Have Fun
Shannon McDevitt strongly believes as a business owner, you have to practice what you preach. For McDevitt, that means being authentic so you’re the same person professionally and personally.For the last six years, McDevitt has done corporate training with a humorous approach through her company, Just Humor Me! She tackles team building, customer service or management training – all with a bent toward humor and fun.
While she’s coaching her clients on how to have fun on the job, she also focuses on trying to incorporate fun into her own business practices as well- it’s all part of having that authenticity.
“Sometimes you need to put the to-do list aside and go walk the dog,” McDevitt said. “That’s when the creative ideas come. Then you will go back to your work with more energy and focus. You can’t focus when you’re stressed out.”
McDevitt also incorporates humor into her own business training and professional development. She attends humor conferences around the country and this fall attended a comedy college in New York City where she tried her hand at stand-up comedy and loved every minute of it.
“Laughing is good for my soul and making others laugh is good for business,” she said.
McDevitt works all over the country and is continually challenging herself by working with a variety of business types and sizes. Her home office is filled with games and props, daily reminders that her business is all about having fun.
She’s even hired her “staff” with fun in mind. Her company CEO is Mr. Lezzard, an inflatable lizard that accompanies McDevitt on her training sessions.
“Hiring Mr. Lezzard as my CEO proved to be an excellent decision,” McDevitt explained. “Women love his good looks and men say he’s just a regular guy with an unusually large funny bone. Lezzard credits outliving the rest of his species to taking the time to laugh in stressful times. Taking time to recharge is a key component to maintaining passion for your work.”
“Laughing is good for my soul and making others laugh is good for business.”
