Shout out to Jeff

Tonight I am thankful for Jeff Dossett. Jeff has been my manager at Microsoft for the last several years and we've been through a lot together. Through-out, he has been the epitome of strength of character, positivity and compassion. He's a 17 year veteran of Microsoft and is a great example of a brilliant corporate executive with a huge heart. Many have asked how work is going for me with everything else going on and I've been able to say that my manager has made all the difference. While pregnant with Taylor, he gave me this cool project called Live Earth (which became the most watched live event online ever) and graciously allowed me to take 8 months leave (6 month maternity plus 2 month sabbatical) after Taylor was born. Literally the day I was to return to work was the day we found out about Taylor's brain condition. Jeff was climbing Mt. Everest (seriously) at the time, but when he returned, he was incredibly supportive and gave me the time I needed to cope, develop a smart plan, and ensure we were doing everything we could for Taylor. This support has been a tremendous gift to Taylor, and our entire family. So many have helped us, but this time has made all the difference in the world for all of us.

Unfortunately, Jeff is not my manager anymore, but our last project together was in support of the RED campaign. Jeff is a huge supporter (so huge that he carried their flag to the top of the world) of RED - you can read more about his involvement at http://www.teaminspired.com. I'd like to encourage any blog readers to consider purchasing a RED product or join the RED community at http://www.joinred.com/ - as a huge thank-you on my behalf to Jeff.