After finishing a delicious meal, a customer goes to the cash register to pay for the meal only to encounter a sign, “Cash only. Credit cards not accepted.” Cue frustration, disappointment, anger and panic. “What?! But I already ate the entire meal and am low on cash! Where’s the closest ATM?” For businesses, “cash only” … Read more
It’s human nature for people to not look past someone’s speech to discover the person first. I know it because I live it. Oscar winning film, The King’s Speech, echoes this message. Zach Anner, co-winner of Oprah Winfrey’s Your OWN Show, reinforces the message that people with disabilities want others to see them as people first. … Read more
Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are natural born sales people whose excitement knows no bounds when it comes to closing deals, building strategies and devising marketing campaigns. But what about … accounting? It may feel like drudgery, but managing the business side of a business is absolutely crucial if that business is going to … Read more
19 high. 8 low. Whoa. Texas gets below freezing temps, but rarely single digit temps. Cold, yes. Affect work, just a little because the kids didn’t have school. It turns out to be a booming YES. This week has not gone the way I expected. I knew extremely cold temps were heading toward the Dallas-Fort … Read more
Twitter chats entrenched me in conversations without losing track of the topic and reading everyone’s lips like a tennis match gone wrong. I understood every single person in the chat. I turned into the listener I’ve always wanted to be: focused and catching every word. At the peak of my joining Twitter chats, I spent … Read more
Ah, Monday can’t catch a break. Celebricat Garfield hates Mondays and lets us know how he feels about them every chance he gets. (“Garfield Monday” has over two million results in Google search.) Change Monday’s name and the new name would have the same problem. Remember Shakespeare’s ol’ rose by another name would smell as … Read more
As expected with the start of a new year, publications flood the market with articles on goal setting, planning, reviewing. As a person who likes to think medium (as opposed to big), I struggle with figuring out what I need to do to ensure a more successful year. Many successful people create loads of products, … Read more
As a writer, one of my goals for this year was to use more stories and real-life examples in articles. The challenging part was coming up with a story or example that tied in with the rest of the article. One of the pros at this is Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development and I’ve … Read more
As a kid … I’ve been on both sides of the special needs parenting relationship. Well, I don’t think I was a special needs kid, but I do have a unique challenge because I’ve been deaf since birth. My parents always told my teachers to treat me like any other kid with one exception: make … Read more
OK, whoever thought of the term “small talk” must be one of those master communicators. For many of us, small talk is a big and stressful undertaking. I admit it. I have a few boring, overused questions (Where are you from? What do you do?) in my small talk arsenal. I do have a couple … Read more