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<\/p>\nIt was the early 1980\u2019s. I quit my job of 11 years and headed home. Home to work.<\/p>\n
Starting my own communications business on a slim budget, I set up shop at home. Our new condo had just the spot\u2014an upstairs room with a door that could be closed. We purchased a state-of-the-art computer that today could easily be mistaken for minifridge. Along with the computer, I had a landline telephone, a typewriter, bushels of hope and tons of anxiety.<\/p>\n
Making my intentions known to anyone and everyone I had ever met, I mailed through the USPS tasteful, printed notices of my new venture. I knew even then that people would share my contact info with their contacts. These announcements sidestepped my home office location by listing a mailbox number for an address.<\/p>\n
And one day my office phone rang. I answered in the most professional voice I could muster, fearing I might not sound like I knew what I was doing.<\/p>\n
The caller said, \u201cThis is Tandy Rice, and I just wanted to call and wish you well on your new business.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost gasped right into the receiver.<\/p>\n
Anyone in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1980\u2019s knew that name. He was an entertainment manager and booking agent of such folks as Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Tom T. Hall and Jeannie C. Riley. He had begun his career as a publicist, which was one of the services I was offering, so he knew a bit about the business. He rose to fame as founder of Top Billing, Inc. and garnered numerous accolades through the years, including serving as president of the Country Music Association.<\/p>\n
Known for his business expertise, his looks contributed to his persona\u2014longish flowing and graying hair, an ever-present ear-to-ear smile always, seersucker suits, Southern accent and but happy voice that \u201ccarried.\u201d A handsome man in my book.<\/p>\n
His 2015 obituary says he purchased the booking agency Top Billing, Inc and developed it into a Nashville powerhouse, at its peak managing or booking 18 major artists. Under Tandy\u2019s tutelage, one of his clients, Billy Carter, became a national media celebrity who earned more than his brother President Jimmy Carter.<\/p>\n
The differences between Tandy Rice and myself stumbled all over themselves inside my head while my professional self tried to sound lucid. I had met Tandy when he attended some event I had planned while gainfully employed. I don\u2019t remember which one, but it assuredly was a book autographing party. Perhaps for Minnie Pearl, who was distantly related to Tandy?<\/p>\n
Then he asked the question I didn\u2019t want to answer: \u201cWhere are your offices?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now I did gasp, but to myself. I was about to be found out. He wouldn\u2019t think I was a real business. Once again, trying to sound as professional as possible, I replied, \u201cFor right now, they are in my home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep them there,\u201d said Tandy. \u201cYour clients don\u2019t care where your offices are located, and they surely don\u2019t want to pay for your expensive overhead.\u201d Then he told me he had just moved his own offices from his fancy digs to a smaller space.<\/p>\n
I was floored. First of all, I couldn\u2019t believe a person at the top of his game had called to encourage someone just starting out in his game. And then, instead of making me feel inferior because my the location of my offices, he validated my choice.<\/p>\n
Both of these say a lot about that man, and they tell me why he was successful. He was kind, he was an encourager. How very nice of him to call me.<\/p>\n
Buoyed by such affirmation, I gained confidence. Through years I learned a few things. When your office is in your home, you either work or you don\u2019t. Regular hours devoted to the work are a must. Those hours can vary, but you must have a concentrated block of time each day to work.<\/p>\n
You can be more productive because you don\u2019t have the constant distractions of such things as \u201cwater cooler\u201d talks, people popping into your office to chat, unplanned meetings. At the end of my working from home day, I scheduled tasks for the next day. I soon realized I was completing that list within a couple of hours. Eventually, I new schedule was based on the amount of work I completed downtown in the big office building.<\/p>\n
You can be professional, even in a home office. At one time, I had a telephone with a mute button installed in my kitchen because I had clients in different time zones. I frequently received business calls while cooking dinner. I became adept at saying, \u201cMay I put you on hold while I go to my desk?\u201d and deftly turning off stove burners, all in one swift motion.<\/p>\n
Only once did I have a problem and I just had to be honest. I was conducting a telephone interview and my two-year-old decided to have a crying fit. I was embarrassed but honest with my client. He graciously rescheduled. I learned that lesson.<\/p>\n
Working from home in 2020 forced itself on employees and employers alike. It was their only choice. But both are discovering the advantage, as Tandy Rice said, \u201c of keeping the offices at home.\u201d It looks as if this setup is viable option going forward.<\/p>\n
Who knew I was a trail blazer! Because of Tandy Rice, I have never been concerned about working from home. I\u2019ve embraced it.<\/p>\n
Tandy\u2019s obituary also called him \u201cloyal and generous.\u201d He was most generous and encouraging to me. I wish I could have told him the impact of that phone call. But since I can\u2019t, I\u2019m passing Tandy along to everyone \u201cworking from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working from home is a good and honorable thing. And professional.<\/p>\n
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