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Networking Works!

Written by: Chellie Campbell

Article Overview: Eek. The dreadful Jury Duty Summons arrives in the mail again. I’m all for the jury system, mind you, but those of us who aren’t on corporate payrolls don’t get a paycheck during the time we serve. Oh, well, “one day or one trial” isn’t so bad. I am ready to do my civic duty. I believe in our government and the trial-by-jury-of-our-peers system. If a case of mine were being tried, wouldn’t I want me to be on the jury? My mood improved, I call in on the appointed day and receive instructions to show up Monday..

Networking Works!

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”—Abraham Lincoln

Eek. The dreadful Jury Duty Summons arrives in the mail again. I’m all for the jury system, mind you, but those of us who aren’t on corporate payrolls don’t get a paycheck during the time we serve. Oh, well, “one day or one trial” isn’t so bad. I am ready to do my civic duty. I believe in our government and the trial-by-jury-of-our-peers system. If a case of mine were being tried, wouldn’t I want me to be on the jury? My mood improved, I call in on the appointed day and receive instructions to show up Monday.

I mentioned this to my family the day before at our family gathering for Mother’s Day. My niece’s new mother-in-law, Kathleen, perked up and said, “You’re going to be on jury duty this week? I’m going to give a speech to the jury pool tomorrow at ten o’clock!” What a coincidence! She works for the Superior Court as the Managing Attorney for the Self-Help Management Project, and she told me that the coming week was “Jury Appreciation Week”. (Wouldn’t you know that would be my week? We got free coffee and donuts, too. Hah!)

So I drove to the Superior Courthouse downtown Los Angeles at the wee hour of 7:00 am (if this is not a wee hour to you, remember I work nights). I ate my coffee and donut, listened to Kathleen’s speech, and waited to be assigned to a jury panel. I looked around to see if I recognized anybody in the room, and sure enough, there sat Amy Brennerman, star of the TV show “Judging Amy”. They don’t let anybody off any more; even movie stars have to serve.

Finally, I was selected for a panel, and the jury selection process began. This trial was about two businessmen who had a contractual disagreement over the purchase of an office building and we were told it would take two weeks. Two weeks?! Ouch! What happened to the one-day thing? I made a plea that as a small business owner it’s difficult to take that much time off, but the judge smiles and shakes his head and says, “We really need you on this trial.”

Day Two: The jury selection process continued as the attorneys questioned prospective jurors. Then the judge said, “It would be nice for all of us to get to know each other. Let’s go around the room and everyone say their name and what they do for a living.” I am amazed—we’re doing “Round Robin” (30-second commercial introduction) on jury duty! So when it was my turn, I said, “I’m Chellie Campbell and I treat money disorders—spending bulimia and income anorexia.” There was a shout of laughter at that, and I held up my book (always prepared for book promotion, I always have a copy of my book with me) and said, “I’m also the author of the book ‘The Wealthy Spirit’”. I sold five books!

Later that afternoon, my networking paid off again, when one of the attorneys said that an attorney named Lorraine was going to give testimony in the trial the next day. I know Lorraine from networking! I raised my hand immediately; “Judge, I have a conflict. I know one of the people giving testimony in this case.” He called me over to a sidebar, where I explained to him and the attorneys that Lorraine is a friend of mine. “How well do you know her?” he inquired. I said, “We were on the Board of Directors of National Association of Women Business Owners for five years” (more networking paying off). When he inquired if that would affect my judgment in the case, and I shrugged and said honestly, “I’m going to believe anything she says.” He said, “You’re excused.”

I called Lorraine that afternoon to thank her for my “Get-Out-Of-Jury-Duty-Free” card. We had a good laugh over it, too!

You never know when networking is going to pay off. I’ve sold my book to telemarketers who called to sell me something. I bought a ring watch off the internet, and the seller wrote me a cheerful note, so I wrote her back and suggested she might enjoy my book. She emailed me an hour later: “Chellie, I just went in and read a few of the pages on Amazon - WHAT A GREAT BOOK!!!! I'm going to buy it and I think I'll get one for my son too – NO, I KNOW I'll get one for my son too, lol. Thanks so much, Elaine, Glitz Galore.”

Now, isn’t that fun? You never know what dolphins are swimming out there unless you reach out and share a bit of yourself along the way. Why not strike up a conversation today with someone new—you may be surprised what happens, but it’ll be good!

Today’s Affirmation: “I love people and they love me back!”

www.chellie.com

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Article Tags: abraham lincoln, amy brennerman, civic duty, free coffee, help management, judging amy, jury duty, jury panel, jury pool, jury selection process, jury system, mail, management project, mother in law, movie stars, new mother, o clock, small business owner, trial by jury, tv show judging amy



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