Driving to Florida for vacation, we listened to three books–Connected, Thrive, and Switch. I learned about all of them when I worked with Healthy Polk 2020 last summer. My task was to gather a group of experts around the priority, “Empower more people to take more responsibility for maintaining their health.” My team thought the wording of the priority judgmental. … Read
Go with the Flow
At the end of August, Kate and I drove to New York City. The trip was going smoothly as we approached the exit toward Brooklyn where a worker and three orange cones blocked the way. “Closed due to flooding,” Hurricane Irene whirled through the city about a week before we did. “I’m going with the flow this trip,” but as … Read
Accept Autumn
I watched a full moon rise the other night, riding my bike home from yoga. Fall is nearly here. I’m not thinking of snow coming in a few months. I’m not thinking of snow. No snow. The garage is organized enough to find the snow shovels, but the kayak REALLY needs to learn to hang from the rafters. Is there … Read
Turn the Radio On
Well, actually learn about social marketing. (Our radio show, though short-lived was a lot of fun, and even though it’s offline now, there’s some good stuff in this post) So read on… Ben Stone gave us a lovely compliment, “Two Baby Boomers (three actually counting our producer Anne Larson) doing an Internet radio show gives me hope.” Ben owns RPO Consulting, … Read
Push the Edge
We just did our fifth, Internet-based radio show–We’re Entrepreneurs. We Can Help–Women on the Edge. For several months, I played around with the idea of a weekly radio show. Then last fall I asked my friends Anne Larson and Bruce Lehnertz if they were interested in collaborating with me on it. They both trust me way more than they should, … Read
Learn about Money
I’m STILL learning about money! During the last nine months, I’ve written checks bigger than I thought possible for remodeling my house, putting in a new driveway and front porch. It’s really exciting to be able to do these things, and I expect to enjoy them for many years after they’re done! But I’ve had to revise my whole attitude … Read
Ride a Horse
After reading and re-reading my favorite horse books–Misty of Chincoteague, Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka–I bought a horse when I was in college. Well, actually two horses. The first was a green-broke Arabian gelding named Pegasus. He managed to throw me in the ditch each time I rode him, so I traded Peg for a pony named Butterscotch. At least when he … Read
Start Your Business
I think I’ve been a frustrated entrepreneur my whole life, so developing Next Step, Inc. has been an exciting adventure. When I was in high school, a lot of people thought that girls could only be moms, nurses, teachers or secretaries. But now women run some of the world’s most successful businesses–Pepsi is headed by a woman. And then, of … Read
Engineer Your World
When I was growing up and even until I went on college visits with my nephew Wil, I had no idea how much engineering is a part of all aspects of life–travel, energy, safe water, medicine, almost everything. Wil is a junior now at ISU’s College of Engineering. He’s having a great time (maybe a greater time than his parents … Read
Map Your Mind
I’ve filled about one sketchbook each year with notes since I learned to mind map in the early 1990s. Several years before that I had simply stopped taking notes. In those pre-mind map days, I found myself looking at the yellow tablets I’d been writing in and making little sense of the scribbles. Then at a creativity workshop, Rhonda Wiley-Jones … Read
