Entries For: April 2009

If you missed the kick-off of the Tallahassee Entrepreneurs Network (TEN) in February,

be sure to mark your calendar now for this second quarter gathering!
 

Tuesday May 19th from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

at the Brokaw-McDougall House

329 North Meridian Street

Tallahassee, Florida

 

Learn TEN Tools to Elevate Your Intro and Get a Rise Out of Your Elevator Speech.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My colleague, Deanna Mims of MarketDone, and I are thrilled with what people are saying about the Tallahassee Entrepreneurs Network (TEN):

“I enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere and activities that helped everyone to relax.” 

 – Charlene Cappellini, Namaste Yoga Center

 “Great starting point for networking success. I liked the casual format and the non-conference room environment.” 

– Angel Clark, Keiser University

 “Loved meeting other business owners. Great activities!” 

 – Tricia Thomas, Roly Poly

We’re gearing up for our second event May 19^th. Once again, we will share our passion for networking and making genuine relationship-building connections.

If you live in the Tallahassee area,

Take a break and get out of the office

Expand your business connections

Network with other like-minded folks

Save $$$ with earlybird registration by Friday May 1st!

Come join us on Tuesday May 19th and learn our TEN tools to elevate your elevator speech.! Click here for more details and to register!

Her performance on Britain's Got Talent was amazing on so many levels but I think there's one primary reason we are all so captivated with her right now.

Deep down, we all relate to Susan Boyle.

We are her.

We all have aspects of ourselves that we are unsure of. We're either geeky or shy or awkward or scared. We get tongue tied and fearful and we shy away from the spotlight.

And most of us, like Susan, have at least one (and often many) gifts and talents to share with the world.

But we play small.

It's easier. It's more familiar. And we don't have to risk anything. What if we fail?

But Susan got up in front of those British judges because of a promise she made to her dying mother that she would share her gift of song.

And her life will be forever changed.

And so will we.

Where are you playing small in your life?

In April 1999, my life changed forever. After a long search, I finally found my birthmother. I called her within hours of receiving her name and number. Much to my relief, the first words out of her mouth once she understood that I was her daughter were "I'd hoped and prayed this day would come and that you would find me!"

Ten years of living in reunion with my birthmom, Kathy, deserved a grand par-tay! So, last weekend, we met in St. Augustine, Florida where we treated ourselves to the luxurious Casa Monica Hotel. We spent the weekend eating, shopping, talking and exploring St. Augustine's rich history! We had quality time to continue to get to know one another and we had plenty of time to reminisce about the past ten years.

Having time one on one to connect and hang out together is something that most other families take for granted. But for us, it's a luxury. In all the years that we've known each other, we've never gone away just the two of us. One challenge that most adopted people have while building a relationship with biological relatives is the lack of shared history or lack of shared experiences. I was determined that Kathy and I would create a memorable experience to mark our ten years of being reconnected.

There are 3 elements that can make a celebration really memorable.

When planning your next big festivity, consider the following:

1. Make it experiential. For us, it was great to have an activity (or several) to do together. Most of our visits consist of me visiting Kathy at her home or vice versa. We usually just sit around and talk and eat! For this trip, we chose a place neither of us had been - St. Augustine, Florida

- and where we knew there would be a lot to see and do. We created memories on this trip, with lots of photos to commemorate our time together!

2. Variety is key. Mix it up for your next celebration. Having choice to do a lot of different things means you'll never get bored. We rode the trolley, visited the fort and several museums, went shopping, explored gardens and attended an art gallery crawl. Sightseeing was lots of fun, but some of my favorite times together were sitting having coffee in the evening on the balcony of the hotel, eating breakfast in bed each morning with room service and watching the news and talking about world events and pillow talking at night about spirituality and our beliefs about God.

 3. Give Gifts. Go symbolic or sentimental or both. Although we didn't discuss it, we both wanted to give each other some kind of gift to celebrate our anniversary together. Kathy presented me with a gorgeous gold bracelet which I haven't taken off since I saw her a week ago! But what makes it even more special is that she bought the identical bracelet for herself so that we can both wear it and feel connected. (awwww!)  After racking my brain for weeks about what was an appropriate gift, I decided to bring my journal from 1999 and read to her my thoughts and feelings about finding her for the first time when I was 29 years old. It was moving for both of us to revisit that time and remember how powerful and life altering the experience was for both of us. We went through plenty of tissues that night!

There is much to celebrate in life - the daily things of health and family and music and doing good work in the world. And then there are special events - birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, milestones - that deserve a little extra pomp and circumstance.

Today, April 13th, is our actual "anniversary". It's the day I first learned her name and first heard her voice and knew that, without a doubt, we'd have the rest of our lives to get to know one another. So Happy Anniversary, Kathy! I'm so grateful to have you in my life and I'm so grateful to you for giving me life!

What will YOU do for your next grand celebration? Please share your ideas with me!