40-Day Series: Day 2 - Linda Chappell

For those of you that know me you have probably heard me talk about Linda Chappell oh, about a thousand times. For those of you that don't you may have heard of someone else talk about her as she has literally touched thousands of lives throughout the last 40 years. She is a thought leader in the cheerleading industry and was one of the innovators of the National Federation Safety Rules back in the 80's when it was apparent that schools needed to insititute practices to protect their cheerleaders who had moved from pretty girls in skirts to real athletes. Linda was also owner and president of Dynamic Cheerleaders Association from 1972-1993 and hired me in to my dream job right after high school.

A little background to help put her influence on me into perspective....I started going to Linda's DCA camps the summer before my 8th grade year. I would go on to attend 5 years of camps as a "beam" (Linda's nickname for campers as she thought of each one as a sunbeam radiating light). Her camps were different than her competitors as she focused on building people through cheerleading, squad unity, and leadership. We learned cheers, dances, and stunts like the others but they were secondary to her strong desire to help girls become strong teammates and ambitious leaders.

Working for DCA was an absolute dream come true...it really was all I thought about doing post high school. I had the pleasure of being on staff for 2 years and then the honor of serving as camp director my last year. Have you ever read the book, "All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindegarten?", well all I ever needed to know I learned from Linda and my fellow colleagues at DCA. She taught me how to manage budgets, cash flows, and retail sales, deal with crisis management (emergency trips to hospital rooms), handle irate customers (ever met a cheerleading mom whose daughter didn't win?), and lead negotiations (campus rules and contracts) ...all at the ripe old age of 20. I learned the importance of team building as we traveled in a van for 9 weeks back and forth across the country with people I had just met (we were Road Rules before MTV even had the concept). We were responsible for hundreds of pre-teen and teen-age girls at every camp...not just teaching them and serving as role models but also from keeping them away from the football camp boys who always seemed to be having camp at the same time. We learned to not just function but thrive on 2 hours of sleep a night.

I think it is fair to say that most of us who worked for Linda took for granted what we were learning at the time. She didn't hesitate to put her company in our hands and we were just a bunch of college kids. I have never seen anyone who truly empowered people to excel more than she did. Her legacy is that everyone who ever worked at DCA or attended a DCA camp has an immediate bond of family love, even if you have never met before. Her success is marked by the thousands of people who have found success because of what she taught them. Her permanent imprint is proven as everyone whoever attended a camp can still sing and sign the words to "You Are My Friend" (the song that closed camp each night).

I could go on and on about Linda Chappell as she was the queen of making business personal and her impact on me and so many others is proof of the power that comes from doing so.

Golden Nuggett: Don't be afraid to give the rookie a chance to make a difference. Simply believe in them, encourage them, help them find their way from time to time and then watch them grow as they take your company to new heights.

Be who you are and learn to be better,
Lisa