NAWBO-Columbus Member Blog

Wasn’t the February Luncheon AWESOME?

Donna Introduces the program speakers with personal anecdotes to set the stage for a wonderful presentation.

Linda Brinks and Sharon DeLay did a wonderful job speaking about using your strengths for greater success.

When I took the StrengthFinders Profile many years ago, I was just starting my Wardrobe Consulting business after spending 17 years in the pharmaceutical industry.   While none of my top 5 strengths were a huge surprise to me, seeing them in writing was very empowering!  I have learned that when I work from a position of strength I am happier, more productive and my accomplishments are much more satisfying.

I work out of a private studio located in downtown Powell, where I am able to realize my passion of ‘helping women look and feel their best.’

As a RELATOR with WOO, I am able to work well with other professional women who don’t have the time to shop, want to look beautiful and desire to build a flattering functional wardrobe at a great price!   I am so proud of the long lasting and mutually satisfying relationships that I have with my clients.

The majority of my time is spent offering personalized image consultation services that range from planning simple travel wardrobe capsules, to seasonal closet audits and complete wardrobe overhauls.

When I walk in to a client’s closet, all my strengths are utilized!  My top strength is STRATEGIC and when you throw in some MAXIMIZER, (since all closets are different), I am able to launch into action to make the time relaxing, productive and valuable to my client.

As much as most women dread the thought of allowing someone into their closet for wardrobe assessment and assistance with building a functional wardrobe, it is the part of my business that provides the most customer satisfaction!

I have been told that I have a natural ability to make others feel welcome and special – that must be the COMMUNICATION strength in action!   My communication strength is also used in a leadership capacity; I work with as a team leader to over 50 women in 15 states and in training and development; writing and facilitating workshops for the 2500+ independent consultants in the United States.

My business is thriving and I am fortunate that I LOVE what I do so, I have no intention of job hunting in the near future.  But, I always thought it would be empowering to go to a job interview, walk in and place a copy of my top 5 strengths in front of the interview and say, “This is me. If this is what you are looking for, hire me, if not, I don’t want to waste your time.”  Obviously, I wouldn’t do that but I do believe that my top five strengths as identified by StrengthFinders are a true representation of who I am as a person and as a business woman.

I look forward to next month’s meeting (at a NEW location- right, Gail?) to see you and learn what your ‘top five’ are, too!

Donna Musilli is a Wardrobe Stylist and Independent Fashion Consultant representing a fashion designer out of California for the past 6 years.  She is an active member of NAWBO Columbus, serving on the membership committee.  To learn more, please contact Donna at 614.571.4161 or dmusilli@columbus.rr.com.

As all Columbus NAWBO  members may know by now, we reached a milestone in 2009 by gaining over 140 members, something new to our chapter.  What an exciting opportunity!  It is important that all of the members gain something through their membership.

With that said, I need to call upon all members for help in taking  on part of Membership Service Committee’s tasks.  The specific areas that I have in mind are as follows:

Member to Member Event Planner – Responsibilities include planning and executing events outside of the monthly meetings.  This would entail setting up locations and coordinating website postings.  Currently, we plan to hold two to three events like this a year.

Member Retention Coordinator – Responsibilities include documenting and making renewal reminder phone calls to existing members, as well as, requesting feedback to on their NAWBO experience.  This position would be an ongoing maintenance role.

If you have been looking for ways to get involved with NAWBO and feel like one of these two opportunities would be a good fit, please contact me at liz@wedecoratecolumbus.com or call (614)657-0823.   I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate the consideration!

Liz CaJacobs is an owner of the CaJacob Design Group, LLC and Director of Member Services for NAWBO Columbus.  For more information, contact Liz via email or call her mobile at (614) 657-0823.

As always, the Good to Great luncheon was a crowd favorite, and NAWBO-Columbus has received several compliments from participants and presenters alike.

To refresh, here were the table moderators and what the spoke of:

But despite the prescribed topics, there also was a lot of advice, support, and encouragement offered that we’d like to share with you here:

“An interesting conversation around — if you want to know your values — look at where you spend your money and time.”

“Karen [Hough] is amazing!  I know everyone got some good insight from: improving communication, facing change, elevator speech and much more.”

“TaKeysha was a wealth of information, and she genuinely seemed interested in all our businesses.  After providing us lots of information about boards of advisors, she then sought to learn from our businesses and how we could not only help each other, but how she could help us.”

Did you have a great experience at the Good to Great roundtables this year and what to put your two cents in?  Fill out the online meeting feedback form on the NAWBO-Columbus website, and your responses might be included in this blog post, too!

Thanks again to our table leaders, moderators, and all the great participants who once again made this event a success!

Would you like to see more pictures from the 2010 Good to Great Luncheon? View the slideshow!

I was a shy kid. Really. I remember, early in my junior high school years, sitting on my bed sobbing my eyes out because junior high was so rough, I didn’t know anyone, and quite possibly just wouldn’t be able to live as a result. Drama aside, my mother proved to be a wise woman. Her advice was pretty simple; she told me I could, “sit on the sidelines or get in the game and play,” and then followed up with, “you are what you want to be.”

Mom-isms and clichés aside, those few words had a significant impact on me. I interpreted her wisdom to mean that I would have to go out and forge my way because the world and all of its opportunities were not going to miraculously appear at my doorstep!

I first joined NAWBO in late 2005. I attended lunch meetings and got to know just a few members. When my first year of membership expired, I did not renew. I decided to explore membership in other organizations, thinking they were better for building my business. By the way, I equated building my business with making overnight sales.

This year, one of the NAWBO board members asked me to help with NAWBO’s membership drive. I wasn’t even a member, but she knew how to reel me in. I agreed, ended up rejoining NAWBO myself, and haven’t looked back. Remembering my mom’s wise advice, I decided to get into the game this time. The reality is, the membership is only as good as I make it. I am on the board of another organization, and the same holds true. I’m getting out of both of these organizations exactly what I put into them. Here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way to help me define the value of NAWBO, or membership in any organization, on MY terms.

Get into the game and play, as mom says. When I was first a member of NAWBO, I attended meetings. That’s it. In return, I learned some interesting things from the speakers. That’s it. This time around, I became involved in a short-term task force before I even rejoined the organization. I got to really learn about my fellow task force members and they got to learn about me. Ingenious.

Start small. Actually, this continues the previous point. Jumping in as a full-blown committee member just simply may not be what you can do. Take on a short-term or one-time only project. It’s a great way to get to know other people without over-committing yourself.

Have a goal. Don’t just go to lunch, sit at a table and leave after the program. Make a plan to talk to everyone at your table and find out what they do. Try not to focus on yourself and what you need, for once. It’s liberating. When you understand the diversity of the membership, you start to see how many amazing women (and men) you really ought to know. This helps your business, too.

Make it a policy to expand and further explore at least one of those new relationships you’ve just initiated by inviting someone new to coffee each mont. I have some amazing friends in this organization and some people I trust and am confident to recommend to others. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in reciprocity.

Just ask. Learn more about the benefits of membership. If you’re not sure everything that NAWBO offers, then ask questions. You might be pleasantly surprised. Let me give you an example. I recently decided to open a new checking account. Key Bank is a NAWBO corporate sponsor. At the time, Key was offering a GPS for all new accounts, with the premium account offering a premium version of the GPS. I was only in the position to open a basic checking account, but by asking and learning that NAWBO members could take advantage of the premium account, I was able to get “bumped” to a different level. Thanks, NAWBO! My challenged sense of direction appreciates you.

Take advantage of the various programs, new members offers, and benefits such as the Roundtables. I have extrapolated and interpreted what I’ve learned from these “freebies” or low-cost opportunities back into my business and have seen focused, solid growth. Yea, me!

At the end of the day, what’s important is that the benefits of any membership, regardless of the organization, are exactly proportionate to what I invest. Are you taking charge of your membership and getting out of it all that you can?

Sharon DeLay, MBA, SPHR, CPCC is the president and owner of BoldlyGO Career and Human Resource Management and a member of the NAWBO Columbus Communications Committee. To learn more, please visit http://www.boldlygocoaching.com or call Sharon at 614-473-0122.

NAWBO-Columbus member Shelley Menduni was the first speaker during the December luncheon.  Shelley is the owner of Professional Imagery where she works with individuals and companies as an image consultant.

Shelley started off with this interesting fact: People form opinions and make decisions within the first 5 seconds of meeting you.  So the question is, What kind of first impression do you make?  What kind of impression do you want to make?

While there are three factors in developing your presence (visual, nonverbal, and vocal), the visual component makes the greatest impact.  As you’d market a product or service, you must “market” yourself with a good brand.

She reiterated how important color was, saying that you should find colors that make you feel good about yourself.  Wear a color you feel good about, and people are sure to notice!

Christina Getachew and Shelley Menduni during the fashion show.

Your personal style is also important.  Finding clothing that is appropriate to your body shape and fits you well is essential.  Wear clothes that flatter your body, not camoflauge it.  She commented, “dress the body that you are today, not what you hope to be tommorrow.”

And lastly, she explained that a professional woman needs to know how to apply make-up properly.  It should look soft, natural, and professional, and work with the color pallete that is appropriate for not only your makeup, but your clothes as well.

Shelley ended with a great quote: “The greatest discovery a person can make is that it is possible to alter one’s life by altering one’s attitude.”

After’s Shelley’s presentation, three more NAWBO members presented a fashion show of wonderful professional cloths.  Christina Getachew of Substance, Donna Musilli of CaBI, and Sue Kantor of The Carlisle Collection provided an array of styles and explained how to match different colors, styles, etc.

The speakers at the November luncheon meeting were human resources experts Sapna Welsh and Shawn Garrett from Leverage HR.  Leverage HR helps Fortune 500 companies develop training solutions, improve their management, and integrate best practices.

Welsh and Garrett started off by stating a simple yet important and inspiring phrase: Live life as if your soul matters.

They then proffered a poem, “A Pilgrim’s Plea” by Denise Bissonnette, another inspiring peace talking about the soul and self-discovery.

Welsh and Garrett furnished this list of how the soul applies at work:

• Feel your spirit
• Listen to your soul
• Learn what gifts you have been given
• Observe your responses, feelings, and actions
• Honor your life and the lives of others

And the definition of “soul” is:

• The inner you (what makes up who you are)
• Truth and honesty
• Where the inner and outer world overlap (there is a lot of talk about work/life balance.  What if it were seamless?)
• Connectedness
• Compass, guide
• Energy (when we bring our strengths.)

They discussed the signs of a lost soul, and how, in fact, a soul can become lost.  The reasons included criticisms, lack of purpose, forgeting it or letting it be taken away, and several other manners of loss, however their solutions to “getting your soul back” are pretty simple.

Among other ways, they encourage you to be realistic and take the time to identify your strengths and your values.  Realizing your goals and then setting out to achieve them helps people define their path and realize their purpose.  And identifying your needs to feel fufilled, and what your higher purpose should be, will ultimately help you reclaim your soul and get your life back on track.

They provided a very helpful list of books about the soul and the workplace:

The Heart Aroused by David Whyte
Fire in the Earth by David Whyte
True North: Discover your Authentic Leadership by Bill George
The Stirring of the Soul in the Workplace by Alan Briskin
Bringing your Soul to Work: An Everyday Practice by Cheryle Peppers and Alan Briskin
Time and the Soul: Where has All the Meaningful Time Gone and Can we Get it Back? by Jacob Needleman and John Cleese

Eldercare expert and NAWBO-Columbus member Barbara McVicker spoke at the October monthly meeting about the 75 million Americans who are “stuck in the middle” of kids, career, and caregiving their elderly parents.

Barbara is a national speaker and author of the book Stuck in the Middle:  Shared Stories and Tips for Caregiving Your Elderly Parents.  She was inspired to write the book after the trials and tribulations she faced during the ten year span in which she took care of both of her parents.

Her talk focussed on preparing yourself for caregiving, as well as how to implement caregiving policies in your business to help provide a lifeline for employees who are caregivers.

She stressed the need to have the crucial conversations with your parents (and your children) now, rather than when it is too late.  She said one of the biggest challenges for caregivers was being unprepared and uninformed.

With upwards of 75 million people caring for an elderly parent, it is no wonder that 62% of caregiving workers have made adjustments to their work life, including reporting late to work, stopping work all together, cutting back on hours, or giving up vacation.  McVicker quoted that 17% of caregivers are providing care at least 40 hours a week!

For the business owner, the most shocking number was arguably that American businesses lose up to $34 billion each year due to employees’ needs to care for elderly relatives.  She highlighted the need for all companies to provide eldercare benefits to their employes, siting a rise in health and well-being, productivity, and loyatly in those company’s which already provide such benefits (only 21% nationwide.)

Here are two lists of advice she presented for businesses to help them support their caregiving employees:

Caregiver cures for the workplace:

• Set boundaries
• Support group
• Take personal time
• Training & information
• Ask for help
• Utilize respite care
• Set priorities
• Make choices
• Delegate
• Be proactive
• Achieve balance
• Hire help

Resources businesses can provide to their caregiving employees:

• Lunch-n-Learns
• Webinars
• Keynotes
• Support groups
• Elder care expert on staff
• Making it a safe topic to discuss
• Flexible hours/job sharing

Barbara was kind enough to provide a Caregiver’s Call to Action to all NAWBO-Columbus members.  To download the list, please click here.

For more information on Barbara and Stuck in the Middle, you can visit her website at http://www.barbaramcvicker.com.

The September meeting, introduced by Wendy Goldstein and moderated by Andrea Nameche, focused on how to use your financial records and how best to keep your company financially fit.  The panel was comprised of:

• Bruce Berry – Whalen CPA
• Michelle Roseberry  - Norman Jones Enlow
• Lynnette Zody – Focus CFO

The panelists encouraged all businesses, regardless of their size or time in business, to always have an up to date business plan, not only to ensure their company is organized, but to use when trying to ascertain funding.

They spoke a great deal about the importance of understanding and regularly inspecting your company’s financial records, highlighting that the four most important records were: financial statements, receivables, cash flow, and profit & loss statements.

The panel also encouraged companies of all sizes to hire a financial manager, either external or internal. Whether it be a CFO, an accountant, or even just a part-time bookkeeper, the benefits would be large and it would save you as the business owner time and stress by letting a professional handle it. Don’t know where to look for a CPA or bookkeeper? Check out the NAWBO membership directory!

A helpful book was also mentioned: Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs: What You Really Need to Know About the Numbers by Karen Berman & Joe Knight.

Lance Tyson of Dale Carnegie Training of Ohio & Indiana delivered a fantastic presentation during the monthly meeting on August 6th.  Tyson, a lively speaker who eagerly grabs the attention of the audience, was full of great ideas that caused the attendees to scribble notes as fast as possible!

He recommended two books to read, one old and one new

What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School

No Man’s Land: What to Do When Your Company Is Too Big to Be Small but Too Small to Be Big

He emphasized that there is a difference between cost, value, price, and budget, and encouraged us all to look up the definitions of each so that we may better understand how they differ.

Lance hammered the concept of the value proposition and mentioned repeatedly how we must understand our value proposition because it is the key to selling.  He also highlighted the three most important factors in sales:

1. Building a rapport with your customers
2. Establishing and maintaining credibility
3. The ability to understand the needs of your client base

He gave an abbreviated talk about the sales process, saying that the topic alone could fill an all-day seminar.  But his truncated version included:

1. Pay attention to qualified prospoects
2. Evaluate the situation
3. Diagnose the problems
4. Prescribe a treatment
5. Get them committed to buy

There are three kinds of questions he says are key to being successful in this sales process, and they are:

1. Ask personal questions to get to know the client better
2. Ask questions about their problems and needs so you can better assess the situation
3. Ask questions about what their anticipated payout should be

I think the most illuminating thing he mentioned the entire afternoon was that “It’s never the product or service that the client buys, it’s the outcome of your service and the product of your product.”  That really puts it all into perspective!

Check out the compilation video that was played during the last general session during the WBC.  It’s really quite wonderful!

http://www.sbtv.com/Partners/NAWBO/NAWBO2008/?segid=3827