A few weeks ago, I was approached by the dynamic Nellie Chowbay (an investment advisor) to speak to her networking group, Leading Ladies. As I learned more about Leading Ladies, I was even more impressed with what Nellie and Soojin (the co-founders of Leading Ladies) have accomplished. LL offers a free monthly seminar for women with a view to help women in business learn and grow. Each breakfast event features two speakers and it is my honour to share my thoughts on ‘Business from a woman’s perspective” with the group of May 9. See details below: May 9th - 7:30am – 8:30am Venue: 1st Canadian place 48th floor: reached by the elevator on the street level. 100 King Street West, [...]
Every once in a while you’ll screw up, make mistakes and do or omit to do something which will cause you some remorse and regret. As a business owner, I have often found myself in situations where I messed up. It happens. To err is human. What you do with that error and how you respond to it is what is really key in whether you will salvage and strengthen relationships or damage them. In coaching my clients, I have observed that so many of them still don’t know how to offer a good (and sincere) apology. More recently, one of my friends did something to upset me and made what seemed like a good enough apology to her (but [...]
It’s that time of year when we find ourselves contemplating our shortcomings and using the New Year as an excuse to change our ways and better our lives. When it comes to personal resolutions, it is said that finding love, losing weight, living healthy and traveling usually top the list. Why not also use this time of year wisely and make resolutions for your Business? Be sure to include action items for each goal so that you are able to “chunk it down” to manageable and measurable tasks. Here is my list of 5 things that every business should be doing. If you’re not already doing them, use 2012 as the year when you will launch these initiatives and make [...]
On November 11, 2011, I was invited by the Treehouse Group, to speak at the Toronto Reference Library, as part of the Treehouse Talk series where I shared insights on “The Personal Brand” and its importance for entrepreneurs. The time allocated to me was just 20 minutes and there’s a lot of material to cover. So instead of rushing into the techniques and tips on how to develop your personal brand, I chose to focus on its importance. Hope you enjoy the video. I am a big fan of The Treehouse Group – a collective of Toronto-area thinkers who promote the exchange of ideas by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds. Their sessions are free to attend and they bring [...]
This Thursday (October 6), join me as I speak about “Business Plans that actually work”. The session will be streamed live as well. My presentation is part of a larger discussion on Business Plans which will focus on the development and maintenance of business plans. While other speakers will be discussing the merits of the Financial business plan, my seminar will review the importance of a dynamic operational business plan – one that comes from your heart and not just your head. I will share the importance of knowing your purpose, your market, your vision and how to cast and communicate this vision. As always, I will offer some concrete action items and suggestions on processes and strategies that will [...]
Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow is the title of an article written by Kelly Putter for the March Edition of CHILL magazine. Kelly attended one of my coaching sessions and enjoyed the session enough to want to quote me in her article. I have reproduced the article in its entirety below. It’s a bit of a no brainer that money can’t buy love, but how about the other way around? Educators, business coaches and even big businesses give a resounding yes to that question. The thinking goes that to summon the large quantities of time, energy and sweat required to launch and grow a profitable business, you need to love what you do, otherwise you won’t [...]
On June 17, 2010, I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Rotary Club of Mississauga Airport’s Annual Gala Dinner event. This year’s gala marked the 25th anniversary of the chapter and was attended by over 200 guests which included, among others, Regional District President of the Rotary as well as the Mayor of the City of Mississauga. My topic was “Be the Change..” and I am pleased to provide below the working draft of some of the talking points included in my address. Of course, the actual address deviated somewhat from the script (as I did not refer to it a lot) but most of the key messages were incorporated in the speech. Thank you Vaishali for [...]
I have a thirteen year old daughter who spends a fair bit of time on facebook. I spend as much if not MORE time on facebook than she does. It’s true! But the way we both use facebook is very different! She comes home and chats on facebook, she grows things in Farmville, plays games like Mafia wars, answers random quizzes and generally uses facebook to entertain herself. She’s thirteen and so I don’t let it bother me. That said, when I see grown men and women with professional careers or thriving businesses fritter away their time reading horoscopes and throwing pillows at each other, I shake my head and think, “what a wasted opportunity”! Facebook can be a powerful [...]
