My wife Nanelle and I have been together for most of our lives. We have been together now longer than we have been apart. Our 25th wedding anniversary is this year and we are pretty darned happy about that.

She and I are proof of two adages:

Opposites attract

My wife Nanelle and I are radically, almost diametrically opposed people. Who share a massive amount of similarities. In short we are married. We think so completely differently it is crazy, while at the same time having almost identical thought destinations. We start out from opposing places in ideas and approaches, but we tend to more often than not arrive at the same destination. I tend to arrive in a  tangled, dirty, chaotic, fiery skid, of glory while she tends to arrive in a bit more disciplined, well toned, cleaner fiery skid of glory. (we like blazes of glory.) But in most things we are radical opposites.

When the going gets tough, the tough come together

We have been through an amazing amount of gloriousness, chaos, failure, success, leaping before looking, crash landings, drama, pain, joy, sadness, exhilaration and children.  (sorry that last one was a repeat of the first 10 words) And at most (but not all) of our most difficult junctions we have ended up coming together rather than driving each other apart. In my experience the easiest, weakest path through any conflict or crisis is to pull away from those involved in it and isolate and blame. That’s the weak-kneed, cowardly, wuss-leaguer approach. Nothing is tougher than coming together when the going gets tough. Back to back fighting the good fight together requires true strength and bravery.

My wife is not a marketer, and she used to even pretend that she was not an entrepreneurial person. But she has absorbed quite a bit of my never-ending marketing speak. I am about thigh deep into my 30 posts in 30 days blog challenge and I was telling her that I was struggling a bit today with what to write as I had already written most of the easy ones. She said:

Why don’t you write a list of the top 8 ways that I am awesome? It will be perfect because it is a list (you marketers love your lists), it uses emotive language (awesome) and it tugs at heart-strings plus it’s an intriguing headline. It’s perfect!

I laughed. And then kissed her and said I love you! (I HAVE been married 25 years.) Then I blew it off because that’s silly, I can’t just write about how awesome my wife is, that’s not marketing.

Fast forward to me staring at my blank WordPress post screen and it’s damnable blinking cursor. Nothing, I got nothing!

Wait! I’m saved! I have a call with Cathy McPhillips, Director of Marketing at Content Marketing Institute! I can postpone this article till afterwards. Relief floods my system, pouring those much-needed endorphins that stubbornly refused to flow during my morning swim. All is good. And Bam! had a great call with Cathy where we solved most of the content marketing worlds problems in a mere hour. (well, mostly)  As we were ending the cal I mentioned that I was struggling to write my next post. I mentioned jokingly what my wife said and used her quote above.

Cathy said: “That’s awesome! You should totally write that. It’s clever, funny and great.”

When the Director of Marketing for CMI says the article idea is awesome you pretty much go OK let’s do this!

So here it is. Technically you have been reading it for a while now. But sometimes you have to ease people into the content. You can’t just serve the main course as you sit down to the table. It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Without much further ado, here are:

 

8 Stunning Things You May Not Know About My Wife:

1. She is Awesome. Like super-duper crazy awesome. Not just because she puts up with me, but because she is an all around bad ass at so many things. She has been through more of it all than most anyone I know and is a better, more awesome person every day. This one is not stunning to anyone who knows here, but its true.
2. She is Bad-Ass. Royally bad ass, both literally and figuratively. She kicked my butt in Kung-Fu, made it to the team at Kung Lees MMA school and can still kick my butt. No one else I know cold go from Ballerina to Cop to Expat to Beer manager. She did. There is no one I wold want on my side more in a zombie apocalypse. She has my back.
3. She was a professional Ballerina. Not a ballerina on the side. She literally was a professional, paid, full-time, did nothing else for 10 years Ballerina. We have the tax returns to prove it. She even came back after our first son was born and while pregnant with our second son, won dancer of the year, full-time. That’s bad-ass and hardcore all rolled up into one.
4. She was a Police Officer and then a Detective. Yes, the gun strapped, handcuff wielding, patrol officer Police Officer. She rocked at it too. So much that they made her a Detective. And had her lead the CSI team in the field. Yes, like the TV show only sexier. Told you she was bad-ass.
5. She has Integrity. She sticks to her guns, even when it costs her. Her guiding principle is “it’s not a principle until it costs you something. Until then it’s just a concept.” And believe me, it has cost us something so many times we don’t count anymore.
6. She is Wicked Smart. She may not be a computer lover, but she has a sharp wit and a tight intellect. She excels wherever she is and asks hard, probing questions about why, rather than naively focusing on what or how.
7. She is Beautiful. I mean this in the most base and physical way. As in sexy and hot. And the highest, most spiritual way. As in awesome and wonderful. She has that classic, timeless Greek beauty. And she is the most beautiful soul I have ever met. And I have met some beautiful souls in my life.
8. She Rocks. Not only does she have a stunningly beautiful voice, but she can actually hit notes and sing like an angel or a rocker. She rocks in so many other ways as well. She can make kick butt artisan coffee and brew craft beer. (OMG!) She is an amazing mother to our kids, a fantastic partner and a truly fun person to be with.

 

So there you have it, the definitive list of the 8 ways my wife Nanelle Newbom is so epically, freakishly, deliciously awesome.  It may not seem like marketing, but that’s only because it’s just the plain truth.

And the truth is the best marketing of all.