Monthly Archives: April 2018

Can Our Words Make A Difference?

Can our words make a difference? Consider this little story: The Group of Frogs As a group of frogs were traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and when they saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that fell in […]

Traveling 5,000 Miles To Appreciate What’s Less Than 50 Miles Away

Last week my husband and I flew to London with a group of 108 of our friends from Utah who serve on the Hale Centre Theater Board with us.  It was a whirlwind of a trip packed with back to back events from the moment our plane took off last Tuesday until we touched back […]

Life’s Little Instructions

“Life’s Little Instructions -Every so often you push your luck. -Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed. -Never give up on anybody — miracles happen every day. -Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. -Learn to listen. -Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures. -Don’t expect others to listen to […]

Blessed Are The Flexible For They Will Not Be Bent Out Of Shape

Plans change. Things come up. Stuff happens…that’s just life…and when they do we can either get angry or upset or sad and allow it to ruin our day, or we can decide we are going to go with the flow and make the best of the situation even when its not what we had planned. […]

Give people the benefit of the doubt

“A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands. Her mom came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile: my sweetie, could you give your mom one of your two apples? The girl looked up at her mom for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one […]

It Couldn’t Be Done

It Couldn’t Be Done Somebody said that it couldn’t be done But he with a chuckle replied That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.   So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it. He […]

The Person Who Says Something Is Impossible Should Not Interrupt The Person Who Is Doing It

“The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”  -unknown This weekend I was heads down working my guts out on my daughter Ashley’s upcoming wedding. I’ve been working on planning her wedding for months but it’s getting down to the wire with only a few weeks left […]

How A Great Leader Melts The Iceberg Of Ignorance

“Only 4% of an organization’s front-line problems are known by top management, 9% are known by middle management, 74% by supervisors and 100% by employees…” Sidney Yoshida calls this “The Iceberg of Ignorance” in his study that was presented at the International Quality Symposium. Front-line employees that are working in the trenches are always going […]

But Seriously Though, What’s Your Excuse?

Tonight I was a judge for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Shark Tank where students from the age of 8 – 18 pitched their business plans in front of a panel of four judges and a room full of their parents and several of their peers. As these young people walked us through their business idea, […]

History Has It’s Eyes On You…Don’t Throw Away Your Shot

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of the Broadway play Hamilton.  You can imagine his surprise when I admitted to him I had not yet heard the Soundtrack from his play Hamilton but I shared how big a fan of it my husband is and how excited I was […]

It’s Nothing To Be Ashamed Of

“Don’t be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” –Unknown Every one has physical and/or emotional scars of some kind. Perhaps those scars resulted from an accident you were involved in, or perhaps they resulted from being the victim of some sort of abuse…whatever caused them, […]

After The Game The King And The Pawn Go Into The Same Box

Last week I had a crazy schedule – My week started with a podcast interview, then I judged a business competition,  I flew from Utah out to Burbank California for an investment meeting and then I flew from California out to Chicago for a business conference and then I had to hustle to get back […]

The Motivating Power Of A Friendly Competition

I’m a firm believer in competing against our own best selves over trying to compete with other people.  That being said, I am all about having fun friendly competitions once in awhile because they are just a great way to motivate yourself.  Growing up as a middle child in a family with ten children it […]

Does Your Family Have A Zombie Plan?

Does Your Family Have A Zombie Plan?  (The following blog is from my son Dalton who wanted to share this important message with all of you since he felt I had not adequately been addressing this subject in prior blog posts…): News just broke out that the zombie apocalypse has started. What are you going […]

Stuck In A Jam

Traffic jams are so frustrating! It is so painful to be stuck on the freeway when there is a traffic jam of bumper to bumper cars and there is literally no way to get yourself out of it. All you can do is sit there and wait for the traffic to start moving again. You […]

We All Have A Talent We Bring To The Table

I can still remember walking into a Deseret Industries thrift store as a newly married girl of 20 years old and spotting an old broken down piece of furniture. As I looked at it, in my mind I could literally picture the gorgeous rocking chair that it could be if I were to put a […]

Things Will Straighten Out When You Stand Steady And Face Them

Sundays have always been a special day of the week for me. It’s the one day I set aside work and outside activities and as much technology as I can and I use it as a day to refill my spiritual tank. I always attend church for three hours each Sunday (…yes, you heard me […]

“Don’t let someone’s words blind you from their behavior.”

If we want to know who another person is all we need to do is watch what they do.  Strip away their words completely and just focus on their actions…observe just their actions over a period of time. As you do this you will begin to know their true character because their actions will be […]

We Have The Meats? A Tale Of Customer Service

Today I drove up to Utah State University to speak on a panel to the MBA students and then to be a judge for USUs annual Shark Tank business competition.  This is an event I look forward to every year because I absolutely love the students up at USU! They are awesome students who are […]

Friendship Is Built In The Present, But We Can Deepen Its Roots By Sharing Stories From Our Pasts

Dalton here, Amy’s one month shy of turning 25 year old son (feel free to mark that in your calendars so you’ll remember to send birthday wishes my way 🙂 ) filling in for my Mom tonight so she can have a little alone time with my Dad…and frankly, I prefer to not know what […]

You Can Do Anything If You Stop Trying To Do Everything

“You Can Do Anything If You Stop Trying To Do Everything.” – Oliver Emberton WOW!  Talk about a quote that smacks you right between the eyes with the most obvious “DUH” moment ever!  I mean really, it makes perfect sense doesn’t it? After selling my company back in 2012 I thought my life would be […]

What Are Men Really Thinking?

“Women spend more time thinking about what men think than men actually spend thinking.”  -unknown There is no question that as a woman when you ask a man what he is thinking and he responds, “Nothing” it seems like an impossible answer. How in the world could he actually be thinking about nothing?? I still […]