Giving and Receiving.

I have a situation I’m dealing with that is challenging and burdensome, although it’s no bigger (or smaller) a challenge than lots and lots of people have to deal with at some point in their lives. For now, it’s just the way it is. Still, there are times when I don’t want to do it any more and wish it would go away. Those are the times when I let other people step in and help. Many people don’t like accepting help and I used to be one of them, but I’ve learned that it’s important to do for many reasons. One is that we all need help. Another is that most people need to be helpful. Therefore it’s got to be just as good to accept help as it is to give it.

I was on the road today and the CD Venus in Transit by my friend and fellow voice artist Jill Connolly was in my CD player. The last song on this CD is a lovely one called Throw it Away and it's about this very idea. It's about keeping the important stuff around to give to people (like love) and getting rid of what is not important (“stuff”). What is important and what is not will of course be different for everybody. But the line that really strikes me is, “Keep your hand wide open if you’re needing anything”. Whether it is a shoulder to cry on, material assistance, or any kind of gift, you have something to give away - I don’t know what it is – but somebody needs it. And you need what somebody else has to give, in your personal life or in your work. It all balances out. Let it happen.

Goliath Can’t Handle David’s Potential Success.

NPR reported this morning that TerraCycle, purveyor of worm castings (i.e., poop) as fertiliser, is being sued by Scotts for false advertising. The claim refers to the statement on the TerraCycle bottle that the product works better than the leading synthetic fertiliser. If TerraCycle were to lose, they would go under, in this their 5th year in business and the first in which they would probably have made a profit. Scotts does not have evidence that TerraCycle does not work better than the leading synthetic, they just want to see the data. So, why didn’t they simply ask TerraCycle for it instead of suing them? The data are indeed available, as the research has been done, but of course TerraCycle can’t just hand them over now after they’ve been slapped with a lawsuit. Everything will now have to be done through counsel.

TerraCycle is a tiny company compared with Scotts. They have a teensy share of the plant food market compared with Scotts. It is looking like TerraCycle will make a profit this year for the first time, whereas Scotts’ annual sales are over $2.5 billion, with profits over $130 million. What could Scotts be hoping to accomplish with this lawsuit? And how does it make them look to consumers, in a time when there is increasing interest in organic products with low environmental impact (TerraCycle packages their fertiliser in used soda bottles)?

In the world of voice-over the definition of quality and talent is subjective. I can’t conduct research to demonstrate that I have a better voice than a competitor or that my voice sells more consumer products than the leading brand voice-over. Even if I could, that’s just not the way we do business. I’m frequently asked to refer colleagues for work and am always happy to do it. There is much to be gained from the practise in good will alone, and much to be lost by doing otherwise. If I were one of the “leading brand voice-overs”, such as Don La Fontaine, or Nancy Cartright or Joe Cipriano or Terri Apple, would I be spending my time looking for talent on the lower rungs of the ladder who might some day take away some of my business? The idea is preposterous. There’s enough business for everybody. What a waste of time, talent and resources to try to step on somebody else’s toes.

Things you can do to help TerraCycle, if you’re so inclined:

• Buy their product. You might want to stock up, just in case the worst happens and they go out of business.
• Write a letter to Scotts to tell them what you think of their lawsuit
• Write a letter to your newspaper telling them what you think
• Visit the TerraCycle blog for other ideas.