plus, it would be nice to have it written down to look back on during those tough days at work when I want to thrown in the towel.  Well, Bob never got back to me with it and I didn't want to push too hard because I already felt kinda weird asking for it anyway.

So...something nice was said about the work I did on Coinstar, Walgreen's CCR, and how I solve problems, etc.  I do remember they read a quote from my contact at Walgreen's who said that "Kallie is the best person I have ever worked with at CROSSMARK".  That meant a LOT - because #1 - This guy is known for being a jerk and very hard to work with and please and #2 - He's worked with people higher up the ladder than me.  When I was working on CCR, I worked conscientiously and diligently to ensure we had a good working relationship while also not being a doormat/pushover with him either so it was really nice to hear those words.  (Bob said later that he had also included in his write up that I had done all these great things while ALSO being pregnant.  Which I think deserves special recognition because come on, successfully running a team while you are tired, have nausea, are plagued with pregnancy brain and can't think straight or remember any words you used to use or what happened yesterday, and your emotions don't know what "stable" means is a pretty big deal!  Bob, who has a wife that is 4 months pregnant, thought so too.  But apparently Jim decided to edit that out.  Such a male thing to do.)

I received the "Commitment to Excellence" award which was only given to 8 people in the company this year.  You have to be nominated and the senior leaders have to agree that you deserve the award, so it's not based on something like just making your P&L for the year.  Pretty AWESOME in my book.  The award is a nice metal (HEAVY) replica of a bigger sculpture of Excel, the CROSSMARK mascot (he's one of the bulls we own that live in the pasture in front of the office).

Side note...
How do you know you work for a company with headquarters in Dallas? :)  Don't take this the wrong way - CROSSMARK is forward thinking, an industry leader, awarded for their technology, and has a very nice corporate office.  This stuff makes me chuckle though...

• The company owns the pasture next to the office and raises both Buffalo and cattle (longhorns)
• The company mascot is a bull and the company commissioned a sculpture of the bull
• The top award given to leaders in the company is ridiculously heavy, mini-sculpture of that bull

Crap!  I just realized I should take a close up shot of the award and add it to the blog.  It is at work so I can't take the picture now but I'll try and remember to do that and update this post.

Here's the blurb that went up on our company website:
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CROSSMARK Leaders Honored for “Going Beyond”


CROSSMARK leaders from around the world attended a recent company leadership conference themed “Going Beyond.” CROSSMARK CEO John Thompson reinforced to the group that the company’s goal is to be the number one choice of sales and marketing services providers among all consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. And he said that will require exceeding expectations and going the extra mile to deliver outstanding results. At the same time, a number of those leaders also were honored for their success in doing just that.

At the conference, awards were given to associates who demonstrated exceptional leadership and achievement of annual performance objectives. Recipients were presented with awards for excellence, inspired by and showcasing “Excel” the longhorn bull, CROSSMARK’s mascot that represents excellence, strength, and leadership.

Dwayne Hamilton, Division Manager of the Johnson & Johnson Dedicated Team, received the top honor with the “Excellence in Leadership” award for demonstrating outstanding leadership.

In addition, eight other associates were honored with “Commitment to Excellence” awards for their outstanding performance and leadership over the past year, and 28 recipients were awarded the “Circle of Excellence” for achieving their business objectives.
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