Making a Difference

I love to see successful small organizations thriving, especially when they are truly making a difference in people's lives.  One such organization is owned by my fabulous friend, Marnita Schroedl and her husband Carl Goldstein.  The organization is called Marnita's Table and it is focused on building cross cultural communication through intentional social interaction.


I first met Marnita in the fall of 2002.  I had decided to leave General Mills and go out on my own as an HR Consultant.  I spoke to skads people in the process of figuring out how I wanted to enter the world of consulting and heard even more opinions about what I should do.  The process left me fairly confused and a little disheartened.  


Enter Marnita (I believe her title at that time was "Lightening in a Bottle").  To say Marnita and I have different styles in an understatement - I think we represent the opposing ends of the introvert/extrovert scale nicely - you can guess who is who!  Her expertise in Marketing Communications and the energy she brought to helping me find the right combination of work and passion for me was invaluable.  She also generously came to the HR class I teach at Hamline to take my students through and one of a kind diversity session - and never failed to touch their lives each time.


Marnita and I worked together as coach and client for a year or so, and she helped my craft a business model that still works for me today.  Through that time we became wonderful friends and I am thrilled to see her organization doing wonderful things in the world.


There was a great article about her in the Star Tribune on Saturday, check it out when you have a chance, and know that if you are with an organization that needs help igniting cross-cultural communication on almost any topic, in an incredibly effective way - Marnita is the one to call.