… and how I can I make my Now, WOW?

Good day friends of WOW!  First and foremost, a GIANT WOW and Thank You for participating in the first of MANY WOW DAY CELEBRATIONS. For those of you who are new to “The WOW” here is a some background about the Weiskopf family.

Doug and I were blessed with two amazing boys, Jacob (1996) and Jared (1998). From the time Jacob could walk/talk it was clear that there was something different about him, something WOW about him, from his love of precious stones and flowers, and as he got older, studded Converse sneakers, and any clothing produced by “Vince.” Jacob was a Devotee of Nicki Minaj. And a fan of ABBA and Disco, both of which he got from his Mom. Jacob had a brilliant mind; in fact he loved spending time with his teachers at lunch/breaks talking philosophy in lieu hanging with many friends, who were almost exclusively young women. Oh, yes, Jacob was GAY – FABULOUSLY GAY – and I was over the moon happy when he came out to us! But being Jacob was hard for Jacob. His friend group was almost exclusively girls his own age, and being gay in a small private liberal high school meant his opportunity to have a boyfriend was very limited, and we believe that Jacob just wanted to love and be loved, and have someone to call his own. Where Jacob was NOT limited was having Suzie Hicks as his best friend, and the Weiskopfs are forever grateful to this amazing young woman, and we will be for the rest of our lives.

The unthinkable happened when we were on summer vacation in Portland, Maine, in July of 2013, where Jacob took his own life in front of our eyes. I have no words to describe what that moment was like – and ditto for all the moments that came after.

Jacob’s service was on a Wednesday in July. Doug wrote and delivered the eulogy – a series of statements that started with… “Don’t say why did Jacob take his own life, say WOW! Look what Jacob accomplished in 17 years. Don’t say why was he taken away from us when he was so young and just starting his life, say ‘WOW’ look at the impact that Jacob has in just 17 years on this earth.”

We both took some time off, and went back to our corporate jobs, but our hearts and passions were elsewhere, specifically we both wanted our work to be about helping others to find their WOW. For Doug, that was going back to school for several years to be awarded a Masters in Mental Health Counseling.

I left my career in media sales, and enrolled in, and completed, both a coaching curriculum and a 10-month Leadership program, and have been a WOW Coach for Women since 2016. As a former Marketer, choosing the “right” name for my business took some time, because I didn’t like any of the names I came up with.  But one day in early 2016, this name popped into my head “Make Your Now WOW” AND, GLORY BE the URL was available (I was shocked it was – so I grabbed it!) And that was that.

BUT, there’s more…..

On June 2, 2016, I woke up super excited… not unusual for me, LOL!  I ran to find Jared and Doug and tell them about this amazing dream that I had, and I finally knew how it was that we would honor Jacob. I said, “We are going to have a WOW Day to celebrate the original WOW, Jacob, and we are going to have it on his birthday (March 26)! AND we are going to encourage everyone to perform outrageous acts of kindness and post those “Deeds of WOW” on social media! Then I went to my laptop to start my day, and this is what I saw.

As you can imagine, I was like HOLY SH*T – with the images and the lyrics, but I was still keeping it somewhat together UNTIL Beck starts singing “We’re going to take it around the world…” – also known as  International WOW DAY!

I knew then and there, with zero doubts, that Jacob was, and is, always going to be with me.

Anyone who knew Jacob, knew that he made EVERY MOMENT A WOW!

And THAT is why I am on a mission to help people connect with their WOW!

I hope you will consider signing up for a 30 minute WOW Conversation with me and help me to start more WOW Conversations that will lead to WOW Communities, which will lead to TAKING WOW AROUND THE WORLD!

Much love and grace to you all!

XOXO
Anne, Doug, Jared, and Jacob