"What Is It About Hats?"

Volume 4, No. 8 August 2005

Greetings!

August is a special month for my husband, Phil, and me. We are celebrating our Seventh Wedding anniversary. Phil found a 1987 fire-engine red Cadillac convertible. I found a matching hat. As you can see from this picture we are ready to go!

"WHAT IS IT ABOUT HATS?" This film by Andee Kinzy is a documentary "about the people under the brim." My daughter, Carol Anne Gordon, invited me to see this documentary at a film festival in Dallas. Since I have enjoyed wearing hats all my life I was delighted. We loved the film and enjoyed seeing so many other "hat loving" women wearing their favorite hats. You can order this DVD film by going to www.whatisitabouthats.com. I hope you will enjoy this issue, find hats that are right for you, wear them, and encourage other people to wear hats.

 

Why I Wear Hats

WEARING A HAT HELPS ME take care of myself. When I moved to Dallas, my dermatologist convinced me I must wear a hat when I am outside in the sun. While I was growing up, my mother insisted I wear a hat in cold or rainy weather to keep my head warm. From the What is it about Hats? film mentioned in above, I learned that the director of "Les Miserables" insisted the actors wear hats so they would not get sick!

WHEN I PUT ON A HAT, I feel special. It is often the finishing touch to what I am wearing. I want the hat to look and be appropriate for the occasion and to blend with the color and style of clothing I am wearing.

MY HUSBAND LOVES TO HAVE ME WEAR A HAT. Frequently when we are going out, he asks, "Aren't you going to wear a hat?" A few months ago a man at my church said, "I would almost like to ask you if I could see your closet and all of your hats." I laughingly replied, "Then, you would be looking in my husband's closet because he has more shelf space."

A BAD HAIR DAY? If I look in the mirror and the reflection I see shows it is a bad hair day, I think about my calendar for the day. Next, I decide what I want to wear that day and the hat that I will wear. I feel self-confident and go out into the world wearing an appropriate hat with a smile on my face.

WEARING A HAT IS FUN. I am not the only one who feels this way; in the next sections I will share the experiences of hat lovers. Please send your hat pictures by clicking on email address further on in this newsletter.

Responses of Other People

WHEN I WEAR A GOOD LOOKING HAT other people's eyes light up and they start smiling. Sometimes people walk across the room to say "I love your hat." Some people come up to me and say, "You're beautiful." (Similar experiences are described by several women in the film.)

MEN OPEN DOORS for me. One man had been holding the door open at Cafe Brazil (a coffee shop) while his family walked into the shop. He saw me coming toward the door and stopped to smile at me and continued to hold the door. His young son said "Dad, what are you doing?" "I am holding the door open for this lady." Many men say, "I wish more women wore hats." One professor at SMU was in charge of two large, special occasions a year. Each year when he phoned me to ask me to attend he always said, "Please wear a 'Mrs. Miniver' hat." He had loved the movie in which Greer Garson (a British movie star during World War II) was Mrs. Miniver and wore beautiful hats.

WHILE BUYING A HAT one day, another woman commented, "I tell single women who want to meet a man to wear hats because men love to see women wearing hats." (By the way, one of my closest friends met her husband because he liked her hat!)

Many women tell me, "I love hats but I just don't look good in them." One message that comes through loud and clear in the film is you can find a hat. You need to try on different styles and you need to learn how to place the hat on your head. A hat may look "tacky" just plopped on your head straight across or on the back of you head. However, if you tilt it at an angle over one eye you can look beautiful. Women have different head sizes. You can even find a milliner who will make a hat for you. A fun thing to do is to go hat shopping with friends and try on different hats and exchange critiques.

Finding a Brand + One Story from the film

WHILE I WAS TAKING COACHING CLASSES, I participated in a teleclass about "How to develop a brand." We were each asked the question, "What is unique or different about you?" When I was asked that question I blurted out, "I wear hats." Then, I asked, "What do other people think when I wear a hat?" The leader replied, "Mary Alice, when you wear a hat in a business situation you look professional." Those of you who have been receiving Pilot-Your- Life may have noticed that I vary the beginning picture of each newsletter. Sometimes I am wearing a hat and other months I do not. When I am following up with a contact I made at a networking event I may say, "I was the woman wearing a hat." Usually the other person says, "Oh, I remember you!"

ONE STORY ON THE film is about a minister who announced that on the following Sunday he would discuss what they should wear to church. A woman leaned over and whispered to a woman wearing a hat, "What are you going to do when he says you should not wear a hat to church?" The woman replied, "I'll just have to find another church." On Sunday, the minister said, "If you have beautiful things at home and you do not wear them to church, you are not giving your best to the Lord!"

Tips and Reasons for Wearing a Hat

  • FIND the right shape(s) for you.
  • KEEP yourself healthy.
  • FEEL more self-confident.
  • HAVE FUN and enjoy how other people respond to you.

Information about Mary Alice Hurd, Ph.D.

DR. MARY ALICE HURD coaches successful women and men who want to enjoy life and prosperity. She is an executive coach and a licensed psychologist in Texas. After teaching psychology at Southern Methodist University for 30 years she trained in the MentorCoach Coaching program and has been coaching since 2001. (For further information click on biography.)

FOR THE BENEFIT OF HER CLIENTS, Mary Alice is working with a team of highly qualified independent coaches representing multiple coaching specialties in a consortium called Success Discoveries. As a collaborative team they provide a broad wealth of knowledge and expertise for the benefit of corporate and individual clients. Read more about Success Discoveries Coaching Consortium in the section below.

Success Discoveries Coaching Consortium

PROFESSIONAL COACHING SERVICES are now seen as "must have" programs in most companies to ensure success as well as to help ensure job satisfaction for the best and brightest. Through Success Discoveries we are also integrating coaching and team development training to custom deliver new team/new manager programs that accelerate team development and ensure success for new managers and new teams. The number of individuals signing up for personal life coaching is growing substantially. People are looking down the road and seek ways to pursue their dreams more effectively than they could by themselves. A professional coach is skilled in helping clients accelerate their pursuit and accomplishment of professional and personal goals.

COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED in implementing an internal coaching program or engaging one or several coaches to meet diverse needs should contact Success Discoveries for a free consultation. Success Discoveries helps companies and individuals increase satisfaction and grow talent faster, better and cheaper through the use of professional coaching, seminars and assessments.

VISIT THE SHOPPING CART SECTION at www.successdiscoveries.com where more coaching opportunities and workshops are being posted each week or call 972-346-2892 for more information.

Professional Excellence Groups for Executive Women Bankers Coached by Dr. Mary Alice Hurd

HOW DO YOU WIN as a Woman in Banking?

WHO IS THERE to support you when things are always changing?

TAP INTO THE COLLECTIVE wisdom and synergy of professional women just like you.

WITH THE GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT of Dr. Mary Alice Hurd, Executive Coach, you will:

  • Accomplish goals more quickly and painlessly.
  • Achieve balance in your professional and personal life.
  • Develop and use coaching skills to enhance your leadership skills and "promotability."

NEW PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE GROUPS are scheduled to begin soon. For more information:

  • Phone Dr. Mary Alice Hurd at 972.690.0442, or
  • Email maphurd@mail.smu.edu.

 

email: maphurd@mail.smu.edu

phone: 972-690-0442

web: http://www.pilot-your-life.com

HOPEFULLY, you have enjoyed this newsletter. Please send a picture of you in your favorite hat and/or your hat story. Email it to me at maphurd@mail.smu.edu.

Now is a good time for you to experience a free coaching session so you can understand how your life can be impacted positively. Phone me at 972-690-0442. Until next month, Mary Alice