She took a chance on me.

Maybe more like a calculated risk.

Not that I’m a loose cannon, of course. But this corporate summit, for one of the most iconic brands in the world, was her baby, where she brought the marketing heads of other iconic brands together to hear about something other than marketing.

Which is why I was there.

And Liz Gilbert, who wrote Eat Pray Love. And Tony Doerr, who won a Pulitzer. They both sat in the front row as I told my story, and when I touched the box of my best friend’s ashes at the end, Liz melted into a hot mess of tears.

She wasn’t crying because she knew my dog Kona, of course. She was crying because she’s experienced a loss that looked like that, only called by a different name: a dream, a partner, an identity, a parent. Maybe even a dog.

And isn’t this why certain stories, songs, and movies resonate deeper in us?

We see ourselves there, in the dirt beneath the shiny linoleum of entertainment.

And maybe in seeing ourselves, we can honor what is good, and change what is not.

This is what that Senior Vice-President at Coca-Cola knows, why she brings people like Liz and Tony and myself to her summit: to give her colleagues their own peek under the linoleum. Because she’s more than a strong, powerful woman… she’s a beautiful soul, committed to making those around her, and the planet, better.

We recently talked about life for awhile.

You can listen to our conversation right here.

And peek under the linoleum.