The story Katherine Miracle never wanted to tell

Someone’s past can be a shadow to their success. Katherine Miracle tried to hide her illness in junior high but as her eyelid began to droop, her speech became slurred and at moments she could not speak or even breathe well she could not hide anymore. 

Why hide an illness? In junior high if you see double and you slur words you are accused of taking drugs and for Katherine the gossip and rumors hurt her and her family.  Katherine’s parents Betty and Gene Robinson never accused their daughter; instead they took her to every doctor until the diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis (MG) was found. 

Katherine had surgery and took medicine until 1988 when she met her Miracle, her husband Craig Miracle. As an adult Katherine remembers what is was like to be considered the sick kid and to not want people to ask about the scar on her chest.  Katherine wrote a book called “Discovering Your Dawn’ to help college students and she finally shared part of her story but never spoke about it. 

On Wednesday, February 23^rd, Katherine was awarded Best Speaker by CBC Magazine.  A great honor for a person who at one time could barely speak and who was not expected to have the quality of life to be a  Corporate Motivational Speaker who travels the United States.  

Best Speaker/Meeting Facilitator   www.cbcmagazine.com

Katherine Miracle
Katherine Miracle is the founder and owner of Miracle Resources, an Akron-based consulting, training, and educational resource for businesses and nonprofits. Miracle Resources specializes in the areas of marketing, public relations, advertising, and revenue development. The company creates seminars that help audience members increase awareness and revenue. Miracle is a  Keynote Speaker, University Guest Speaker, Marketing Keynote Speaker and  Corporate Motivational Speaker who teaches  Exceptional Teamwork,  Increasing your Passion and Productivity, she speaks across the United States for corporations and universities, and her client list includes Cleveland Clinic, Westfield Group, US Bank, Delta, and 50 businesses and 20 nonprofits. She and her consultants at Miracle Resources have raised more than 28 million for 10 nonprofits, secured $4 million in free publicity for corporations and non-profits, and created advertising/marketing campaigns that have increased revenue for more than 50 businesses. For more info: katherinemiracle.com or www.miracleresources.com

Thanks to all who voted for me and for those who attended I did plan to share this when I accepted but my parents are ill and I wanted them to be there when I shared this. For those of you who work with me please remember I am MG free I do not have double vision anymore so if I offer to drive do not be afraid !!! 

It is god’s blessing that we can laugh together about this because MG can be fatal and I am blessed with health because my parents made the decision for me to have the surgery.  I hope to speak at MG conference one day so people can see the surgery works and that they can become anything they dream of becoming. I am proof !!!

     To be the one means to be the one person that your clients/customers say “you have to call her/him they will help”  Miracle Resources heard clients say that phrase over and over and we decided to strive for it to be said by all of our customers.  If your mission is to bring value to clients, your purpose is to serve them by sharing your resources, expertise and by building a relationship of trust. 

     A wise woman named Linda Bloom asked me, “Katherine are your clients your best friends”   I quickly replied, “No, we have a professional relationships” Linda then shared the secret to keeping business relationships.  The secret is to build a trust that displays how you can help and to build a bond that is so strong it will never break.  I needed to hear this because my relationships consisted of visiting clients with my staff and I was very formal, always showing perfection. 

     My mistake was that I trying so hard that clients did not get to know me.  As I became accountable, I looked at my public speaking, I was formal and people would often write to me that they learned so much but knew I was very busy and they did not want to bug me after my speech.  How sad, I tried so hard to be perfect that I was unapproachable and did not truly build relationships. 

     As a  Corporate Motivational Speaker and  Marketing Keynote Speaker, I knew I had to open up, tell my truth and treat clients as I treat my friends and family.  I started telling stories about the crazy mistakes I make and I used my mistakes to help others.  Miracle Resources started to have coffee or lunch with every client, no agenda “just come to the table and we will listen”.   As we listened, we saw so many people hurting and carrying shadows that held them back from success.  When I started teaching college and saw students who struggled just as much as clients and audience members at my speeches I tried to find a book that would help but could not find one.  In an effort to help others, I exposed my mistakes, pain and tragedy in my first book   “Discovering Your Dawn”.

     The book has been a wake up call and help people in three countries. Miracle Resources has been amazed at how supportive clients were of the book.  Miracle Resources relationships grew deep and during the tough economy our clients stayed and although the economy made it tough to get new clients we could survive with the clients we had.  It became clear in 2010 that many of our competitors would close and what may surprise you is we did not race to get their clients. Our networking and relationship building led to our competitors sending their clients to Miracle Resources. 

     A note from Miracle Resources:

We have been blessed to belong to The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Katherine was trained by AFP to become a fundraising leader. Katherine built deep friendships with fellow AFP members and they learned to depend on each other.  During good and bad times, Katherine has the support of her AFP members and is honored to be asked to speak Thursday, December 2, 2010 as the Keynote for the AFP Annual meeting. AFP also requested a book signing.  The book signing will be held at Holiday Inn Rockside at 1pm  “The greatest blessing is to be recognized by the experts in my field and to have my book showcased” Katherine Miracle

      Thank you for reading this blog and please know you are invited as my guest to the Garfield Hts. Chamber Luncheon May 19th 

Let me know by e mailing me at km@miracleresources.com and I will get you in! I am speaking on my next book, “Stop Marketing, Start Motivating” I will be sharing marketing strategy that is proven to increase revenue and awareness.

As a motivational marketing firm, my company Miracle Resources creates the optimal solution for our clients to help customers fall in love with a product.  As a marketing keynote speaker I enjoy sharing what will help you increase awareness and revenue! 

Motivational marketing tip of the day:

Stop sending surveys!  Your customers do not feel engaged by completing surveys, connect with them by asking your top customers to join you once per year for a special luncheon in their honor. At that luncheon ask them two questions:

1.  What is the advantage of our product/service that keeps you coming back to our company?

2. Would you serve on a marketing advisory board that requires you to come to this luncheon once a year and give us feedback?

Keep it simple, make your customer feel special and use the opinions and advice your customers provide!

Stop pushing too many messages and start motivating your customers to learn more about your product/service.  Marketing with out strategy is just wasted communication and advertising dollars!

 “We can learn from advertising techniques to inspire and motivate us in 2010” by Katherine Miracle, Marketing  Keynote Speaker

Each year I select a campaign slogan for the upcoming year, I base my selection on what I need to accomplish and my current situation.

2010            Whatever it takes!            

Why I chose it: I have new products that I must push and  ask my contacts to help me as I never have before!

2009          Radical Forgiveness Tour  

Why I chose it:   I needed to rebuild relationships   and stop holding grudges to unlock   my potential

2008         Don’t Stop Believing            

Why I chose it:  I like the song by journey but I needed  inspiration because I started my  mba, needed to find a publisher and I  started to change my companys business model.

What has marketing done for the Christmas season?  I want your comments and I will share that my wish for you this Christmas is that you do not let the marketing of products ruin your holiday.  Start new traditions, talk with your family, buy products from companies that motivate you not bombard you with messages and think about what this holiday means to you, enjoy your friends and take a moment to thank those who have helped you this year!

SEM and SEO are often the focus of most campaigns when sadly the bigger issue of branding and power words are lost in the strategy discussions. The best interactive campaigns begin with the most important purpose of any marketing campaign, that purpose is to help your clients and customers fall in love with your product. How do we get anyone to fall in love with us?  Listen, use their language, make their interests your own and build a relationship based on trust, fun and wow factor!  If campaigns were designed to use the language or power words customers respond to the SEM and SEO would be easy and consistent use of power words result in customers finding your product easily.  The interactive campaign must be designed to listen to customer needs and respond to customer request quickly and efficiently.   Our world of marketing tells us to engage with our target market where they live work and play but we must provide a wow factor to help them fall in love with our product or service.  Wow factor means incentives, service and appreciation. Best practices and generic benchmarking show that great businesses keep their customers in tough economies because the customer has a relationship with the business not a simple transactional situation. The best interactive campaigns are creative and customer centric while providing a focus on the customer.  The value proposition is clear and the social media used is based on market research. The resources for a strong interactive campaign begin with branding, focus groups and market research. The implementation phase includes a strong marketing mix and customer centric sales strategy.  Miracle Resources wishes everyone at Business Issues Magazine the very best in 2010 and much success in your interactive campaign.   

Recently someone very close to me told me I was exceptional. The next day a client told me I was exceptional.  I was grateful for the compliment but I was honestly stunned.  Websters says,  Exceptional:  not common, rare, exceeds expectations, above and beyond the norm.  When I read the definition I thought of someone  who fit these words perfectly. My exceptional friend is so caring, smart, loyal and fun that everyone who meets him cannot help but want to be around him. In business he is  positive, credible and will go above and beyond to help his customers and protect his fellow co-workers.  No wonder he is number one in his company and his family and friends adore him. The definition of exceptional describes his work and personal life ,which he built on faith and integrity.

The best example is the Hope Diamond, when I saw it, it took my breath away and no other diamond will ever compare.  In marketing and sales our job is to wow our clients and customers.  As a job seeker our goal is to stand above the competition.  How do you wow your customers?  How do you exceed expectations?  As a marketing keynote speaker I provide  tools and resources to help people build their brand and wow their clients/ employers.  The use of mentors, relationship building, coaching, faith and education are cited by great leaders as ways to help you grow.  I encourage you to look at the people in your life who made a difference and helped you grow.  Often we are told to look to Jack Welch, Warren Buffet or Donald Trump for lessons in leadership and personal branding.  There are great lessons from these men but think back to your past for a moment, what about a teacher, uncle, first boss or coach who helped you and challenged you to grow.  The people who took the time to invest in you by challenging you.  My exceptional friend once told me that a professor he admired wrote on his paper, “You have a great mind, use it”  My friend carried that quote with him for years and it challenged him to give his best. 

As you begin your day take a moment and consider the words that challenge you and learn from the people around you who are exceptional.  The goal maybe to increase revenue but that will come easily if your priority is to wow your client/customer by going above and beyond expectations.  When I created my company I set a policy that our staff, including me, will always ask clients at the end of every meeting, Did I meet your expectations?  We not only find out if clients expect more but we find that clients are impressed that we want to go above and beyond what is expected.

Today, give your all in your unique way and take the risk to put yourself second and your clients first.