Farewell 2018 – See You Next Year!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And auld lang syne!

Another year has passed and with it another year of learning, living, sharing, and wonderment ahead. The world has seen everything turn and markets have soared and fallen. Unemployment is at the lowest I have ever seen and might be the lowest ever in my lifetime. The sun comes up every day and sets every night, and the world continues to spin. On a personal note, not one but two of my beautiful sisters have given birth to two beautiful children, and I am now officially an Uncle, not just Uncle Rodrigo.

This year has been, IMO, the year of the sourcer with nothing but a steady movement forward. Companies are learning to be proactive instead of reactive, and that sourcing research teams are becoming ever more prevalent for companies, and that is awesome. Finally, we see now that the C Suite is finally dragging itself out of the 70s and 80s and has finally embraced the world of sourcing and how powerful it can be, what we can be.

As of this writing I am once again donning the sourcing sweater of the Dude and joining E-commerce Walmart with a fantastic team of women and men to end my year, and I am ecstatic.

I was going to do a list or a shout out, but that is blasé, old hat, not this generation anymore. Other than an ego boost it’s not relevant. We all know who the go-to people are, the ones that will answer that email or phone call — the ones that want something better in the world and want others to succeed. I don’t like the spotlight, I prefer to write and share my stories, yet I am happy to lend a hand, share knowledge, or be there for someone who needs it as so many people have been there for me. Pay it forward has been my mantra for years along with #dogoodbekind.

A person, who I know, a thirsty for knowledge young woman reached out to me recently for advice, and as always I was happy to point her in the right direction to the top minds in our industry and then, without hesitation, she sent me this:

“Not just lip service, but I mean it when I say – you spread joy all year round, not only for the holidays. It’s a blessing to know you. On my part, I do try to #payitforward. I promise.”

I welled up with happiness and pride knowing that a simple conversation had taught someone, helped someone, and never asked for anything in return.

We are here! You, I, WE can and are making a difference. This call for you to do so now. Get online and share with others, NO idea is too small no trick is too little. We are all on this planet for a short time in the actual scope of things and now that we are coming to the pinnacle and the corporate world is taking notice, building authentic sourcing teams, and listening to us. Although we still have a long voyage ahead of us, the clouds have lifted, and there is smooth sailing ahead my friends. As I stated in my last article let us lift each other’s up and when you get to that summit and take it all in then turn around and put out your hand out and lift the next one up. 2019, we as the sourcing are coming for you and nothing is going to stop us now!