A Teachable Moment: Just Ask
Parents sometimes think about certain news events as being “a teachable moment,” but I think grownups need those too. This has nothing to do with Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street or Momo, but adult things like confidence, something, as a friend recently said, you can’t just buy at the store.
I recently went to a concert in Chicago and had an amazing time. It was a a band I’ve loved since the 90’s and had never seen before. My friend I went with had to work the next day, so he had to leave early to grab the last train out of town. I ran into another friend at the show and he invited me to another place after the show so I met him and his friends down at the other bar.
While at the second club, there was this absolutely gorgeous woman dancing. I am normally not interested in blondes, but she was totally my type. I don’t know if it was her amazing rack or her eyes being as pretty as mine, but she was jaw-droppingly beautiful. As all of us there, she had been drinking and was a social butterfly, dancing and talking to everyone. I talked to her and danced with her just like every other guy in the place did. She told me her name and some of the guys knew her from the place it seemed so some knew her name and others didn’t. I’m a solid six or seven and she is—higher. Whatever!
After the second place closed, a bunch of us were outside talking and she was there, so I asked her for her number. She asked another guy to step away so her and I could talk and she tapped it into my iPhone then said it out loud to me so I could double check. After that she said, “I want you to take me on a real date.” Ok. I will. I travel a lot for work so I plan to sooner than later, but I am a little booked up and my trip I’m on as I write this has me two days extended on my trip so with the extra expenses, I will have to wait a week or so.
She climbed in her Uber and I lit a cigarette before I called mine. There was a group of about six guys looking over at me and two guys from another area walked up. The younger of the two looks me dead in the eye and asks, “How the fuck did you just do that?” I wasn’t sure what he was talking about even. He explained to me that every guy there wanted her number and I was the only one she gave it to that night. Assuming I am hung like a horse, a theory I did not dispel, he kept prodding my secret. I said the most important two words his drunken ass heard all night, “I asked.” He thought I just invented the wheel. Not one guy there actually thought to just ask her for it. Physically, I may not be her type, but on a deeper level, her type is the guy that asks and that is true of most women. Us guys are chicken-shits when it comes to asking women out. We act like we should get their number without even asking. When I woke up that morning, I didn’t have her number and if she refused to give it to me, maintaining the status quo would have been the worst thing that could have happened.
The deeper point behind all of this is to just ask. There is no difference between asking a beautiful girl out on an actual date, and asking a potential investor for a million dollars for your startup, asking for a vote, or asking an HR director to hire you because you feel you’re better qualified for a job. Do you know who is the investor’s type or the voter’s type or the HR director’s type? It’s the candidate that is willing to just ask.
As many people know, I have run for local and state office a few times, though unsuccessfully. The first real lesson I learned about campaigning was to ask people for their vote. Politicians spend time focused on strategy, sign designs, radio commercials, and preparing for forums, which makes them overlook the little things that actually work on Election Day. It’s hard for someone to go into the election booth after you looked them in the eye and just asked for their vote then vote for the other person. Talk, be charming and polite, and simply ask for what you want.
Everybody loves confidence so just be confident in yourself , and your startup, and your job skills. There is no difference between asking a girl who’s boobs are nearly popping out of her top on a date and asking for (what you might think is an absurd amount of capital to start your business while offering them little to no say so in the operation to cover their own investments. Be confident and just ask. The worst thing possible is for you to wake up tomorrow in the same place you are right now. You’ve been there before so you already know what you’re doing, but if the girl or the investor feel your confidence, there is a, potentially, great chance you’ll get the “yes” you’ve been wanting.
Just ask!
For more from Michael Beebe, please read his blog on MichaelBeebe.net.
Picture a young Michael Beebe, fresh out of La Porte High School in ’93, diving headfirst into the world of hospitality with a busboy gig at the old La Porte Holiday Inn. That hustle led him to an Associate of Science from Purdue-North Central in ’95 and a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management from Purdue-Calumet in ’97 (those schools are now merged into Purdue-Northwest, by the way). Michael’s early career was a whirlwind—running a 140-room hotel in Indianapolis, where he learned the ins and outs of the industry but realized it wasn’t his true calling. What did spark his passion? Teaching. He found himself thriving in front of students at Ivy Tech Community College and Lake Michigan College, sharing the art and science of hospitality management. Oh, and he also moonlighted at WIMS radio in Michigan City, juggling both on-air and behind-the-scenes roles with his signature high energy.
Politics? That’s been Michael’s sidekick since he was 18, registering to vote with a fire in his belly to make a difference. He threw his hat in the ring for La Porte County Council in 2010, where he got a crash course in the power of social media marketing. Undeterred by not winning, he campaigned for Indiana’s General Assembly in 2012 and took another shot at the County Council in 2014 and 2016. Though he hasn’t clinched a seat yet, Michael’s relentless drive to serve shines through. Lately, he’s been pouring that energy into helping other candidates who champion personal liberty, amplifying their voices with his knack for strategy.
Here’s a twist: Michael once co-owned a tattoo shop, despite having no ink himself. As the business manager and marketing guru, he leaned hard into low-cost, social media-driven campaigns to put the shop on the map. That experience fueled his love for digital marketing, and now he spends his free time crafting websites and boosting businesses online—a true labor of love.
These days, Michael’s living the dream as an independent contracted transporter, crisscrossing the country while getting paid to soak up new places and cultures. When he’s not exploring, he’s parked somewhere scenic, laptop open, building his digital consulting company, Spark Plug Strategies, or penning his thoughts. He even wrote a few books.
Based in La Porte County, Indiana, Michael’s embraced a “decentralized laptop lifestyle,” blending work, travel, and passion projects into a life that’s as dynamic as he is.