Tag Archives: successful

Don’t Allow Others To Define Your Success

I’ve spent the day at a Family Office Summit in Arizona. Knowing I’d be tied up all day I asked my son Dalton if he’d write tonight’s blog post to cover for me. Here’s Dalton’s post Don’t allow others to define your success (by Dalton Anderson) Being the son of a successful entrepreneur comes with […]

No One Is Successful And Brilliant From The Get-Go

I’ve had some amazing successes in my business life – but I certainly didn’t start out successful. And I’ve had my fair share of strokes of brilliance along the way – but I definitely didn’t start out brilliant. The truth is that when I first started out I was anything but successful or brilliant…I was […]

In Pursuit Of Perfection

Around the time I sold my company I started a foundation called the IPOP Foundation, which stands for In Pursuit Of Perfection. I was recently asked why I chose that name. Here’s my answer: Perfection.  It is an intimidating word for sure.  One which can be the cause of discouragement and anxiety for many who […]

Turning Spare Time into your Most Valuable Hours

(Another awesome guest post from Amy’s daughter Ashley!)  I can guarantee with 100% confidence that there is at least one common thread between everyone in the world—the rich, the poor, the lazy, the successful, the top dogs, the bottom feeders, and everyone in between. Each of us only has 24 hours in a day. That […]

Sometimes All It Takes Is A Pause From The Normal Routine

Our lives get so entrenched in our daily routines that our minds almost go on autopilot as we do the same things over and over again, not allowing that pause our minds need to open themselves up. During my years as CEO I was always so busy in my normal routine that all I could […]

You Know It’s Bad When The Bags Under Your Eyes Have Bags

You know it’s bad when the bags under your eyes have their own bags, and it’s especially bad when those bags of the bags are so big they need their own “heavy” tags attached to them… No question that the lack of sleep over these last few months has really taken its toll on me. […]

Because Of Your Example

80 years 29,219 days 701,265 hours 42,076,800 minutes 10 amazing children 37 beautiful grandchildren 11 sweet great-grandchildren 1 BLESSED LIFE HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Today my father, Gerald Rees, turned 80 years old.  80 years old!  WOW!  That is really, really old 😉 The best way I can think of to honor my Dad today is […]

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 […]

Maybe They Really Are Using You. Do Good Anyway.

I’m sure I’ve probably posted this particular poem before, but it kept going through my mind today and given that I always try to let my blog reflect something I learned that day I decided to share it again: ANYWAY People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 Energy That Comes From Doing What You Love

“The only great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs Tonight I was asked to give a keynote speech to a group of entrepreneurs at Startup Ignition, a startup Bootcamp program for entrepreneurs. Truth be told as I was driving down to give my speech I was feeling exhausted from having had […]

The Lessons We Teach Our Children

I often have people tell me how impressed they are with the character of my son and daughter, and that compliment is often followed with the question – how did you do it? How did you raise those kids to be such great people? Well as much as I would love to take credit for […]

What you fill your mind with

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You […]

An Idea That Inspires People Can Shape The Course of History

“Ideas shape the course of history.” – John Maynard Keyes Tonight I will be judging a business competition called “Bench 2 Bedside”. This is an annual business competition put together by the University of Utah where student teams are formed that consist of medical students, engineering students, and business students who come together to create […]

Overcoming a Midweek Crisis

It has been such a long week already, so when I realized it was only Wednesday I wanted to curl up into the fetal position and cry a little….of course I say that at the end of being awake for 20 hours already today and I am not quite finished with my day yet until […]

The TIGGER syndrome

People with passion are infectious! When someone is passionate and excited about something they can light up an entire room and they have the ability to suck everyone else into feeling passionate and excited with them! Yes, genuine passion and excitement are very powerful and influential tools in life…let’s face it…there is nothing more infectious […]

Integrity Isn’t Situational

I recently have been dealing with a situation where I became aware that someone has been doing things under false pretenses in an attempt to get personal gain. When I brought these activities to light to those in authority to rectify the situation the person in charge seemed resistant to confront it. He agreed that […]

What It Takes To Be A Great Employee: The Parable Of The Oranges (Forbes Article)

Being a great employee pays off with better positions, higher pay, and more frequent promotions. But some workers struggle to know exactly what it takes to become a truly great employee. As an Entrepreneur and CEO one of the most important elements of having a successful company is having a workforce of great employees. That […]

Successful Companies Don’t Just Have A Brand Identity, They Create A Total Brand Experience (Forbes Article)

Successful companies don’t just have a brand identity, they create a total brand experience. A total brand experience causes people to FEEL their brand, and I can’t think of a finer example of a Company who has mastered creating a total brand experience then Disney.   Several years ago I was asked to come out to Disney […]

Wishy Washy Wishing

The last two days I had the privilege of attending the invitation only Annual MindShare Conference hosted by Intermountain Healthcare. At this conference they bring together top healthcare executives and experts from around the world to network with one another and to share innovations and ideas around healthcare. It was a fascinating conference and it […]

I AM…two of the most powerful words

“I AM…two of the most powerful words, for what you put after them shapes your reality.” What a great quote. When I saw it today it really made me stop and think and I love quotes like that. We don’t often enough think about the words we say about ourselves, and yet the things we […]

The Fastest Way To Achieve Success Is To First Help Others Succeed (Forbes Article)

Without a doubt, the fastest way to achieve success is to first help others succeed. Yet, there seems to be a belief in the business world that the only way to get ahead is to only watch out for ‘number one’. That is simply not the case. Brian Tracy explained it best when he said, […]

The New Year Is More Than Just A Change In Calendar, It’s The Perfect Time To Change Ourselves.

The New Year is more than just a change in calendar, it’s the perfect time to change ourselves by making a commitment to become better. It’s the perfect time to take a good hard look at the things we want to change in our lives and recognize what actions we have to take in order […]

It’s What We Do For Others That Makes Us A Success

There is a fabulous quote by Calvin Coolidge that states: “No person was ever honored for what he received, but what he gave.” That is so true!  What impresses me most about people isn’t what they have received in their life, but for the fact that they use what they have to reach out and […]

Can Compassion Contribute To Success? (Forbes Article)

Compassion. It is a word we often hear talked about when it comes to religion, but it is not a word used often enough when it comes to discussing what makes a business successful. Yet compassion can directly affect the bottom line. The Dalai Lama expressed it best when he said, “Compassion is not religious […]

Not My Circus. Not My Monkeys.

I don’t know about you, but I have always been what I would call a “fix it” kinda girl. I see a problem, so I fix it. In many ways it is what led me to become successful in my business life, but in my personal life it often led me to getting sucked in […]

Focus on what you can control

Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t. We only have so much energy to expend each day and every second we waste focusing on things we have absolutely no control over we are wasting that energy and our time. Instead we need to put our entire attention toward focusing on the things […]

As Communication Improves, Culture Improves, As Does The Bottom Line. 4 Tools That Make A Difference (Forbes Article)

In order to be a successful company you must create an environment that encourages the contribution and open sharing of information. As the CEO of a high growth company I found it necessary to implement very simple, but incredibly powerful software tools to help us create that environment. Each tool served the purpose of facilitating […]