Tonight I attended a dinner following my board meeting for the University of Utah National Advisory Board. A man I know and respect greatly, Mike Murray, gave the keynote address during our dinner. Mike Murray has had an amazing career. He went to school at Stanford, then went to work directly reporting to Steve Jobs […]
“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, […]
Every year the BYU Founders Board gathers together from different parts of the country to meet in a location for a week-long adventure. Last year we went to the Dominican Republic. This year we went to Brazil to embark on a cruise that left from Sao Paulo, Brazil. For the last week my husband and […]
How does one go about being a good friend? We all have friends, and we all are a friend to someone else. But how often do we stop and take note of whether we ourselves are being a good friend to those we love? I would admit that I don’t do it often enough. And […]
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson We live in a world full of peer pressure to look like this or act like that. There is a constant bombardment of pressure to join the crowd or do what everyone […]
Choices. We make them almost every second of every day. Some matter, some don’t. Some have lasting consequences, some have next to no impact on our life. The most important choices we make are the choices between right and wrong. I also think those are the easiest ones to make if you know your values. […]
Starting the IPOP Foundation was a dream I had for many years. IPOP is an acronym for “In Pursuit of Perfection” which has been a personal mantra of mine for a very long time. Long ago I came to realize that living a successful life isn’t about achieving perfection; rather it was about living life […]
Somedays you have to be your own cheerleader. Some days you have to look in the mirror just like the little girl in this AWESOME video clip and say out loud, “I like myself, I like my hair, I can do anything!” Watch this short little video clip and see exactly what I am talking about […]
Today was focused on two topics – breaking stereotypes of women in media and reducing our sugar intake to fight obesity. First was a luncheon with actress Geena Davis. Geena is an incredibly tall, beautiful woman, who is clearly incredibly intelligent. She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a charity that is […]
Earlier this week I shared some thoughts on failure and how it is often our failures that end up leading us to the path of success in our lives. It reminded me of one of my favorite stories that perfectly illustrates the title quote from today’s blog: “Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may […]
If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what would you do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Just for a minute take away all restrictions or limitations that typically exist and the barriers that scare you or deter you. Take away all worries of being able to fulfill your financial obligations […]
“Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with lots of nuts!” As we head into the home stretch before Christmas Eve’s traditional gathering together of families everywhere, we ought to pause a moment to prepare ourselves to deal with the chaos ahead. I come from a very large family of ten children. My husband comes from […]
Today I was humbled and honored to receive the UVEF Entrepreneur of the Year Award. At the awards lunch they asked me to share a few words about the things that I would like to pass on to other Entrepreneurs from the lessons I have learned from my own journey. I struggled deciding what lessons […]
As we are nearing the start of a brand new year here in less than a month I just wanted to remind everyone that this is the perfect time to start thinking about what you want to put on your 2014 Goal Poster! For those who don’t know what I am referring to here is […]
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 […]
“How much shopping can one person do?!?”, my husband called out as my fingers clicked madly away on the keyboard jumping from one cyber-deal to another as quickly as I could. “It’s almost midnight! Don’t distract me! I am working against the clock here! Just wait til you hear how much money I saved us”, […]
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. We went to visit my husband’s family in Idaho on their family farm. There is very little as fitting as celebrating Thanksgiving on the farm. We had amazing food (all homemade of course!), my daughter learned to drive the front loader tractor, and they went shooting clay pigeons. […]
So much to do, and not nearly enough hours in the day to do it. I get so frustrated when I work my guts out all day only to come to the end of the day feeling like I have barely scratched the surface of what I needed to get done. When that happens day […]
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. […]
The most impactful lesson we learned as a software development company was this: In the world of software systems, less can be a whole heck of a lot more, and more can often lead to a heck of a lot less. This point can best be illustrated by a personal example: While serving as the […]
“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 […]
Anyway People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Several weeks ago I was sitting with a group of male friends who are all married and we were discussing their frustration with not being able to understand women very well. One of the men had been in a disagreement with his wife and he was explaining to me why his wife’s side of the […]
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 […]
“Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the life of others.” -Gordon Hinckley Recently I was interviewed by Shauna Lake on KUTV news. During the interview she asked me if the success of my last […]
Okay, so I was watching the TV Show the X Factor tonight when this couple came out together and did a singing/rap song that a girl and guy in a group called Second Hand High wrote themselves. The son was called “You Better Ask Me To Dance”. When they first started singing the song my […]
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 […]
