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Start-up Business

The WOW Factor

Mary Ellroy, owner of Gamebird, is a game and toy inventor as well as a consultant to those wishing to bring their products to market. She's also a member of my nearly 20-year old mastermind group and a dear friend. I take what she says seriously. Slight...

They Don’t Need to Know

A strategy I learned quickly and well in my early stages of entrepreneurship was that I got to choose which 8 hours a day I work. (A snarky associate suggested it was more like which 20 hours she chose to work...) As an early riser, I often have more done by 9AM...

Getting Past the Unglamorous Aspects

Q - What do getting a massage, reading about Newt Gingrich and pottery have in common? A - A seed for a blog post planted, watered by an article in the NY Times and then fertilized by an analogy for both. I received a wonderful massage yesterday afternoon from a...

She Really Did Dazzle Them

When I was a networking newbie, an entrepreneurial woman I met told me she'd like 15 minutes of my time during which she promised to "dazzle" me. I agreed to hear her pitch. I was not dazzled. I don't remember what she was selling. But I do remember her misuse of...

Fearless Fridays – Kim Beaumont’s Vision

When we first met many years ago, Kim's children were small and in school, but even then she held a vision in her heart, and it was huge. There were a lot of nay-sayers in her midst ("You could never do that here!" types), but Kim began building her community right...

Classy Group

I had the privilege of speaking for the Litchfield County Women's Network last Wednesday night, one of those pouring rainy nights we seem to have had so many of lately. I was a tad grumpy coming in after a long drive, but the mood of the room and the warmth of the...

Three Years Later

At the urging of my own personal mastermind group (thank you, Mary, Brenda and Val), I began blogging three years ago this month. At the time it felt like yet another thing to do, another check box on the list. Not quite drudgery, but I couldn't see the point....

Last Night at Eileen Fisher in MA

We had a wonderful turnout at my first-ever Boston area event held at the beautiful Chestnut Hill Eileen Fisher store. I love bringing together Remarkable Women, and this group was no exception. We had women in travel, communications, catering, financial education,...

How Debt Blinds Us

I had to actually cut this image out of my AARP magazine issue this month to see, if indeed, the two shades of gray (A + B) were, as claimed, the same. They are. What changes our perception is that big green cylinder casting a shadow.The point of the illusion is...

Signs, Signs Everywhere

My friend Doreen mentioned a sign she noticed while seated in a public space. After reading it, she did a double-take. It was a fire exit by the door whose message she immediately re-framed. As a business owner, she knows how critical it is to Keep Clear At All...

Getting Ready for Tonight

I'm excited to be hosting my 17th Remarkable Women's Network event this evening at Alfya's Skin Care Salon in New Canaan. I met Alfya when she was a Master Aesthetician at Noelle, the Day Spa in Stamford. In Alfya's trusted hands, I was transported from mom,...

What I Learned from a Parking Lot Attendant

While doing a Discovery Session with a new client, she said that her gremlins weren't necessarily voices of negativity as is common with most of the women I work with. "Who do you think you are?" and "You're not that good." Instead, what prevented her from moving...

Super Intern Networking

What business owner wouldn't feel blessed to have 20 ready-to-work-for-you 20-somethings lining up for face time? That was the premise of an event I attended on Monday night at BeSpoke restaurant in New Haven--an elegant venue with excellent service. Brilliantly...

Borrowing from the Big Guys

I had to bring my car in for its 5000 mile service check-up this morning. Although blogging was on my schedule today, I never expected to find inspiration at my car dealership. But there it was. Right on the keyboard of my service guy. His script! I remember the...

Will You Wait Till Dawn?

One of my clients is in that long, dark hallway that seems to lengthen and dim as a huge deadline draws near. She has been relentlessly working toward her vision. Opening day is soon. Her gremlins have formed choruses and are serenading her hourly. "She" is...

A GIFT FOR YOU

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