Though she says she has never been discriminated against of harassed on account of who she is, 30 years in sales have taught Dina Creiger how to be nice to people and how to deal with people who are not.
Recently, the Babson MBA took advantage of the support she has long enjoyed from her partner of 30 years and her 16-year-old son to go out on her own in an effort to make her pro-nice campaign a “thing.”
“It’s just so easy and simple,” she suggests, “and it comes with a huge return!”
The result is Choose to Be Nice (www.choosetobenice.com), an organization bent on making people who may appear unbending a bit more flexible and, in a word, nice.
“Choose To Be Nice is dedicated to encouraging and inspiring kindness whenever and wherever possible,” Creiger explains.
Instead of forcing niceness upon people, Creiger and her CTBN colleagues (who include Representative Joseph P. Kennedy. III) offer potential nice people a choice and an opportunity to make their “nice” status official by taking The Choose to Be Nice Promise. The Promise (which can be accessed on the website at www.choosetobenice.com/make-the-promise) involves spreading kindness at every opportunity and being nice to the best of your ability. Most importantly, it requires the promise-maker to be nice to everyone with whom they come into contact, regardless of race, religion, color, creed or sexual orientation.
Though she could probably list a few people she would like to personally encourage to make the promise, Creiger is still able to keep a positive outlook on humanity.
People are inherently good,” she suggests, blaming much of the lack of patience so many exhibit on our fast-paced world and a general lack of patience. “We’re are just overloaded, tired, and overwhelmed [and] niceness has fallen by the wayside.”
As she has had to deal with so many un-nice people in her personal and professional life, the former media salesperson clearly has a deep well of niceness to draw from; one that was filled by her family.
“My parents taught me to always treat people with kindness, respect and compassion,” she explains, “and to never be intimidated by anyone.”
So far, her quest for universal niceness is off to a great start! In only one year of officially running CTBN full time, Crieger has found promise-makers all over the country and all over the globe.
“My goal is to get 1 million promises from around the world by 2020,” she says.
In an effort to increase the nice numbers, Creiger has partnered with various schools and organizations, including Family Equality Council, a national organization that defends the rights of LGBT partners and couples.
“I am a member of their Protectors Circle,” Creiger says proudly, “which helps to sustain their most important work.”
Looking to the future, Cregier hopes to get the word out through partnerships and CTBN swag. She also hopes to publish a series of books, create a CTBN festival and create what she calls “a universal CTBN culture” among individuals, school systems, public administrations, and other entities.
“That will be a good start,” she says.
