My best childhood friend, Stacy, lost her dad to a brain tumor about 17 years ago. He was young. She and her brothers and sisters were devastated. It completely altered their reality, and they struggled for many years to recover.

Last week they said goodbye to the final piece of their father. They sold his weekend mountain retreat in Pinetop, Arizona. The place held a million memories for Stacy and her siblings and they only very reluctantly agreed to pass it on to someone else. It was sitting vacant week after week and year after year. And as much as it hurt to let it go, everyone knew it was the right thing to do.

So they got a realtor from the area, Bev Best, and she facilitated the sale. It wasn’t a big commission for Bev. It was just a tiny condo.

But it was a big win for Bev. Because she did something that every great brand knows how to do:

She made her client say, “I can’t believe she just did that.” And then she got her client to speak about her as though she was a legend.

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Last Friday my dog groomer, Danielle, didn’t show up.

Danielle is a peach. Diego and I are both crazy about her, and we have a standing appointment every other Friday. So when she didn’t show, I wasn’t aggravated. I was concerned. She’s never done anything like that before. And I thought maybe something had happened to her.

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