Amy Vanderbilt, Emily Post, and My Mother Are Turning Over in Their Graves

Updated 8/2019*

I suspect you were raised just like I was. As a polite young lady, one who knew and followed the rules of etiquette (a l those mavens of etiquette, Amy Vanderbilt and Emily Post), I was taught never to toot my own horn. Bragging about accomplishments just isn’t polite. Let someone else recognize your achievements, and if they mention them to you, just blush, and politely deflect. Do your best not to take credit, and certainly don’t make it sound like you’re proud of what you’ve done….as in “What, this old thing?…)

(Unless, of course, you are male. Your rules may have been quite different!)

That “don’t take credit” thing has plagued women (and some men) who start and grow businesses since the dawn of entrepreneurism, and it will continue to get in the way as long as children are raised to believe they aren’t supposed to own up to their accomplishments. It’s a demon we advocacy practice builders and owners must overcome if we want to be successful.

Going against the grain of our upbringing is a lot like intentionally coloring outside the lines – easier for some and not easy at all for others.

But today I will do just that – in part to showcase my advocacy work over the past nine 15 years, and in part, to lead by example. If you are one of those “non-horn-tooters” – please pay attention.

Some of you are familiar with my first book, You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes (How to Fix Them to Get the Healthcare You Deserve). It was published to some critical acclaim and all 5-stars at Amazon (oh! it’s so hard to get past my upbringing to write those words!) in early 2010, just a few months before passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare.)

So now, in *2013, it was time to update You Bet Your Life! before most of us truly begin to deal with the ACA…. and now, I’m pleased to tell you it has now been totally revised (believe me – like writing a whole new book!)…. and within about two weeks the new, updated version of You Bet Your Life! will be available for sale. (I’ll tell you more about it when it’s actually just that – for sale.) *Now available:

This new edition of You Bet Your Life! will not be published by its original publisher. Instead, I took back the publishing rights to the book so it will be published by DiagKNOWsis Media, just the same as the two advocacy business books I’ve written.

So why should YOU care?

Because the launch of the revised book meant it was time to update the DiagKNOWsis Media website – which actually began as the very first website I ever built in reaction to my misdiagnosis in 2004, the very reason I ever stepped into the world of healthcare, the entire reason why I became Every Patient’s Advocate, and the reason why you even read this blog – it was my start in the pursuit of improving healthcare for patients.

DiagKNOWsis has come a long way, baby….

Creating links to all the work I have developed over these 9-1/2 years from one place was just a bit overwhelming, and thus, yes, I will brag about it to you today. I will toot my own horn. Because while the name of the company might be DiagKNOWsis Media, it’s been a 100% Trisha Torrey effort that made it that way.

(Ohhhh my goodness. I see Amy, Emily and Mom, too just turning over in their graves….)

Yes, I’m proud of it! I’m proud of everything I’ve done to help patients, advocates and providers. I know people have benefited because on occasion they tell me they have. It actually brings tears to my eyes. I’ve done what I wanted to do. It’s the reason I was put on this earth.

I ask you to take a look at the new website, to see what you see. Find tools you can use, too.

Then let me know what I’ve missed, and what you think I should develop next because the truth is – I’m really just getting started.

And, as Mom would insist, let me say thank you for indulging me today. Yes, I’m blushing. But mostly I hope I’ve been a role model to those of you who must market your own practices by tooting your horns.

It’s not easy. But it’s how we build and promote our businesses. And in the case of private advocacy, it just may be the way we have a positive influence on someone’s life, too.

And isn’t that why we all do what we do? (Now go tell the world about YOUR work, OK?)

Here’s more about tooting your own horn:

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Agree? Disagree?

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