Learn To Sip A Scotch And Other Lessons I Learned From A Great Woman

I was 21 years old, mixing and mingling with professionals for the first time.

Power suits and poppycock in rich oak-lined drawing rooms. And cocktails. I’m sure I ordered something silly and frilly and delicious.

My boss Andrea ordered a scotch. 

I can picture nothing about the place, or the other people, or the music, or the conversation but I can see with pitch-perfect clarity Andrea sitting back with a scotch. She owned the place as she owns that memory. 

I asked something typical like, “Wow, you drink that by itself????”

Andrea just smiled patiently and said, “Learn to sip a scotch.” At that moment, she made a lasting impression.

How dare I suggest that one drink defines you? 

You’re right, of course you are. One drink doesn’t define you but let’s put it into context. 

In business, every moment, every second, you are making a first impression.

Our choices define us: What we say and what we don’t, how we act and how we react, even down to what we choose to drink. 

One poor choice can negate a hundred outstanding ones.

Andrea was my first boss and I thank the business gods for her. She gently taught me lessons, which was a lesson in itself. 

We worked for a small online information provider in Texas and I was dealing with the public for the first time. I made mistakes and had much to learn. 

Andrea never humiliated me when I was wrong. She always reminded me that she had my back even while letting me know that I had, in fact, made a wrong decision. 

She taught me to troubleshoot patiently; identify solutions; soothe ruffled feathers; close a deal. And she taught me other invaluable things too. 

 

Impressions are burned on the brain. If you are dancing on the bar, it doesn’t matter how much you’ve done for your company, you’re still the chick that danced on the bar.

And if you order a piña colada served in a pineapple, you will never be considered savvy and sophisticated. Never.

Those fruity, sassy, suggestively monikered discount cocktails for a discount crowd like the White Chocolate Martini, the Lemon Meringue, or the Sweet Release originated during Prohibition to mask the flavor of low-quality bootleg alcohol. Low quality being the operative phrase here.

It’s not about alcohol. It’s about awareness. Drink what you want: Wine, beer, the pineapple foo-foo concoction or nothing at all. 

But be aware of what it says about you. Distinguish yourself. Educate yourself. 

Scotch is an informed choice. An apple martini is not. 

Speak to your choices and let them speak for you.


Felicia Yonter is a business development professional, butterfly, news junkie, and planner of open-invention food outings. You can follow her mental meanderings at www.twitter.com/feliciacago