Happy Birthday Jeremy!

“This year I have the honor of writing your birthday post and you know it’s not going to be anything but hilarious.”

I have known Jeremy for a long time now, I would say about 5 years, right away Jeremy made a pretty big impression on me because of how funny he was. I quickly noticed that while I have a more direct approach to making fun of someone, Jeremy says his quietly making sure so no one hears. I started paying attention to his comments early on and decided to start announcing them so he can get in trouble like I do.

Jeremy can be hard to understand in the office because he often mumbles. Now that we are in our new open office and Jeremy has a desk in the corner I feel like I have to annoy him about 100 times asking him to repeat himself. Sorry Jeremy, but it’s true!

It is still up for debate on who actually got all of us hooked on vodka sodas. While this is a drink that most of the world has tried we have a group of friends that only drink them now and we still can’t figure out who introduced it first. Maren claims she was the one, but it might have actually been Jeremy. Like I said, it’s still up for debate.

“This one time in Las Vegas.” They say that everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and that is almost true except for the stories that you bring back. We were in Las Vegas one year having a few cocktails when our friend Matt starts buying us shots of Goldschlager. Well, one shot led to another and after a few we were all feeling pretty great! Jeremy needed to head to the restroom but after about 20 minutes we realized that he had been taking longer than he should. Me being the nice guy that I am decide to venture off to find him. After a couple missed calls Jeremy finally answers and said he had been circling around NewYork NewYork pretty much the whole time. He was lost in the area where they have a bunch of little houses; I actually have been turned around in there as well. I think that was the last time Jeremy ever got lost again.

I think one of the funniest things I have ever heard Maren say to Jeremy, and there’s a lot, is when he used to breath really heavy with his headphones on. You can barely hear anything when you have your Beats by Dre on. Maren had finally had enough so she slammed her hand down and said, “Hey, serial killer breather can you take your headphones off you can’t hear yourself breathing.” I think I laughed for about 20 minutes.

Jeremy is a great husband and a father. You know this by the way his family and friends talk about him. I have been witness to his great parenting skills and have noticed how well he takes care of Maren. Just to give you a quick example, Maren is very sick with the flu and Jeremy has been so great by giving up his birthday week to ensure she is back up and running 100% before she gets back to work.

A note from your Sister-in-law:

Well, not many people know this but Jeremy’s birthday is actually cursed. Try as we might to create a fun day to celebrate this great guy, it will inevitably end with someone having to trek to the nearest bathroom right off the highway in freezing temperatures when the party bus won’t stop for a bathroom break, someone going hypothermic because they fell asleep on a front porch or someone getting loaded into a cop car. Perhaps it’s a story of Job, perhaps it’s just cruel fate, or perhaps Jeremy isn’t as nice as we all think he is and his birthday curse is payback. (We all know it can’t be the latter) The truth is, if there’s any guy who deserves a day of curse-free celebration, it’s Jeremy. He’s kind, patient, funny and a darn good brother-in-law. Maybe this year we can break the curse.

Send Jeremy a “Happy Birthday” message with #breakthecurse and perhaps all of our holiday cheer will do the trick…poor guy deserves it.

Thank you Jeremy for all the things that you do for us in the office. If we didn’t have you we wouldn’t be able to sync Dropbox, restart our computers, or have any wine at our eatin’ meetings. You are a great boss and an awesome friend. Enjoy your birthday!

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.