Category Archives: Blog

• Gratitude

  Posted on 07/02/2010 in Blog

  It’s really easy to get caught up in the day to day of managing a business, maintaining customer relations, balancing life with work and trying to maintain sanity.Today I thought about how full my life is. When I take the time to think about what a wonderful life I have, it is an emotional and gratifying experience.Here are the things I’m grateful for:I live in a safe neighborhood where I can walk anytime of the day.I own my own homeI own my own businessI love my workMy work makes a difference for my customersI have rich friendshipsI’ve been able to receive a great education from a excellent universityI’m constantly challenged in my work which forces me to grow as a professional and personI’ve always been able to pick myself up whenever I had a personal tragedy and grow from it.I have a wife that still loves meI have children who still think I’m a heroThis list is shorter than what it really deserves. I’m happy to have the life I have and the people in my life are what makes me rich.

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• Getting Lost in the Woods

  Posted on 06/11/2010 in Blog

  I’m risking a little bit by writing this post. Sometimes I get lost in the woods. You know the phrase “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” This is the feeling I have over the last couple of weeks. Things have gone well for me this year. I’ve achieved success this year that has been very rewarding. There have been moments, almost on a weekly basis for so happy and joyful about my work and life that I became a bit emotional.Despite all the good things that have been happening to me, I still felt the last couple weeks like something was wrong. Part of this feeling was probably due to the amount of work I did during tax season. I simply got tired and needed a break.Problem was (yeah I know complain about having too much for). I continue to get new clients. . It’s exciting when I get new work.I became a bit overwhelmed and stressed. I remember a friend telling me that sometimes, as a small business owner, she wondered if it might just be better to get a job at Wal-Mart. This last week, I certainly felt that way.The reason I write about this is…

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• 40 Under 40

  Posted on 05/07/2010 in Blog

  Today, I attended the 40 Under 40 banquet sponsored by the Triangle Business Journal.It was a wonderful event. This year I was one of the 40 under 40 award recipients. It was a great honor and very thrilling. I remember growing up that I was always at the end of the line because my last name starts with Y. As a youngster it always bothered me a bit. Now I actually enjoy being last in a line because by being last I get to be remembered more.Char Grunwaldt the publisher of the Triangle Business Journal was one of the speakers. In that speech she started reading a quote from one of the winner’s blog posts. As I was listening, I realized that she was reading from my post Seeing My Own Potential last week.I didn’t realize when I started to blog last year that people would actually read my writing. It was quite a compliment to me that my words from my blog would be read in front of the whole audience at the 40 Under 40 banquet.One thing that I really enjoyed about the event was the presentation ceremony. As each winner went to the stage their favorite song…

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• Seeing My Own Potential

  Posted on 04/30/2010 in Blog

  A couple of weeks ago I got a call from an editor at the Triangle Business Journal. He told me that I had been named as one of the 40 under 40 for 2010. I was nominated for the award in February this year. This was very important award to me because it represents what I strive to be “A Business Leader in the Community”.What does it mean to me to be a business leader in the community? It means that I am dedicated to making a difference in my community.Winning the award has been wonderful. It’s been very emotional to me. I know a number of people who have won the award in previous years that I truly respect. They represent the best of humanity. They live their lives in a way that makes a difference. They are the types of people that I admire and want to fashion my life after.I’ve thought about what it means that a selection committee from the Triangle Business Journal this year chose me.It means that I am a peer to the people that I respect and admire.I can’t begin to describe the feelings I have on an almost daily basis. I’ve never…

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• We Did Everything Right

  Posted on 11/20/0201 in Blog

  I recently watch a TV show that discussed how some people were handing the bad economy. Specifically, there was one couple that opened up a coffee shop in New York City. They talked about how they did everything right. They brought local artists into the shop. In the end they felt they had created a second home for their community.They did this all in the midst of the recession. They ultimately decided to close their shop because they were not able to get enough business from all their hard work. The one thing that really upset them was in their words,“We did everything right.”This phrase has stuck with me since I watched the show. I was sad to hear that they had put their heart and soul and everything into their business and were it not for a bad economy, they would have succeeded.I certainly related with this comment. Growing up I heard many things that I was supposed to do. The one I listened to the most was,“Get good grades so you can get into a good college so you can get a good job.”I followed this advice and had the misfortune of graduating from college at the wrong…

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