Chamber of Commerce Love

"It was a Good day." Ice Cube

There was a time when somehow, I first mustered the courage to attend a chamber of commerce meeting, solo. And even though I fear death considerably more than speaking in public, the threat of a 15 second elevator speech did present the risk of a facial tic that never happened.

On a bright day maybe ten years into my chamber breakfast tours, Registered Dental Assistant Denise joined her sister, Dani, as part of our Temple City Dental Care team. After about a minute, I sacrificed my personal Bruin baiting time for Denise, now an award-winning speaker and coast-to-coast business consultant.

Registered Dental Assistant/Team Leader Dani and I have created Impact Dental Assisting Academy, LLC, prompting me to shake off the dust, and get back on the Arcadia Chamber trail of oh, so many events.

I awakened after an evening of Ted Lasso throwing darts, a good crime novel, and eight hours of sleep (uninterrupted by a single dental school nightmare). Dude, my energy was Senior Olympic!

I shared a hopefully inspiring quote and video commentary (going out to 600 dental practices Monday-Friday) by 6AM. I followed up with some Tai Chi, supplements, and a 20 (maybe closer to 40) minute scroll through Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

I discovered that at 8AM, the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce and my friend, Hypnotherapist extraordinaire Ted Moreno, were hosting the Morning Brew at the chamber headquarters. Ted has helped my patients and my two major friends, Dani and Denise. I hadn’t experienced an “In real life” Ted visitation in at least a decade.

It had been a minute. Even though I was a former board member, led an Introduction to the Landmark Forum at chamber headquarters, and used to lead the chamber breakfast, I parked in the wrong lot. And while I was exploring the Arcadia Recreation and Community Services, a voice called out my name; it was coming from a patient I’d treated straight outta USC Dental School. Karen shared her first visit happened at age ten; she now had seven grandchildren. Time sure does fly. And sometimes when you’re on the wrong side of Huntington Drive, things still turn out okay (especially when you don’t run across the street).

Hanging out with positive like-minded folks like Ted, Denise, and new business friends was like experiencing a slice of life reminding me how much I missed the community and seeing friends being great.

To paraphrase Ice Cube, “It was already a good day.”