I’ve only been in this business 3 years, but I have a lot of reasons to smile. First, let’s take a walk down memory lane.

25 years ago, me, hot shot creative guy was going to set the world on fire with his insight, innovation, and incredible talent. And yes, I blazed brightly in those days. Big City, Bright Lights. One success followed another, CEO’s asked my opinion (and often followed it), awards were won, and the appropriate amounts of thunderbolts were hurled around the firmament.

I had been blessed with working with the best of the best. I’ve played my part in tripling the size of a private company and taking it public. And been privileged to be part of a small rag-tag team of ten who grew a business from a blank sheet of paper to $700,000,000 in 5 years.

Life was good, until I heard the voices.

“The people you work with are crazy, maybe even certifiable”.

“You know, it’s not normal to be pulling all-nighters with your team for people who just don’t care”.

“You want me to do what? By when? And for how much?”

Crazy me. I started listening.

Through all of this there was my extremely patient family. And here’s the part where recruiting comes in. My wife, she’s been in the business for 20 years, a marvel, a pro, she “makes it happen”. Me, I was too busy hurling thunderbolts around the firmament to understand what she really did.

Fast forward. “Tell me about what you do” was the start. After a lot of conversation, it brings me to today.

Today is a small town in West Central Iowa in the middle of cornfields as far as the eye can see. Today is giving a hand to small businesses imparting the knowledge to be successful. Today is watching my son’s football game (hey, they won 48 to 0).

So why is this man smiling? Because of the future.

The future means making a profound effect on individual’s lives and businesses. It is a responsibility I take very seriously. So I look under every rock, read the 127th resume, interview the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend. This is serious, meaningful, stuff that makes a difference and will continue to do so.

The future is a compelling mix of new and old.

The Old. Two weeks ago I’m volunteering at a local SHRM event for displaced workers. Over 100 showed up to hear firsthand what hiring managers and recruiters are seeking in talent. My part, a round table discussion with 6 people to answer their questions, listen to their fears, and do my best to give them hope the next interview will be the right interview. It doesn’t get more old-school than a face-to-face discussion.

The New. A few weeks ago, old school marketing guy (me), attended a webinar on social networking. Now I’m no novice at this, I network with the best of them and LinkedIn is my friend. But Facebook, Twitter, and others as business tools? Where am I going to see the bang for my buck? Where am I going to get that 25th hour in my day? Well the light bulb went on that day, and it wasn’t just a 60W bulb, it was a 1000w bulb. The King of Marketing was dead, long live the King.

The future is you. I’ve only been at this for 3 years. In those 3 years I have never seen an industry which shares, participates, and gives of themselves so much as this one. I’m not sure of the reasons. Maybe it’s because we look for the best in people. Maybe it’s because we’ve worked with crazy people and no one should have to do that. Maybe it’s because what we do makes a difference and we want to help others make a difference. Whatever it is there will only be more on this road we are on.

So if I see you on that road to the future, wave. I promise I’ll wave back, it’s what we do in Iowa.