guest article by Lisa Brüggen. Lisa Brüggen is the recipient of 2015 Emerging Service Scholar Award (granted by SERVSIG & dml UMass Boston) and Associate Professor at Maastricht University, host of the next SERVSIG 2016.
As a recipient of the emerging scholar award, I was asked to write a short blog for the SERVSIG newsletter. It’s a challenge to write something smart after the wise words of our ‘old’ knight Dwayne Gremler! So, I took the opportunity to reflect upon what has helped me in my academic career, especially when the road was rather more bumpy and potholed than smooth.
I realized that navigating my academic road has been and continues to be influenced by my academic role models. They are a great GPS! I would like to highlight two individuals from the services community that have been especially directional. The first, Mary Jo Bitner, I met during a visit to Arizona State University. She is a sharp thinker and, during my visit, I benefited a great deal from her critical feedback. At the same time, she was open, very supportive, and encouraging. And, what particularly impressed me was how she combined her academic work, her contributions to CSL, and her support of the services community with being a mother.
Second, I continue to be inspired by how my close colleague Gaby Odekerken-Schröder combines her academic job with motherhood. I always knew that I wanted to have children and I was uncertain at the beginning of my career whether I could combine the requirements of academia with being a good mother. Gaby showed me it was truly possible. Once I had kids, Gaby also gave me practical guidance in how to arrange daycare and the complexities of juggling work and childcare during vacations and exam periods.
These two academic mothers encouraged me to embark on the academic journey and at least give it a try. And, during a few difficult crossroads, their feedback, help, and support ensured that I stayed on track.
Thank you Mary Jo and Gaby as well as the many other inspiring, encouraging, and supportive people I’ve met along the way!
SERVSIG as a research community should not forget the impact and relevance of these personal connections. While it sometimes seems that we are competing for journal space and other academic milestones, we should stand still every once in a while and remember: the common goal that unites us is to keep in touch with people, events, and ideas in services marketing and management by being open, flexible, and fun.
So, who is your role model?
Like in a Facebook challenge, I would like to nominate all of you to share your role models. But a special nomination goes to my co-chair of the SERVSIG Doctoral Consortium 2016, Bart Larivière, to share his role model
