The Feeney Legacy Project: Turning Grief into Action

By Victoria R. Crosby

On April 15, 2022, Kathy Feeney Armistead lost her son Feeney, whose death might have been avoided had 911 been called and CPR been administered immediately. During his thirty-three years on this earth, Feeney embraced his life and everyone who was a part of it.

Feeney’s trademark stance in pictures was with arms flung wide open and an exuberant grin on his face. He excelled at playing baseball, was goofy, athletic, a storyteller, and a writer, as well as big-hearted and loyal. He loved his DAWGS and the Atlanta Braves with boundless passion. A big dude, Feeney’s booming laugh filled the room. He pushed boundaries and lived on the edge. Again, Feeney might have had a second chance at life if 911 had been called immediately, followed by CPR when he collapsed from cardiac arrest.

Kathy founded the Feeney Legacy Project (FLP) in memory of her son. FLP advocates for the public to take immediate action to call 911 and administer CPR for anyone in medical distress. This mother is turning grief into action.

The Feeney Legacy Project is a group of determined women – sisters, family, and friends aged 13 to 85 – bound by their mutual love of Feeney and Kathy, each motivated to ensure the FLP mission is spread to ALL. The FLP aims to advocate for the life-saving actions of calling 911 and administering CPR so that another may not experience the tragic loss of a child, a family member, or a friend.

The mission of the Feeney Legacy Project:

• ADVOCATE for the immediate calling of 911 and administering CPR to one in medical distress

• EDUCATE about the protection provided by the Good Samaritan and 911 Amnesty Laws to one who acts to save a life. CALL 911…BE SOMEONE’S SECOND CHANCE.

The goal of FLP is to educate teens and adults about the laws in

Marketing Matters: Your Brand Makes All the Difference

By Dr. Ryan T. Sauers

How can we lead when we are looking down? We cannot. Leaders must look up. Leading individuals and organizations look up and ahead, and they almost always have a strong brand. So, let us focus on the word brand and how it positions us as forward thinking leaders.

We communicate a message in everything we do – and it’s especially true when we use the term brand. We often discuss brands that we prefer and those we do not. Why? Because brands stand out in an emotional way in our minds. Think about our instant recognition of Nike when we hear “Just Do It,” or the image of Walt Disney World when you hear the words “the happiest place on earth.”

These messages are effective in connecting customers with the brand and in positioning us as market leaders. You see, perception is reality when it comes to our brand. Thus, the goal is to make such brand experiences personal in nature. For example, are you a Coke or Pepsi person? Mac or PC? You get the idea. Your brand is the one thing about you or your organization that people cannot copy. They can try to duplicate what you do, but they cannot be you or replicate your DNA. They cannot be your brand.

Georgia so that they may not fear repercussions if they call 911. Some may be reluctant to call 911 in an emergency where there are drugs or alcohol involved out of fear: fear of arrest; fear of trouble with parents, partners, or peers; fear of school suspension; fear of financial impact; fear of employer; and fear that they do not know how to administer CPR.

Armistead said, “If 911 is not called immediately and CPR isn’t started immediately when someone goes into cardiac arrest, the lack of oxygen to the brain will cause permanent damage in as little as four minutes. In another four to six minutes, without the brain receiving blood, will result in increased brain damage, coma, and death.”

When 911 is called immediately, the dispatcher will give the caller instructions on CPR. The Good Samaritan Law protects anyone from civil litigation “who in good faith renders emergency care at the scene of an accident or emergency to the victim or victims thereof without making any charge.”

Armistead’s heartfelt wish is to spare other parents from losing a child in the way she lost her own. “We must ensure that everyone understands the urgency in calling 911 and administering CPR to try to save a life,” she said, “and that these lifesaving attempts are legally protected – Life over Law. This message takes on even more urgency in the face of the fentanyl crisis, but kids and adults need to understand that alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs can cause cardiac arrest.

“Don’t walk away from a friend in distress,” she continued. “Act. Be someone’s second chance. FLPers need you to help build a stronger community by teaching those in your life the importance of calling 911, to be sure CPR is in everyone’s toolbox, and reminding all about Life over Law.”

As Armistead says, “Let’s save lives.” Become part of the Feeney Legacy Project – passion, talent, skills, and wanting to make a difference for our community is all it takes.

More information at https://www.feeneylegacyproject.org/

I hope you are beginning to see that your brand is the unique value that you bring to the table that no one else can. A price is the cost of something. In contrast, value= price + goods/services + YOU. Without the value of you (your brand) in the aforementioned equation, you are nothing more than a commodity where low price wins. No good as the goal is value.

So how can we best define a brand? It can be defined as the sum total of key ideas, emotions, and perceptions that are communicated to your audience and associated with you or your organization’s work. When your stakeholders reflect upon their experiences with you or your organization, the brand is the “shorthand” way of summing up those characteristics and feelings. A brand can be thought of as your distinguishing characteristics that could be considered your own unique fingerprint.

To help simplify this subject, I have developed a newly revised acronym: A BRAND can be considered the Baseline (measurement) of our Reputation, Attributes, Name, and Distinctiveness. Reputation is all you or your organization stands for; attributes are the characteristics others use when describing you; your name suggests something (good, bad, or indifferent) when a person hears it; and your distinctiveness answers the question, “Why you? What makes you different or unique?”

So the question is not if we have a brand or not, because we do. All individuals and organizations have a brand. Instead, the question is reframed to: What do we do with our brand? In short, our brand is not defined by what we say it is, but by what others say it is. To that end, successful individuals and organizations work hard to develop their brands through effective communication. Always remember that building a strong, recognizable, and reliable brand takes time, effort, and commitment. Simply said, it requires a deliberate, purposeful, and intentional strategy.

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