BIGGER Impact Newsletter

Laurie Joslin

2009-12-07T18:05:00.003-05:00

I met Laurie for the first time a few years ago at a Ken Blanchard event in Rochester sponsored by the Entrepreneur’s Organization – Western New York. On behalf of EO-WNY, she introduced Ken. I was immediately intrigued by her vibrance and sense of humor. Since then, I’ve participated as often as possible in sales and workforce trainings put on by her company, Unlimited Coaching Solutions. Laurie and her team are tremendous models of the strategies they teach. As a successful business owner, middle child of 14, and single mother of one, Jade, Laurie’s story is simply fantastic. It is an honor to feature, Laurie, a woman who I consider my friend and colleague, in this final issue of Bigger Impact Weekly. ~Joseph

I’d like to start with your experience as a single mother. As a successful business owner, I’m interested to hear how this life choice has affected your journey.

As you know, I’m very independent. I was still in college when I was set to have Jade. My high school sweetheart and I were together and it was a cute story, but we didn’t agree on a lot of things. Although we were together for a long time, I knew that it wasn’t going to work. Long story short, Jade was in 2^nd grade when we split.

We all are on our own life path and we all need to learn different ways. I respect that we have our different views of the world. If I looked back at the relationships that haven’t “worked” for me, I can truly say that through all of them – whether they were significant other, friends, or with clients – I’ve learned so much from them. I truly appreciate the fact that I wouldn’t be who I am right now without those experiences.

Everyone has their own stuff going on. And, it’s not that I don’t believe in marriage, it’s just that I think marriage is a very antiquated approach because people change! Divorce is a new beginning for a lot of people.

It has been really interesting to raise a child as a single parent. I came from a blended family with 14 children. I had seen a lot going on in terms of communication and relationships. One of the reasons I chose to be a single mother, I saw a lot of damage happen from two parents staying together that shouldn’t have necessarily been together.

I felt like I had a better chance this way. And, growing up, Jade spent time with her father during high school and she really excelled. If it was just about me, I would never have let her go, but it was about her.

Let’s move on to your career path…

I grew up in Cortland, New York. While I was there I worked for Smith Corona for a long time…starting on the factory line. I was a single mother, getting my degree at the same time. I really got to experience all different types of jobs throughout that organization. I worked in Accounting while we went through a Chapter 11, and I spent time in Human Resources and on the sales force. At one point, I went on the Shop at Home Network for them.

Oddly enough, none of these moves were really planned. In fact, with the Shop at Home Network, nobody really wanted to do it, but I was always willing to just jump in and do something new. I had no training but I did it and I loved it!

To be uncomfortable to me was fun. It was learning. Little did I know at the time that this type of workforce development would be my eventual field.

When I started in school I was going to be an English teacher. But, because I was working at the same time, I got more interested in business so I switched to economics.

Then I met with a career counselor at Cortland who helped me discover that one of my core competencies was communication. So, I started taking communications classes and I totally loved it. Even Media Law!

Luckily, I got so many opportunities at Smith Corona. Many of my moves throughout the company were lateral, just to keep my job while the company restructured. Once, I inquired about a product development job and when I did, the coordinator gave me a manual and said, “Go home, read this, and give us a presentation on it tomorrow.” So, I did it and I really wowed them!

From that point, I moved quickly from product development to software to soft skills. And, when I found soft skills I absolutely fell in love.

I founded the training development program at Smith Corona and created a whole university of courses for them. I brought people in and created courses myself – not realizing what an opportunity that was at the time. It was like, “Hey Laurie, we need to do this but we have no budget. Can you help us?” That experience proved to be so valuable to me.

When Smith Corona was filing Chapter 11 for the second time, I could see the writing on the wall. So, I went in to see the CFO who I had worked for in the past, closed the door, and requested to get the courses I developed. Long story short, I got them and I got to start my business with a lot of intellectual property.

I’ve been inspired by some awesome people like Ken Blanchard and I consider myself really just a messenger. I have unique and creative ways of delivering that message, but if you go way back, in my opinion, people are saying the same stuff.

Please, walk me through the experience of starting the business!

In 1999, after a brief stint with Comp USA Training, I started Unlimited Coaching Solutions.

When I first started my business, I went from a very good salary to nothing. And, I’m the kind of person that jumps off a cliff then looks…so I had minimal savings. I knew that I wanted to do this so I went out there and did it. I’ve always trusted my ability to come out ok.

Jade was about 12 at the time. I was ripping her out of school, moving to Rochester, and I didn’t know a soul. It was crazy. We learn the best by throwing ourselves into a new job or new experience like that though. In fact, 70 percent of learning comes from that.

I did not have the road map when I started, but I was clear. It started with just me and slowly we built up to 6 at one point and now we’re back to 4 employees. The company has been pretty natural and fluent.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a huge part of what we do now and that happened through Ray Justice. In early 2000, he was a mentor and coach of mine. I was speaking to him at one point and I said, “I get this training thing but something is missing.” He said to me, “I just finished this book and I don’t know why, but you need to read it.” I trusted him so of the 10 books in my “to read” pile, this one went to the top.

And, as I read it, I had a movie playing in my mind of how exactly it would fit into what I was doing. It was amazing. So, I started down the path of contacting the author about using it in my training. He put me in touch with the publisher and they gave me permission to use it!

Miguel Ruiz, Jr., don Miguel Ruiz, & Laurie (Left to right)

How has The Four Agreements impacted your life?

At that point I began to participate in their trainings. Me being all business, I thought I was going to learn how to apply these materials in the workplace but it ended up touching my life in a very personal way. My life dramatically changed.

My relationship with my father improved. It was never bad, but I was the middle child of 14 so I got lost in the shuffle a little bit!

He is a self-employed carpenter and he was in Rochester working on a special job at the time so I let him stay at my house. He saw the book on my coffee table and said, “What is this?” I said, “Just read it…and if you want to discuss it, I’ll spend the entire weekend with you.” Now, I was single at the time so this was a big deal!

He read it and he said to me, “Wow, if I read this earlier I never would have needed Prozac!” My father is a Veteran. This experience started a whole new relationship between us with a common interest!

If you can help people be successful in their relationships with people, the workplace benefits. It’s really just a venue to reach people with the message. It’s all just empowering people to make a difference. To me empowering is a mix of inspiration and the resources to act.

Tell me about how you got started with the EO-WNY?

I got started with EO-WNY by a great guy, Ralph Dandria, a partner of ITX. I was at a party and we got talking. He wanted some training and he said, “Wow, you’d be a great candidate for EO!” Right away people were so generous. And, generosity to me is an attractive thing. That is EO for sure. One of our major objectives is to provide the best learning opportunities possible not only for members, but for the community as well.

It’s an organization that truly wants to help entrepreneurs grow.

Tell me more about your training packages.

Something else that I’d like to share with you is the concept that we’re using in our business. It’s a concept we call “GRIT.” It stands for “Generosity, Respect, Integrity, and Truth.”

Those are the core of what it takes for authenticity as a human being. These things drive human relationships. GRIT happens to work well because the American way is toughness. That speaks to so many people!

I’m writing a book which is half done right now and the working title is something relative to “Getting your GRIT together.” It’s about creating a workplace that people want to be at! We want to spread the word!

We take everything that we do experientially and we change that to fit into different organizations. We do not change the flow of the material, but we do change the language and some of the activities involved. Remember, I consider myself a messenger, or a translator. I tailor the information to connect with accountants, lawyers, or construction people!

A lot of training companies will specialize in an industry, but we don’t do that. We’re specialists in people. That is our philosophy. The Four Agreements is one differentiator and customizing our message across industry is definitely unique in our marketplace. The real impact you need to make in an organization is on an individual level. We help people see what’s in it for them.

The best part about this stuff to me is that you’re never going to master it. We’re constantly learning, so the more we can lighten up and have fun with it, the better off we’re going to be! Fun is a core value of mine!

CONTACT LAURIE:

ljoslin@unlimitedcoaching.com

Hannah Morgan

2009-12-07T17:52:00.003-05:00

Hannah is an energetic Career Sherpa, guiding unemployed individuals into new career fields. She is employed at Rochester Works doing just that. Her year old blog, Career Sherpa, carries her daily updated articles to help people on their job search. No matter where you are in your career, check it out! http://hannahmorgan.typepad.com/ ~Ben

When I started there were five people reading my blog. Now I am at over 13,000 hits. Blogging is really fun for me; I was on vacation for a week and went through blog withdrawal.
I get to put in writing all of the things that bother me about job seekers. Unfortunately I have found that they are often so detached about what is going on in the real world.

I tell people, if you are unemployed and need new clothing, you should not be purchasing new clothing; you should go to Salvation Army. There was one unemployed gentleman who had not had a job interview in years. He recently lost forty pounds so he did not fit into his old suits anymore. He was planning on just wearing a shirt and tie to interviews. Things like this happen all of the time. To me, it seems like a no brainer to ask a friend for a suit or to go to Salvation Army. This is one example of how people are so detached that they are not thinking properly in the job search.

Where did you start out?

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school at Ohio Wesleyan. I had one of those really desirable majors; Humanities with a concentration in Ancient Greece and Rome. See how it prepared me for the world! It was the greatest four years of my life.

What about your family?

I have two boys, they are seven and five. The boys are a workout. However, my husband is a great father.

You are involved in a lot of other things...

I am writing for the Democrat and Chronicle. I have space on the Her Rochester blog and every week one of my articles is in the newspaper. My work is also published on JobSafe.com. http://www.herrochester.com/ , http://www.thejobsafe.com/

Beyond the writing, I am the Vice President of programs for the Genesee Valley Chapter of ASTD which stands for the American Society for Training and Development. Every month we put on a program, and I oversee the program. I spent my whole life doing nothing before all of this, and now I am completely over committed.

How do you go about the process of finding someone a job?

Primarily I deliver workshops with people. I encourage self assessment. You can’t properly look for a job until you know what you bring to the table. That is a step that people rarely ever take.

This whole search process needs to be proactive not reactive these days. Most jobs are happening back door, not by applying with a resume traditionally. Good companies are always looking for their next hire. If I am talking to you, and I find out you are really great at marketing or great at networking, I will file that away in my brain, because I may have a need for that in my company six months from now.

In order to find a job, you need to start not by developing a resume, but by developing a target list of companies. Then you need to begin to create relationships with people inside of those companies. You don’t send in a resume to the HR office, you have a cup of coffee with one of the leaders within the organization and introduce yourself. Business owners are always looking for the next opportunity. If you frame yourself as an opportunity, you will be hired. If you understand their business, understand what their problems are, and understand how to deal with those problems, they will be silly not to listen to you.

They do not teach that to you when you go to school.

Networking is not a course in college.

Everyone who has been laid off from Kodak knows so many other people who they used to work with at Kodak. When you ask these people “Who do you know?” They say, “I don’t have any friends.” Are you kidding me?

Job seekers need to figure out what the businesses problems are for the company they want to be in, and how they can solve those problems. Then, they need to communicate how they can be valuable to that business. That is all about sales skills, which unfortunately we are not teaching to our kids. They need to know how to sell well. Once you get a job you have to be able to sell your opinion to your colleagues, your boss. People who can sell are much more successful, they know the power and nuances of relationships.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I would like to say that the most rewarding part is to find people jobs, however that takes so long to happen. The most rewarding part of my work is watching someone understand “it,” being able to take this job search away on their own.

People respond to different methods of teaching. I am sort of “no nonsense, take it or leave it” kind of person. This is what it is.... I am moving on to someone else if you don’t want to understand it.

I typically see 60 to 90 people a day because there are a lot of unemployed people out there right now.

When do you wake up every morning? You emailed me at 4:30 this morning.

I wake up at 4 AM. It used to be 5am, and then I got into Twitter, so now it is 4am. A lot of my time after hours is spent doing stuff with my kids, carting them around, so I do work in the morning.

You live in Canandaigua. How do you like it?

It is a great community. I belong to the Congregational Church in Canandaigua. They nominated me to be a Vice Moderator. This is a nice title, and I get to go to the council meetings. I have lived here for fifteen or so years. We are transplants from other parts of the country. My husband was an airline pilot for a while, and I worked in Rochester, so we were never really in the in-crowd of Canandaigua’s community until recently as our kids became more involved. Now that we are more involved in the community we are loving it even more.

Why Rochester?

The quality of life here is great. Where is there a better place to raise a family? It’s easy to get around compared to other cities. It is a bit rainy and snowy, but not very bad.

What about goals?

I want to be the Suze Orman of Careers.

One of the challenges I am facing right now is that I am working forty hours a week at Rochester Works and spending a lot of time doing my Career Sherpa work outside of those forty hours. And, I have kids! It’s tough to do everything that I want to do.

What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?

I am innovative. It allows me to look at problems differently.
My greatest weakness is that I am not very good at asking questions. I sometimes make assumptions. When I am talking to a job seeker, I am usually asking it under certain assumptions. I come to the table with my own pre conceived notions and biases.

When do you read?

I mostly read blogs online. When I do my night reading, I just read fun stuff. I am not a really good reader, but I read at least two books a month.

Are you a big caffeine person?

I am a caffeine girl. By noon I am on my third diet coke. My stomach is probably going to rot and fall out.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

An archaeologist. It was not a very practical type of job so that did not happen.

You are a big Twitter user. If you could “Tweet” anything, what would it be?

Know what value you bring to the employer, cast a wide net, keep your options open and never stop networking.

Most memorable person you have ever met?

My dad was the most influential in my life. He taught me all of the important lessons of life. He is one of the most important people in my life. I have a huge host of mentors; Rita Carey, Pat Piles, DeeDee Dutcher, Rosa Smith Montanaro, Mike Lally, and many more. They are all mentoring a different part of my life.

If you could meet anyone, who?

Oprah. I would love to know what she knows. She has done a lot of great stuff.

If you could say any words of wisdom to all of Western NY, what would it be?

Besides the fact that WNY is a great place to live and work, I would love people to really take the time to appreciate the innovation that is happening. There are some really cool startups, and uses of technology and cutting edge science happening in WNY. The future of our region depends upon the innovation and growth of these up and coming companies. Changing that mindset from big to small is very important.

What is your definition of success?

Success is making a difference in people’s lives.

Train Your Brain

2009-12-07T17:29:00.004-05:00

Alex Hillis is a 2009 SUNY Geneseo Graduate and currently employed with Ben at St. Pauly Textiles Inc. He is also a founder of dropStatic Newsletter, Rochester's Source for music information.

How to Be Happy on Purpose

By: Alex Hillis

Let’s face it: life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Really, if you think of all the times that you picked the wrong thing to say, or you couldn’t make a ham sandwich because someone ate your ham (uncool), it seems like more often than not things don’t go the way you planned them.

This is how you deal with your wild and rapidly changing environment: you lay the best plans you can think of at the time, execute those plans the best that you can in the face of uncertainty, and then tally up your wins and losses at the end of the day to see whether or not you should feel happy or morbidly depressed. I suppose this is a very rational way to look at life, particularly if we can eliminate feelings all together.

Unfortunately something inevitably occurs in people’s minds. They tally up their wins and losses, and then multiply the losses by two, or perhaps ten. Deep down people cannot bear to make mistakes, and the sweetest success cannot compete with the simplest failure for attention. If you think about it, this is the attitude that spawns couch potatoes (success isn’t worth the potential failure), workaholics (I’m not successful enough in the face of my failures), and even filthy rich depressives (my success means nothing in the end, but I sure can think of a lot of reasons why deep down I’m still a failure).

If you assume, like I do, that this is an inherent part of human psychology (or at least American psychology!), then what can you do to combat this negative force of the mind? You have to think of it in terms of the emotions that are created from your relative successes and failures. (Note: if you can change your emotional responses for the better, an increase in positive attitude and measurable success will follow).

“But I can’t really control my emotions!” It is true. You can’t force yourself to feel happy. You can’t say, “I just got an average evaluation on my end of term report, when I badly wanted to be considered exceptional- but I’ll just be happy all the same.” You can pretend to be happy, but inside your prison you still feel the crush of disappointment, and the panic of insufficiency.

By the same token, no matter what you do, you can’t always create events and circumstances that elicit the emotion that you desire. If so, you would be perfect, and have God-like powers.
What you can do is adjust to the transition between what happens and how you feel about it. I really don’t want to rehash the glass half-empty, glass half-full metaphor, so I will cut the philosophy, and go straight to the solutions.

These are things that I do to be happy on purpose, and focus my mind on things that make me feel positive:

1. Sometimes I suffer insomnia because I lie awake at night dwelling on things that worry me. As soon as I realize that I am dwelling, I turn the lights on, get out of bed, and turn on the TV to a program that is innocent and positive, like the cooking channel, or national geographic. Even if I have to get up early and it’s late at night, I have discovered that I have to lose myself like this for a while and reset my emotions in order to fall asleep.

2. Whenever anybody asks me if I want to do something that they want to do, I do it! Every single time I have ever been ‘tired’, and then bit the bullet and agreed to go along to a show, or to engage in a project, I have been very glad that I did so.
Chances are, if you feel like chilling out and your friend is suggesting something that at the moment seems unappealing, you are suffering from a weary emotional state, and your sense of adventure is being overtaken by the failures and negative emotions you have accumulated throughout the day. In fact, the last thing you need is to sit around by yourself. What you really need is a fresh environment and a fresh attitude, and maybe even a beer.

3. In the past I have many times become very angry at the people that I love. As a result I am very unhappy. Often when this occurs, I actively try to remember times when I appreciated something that they did, or saw a side of them that was really wonderful. Whenever I can remember something like that, I find my emotions slipping from anger to forgiveness, which is one of the greatest emotional releases a person can experience.

These are just a few ways in which I have trained myself to be happy on purpose. Many people have different ways of actively changing their attitudes.

Networking: Cultivation of Opportunity

2009-12-07T17:18:00.005-05:00

By: Denyel Beiter

Editors Note: Denyel Beiter is a 2009 SUNY Geneseo graduate. She is currently employed at the True Community Development Corporation in Buffalo as the Americorps Vista. She was the president of Democracy Matters at SUNY Geneseo.

One of the most important characteristics that we each possess as part of the human race is the ability to connect with each other on an intimate level. This is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. The ability to build relationships and to feel united with one another allows us to feel bigger than ourselves, to feel like a part of something, and most importantly, it allows us to be shaped and molded into someone we never dreamed we could be.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in the first few months of my career is the significance and impact of networking. By networking and establishing relationships, we find a little of ourselves in others. We can rely upon these relationships as steps to different opportunities in our personal and professional lives. This is not to suggest that we use each other solely for our own benefit, but to merely extract and reciprocate goodwill and community.

As I write this article I think of this past week when I had an epiphany about the significance of networking. I work in a non-profit organization in inner-city Buffalo where I help to run a job readiness program. A major component to the program is teaching the importance of networking. One young man in particular, who comes from a low income neighborhood, has been in and out of jail, and is unemployed, took advantage of a networking opportunity right away. After telling him my experience with working on job readiness initiatives and skills, he became wild eyed and set up an appointment with me so that I could council him on writing his very first resume.

He came into the office on time and ready to work. We worked together and collaborated ideas and information that needed to get across to an employer. I taught him the basic structure and detailed tips of a resume. He taught me that by helping others and building relationships we can truly change lives. He began to cry, hug me, and tell me that he could not believe that someone would help him and take the time to care for him. His eyes widened and he said, “Now I have an opportunity. Now I have a future.”

Author and public speaker, Bob Burg describes networking as “the cultivating of mutually beneficial, give and take, win-win relationships. It works best, however, when emphasizing the 'give' part."

I challenge all readers to keep networking. Whether it is for personal or professional reasons, we are human and we are here to interact, encourage, and motivate each other. When we collaborate, our ideas and output can transcend expectations and goals. We all have gifts to share as well as room for improvement.

Jerry Grundman

2009-07-18T12:47:00.002-05:00

Jerry is president and publisher of Spiritus Media, producers of the Rochester based magazine, Connecting Rochester. Its mission is to help businesses connect, collaborate and grow in Rochester, New York. It is distributed to Rochester area chamber of commerce members, and is currently on its third monthly issue. I write a column for the magazine, and have enjoyed getting to know Jerry and seeing him build his magazine. He is a great family man and WNY personality. Look forward to more publications by Spiritus Media. Check out connectingrochester.com and keep an eye out for the magazine around Rochester! ~Ben DeGeorge

This last issue went very well. We got a lot of great feedback, emails, comments, and people calling me. We also really turned around on sales. We doubled our advertising sales from the first to second issue. The first issue, people read it, set it aside and did not realize what it was exactly, that they were going to receive it every week. The second issue more people realized that this was a normal, monthly thing. This third issue will be huge.

Tell me about your back story.

I grew up in Webster, NY. I went to grade school at Holy Trinity School, a catholic school. I went to Bishop Kearney High School for two years. Now we have our kids going to school there. After high school I worked for five years in the restaurant business as manager and bartender. It gives you that direct one on one experience with customers, with immediate feedback. This honed my customer service skills. I met my wife when I was pretty young. We were both 21 and she was just finishing college. Shortly after that we had our first kid. My oldest is now 24. In fact, tomorrow is our 25th wedding anniversary.

How old are your children?

My son is 24. I have a daughter who is 20 and a daughter who is 16. Our youngest is a boy and is 13.

How did you get to the point of producing Connecting Rochester.

For the last ten years I was with Messenger Post Media. I started as a reporter for a year and then there was an opening in the sales department, so I went there. I did a pretty good job and became a sales manager. Then, I spent the last couple of years there as the Director of Advertising.

We had a lot of success with working on special publications, supplements to the paper. We had success with that because we started meeting with and reaching out to a lot of organizations all over the greater Rochester area and talking about their needs and what types of things they wanted to see. From that, we began to produce a lot of niche products that met the needs of the organizations we were working with. A publication would often be geared towards an event, as an example, the festivals during the summer. It was not so much coming up with a section that people would want to read or advertise in, but finding an organization and collaborating with them on a project. That is the parallel to what we are doing now with Connecting Rochester.

Connecting Rochester is an offshoot of that, working with organizations like the Chambers of Commerce or small businesses to try to find something that might take care of their needs. There are a lot of great Chamber leaders who we have been able to help by providing our publication for their businesses. It is an added value piece for being a member of the chamber.

Where did the idea come from?

I really wanted it to be something that would engage the readers. The content is smoking and people are excited to read it. For this reason, organizations want to advertise in it. We wanted to create something geared towards small to medium sized businesses. All of the content is geared towards them. We have gotten a lot of good feedback. People have said that we are filling a need.

How does it feel to be an entrepreneur? What are the best and worst parts of that?

You are entering the lifestyle of an entrepreneur. You are pretty much off relying upon your own efforts and abilities to succeed. I believe that the best way to do this is to connect and collaborate with as many people as possible to help your idea grow. That is what I always enjoyed about my job in the years before. Now, as an entrepreneur, I am able to do that and do it in the way that I think is right. There is a lot more risk involved, sure, and that is probably the most fearful part, however it is just another challenge you are going to have to deal with. Being a small business owner for the first time, I have a whole new respect for business owners.

It is amazing once you become an entrepreneur how people now begin to reach out to you, to help you succeed. There is a real community of entrepreneurs out there who want to help each other. And honestly, that is the most welcome surprise.

Even though the economy is not in the greatest shape, there are opportunities. When things change, opportunities are created.

What is your vision with the magazine?

I hope that on its own it becomes a great guide for small to medium business owners. This is really the first publication in what we hope will be many publications with my company, Spiritus Media Group. We intend to continue to seek out more organizations in the greater Rochester area and find out what more we can do to collaborate and produce publications that are tailored toward niche audiences.

This magazine is read by influential people, people who are out talking to other people all of the time.

One of the other things that we do besides the publications is that we are a reseller for a website designer company, SiteBrandBuilder. It is an incredible piece of technology, giving you the ability to build your own website, maintain and change it without having to know any kind of code. They really have a great spirit in that they are trying to give people the opportunity to do things with their websites on their own.

What do you do in your free time? I know you are exceptionally busy. Maybe you count free time as a meal every once in a while...

Most of that is taken up with being part of my kid’s lives. They are involved in lots of things and we have always been involved in what they are involved in. I am serving as the President of the Parents’ Association at Bishop Kearney. It is a great institution that I am very proud of.

I also love golfing. I am not a good golfer, but I love being out on the course. That to me is something to be able to do more of at some point. I also love reading great books.

Favorite books?

I have recently been reading a lot of Dr. Wayne Dyer. He is absolutely fascinating. I just started reading The Shack by William T. Young. I just sat down and started it.

What is your secret to success in mobilizing people to work for you? You have assembled quite a team in a very short period of time to help you produce, edit, publish, and contribute and write columns for the magazine. How do you make that happen?

It is not a secret. You are only as good as your people. I have found lots of incredible people. That is the cool thing about being an entrepreneur... you only work with people you want to work with. You don’t have to work with people you don’t want to. I get to share time at work with good people I enjoy being around.

I have realized that if you treat people well, only good things will come from that. You get in return what you give to others.

There are now a lot of people who want to contribute! It’s amazing. We show people what we want to do and ask them to contribute whatever they think they can contribute. The columnists have been doing a great job. They are writing about something that has to do with their experience, making them able to connect better with readers.

You read the papers every day and hear bad news all of the time, and you hear the reasons why you can’t do all sorts of things. We want people to finish reading this magazine and feel inspired to push through, knowing that they can succeed in whatever the economy is. We want to keep focused on that. We will be covering stories of people who have had some real challenges; however, we are trying to keep it positive.

There was a magazine around for a while called Business Strategies which was similar to what we are doing. We have heard a lot of positive feedback from their former readers.

What have been the most memorable moments of this process so far?

I guess it would have been the first time that we went to the printers and ended with the actual hard copy in our hands. That was kind of exciting. However, the second one might have been even more exciting.

How many hours every week are you working?

It’s probably better not to count. Because then I would have to figure out my hourly wage...

I am working from home, we don’t have a set office. People say you need to keep your work separate from home, and it is very hard to work from home because everything blends together. But, that can be fun also.
How is the family handling the whole process?
They are handling it just great. My oldest is getting involved and doing a little bit with the website and is starting to get out doing sales for us also.

What is your advice to Western NY? Everyone is feeling heat from the recession. How should they handle it?

It is not as bad as you think it is. It’s just not. If you really think it is bad, it will be. We need a lot more people out there trumpeting all of the good things that are going on. You need to associate with positive people who know that you can succeed. Find people like that to hang around with. The economy is what it is, and there are some things you can’t do now, but focus on the things you can do. Find people who have hope, regardless of how things are turning out right now.

What about words of advice to people who are deciding to become entrepreneurs? You decided to make a huge career change in starting your publishing company, a choice not many would be willing to make.

In looking back there are a lot of things I would have done better, started out being better capitalized. However, sometimes you just have to trust your own instincts, and make a move right now. You can’t wait until everything is perfect to do something. Like we were talking about earlier, with the changes in the economy people have to ask themselves; Is this truly what I want to do.

Ask yourself, what do I want to spend eight to twelve hours of my day doing. If you can find it and start doing whatever it is, you will be happy.

Everybody says, get a safe job. I don’t know if there are safe jobs anymore.

And here is good advice for someone who is thinking about leaving their job. Before they leave, they should go through the process of actually starting their own company. It is pretty easy to incorporate and get a bank account set up. Just going through that process you learn so much, and when the opportunity opens up to start your own business, you will be ahead of the game in order to jump on it quicker.

People are probably contacting you all of the time now with different ideas and different opportunities related to your magazine. How do you sift through it all?
That has been another benefit to all of this. Lots of people have contacted me who are very interested in the magazine. I have gained more friends in the community since I started this in the beginning of the year than in the ten years at Messenger Post Media. Also, it is tough to pick and choose who the subjects for the magazine are. We can only fit in four subjects a month, so we will never run out of material.

Where is the distribution right now?

We are distributing to Monroe County Chambers of Commerce and we are expanding all over the greater Rochester area.

Anything else?

I’d like to ask for feedback on the magazine. If people could just send a quick email on what their thoughts are, the good, the bad and the ugly. We are only going to succeed by improving. We are not doing this in isolation! We get feedback from a lot of people and always appreciate it!

Jerry’s email address is jerry@connectingrochester.com

Check out connectingrochester.com and keep an eye out for the magazine.

Tom Turner

2009-07-02T22:16:00.002-05:00

Tom has an incredibly inspiring story of tenacious toughness. Please read! -Ben

What is your story?

I was born with Spina Bifida. It’s a birth defect where the spinal column fails to develop properly. It is where there is an incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebra overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open.

I am paralyzed from the waist down. I use a wheel chair and leg braces to get around. I have had 19 operations, and having dodged that bullet I have been able to live a full life. I graduated from Victor High School in 1990 and Finger Lakes Community College. I work for my family business now, Turner Automotive based in Victor, New York.

After Graduating with an Associate’s Degree of Arts and Science in Humanities with a concentration in Broadcast Communications, I initially wanted to go into the radio business. I am good friends with the local radio personality, Brother Wheeze. However, that did not work out because it is a very competitive environment, and I neither had the time nor inclination to pursue it. My father asked me to join the family business, and the rest is history... here I am!

How do you define success?

Success to me is being respected by and respecting people. Knowing that at the end of the day I gave my best, whether it is in the work environment or dealing with my family or my friends. I can go to bed at night satisfied knowing that I have the respect and love of my friends and family.

What was going through your mind once you got to your 19th surgery?

“How do I get through this?” I worried about my family. Once you get to that point, you do whatever it takes, whatever is needed to get through. You go into survival mode. The last surgery I had was in 1998.

If you could give any words of advice to all of Western NY, what would it be?

Be tenacious. No matter what you want to do, go after it and be tenacious. Seize every opportunity that you can, realize that within reason, there is nothing you can’t do. I have realized the importance of tenacity after overcoming so many obstacles. You need to get out there every morning and realize what you need to do to get the job done.

What is the toughest part of having Spina Bifida?

The toughest part is time. Time management on a daily basis is a huge issue that I have to deal with every day. I have big mobility issues. Plus, going to the bathroom and things of that nature is challenging. At the end of the day, it all works out as long as you plan ahead and make time for things.

I wear leg braces and have to stand for forty minutes at a time because I am prone to skin breakdown. I am dealing with a skin issue right now, so I have to stand at 2pm every day, and walk around in my braces.

What kind of support structure do you have?

My Family. As you well know, family is my rock of Gibraltar. My mom, Donna, father, Bill, and sister, Laura. We are an army.

What do you do in your free time?

Go to the races. I am a gear head. Every Saturday we pile in the van and go off to Canandaigua Speedway. We support number 99, Charlie Donk, from Macedon. We go to Watkins Glen every year. We also watch the Nextel Cup or NAHH drag racing on TV on the weekends. It has been a huge part of my life since I was 3 years old. We also work on race cars together. All of our friends are involved in motor sports somehow. It is a common ground for my father and I, and we do our male bonding over cars. Some people go to country clubs like Oak Hill. We go to the races. That is our country club.

What is your favorite part of Western NY

The medical care. From my perspective, being an individual with a disability, there are great doctors at the University of Rochester and a really great support system. There is the Greater Rochester Spina Bifida Association. There are certain things that can be better in Rochester medical care, but by and large, Rochester has a great support system for the disabled.

There are a lot of special people at the U of R. They have saved my life a couple of times, getting me out of some pretty tricky situations. They have been wonderful to me and my family. I have made it 38 years!

What inspires you?

The movie Murderball. Everyone should watch it just once. That for me is my bible. It is the most inspirational movie I have ever seen. Two years ago, I got to meet one of the stars from it, Mark Zupan. He was one of the players on team USA. Talk about an inspirational story.

Mark used to be able bodied and played soccer for college. His team won a championship and were out celebrating one night. They got drunk, he crawled into the back of his buddy’s pickup truck and passed out. His buddy got in the truck and drove off not knowing Mark was in the back. The truck skidded off the road and flipped into a river, throwing Mark out of the truck. Mark broke his neck. The guy that was driving the truck took off, not knowing that this happened. Mark hung to a branch for 14 hours until help arrived.

You want to talk about inspiration, see those folks in Murderball.

A favorite book of mine is called "Love is the Killer App.” It is a motivational book that teaches you how to apply love into the business world with your co-workers and your clients.

Who are inspirational figures in the community for you?

Joanne Armstrong is one. She also has Spina Bifida. She does a lot with wheelchair athletics. She embodies what a leader is. She is a no nonsense kind of person. I have known her all of my life and have come to admire her a great deal. For the most part, she is a very strong figure with a great pretense. She is a great friend.

How many people in the United States have Spina Bifida?

The Spina Bifida Association of America estimates that there are over 70,000 cases. Some contend that it occurs due to a lack of folic acid in the mother. There has been a big campaign to increase folic acid in mothers, to try to stop spinal bifida.

Tell me about your work in the business.

I do all of our E-Commerce and eBay stuff. I buy and sell parts on the internet, and work on the website, (http://www.turnerautomotive.com). I do a lot of fill-in work...whatever is needed. I really enjoy Customer Relations.

What is the most enjoyable part of the job?

The people. I have met a lot of friends. Every day you seem to meet someone new from a different background. You deal with people all over the world. I am working with my family and friends. We have three guys in the shop and one salesman and they are some of my best friends. That is a blessing to me. Every day is recess!

How do you like working in the family business?

I love it. It is like American choppers but we do it ten times worse. My dad, Bill, founded the company. My sister Laura is in there as well. She does the books. It is great to work with them.

You need to have a lot of patience when working in a family business. Patience, Patience, Patience. Just agree a lot. Say: “Yes sir, no sir.” If you are in the right, you need to express your opinion, but sometimes, you need to take the path of least resistance and just agree.

What advice would you give to people with Spina Bifida?

Tenacity is the key. Get up every morning. Try to live the best productive life you possibly can within the confines of your disability. You have to be realistic, brutally realistic about your situation. Once you are realistic, you can deal with it. Right now I am dealing with a skin issue and had to spend part of the day in bed, just because that’s required. I brought all of my work home and worked from my laptop.

You have to be adaptable. Adaptability will take you very far. You don’t know what is going to happen from one minute to the next, with your job or with your health. You have to adapt, just plain and simple.

If you could do anything, what would you do?

I have always wanted to ride in a Winston cup car. Beyond that, I want to stay in the family business, and work on my father’s legacy. I am exceedingly proud of the work he has done, and I would like to continue on with the family tradition.

Any other thoughts you think our readers would benefit from?

People with disabilities are often very productive members of society. You watch the news at night and see the baby panda with a panda cub and then you have the disability story right afterwards. We are a much bigger story than that! We are not looking for a hug. Mark Zupan’s statement is; “I am not looking for a hug, I am looking for a medal.” I like hugs, don’t get me wrong, but I am looking to achieve.

Tom can be contacted by email at: vettman@rochester.rr.com

Focus

2009-06-24T15:29:00.002-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

Why have I not been doing dishes or laundry for an almost unhealthy period of time?

Because, I am focused on doing the important things that I need to do, inevitably letting the non-important things slide a tiny bit.

Don't worry ladies, I will clean soon!

**You sometimes have to let the little things go by the wayside in order to enable the really big, really good things to happen.**

I have been focusing on getting my new life in Rochester together (yes, I am back to Rochester!) and all of the other responsibilities that I am now charged with as an "adult" just out of college. I feel really motivated now that I just realized my life is in my own hands, and my "future" is a bit closer than I used to think. Frankly, it's time to rock and roll.

So, how do you focus on what is most important in crazy times while still finding time for yourself to recuperate?

Do not respond to emails that are not important to you. Do not check social networking websites (unless that is your stress relief). Do not feel like you have to respond to every message you receive from someone. You can always do it later.

Slam through your most important work with incredible quality, care and accuracy. Take on your to do list with a vengeance.

Stop watching the evening news and instead get stuff done.
Your time is your most important asset. Guard it closely and use it well.

Make sure to maintain your social life. This is vital in slowing the invevitable gray hairs that can come from a demanding lifestyle.

And, keep non-essential work items short, but still create work that is genuine and that you can be proud of. Like this article for example ... ;-)

Once you are able to free up your life from the daily monotonous and pointless tasks, you can start to do the things that you really love, the things that really make a difference in your life and in the lives of others.

Habits

2009-06-18T11:22:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

You are what you do.

Many people think of the word "habit" and immediately think of the bad things that they do on a daily basis. I used to suck on the collar of my shirts and chew off the ears of batman figurines. I remember pretty consistently being told by stern parents, "Stop it! That is such a bad habit!"

From the start we associate this word with bad things.

It's rare to hear someone say to others or think to themselves, "That is such a good habit! Keep it up. You always do that well."

Let me get a bit abstract here. Everyone has an equal number of imaginary "habit points" that they can apply to either good, bad or neutral habits every day. The people who end up doing huge things in the world end up putting their points towards good things.

So, stop focusing on your undesirable actions, focus instead of increasing the number of good actions and decisions that you make every day. Through that, you can push the bad ones out of the picture.

Another pretty amazing thing to do: Tell your friends, colleagues or family members about their behaviors that you like and respect on a more consistent basis! This will reinforce the positive habit, making sure it happens again and again.

Leadership Overhaul

2009-06-09T09:06:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” - Ralph Nader.

You are only one person. However, you probably have goals that are nearly impossible for only one person to accomplish. In order to accomplish and even blow past your goals, you will need to become a much better leader, empowering and inspiring others to make your mission their own.

Scary fact: Most people who are in leadership positions, or who consider themselves leaders are not great leaders. Exciting fact: Leadership is a skill. It can be learned and improved upon. Even if you don’t have a fancy title, you are still a leader and can lead those around you (or those above you!)

Here are some very simple, effective things that you can do right now to improve your ability to make a difference. Read each point slowly, take action on it immediately and review it often.

Form friendships first, do work second. People who join my organizations and volunteer their time are always people who I have created friendships with beforehand. “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” - John Maxwell.

Help others before helping yourself. The more you help others, the more you will be helped. You can solve a lot of your own problems by solving other people’s problems. Here is a HUGE secret for you: Those who experience HUGE success become very good at solving other people’s problems.

Acknowledge people’s accomplishments. Give other people credit instead of giving it to yourself.Send hand written thank you notes to people. Let your colleagues know that someone did something great in the office. Compliment others on their strengths. Do this again and again and again, forever.

Be accountable. As a member of an organization, you are responsible for its success. If you are working inside of a business, it is not only the CEO’s job to see it succeed, it is yours. If you have committed yourself to something, and it does not succeed, it is your fault as well as anyone else’s fault.

Bring in the loner. In any group, there is often one or more “outsiders” who do not yet feel part of the rest of the group. These people will eventually leave the group, unless you do something. You can bring that person in to the group by building a relationship with them and making them a part of the community.

Join and lead a volunteer organization. If you can lead a volunteer organization, you can lead anything. This kind of real world experience is invaluable and will help you develop your skills faster than any book, class or article.

Never have others do something you would not do. Show those who you lead that you can work hard. Once you do that, they will work harder for you.

Communicate like a rock star. It does not count if only you know what you mean. You have to be good enough to inspire others to action. The better writer and speaker you are, the better you will be able to inspire others to action.

Become comfortable making decisions. Many people hate making decisions that involve other people. Change that and start making them more often. On the flip side, listen to others in order to ensure you are making the right decisions.

Spend more time with leaders. The skills and attitudes will rub off.

Be creative. Leadership is an art and science. You must use your heart and your brain. Your leadership style will be totally different from everyone else’s.

Remember that your goal is to improve the lives of those who you lead or work with. Through that process, you will benefit big time. These are only small pieces in your leadership puzzle. The rest is for you to find. Your leadership journey will take a lifetime!

Jennifer Sertl

2009-06-01T07:18:00.002-05:00

Jennifer Sertl is an executive coach based in Rochester NY. She has had a big impact on our publication, not only in coaching Joseph but also in suggesting that we put the Impact in VIP. Her thoughts inspire both of us and certainly will get you thinking, and hopefully acting, whether you are a CEO, out of work or anywhere in between. Especially poignant to me are her thoughts on battling the recession found near the end of the piece. There is some great content here from our conversation. Check it out! - Ben & Joseph

Early Influences

People with challenging early lives have been given a gift. Whatever you survive is your greatest gift to the world. My mother is schizophrenic. She was hospitalized for the first decade of my life. I became conscious of it when I was eight and remember spending time playing ping pong and drinking chocolate milk with crazy people every weekend when visiting her. In retrospect, I realized at that time that reality does not lie outside of us. Every person experiences reality. I got really good at putting my reality aside and taking on the reality of those in the hospital. I would be able to get in and out of character very fast.

My most embarrassing moment was when I saw my mother on a bus when I was in college and I did not acknowledge her. I was going to the University of Colorodo in Boulder and people did not know anything about me other than that I was somewhat attractive and very smart. Being smart was very important to me. If people could see me as sane then they would not know I lived with insanity. I now feel physically embarrassed that my mother was living on the streets and that I was more concerned about me than her.

Clarity

I started out studying psychology and realized I did not enjoy the chemistry classes. So I went and studied existential philosophy and English. When I was 19 I read Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. There was a statement that stuck with me; “We have an imperfect but positive duty to seek our own perfection and happiness of other people.” That was the bible to me. All of a sudden I had my true north. I started making judgments if I would do something based upon whether it impacts my perfection or increases the happiness of another person. If the answer was no, then I would let it go.

It was lovely to have clarity on how to make choices at age 19.

Love and Early Career

I fell in love with a competitive ski racer. We went to Oregon to the Mount Hood Ski Academy. I taught English and he was a Ski Instructor. For two years of our life we lived in Portland Oregon.

We moved here to Rochester, New York in 1994. At that time we were living at my husband’s family’s house. The economic situation was like it is today. I had trouble getting a job and ended up working for a temp agency doing long distance phone service from 7pm to midnight. I noticed that I did not like how I was treated as a phone rep. I was probably not the only one who was smart and just collecting a paycheck and was treated like a monkey. However, I was very excited to be working.

Bigger, Better Things

It was very clear to me during my childhood who had the power. It was a survival strategy that I developed early on. I learned the rules of engagement at my job and within three years I was part of the management team of a two hundred person call center. I knew that the only way to fight the system was to be excellent in the system and then to be asked, “How did you do it?” I don’t do anything but perform, and with my performance let people become curious. Then I teach.

Then I went to Blue Cross Blue Shield and was a staff development coordinator for 1,000 employees. I helped design core competency models which are used to design hiring and firing. If you don’t hire and fire people for the culture that you want to create then you will have to constantly retrain and will not have the culture that you desire. You need to hire and fire people through the same filter. The culture is to the employee what the brand is to the customer.

I realized that I would be pigeon holed as an HR executive if I stayed where I was. Companies are still doing HR for legal reasons and not strategic reasons, which is pretty sad. This is not where the power is. I wanted to be where the power source was. So, I quit to start my own business.

The first business I had was Customer Service Alliance. We did employee and customer service satisfaction surveys and strategic intent. I then joined the group called TECH, now called VISTAGE, which runs CEO roundtables. I joined to become more sophisticated in my consulting design, and became a chair of it. This was great because I had an imagination that it would be great to work with CEOs. I saw them as having great intelligence and elegance.

I ended up running CEO roundtables for five years. The CEOs would spend a full day once a month with me all together and then two hours individually. They paid $3,000 a year for the network and whole experience. Part of me was disillusioned, but also excited by the experience when I realized that they are just human beings and they come with the same ethical dilemmas, crises, deficits and gifts as anyone else.

My greatest gift is holding people accountable. It is amazing to see how so few people hold others accountable at higher levels. Two years ago I chose to change my company to Agility 3R (Resilience, Responsiveness, and Reflection). I am doing more executive coaching and with a co author in Israel I wrote the book Strategy, Leadership and the Soul. It is about how you create designs and brand from the inside out. It is a book about accountability. We finished it in December of 2008 and are now working on having it published. Things take time so you have to be patient.

Impact and Presence

I have chosen to be impactful. I deliberately chose a practice of impact. When you are that kind of person, wherever you go you are a magnet. I met my co author Koby Huberman when I was invited to a conference in Nice, France. My talk was entitled "If you want to change the world, change your life." I also met Peter Collins who started the Global Business Network and is the editor for Doubleday Books.

Why did I mention that?

Because, it is usually when you have no agenda that you create deep relationships that will make a big impact in your life. I get really sad and scared when I see so much mechanistic sales and networking going on. I have been lucky enough and have had enough intent to connect with people at a world class level. The game I am playing is presence, to really kick the ball that is in front of you. You need to be able to kick it with elegance and with design.

I ask people, “What is your DNA?” If we can watch Cold Case and actually find out who is involved in a murder then we must conclude that we leave an imprint wherever we go. The question is, “What imprint are you leaving?” My invitation is that you shape it and name it. What is your experience and what is the experience of those who are with you? When are you the most pleased and proud and honored? Take that answer and ask if every day you are living up to it. Mine are wisdom, grace and impact. So for the last three years I have analyzed my actions in that framework, in that “brand.” I am giving others access to my brand experience and have to be very careful about who touches it and how.

What are your long term goals?

I feel complete with everyone in my life. Before I die I would like to see the book published. If I were to die today the only thing that would make me sad is that the book is not out there. In terms of my goals, I want to get more able to live up to my own expectations of myself. Also, I would like to touch one million people before I die as a coach, presenter or through the book.

I am hoping to start leveraging Skype. I think we as adults learn best through peer learning. I would like to create a Skype environment with 16 people from 16 countries and spin off leadership academies. This would be a global leadership academy. Leadership is an ongoing process and it takes a lifetime to master it.

I would be proud to be invited to the Economic World Forum or to TED Talks.

Where the Recession Came From: Low Curiosity

I do not have an MBA. I have no intention of getting one. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal pondering how people who are so educated could have created such a crisis. Often, when you are educated, you become a bit arrogant.

My husband is a competitive bass fisherman. He places really well in big lakes but not in lakes like Canandaigua where he learned how to fish. Our interpretation of this is that when you are familiar, you go by memory, you go by the past, and you don’t pay attention to the current situation. When you have a curious mind, you have presence and you make wise decisions. People get educated and they often lose caution. You need to live on a level of “I don’t know” at all times. There is an element of caution that will allow you greater access.

Planning your Life

I have this concept called 200 watts. You have 200 watts a month and can use it wherever you want. I look at things in 90 day blocks and build capacity in for learning, strategy and for presence. Input is to put more information in. Strategy is when I need to make decisions. 15% of my time is input, 15% of my time is strategy by design. The rest I commit to presence. Companies that I work with have that type of approach as well.

If you are only spending 8% of your time with your customer and 2% of your time creating, you are making a mistake. You should spend 30% of your time with your customer and 20% of your time looking at how you can change what you do. The rest of your time is spent on your delivery mechanism.

How to build a close community inside of an organization

Our brains are hardwired to need adrenaline in batches. Without it, we would be catatonic. When companies have an enemy outside of the business, the alignment process accelerates because their adrenaline has a clear target. Companies that are having trouble with solvency are not cat fighting. They are pulling it together inside because there is a real threat on the outside. Leaders who understand the physiology of behavior can design outlets for that behavior. The enemy will be inside without having an enemy on the outside.

Please define customer focus for us.

Normal painters or construction builders will build a facility. They will never leave a document that would have a swab and paint number and additional door knobs with a knob number to make it easier on the home buyer. Think about who you are serving and understand every other aspect of their lifestyle. Then you can design your business from their perspective around what would be valuable to your customer. Customer service is having it done on time and making sure there are no cigarettes butts in the parking lot. Customer focus is anticipating issues. It is being proactive instead of reactive. If you travel to a different country you see how well you are treated. People will Google me before I arrive... in a hotel that I am only staying in for one night.

*Recession Advice*

I went to a job fair recently and my heart went out to them because I saw that these people were not prepared for the challenges ahead of them. As a generation X person, I never felt I was working for someone. I always felt that I was working WITH someone as long as there was reciprocal value. I grew up in an age when people were free agents looking for a place that provided reciprocal value in money or in learning. There was a symbiotic relationship. Those people who have agility have found a way to continue to create value, or have found where the power was in order to continue to stay safe.

Those who have been laid off did not create value for those in power or were unable to create a new job where they were able to create value. They need to take responsibility right now. This happened to them because they did not make wise choices. They missed a game change and were not able to play. One must make sure to not continue to play the same game they have been playing but just harder, because the rules have changed. It is a different game. Own that you do not understand it and that you need to get some help.

Be with people who are thriving. You have no time to be around people who are not thriving, because it brings you down. You can let your muscles know that there is hope. A coach said to me a while back to make sure that you are the lowest IQ of the ten people that you most spend time with. Too many people are the highest number.

Actionable right now: Make sure you are developing three skills at all times. One is related to your core current practice. Second is a macro environmental skill, as an example: Systems thinking. The third skill is leadership or personal knowledge. Rate your development of these skills on a scale of one to ten.

Final Thoughts

You two have shown what is possible in creating connectivity. The reader’s job is to take what you have given and create innovative ways of creating value for their network and using it towards their goals.

Jenn can be reached by email at: jsertl@rochester.rr.com
Her writing can be found at: http://agility3r.com/blog/

Lance Armstrong

2009-05-21T23:43:00.001-05:00

“I grew up a boyhood fan of Lance Armstrong. My first encounter with the man was on July 26th, 1999, the day after he won his first Tour de France. It didn’t mean much to me at the time as I was only 13, but the image of him with his arms pumped in the air on the front page of the Press & Sun Bulletin, my local newspaper, made a lasting impression on me. At the time I was just starting to get into running - the sport I would eventually compete in for the next 10 years of my life - and I was in search of meaning. It took a few more years to dig up why I fell in love with running, but a key tenant of my passion came from following Lance Armstrong. Nobody bikes over 2,000 miles in a three week span through the hills of France without a purpose. After reading his autobiography, “It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life,” written with Sally Jenkins, I realized the truth behind this man’s story. He grew up in a single family household adopting the “man of the house” role early on. As a triathlete during his high school years he would bike 20 miles to a morning swim practice, go to school, have an afternoon swim practice, and then bike 20 miles home. After shocking the fields of major triathlons at only fifteen years old, Lance turned to cycling. He climbed the ladder fast and at age 21 won the world championship in Oslo, screaming as he made his high powered attacks and showboating as he crossed the line. But, the real trial of his life came when Lance was diagnosed with the highest degree of testicular cancer, which spread through his lungs and into his brain. He devoted his entire life at that point to researching and conquering the cancer with knowledge and a positive attitude. Lance suffered through more pain than most of us could ever imagine as the toxins of the chemotherapy ate away at his body. But he never gave up, he never lost hope, and he fought with everything he had - mind and body. After a long year of treatment he defeated the cancer. Lance fought his cancer with the same passion he has competed with. He has a heart that never gives up and this has lead him to win an all time cycling record, seven (7) Tour de France races in a row, before retiring. We can learn much about how to live life by observing and appreciating an individual like Lance Armstrong who continues to live his own life with such passion.” -Joseph Norman

The following are some excerpts from his book, “It’s Not About the Bike:”

“Then Nichols stunned me: he said that he would like to tailor my treatment to get me back on the bike. That was the one thing no doctor besides Scott Wolff had said to me. Not one. I was so taken aback that at first I didn’t trust what he was saying. The trip to Houston had so deflated me, particularly the description of the rigors of treatment and the extreme measures it would take to save me. My highest priority was survival. “Just help me live,” I said.” (104)

“Maybe I needed to tell myself I was still a rider, not just a cancer patient, no matter how weak I had become. If nothing else, it was my way of countering the disease and regaining the control it had stripped from me. I can still do this, I told myself. I might not be able to do it like I used to, but I can still do it.” (144)

“I had never embraced my life. I had made something of it, and fought for it, but I had never particularly enjoyed it. “You have this gift,” Kik (Armstrong’s first wife) said. “You can teach me how to really love life, because you’ve been on the brink, and you saw the other side. So you can show me that.” But she showed me. She wanted to see everything, and I was the guy who for to show it to her, and in showing it to her, I saw it for myself.” (169)

“The truth is, if you asked me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son, and a father.” (259)

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with? Facing up to that question, and finding a way to go on, is the real reward, better than any trophy.

By now you’ve figured out I’m into pain. Why? Because it’s self-revelatory, that’s why. There is a point in every race when a rider encounters his real opponent and understands that it’s himself. In my most painful moments on the bike, I am at my most curious, and I wonder each and every time how I will respond. Will I discover my innermost weakness, or will I seek out my innermost strength? It’s an open-ended question whether or not I will be able to finish the race. You might say pain is my chosen way of exploring the human heart.” (269-270)

Redoing Your Life

2009-05-21T23:42:00.003-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

I am moving to a new city to pursue the beginning of my career in the working world. I am entering a place that knows nothing about me and I know nearly nothing about it. This is exciting for a person who just graduated from a college that is 25 minutes away from the house he grew up in.

It is exciting because I now get to shape my lifestyle afresh. I can become an expert on whatever I want to be. I can attain any skills that I want to have. I can build anything I decide to build. I am now questioning what do I want to do? More importantly it is a question of what not? This is tough to determine, especially given my ambitious energy to do everything!

I realize that whatever I do, I need to do it extremely well.

People often do things just to do things. Stated another way, most people do not control their own day. Most people act reactively instead of proactively on matters large and on matters small losing sight of what is important. Realizing this, I have made a goal of being in better control of my schedule, my actions and my day. I need to say, "No," more often and focus on the important things. (First, building a business and second, building myself without any sort of guilt.)

How would you like to redo your life? Perhaps you would like to actually do all of the things that have been on your to - do list. Do you want to learn how to dance? Do it! Do you want to read more books? Work out more? Make more deep friendships? Start happily saying "no" with no regrets for taking the time to focus on your dreams and ambitions.

Do not let anyone run your schedule. Own it!

Seriously, start learning to quit things and to say no without guilt. Do everything that you do really well.

Read The Dip by Seth Godin for ways to know when to quit and when to stick out something. Learn how to do this as soon as you can so that you can quit the pointless things and focus on the important things - getting on with your life!

Using Your Network to Create Social Change

2009-05-13T20:49:00.007-05:00

Here is a very good lesson in the power of using your network and being persistent in order to accomplish change. This is a conversation with VIP Peter Boulay (Profile) about a recent upsetting incident he experienced at the hands of the airline industry. -BIW

Peter Boulay: On June 29th, 2008 I flew out to Salt Lake City to go white water rafting with my brothers. I have a disability and thus special procedures are taken for me when I get off of planes. I made arrangements through Travelocity ahead of time to make sure everything was ok and followed up to make sure that everyone was aware of my needs. I flew out west from Rochester NY on Northwest Airlines and they treated me like gold.

Coming back from Salt Lake on Friday July 4th, I was riding on United Airlines. They got me on the plane, but during layover in Chicago they never came to get me off the plane. I ended up crawling out of the plane myself and getting into my wheelchair on my own. Fortunately the wheelchair was waiting for me. After that I filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation and tried to get in touch with United Airlines.

I was in touch with local congressional offices in November of 2008 to try to resolve this issue. There was no progress through this channel for six months, and I lost a lot of my momentum and motivation.

Finally, during the first week of April of this year I got a letter from the Department of Transportation. They had filed my complaint six months before but had forgotten about it. They basically told me the incident was my fault, that I did not follow the right directions. They blamed me for putting my travel plans through Travelocity, saying that Travelocity dropped the ball. They claimed they did not know that I needed help and that I only asked for help once I was in the terminal. This was another slap in the face, and motivated me to take further actions forward.

I remembered that Congressman Eric Massa’s Communications Director has a disability. I ended up giving her a call asking for advisement on this issue. Once Massa’s office heard about this, they exploded! They started to inquire on their own, to the point where this became a congressional inquiry. Under a congressional inquiry, people have to respond. The office got through to Travelocity and cleared Travelocity of any wrong after speaking with the company President.

The office has tried to get in touch with United Airlines, but United has not responded to them yet. I appeared on Channel 13 News (View clip here) at 6pm on the 21st of March and I was on the Brother Weeze Radio show two weeks ago.

Shawn Carroll of Channel 13 called United for the TV special. The Airline Company said “We knew he was there, we knew he needed help, but were waiting for a second person to help tag team me.” However, I never knew the first person was there. They keep on contradicting themselves.

United did send me a $150 gift certificate. I was told it was as a courtesy.

I have kept on using my network to push this issue. Recently I met Diane Coleman of Center for Disability Resources. It turns out that she is from Chicago. She has connections into the Mayor’s Office and the Commission for Disabilities. I got a call back from an individual in the Chicago City Government. He agreed that this is a systemic issue and is happening everywhere, Chicago being no exception. Currently they are exploring the issue.

BIW: Have you come across any similar cases that have been resolved properly?

PB: No. I have not.

BIW: What do you hope to see come of this?

PB: I am trying to make sure this does not happen again. Just imagine if this had happened to someone with a more extensive disability. I am asking for an admission of fault from United. I have the right to fly like any American does. I think we are going to get good results and I will continue to push this until it is resolved.

BIW: What is your advice to someone who is trying to do something like this?

PB: Use your resources. Use your Senators and your Congressmen. Eric Massa’s company was able to get through to the President of Travelocity. Look at the community resources and look at your network.
I want to also emphasize how great my Facebook contacts have been for this. I have shared the entire process on Facebook and the support has been phenomenal. It is a very interesting study in the power of new communication technologies through all of this.

BIW: There is a quote that comes to mind: “The system works if you work the system.” Thank you very much Peter for this story.

Customer Service

2009-05-13T20:49:00.005-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.” - Sam Walton

About four months ago a client of the real estate company I co-founded after college, Norwalk Enterprises, said something to my business partner and I on a conference call that was subtle, but absolutely rocked our world. He was in the process of doing a deal with us, purchasing a cash flow rental property in Rochester, when he said, “You know guys, I’m counting on you now.”

It took a few days for that to really settle in, but it did.

Now, it’s not that we weren’t focused on high quality customer service before then, but there was a definite reality to the situation after we heard our client say that. It hammered home the fact that you’ve got to treat your customers right because they pay your bills and are ultimately, your best salespeople.

As Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles discuss in their best-selling book, “Raving Fans,” if you provide legendary service, you will create raving fans.

Here are a few things I’ve learned about customer service that might be helpful!

Under Promise, Over Deliver (UPOD). Set realistic expectations for your clients that you know you can beat. Then do your best to deliver results that exceed those expectations!

Be available. If you have a client in crisis mode, answer the phone! Call them back! Communicate with them! It’s as simple as that. Showing you care about their concerns with your actions goes a long way - even if it is just to say, “I got your message. We’ll take care of it on Monday.” That means a lot to a client.

Honesty. The truth is what they need to hear. Even if it isn’t what they want to hear, in the end they’ll respect you more and be more loyal because you told them the truth.

Listen. Above all things you need to listen to what your customers have to say. When you take the time to listen, you learn all of your clients’ insecurities, fears, and inhibitions. In addition, you learn their hopes, dreams, and ambitions. By listening you make your customers feel valued. That is priceless.

Not a business owner? These four principles apply to everyday life as well!

Ryan Rogers

2009-05-06T00:29:00.002-05:00

"I met Ryan a few years ago when my oldest brother first moved to Orlando. At that point he was in the beginning of his transition from mortgage broker to realtor. Since that time he’s developed a successful real estate practice based on some simple principles; listening well, responding quickly and intelligently, and doing the right thing. This has allowed him to serve his clients well and ultimately grow his business substantially...even in one of the most troubled markets of the real estate downturn, Orlando, Florida. It is truly a pleasure to feature some of his thoughts today!" - Joseph Norman

Being a realtor in one of the markets that was dramatically hit by the real estate downturn, how has that affected your business? And, what are a few of the ways you’ve tried to add value to your clients?

My biggest advantage with the real estate is my knowledge of the mortgage industry. I worked for a bank for many years, so I have a distinct advantage in helping my clients through the closing process. Where I add a lot of value is helping my clients save money with their mortgages.

That’s a big thing. Say you go to a closing and your client is getting charged an extra two points for an origination fee when the interest on the loan is already very high. That’s something you can actually alleviate.

I’ve actually been at the closing table before and noticed that my client was being charged an additional 3 points, or 3 percent, up front. I said to them, “You’re not closing.” At that point I told the bank that we wouldn’t close unless they took those points off because I knew the bank was getting 2 points on the backside already. I won’t let a client close if I see something that I wouldn’t accept personally. Or, at least, I give them the option to make a decision either way. As long as they know the consequences, they have the right to make their own decision.

A lot of times realtors are treated poorly by the banks because they don’t necessarily know a lot about the mortgage process. I feel that you provide your people a better service if you can bring more knowledge about the transaction to the table. That has helped me get more clients.

With my internet advertising, potential clients that call me are talking to at least 3 or 4 realtors. So, my knowledge is a key way I can differentiate myself. And, about 50% of the questions I answer are in regards to mortgages.

Also, when I sell a house I actually listen to people. I don’t sell them the house that I want them to buy. I’ll send them a sheet and the first question is, “What is your wish list for a house?” Then I take that and start showing them houses that meet their desires and one they can afford.

If I have a client that can afford a $250k house, I’m not going to show them a $350k house because they’ll never want to settle for a $250k place then.

In terms of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), what are some things you do?

I have a comprehensive system that I use which funnels clients down into two categories; short term buyers and long term buyers. I consider three to six months a short term buyer. The software I use, called House Values, is a program that helps me automatically send valuable information to clients or potential clients periodically. It’s expensive, but I’ve probably closed about 5 deals from it in the last year.

I have actually increased my marketing expenses in the last year to stay competitive in this economy. The leads you get in Orlando real estate are interesting because half of the people I’ve worked with before are stuck in properties that are upside down. I knew I needed to generate more leads, so I’ve taken the necessary actions to do that.

You definitely have to spend money right now to make money. I know people that have been in the business for ten or twelve years and they are calling me now to ask me how I’m getting all of my clients. We’re talking people that are closing $7-10 million in business a year.

It’s sort of odd to have people at that level asking me those questions. But the marketplace has changed and my systems are working.

What are some things you’ve done to help you personally handle the current economy?

In terms of purchasing a house, I bought within my means. I could have afforded a lot more house when I bought, but if I had done that, right now I would be in big trouble.

A surprising fact I came across was that the top 1 percent of individuals in this country only make about $388k a year. That’s really not a whole lot of money in comparison. That means many of these people that have bought million dollar homes are actually living paycheck to paycheck.

If you’re going to buy a house, you’ve got to get into something that you can logically afford. But, that’s not always easy to do. When I was in the mortgage industry, I would tell people when they couldn’t afford something but they wouldn’t necessarily listen to me. They might even say, “If you don’t do the mortgage for me, I’ll go somewhere else.”

Be knowledgeable about what you’re making and be reasonable. Don’t live at an income level that isn’t realistic with what you actually make.

What are some of your hobbies?

I do a lot of things. Play a lot of tennis, golf, and softball. I also enjoy a variety of water sports; wakeboarding, jet skiing, etc. It’s important to stay active. It keeps you young!

You’ve also got to enjoy what you do. As for my line of work, if you don’t like being with people you shouldn’t be in this business. I meet some realtors that say I don’t like answering the phone. So, I ask them, “Why are you in the business?”

You have to run your own business and you have to run it smart. If you need structure and you can’t do it yourself, then this isn’t the business for you. In real estate the best thing you can do is talk to everyone you can. If you’re at the mall and somebody is talking about houses, give them a card. They may never call you, but they also might! You’ve got to take that chance.

What is your definition of success?

You know I think it is different for everyone. I don’t think success is measured by money, per se. It’s loving what you do and being able to make a living at it. I think that is really the key.

What your perception of living is, is what you make it. If you’re in real estate and you make $50k per year and you’re happy - it fits your income level and pays your bills - then you probably feel successful.

I must say, I have a lot of freedom in my job so I can do a lot of things. And, I make a very good income in respect to a normal job. I don’t have to answer to anyone as I’m my own boss. If you look at cost per hour what I make, I do very well. But, I also have to be available.

I may take a call at 9:30 PM on a Friday, because I’d rather have a client get an answer from me immediately then have to wait a few days. That’s another key for me. If I get a call on a Saturday and a client is freaking out, some people might not respond until Monday. But, if you let them wait until Monday morning to get them an answer, then you have probably shot their whole weekend if they’re a stressful person.

In this business, you have to answer the phone. That has to come first. All your other free time is what you want to make of it!

Final thoughts?

It is what it is. You’ve just got to keep going. If you’re self-employed like I am, you’ve got to figure out a way to do it and just do it.

Ryan can be reached by email at RyanRogersRealty@gmail.com.

Passion

2009-05-06T00:28:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

Whatever you do, you better have a burning passion for it. It is after all, the driving force behind all achievement. If you don’t have that kind of emotion, then you are shortchanging whatever you are doing, yourself and those around you.

It’s pretty easy to find people who are living out their passions. A great example of this is most artists, like musicians (click here for an example), who pour their heart into their work. You can see it in their faces. Is it in yours?

If you can’t describe your job (or whatever it is that you do) with excitement, then you have a problem...a big one. In fact, it is a big problem that most people rarely think about, or try to deal with for that matter.

There are two steps you can take if you are not passionate about whatever it is that you do right now.

1) Find something else to do.

2) Increase the positive feelings that you have towards what you do.

You can increase your positive feelings in five ways: A) Bring some play into your work; B) Remind yourself how what you do effects others for good or bad; C) Remind yourself why you do what you do or what your inner motivations are; D) Assess and remake your goals; and, E) Do what you do, but do it much better!

Passion is the ultimate human emotional state. Find yours and you will be able to maximize your abilities in whatever you are doing.

A very valuable exercise is to find out what you care about - what pumps you up. Once you do that, you can start to spend more and more of your day doing what you were meant to do. I have identified that I love creating, helping others and improving myself. Whatever I do has to fit around these things.

What about you?

“You can not kindle a fire in any other hearts until it is burning within your own.” - Eleanor Doan

Ken Henderson

2009-04-28T23:43:00.006-05:00

“Every day is an opportunity for growth.”

Ken Henderson is a Financial Advisor with the K&H Group at Merrill Lynch. He is also a 5Linx Business Owner and National Expansion Leader, a family man, an ordained Deacon and Community of Faith leader, a mentor, a coach and a talented musician. We met through a community initiative we are mutually involved in. I was immediately impressed by his clear passion for pursuing his ambitions and improving other’s lives. Here are his valuable thoughts on personal success. - Ben DeGeorge

BIW: How do you balance everything? A lot of people struggle with being so active and limiting stress. How do you stay stable with so many things on your plate?

It isn’t easy, but it’s absolutely worth the struggle and it is somewhat of a moving target, meaning you have to constantly adjust your approach. I don’t like the word time management, because you can’t manage time, but you can manage yourself within that time. Everyone has the same amount of time, 24 hours in a day. I like to compartmentalize each hour, thinking of a day as the train of success. Each hour is a box car on the train of success. Whatever you fill the hour (the box car) with will determine your level of success and what kind of positive impact you can make. We have an opportunity to pickup a payload that will either benefit us or weigh us down. We also have a choice every day to unload the negative or even permanently disconnect from a troubled boxcar. We can always find an hour that more than makes up for the one lost. Every day is an opportunity for growth.

BIW: What are your ultimate dreams?

My goal is to leave a legacy for my family. I can envision my children and my children’s children looking at a picture of me on a wall and saying; that was the guy who made a difference in not only our lives but countless others, modeling the formula of success, not by the size of his bank account but by the size of his heart. He stepped outside of his comfort zone and traveled the road less traveled and we are indeed wealthy from his example. That is a very positive way to think; it’s all about what size ripple you make in the ocean of life.

Ken and His Daughter

BIW: What is your advice to surviving in this economy?

One part of me wants to talk about what I do now. I have learned so much recently as an investor and financial advisor but also could speak about my time in free enterprise (at 5linx and another direct marketing business I owned prior to 5linx.) My advice is to diversify your income with multiple income streams and be your own boss. However, there is somewhat of a dichotomy there. If people have that entrepreneurial spirit, then I suggest identifying an income-generating vehicle timed and positioned in front of a major wealth trend, taking action by getting started and then never quitting or letting anyone steal your dream! If that’s not your cup of tea, there is nothing wrong with working for someone else as long as you are truly passionate about what you do on the job. You certainly need to have a continual income stream to survive the valleys of business cycle contractions such as our current recession.

It is important to ask yourself; “Where was I five years ago, where am I now and where will I be five years from now if I continue to do what I’m doing now? Will I be better off financially five years from now than I am now?” If I continue to do what I’m doing, should I expect a different result?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 80% of people making $50 thousand or more every year own their own business. Tax laws are created to help business owners. This country was founded on the principles of business ownership which taps into the 157 tax deductions for the qualified business owner. W2 wage earners only have three tax deductions. There are only so many donations you can make to Goodwill once your kids are grown and the house is paid off.

I encourage people to find a business opportunity to tap into those 157 tax deductions. The more you keep, the wealthier you are, and that is what the wealthy people of this country understand.

BIW: What do you do in your free time?

I spend a lot of time with my family, sharing life with them. My rest time is my connect time with my family. The best thing is when all family members are headed in the same direction in life. When there is disunity and everyone is going in a different direction, focus is split and it is very tough on everyone and it tends to decimate results.

Ken and His Wife, Daisy

I also love indoor and outdoor gardening and landscaping. I have a rubber plant in my home that is about twelve feet tall. When we first moved in 10 years ago, it was only four feet tall. I’ve watched it grow and stretch far beyond what ever I thought possible. I’ve learned so much by observing life and people. We can learn so much from nature, from the things we can easily take for granted every day.

It’s interesting to talk to farmers. They depend on so many things outside of their control; sunlight, good weather, growth of a healthy and profitable crop, yet they have patience and faith that the laws of nature will combine to produce their desired results. They understand the principles of life, faith, hope and perseverance.

To relax, I enjoy reading, riding my cruiser motorcycle, and of course, music. I play the piano with classical and jazz as my favorite genres. My father is Eddie Henderson, the legendary jazz trumpeter and former member of the Herbie Hancock sextet. He has always been and still is my hero in life. He is absolutely living his dream. He was also the first African American figure skater for the Ice Foleys. For more information about him, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Henderson_(musician)

Ken's Father, Eddie Henderson

Although my formal instruction in music and piano began when I was the age of 6 in San Francisco, I continued formal study of piano at Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, won a preparatory department scholarship to the Eastman school and earned the Howard Hanson Certificate of Merit for outstanding piano performance. I performed a selection from my repertoire at Nazareth Arts College.

After high school, I went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Syracuse University where I earned a Bachelor of Science and later a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Rochester. I was hired by Xerox in 1984. For the first 7 year at Xerox, I was the keyboardist for a local band in Rochester, called Fusion. From there, I have played for my own personal enjoyment and as the pianist for a number of Baptist churches in Rochester.

BIW: If you could give any word of advice to all of the people in Western NY, what would it be?

Keep the attitude high. Attitude is everything to success, it determines your altitude. Attitude is a choice. Your choices you make right now impact what happens to you tomorrow. This is something that is completely controllable. Where you are in life depends, in large part, upon the program that runs inside you. That program [inside of you] is created by you, by the things you say, the things you do, the things you think and the people with whom you associate on a daily basis.

Protect your ear gate and mouth gate. Don’t let things in your ear that you shouldn’t, don’t let things out of your mouth that you shouldn’t. We all have the ability to be great. Protecting those gates can positively impact your programming and ultimately determine your level of greatness.

It is also important to understand that sometimes we need an attitude adjustment and that we can make that happen daily by the choices we make in improving our programming. Thinking, reading, planning, associating, speaking, and most importantly, doing are all necessary ingredients to programming ourselves for success.

Ken can be contacted at kch@ascenttelecommunications.com

Patience, Persistence, & Self-Belief

2009-04-28T23:39:00.002-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

Last week I had the humbling and exciting opportunity of delivering a keynote address at the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony at my alma mater, Windsor Central High School.

As I was preparing my message for the speech over the last month, I struggled with getting clarity on what I was going to say. I knew I wanted it to be original and authentic...coming from where I am today; a young entrepreneur working on a dream.

So, courtesy of a recent VIP, John Engels, I told the audience I wasn’t fit to give them any advice about how they should live their lives. (Click here for John's profile) Instead, I shared with them the three most real things in my life right now.

I said, “Whatever you want to do with your life, whoever you desire to become, whatever career or personal endeavor you long to succeed in, I want you to know this. You can get there - I really believe that - but you will be tested in at least these three ways; Your capacity to be patient, your courage to persist, and,arguably the most important, your belief in yourself.”

You’ve got to be patient. Real fulfilling success doesn’t come instantly. It takes time to make big things happen and I’ve learned that it’s important to recognize that in the beginning as you’ll be more apt to set realistic expectations.

As for my message in regards to you, I’m making an assumption that in some form or another, you do have goals for yourself - whether you write them on paper or just have them in your head. First, I challenge you to write them down and second it’s important to remember that accomplishing those goals and finding your own success takes time.

In some cases it can come about very fast, but more often than not, it’s going to test your patience.

You’ve got to be persistent. People aren’t going to call you back. You’re going to get beaten down. You’re going to want to give up. You’re going to want to walk away. But, if what you want to accomplish really means something to you...then you can’t.

Since I graduated from college I’ve faced some trials. I’ve been humbled by the realization that you don’t know what you don’t know. I’ve dealt with the emotional stress of not being able to pay my monthly bills at a few different times. And, I’ve struggled with the absolute mental mess associated with knowing I could get a day job and stop that pain but I choose not too because of a belief in something bigger for myself.

This lifestyle I lead is not for the faint of heart. But the truth is we can all help ourselves by being persistent. Sir Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” It’s as simple as that...just keep going.

You’ve got to believe in yourself. When you’re out there striving for some of your own big, meaty goals, people you’ve trusted and admired your entire life are going to doubt you. Tonight, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to listen to them. How could they possibly know what’s best for you? Only you know what is best for you.

If you want to be a great engineer, you can be. If you want to be a respected mechanic or craftsman, you can be. And, if you want to be a fantastic teacher or business person, you absolutely can be.

But, first you’ve got to empower yourself and believe you can.

So, remember to be patient. It’s going to take time to accomplish your goals. Recognize that and don’t give up. Be persistent. Even people you trust and admire will try to hold you back and bring you down, but at the end of the day, you control your own destiny. So, believe in it. Believe in yourself. If you believe it, you can achieve it. You hold the power to create your own wildly successful life. Use it.

Feel Your Best

2009-04-21T23:38:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

The best way to feel your best is to help others.

The best way to help others is by using three intangible, free, powerful and often underutilized tools; kindness, respect and admiration.

If you can show others kindness, respect and admiration, you will experience the ultimate high, build the best friendships and eventually, see the greatest success and happiness in your life.

How well do you show these right now? Probably not as well as you could.

If you are able to do these three things really well, you will receive them from others.

How should you use kindness? First, you must stop thinking about yourself and your own needs. Second, you must be aware of others feelings, sense of comfort and pride. Then you need to shape your actions towards other people around their feelings.

Try smiling more.

How should you attain genuine respect for others? Realize that everyone has value. Also realize that everyone is able to do something better than you. In that, you can learn from that person. If you can learn from someone, you can respect them.

How should you show admiration? As I mentioned, everyone is better than you at something. Identify someone else's strengths and give them recognition for it. Let people know you admire them and why. It is a rare treat to receive a genuine compliment.

Everyone needs to feel respected. Everyone feels validated when others are kind and proud when others admire them.

Your words and your actions either tear people down or build them up. - Joseph Norman

Every action you take with others has meaning and has an effect upon that person. Keep this in mind, and act with care and compassion.

Repeat: The best way to feel your best is to help others. Using kindness, respect and admiration is the easiest way to help others.

Quote Lovers

2009-04-21T22:39:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just need a good quote to get you back on the right track. Here are a few that might help!

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

Reading is no substitute for action. - Colleen Wainwright

The only way to have a friend is to be one. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. - Ayn Rand

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson

Do, or do not. There is no 'try'. - Yoda

If you are going through hell, keep going. - Sir Winston Churchill

If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars. - J. Paul Getty

It's kind of fun to do the impossible. - Walt Disney

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. - Samuel Johnson

A clever man commits no minor blunders. - Goethe

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. - Xenocrates

When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. - Buckminster Fuller

He who hesitates is a damned fool. - Mae West

Well done is better than well said. - Benjamin Franklin

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. - Sir Winston Churchill

Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. - Benjamin Franklin

The truth is more important then the facts. Frank Lloyd Wright

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein

Ray Major

2009-04-15T01:40:00.002-05:00

I met Ray during my high school years at the Windsor Central School District when he was teaching and coaching and I was competing in cross country and track and field. As is often the case, I didn’t fully appreciate his tremendous sense of humor and everything he had to say until after I moved away. Although he now lives in Texas, we have remained good friends and I consider him an absolutely remarkable man. Ray has two distinct passions in his life; education and lifetime fitness. Currently, he teaches Physical Education and Health at an elementary school in the Plainview Independent School District in Plainview, Texas. Enjoy his thoughts! - Joseph Norman

In the classroom today, what are a few things that you try to pass on to your students?

The number one thing in my classroom is that everyone has value and everyone deserves to experience some kind of success. And, I tell them that. I really believe that we all have different abilities and we all have strengths. Even though we have weaknesses, we all have strengths too and that is what we should focus on.

I’ve even pushed this farther by teaching my students and athletes that you have to have a love for it. You have to enjoy it. If you aren’t doing something for you, then maybe you aren’t doing it for the right reasons. It’s that extensive. I take it from my coaching right down to the elementary level where I now teach.

What got you into education?

Gary Vail was my PE teacher in the mid to late 70s. I wasn’t a very athletic kid, I didn’t play other sports well, and I was always one of the last people picked. But I just admired the way he did things. He would post the win-loss records of all the classes in the locker room and I thought that was impressive. So, 1) I’ve got this teacher that I absolutely admire, and, 2) I’m not a very athletic kid so I’m not really getting the playing time in PE that I probably could have. From that time I was thinking about going into Phys. Ed. for education.

Now, as for my running, I got my origins from a man named Gerry O’Donnell. I always admired him because even in his late 40s he was still running with us. And, he always believed in me. I didn’t make it to the state meet but he took me with him. He wrote me a really nice letter at graduation. And, I think that is where my love of running started.

At that time running was a little more extrinsic and just for the rewards. Now it is more intrinsic, but at that time I had things I wanted to accomplish with my running. That’s what kept me running back then.

Why physical education?

I was always the one that organized the pick up games when I was a kid. I even kept stats during the games. If my brother ran the ball, I would step it off and mark up a piece of paper that he just got five yards. Who does that? My old friends still joke about it.

And, I was the type of kid that could never sit still. I was constantly moving. My grade school years I got in trouble because I could never sit still.

As I recall, almost everyday you eat lunch with students. Tell me a little bit about this habit of yours...

The number one reason I do it is for the pure enjoyment of seeing the kids get excited and looking forward to something. And, the second thing is a bit selfish, but it is the fact that I get to be with a small group. It might be two kids or it might be twelve, but just the pleasure I get from having a small group at some point during the day is a wonderful reward for me because I usually have classes of 40 or so.

What keeps you running?

Early on my running was more extrinsic. You go to a road race and win a trophy or something. But, collegiately the value came more from the opportunity to travel and enjoy the camaraderie with my teammates. After that it really got to the physiological high that you get from the runs. Quite simply it became an addiction. Now it is more of a stress reliever and social thing. There is still the love for running even though the obstacles of old age and angry joints are there. So, where I’m at now is just enjoying the connection with nature.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ray is known for his rhymes. This is the beginning of a recent rendition he gave to his parents at parent-teacher conference night in Plainview.

Health and fitness is important all the time
That’s why I wrote the following rhyme
I was watching CNN
I think it was around ten
The news was about a flight attendant who made up a rap
Because during a safety debriefing, the passengers sat their like saps
I figured if he can do it on a plane
I can talk about how activity stimulates the brain
We don’t have to make fitness a whole lot harder
Even a little bit will make you smarter
You see fitness helps pump blood easier to the mind
This can help you solve problems of many kinds
It doesn’t matter the activity that you do
Grab a partner if it will help you
Baseball, basketball, even soccer
Get those sneakers out of the locker
If you golf, don’t use a cart
Walking the course is better for your heart...

Final thoughts?

I don’t know if this directly applies, but I feel like it might. My mother died just recently on April 3. Not my step mother, but my real one. And, that is the first parent I’ve lost. It has kind of set me back but it has also helped me realize that you’ve got to be grateful for what you have while you’re here.

When I get that over-ambition to do more and train more, I try to remember now and then that it’s okay to step back and just enjoy it. Sometimes we all need that gentle reminder that it’s best to take time and appreciate what you have rather than just rush through life.

Ray can be reached by email at: RPMmajor@yahoo.com

Relentless

2009-04-15T01:39:00.003-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

You can measure your current level of relentlessness by one thing; the amount of time between thinking about calling someone and actually calling.

One skill that you need to master in order to fulfill your potential is the ability to effectively act without any hesitation in all situations. This takes a lot of time to master.

So, start very small.

Practice by picking up the phone and immediately make important phone call after phone call without any thinking transitions. You will save a lot of time and energy and your phone conversation charisma will sky rocket. Most importantly this builds habits that you can later apply to bigger things.

A lot of people have trouble with this, especially today with the ability to hide behind the convenience of checking email. But, you don't want to be like a lot of people or else you would not be reading this.

I know it seems kind of goofy, but you should focus on your phone call transition speed and move upward from there.

Paradoxically, the less you think about yourself and your fears, the more you will succeed. People who fail spend too much time thinking about their problems, not planning or acting to beat them.

"Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." - Winston Churchill

Mark Gillespie

2009-04-07T09:05:00.002-05:00

This week we are featuring an interview with Mark Gillespie, the Editor in Chief of the Livingston County News. Mark is a well respected community member, friend of The VIP Guys and caring father of three. He has done newspaper work in Alaska and Kentucky, public radio in Alaska, and public relations at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Emporia State University. Now he resides in Livonia, NY and is dedicated to the long term growth of the Livingston County News! Please give his interview a read! You will learn about the impact one can have on the community, the future of the newspaper business, Mark’s philosophy of success! - Ben DeGeorge

BIW: How do you define success?

Success is a very personal thing. It’s hard to point to a stereotype of success, because sometimes people are successful in ways that others consider to be failures. In my particular case, I feel I am successful because I am in a job that gives me a lot of freedom and creativity. I have a lot of respect from the people I work with and the people in this community.It’s harder for someone like me to quantify success in terms that are measurable, because money is second to me.

BIW: From your perspective as Editor in Chief of the Livingston County News, what is the toughest part about being in the newspaper industry?

I think the toughest part is to be fair to everybody, especially when you work in a medium with limited space. The hardest thing is when someone comes to us, with a good story, and we can’t satisfy them because there are not enough pages in the paper to cover the story. It is tough to make that judgment call. When you hear the criteria that often determines whether a story gets in, it might surprise you.

How well written is the press release? Is the article the right length? How focused is the accompanying picture? I have to make these decisions so quickly. A lot of it also comes down to the work that we have to do. If someone asks for us to bring a photographer to the event, it will cost us money. On the other hand, it makes it a lot easier if they send a nice picture and a written story.

BIW: Many regional publications in the US are going out of business. The Livingston County News carries local news stories that keep government officials in check, the public educated and the community built up. It has a very important place in this community and is widely acclaimed. Why does the LCN have a stable future?

Big newspapers around the country are suffering, particularly those serving major markets. Any newspaper that operates on a daily basis, in a market with multiple television stations, radio stations and other outlets to get community information are in trouble. You can now get movie times on your cell phones, rather than in the newspaper. The era of chopping down trees and stamping out a paper with ink and using gasoline run cars to deliver it are numbered. It is a woefully inefficient system for information.

The Livingston County News is surviving because we have a monopoly on local news. We have very little competition, and it’s unlikely we will have lasting competition. However, it is cheaper and faster to deliver the news by electronic means, and we have to look towards that end in the future.
I think a lot of people fall into the trap of only reading what they agree with, online, and I hope that local journalism does not fall that way.

BIW: What is your vision for the LCN?

We have to be able to deliver information to our readers however they would like it. There is tremendous demand for a newspaper, but some may want news alerts to their cell phones. Home owners are interested in how their tax money is spent, community members like to see their kids sport team in the paper. We have a balancing act ahead of us, and need to know how to evolve to cover all bases.

I have full plans to make sure that the Livingston County news stays relevant at least into the middle of this century. I have no plans to up and move any time soon. I want to see this move from a print weekly, to being something that Livingston County has not yet seen, a constant source for updated community information.

BIW: Livingston County is unique in how tightly knit it is. This has been evident for me having grown up and then coming to school here. How has that affected your work?

All of my journalism experience has been in small towns. One thing that a small town newspaper has to remember is that we cannot be as aggressive in news gathering as we would be in a larger community, because everyone is so close, and we do not want to burn bridges. We have a great relationship with all of the local government and municipalities. They trust us. They trust that we are not out there every week looking for stories to slam them, but when a genuine story comes up, we will cover it. We wait on things to happen, instead of speculating. I ask myself, “Will the magic number of 1,000 people be interested in this story?”

BIW: What is the best part of your job?

The ability to sort of exist outside of societies expectations. We get to cover stories from the outside in. This allows us to exercise a sort of racy humor in the office and to not take our work terribly seriously. I think a lot of corporate environments are missing this today.

BIW: What is your advice to individuals in the US that may be struggling due to economic woes?

One of the reasons we got into this problem in the first place is because so many people were living beyond their means. People had desires that outstripped their abilities to pay for them. I think my advice right now is to be as frugal as possible, take the disposable income that you may have and invest your time wisely. There are also many incredibly rewarding things that you can do with your free time that don’t cost you any money. It doesn’t cost any money to go into the back yard and throw a ball around with your child. It doesn’t cost any money to go and have a picnic.

BIW: What are the necessary success factors for newspapers in this troubling time?

This is easy for a small town newspaper to answer. Each newspaper is challenged to find its unique selling point and bring that to the forefront. If you are opening up a pizza parlor in a downtown college town, it is challenging to put your finger on what makes it unique to others. But our newspaper has a unique selling point. We chronicle the life and times of Livingston County. We bolster people’s self esteem by featuring human accomplishments or achievements. We provide a forum for policing wrongdoing in government and private life. And, we mark the passage of time. Every issue that we put out has something that ties in with the season or week.

BIW: Please tell our readers about your family! I hear them screaming in the background of this phone interview.

I have three daughters. One of them turns nine this year. She lives near Chapel Hill, NC. I have two other daughters with my second wife, Jasmin Baron. They are CJ who is three and a half years old and Eliza who just turned two. I live in a nice historic house in Livonia. I enjoy a quiet small town life.

BIW: What do you do in your free time? What do you consider hobbies?

I love to read about history. I am also a big movie buff. I try to see movies whenever I can. I try to see all of the best picture nominees every time the academy awards come out.

I am a huge consumer of online news. Every day I have about thirty or forty websites that I check up on. I am fascinated by how journalism is evolving that way. I don’t think there is a big gap anymore between online and print journalism.

BIW: What are your favorite movies?

No Country for Old Men last year was incredible. I am interested in movies that help people solve a mental puzzle. I am not so much into movies that put characters into physical harm, or the formulaic romantic comedies. I like movies that ask a lot from the audience.

BIW: What would be your advice for anyone who wants to get into the news industry?

Diversify. Don’t pick one of the big three; newspapers, TV or radio. Make sure you know how to write in clear Associated Press journalism style. Make sure you know how to operate a tape recorder, a video and still camera. When you go to an employer, you need to be ready to act as the jack of all trades.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer went out of business and re-launched itself as an online publication. It went from an editorial staff of 78 to a staff of about 20. The people who are successful have to be able to reach the audience however the audience wants to be reached.

Final thoughts, Mark?

I hope that our readers do read news, and take an interest in how the local and state government is spending our tax money. I hope that they question everything that they see, and don’t take what journalists write to be the gospel truth.

Thanks Mark!

Mark Gillespie, Editor and Chief of the Livingston County News can be reached by email at mark@livingstonnews.com

BB&T Corp & Principled Leadership

2009-04-07T08:50:00.002-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to John Allison, Chairman of BB & T Corporation, deliver a talk about Principled Leadership at the University of Central Florida. Essentially he walked through the corporate philosophy at BB & T which he helped develop over the last decade.

The truth is that the people that have become truly successful in this world didn’t take shortcuts. They consistently did the right thing even in the face of adversity or lack of support from others. The 10 BB&T Values are a good model of how we can consistently do the right thing in our own lives.

Without further adieu:

Reality (Fact-Based). What is, is. If we want to be better, we must act within the context of reality (the facts).

Reason (Objectivity). We cannot all be geniuses, but each of us can develop the mental habits which ensure that when making decisions we carefully examine the facts and think logically without contradiction in deriving a conclusion.

Independent Thinking. All human progress by definition is based on creativity, because creativity is the source of positive change. Creativity is only possible to an independent thinker. Creativity is not about just doing something different. It is about doing something better.

Productivity. In a long term context and in a free market, the bigger the profit, the better. Healthy profits represent productive work.

Honesty. Being honest is simply being consistent with reality. To be honest does not require that we know everything. Knowledge is always contextual and man is not omniscient. However, we must be responsible for saying what we mean and meaning what we say.

Integrity. Principles provide carefully thought-out concepts which will lead to our long-term success and happiness. We should always act consistently with our principles.

Justice (Fairness). In evaluating other people, it is critical that we judge based on essentials. Individuals must be judged individually based on their personal merits, not their membership in any group.

Pride. Pride is the psychological reward we earn from living by our values, i.e., from being just, honest, having integrity, being an independent thinker, being productive and rational.

Self-Esteem (Self-Motivation). A necessary attribute for self-esteem is self-motivation. You receive from your work in proportion to how much you contribute.

Teamwork / Mutual Supportiveness. While independent thought and strong personal goals are critically important, work is often accomplished within teams. Each of us must consistently act to achieve the agreed-upon objectives of the team, with respect for our fellow team members, while acting in a mutually supportive manner.

Developing your own set of values is not an easy task, but it is a crucial one! My hope is that some of BB&T’s values resonate with you and help you make your own world a better place.

Ginger Walker

2009-03-31T18:32:00.005-05:00

Ginger Walker is a Managing Principle at Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Company. In her work she directs sales for the company throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. Although she’s proved herself well in the sales arena, Ginger has also had an admirable career in the United States Air Force. She finished active duty in 1994 as the first female squadron commander for an international NATO wing. At that point, she moved to Rochester, New York to be closer to her parents while she raised her two children, Shaun and Remy, and began her civilian career! Now she resides in Celebration, Florida.

“You don’t get what you deserve in life. You get what you negotiate.” - Ginger Walker

What is your definition of success?

To me it is personal happiness and I bucket that into three categories; happiness, health, and wealth. Wealth is everything from the monetary aspect of having enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle to non-monetary personal wealth in the relationships you have in your life and the enjoyment you find in the activities you take on.

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced transitioning from active duty to civilian living?

One of the biggest challenges that I had going from active duty in the military to civilian living was the lack of camaraderie and lack of leadership I observed. I was absolutely blown away by the lack of leadership when I got into the corporate world.

The other thing that I noticed was the generally poor attitudes of people that I worked with. I remember sitting in a staff meeting and listening to all the whining and saying, “You know guys, a bad day at the office is when you sit down at the end of a mission to debrief and you don’t have the same number of people sitting around the table as you did in the beginning! That is a bad day at the office!” They all looked at me like I was crazy. But, it was my reality. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to suck it up and get the work done.

Having been on both sides of the coin, what is your opinion in terms of “supporting our troops?”

To me, it’s a bit of a political phrase or buzz word because when it comes right down to it, there is not a whole lot that we can do as civilians with the exception of a few things; we should all be hanging an American flag outside and thanking our troops for their service when we see them. I travel a lot now, so when I see a person in uniform I always make it a point to walk up to them and say, “Hey, thank you for your service.” It seems like fewer and fewer people are doing that now though.
There are some organizations you can get involved with though that do letter campaigning and things of that nature. In many cases, they’re a valuable support option as well.

What are some of your hobbies?

I enjoy reading and I’m looking to get back into golf. Now that my boys are both out on their own, I’m getting to that stage where I’m looking forward to getting involved with more things in the community here in Celebration.

Ginger can be reached by email at: GingerAnnWalker@gmail.com

Survival is Not a Solo Act

2009-03-31T17:16:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

You can't go it alone. Think about every big successful project you have completed. I bet most of them have been accomplished by working with a partner - right?

A bit of bold truth: Every victorious person has accomplished anything big with a lot of support and in many cases had defined partnerships with others.

I have tried to start projects and businesses on my own and have failed or wallowed in obscurity for too long each time, only to succeed quickly when I have worked in conjunction in some sort of partnership with one or more other people. Our newsletter would not be possible without the ideas, motivation and expectations that arise due to two people running the show together, pushing each other to huge heights.

Over and over again, I see countless fantastic business ideas fail because only one person is at the helm.

What do you want to accomplish? It could be monetary, fitness, social or intellectual success. The best way to accomplish the most with the least amount of stress and most amount of excitement is to have an awesome partner, someone you are close with, who you can trust, who will consistently challenge you and is committed to growing at the same time as you are.

Upon graduation in May, I will be heading out to Albany to bring my family's company (www.st-pauly.com) to the Hudson Valley. Taking a reflective shower one morning, I asked myself why I had failed or succeeded in the past. (It's important to figure this out before starting something really important). The answer that came was that survival is not a solo act. After that I not only decided to write this article but more importantly, decided to recruit someone to be a partner in the business endeavor.

I looked for someone who I trust, challenges me and is as motivated to grow and help others as I am. I found fellow SUNY Geneseo business student, Alex Hillis. We would not be able to build the business properly in a new territory without a partner like him. The excitement for both of us is growing, and I am becoming more thrilled to take the next steps after college is over in May. I am certain that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts!

How do you want to grow personally and professionally?

Let's look at a hypothetical situation. You are socially a bit awkward and unrefined. You want to become the most outgoing, sociable and likeable person that you know. How do you make the transition to become the best from what some may consider the worst? You find a friend who can accompany you on the journey, someone who already has a social leg up on you and is willing to support you along the way. You set goals and model your actions after your friend, and improve. After a while, people start calling you an outgoing, confident person to your face. You smile and remember the beginning.

Another situation: You have become a bit out of shape, or so your friends joke. You want to become a strong bull like warrior of a man. You find a partner who wants to bike ride the California coast over the summer, and is excited to get into fantastic shape for this bear of a task. You in turn get motivated and start getting back into a routine of daily Spartan exercise.

Countless times you have heard the quote, "Behind every great man there is a great woman."

Now, replace that idea in your mind with a more modern quote; "Behind every great accomplishment, there are two or more people."

David Parish

2009-03-25T00:08:00.003-05:00

David is Executive Director of the Northern Livingston Red Cross, based out of Geneseo, NY. He is a long time Geneseo resident, local radio personality and well known community members. Anyone who interacts with him recognizes a commitment to making a difference and a knack for making others feel welcome and valued. Please give David’s profile a read. You will enjoy it!

BI: How did you get to where you are now?

I grew up in Niagara Falls. My parents came to this area in 1967 and have been here ever since. I grew up in the Geneseo school system and went to the Holcomb School for Elementary School. I went here, to SUNY Geneseo for college because it was very cheap. Tuition was $500 for a semester. I was lucky to have an inheritance, so I paid for my own college education. My major began as Communications, but upon realizing that there were not many big time jobs in radio or TV, I decided to pick up a second major, Political Science.

Later I landed a six month internship in Albany with the New York State Legislature. I went to Brockport for a Masters in Public Administration. During college I was working at Ames Department Store while after college I worked as a Custodian at Geneseo Central and in the American Cancer Society.

In 1992, I got this job with the Red Cross. We were located in an old medical building. To get to the Red Cross you had to go through a waiting room, a dressing room, and a medical room. We moved to the Livingston County building in December of 1992. By the grace of God we are rent free!

BI: What kind of work do you do on a day to day basis?

My job is part administrative work, making sure bills are paid, ordering this and that, and keeping track of donations. But ultimately, the day to day is making sure services are being produced in the county. We have to deal with situations in the middle of the night when there is a fire and the Red Cross must be there to provide emergency assistance in the form of food, clothing and shelter, for free.

We also provide a constant military service. As an example, if we get a phone call from family members saying that there is an illness or a death in the family we must do verification and send a message. In a situation like this, a serviceman could head home on leave. We do blood services. Janet is in charge of the blood services. We provide transportation for seniors to medical appointments as well. We work with volunteers to make sure that those services are provided.

BI: What is your favorite part of the job?

I actually love some of the challenges that come up. For example, when I first started here in December of 1992, I heard there had been a fire in Hemlock during Christmas week. We had not been notified by emergency services or the Sheriff’s department, which sometimes happens. Come to find out, there were five families that were burned out. We spent Christmas week trying to track down the families and within thirty six hours on the new job, I was responsible for spending $4,000 of Red Cross money helping others. It is events like those that I enjoy.

BI: What do you do in your free time?

This position is full time. In the past four years I have picked up a second job, doing the Public Affairs show for WYSL 1040AM. This is done on a weekly basis, interviewing three people. It gets me out of the office and is a lot of fun!

BI: David has wrapped a lot of his professional and personal interests around this community.

Growing up in this community, if someone had said, “You will stay in Geneseo,” I would have said, “No!” But, I love it here. Growing up with people helping me, I feel that working with the Red Cross is my way to give back to the community that I love so much. I probably will retire in this job. I am sort of a big fish in a small pond.

BI: How do you define success; personally and professionally?

A lot of people would consider success as money or power. Certainly, I can understand that. For me, success is being happy with myself, with where I am, and the people I work with.

BI: We have seen that you have taken to using Facebook. Are you addicted? Have you regretted that decision?

I have become addicted. I am a person who really does not trust new technology. Often times you are forced into a situation where you have to. The American Red Cross all of sudden realized that a lot of people, young and old, are on Facebook and that it needed a presence on there. I kind of went on unwillingly. Now I am there and am having fun. Lo and behold one of my friends put a picture from my kindergarten class online. Now, I can’t do without all of this stuff.

When I was in the United Kingdom last year, I got into a hotel after a long plane trip. I was watching television, watching a rugby game. I was completely floored. They were not wearing any protection. Once a play finishes, another starts. There are no time outs. I wanted badly to see a rugby game. I came across a rugby group on Facebook. I put a note on a rugby Facebook group asking if anyone had any suggestions of where I could see rugby games. Someone told me I needed to go to the Guinness Premier Finals Show Game on May 16th. I went and found tickets online and bought tickets for $75. Afterwards I found that this was the Super Bowl of English Rugby. Already two months before the game the stadium is half filled with 85,000 people. Thanks to Facebook I am going to the Super Bowl of rugby games in May!

BI: What is your favorite part of Livingston County?

It’s the people and the small towns. Livingston County is the place where you don’t have to lock your car doors. People are friendly, it’s great! Certainly, the view helps. You go up to Wegmans and constantly see people that you know. It’s great!

BI: What would your advice be to western NY? It’s tough right now for a lot of people...

You take a look at the problems we are hearing about and it can be very discouraging. People have to remember that they are the master of their own destiny. I admire people who may lose their job and look at it as an opportunity to better themselves. I think that is what we need to be doing in this type of environment. Yes, bad things are happening, but we need to look at this as an opportunity. For the long haul, this can be very beneficial.

This concept came from Karen Six, the Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Livingston County. The Literacy Volunteers are seeing an uptick in people who need their literacy training services. They are realizing that they need to educate themselves. There is a segment in our community that is not in a good situation right now, but they are becoming masters of their lives, trying to turn things around.

BI: If you could create anything with the snap of your fingers, what would it be?

In my backyard it would either be a pond or a stream. The kid in me loves the wildlife aspect of it all. I still love going to the creek down the road and seeing something new. I would really like a real stream or pond, with pollywogs.

My favorite thing in the world is mowing the lawn. I find I do my best thinking while mowing the lawn. Unfortunately in western NY there are times from November to April when I am doing no thinking. I also do my best thinking while waiting in lines. I am a morning person; I am up by 6:30 AM and in bed by 10:30 PM. I don’t even need an alarm clock anymore. My internal clock works very well.

BI: What are some of the most influential pieces of literature you have read over your lifespan?

I am a big fan of Larry McMurtry, especially when he is writing about small town Texas, like in The Last Picture Show or Texasville. I really liked those. I guess small town literature is what I like to read. Another interesting thing is that I like reading about alternative history. A big author into alternative history is Harry Turtledove, where history takes a 180... He started a long saga of books where the South won the Civil War and takes it through the First and Second World War.

BI: If you could meet any three people, past present or future, who would they be?

I would like to meet Henry the Eighth. I have started to read about Henry the Eighth and that time period. Let’s face it, he was nuts. I would like to meet one of the captains of The Dangerous Catch. Finally, I would like to meet one of the leaders of the agreement that has helped change Northern Ireland. You have got to admire the people of Northern Ireland who are standing up to stop the violence.

BI: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

North Korea. I have read a lot about North Korea. It is a very exotic place. It would be fascinating to visit that country. To learn, sometimes you have to act dumb. If you went there and started to act dumb, you would learn a lot.

As an example, the first disaster I dealt with was in 1995 in San Angelo, Texas. By acting dumb, people took me under their wing. I learned a lot. But you don’t want to act so dumb that people think you are an idiot.

BI: What is the most interesting interview that you have done?

My most interesting interview was a couple of years ago when Geneseo was having a Supervisors race. We had four candidates. There was a big story there. It was great to interview all four of them. At the end, we had a debate on the radio. I learned about these people. I know there was an impact.

In fact, Bigger Impact Weekly featured all four candidates in a newsletter debate!

BI: Do you have any heroes in the community, people who are making a big difference?

Linda Weaver of the Geneseo Parish Outreach Program. She would be someone who would be good for you to talk to at some point. Many non-profits have trouble because it is so tough to run them. The Geneseo Parish Outreach center offers low cost or free medical services to the low income people in our community who have no insurance or are under insured. It is all staffed by volunteers. Linda is the Executive Director but is not getting paid for it. They are doing a lot of great work in the community.

BI: What kind of support do you receive from the American Red Cross?

They are trying to consolidate the back office work that we do into one place right now. On the side of services, national is mindful that decisions need to be made at a local level.
We work well together in the local region. We have wonderful leadership from the Rochester chapter towards the community chapters. This has been great for everyone in the region. In this area you have chapters that are ready and willing to help each other.

We also do a lot of collaborative efforts with the county and with the health facilities. We offer First Aid and CPR certification classes.

BI: If you could send any message to the world, what would it be?

I would dare say that we as a world need to be more supporting of our young people. It seems like you always hear the bad things about young people, but I have always found that the positives among our young people are not transmitted as strongly as they should.

There is a group of students at Geneseo Central which sells coffee and snacks to kids and students and donates the money to Non-Profits. They donated $200 bucks to the Red Cross. The money is great, but more importantly it was an incredible opportunity to meet with these young people. I always say to young people; “I can’t wait until you guys are in charge. We know the world is going to be a good place.”

BI: What do you consider your biggest achievement?

It was bringing this chapter into the 20th and 21st century. We used to have two adult mannequins, two junior mannequins and two baby mannequins. Our fundraising was almost non-existent. The chapter was facing deficits of $20,000 a year. I figured out that in another year we would not exist anymore. We still exist, we have a ton more mannequins, we have computers, and we have employees. We have become more visible in providing our services.

BI: What is your biggest personal weakness?

I can put up with a lot of things. I find that if I get boxed into a corner I get frustrated. I try not to, but if I am boxed in, I come out fighting.

BI: Biggest strength?

My sense of humor. This job is stressful enough, being called in the middle of the night. We try to encourage laughter in this office; otherwise, you will go crazy.

David’s email address is: sweetwater_kid@hotmail.com

Thank you David for joining our VIP community!

Selling Yourself

2009-03-25T00:07:00.002-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

"Getting your way is the gateway to getting what you want." - Jeffrey Gitomer

With what feels like Armageddon coming every time you watch the news, now is as important a time as ever to learn how to sell yourself and your ideas to others.

The truth is during times of great economic distress a large transfer of wealth occurs. With many people losing money, there is actually a large group of people and businesses out there absolutely coining money in this economy. Why? They know that turbulence like this creates opportunity.

Now that you know the truth though, it's important to discuss a little bit about how these people take advantage of times like these.

They effectively sell themselves and their ideas to the world! It's as simple as that.

Jeffrey Gitomer has a fantastic book that I've read a few times now called the Little Green Book of Getting Your Way. I'd like to focus on one particular section directly from his book on persuasion because I think it's valuable to understanding how to make your desires a reality in your own life.

Persuasion is the process...getting your way is the outcome.

Persuasion is a science. You can learn to persuade. You can learn the best ways to persuade in each given situation of your business life, your sales life, and your personal life.

Persuasion is an art. Never crossing the line to "pushy." It's showing reserve and poise. In short - being cool.

Persuasion is excellent questioning skills beyond excellent communication skills. It's getting the other person to clarify what you want in their mind. Rather than tell them "This is why that happened..." ask "Why do you think this happened" or "What made this happen?" It's a subtle but powerful difference.

Persuasion is compromise. Often there is some give and take in order to get to your way.

Persuasion is asking questions that clarify the situation. Asking for elaboration, understanding, and "why" will lead you to harmony. That harmony will permit open-minded dialogue.

Persuasion is excellent listening skills. Listening is one of the most difficult elements of persuasion because it requires patience. The two-word secret of patience and listening is NOT "shut up." It's "take notes." Taking notes shows respect and eliminates miscommunication.

Persuasion is getting the other guy to convince himself. If you question, listen, write it down, and question again for clarification, your answers and your point of view will become obvious.

Persuasion is preparation. Gathering the right information. Creating the right questions. Uncovering the right hot buttons - and acting on them.

Persuasion is victory. Persuasion is the science by which you get your way. It's not just getting your way; it's persuading with harmony and getting everyone to agree. It's you getting your way without the other guy feeling like he or she "lost."

Why would I simply rip-off and duplicate from Gitomer this week? Because this is some fantastic stuff and if it's not broken, don't fix it!

Right now is an incredible opportunity for us in Western New York to look the challenges in the face and discover what we really want out of our lives! But, at that moment of discovery, we are also faced with the ultimate test...getting other people to buy into our dream!

I'm doing it right now with my business partner Shaun and our real estate business. You can do it too with your dream! It just takes a little bit of persuasion...

John Engels

2009-03-17T18:22:00.002-05:00

John Engels is founder and president of Leadership Coaching, Inc., a leadership consulting firm in Upstate New York, focused on the mentoring and growth of CEOs, presidents, their executive teams and their families. His Advanced Leadership Course for CEOs has been recognized nationally for its depth and practical emphasis on high-level functioning at work and home. He has traveled widely, participating in developing world projects in Bangladesh, Haiti, and Peru. An insatiable curiosity for knowledge and a constant search for depth in life and self are a few key values John brings to his consulting practice.

Tell us a little bit about how you got started and what put you on the path of wanting to give back in this way.

I think started is a funny word. Lots of dramatic events happened in my childhood which had an impact on me. I grew up Roman Catholic. So, there was a lot of emphasis in my upbringing on service; concern for the poor and for people that don’t have enough. My parents came from poverty. They had to learn how to survive and they appreciated the small pleasures in life. I got a feel for that early on.

Though they were poor, each of my parents had a lot of motivation to succeed and get ahead. They had tasted poverty and they didn’t want to taste it again. I think it was very influential for me. I am the oldest of five, so from that sibling position an expectation was programmed into me that I would be successful. That I would be achievement oriented. It was just in there.

I’ve always had an insatiable desire to learn. To look for insight in off-the-beaten-path places, where others aren’t going. I can remember my mother telling us, “Don’t be a conformist!”

I’ve looked in very strange places for knowledge and that habit has been very useful for me; bringing a perspective to my clients that is not only different, but in many ways subversive. So, that’s a big competitive advantage. I’m like a sponge. Yes, I have the academic degrees, but that has not stimulated the greatest learning for me. Book knowledge simply readied me for the real learning, which has come in prison visits, wilderness adventures, hospital morgues, villages in developing worlds, and to a large degree, in conversations with my clients.

What does your business and its delivery system look like?

People choose to buy an apple based on the skin. Is it shiny? Dull? Red? Yellow? Does it have dimples on it? The skin of the apple is not the meat of the apple. The skin of the apple is not the apple, it is just the cover. Most leaders live in a world where only the superficial elements of leadership are looked at - personality, physical appearance, resume, compensation, etc. My team and I help veteran and high-potential leaders look at the meat of the apple - their emotional maturity, their confidence and skill as coaches to others, the clarity of their thinking and decision-making, and so on. We help leaders know, trust and communicate their substance. That enables them to influence others - both at work and at home - in more meaningful ways.

Our business model centers on a course that I founded thirteen years ago, the Advanced Leadership Course. It takes CEOs and other senior level leaders through an eight month process - one full day a month for eight months - teaching the science of leadership and developing them as high functioning mentors. The course is often the beginning of a relationship with Leadership Coaching, Inc. that extends far beyond the eight months. Half of the graduates end up in some sort of long term relationship with me. I offer an annual retreat that about 100 graduates of the Advanced Leadership Course come to every year. And, I feed them...I give them more.

My belief is that what ultimately impresses people is the depth, not the skin. That is something to know about life. Don’t just look at the outside and what seems to be. There is more than that going on. I deal all day with people that have made a living out of trying to look good, and to stay comfortable. And, unfortunately for many, that’s where their focus ends. We try to lead leaders in a different direction. For example, we make an effort to help leaders manage and overrule discomfort instead of trying to avoid it. Sometimes, progress is not possible without discomfort, so managing it becomes critical. Leaders who learn how to do this can take the world by storm.

What advice would you give to the people of Western New York?

That’s a really easy question to answer because I don’t give advice. I never give advice. Don’t know what’s best for others. It’s challenging enough to figure out what’s best for me. And, that is an important point right there.

The last time I was asked that question it was by Mayor Robert Duffy, just before he took office. He invited me to breakfast and asked me for advice. I told him the same thing, “I don’t give advice,” and I could see he was somewhat stunned by my answer. We went on to have a very animated conversation.

Everybody seems to have lots of advice for everybody else which is a sign of a toxic and regressive culture. Do I really know what you should be doing? Do I know what that guy over there should be doing? Should I tell him what to do because something that worked for me should work for him? I have no idea. That is the most honest answer I can give.

If someone asks me what I have found helpful, I will tell them. Not in an advice-giving way, just sharing my own experience.

When I say, “I don’t know what you should do”, it leaves you with the responsibility to figure it out. And, it turns out that you figuring it out provides more value to you then all of the advice you might be getting elsewhere. So, I’m actually giving you a gift by saying I don’t know. I’m driving value to you because the alternative would keep you in a helpless, dependent position.

Anybody who falls into the trap of telling others what to do is not thinking clearly. How can somebody, no matter how smart they are, know what’s best for me if they’re not me? They don’t even know me. This is true in families. It’s true with spouses. It’s true with kids. Do your parents know what’s best for you? They can’t possibly know. Most often, parents don’t even know what’s best for them! That’s just the way it is.

This is the kind of experience that I try to give my clients; discombobulating their assumptions. Challenging these things they take as automatically true. I question them. I ask them, “Who told you that?”

For example, when a client says to me, “I’d never ask my people to do something I’m not willing to do myself.” They tell me that and they really believe their practicing good leadership.

I say, “That doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would you be doing what your people are doing? You’re not them. You’re not where they are. You’re leading. Why would you, as a Principal of a high school, think that you need to set up chairs in the auditorium? So your people think you’re one of them? Why do you need that coziness? Why do you need their approval? What should a top-notch Principal be doing? Do we need the Principal to set up chairs or to think about where the school is going?

This is an example of really helping people think at a deeper level. Not just trite, throw away phrases. I’ve studied people and leadership for a long, long time, so I have at least a modest idea what this leadership thing is all about. Most people are very superficial in their understanding and I’m talking about people who head businesses, families and even nations.

My business is thriving because we offer people a level of value that matches what they need. And, often times, what they don’t know they need. It is high value, high risk, and high reward type of work. It requires understanding someone’s life and work, so we can help them with the most important challenges. Meeting with people at this level brings a high level of meaningfulness and satisfaction to me, and to those who do this work with me.

I know you work a lot at the family level with people as well. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

It’s not so much work-life balance. It’s you understanding as a leader what the influence of your multi-generational history is on how you function everyday. Each of us grew up in a family system that produced patterns in us; emotional patterns, ways of acting, and ways of being that profoundly impact how we function. Those patterns are unconsciously governing our behavior everyday. We help leaders name and understand those patterns so they can make clearer choices about how they want to lead.

So, the first part of my work is to help my clients get thinking about what the connection is between how they were raised and how they lead as well as how they show up to their own kids and their wife or husband. Again, I think this is a deeper look at self.

My clients are quite wowed by this. I’m talking about people that have been all over the world and have done all kinds of things but they’ve never examined how their family history has influenced their functioning. We do a four generational family tree. We actually develop that with all of my clients, in an effort to help them go deeper and broader with their thinking. They’ve expressed profound appreciation for this aspect of what we do, and I think it’s because they’ve never thought about it.

We do individual coaching, work with teams, and give presentations all over the world on leadership, but the Advanced Leadership Course is our core. I give those 25 people each year everything I’ve got because every one of them is hungry to grow and influential to many others.

Where did the search for depth come from?

It came from my own experiences as a youngster. I experienced a lot of chaos in my life growing up. I grew up during Vietnam and the assassinations. There was a lot of heaviness during my childhood, in our home and in the world. The war was on TV every night, so I got sensitized to it all. It wasn’t something that I could ignore. I was thinking about it a lot. Then, my twin brother was killed in a car accident when I was 21 and a senior in college. That just rocked me.

From an early age, I was on a mission to find myself. So, what I’m asking my clients to do I am familiar with. I had to figure out how to grow up, deal with pain, with loss, and with the fact that I only have one life to live. What do I want to do with it?

I have been fortunate to marry a woman who is a person of great depth. We have shared questions and conversations with our three children from way back. We have tried to make conscious decisions about exposing our kids to the often-overlooked realities of life. As a quick example, we’ve made three trips to Bangladesh and two trips to a Harlem soup kitchen with our kids, but we’ve never been to Disney World. We don’t have anything against Disney World because for some people it’s great, but it’s just not our thing. My two sons would rather be wilderness camping than hanging out in a resort.

Bangladesh is a pretty out of the way place. I was introduced to it many years ago when a cyclone hit and I was wondering how I could help. Then I met a girl in an orphanage there who is now our daughter. One thing leads to another.

My purpose in life is to live at that deeper level. That’s what I want to do, and that’s what I invite others into. Some of the world’s best thinkers, individuals like Dr. Murray Bowen and Dr. Ed Friedman, have been my teachers; I know I did not arrive at this place without help. So, I have committed the rest of my life to teach others the ideas, principles and strategies that relate to being a more emotionally mature and responsible self. That’s what I’ve studied and that’s what I’ve tried to live.

It’s not really about business, it’s about life.

What’s next for you?

Lately I’ve been thinking about putting many of these ideas and principals into print. So, I think that’s next for me.

In addition, I’ve been doing this advanced level leadership work with CEOs for 25 years and a large percentage of my clients have reported to me that they wish they would have been exposed to this material earlier in their careers. These people are generally 35 to 60. One of my dreams is to deliver these ideas to 22 -30 year old high potential leaders.

These are life changing ideas. It would be great to find a way to give these skills to people earlier in life.

Final thoughts?

One thing that I’ve tried to do in my career that has really helped my business tremendously - and, it’s a great way to live - is win-win relationships. I never want to take from somebody unless I can give and I don’t want to give unless I can take. I’m always looking for the mutual aspect of an exchange.

I have three children; Nick, 23, Joe, 19, and Maria, 18. It’s important to me that our children see a lack of pretense when they look at my wife and myself.

My business is not slick or fancy. It reflects my own blue-collar background and values. This lack of pretense is what our clients are looking for. At the end of the day, our clients respond to the genuineness they see in us. They know we will ask them the important questions and challenge them without worrying about their approval.

John Engels
Founder & President
Leadership Coaching, Inc.
E: John@LeadershipCoachingInc.com

Okay, I Messed Up

2009-03-17T18:21:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

I screwed up. Big time. I missed out on an incredible opportunity, all because I made a no-brainer error. It is hard for me to admit this, especially to a large audience of readers through this newsletter.

Admittedly, I am very hard on myself at all times. Yes, my hair is graying a little at the ripe age of 21. But, no worries -- They have treatment for that! Plus, gray hair is sexy, right?

I was supposed to meet someone on Sunday at the Rochester public library to pick up a bunch of used books. These books would then have been sent to Ghana, Africa as part of a Sister City Program I am involved in. Earlier in the month a friend contacted me to let me know that there was going to be this book sale at the library. We agreed that we would meet at the book sale and take the extra books that the library was going to discard for our project. Somehow, I forgot about it. Perhaps my inner Ben thought only a few books would be ready to be collected and so he misplaced the event in his brain.

It turns out that there were thousands of books at the end of the sale ready to be grabbed! But this did not matter, because I was not there to grab them! The books ended up in the trash a few hours later.

We could have filled our whole Ghana bound container with the books at this library and put a cap on a project that has hounded us for months. This would have also saved thousands of books from the dump.

I lost the opportunity to finish up this project, but more importantly I lost credibility with the person who set up the meeting.

I took action after all the dust had settled to fix this situation as best as I could, but it was still not enough. I lost a lot of valuable ground. I certainly won’t make that kind of mistake again!

How many times have you messed up in a situation like this?

Be truthful here. You have messed up a lot!

They say, you either win or you learn. What they don’t say is how much you learn... that is entirely determined by your desire to improve!

You have probably heard the word “Kaizen” used before. It means living a lifestyle of constant advancement in all areas of your life including; Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Material Wealth, Education and Abilities. People who adhere to this philosophy take a look at the situation like the one I outlined above and define all of the things that they learned and determine not to repeat them again. They do not become depressed by the mistake, they become motivated.

That is exactly why I have told you this story. I am embarrassed by it and do not want to ever repeat anything like it again. Most people are afraid to share their failures with others. Those who do great things overcome their fear of admitting failures and are able to move on faster. The minute you objectively define and share a failure and its lessons with others, you are on your road to never repeating it again.

You should do this with any mistake that you make. Tell people about it, write about it and talk about its solution. You will never repeat it again.

Mistakes are better educational opportunities than enrolling in a college class or reading a text book.

Graeme Roberts

2009-03-10T02:13:00.006-05:00

Graeme is a marketing expert with a very interesting background. He is currently President of iWrite marketing, based in Rochester, New York. His work is dedicated to passionately serving entrepreneurial businesses. We enjoyed his interview and found that his advice and story will help you become a much better innovator. Please give his profile a read! – The Bigger Impact Team

I grew up in Australia. I am a baby boomer. My mom and dad were both in the service during World War II. My dad was in England flying bombers while my mother was in the Air Force in Australia. That is how they met. I was born in ’51. I went to my undergrad college for a film degree and subsequently worked in the film industry for a little while right after school. It was very competitive and the pay was poor. I decided to do something more stable, and came up with several ideas. People said I was good with people.

I had met a fellow when I was hitch hiking one day, which changed everything. He picked me up and as it turns out, was a salesman. He said it was a great life. So, I decided to combine that with my current experience and started selling motion picture products for Kodak. That was a pretty good move. I worked as a few years as a salesperson and was then offered a job as a consultant around Asia, Africa and the Middle East, working with motion picture labs to help them out. We had a huge market share worldwide. Our focus was to provide such good service so they would not consider any other supplier. That was my job, to provide the excellent service.

BI: How did you end up in Rochester?

I came here to Rochester for training once I joined Kodak. This was in the days when training was so well done - It was unbelievable. There was a marketing education center on East Road that was humming with people. I ended up working primarily in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and India. I met my wife in Taiwan along the way and three years later got married. We are still married. However, in the beginning it was pretty hard because I was out four to six weeks at a time.

I remember thinking that I would come to Rochester for a few years and see what happens. I ended up moving out of motion picture and into venture just as they were starting new venture businesses. This was in 1987. I worked with a couple of those new businesses and then decided to join the copy business. They were producing the first digital copiers, and I worked on those in a product planning and marketing position. Later, I worked in Graphics Imaging. During that time I went to the Simon School and picked up an MBA. The business education was really important. While I was there I took any class that had the name entrepreneur on it.

BI: Where did that entrepreneurial spark begin?

Ever since I joined Kodak, I wanted to be a director, or an entrepreneur. I had that edge, which I am sure you understand! I took a couple of courses, one in optical entrepreneurship. The University of Rochester is known for its Institute of Optics. There was a business plan competition, and I decided that the guys in the laser lab, headed by Duncan Moore, were the most successful looking team. They had a lab going in Rush and were making the world’s highest powered lasers. However, they needed marketing, and they needed a business plan. We wrote a business plan, and it won the competition. I got to know Duncan Moore pretty well. A little later when I was tired of big corporate bureaucracy, I decided I wanted to start my own company, and called Duncan asking if he had any PhDs doing interesting things. He said, “Yes I have them, but I would rather have you join my company.” He had started a company called Gradient Lens Corporation; I started giving occasional advice to help them focus. Eventually, they called me up and asked if I could leave Kodak and join them full time.

I always point out that I left Kodak without any separation package. I just left penniless, which was kind of dumb. At that point Gradient Lens Corporation had 15 to 17 people. I was the first VP of marketing and sales. We saw a lot of success, took on a great distributorship and grew. But, I wanted to take on a new challenge, and decided start my own business, which was a predecessor of what is now iWrite marketing. I was working as a freelancer for all intensive purposes and I found that not a whole lot was happening.

I had not really marketed myself well, and did not have a strong value proposition. I thought that maybe I should get a job… but realized that instead I needed to do what I was doing, but much better. I decided to not only do the strategic work, but I also started doing writing, which I am pretty good at. I started to add marketing services, doing catalogues and websites and stuff like that, and working with other designers. In late 2007, I started putting a team together and here we are!

BI: What exactly does iWrite Marketing do?

We help entrepreneurial companies grow. Why entrepreneurial companies? I have two big passions; entrepreneurship and marketing. Marketing is the engine of entrepreneurship.

Firstly, this gives us the chance to work with people we love, whether it is a tiny startup with one student or a considerably large company on its way. This also makes it possible to find groups in large companies that are entrepreneurial. If you can find a group like this, it is a joy. One of our clients is XOHM, a group inside of Sprint. They have spun that off to combine with Clearwire, which is producing WiMAX. Working with groups like that is exactly like working with a startup. We have been doing consulting, and marketing services work as well. We have been doing websites. We tend to focus on business to business, and technology, science and life sciences. I just have a really strong interest in that stuff. Despite this, our largest current client is a financial planning company.

BI: Why did you stay in Rochester?

It has a lot of good things. It does not have as much of the business we would like as in other markets, however we take the attitude that we can help change that. There are a lot of small businesses that have formed around RIT and U of R, particularly in technology.

BI: What do you do in your free time?

I read a lot. I spend time with the family. I have three college age kids, all at college. Other than that, I work pretty hard. I work late quite a lot and am in here on the weekends. We are establishing the business, so it takes a lot of effort. I talk about the fact that we do consulting and services. But the passion we have for Entrepreneurism and Marketing is built around a platform that we are calling common sense marketing.

BI: What would be some common sense marketing examples?

I want to start with saying that most marketing is pretty bad. It does not matter what it is in general, but it is often money poorly spent. People who come from engineering, science or management backgrounds look at marketing and say it is the only area where you can throw money and not necessarily get results, and still have your job and be regarded as successful. People who support marketing will say; "Did you see that campaign? Look at the logo, it is so nicely done. It did not make the numbers, but the activity was good.”

The truth is that marketing is about results, not activity.

Entrepreneurs have all of the advantages. Having little money is a huge advantage because it makes you think. Instead of using spaghetti marketing, and throwing campaigns at the wall to see what sticks, you use marketing tools, like newsletters, that are highly cost effective. The way you make decisions as an entrepreneurial team also gives you an advantage. As an entrepreneur you can do much better marketing than larger organizations.

It’s interesting, because there is a process in every field, in most sciences and in engineering. There has not been one for marketing. We have developed a process for marketing. Articulate, Decide, Market. First, this puts a clear understanding on exactly what you are trying to do. Second, it forces you to decide on a course. Right before the iPod was launched Steve Jobs did not like the case that iPods were in, and said “guys, you need to change to a stainless steel shell, and you have no time to do it.” He made a decision and went with it. This was necessary to the success of the product. Third, you use innovative marketing formulas.

BI: What are your favorite books?

Dare to Prepare by Ronald Shapiro, Guerilla Marketing for Consultants by Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael McLaughlin, Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making by David Rothkopf, The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley, Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street, You Are the Message by Roger Ailes, The Definitive Drucker by Elizabeth Hass Edersheim, Winning by Jack and Suzy Welch

Also, check out The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcast at Stanford.edu; (http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html)

I am religiously dedicated to the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader’s Podcast. This is the most amazing source that an entrepreneur should listen to. If you do not listen to this, you should lose your entrepreneur’s license.

BI: If you could give any piece of advice to Western NY, what would it be?

If I could transmit any idea, it would be the idea of Peaks versus Averages. The whole idea is that it is better to go for leadership in a few things than average performance in many. If we had two Michelin three star restaurants in Rochester, people would come from all over to try them. One lab at the University of Rochester that leads the whole world in development of a treatment for ALS would position us better than three labs doing good work on infectious disease, for example. One amazing newsletter run by two bright young guys does more for this area than dozens of lesser publications.

When people talk about a city, or just about anything, they tend to be like statisticians, or market researchers. We are 156 in terms of this, or 190 in terms of this. To me that is the entirely wrong way to think of it. As a marketing person, you have to think of the peaks, not the averages. If we do not have the best things, we must develop a few of the best things. When it comes to museums or photography, we are the best. When it comes to music schools we have one of the best in the US and in the world. We have a strong musical culture. Those are peaks. And we need to have those in other places as well. And without entrepreneurial business going on, nothing happens.

This was one of the most entrepreneurial communities because of people like George Eastman. Not only did he fund Rochester, the U of R and museums, but MIT would not have been around had it not been for him. I really believe that a vibrant business community here is extremely important. It comes back to the theme of entrepreneurship. This can start with small points of light, but eventually, there will be more Paychex, just plain great companies. When that happens, people will come; they will be here to work. They won’t complain about the weather. This happened with Kodak.

One of the principles in marketing is that you never go in intending to be the number seven in market share. You define a segment where you can totally dominate, and you narrow it down until you are the best or the winner in that segment. I think the situation right now is pretty desperate. By emphasizing the peaks and not the averages, we can win.

BI: What are the next steps? Where do you see yourself five years from now?

We want to develop the iWrite marketing “franchise”, not as a true franchise, but in the McDonalds sense, where everything is defined very tightly. We want to think of processes, hire really great people and build tightly defined teams with well defined roles and allow for a lot of creativity and unconventional thought. That’s why we like marketing so much; it is both right and left brain oriented. If you have disciplined processes, it actually enhances your creative opportunities – it helps you think broadly and creatively.

My vision is to have a network of iWrite Marketing in other cities. The next place is Boston. We would like to see it in cities like Seattle. If I am really truthful about the dream, then we are going international. It is not just about making money, but to liberate people. Entrepreneurism is what drives development in poor countries. Marketing is the engine in that. We have a role to play. This is a social venturing opportunity. This feeds in with another passion of mine; talent. I love to find talent in people and build upon their strengths.

I just can’t wait to see what it will be like when there are a lot more entrepreneurial ventures going on in Baghdad. The reason I love to live in this country and this community is that it’s built on entrepreneurship.

BI: What would your perfect day at work look like?

Well, I just believe that it is not defined in terms of money. If you are passionate about something, and you love what you are doing and you do a great job for your customers, the money will follow, and you will make a living. And, I think that entrepreneurs, who initially must go through a tough time, should make a good living.

BI: You have done a lot of traveling. Is there any country you have not gone to yet, that you would like to go to?

I have been to over twenty five countries. I have never been to France. My daughter is a linguist, a French speaker. She is talking about going over there soon. I like the idea of going to France and Italy and trying all sorts of food from the local markets.

BI: What techniques do you use to build your business?

We are talking about a business that is relationship based, and long term. This is not a situation where you make a sale and you are gone. It is all about personal relationships and direct communication with clients. That is the sort of people we are, and where we want to be. We are successful based upon referral and word of mouth. Also, we are building our platform, and beginning to use speaking engagements more. People need to know whether what you have intellectually is rigorous and sound, and that you are a good person. If you go to a conference, and see a speaker who really resonates, they get mobbed afterwards. It is amazing!

If you don’t have a great relationship with your client, it is not worth it. Choose your clients carefully.

Steve Jobs says; “Life is short. What you got to do is be great.”

And, what I say to these guys who work here is; “Don’t worry about efficiency…worry about effectiveness.” When you are worrying about efficiency, you are not leading anymore, you are managing.

I just read in Advertising Age today about Bob Lutz, who was asked how he made a difference at GM. He said that when he was in there, no one talked about making a great product, it was only about producing cars more efficiently. They looked at measures that had nothing to do with the core business and lost track of their core. Unfortunately, it is tough times for them now.

BI: Why did you decide to hole up here at RIT?

There are a lot of likeminded people in the incubator. RIT became great due to the influence of people like Albert Simone, and now Bill Destler. Right there we have two really great leaders. I think Bill is truly visionary about what he wants to do here. RIT is really great because of NTID, and the deaf and hard of hearing community. This changes the dimensions here, how people think, and how inclusive they are. I am not just saying that because we are here, but because being here we can understand what the resources are.

BI: What is your favorite eatery in Rochester?

Hicks and McCarthy. That is a favorite of mine. But, remember, I am married to a Taiwanese woman. If I were to say my true favorite eatery it would be Cindelicious, my wife Cindy's new business. I am her marketing advisor, but my rewards are gastronomical rather than financial.

Graeme can be reached at: Graeme.Roberts@iWriteMarketing.com

Thanks Graeme for the great interview. Please welcome our newest VIP to our Western NY community!

Your Mood

2009-03-10T02:07:00.003-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine at the gym I work out at in Rochester and he mentioned a family trip he just went on to Florida. I responded with a similar story about my business trip there a week or so ago. Inevitably, we talked about the sun and the weather.

If you live in Western New York you know that right now it is a little gloomy out there. Although it's getting warmer, many of the days are grey and dull. Warm days it might rain while the occasional cold spell still bites us with chilly winds and a March or April flurry.

Now, my friend is a successful businessman with an attitude and positive energy that is simply unstoppable. But, we reflected on the fact that sometimes it's tough to keep a great mood up in the final days of winter with the grey skies looming. And, this got me thinking...

There is definitely a difference between your attitude and your mood. You can meet a predominantly positive person that could still be moody just as some people with poor attitudes sometimes have great days.

So, what's the difference between your attitude and your mood?

Your attitude is like your foundation. It's what makes you who you are and what carries you through the day, no matter the circumstances. Meanwhile, your mood is your reaction to the moment. It seems like a minor thing but it's actually a big difference.

Everyday we hear the Dr. Phil's of the world talk about attitude, but how often do we consider our own control over our mood?

The truth is we can change our moods instantly. Are you in a bad mood? All you have to do to change it is make a decision to be happy and make your bad mood a good one. Because your mood is more or less a surface reaction to what's happening in the "right now" of your life, you can change your mood quickly. That's a powerful thing to think about.

When was the last time you said or heard the phrase, "Oh, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" You've probably heard it at least once in the last week. Have you ever thought about what that phrase even means? It's completely ridiculous.

What is the wrong side of the bed anyway? Left side or right side? Does it really matter? Nope.

No matter which "side of the bed" you woke up on, you decide your mood. Here are a few strategies to immediately change your state if you find the "wrong side of the bed" syndrome creeping into your day.

Make peace with whatever is bothering you. Accept it and move on. Or, take a few moments to devise a plan to tackle the problem, than put that plan into action.

Compartmentalize when you can. The truth is you can't always control what is happening around you. This holds particularly true if you are listening to someone else venting about their issues or if you're down because of the weather. If you want to, be there for them and empathize with them, but don't let it ruin your mood after the conversation is over. In addition, you'll never be able to manage Mother Nature. Simply box it up and pack it away because you can only solve problems you have control over.

Think about a song you really like. Music has a tremendous power over us. A good piece of music can lift us right up. Use that to your advantage!

Smile. It's amazing what forcing yourself to smile can do. Your body associates good feelings with smiling, so use a little trickery to boost your mood. When I was running competitively in high school and college, I would pick spots on the course before a race where I would plan to smile. No matter how much pain I was in when I reached those points I would always get a little boost from making myself smile. I still use this strategy in competition.

Use props. Carry something small with you at all times which you associate with good feelings. It could be a piece of jewelry with spiritual significance to you or even a pebble from a beach you went to on vacation. Whatever it is, use it! When you're feeling down, just grab your "prop" for a moment and remind yourself that ultimately life is good and you are in control.

If every one of us took a little time to think about how to effectively change our inevitable bad moods into good ones, our homes, workplaces, and communities would be a much more positive place. Give yourself the gift of a good mood today!

How to Be Different

2009-03-03T23:58:00.001-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

Everyone in the world wants to be different than everyone else.

Why? To attract others in friendship, love, business, and politics.

How can you be completely different from the 6,760,000,000 other people in the world, in order to have an interesting and success destined personality that will magnetize others to you?

Attitude: Do you look at a problem and think, "Bring it on?" Or, do you think, "That will be hard, maybe I should take a nap?" Remember this concept: "Thoughts become things." Ask yourself frequently, Do you walk your own path or someone elses?

Attire: As much as we do not like to admit it, looks do matter.

Gimmicks: Do you have an incredible business card? I have had a really cool business card since my sophomore year in college with an inspiring quote on the back. You need to have something very cool to give to everyone you meet: perhaps a sticker, wrist bands, or card. Be creative.

Handwritten Notes: I send about ten handwritten notes a week. In the days of email and text messages, a handwritten note wows people to no end.

Leadership: Whenever you see something that could be better, do you run away from it or work to fix it?

Humor: If you are not hilarious, you need to spend some time studying humor. People LOVE to laugh!

Smile: Have a great smile that brightens other people's days.

Internal Fire: You should have massive, ambitious goals. This is the secret to extreme excitement that only a few people seem to understand. Being incredibly ambitious and moving toward your ambitions is as thrilling as jumping into a cold creek on the first day of spring, every single day!

Adding Value: Do you help others out on a consistent basis. Say...something like send a weekly motivational message to all of your contacts?

Network Power: Your net worth is equal to your network. Do you use modern technology to stay up to date on all of the people you have met in your lifetime? Do you call friends on their birthday and sing to them?

Being the same as everyone else hurts you, so it is important to think about these things and improve upon them consistently.

Why be the same as everyone else when you don't have to be?

Napoleon Hill

2009-03-03T23:56:00.003-05:00

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) was an accomplished business consultant, author and lecturer. For over twenty five years he studied some of the world’s greatest business leaders to discover what made them so successful. These were people like Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt and many more! His discoveries were published in his landmark bestseller, Think and Grow Rich. The following are excerpts from Think and Grow Rich. They are timeless messages which apply more than ever to the unique challenges we’re facing in Western New York and the world right now.

On Leadership:

In times of distress, there is invariably a call for new leadership. We recently saw it on the national scene with the election of a new President of the United States. In turn, we will continue to see it in our neighborhoods and workplaces as we continue to face the challenges currently presented by our domestic and world economies. Here are Napoleon Hill’s Major Attributes of Leadership:

UNWAVERING COURAGE based upon knowledge of self and of one’s occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader for very long.

SELF-CONTROL. People who cannot control themselves can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate.

A KEEN SENSE OF JUSTICE. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his or her followers.

DEFINITENESS IN DECISION. People who waver in decisions show that they are not sure of themselves. They cannot lead others successfully.

DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. The successful leader must plan the work, and work the plan. A leader who moves by guesswork without practical, definite plans is comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later it will land on the rocks.

THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leaders, to do more than they require of their followers.

A PLEASING PERSONALITY. No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect leaders who do not score highly on all factors of a pleasing personality.

SYMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING. Successful leaders must be in sympathy with their followers. Moreover, they must understand them and their problems.

MASTERY OF DETAIL. Successful leadership calls for mastery of details of the leader’s position.

WILLINGNESS TO ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY. Successful leaders must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and shortcomings of their followers. If they try to shift this responsibility, they will not remain leaders. If followers make mistakes and become incompetent, it is the leader who has failed.

COOPERATION. Successful leaders must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

On Self-Confidence:

“I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity because I know that a negative attitude towards others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.”

On Poverty and Riches:

Poverty and riches often change places. Poverty may, and generally does, voluntarily take the place of riches. When riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well-conceived and carefully executed plans. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be “attracted.”

Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan plus a burning desire for wealth are the only dependable means of accumulating it.

A. Gidget Hopf

2009-02-24T01:44:00.011-05:00

A Gidget Hopf

Gidget is the CEO of ABVI (Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired) Goodwill, a non-profit based in Rochester whose mission is “To prepare and empower people who are blind or visually impaired to be self-sufficient and contribute to their families and communities.” This comprehensive not-for-profit agency provides employment to people blind or visually impaired in manufacturing, food services, retail and call center occupations. Gidget has contributed immensely to the Western NY community, and recently sat down with us and hashed out advice to people in Western NY.

Please give this incredible woman some of your time!

BI: What is your advice to Western NY?

We always talk about innovation. When you are in an organization you have to innovate, innovate, innovate, and I think that starts with the individual. Take some time to think about how you can be innovative in your own career path. Maybe the path you are planning is not open to you right now because of the economy. So, how can you innovate? How can you think about yourself and your organization? What are your core competencies? What are you good at? And then, what does the economy or the community need?

Right now the environment is a popular topic; green is big. Has anyone in your age range looked at the stimulus package to see where the government is planning to spend its money? Sometimes you need to take a step back in order to move two steps forward. Most young people right now are in a holding pattern. My daughter has been in the working world for two years. She thought two years ago that at this point she would be moving up and moving on. But she has to wait as her company is experiencing layoffs.

You need to be open to a different spin than what you anticipated. Think of it as a positive innovation.

BI: I know many people in our community who have been laid off after years devoted to a company. What is your advice to those who are experiencing that?

There was an article in the Democrat and Chronicle about a man who was laid off from Kodak and decided to start a guitar store. He decided to take a love of music and follow his heart after decades of Kodak. There is life after Kodak.

I don’t know if you have heard of the “Generation G” thing. We were in a generation of greed, and now we are moving to a generation of generosity. Generation Generosity is where people are looking for more meaning. It is all about helping the community and helping your neighbor. A lot of that greed was generated by people who did not truly love their job. They were doing fourteen and sixteen hour days, for what? I think this crisis is causing people to self reflect and think of what is more meaningful. Do we have to have a five or six hundred thousand dollar home? Nope.

The federal government is having such a turn over right now which is creating a big opportunity. There are tens of thousands of jobs opening up in the government .If people are interested, check out government websites. Baby boomers are retiring, leaving in droves, opening up jobs in the government.
Right now there is a big exodus from the state and federal government. The IRS is in desperate need of tax advisers. We need contract management people.

BI: It seems like you strike a nice balance between family life and work? How do you define success in that framework?

I have been very fortunate. I have a spouse (editor’s note: a power lifter) who is able to help me balance my professional life. He was able to take care of the family and help me do what I loved to do, to build an organization. I could have been part of a big company and probably made three times what I have made over my lifetime. However, that was not for me. It’s not about the money, but getting up in the morning and looking forward to going to work.

Simplicity is important. I have always lived by the no-debt principal, always paying off credit cards every month. I never liked to be worried about making my house payments. And even on a not-for-profit executive’s salary, I was able to put two kids through private school. My husband still drives a fourteen year old truck. It is about choices; delaying some gratification. A piece of advice is to pay yourself first. You don’t know how good it feels to have that little nest egg that is yours. You have to ask yourself, “Is it a want or a need?”

Exercise is also very important. I work out every single day. So, you need to be innovative. You need to save. You need to use physical exercise. Also, you need to network. A lot of the ways you network have nothing to do with work. When you start volunteering you meet a lot of people. And when you take on leadership opportunities you build your resume. If all you have ever done is work at McDonalds, but have a huge resume filled with volunteer opportunities, you will get a job!

BI: What did you want to be when you were a kid?

An actress. I grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island and went to the school for performing arts. When I got out of high school I figured out that I was not going to be an actress, and did not know what careers were available to me. I did not want to become a teacher, or a nurse. I remembered when I was in first grade I had worked with a speech therapist. I decided I could be a speech therapist. I looked in a state school directory for where they had that degree and major, and decided I needed to go far away from where I grew up. I grew up very poor and wanted to get away from it all. The furthest school away was Fredonia, but I liked the name of Geneseo better so I decided to go there!

I ended up transferring in as a junior, and met my husband who had just graduated. He was doing research here on campus. We met, started dating, and the rest is history. We decided to stay here. I lucked out getting a job because the school speech therapist at the Genesee-Wyoming County BOCES had passed away in a car accident visiting her family. It was very sad, but it was my chance. They were in desperate need for a speech therapist the week I came out of school in December 1972.

After that my husband, who was a musician, wanted to see if he could make a move to Staten Island to see if he could break into the market. After two years we moved back to Geneseo and have been here ever since. He has been here since 1966 and I have been here since 1970.

BI: What are your plans with ABVI – Goodwill going into the future?

We are fortunate to have a very unique economic model based on social enterprises. Our Goodwill stores are truly our future. It helps us drive our economic engine. We had a good strategic planning session yesterday. We have the chance to be innovative and serve our community. Our call center has lots of potential.

BI: We have been thinking a lot about tactics of leadership lately. What would you say is a tactic that you use? Do you have a more command approach, or more of a focus on innovation and entrepreneurism?

Leadership has got to be a way of thinking. You have to think as an entrepreneur. You have to leverage across the organization. You need to realize the talents and skills and build them into something bigger. I like to say “Nothing changes until the leader changes.” And, that only happens with self reflection.

I sort of try to watch myself leading, from the balcony. Am I engaging everyone, am I respectful? Do you know the WAIT principal? Why Am I Talking? I am a talker, so I try and step back and fight those things. We all have a thing that we overdo. You can not work on something until you understand yourself. If you are in a leadership position, there is this position of power that you must remember. Whether you think you are an easy going person or not, people who report to you will know the power differential. So, you need to be aware of all of that.

BI: Do you think you have changed a lot in your role over the years?

There has been a huge transformation. I was doing very well technically. I am a great problem solver and I’m great at technical issues, but I had never focused on people the way I do now. The fact of the matter is that we all have an effect upon people. We need to be aware of it and make it the most positive effect it can be. I used to just want to get the work done.

Once you satisfy people’s basic needs, you need to do more. They might have the job, the salary, or the benefits, but there is a need for association and to be part of something bigger than themselves. If you are not tapping into that as a leader, you are missing out.

Another piece of advice; do not let yourself get stuck in an environment just because it is safe and the benefits are good. You do not want to look back thirty five years from now and ask; “What could I have done?”

BI: What do you do in your free time?

Gosh, I need to relax after work! I do like to work out and to run. I like to read. The last great book I read was The Glass Castle, Which is a true story. I have a ton of new books that I got for Christmas. I am about to start in on The Yiddish Policemen's Union. It’s about what if Israel had been put in Alaska as opposed to the Middle East.

BI: There is a very strong network of Goodwill organizations. How many are there?

There are one hundred and seventy five. We cover Rochester and Syracuse. We were able to join together ABVI and Goodwill because no one else was taking this opportunity. Another piece of advice; be a satellite. Always keep your eye open for opportunities, for connections. There are so many opportunities that will come up.

Further biographic information from the Geneseo.edu website

She earned her B.S. degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and her M.A. degree in Audiology and Communication Science from Kean College. Dr. Hopf earned her Ed.D degree from George Washington University in March, 2005. Her research interests are leadership, executive coaching, and organizational studies. She conducts workshops and makes presentations on leadership locally and around the country.

Gidget serves as a board member of the National Association for the Employment of People who are Blind, where she was recently elected to the role of Vice President of Public Policy; She serves as President of the Board of Chances and Changes, a rural domestic violence program and shelter in Western NY. Gidget sits on both the Advisory Board of the Pamela York Klainer Center for Women and Business in the Jones School of Business and the Alumni Board at the State University of New York at Geneseo, NY. She used to be the Associate Executive Director of ARC Monroe County.

Gidget is married to John, her husband of 37 years; they have two daughters, Courtney and Maggie.

Email: ghopf@abvi-goodwill.com

Unconventional Wisdom

2009-02-24T01:40:00.003-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

“Above all else, be daring, be bold, be unconventional.” - Kevin Rampe

What’s the best way to get out of a rut or simply spice up your personal or professional life? Make it a point to do something a little unconventional. Why? It takes you out of your comfort zone and opens you up to new possibilities.

There’s a lot of doom and gloom going around in the world right now. In fact, the evening news is becoming one of our psyche’s worst enemies. Admittedly, I barely even watch it anymore. I mostly just pay attention to the local happenings, some political updates, and specific articles relative to my business pursuits. I aim to be informed enough to stay well equipped for conversation, but sheltered enough to stay positive.

It’s easy to get caught up in the routines of the day to day so my recommendation is to try something unconventional. For me and my business partner, it was taking our efforts to a new state and trying out our first mini road show to drum up new business. Phone time with potential real estate investors is great, but we decided that face time is even better. So, we dropped our Rochester specific obligations and bought a couple tickets to Florida.

Just the act itself helped us discover new avenues in which we can improve our real estate business. We work with many out of town investors, so we thought to ourselves, “Why not head out of town and meet some?” So, we did and it’s been a very productive trip.

Furthermore, in the spirit of unconventional wisdom, the website Half.com used a unique approach to marketing. They got a small town in Oregon to rename itself “Half.com.” Before that point they pushed thousands upon thousands of dollars into advertising. With just this act, they got more press then they ever got before and for minimal cost; all because they did something a little unconventional.

What can you bring back to your life in Western New York? Despite all the culture, art, and music, there is plenty of opportunity to do something a little bit outside of the box. So, this week’s challenge is to do just that. Break out of the norm and start thinking with some unconventional wisdom.

If we all take a little time to think outside the box, than we can make a more dramatic impact on our community. We live in an ever-changing world which requires unconventional wisdom to make things better. As Mahatma Gandhi would say, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Let’s start trying a few new things in our lives here in Western New York and start shaking up the routine!

Michael Leach

2009-02-17T01:35:00.004-05:00

Ben and I got to know Michael through our work at the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce while we were in college at SUNY Geneseo. We were spending time on an initiative to build an international sister region relationship between Livingston County, the Greater Rochester Area and the Eastern Region in Ghana. Michael has been the main bureaucrat representing the City of Rochester during the effort which continues to this day. He has been an instrumental resource in terms of international community development from a political perspective.

Michael’s passion for building an international community is unprecedented. Primarily working as an Engineer for the city, most of his volunteer hours are dedicated to improving and unifying the 11 sister city relationships currently held by the City of Rochester. Meanwhile, in his free time, he plays in an Irish band as well as many other musical groups and dances in a variety of cultural dance troops. It is an honor and a pleasure to feature some of his insights! ~Joseph & the Bigger Impact Team

How did you get your start? Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a farm in Michigan and my aspiration was to be a science and math teacher. When I was getting out of college there were no teaching jobs. It was in the very early 1970s and things were financially tight. I wound up part time teaching and then landed a job as a bureaucrat for the city manager of Jackson, Michigan.

The guy that they brought to Michigan actually worked in Rochester to help resolve many social and racial issues. So, instead of teaching I was working in city administration; ran an airport, a youth program, and did computer programming.

Then, I went to Syracuse University to learn how to be a bureaucrat in eleven easy months at the Maxwell School. Wound up having an offer from Monroe County to work in their budget office as well as an offer from Greenville, South Carolina. It was roughly the same salary and I knew what the music was in South Carolina and in Rochester, so I naturally took the job in Rochester.

Found some musicians soon and ended up in an Irish band here as well as a Folk Dance Troop. Later came over to work with the city. With my connections to the folk dancing troops, I was asked to organize some international performances for the Lilac Festival. So, I did that over in Highland Park for a few years. That was in and around 1983, just one year before the City of Rochester was celebrating its 150 year anniversary. At that point I did my first work with the Sister Cities Program and helped bring in about 175 international people for Sister Cities’ week.

In 1991, I was invited onto the Board of Sister Cities. Since then, I’ve served on a variety of committees and have helped organize many international festivals. All of these things helped me realize and understand the importance of establishing international connections. All of these rich groups of people make up one rich community.

I grew up in a small white, Catholic town in Michigan where at the family dinner at our church you could count on about four different varieties of meatloaf. And the variety would be in whether they would put ketchup or strips of bacon on top.

So, when I came out here and realized there were about 100 types of bacon and hams and many other wonderful things, it was fantastic. I thought you would have to go to New York City or Chicago to find this type of cultural richness, but it is right here in Rochester.

Instead of becoming a city manager and roaming the country every three to five years, I stayed here with my Irish band and my dancing troops and have become deeply involved with the International Sister Cities Program.

We want to rebuild the strong community connection and know that we can develop the plans to be more ambitious. So, I’ve tried to develop our planning abilities and our ability to make contact with the big funders. I want to help build a unified strength in our Sister Cities program again.

What instruments do you play?

For the Irish music I play the banjo, guitar, and tin whistle. When we’re doing North American music I play harmonicas, harps, and other absurd noise makers. During Bulgarian music I’ll use string instruments like tom bras.

If you could meet any three people, who would they be?

Marcus Aurilius. When you read about his writings on stoicism and his time as a military leader in the Roman Empire and later as an emperor, it makes you wonder how he approached his life…its an immense curiosity to wonder how a man like that might think.

I would like to have met the Science Fiction author, Robert Heinlein. He was an Annapolis graduate and went into the Navy on active duty. Then he was discharged and it broke his heart. But, he was involved in military research as a civilian which kept him connected. Through that time he was writing a lot of the early science fiction. His stories focus on an individual; usually a young man who is in situations where honor, duty, humor, and decency to other human beings are a part of what’s going on. Some of his politics I disagree with greatly, but his strong values I admire. When I grew up it was his books in the library so they had a lot of influence on me.

One thing I always remember about him was his self-proclaimed standard of writing. He writes to a “beer standard,” he would say. “A young man has a weekend night coming up; he can go to the store and buy a six pack of beer or my novel. I have to write well enough so that he buys my novel and not that six-pack.” That observation stuck with me about how to measure accomplishments and success. He was being facetious with that but it is a practical application.

The problem is there are hundreds of others, but who would I like to meet in this moment; who would I like to listen to and hear their thoughts? I would like to sit and have a conversation with a historian, Stavrianos. He wrote a book World Since 1500: A Global History. He wasn’t focused on who was the king and what was this war, but rather the development of nations and cultures; people and how they influenced each other.

What advice would you give to Western New York?

Western New York is one of the key industrial heartlands of the United States, although the industries are changing. The rust belt industries are gone and a lot of the manufacturing we are doing now will be gone. It will not survive. We have to learn to change and to snatch the opportunities. We have to look beyond our immediate communities. We have to reach abroad to be connected with the world.

The Sister Cities Program is one thing that helps build those connections but it also helps provide education to the kids and to give them confidence that they can participate successfully in a global world. Western New York has been historically globally connected and it has to stay that way. It has to reach out and train children in other languages, cultures, religions, and philosophies. They must be taught not to succumb to the fears of challenges. Their teachings need to give them the faith and skills to help them become successful in the outside world.

So, my advice is to develop the skills, philosophies, and institutions to let us be connected internationally and survive.

What is one of your favorite quotes?

“No matter how high or lofty the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own.” – Terry Brooks

What is your favorite place to eat in Rochester?

I go to the Mount Hope Diner or the South Wedge Diner because the food is very good and inexpensive and there are some nice folks there. It’s plain, unpretentious, and comfortable.

What is your favorite place to go in the summer in Rochester?

Highland Park. It's a section of the city that really strikes me. I grew up on a farm so I can't stand the feel of the suburbs. Here in the city there is flavor and variety. I love that.

Michael Leach can be reached at Mike.Leach@cityofrochester.gov.

How to Use Your Free Time

2009-02-17T01:32:00.002-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

A study outlined in the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, shows a gigantic disparity of knowledge and ability between kids from rich families and kids from poor families. Baltimore school kids showed a 9% difference in "smarts" in 1st grade and a 15% difference in 5th grade.

Interestingly, the study found that during the 8 or 9 month period that school was in session each group learned at about the same rate, with poorer students actually edging out rich student learned knowledge by 2%.

After a while, they concluded that the achievement gap between the students occured due to summer learning (or unlearning). Rich kids got smarter over the summer while poor kids did not.

Kids in rich families spent more time than poor kids reading, going to cultural events, conversing with adults and taking summer classes. That little bit extra translated into a 15% greater knowledge and ability attainment for rich kids over a measly five years.

That's huge!

Imagine what happens in high school and college, and more importantly, how this issue translates into the real world!

What people do in their free time matters. In fact, that is what makes the difference between a thousandaire and a millionaire.

Keeping this truth in mind; Ask yourself, "What am I doing on my summer vacation? How am I spending my free time when I'm not at school or at work?

The difference between high achievers and "normal" people is the time they invest in themselves when they are not working. Your environment and activities shape your intelligence and this directly translates into your success and happiness over the long term.

Luckily, there is a cool fact for us who are not baby geniuses; We can shape our environment and activities in order to catapult our success above what we before thought possible.

-Who do you surround yourself with?
-What do you read?
-What questions do you ponder in your free time?
-What do you spend your time thinking about?
-What do you think you should spend your time thinking about and doing?
-What do you want to spend your time thinking about and doing?

Whatever you think about and do, you will become. What do you want to become?

What if you were able to become 15% more knowledgeable than everyone else over the next five years?

Robyn & Paul Chiavaroli

2009-02-10T02:28:00.003-05:00

Robyn and Paul Chiavaroli founded Green Info Source less than a year ago to connect businesses and the community with the environment. They are based in Rochester, NY and are currently making their impact in the community. They are a very passionate husband and wife team, headed towards bigger things!

Their website can be found here; http://www.greeninfosource.com/

If you could pass any bit of information or idea to everyone in Western NY, what would it be? Think Globally act Locally!!

What is the back story? Robyn was born and raised in Rochester, NY. Paul in Philadelphia PA. He moved to Rochester in 1977 to take a job with Xerox, which he retired from in 2005.

How did your website Green Info Source get off the ground? GIS started with an idea of creating green "yellow" pages primarily for the building industry, but as our passion grew for sustainability, so did our web site.

Where do you plan on taking Green Info Source to? As far as we can. Our goal is to help encourage people to make their every day decisions be environmentally sound through education and by making it easy for them to connect to sustainably conscious businesses.

You are a married couple, working together on a business. How is that working out for you? It's been fabulous! Fortunately our strengths and weaknesses don't mirror each other which is very good for business.

How do you define success? If we sleep well at night and can look ourselves square in the mirror, then we know we're doing the best we can.

How do you define success in your new business? Our success comes from the knowledge that we are helping to expand an environmentally sound society. For us, measuring success primarily on a monetary scale is equal to that of measuring our love for one another on the basis of how much money we spend on each other for Christmas gifts, it simply doesn't enter into the equation.

Who inspires you? Why? Robyn's first inspiration comes from two significant women in her life; her daughter Mady and her sister Judy. Both have shown substantial courage when facing very difficult challenges in life. Both Paul and Robyn take inspiration from ordinary people who do extraordinary things in life, like the pilot who recently landed the plane in the Hudson River. Not so much for being an expert pilot, but rather for the way in which he conducts his everyday life. People like this are all around every one of us, all we need to do is see them.

You have two children. What was the biggest lesson you have ever received from them? Humility and to understand the true meaning of being grateful.

What do you consider your greatest personal strengths? Perseverance, integrity, honesty, and commitment to living an authentic life. "To thine own self be true."

What do you consider your greatest personal weaknesses? All work and no play can sometimes be our M.O. so we have to keep ourselves in check.

If you could snap your fingers and create anything, what would it be? A strong healthy economy, especially for upstate New York.

Where do you want to be 5, 10, and 20 years from now? Whether it's 5, 10 or 20 years the answer is the same; living a thoughtful, well balanced life while trying to make the planet a better place for future generations.

Final thoughts; Upstate New York can be challenging even in the best of times, but try to turn those challenges into opportunities by keeping a positive outlook. This, in our humble opinion, defines a life well lived, and there's no better place to live it than right here!

Email: greeninfo@rochester.rr.com

Valentine's Day Secrets

2009-02-10T02:22:00.002-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

“But I shall let it remain a secret for ever, since it should not be written of: the most delightful and choicest pleasure is that which is hinted at, but never told.” - Chretien de Troyes

Valentine’s Day is a special day for lovers and a scary day for singles. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that millions of women are freaking out right now because Valentine’s Day is a very big deal to them. Even for men, it’s an easy day to feel loved or lonely.

This life we live is about feelings, emotions, and experiences and words don’t always do them justice. But, I’m going to try for you today because I think there are some important things we can take from the legendary experience of a Valentine’s Day lived well.

My thoughts today stem from the fact that everybody deserves and desires to feel appreciated. We all want to be loved and feel loved. It’s human nature to want that. The beauty of this fact is that recognition, a form of appreciation, is a harmless strain of vanity. It’s a gift we can freely give to lift people up and raise them to new heights.

There are three keys to making someone really feel special this Valentine’s Day; be creative, be mysterious, and be authentic.

Be creative. Do something different. Break the routine. Play a song that reminds you of them on their voice mail. Make a card instead of buying one. Don’t go out for a romantic dinner at some fancy restaurant; instead try creating your own atmosphere in your own place with music and food you both like. Make a short, funny movie together which expresses your appreciation for a mutual friend. The possibilities are endless, so be original with your creation!

Be mysterious. What is it about the “secret admirer” situation that drives us completely mad? The beauty is in the mystery. Who could it be? What is it about you that inspired their sudden attention? Try flattering someone with a random act of kindness. Anonymously send them a note with an honest compliment. Then a few days later, if you want to, let them in on the secret of who sent it. Instill a hint of mystery in your interactions of appreciation with the people in your life.

Be authentic. Whatever you say or do this week to make someone feel special, make sure it comes from a place of honesty. Hollow words are the easiest to see through. Be genuine with your actions and words as that will enable you to make the greatest impact. And, that’s what the spirit of this day is all about, making an impact on someone you value having in your life.

But, why do we have to wait until Valentine’s Day to let the people in our life know we appreciate them? We don’t and that’s our challenge to you now that you’re armed with some knowledge about how to make a deep impact on the people around you. Spread it around all year. Even if it is just a genuine smile and a silent blessing of good will, make it a goal to brighten one person’s day, everyday.

The secret of living is giving. Imagine what our community in Western New York would be like if everyone took just a few minutes everyday to make someone feel appreciated. That’s a place I’d be proud to call home.

Michael Linehan

2009-02-02T23:56:00.003-05:00

“Mike and I met over lunch a few months ago courtesy of an introduction by our mutual friend David Mammano. Before we first sat down, I knew he was young, ambitious, and connected to a prestigious Rochester family, but I had no idea what to expect. At that point, I was pleased to find a down to earth man with tremendous charisma and an infectious laugh. The conversation lasted for over an hour at the newest restaurant in his personal business repertoire, Coppergrass Bistro (Farm Fresh Kitchen at the time). He was wonderfully generous with his time and knowledge and we enjoyed a fantastic meal together. Since then I’ve started serving at Coppergrass part time and have come to think very highly of the business operation Michael and his team run; three Rochester Camille’s Sidewalk Cafés and Coppergrass Bistro, a seasonal gourmet restaurant in Pittsford Plaza. He is a true visionary and it is an honor and a pleasure to feature some of his insights!” ~Joseph & Bigger Impact Weekly team

Having grown up in such a well known, successful family, what is it that motivated you to live the entrepreneurial life you lead now?

One of the things I remember my mother saying to me growing up was; “You’ve got to go out and make it yourself. You can’t depend on falling back on the family.” That really stuck with me and as a result, I’ve always been super ambitious. Part of it I’m sure is my genes, but much of the family lineage has had that passion. There have been many entrepreneurs in the ranks on both my father and my mother’s side.

What advice would you give to the people of Western New York?

There’s a lot of opportunity here. We have access to some tremendous colleges and universities right in our backyard. It’s a comfortable place to live with a high quality of life. And, for a person that wants to raise a family it’s a fantastic place to do that.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned in business thus far is experience is the most valuable tool out there. Always be open to learning new ideas and improving things you’re already doing. Educating yourself is essential. Surround yourself with the smartest people possible and really listen to them.

Why should someone live in Western New York?

It’s funny because my three siblings all live out of town now and my parents are snowbirds, so I’m the only one here braving the winters. But, I do have a huge family and a lot of good friends here. The truth is it’s a really nice community. People really care about the town and Rochester has a lot to offer. I love the quality of life I have here; with short commutes and some major cities only a short plane ride away.

What are some of your goals going forward?

Going forward, my business ambitions revolve around looking into new restaurant concepts and continuing the success of the current portfolio. Ultimately, the long term vision is to find a concept that we can grow outside of Rochester and hopefully go nationally. But, for right now, we’re slowing down and making sure the businesses we’re already in are operating as well as possible.

Michael can be reached at: Mike@CoppergrassBistro.com

How to Overcome the Recession

2009-02-02T23:54:00.002-05:00

By: Ben DeGeorge

There are 4.8 million people in the United States currently receiving unemployment benefits. That is the largest number of unemployed people in U.S. history. Also, we just experienced the largest quarterly GDP decline that our country has had in the past three decades.

Yikes.

In Western NY, careers have traditionally revolved around big, stable companies like Kodak, Bausch and Lomb and Xerox. Over time, this has changed. Now people in our region need a dogged personal independence in order to succeed.

I was walking through our beloved Wegman's today and spied people trudging along looking downcast, even gray. Sure, some of this was due to the weather -- Western New York can be a drag during the winter months. It could also have been due to too many spicy wings on Superbowl Sunday. However, I think there is a larger affliction.

Having traveled pretty extensively over the past year and a half, I have come to realize that communities all around the globe often exhibit a bit more energy, neighborly hospitality and excitement towards others than those in our region. This saddened and puzzled me. More importantly though, this inspired a desire to diagnose, and do my part to help correct this problem. This newsletter is one way to do so.

I found that many people in our region are still stuck expecting and hoping for the good old days of job stability and economic growth in our region. Many feel as if they deserve (rightfully) a 9 to 5 job with retirement and healthcare benefits. Unfortunately, many companies these days feel otherwise.

If the environment is not going to change, individuals need to. I challenge whoever is reading this, whomever this resonates with, to stop thoughts and actions of dependence and apathy immediately. Instead, take up a challenge to make yourself indispensableat your work and in your community. That is the only way out of this recession mess.

An epidemic starts with a few passionate and dedicated people, and ends up enveloping many. If you decide to, you can be an important part of the positive outbreak of optimism and action that can sweep our region.

Many of you are already serving the community. You probably commit lots of time, energy and creativity and have served to inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

However, don't you think you could do more?

As fellow community members, we challenge you to begin to monitor and enhance the positive news in our region, to celebrate and learn from those individuals who decide to make an impact. Most importantly, we challenge you to take action to make a bigger difference in your community. You will not only be able to help others, but you will also become a more complete citizen and individual.

Take our challenge; To Make a Bigger Impact.

And spread the word.

"If a voice can change a room, it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world." - Barack Obama

Dennis Money

2009-01-27T02:40:00.004-05:00

Dennis and his wife Sheila in Oregon in 2007

Dennis has been actively involved in a wide range of successful environmental and wildlife programs in Western NY. He initiated the Rochester Peregrine Falcon Program, River Otter program, and is currently working on the Seneca Army Depot White Deer Project. His story shows the power of an individual to create infectious positive change in a region, simply by following his heart and being comfortable taking a winding road towards success. This is a story of persistence and a constant mind towards improving the region. – Bigger Impact Weekly Team

Beginnings!

I grew up in Rome NY. My back yard fronted on a bunch of open space and forest, and a creek with lots of Native American history. I spent all of my time when I was not going to school outside, hunting, trapping and digging for frogs. I graduated from Utica College in 1969 and moved out here, taking a job as a middle school science and math teacher at Clifton Springs. I began to also work for the atomic energy corporation, going around to schools and giving lectures on nuclear energy and radiation biology. I went down to Oakridge, Tennessee, learning about the atom, and came back up to do shows for schools for three years. I was the atom man for New York State and spoke to about 400 schools and 300,000 students.

Rochester Gas and Electric happened to see me in front of students, and hired me the next day. I became a member of the brand new Environmental Department in 1972. I stayed there for about twenty nine years doing the whole gamut of environmental programs. I got to deal with everyone! I had a really good job. I had the freedom to be flexible and meet with all sorts organizations.

Right after I joined, RG&E decided to form a subsidiary for the first time ever in the late 1980's. I went with the subsidiary called Utilicom. They had two products; asbestos training and environmental auditing. I became involved in the training for both programs and stayed there for about two years, got to travel the country and met a lot of people. I was now dealing with adults instead of school kids. After that, I wanted to get back to RG&E.

ROCHESTER PEREGRINE FALCONS

RG&E were starting a program called environmental stewardships. No one knew how to grasp it. I wanted to do something different. We just had to come up with a good idea. One night, I was down in Manhattan and I saw a peregrine falcon fly by chasing a pigeon. I thought, “Why can’t we do that in Rochester?” I did some homework and found that utilities out west were putting nest boxes up in smoke stacks for peregrine falcons. They all had a common denominator by the name of Bob Anderson. I contacted him and went out and visited. We spent time checking out smoke stacks and being attacked by falcons.

I came back to RGE and was hooked. It was time for this conservative state utility (RG&E) to take a stand. It would be a great thing for the stewardship program to go forward with. At first they were against the cost of the idea --they laughed at me. I was dismayed, but not down, because I knew I was right. Other utilities had shown that there was no downside to bringing in peregrine falcons, an endangered species. This was good for the public and showed that the utility cared. I decided to approach thirty businesses in Rochester asking if they wanted to participate in bringing falcons to Rochester. In less than a month I had sixteen thousand dollars committed by people who knew diddily squat about Peregrine Falcons. Companies in Rochester like Chase Manhattan, Nixon Peabody, Bausch and Lomb, Kodak and several smaller firms like Davey Tree Company and Day Engineering. A total of twelve organizations came in to donate time of people, equipment, and money. I went to RG&E and said, “Either you do it with me, or I do it alone.” RG&E agreed to move forward

This was the first time our company had been so proactive. Usually a company waits for a violation and then reacts. We looked at all of the resources we were using and decided to finally give back to the community and the environment. At that time the peregrine falcon was still an endangered species. I bought ten baby falcons and recruited a group of four or five people to help. The Falcons ended up shipping in on US Airways, which is very ironic that the fastest bird in the world came by airplane. But, I fondly recall picking them up in 1994 and being greeted by a “cack cack cack cack” noise.

We put half of the birds in a box, called a hack box, that the general maintenance crew of RG&E had built downtown at RG&E headquarters. The other birds went up to Russell Station in Greece. We had videotape on them twenty four hours a day. I had a monitor in my office, with all of the wires snaked through my office. All of a sudden, I became the most popular guy in the company.

And, at that time we were going through the first layoff in RG&E history. The falcon venture was positive and uplifting to people. It created some hope. You know how when you get into an elevator and people don’t say a thing? People began to get into an elevator and do bird calls. People had been pent up for so long! Everyone was extremely ecstatic. We put a large TV monitor on East Avenue so that people could see the falcons. That went extremely well.

We ended up having a huge press event… and all of the falcons showed up. So here we were; a utility and business people repopulating the state with an endangered species. All of a sudden there was a mindset change. RG&E began to think that it could show the community, its customers, its employees and the state regulators that we really were a good company, proactive on the environment. That was kind of the start of it all. And, when the Falcons were 42 days old, we were able to do the first release into the wild.

We ended up having one male named Zeus go to Omaha, Nebraska and mate with a bird from Canada. Their brood became the only one in the state of Nebraska. Then we had one go to Hartford, Connecticut. That was the first pair in Connecticut in fifty years. All kinds of similar stories evolved.

Falcon Cam: http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/mainView.php

HISTORIC TREES & VETERANS MEMORIAL

We started to branch into other programs, like the famous and historical tree program. We purchased trees with historical lineage and planted them with kids. We worked with kids from New York City who had never seen trees or worms before. They would dig and find a worm and say, “What is that?” The famous Historic Tree Program became very valuable.

We also got involved in the development of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Highland Park. I had RG&E commit to one tree for every GI that was killed in Vietnam in this five county area. We also had a special grove of trees for all of the Congressional Medal of Honor winners.

RIVER OTTERS

BI: How many other companies in the community copy this model?

No one! When I left in 2003, the Environmental Stewardship Program unfortunately ended. There were many programs going, but for some reason no one else took the lead on it.

As an example, in 1993 the DEC said that they wanted to bring Otters back to Western NY. We went to public hearings, and met with people, but they said they did not want us to use public state money for the project. We decided to form a private coalition to manage the River Otter project. My last name is Money, so they elected me president, and we formed a non-profit organization called NY River Otter Project (ROP). We released the River Otters a full year ahead of schedule into Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. We had the freedom from bureaucracy and were able to get things rocking and rolling a lot faster than the state agency would be able to do.

This one school in Port Byron “adopted me” and became involved in the project. They raised money and came to the releases, it was great! We had about one hundred and twenty adults involved and a lot of kids. We went all over the state and I gave tons and tons of speeches and did all of the marketing with my cohorts. We had a great relationship with the College of Medicine at Cornell. Over time, in six years we surpassed our goal and released 279 otters. We also helped people in Holland, Quebec, Ontario, and Spain with their otter projects. We had interviews done by the South Korean Broadcast Organization for an hour long documentary educating its people on conservation. I asked, “Why did you pick us?” They said, “You have the most famous otter project in the world.” I said, “I did not know that!”

NEST BOXES

We also did some smaller projects with Boy Scouts and nest boxes. I found boys who were working on their Eagle badge and so they were looking for project ideas. We would enlist the aid of students from BOCES, who would build the boxes. RG&E would pay for the materials and the Boy Scouts would put up the nest boxes. They would all get a little press about their efforts. We created a nest box trail for kestrels and also put up one hundred and seventy five nest boxes on transmission poles for RG&E.

The last thing I got involved in was helping to restore Sturgeon back in the Genesee River. We worked with the USGS, the US Fish and the NYSDEC to look at the capability of the Genesee River as nesting habitat for the sturgeon. Eventually we got eight hundred Sturgeons from Oneida Lake where they have a sturgeon hatchery. Now we have to wait 25 years until they repopulate Ontario Lake. This was wonderful because there were so many people involved. I got to know all sorts of people. In this kind of project you either sink or swim. It made me more professional. When people said, “You can’t do it.” I said, “Why not?! If it is a positive program, we can make it happen. How about we break it apart and remove that negativity and move it into something positive.”

NEW BEGINNINGS

RG&E was purchased by Energy East in 2003. They gave me a buyout package and I took it. I was fifty five then and wanted to do something else. I talked to some of my friends who mentioned a job over at the Genesee Waterway Center; a rowing and kayaking business. They were looking for an Executive Director and I got that job. Then, I had to learn a lot! It was a not-for-profit that was going under. I had to clean a lot of skeletons out of the closet. We went from a nobody to an organization that people began to recognize. We got a lot of minorities involved in water sports and started the first minority rowing team in New York State. I was extremely proud of that, as well as my partner at RG&E, Lydia Boddie-Rice. We had a bunch of kids from the inner city take kayaking lessons at Lock 32 of the Erie Canal. It was a great program, but after four years of that, I had enough and needed more challenges.

A week after I left, I found I had prostate cancer. I took care of that and am now cancer free.

SENECA WHITE DEER (http://senecawhitedeer.org/ )

Now, I am focused on the White Deer Project, which I have been working on for ten years. I also just started a new company.

BI: You are a high energy person.

I don’t sleep much.

I used to represent this region of New York State and Albany on a board called The Conservation Fund Advisory Board. It was a state level board. It was meant to oversee how the money that was generated from hunting and fishing and trapping licenses was spent by the DEC on fish and wildlife programs. I did that for six or seven years. Seneca County was in my region.

I found out that they were shutting down the Seneca Army Depot, and a group of six of us pitched in one hundred bucks each and formed Seneca White Deer, whose mission was to protect the depot, its open space, resources and the White Deer, so that future generations could enjoy it. It was built with public money and maintained with public money, so we felt that it should be kept for the public. Over the last ten years, plenty of organizations have come and gone from the depot, but we have stayed the whole time. In April of this year we are starting more tours to showcase to the leaders of the community that tourism will generate money for Seneca County, providing jobs, tax revenue and a public image as the world headquarters for White Deer. There are nine of us on the board now, and we have been doing a lot of work.

My focus is to get the depot protected. I will be making a statement to support the open space acquisition of seven thousand acres of the depot. After ten years we have to succeed. It is extremely frustrating sometimes, but tourism is the second largest business in New York State. All of our tours will be by bus.

In October 2006 we had CBS come out. We are trying to get all of the media out in order to stimulate sales this year. We had 1,800 people in two weekends come out last year. I had to turn five hundred people away. We grossed $28,000 in two weekends.

There are one hundred and seventy five white deer. Unfortunately the deer population is going down, so something has to be done immediately. However, as long as the army is in there cleaning up, we do not have that ability yet. There is also talk of developing a natural history museum in the Finger Lakes, similar to the wild center up in Tupper Lake.

White Deer Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrB0ADdRLEI

COTTON TOP CREW (ENVIRO – PRO’s)

We started a new business about a year and a half ago. Looking at my friends, all of these gray heads, I thought, “We are all gray heads, but we have a lot that we can still do. Why not form a unique type of company with them all?” I presented the idea to them and we formed a company, Enviro-Pros Group. Our mission is to do project management, including permitting, training, environmental branding, public relations, and marketing. If your company wanted to improve its face in the community, we could do that. We have staff who could brand you as a green company, or a proactive company. This gives me flexibility to keep working on the depot stuff and go into the woods and chop down trees for firewood if I want to. You have to keep busy. You have to keep productive, whether it is for the environment or society.

I truly believe that if people do not stay productive they will lose their mind. You need to leave behind a legacy, whether helping people or improving the environment. We are running out of open space and we are having more and more problems with the environment and wildlife. The wildlife was here before us, and I think they have a right to stay here for future generations. They bring so much to our lives. Can you imagine a world without birds? I looked out the window the other day to saw twelve deer eating from my apple trees. It was a wonderful site. I am a hunter, but also a conservationist. You have to appreciate and respect what is out there.

PROMOTIONAL MASTERY

When we did the otter project, we were looking for creative ways to promote the project. I was eating Perry’s Ice Cream one day (I love ice cream) and came across a Moose on the package. I asked why we could not do this for the Otter project. I sent an email to then president of Perry’s, Geoff Yancy. He wrote back and we met up in Letchworth State Park to view a release of six otters on a beautiful day. There were four hundred people there, everyone was cheering. As the press was converging all around me I saw Geoff in the background; “I’ll be in touch.”

Six months later we had Welcome-Back-Otter-Ice-Cream. Thirty thousand gallons sold out in four weeks. It was a great promotion and fund generating activity. It is just a matter of thinking outside of the box, bringing in other organizations and making them a winner as well.

This type of thing saved RG&E millions of dollars in environmental fines because of air pollution. RG&E could have been fined up to thirty million dollars for opacity problems. Because of the relationships through the Falcon and Otter project, it did not happen. I knew everyone by name in the agencies. They ended up taking that fine and turning it into a $500,000 cash fine, and mandated that we develop the missing parts of the Genesee Valley Greenway. That is what happens when you develop those kinds of relationships. RG&E developed a boat launch at Little Black Creek and The Greenway. All these things come together, often with a lot of politics involved.

MESSAGE TO WESTERN NY

Success for me is waking up in the morning knowing I have done something important for the environment, leaving behind a legacy for my family and future generations to enjoy. I hope we can instill in them a desire to become an environmental steward.

New York State Outdoor Writers Association awarding Dennis the Annual Paul Kessler Award for Conservation. Photo taken in Old Forge, NY

BI: If you could send any message to Western NY, what would it be?

Don’t get caught in a rut, think outside of the box. Get outside your comfort zone. Think about your abilities and skills sets. Think about what you could do. Just because you think you need to go down a certain route, does not mean you can't be creative. Take the blinders off and pursue your dreams. You may go through some hard times, but you can always work two jobs to pay the bills. Don’t let anything stop you if you know what you want to do.

In my late 40s I decided I wanted to run a marathon. I did not even know how far it was. I ran 3:27 the first marathon and was pretty happy. I thought I only needed 3:30 to make the Boston Marathon, and I slowed up… so I missed out on boston as I needed 3:25. Pay attention to details, I found out too late.

Dennis can be reached by email at WhiteBuck47@yahoo.com!

Challenges and Choices

2009-01-27T02:39:00.001-05:00

By: Joseph Norman

People get sick. They go broke. They lose their jobs. They get divorced. They struggle with physical or emotional pains. They grow up in the "wrong part of town." They go hungry. They experience the death of a loved one.

As beautiful as life is, it challenges us. It stares us in the face and tests us to be better people.

Life isn't always graceful and fate often proves to be a fickle friend. But, it's not always the circumstance that matters the most, but rather the choices we make in response to the cards we're dealt. You must ask yourself, "Is it the beginning or is it the end?" Your answer defines your destiny.

Are you facing some challenges right now?

Here are some ideas that might help you get through them a little easier.

Talk to a close friend or family member about how you are feeling or what you are experiencing. Once you get a grip on what you're going through yourself, share it with others so you can get a new perspective on the matter. They may have already gone through the same problem in their own life and their insights could be invaluable to you.

Accept the situation for what it is, but don't be quick to accept defeat. Tim Robbins' character in the movie Shawshank Redemption said; "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And, no good thing ever dies." There's always a silver lining and victory is always for the persistent.

Know that failure is often just a stepping stone towards success. When we fail, we learn lessons winning could never teach us. Don't ever expect failure, but embrace it if it happens. Often, it is a blessing in disguise.

Pain is temporary, pride is forever. Your long term satisfaction will far outweigh the short term sacrifices you may be making (or forced to make).

Be true to yourself. Face your problems with integrity and you will never be ashamed to look at the face you see in the mirror. Taking care of that person is the most important part of facing any challenge.

Above all, believe in yourself. At the end of the day, you're a great person. You deserve to have a life of prosperity and happiness. Remember that you can create these pleasures with a simple change in your attitude.

Challenges present themselves in our lives on a daily basis, but it's the choices we make in response to them which create our realities. Life is all about perspective.