By Jathan Janove (Guest Contributor)–
My cousins Steffi and Paul have long since been retired. Yet, you wouldn’t get a sense of that from how busy they keep themselves, including restoring vintage cars in the 12-car garage they converted into an auto mechanic’s heaven.
Given the choice of anyone, whom would you want as a dinner guest and what would you talk about?
Steffi: Michelle Obama. This would be a recruitment dinner. I’d find out her favorite food and favorite wine and do everything I could to persuade her to run for president in 2024.
Paul: Leonardo da Vinci. I would ask him lots of questions about his ideas. How he envisioned helicopters and airplanes; how he worked on creating an earthquake resilient bridge. I’d want to learn how he developed his amazing engineering skills, even though he wasn’t a trained engineer. I’d ask him to apply his insights to our current world challenges.
I’d also ask him about his artwork, not necessarily the Mona Lisa, but the art that spoke to him personally. What were his own personal masterpieces? I would love to get insight into his boundless creativity.
What’s something in your life for which you feel grateful?
Paul: Steffi.
Steffi: Traveling with Paul to amazing places, including doing advance research on our own and bouncing ideas off of each other.
If the current you could provide real-time advice to a much younger you, what would it be?
Steffi: Just because you’re young, healthy and seemingly indestructible, don’t give up your health insurance. I made this mistake. When I was a young single mom in great health and physical condition, I slipped on the ice during a Chicago winter. I ended up in the hospital in traction for three and a half weeks and in a cast for four months. After coping with the terrible physical effects of my accident, I had another terrible experience – getting a hospital bill I didn’t know how I was going to pay.
Paul: I would tell myself to follow a different career path. By all objective measuring sticks, I had a successful career as a marketing executive. However, my real passion was on the technology side of business. I would tell myself to pursue chemistry, biology or engineering, and develop a career in one of these fields.
However, I won’t complain too much. Through my job as a marketing executive at Chevron, I met Steffi, who worked for Chevron’s ad agency. So all in all, I’d have to say my career worked out great.
What would you change about the way you were raised?
Steffi: I would spend more time with my dad. I felt that my mother kept us apart. I would have pushed through to spend more quality time with him and learn from him.
Paul: I had a difficult childhood, and there’s a lot of things I would change if I could. However, I have to say my grandmother was absolutely wonderful.
What’s a treasured memory?
Steffi: In the mid-1980s, Paul and I began dating when we were working in San Francisco. He lived in East Bay and I lived in the Richmond district. After work, we would get together for a drink before going our separate ways. A favorite was a place called Flagship. During the day, I’d smile as I looked forward to getting together with Paul after work.
Paul: A trip to Venice with Steffi. After dinner, we went for a walk. We came upon a church and heard live music coming from it. It was Mozart’s 21st Piano Concerto. There was a man at a card table. We approached him to buy tickets but he said the concert was sold out.
We continued walking for a while, but because of the fog decided not to go to our planned destination. As we headed back toward our hotel, we passed the church again and stood for a while listening to the music.
The man and the card table were still there. The man disappeared inside, came outside and motioned us to come in. He had placed two chairs in the back of the church. I tried to give him money, but he adamantly refused. We got to hear a live performance of Mozart Symphony # 40 in this 15th Century church. It was magical.
What’s an embarrassing moment in your life you’re willing to share?
Paul: It was the first day of the year in high school. Before class began, I saw this really cute girl I’d never seen before. I tried to chat her up but she wasn’t responsive. The bell rang and we students took our seats. That’s when I learned that this really cute girl was in fact my new teacher for this class.
Steffi: When I was in junior high school, I got into an argument with another girl. She threw a cup of hot chocolate at me. It splashed the entire front of me, from hair to blouse to skirt to socks to shoes. I looked horrible and could not get the chocolate stains out. I had to spend the rest of the school day looking this way.
Another time, Paul and I were in our Mini waiting to take a ferry. Our car was first in line. There was a long line of cars behind us with drivers anxious to get on the ferry.
As the ferry opened up, our car wouldn’t start. We were blocking the line and other drivers began honking. Yet we couldn’t get the car to start. It became a cacophony of honking and incredibly embarrassing!
Paul chimes in: I didn’t find the experience so embarrassing. Eventually, Steffi and I pushed the Mini to the side, and I fixed it in time for the next ferry. I’ll confess to taking some pride in this accomplishment.
Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash. What would you save?
Paul: I would grab family pictures and two paintings, one done by Steffi and one done by my son.
Steffi: I would grab a folder that has birth certificates and other documents relating to my father and mother and goes back many, many years. They may just be words on a page but looking at them brings back a flood of memories.
Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time?
Steffi: I would like to visit Egypt. I want to ride a camel. I want to see the pyramids and the Sphinx. I want to immerse myself in the history of that region.
Paul: I would like to visit Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and overall the Middle East. I would immerse myself in their culture and history.
What do you find spiritual in life?
Both Steffi and Paul had the same response: Shared magical moments such as a glorious sunset or enchanting music. Sharing the moment magnifies its effect.
Jathan Janove is Principal of Janove Organization Solutions, http://www.jathanjanove.com. Through consulting, executive coaching and training, he works with employers to create fully engaged workplace cultures. He also practiced law in Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.
