For those who don’t know me, I was fortunate to find and marry my soulmate, Allison, who her family and friends affectionately call “Allie.” She’s an amazing woman who helped me see the world quite differently than how I was raised.
Allie brought three incredible girls, now young women, into the world. She also cared for my mother 24/7 at the end of her life and held her hand, along with me, when she took her last breath. Additionally, she was by my side as the primary caregiver and patient advocate when I battled and survived cancer during the pandemic.
With that and so much more from our almost 40 years together in mind, I wanted to share a personal story of surprise and delight, while putting it in the business context of Agile Development and the customer experience it delivered.
The Backstory behind Two Wings
This year, I wanted to do something special for Allie’s birthday as it was a milestone celebration, but I’ve only been able to surprise her once during all our years together. My original idea was a party and tickets to see Hamilton at the Fox Theater. However, both ideas were foiled. To surprise her this year, I needed more inspiration.
Enter Jamie Stokes, a brilliant digital comms leader, speaker, colleague and dear friend. Some years ago, she commissioned a songwriter friend of hers to write a song for her brother’s 50th birthday.
“Do you think the artist would work with me?” I asked giddily.
Jamie provided me the songwriter’s name and email address and the covert operation, code name “Project Two Wings” was underway.
I approached Rachel Garlin, singer-songwriter and performer, to explore the possibilities. She said that the timing was actually good for her, and she said “Yes!”
The Process
To begin, Rachel interviewed me via Zoom. During the call, I shared the love story of “Allie and Al.” Following that conversation, I shared three limericks that Allie and I wrote at her father’s request for our wedding, our timeline and some ideas for the chorus. For additional inspiration, I also shared an initial attempt at a poem I was writing before Jamie told me about Rachel.
Rachel internalized our love story, the role faith played in our lives and everything else that I sent to her. Then she took the lead to create the first serious draft of the song lyrics. In turn, I changed a word here and refined a phrase there. We continued to collaborate, co-editing the words and phrases, until we were eighty percent there.
Meanwhile, Rachel composed the music. When that was ready, she sent me a rough-cut demo. The first version was really good. In fact, some phrases touched my heart so deeply I even teared up. However, there were still some phrases that didn’t quite hit the mark, and the sound didn’t quite capture what I had in my head.
I explained that I was envisioning a ballad, something with a similar sound as Tim McGraw’s Humble and Kind. Rachel asked, “So, musically speaking, you’d like Allie’s song to swim in the same waters as Humble and Kind?”
I responded with considerable enthusiasm, “Absolutely!”
We continued to collaborate and iterate until we locked the lyrics. Rachel continued developing the melody. Her refinements were subtle, and we were both satisfied with the result.
Working with Rachel Garlin felt Effortless
When I suggested a change and shared “the why” behind it, Rachel listened and patiently explained that her job, as a songwriter, is to ask, “How can we serve the song? What does the song need?”
To serve this song, she felt that certain lines wanted to rhyme in certain ways. She explained how rhymes can happen at the ends of lines but also inside lines. Rachel helped me see how certain words have chemistry with each other. Since this song is about the chemistry between two people, we wanted the words within lines to have chemistry as well.
Rachel Garlin photo by Irene Young
With that increased understanding, I was able to suggest a different word or phrase that I felt was a better fit for the song based on our story. With each iteration, the song got better, and I grew more excited!
Agile Development leads to Outstanding Customer Experience
We never formally used Agile Methodology to develop “Two Wings,” but Mark Burton, a colleague I met during a random coffee, made the connection for me after I shared my experience working with Rachel.
Mark, a Senior Scrum Master at Cox Automotive, explained that the Agile Methodology is an approach that involves organizing a project into phases and emphasizes continuous collaboration and improvement. Teams follow a rapid cycle of planning, executing and evaluating.
It goes something like this… Imagine yourself helping a child construct something with LEGO blocks. They share their vision, and collaboratively, you construct a prototype. Together, you evaluate it, iterate as needed, and refine it until everyone is satisfied, and in my case, the song fulfills its purpose as a personalized piece of art.
Agile Development mirrors this dynamic and iterative approach! Instead of attempting to map out the entire project at once and take a long time before delivering something, you organize the project into manageable components, build something quickly and make improvements along the way.
Agile is all about teamwork, testing things out and making whatever you’re working on better step by step, just like my musical adventure with Rachel!
Project Two Wings… Mission Accomplished!
Not only did I surprise Allie with a personal song that was deeply personal and meaningful, I surprised my three daughters as well!
Throughout the project, only Rachel, Jamie – my co-conspirator, and I were in the know. This was a remarkable collaboration that was easily one of the Top 10 coolest things I’ve ever done in my life!
While the ballad version is awesome, the band version takes Allie’s song to a whole new level! And yes, in my mind and to my ear, I believe Tim McGraw would approve. You be the judge, listen for yourself:
Why Two Wings?
Although in many cultures around the world, the advancement and status of women has improved, there’s still quite a long way to go for the universal recognition of the equality of women and men. However, nestled within the Bahá’í Writings is a metaphor comparing women and men to “Two Wings of a Bird.” It’s a figure of speech that symbolizes a spiritual belief that transcends the boundaries of time and culture – the idea that women and men are created equal in the sight of God.
“The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly. Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real attainment.”
– ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, the eldest Son of Bahá’u’lláh
ʻAbdu’l-Bahá continues, “When the two wings or parts become equivalent in strength, enjoying the same prerogatives, the flight of man will be exceedingly lofty and extraordinary. Therefore, woman must receive the same education as man and all inequality be adjusted. Thus, imbued with the same virtues as man, rising through all the degrees of human attainment, women will become the peers of men, and until this equality is established, true progress and attainment for the human race will not be facilitated.”
Two Wings Demystified
Two Wings is a deeply personal song with a lot of meaning behind it. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I thought some may appreciate if I’d demystify a couple of the verses.
The Lyrics |
The Meaning |
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She can map me like Rand-McNally
From Virginia to Florence, Italy
She’s the one that I’m gonna carry
In my heart forever and always |
On the lighter side: Admittedly, I’m directionally challenged. I often poke fun at that saying, “I married my navigator.”
On a deeper level: In all seriousness, Allie has helped me personally and our family successfully navigate many areas of our lives. We met in Northern Virginia and travelled extensively across the US and to several other countries. However, Florence holds a special place in our hearts.
In case you missed it: Before GPS and Google Maps, everyone used paper maps. Rand-McNally was one of the world’s most prolific publishers of paper maps, like the beloved Road Atlas, in the world. |
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We’re two wings of a bird, way up high
You can take my word, hand on heart, I can testify
She can see things clearly, even when I’m blind
We’re two wings of a bird, but it’s thanks to her
We learned to fly |
I’ve already covered the origins and meaning of two wings. However, it’s worth touching on the “She can see things clearly, even when I’m blind.”
On the lighter side, I’ve been known to walk into the pantry or some other place looking for something and come out empty-handed. Allie, on the other hand, can walk into the same place and magically walk out holding the item sought.
On a deeper level, Allie recognized the potential in our relationship before I did. She saw possibilities, even when I had doubts. She believed in me, even when I didn’t. I attribute much of our success together as a couple and who I’ve become as an individual to her. |
Lagniappe, a Little Something Extra
Lagniappe, pronounced “lan-yap,” is a Cajun-French inspired noun that means “a little extra. It’s typically a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase.
For Project Two Wings, I commissioned Rachel for a single song. While Rachel is an established professional with an extensive catalogue of radio-charted songs, Allie’s song would serve as my one-hit wonder. However, Rachel being the incredible person that she is did one better. She tapped her own network of talented musicians and bandmates to record a band version of Allie’s song, layering in bass, drum and electric guitar tracks.
As the customer, I was completely – and more than pleasantly – surprised with this little extra because it wasn’t little in my mind. It was huge! To say I was overwhelmed with the band’s contribution would be a vast understatement.
In sum, Rachel delivers a product that’s not only personalized, but also reflective of her expansive perspective on what can be. If a song calls for something, she’ll work with you to figure out how to manifest it.
Related: The Power of Giving A Little Extra! “Lagniappe” | Motivational Speaker Roger Crawford (video, humorous) Leaders understand the difference maker is “the little extra.”
Parting Thought
If there’s someone special in your life, you don’t have to write them a song to let them know how much you love them. While I’m sure they’d appreciate the grand gesture, letting those you love and care about know how you feel frequently and in small ways is just as meaningful… perhaps more so because it demonstrates that they’re on your mind and in your heart more often than they realize.
I’m so very grateful that the stars aligned, and I was able work with Rachel and give Allie her song. It’s a song that our family will cherish forever and always!
If ever you’re interested in giving a unique gift to someone special, please contact me. I’d love to share my experience working with Rachel. She’s an incredible talent with a heart of gold.
If you’re so moved, please leave a comment to let me know which version of Allie’s song you’re drawn to more.
Inspire on!