Tag Archives: entrepreneurship

“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 […]

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 […]

Do It For The Others Whose Feet May Someday Pass This Way

I’m sure I’ve shared this poem at some point before but it was on my mind today so I had to share it again. When I’ve had a long day and I’m tired and find myself still awake and still needing to write a daily blog and it’s already 3am in the morning and I […]

‘Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.’

“Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” – Ezra T. Benson When we focus on “who is right” it is very easy for personal emotions to come into play which often leads to clouding our view – worrying about “who is right” becomes a matter of pride of […]

Communicating Like That Isn’t Any More Effective In Getting What You Want As An Adult Then It Was When You Were A Child

“I’m gonna hold my breath until you give in and give me what I want!”  Now there’s a communication tactic we learned as children was never effective in getting us what we wanted. All it did was make our cheeks turn blue and give us a pounding headache. Never once did it actually get us […]

Rethinking Your Stress

It was sometime in the 1990’s when I first came across a PBS special where a woman was speaking in in a stand-up comedy routine sort of way on The Joy of Stress. Almost immediately I began laughing out loud listening to her as she described in the most entertaining way the self-defeating thoughts and […]

What Will Matter

Sometimes you read something that says what you are thinking more perfectly than you could say it yourself  – that’s how I felt when I read this poem by Michael Josephson, whom I had never heard of until someone showed me this poem , but I  like the message of his poem so much I’m […]

Turning Weakness Into Strength

We were all born with our own unique challenges. Some physical, some mental, some circumstantial. Some all of the above.  But those challenges we were born with were never meant to hold us back, in fact, they were meant to help us become strong in the areas we would most need to be in order […]

Come What May, And Love It

Years ago someone gave me a little plate that reads, “Come what may, and love it.” It is a quote that came from a fantastic story told by a man named Joseph B Wirthlin in a talk titled the same in which he shared: “When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have […]

You’ve Been Gifted With The Ability of Leadership – Don’t Waste It!

I will keep my words short today because I want you all to watch this video. I know it’s five minutes but I promise you it is worth the time to watch this entire video – don’t fast forward any of it – I promise…you’ll be glad you watched it. When things get tough, remember […]

Maybe We Should Just BE GLAD?!

I sat down at my computer at 9:30am this morning and here it is, now 12:50am at night (technically the next morning) and I am still sitting at my computer in the exact same spot…not a joke, although I wish it was. Today has been one of those crazy hyper-focused days of trying to complete […]

Celebrate the Milestones, Have Balance, and Take Care Of Yourself

Today I met with an entrepreneur who is going through the pains of growing their young business. We talked about all the pains that come with learning to communicate your vision with your team, hiring, training, delegating, prioritizing your time, and all the other struggles that are typical growing pains for entrepreneurs. As I shared […]

We Don’t Meet People By Accident, They Cross Our Paths For A Reason

Today I was blessed to have two new people come into my life, and as soon as we all sat down for lunch I knew there wasn’t anything accidental about our being introduced to one another. It was clear to me that these two amazing women, who I felt an instant bond of friendship with, […]

Welcome To The Year Of EXTRAORDINARY!

Welcome to 2018 everyone! Isn’t it just so exciting?!  A brand new year, a clean slate, a fresh chapter…2018 is the beginning of something extraordinary! Hopefully everyone found time to go through their 2018 calendar and block out all the days they want for their vacations etc that I wrote about here, and hopefully everyone […]

Block Out Next Year’s Calendar BEFORE The New Year Begins!

Just as 2017 passed us by in a flash, 2018 will do the same if we don’t take control of our calendar right now…BEFORE it starts filling up all on its own.  And believe me when I say that Calendars have a funny way of doing that.  They start out looking fresh and full of […]

Easier Said Than Done

Today’s post is a guest post from my daughter Ashley. She said if I stayed up late to watch a movie with her tonight she would write a blog for me so here it is: “Buttery Flakey Crust” For those of you who haven’t seen this video of a commercial being made, please take a […]

Going a million miles an hour but getting absolutely nothing done

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have been going a million miles an hour all day long, only to get to the end of your day and have absolutely no idea what you actually accomplished? Yeah…so today was one of those days. My day started at 5:30am because […]

The Path Of Least Resistance Leads To Crooked Rivers And Crooked Men

“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” – Henry David Thoreau Last Sunday a friend shared that quote during a conversation about doing the right thing even though doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing. I liked the quote so much that I hurried and wrote it down […]

“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid.”

Awww yes…we have entered the fabulous month of December and the fabulous season of Christmas (and Hanukkah, Ramadan , Kwanza, and all the other fabulous December holidays being celebrated). And as should be done every December, it’s time to whip out that classic movie from 1983, “A Christmas Story” to watch little Ralphie ask Santa […]

If Anyone Ever Tells You Your Dreams Are Silly…

“If anyone ever tells you your dreams are silly, just remember here’s a millionaire walking around who invented the pool noodle.”  – unknown That quote makes me happy because it’s a great reminder to everyone who makes fun of someone else’s dream that they might want to think twice before making fun…you never know what […]

Being On Time

Much of my life I struggled with being on time to things. I would always pack my schedule a bit too tight and then forget to leave adequate driving time in between appointments and inevitably I would end up racing around yet still arriving five or ten minutes late to everything. Until one day someone pointed […]

Stand Up To Your Full Stature, For That Is The Way Of The Strong

“The real tragedy is the tragedy of a man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature. To lie down and moan and whine about limited opportunities is the part of weaklings. To grasp the opportunities at […]

The Power Of Encouragement

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.” –William Arthur Ward Today I was reminded of the powerful impact my mentors have had on me. I have had the privilege of […]

Lessons On Branding Shared By Advertising Expert Gordon Bowen of McGarryBowen (Forbes Article)

Last night I had the opportunity to go to the home of Gordon Bowen, Founder and Chairman of McGarryBowen, esteemed international Advertising Agency, representing such clients as Disney, American Express, Intel, Marriott, Verizon, Crayola, Chase, and many other iconic brands. As for Gordon, Time Magazine dubbed him the creator of “emotional blockbusters” for his creation […]

The things you can think up if only you try

“Think left and think right, think low and think high, oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.” – Dr. Seuss Idea generation and problem solving go hand in hand. They both require us to think and tap into our creativity to identify new and better ways and new and better solutions. […]

If your future self could speak to you…

I have been out in Washington DC for the last few days and I was reminded of how beautiful Virginia is.  I lived in Vienna, Virginia when I was a teenager in High School and during this visit I was able to drive past the house I used to live in while I was there […]

Don’t Just Talk About It – Get Out There And Actually Do It!

Over the years I have had a lot of college students and young entrepreneurs who have asked to meet with me to seek my advice about different business idea they have come up with. I couldn’t count the total number of people I have met with over the years to hear their idea and then […]

What’s in it for me?

“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are asking, “What’s in it for me?” ” – Brian Tracy I have always been a big fan of Brian Tracy’s books and trainings and I had come across that quote when I was still fairly young in business and it really helped […]

The Town Of Don’t You Worry

Okay, the last two days I have posted awesome poems that I found about Put-Off Town and Gossipville, only for me to then find the poem, The Town Of Don’t You Worry. I figured your week wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t share all three poems of these poems with you! Especially because once we’ve […]