“Today is Valentine’s Day. Or, as men like to call it, Extortion day.“ ~Jay Leno You can’t really call it extortion when we women are just as willing to accept things that don’t cost you money as our Valentines gift. Every girl loves a homemade card or home-cooked dinner from her sweetheart because it says […]
One thing I learned many years ago is that you do a dis-service to an individual by leaving them in a role where they are not succeeding. Some people don’t succeed due to their own faults, and others don’t succeed simply because they are not the right match for the position they have been placed […]
“Be the kind of person who dares to face life’s challenges and overcome them rather than dodging them.” – Roy T. Bennett On the surface it may seem easy to dodge problems, to ignore them and hope they will go away, or sweep them under the rug and hope no one notices they are there…and […]
Today as I was leaving a restaurant where I’d had a meeting with someone and as she and I were walking out to our cars in the parking lot a car driving past us slowed down and stopped right next to us. The back window rolled down to reveal two little boys, around four or […]
“There’s no kill switch on AWESOME.” – Dilbert A woman who worked with terminally ill patients often asked them what their biggest regrets were from their life. One of the regrets shared was that they wish they had let themselves be happier. Note the phrase “let themselves be happier”, which was them acknowledging that they […]
I have so many things to tell all of you about and yet each time I’ve tried to sit down to write a blog about them I get interrupted – From my husband being hospitalized unexpectedly last week, to me needing to fly to Washington DC this week for some really important meetings and to […]
I learned many lessons through my years of leading companies, but without question, the most surprising thing I learned was this: The thing you can do that will make you the strongest, is the thing that is most counter-intuitive to do: Be openly vulnerable. Being vulnerable was not my strong suit growing up. In my […]
“You were born with the ability to change someone’s life. Don’t ever waste it.” We often hear that we must help ourselves before we can help someone else, and to some extent I believe that to be true. But I also find it to be true that one of the best ways to help ourselves […]
Clayton M. Christensen, renowned Harvard Business Professor, strategy consultant, best-selling author, mentor, church leader, husband, father, and grandfather, passed away just over a week ago at the age of 67. He was an amazing man who taught a powerful lesson on how we ought to measure our lives – both through his words and through […]
I’ve got so many incredible things to share with all of you from my amazing trip to Palm Springs recently to be with Charles Koch and his wife Liz and so many other incredible friends we love dearly for our six month meeting to discuss the philanthropic giving we all do together via our group […]
I was just finishing up a business meeting when my husband called yesterday to tell me he needed to get to the emergency room. Now anyone who knows my husband Rollin can understand why hearing those words over the phone shook me – My husband grew up on a dairy farm and he is stubborn […]
My husband had to be rushed to the hospital this evening (he’s having severe stomach pain) so my daughter Ashley agreed to cover tonight’s blog post for me. Not gonna sugar coat it, it’s been a rough night…but I’m grateful for the doctors and nursing who are working hard to figure out what’s wrong. Here’s […]
(The following is a guest post written by Dalton Anderson who is covering for his mother, Amy Rees Anderson, who just returned from a five day philanthropy trip and was in need of sleep) Winning has consequences. Be ready to accept them. It was third grade. I was a cute, well-groomed third-grader, with great hair […]
Some of the greatest inventions in life have come about because someone saw a problem and decided they wanted to fix it! One doesn’t necessarily have to be a great genius to solve a problem, in fact, some of the most amazing ideas come from people who simply want to find an easier way to […]
“It`s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.’ – Roy Disney It’s amazing how much pressure and stress it takes off your shoulders when, in advance, you have laid out the values you will adhere to in your life. If done in advance, then when faced with difficult decisions or […]
All through my growing up years as I would run out the door of our home, my mother would yell the phrase “Remember who you are and what you stand for”. I would guess I have heard that phrase literally thousands of times as a child. Most days she said it I would roll my […]
Let’s start with some #realtalk – I am never going to be seen climbing an actual mountain because that would entail exercise which I strictly avoid at all costs 🙂 . But I have climbed my fair share of business mountains, emotional mountains, and spiritual mountains, throughout my life. Each of which have taught me […]
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” —Betty Reese When talking with employees of an organization you will often discover that the rank and file employees within the organization are far more aware of the problems going on then the management is. And […]
I was working at my office late tonight when a text came through from a friend with a video clip. I was super busy today and wouldn’t normally have stopped to listen to a video clip but for some reason I found myself hitting play. A young man in his graduation cap and gown stands […]
Today we were discussing holding firm to our values in life. At one point in the discussion the leader of the discussion drew a picture of a boat and talked about the need for an anchor to hold the boat in place. Some may picture a single anchor dropped in the water, but having been […]
I answered the knock at our front door and he came barreling right in yelling “Grandma, Grandma – I’m Spiderman!!!” There he was, my two year old grandson with a Spiderman mask on his face and a Disney Cars backpack on his back. He ran in the door all wide-eyed and full of excitement pretending […]
We were all sitting on the floor opening Christmas presents together when my kids said they had something for me. I waited for them to hand me something to unwrap, but instead they asked me to look up at our TV screen and watch a video they had made for me. As the video started […]
You know it’s a rough day when first thing in the morning you jump on an early call at home that runs longer than expected so you go racing out the door and make the 15 minute drive to your office because you are now 10 minutes late to meet with the folks that have […]
Without a doubt one of the most dreaded things about January is coming back to work after the long holiday break to face all the emails, voice messages, and letters that have piled up during your absence. Seeing all that work that’s accumulated and realizing how long it is going to take you just to […]
Welcome back from the holidays everyone! And even more so, welcome to 2020!!! We have officially begun a whole new decade. It’s so exciting! After spending the Christmas holiday with our family here at home, which was fabulous, my husband and I decided to fly down to California to spend a few romantic days alone […]
“When what to my wondering eyes should appear but 10 extra pounds onHips, Thighs, and Rear!” I don’t know about you, but when the reality of every piece of chocolate, toffee, cookie, and pie I consumed over the holidays caught up with me in the form of standing on my scale….well, let’s just say it […]
2020 will be as AWESOME as the goals you set for it! 2020 is about to begin and today is the PERFECT day to create your 2020 Goal Poster!!! So grab a posterboard and some glue stick or open a Powerpoint presentation and grab some digital images and start creating a visual goal board with […]
My younger brother Andrew Rees is a Psychiatrist, a Lt Col, and Squadron Commander in the Air Force. Over the holiday break he wrote an article for the Base that was so touching I immediately asked his permission to share it with all of you as well. Here is what he wrote: “You are greater […]
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! I love how Christmas season casts a truly amazing spell on the world. People’s walls come down, their hearts are softened, they notice the needs of strangers, they have the desire to care for their fellow man, and hurts anger seems to get let go and be […]
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I’m so excited to have my children and grandchildren with me and my husband this year! There is no greater joy in my life then being with my family… I’m also excited that we’ll have many of my extended family coming over Christmas Eve as well to celebrate with our […]
