Tag Archives: Utah

Figure Out What’s Up For You

Today I gave a keynote speech at the 25th anniversary of the “What’s Up Down South” Economic Development Conference, Southern Utah’s largest business gathering each year.  Normally the conference is held in beautiful St. George but because of COVID this year the conference was held online.  You know it’s said that public speaking is the […]

Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know What Tomorrow May Bring.

I laid down to take a nap after 9am church this morning and stayed asleep until just a few minutes ago (nearly 9pm!). Clearly my body needs sleep so rather than writing a blog tonight I’m going to repost an article I wrote for Forbes back in 2015 titled “Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know […]

Color Me Surprised – 2020 Just Struck Again at 112 mph

We started off our 2020 year with my husband getting hospitalized for what we later discovered was COVID-19. The pandemic hit the U.S. in full force and everything went into lockdown, toilet paper ran out, grocery store shelves were empty, Utah got hit with one of its biggest earthquakes ever in March, hailstorms happened in […]

Politicians, Princesses, and the Possible

My day today consisted of spending time with Politicians, then rushing off to see a Princess and hearing about the Possible… By politicians I am referring to the Vice President of the Unites States, Mike Pence, and Utah Governor Gary Herbert.  The Vice President flew into Utah today on Air Force Two and I was […]

Celebrating Pioneer Day And A Legacy Of Faith

July 24th may be just a regular day for most of the world, but here in Utah it’s a State holiday called Pioneer Day when we celebrate the fact that on July 24, 1847, the Pioneers first arrived to settle the State of Utah.  If you are not familiar with the story of what these […]

The Rule Against Why Or When

I moved every few years as a kid. My father’s work took us from Oregon, to Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, California and then Utah. Every time we moved and I had to say goodbye to my friends it was hard. That gave me a special appreciation for the fact that from the time my […]

To Care For Those Who Once Cared For Us

“To care for those who once cared for us is the highest honor.” – Tia Walker Our Memorial Weekend turned out very different from the weekend we’d planned. We got a call over the weekend that my husband’s father had been in the emergency room several times in excruciating back pain caused by a herniated […]

It’s Not The Places We Go, It’s The People We Are With

My husband and I spent most of last week in New York City with the Hale Center Theater Founders Board. The Hale Center Theater is an incredible community theater in Utah that has plays of the caliber of any Broadway show I’ve seen. Each year this board takes a trip together to go and see […]

With A Great Team The Unimaginable Suddenly Becomes Very Imaginable

In September of 2017 I formed a brand new National Advisory Board for Utah Valley University’s Woodbury School of Business at the request of UVU President Matthew Holland (an amazing man who left UVU last year to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I was able to […]

Accomplish More Than Ever Before

This weekend my husband and I have had the privilege of coming together with our friends, Charles and Liz Koch, along with many other absolutely incredible philanthropic leaders as part of The Seminar Network, a group of individuals who have chosen to work together to accomplish some truly amazing things in philanthropy. What makes this […]

The Thrill Of A Close Game

Tonight my husband and I were invited to join our friends in their suite at the arena for the Utah Jazz versus Golden State Warriors basketball game. It was a neck and neck game right down to the last minute when the Utah Jazz won the game. As we were heading home from the game […]

Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body

Yesterday, July 24th , we celebrated Pioneer Day (which is a state holiday in Utah). For those of you not familiar with Pioneer Day it commemorates the evens of July 24, 1847 when Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley after making the nearly 1,300 mile trek […]

Go Forth And Set The World On Fire

Congratulations are in order for so many high school and University students that are about to be recognized for the amazing accomplishment of finishing their schooling and getting ready to take that next step of their lives.  To each of them I would give the following advice: “Go forth and set the world on fire.” […]

What I Learned From Losing

Dalton Anderson checking in for the ol’ Mama Bear. Not that my mom is old, but since she’s a grandma and all I guess it wouldn’t be true to say she’s young either ;). Instead of digging myself a grave, I’d like to share a story of what happened this weekend. My two brother-in-laws play […]

Every Song Begins With A Blank Page

“Every song begins with a blank page.” – Pasek & Paul This evening I had the incredible opportunity to go and hear Pasek & Paul, songwriters of The Greatest Showman movie, speak and perform at Utah Valley University ( UVU ).  Now I was a HUGE fan of The Greatest Showman movie and soundtrack already, […]

How To Achieve More Than The American Dream (Forbes Article)

“The essence of America – that which really unites us – is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion – it is an idea – and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.” – Condoleeza Rice The American Dream Awards is an event put on by the […]

Happiness is finding out you have a three day weekend ahead!

Since mid-December I have been traveling non-stop. First to Idaho, then to Hawaii, then to Washington DC, then to California, and then to Cabo San Lucas…each trip coming back to Utah for a few days in between and then heading right back out again on the next trip. I feel like I have literally lived […]

Serving those you love and loving those you serve

I spent the last six days in Cabo San Lucas Mexico with the Brigham Young University (BYU) Center for Entrepreneurship Board Retreat. We traveled down with around 45 couples who flew in from all across the United States. These couples are all donors to the University who all share a mutual passion for promoting entrepreneurship […]

A Week I Will Never Forget: Attending the Inauguration of the 45th President

I experienced so many incredible things over the last week that when I sit down to try and share them in this blog it is a little overwhelming to figure out how to fit it all in, but I will do my best to share the highlights and include a few fun photos for you…. […]

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like….

I would love to say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas outside, but as I walked out of the Little America Hotel after giving a speech at a big Women in Business Conference today the temperature was in the mid 70s and that made it look like anything but Christmas here in Utah! […]

Put Yourself Out There!

Tonight my husband and I attended a political fundraiser event that I was on the host committee for where politicians from both sides of the aisle participated in a talent show / variety show. There was everything from legislators performing a Riverdance celtic dance to Congresswomen singing Broadway tunes from Wicked and Hamilton to the […]

My Lunch with the Dalai Lama

Today I had the experience of attending lunch with the Dalai Lama at the invitation of my dear friends Governor Gary Herbert and his wife Jeanette. (Quick reminder to my fellow Utahns that we all need to vote on June 28th in Utah’s primary election so we can ensure Governor Herbert can continue with the amazing job he does as […]

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 […]

The Largest Event of Its Kind In The World – The Global Family History Event RootsTech Has Begun!

Today RootsTech, the largest family history and genealogy conference in the world, kicked off with over 23,000 registered attendees gathering from all over the world to Salt Lake City, Utah.  Attendees are from all 50 states in the United States and over 40 other countries. All of these people have come together to hear keynote […]

An Adventure In The Land Down Under

I never thought I would visit the land down under, but my husband and I have just completed an amazing adventure there traveling with a great group of people from the BYU Founders Board that I serve on. Our adventure started with an incredibly long flight from Salt Lake to Sydney Australia. That was for […]

Bust Out Those Holiday Traditions!

Last week was a rough one. I was down sick the entire week and then Friday I had to haul myself out of bed and get down to Bryce Canyon Utah to attend the Open House for my son and his new bride. I made it through the evening and then crashed again, sick as […]

Some of God’s Greatest Gifts are Unanswered Prayers

Last week my husband and I were invited to the Garth Brooks concert in Utah and we were given the special opportunity to meet Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood. I have to say that they were both so kind and so down to earth that it was really a pleasure meeting them. I […]

Witnessing A Tender Mercy

Tonight something amazing happened but I have to back up so it will all make sense. Yesterday a dear friend of mine came to me crying because she had found out that her Mother, who has a tumor growing on the side of her head, had taken a turn for the worse and the tumor […]

Weekend Forecast: Gain an Hour and a Few Pounds

Happy Halloween Weekend Ahead! Not only do we gain an entire hour of extra sleep Saturday night when the clocks fall back (yay, more sleep!….I am so happy about that!), but we get to look forward to gaining a few pounds from eating candy, candy, candy!!!  Dang that candy… We really love Halloween at our […]

Fairy Tales And Remembering There’s No Place Like Home

“Isn’t it awesome to wake up smiling because your real life is better than your dreams?” This last week was a bit of a fairy tale. My husband and I took our son Dalton on a trip to Europe. We started our trip off in London. We were really excited to go because none of […]