“Be thankful for the bad things in life. They open your eyes to see the good things you weren’t paying attention to before.” A story about something that happened this weekend will help explain why I started today with that quote. Friday night my husband and I were invited to watch the BYU Football game […]
“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do […]
“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stifled. I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi I absolutely enjoy learning about other cultures. I love learning about different traditions people […]
Growing up in a family of ten kids led to some awesome memories. One memory in particular that I thought about today was the following story: We were sitting around our massive dinner table (it took a huge table to hold all 12 of us!). We were preparing to sing Happy Birthday to one of the […]
“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” -Ronald Daw I believe in magic…I believe we actually make our own magic by the way we think, the dreams we dream, […]
And there is no better week to take the action of giving thanks and showing gratitude than Thanksgiving week. This is the perfect week to extend a helping hand to someone in need. And we can always find someone out there who is in greater need than we are. It’s so easy to get sucked […]
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. […]
“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.” -Ernest Hemingway I love the message of that quote. It’s such a […]
Security is something we all long for. Security in our job. Security in our financial state. Security in our relationships. We look for security in certainty – in knowing what to expect each day, in knowing what our tomorrow will look like, in knowing what future we are securing for ourselves. But if you really […]
Hug O’ War I will not play at tug o’ war. I’d rather play at hug o’ war, Where everyone hugs Instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, And everyone grins, And everyone cuddles, And everyone wins. – Shel Silverstein When someone tries to pick a fight with […]
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.” -Victor Hugo Do you remember back to when you were a kid? When you blew out the birthday candles to make a wish with the belief that it would actually come true? Or when you pinned a towel to your shoulders and played […]
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is […]
Tonight I attended a dinner for the board I serve on at Utah Valley University. It was a western BBQ with cowboy hats and boots and sweet belt buckles! They had a banjo player and a yodeler and they did some cowboy poetry. It was a great evening and it reminded me of when we […]
IF If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or […]
Today was an exciting, whirlwind of a day. First I attended my board meeting for the Governor’s Economic Development Board that I serve on for the State of Utah, and then I ran over to attend the Women’s Tech Awards where I was humbled to receive their Impact Award at a large luncheon. Next I […]
I was interviewed on Real Recognition Radio by Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown and the episode aired earlier today. During the interviewed we discussed questions such as: Are there differences in the way men and women lead? What makes a great leader? How important is communication in a company? How to build a culture? How to […]
We all have a finite number of hours in a day – 24 to be exact. What we choose to do with those hours is of the utmost importance. We can waste our time, or we can use our time to improve ourselves and our lives. I have always felt passionate about the importance of […]
In life we all have a choice. We can be pretty good, or we can be GREAT! The difference in those two often comes down to paying attention to the details. I used to keep a sticker on my desk that said “If you don`t have time to do it right the first time, how […]
Sometimes we get so busy living our lives that we forget to slow down enough to make time for our friends. I have been guilty of that myself over the years, especially with working such crazy hours for so many years of my life. Taking time off this summer to spend with my family has […]
When someone isn’t performing well at their job; or when they aren’t the right fit for a particular position; or when their personality isn’t a match for the company culture, one of the biggest disservices you can do to them is to not tell them the truth. As a CEO, I found that one of […]
I would guess that we have all seen the bumper stickers that say “Mean People Suck.” And the truth is that I couldn’t agree more. I have little tolerance for mean people. I just don’t. I don’t think there is ever a good excuse to be mean or hurtful to another person. Sure we can […]
Nothing can lift the spirits of a crowd faster than putting on some great music and having an impromptu dance party! The last few days I have been attending a Girls Camp for the Young Women in our church group ages 13-17 and after a long, hot, uphill hike, the girls were worn out and […]
One of my very favorite poets is Shel Silverstein, and one of my very favorite books, which he wrote, is called “The Giving Tree”. It’s an amazing story of a tree that loves a young boy. The tree cares for the boy, protects the boy, feeds the boy, and over the years ultimately gives every […]
People ultimately choose to do business with people they like, and everyone likes someone who appreciates them. I once read a quote by the ever so brilliant writer known as Anonymous. It states, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” […]
Today I was reminded of the importance of the smallest kind act: a simple smile, holding the door open for someone, saying hello, giving a compliment, lending a hand, being a friend. So many times we think to ourselves that we want to be a good person and do something kind for someone, yet when we […]
I am a HUGE fan of people who go the extra mile in life! Too often these days you see people who seem content to just do the very minimum required to get by. I don`t think I will ever understand that mentality. I grew up in a home where both my parents were going […]
By the time I finish a long day of work my mind is pretty shot and my A.D.D. meds have started to wear off for the day – inevitably there always comes a point each evening where that combination leads to no chance of my being able to sit still and focus. Tonight I had […]
Recently, I had the occasion to observe a group of employees who were working in a toxic work environment. I witnessed the decline of self-esteem in each one of them as they endured month after month of poor leadership and dysfunction in their workplace. I was truly amazed at the change to the countenance of […]
For those of you who have ever seen my offices, you can attest that my office is often times a disaster, with stacks and stacks of papers and piles of post-its everywhere you look. Just looking at my desk in the mornings gets my stress level rising. There is no feeling of peace when your […]
There are people in all of our lives that lift us up when we are down or help us through when times are tough. There are people in our lives who make us laugh and smile and make us feel better about ourselves. There are people in our lives that tell us we can do […]
