If you’re in this business long enough, you get to know your competition really well. And if they are tough competition, you develop a respect for them. That is the kind of relationship that Ted Leonhardt and I have developed over the years. For decades, Phinney Bischoff and The Leonhardt Group (which eventually became part of FITCH Worldwide) were on the winning and losing sides of many accounts. We forced each other to be better. And now, with Ted’s consulting business, he continues that ethos of helping people and agencies to be their best.
But this isn’t a business story. It’s a love story and a bit of an opportunity to brag. Because if Ted and I hadn’t had a healthy competitive relationship and if I hadn’t noticed a much softer side of Ted in his beautifully written blog posts then I would have never thought to introduce him to my dear friend of over 30 years, Robin McCoy Brooks! She is also a very gifted writer and a Jungian analyst. This March we got to celebrate their wedding aboard Ted’s boat among friends and family.
While I won’t give up my day job yet, I am now very hopeful for my future as a professional matchmaker! But in the end I need to recognize that the actual credit goes to Robin and Ted.
I had the honor and privilege to perform a toast at their joyous celebration and I’ll share one of the poems I included in hope it will spread a little more joy:
The Dream Keeper, by Langston Hughes
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamer,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.