Helen Gurley Brown Passes Away at 90 Helen Gurley Brown, passed away this week. She was an author for a well known book for shocking the public of the early 60's "Sex and the Single Girl" and Editor at Cosmopolitan magazine for many years. Her role in the fight for women's liberation was debated for years. She called herself a feminist , she showed women of so many ages … [Read more...]
Sustainability and Being Green – Do Your Customers Actually Care?
Do consumers actually care if our business is sustainable or “green”? Sustainability is something of a buzz word that people throw around casually and in daily conversation. While it speaks to a positive shift in public opinion and values do most people even know what this means or look to see which businesses are implementing sustainable practices? That depends on … [Read more...]
India Massive Power Outages – Time For Green Solutions That Work
India is home to the largest population on earth with 1.2 billion citizens. This week around 600 million people experienced wide power outages throughout the country. This comes during the summer monsoon season that has temperatures over 80 degrees and 89 percent humidity. These cuts are some of the biggest in the worlds history and have left millions of people stranded and … [Read more...]
Companies for Social Good
I have noticed recently an increase in companies that have been started to meet the needs of a community and do Social Good. This trend has the ability to shape our world in a positive way that everyone can be a part of. The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the USAID awarded $3.2 million to two Haitian providers of mobile … [Read more...]
Time is Love
There is a new song out by Josh Turner entitled "Time is Love". Every time I hear this song it is a mini-exercise in personal and professional strategic planning for me. How often do we think about where we spend our time- and really get honest with ourselves? How often do we think about what we really care about, what matters most? And the final step... how often do we … [Read more...]
To My Business With Love
This column has given me the venue to talk about a lot of the little quirks we face when running a small business, but I realize the one thing that I haven't fully addressed is the sometimes dysfunctional but always loving relationship I have with my business. Yes, I admit it. I am in a long-term relationship with my business, for better or worse. So SPC my love, here are the … [Read more...]
The Way We See Each Other
As I read about Trayvon Martin and recent tragic events related to his death I find myself thinking about the way we see each other. Every aspect of our lives is shaped by the way in which we perceive the people around us, particularly those we interact with personally. An inclination to hold a perspective possibly at the expense of alternative perspectives. This is one … [Read more...]
Making Room For Silence
Within each of us there is a silence-a silence as vast as the universe. We are afraid of it and we long for it......Can we recognize that now and then there comes an inner sense, a fleeting thought, a little yearning to live our lives differently? Gunilla Norris, Inviting Silence These two quotes are from one of the most compelling resource books I have ever read. This … [Read more...]
How GenX Affects Your Business
I was doing something decidedly none business yesterday (replacing my dead dryer) and the sales representative that was helping me was glued to his IPAD. Now I applaud the store for the use of technology to create a more accurate account of inventory, but to run a business you actually have to talk to your customers! The sales representative was great; he was friendly and … [Read more...]
Komen and Planned Parenthood: The end of a marriage
This week women’s rights took a big blow with the dissolution of the partnership between the Susan G. Komen charity and Planned Parenthood. One side says its politics; the other side says the rules of the relationship have changed. Sounds like a scene from divorce court right? Well here’s what we can learn from this disintegrating relationship. Communicate perceived … [Read more...]