They Call Me Crazy Mary….

posted on October 27, 2009

A little over ten years ago I worked with a guy who always made me laugh and we soon became friends. We worked together in a marketing department for a technology company in CA and he was a super outgoing individual, but he was often hesitant to be direct with our manager about poor decisions that would negatively impact the company. This is where I stepped in, and was soon nicknamed “Crazy Mary” because I would always wind up addressing the invisible elephant in the room. 
 
You see, I was raised to speak my mind, question authority, and never be afraid to speak up respectfully when I disagreed with something. For a guy, this is par for the course, but for a girl, I’ve learned this is unusual and has created an interesting dynamic for me in both personal and business worlds. 
 
I should mention that my Father taught me how to box in our kitchen when I was 7 years old as my little sister and I lived in a neighborhood of older boys, and he wanted us to know how to defend ourselves if/when needed. This, combined with the football mentality (Dad loves football), created two very confident young women who continue to wreak havoc because they are not afraid to speak up to drive business in the right direction. 
 
What kills me is the continued fight to be interpreted the same way as men are. I tested this with my male colleague who didn’t believe me, and he was shocked to the see the difference when we both delivered the exact same message, to the same VP. From me, the VP was irritated and offended. From him, the suggestion was praised. I fully realize there’s nothing I can do about this, and it is what it is, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to lie over and take it either. I will continue to speak up, point out where we can do better, and recommend positive solutions to the end game – profitability. I may piss a few people off in the process, but I guess I’m just going to have to chalk it up to the price I pay for having a strong mind for business, good heart, and tenacity to keep going. If I’m not mistaken, I think these are qualities that any organization would value? I guess it’s their loss of they can’t learn to listen to the message, and ignore the gender of the messenger. 
 
So call me Crazy, but watch out, because my Crazy may be just what you need to outperform your competition.

Author: Mary McKeown-Christie

Categories: Consulting, Entrepreneur, Marketing and Advertising, Online Media, Outsourcing, Public Relations and Communications

Tags: Communications, marketing, mary mckeown, Public Relations, strategic planning