Tag Archives: entrepreneurship

More Inspiring Stories from the TED Women Conference

Today was another great day in San Francisco at the TED Women’s Conference.  Here are a few inspirational stories to share from today: Diana Nyad:  In 2013, at the age of 64and as her fifth attempt to do so, Diana swam all the way from Cuba to Florida.  A total distance of 110 miles in […]

What an Incredible Day!

What a day today was!  I started my day at 5:00am this morning so I could get downtown for an early morning meeting with President Wheelwright, the President of BYU Hawaii.  He and I had a wonderful talk about the Entrepreneurship activities going on at his University in Hawaii.  They are doing some really incredible […]

The Ones Who Do

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. […]

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Today I spoke to a large group of students at BYU.  I love speaking to the students.  They have so much energy and enthusiasm and joy for the future.  They are so young and full of promise for their life ahead. In preparing to speak to them I really tried to consider the messages I […]

Here’s To Strong Women

“Here’s to strong women.  May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Tonight the University of Utah held a Women Alumni event at our REES Capital offices and they asked me to hold a Q&A forum with the women where they could ask me questions about my past experiences and life […]

Face Your Fear; the Result Might Be Amazing (Forbes Article)

“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 […]

Don’t Quit

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 […]

One Person Can Make A Difference With a Little Determination and Hope!

I was down sick again today, but I wanted to share a story with you that I came across a few years ago that touched my life in a major way.  I shared the story years ago in a company blog, but I am reposting it again today for all of you to read as […]

People Who Add To Your Fun Jar

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 […]

CEO Perspective on Treating Employees Well (and other tips)

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 […]

Seeking Success In A Finite Number of Hours A Day (Forbes Article)

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 […]

Sometimes You Just Need To Take a Time-Out in the “Happy Chair”

When my kids were little time-out at our house consisted of sending the kids to sit in the “happy chair” where they would have to stay until they were able to be happy again.  Our “happy chair” was a bright yellow chair with a sunshine and happy kids painted on it – all designed to […]

Pretty Good?? or GREAT!!!

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 […]

Work/Life Balance — The Ultimate Oxymoron: (or 5 Tips to Help You Achieve Better Work/Life Balance) FORBES ARTICLE

One of the questions I am asked the most is, “How do you do it? How do you balance work life and home life?” The honest answer is, “I don’t.” I don`t do it all. No one can. For years I battled the guilt of not being able to do it all, especially during the […]

Speak The Truth, Even If Your Voice Shakes (Forbes Article)

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 […]

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe…

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we could make all our decisions with a little game of “Eeny, meeny,miny, moe”.  Seriously!  How cool would that be?  And how much less stress would we have throughout our day when decisions have to be made?! Yeah, well it’s too bad life doesn’t work that way if […]

“Instead of Worrying About Failure Imagine What You Miss Out On By Deciding To Not Even Try”

When is the last time you allowed fear of failure to stop you from doing something?   I love the quote in today’s title:     “Instead of worrying about failure imagine what you miss out on by deciding to not even try.”    I love it because it is so simple yet so impactful.  It’s true, when you […]

I Wish I Would Have Thought Of That! (Forbes Article)

Every day we hear of amazing new business ideas that some enterprising entrepreneur stumbled on and we find ourselves saying, “I wish I would have thought of that!” That comment is typically followed by a few moments of deep thought as we look in the deep recesses of our minds to see if that next […]

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” -oscar wilde

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 […]

Taming the Desktop Monsters

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 […]

Motivation, Inspiration, and Determination

“To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you”  – Tony Dorsett Being self-motivated is critically important.  Far too often people sit back waiting for someone else to give them a reason to get up and get going.  If you want to make something of […]

The People Who Encourage and Inspire Us

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 […]

Have Something To Look Forward To!

“People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to “look forward to“, to work for and hope for.” (Maxwell Malz).  I don’t know […]

Nothing Is More Expensive Than A Cheap Lawyer (Forbes Article)

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on as an entrepreneur was hiring cheap lawyers or not using an expensive lawyer nearly enough, thinking I was saving money for my business. But over the years, the school of hard knocks taught me just how expensive cheap legal help can be. I don’t recall ever […]

The Strength of Our Young People

Last Friday our charity, The IPOP Foundation (In Pursuit of Perfection) www.ipop.org held a business competition with the students of Alta High School.  Students were challenged to submit an idea for a new mobile app.  We had hundreds of students participate in the competition.  They had the option to submit an idea alone or in […]

I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!

Ah yes, the famous words of Hannibal on the A-Team. There is little in life that is better than when a plan comes together, especially when the plan itself turns out to be far larger and expansive then any plan you had pictured in your own mind 🙂 Throughout the years of my life I […]

Successful Business Communication: It Starts at the Beginning (Forbes Article)

A while back I was able to attend a seminar by Dr. John Lund on communication where he gave some amazing advice on how to better communicate with others. His input was simple and easy to follow, yet powerful. The best quote of the entire event was this: “Don`t communicate to be understood; rather, communicate […]

Choose What Kind of Day You Will Have

“I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.” -Martha Washington I very much believe that statement to be true.  Our attitude about things is such a major determination of our happiness level in life.  And we control our attitude by controlling […]

People CAN Change Their Past – Put Mistakes Behind You. (Forbes Article)

People often think they can’t change their past, but I disagree. Perhaps we can’t change every mistake in our past, but we have to remember that the past is a moving target. Every day that goes by us becomes a part of our past history. Whatever we do today will become a part of our […]

There is No Such Thing as a Dumb Idea (Forbes Article)

I often come across people who have a deep desire to be an entrepreneur and start their own business, but who haven’t done so yet because they “can’t come up with a good idea.”  Too often I hear: “All of my ideas are dumb.” And in those moments, I cannot help but say: “Define a […]