14 years and finally starstruck...Oprah is coming

It is hard to believe, but this month marked my 14th anniversary at P&G. Wow what a ride it has been. Many people ask me all the time, why have you stayed. In today's day and age it is so uncommon to stay with one company for that long, forget about a career. We all know this is not our parents, or grandparents world any more.

Truth be told, I could probably be making more money if I had hopped around. I while P&G is great, there are certainly some "hotter" companies out there - Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook to name a few. But I stay, each year...so why?

First let me give you a little background on me and P&G. On me, I grew up in a family business, one that took care of family and friends. Best friends of uncles, cousins and so forth were often brought in to try to make their life a bit easier. It was about taking care of others more than anything. I also grew up very middle class. Our business paid cash for years and my parents didn't have a credit card by choice. So when the money ran out, it ran out...until next Thursday when we paid again. This taught me to be very disciplined with my money and to not take for granted what you have.

The principle to take from this is money does not mean a lot to me. I had the most wonderful childhood and upbringing that anyone could have asked for. My family was very close knit and we spent every birthday, holiday, Sunday, Anniversary and so forth with family, playing any sport a ball could make....and we loved it. So my life is not about making money, it is about making memories for my children.

The second thing you need to know about me is I'm a learner. Whether you take the strengths finder test (and it tells me this) or simply the fact that I loved school, I just love to learn. I cried when I graduated from business school, because I knew after 19 years of formal education I was done...the end to my formal learning. Hopefully some of you who are around me often are giggling, knowing one of my favorite statements is "you learn a new thing everyday" and I truly believe this...at least one.

Now about P&G. P&G is not your average company. There are a few things that make it very unique. First, it is promote from within. This means my boss will NEVER come from the outside. You rise through the ranks and the next CEO is sitting amongst you. This means they train and develop their people, because they have to. If we don't grow our people, we don't' develop the leadership traits we need from our future leaders.

This suits me perfectly, because I love to learn as I said. So everyday when i sit down as an employee with P&G I learn something. Truly every day. From a colleague, boss, supplier, agency or an article I am reading. So that is why I stay. I love what I do and it brings me fulfillment. It also feeds my craving to learn.

The "day of learning" each year in my job is our annual North American Marketers training. We have about 1,000 marketers in N. America including our Administrators, Marketing specialists and then all management (Assistant Brand Managers, Brand Managers, Associate marketing Directors and Marketing Directors). Each year we have a wonderful day of amazing speakers - in the past I have heard Lou Holtz on leadership, the general manager of Barbie, Chief Marketing officers of General Mills, WalMart, McDonald's and others. Truly amazing day. But this year they have outdone themselves and after 14 years I think i will be starstruck for the first time (at work at least)....Oprah is speaking.

Yes, in the flesh Ms. Winfrey. I am a fan, not a tape it everyday fan, but I do enjoy her and have such respect for her and the empire she has built. As a brand person she has built one of the strongest brands in the world, herself, and that says a lot. So on Wednesday I will sit back and soak it all in, and try to learn from Oprah herself. I can't wait.