What I learned on my business trip to Philadelphia

Fortunate enough to spend a week in the birthplace of America to work, I learned that Philadelphia is an East Coast city with a Mid-West disposition. I learned that the baseball fans here actually root for two teams – the Phillies and whoever is playing the Mets. I learned that there are still neighborhoods that have been untouched since the 70’s and that Broad Street is no place for the narrow-minded. I learned that a real Philly cheese steak from the world famous Pat’s was worth the 33-year wait and the only way to wash it down is with a popular Philadelphia street vendor treat called water ice. I learned that mojitoes and friends are made best at a place called Alma de Cuba.

And that a broadcast producer makes a great dance partner.

With a rental car and an opportunity to head to NYC for Memorial Day weekend, I learned that I never get tired of seeing Lady Liberty and that it only takes a ferry ride, an afternoon of walking lower Manhattan and some ice cream to bridge a 30-year gap between a father and son. I pressed on, picking up my mom, who was vacationing in Greenwich, CT and we went on to visit our old town of New Canaan, where, together we learned that you can’t go home. Or at least, that we don’t want to. Maybe that’ll change when I visit my other hometown in Jersey.

While working at QVC, I learned this is the place where fashion lives and that the chemistry between old ad partners never dies. I learned that here, meetings can breed meetings about upcoming meetings. But some can breed great ideas. I learned that at a network built on selling, it’s the employees who have to buy into it most. I learned that at this network, women out number men like 12 to 1 and almost everyone has a TV on their desk. But only one channel to tune it to.



Walking Philly with my friend Heather and her child, I learned that my new best friend is an 18-month-old named Theo and that his favorite word is apple. And over the course of the day, I learned that the person in this city fighting the hardest isn’t Rocky Balboa, it’s a single mom who is doing a phenomenal job of raising a young man on her own. By the end of the day, I had renamed Philadelphia the city of Motherly love. I hope to be half the parent she is.

And finally, on my business trip to Philadelphia, I learned that this city and its surrounding towns are filled with genuine, down to earth people who make this place a heartland. I know this, because getting on the plane I sensed that I was leaving a little bit of mine behind.