The Power of Laughter

I always enjoyed visiting my grandmother’s house in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania every summer when I was growing up. Not just because it was great to see her and spend time with family, which it was, but it was great to spend each summer day roaming through, what was then a small college town, in central Pennsylvania. However, what I enjoyed most was rummaging through stacks and stacks of old Reader’s Digests and reading through each issues', “Laughter The Best Medicine.” It was a compilation of some of the best, and worst, jokes ever told. Regardless, I never put an issue down without having laughed, or groaned, and with a smile on my face.

Now you all must be thinking, what does this have to do with work? Glad you asked. Work is much the same as travelling to read the latest issue of Reader’s Digest. I’ve been blessed over the years of working with some pretty amazing people. One of my first jobs after school was as the Associate Producer of NPR’s Car Talk. Suffice it to say, if you didn’t laugh a dozen or so times a day, you were having a bad day. Both Tom and Ray were funnier off the air than they were "On Air."

Fast forward to today, and in my new career opportunity as Director Communications and PR at Comtrade Software, I’m reminded each and every day of the power of laughter. For those that don’t know, Comtrade Software is a software technology company headquartered in Boston, Mass. We specialize in IT monitoring and data protection for companies worldwide. One of our fortes is the work we have done with a pioneer and arguably the industry’s leader in Hyperconverged Infrastructure solutions (HCI), Nutanix. This past summer we introduced the industry’s first purpose-built data protection software solution for Nutanix called HYCU - a play off the Japanese form of poetry, HAIKU. Launching HYCU and working with the team to help raise awareness has been a lot of fun.

Which brings me full circle. The team here at Comtrade Software is phenomenal. There is not a day that goes by where we don’t laugh. And, I kid you not, that’s 100% true. Even from an old PR guy! A lot of it has to do with the culture and the leadership qualities of our most senior leader, Simon Taylor, the president at Comtrade Software. For anyone that has been fortunate to have met, and or worked with Simon, you will know what I am talking about. He has a laugh that you can hear from anywhere. He also brings unending energy and passion to everything he does. And as you would imagine, it’s infectious.

So while It’s not as far a trip to take as Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, riding in on the T or driving to State Street every day is equally rewarding. And most importantly, it reminds me each and every day how powerful, and therapeutic, it is to laugh!