By Gini Dietrich
To know Betsy Decillis is to love her.
She recently got married and then became an old lady, investing all of her time (and disposable income) in knitting.
Case in point, this was her Facebook status the other night:
Last night at knitting group, I was chatting with this 80something minister’s wife, and she mentioned something about Tupelo. I replied back that I knew someone that had just visited there and loved Elvis.
Her poor husband thought he was marrying a spry, young, lots-of-years-ahead woman and he got an old lady.
Before you know it, she’ll be playing bridge, drinking Sanka, and eating dinner at 5 p.m.
That said, she has told me the best thing I can ever do for her is to have wine and ice cream with her.
Uh…OK. I think I can manage that.
I have loved her from the moment I met her and I continue to love her in all her old lady glory.
And that is why I asked her to sit on the Spin Sucks Inquisition hot seat.
What is the Biggest Mistake You’ve Made in Your Career?
Staying too long.
This is a mistake I keep making and you would think I’ve learned my lesson by now. I’m a people pleaser though and have a huge problem with trying to fulfill what other people think I should be doing.
But when I have done all that I can do and am no longer being challenged or creatively fulfilled, I really need to move on.
It’s bad for me and everyone around me, because I turn into a horrible person when I’m not constantly learning.
What is One Thing about Yourself that Would Surprise Most People?
I really do share everything about myself that I’m comfortable sharing online, so this question was hard for me.
I tap dance every day. Except I don’t have tap shoes on, so I guess it’s more like soft shoe.
I used to be a competition dance kid, and my worst discipline was tap. It wasn’t really any fault of my own. I wanted to join the competition team at my dance school and part of that was learning tap.
I’d never taken a tap class.
I took a summer of tap and then auditioned for the team. I made it, but unsurprisingly, was nowhere near the tapper that everyone else on the team was.
So it became second nature to practice constantly just so I could keep up.
I’ve kept up this habit for 25 years.
Awhile ago, I took an adult tap class and quickly realized that I tapped at the same level as the teacher. I hadn’t taken a class in forever. So that kind of tells you a lot.
If You Could Achieve Everything You Ever Wanted in Life, but Had to Die 10 Years Sooner, Would You Make that Trade?
Nope.
I never have a clue what I want. I’m just along for the ride.
My niece and nephews are really interesting people. I want all of the time I can possibly get to see what they end up doing, because whatever it is, they’re going to be awesome at it.
What Industry Advice or Practice Would You Most Like to Cry Foul On?
All of this automation is driving me bonkers.
You can’t automate making great relationships that will pay off in the long haul.
And yes, every time my clients get an automated tweet that is clearly directed at a keyword or hashtag, I send it to them with a note about why this is a bad, bad practice.
Creating a fantastic, responsive community takes a human that knows how to hold hands and tell stories with fans and followers.
What is the Best Book You’ve Read in the Past Six Months?
I don’t like to pick a favorite from my children, especially when I can’t tell you about my very favorites.
Since Gini is true evil with this question though… I’ll go with MWF Seeking BFF.
Even though I’m great online, I am super awkward in person, and I work from home alone, so friendships are kind of a struggle.
This book inspired me to take more of a business approach to friendships, like I previously did with my love life.
Being way more proactive has already brought some great people into my life already, and I’m renewing friendships that I let flounder.
I’m already feeling much less lonely, because I’m realizing my biggest problem is just not reaching out.
Why Does Spin Suck?
Because it really screws up the trust you build up in a community.
It takes A LOT to create a responsive community that will help you conquer the world, but it only takes one little lie for that to all go away.
Being transparent and owning your mistakes, on the other hand, only makes your community stronger.
Where You Can Find Betsy Decillis
Betsy owns her own business (BAD Consulting), where she blogs.
She also blogs at Unlikely Girl, where she writes about being anti-girl, but really enjoying all of this girl stuff. In her words, “Who knew facials and getting your nails done was really this much fun? NOT ME.”
And you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Slideshare, Pinterest, and (of course) Etsy.