Exceptional People Magazine – March/April 2011 Part 1

March-April 2011

CONTENTS

www.exceptionalmag.com

No matter how gray the world is around you, always No matter how gray the world is around you, always allow your light to shine throughallow your light to shine through. .

Cover photo by Dupont Photographers

Cover photo by Sherry Lingle,

Liquid Steel Photography

Cover photo by Karen Crowder, Timeless Photography, L.L.C.

Cover photo by Katie Girtman, Studio Kiva

Extraordinary Profiles

4

Main Cover Story—

Christopher Fomunyoh—Setting the Stage for Africa’s

Democracy

12 Sonja Fisher—Promoting

Women in Technology

18 Sarfo Abebrese—Unifying Africa

Through the Universal Sport of Soccer

Minding My Business

26 Cori Maedel—Organizational

Clarity: Effectively Managing Your Business

34 Rebel Brown—Rebelizing the

Way Entrepreneurs Do Business

40 Amy Nakos—Design the Life of

Your Dreams

Empowerment

49 The More Problems You Solve,

The More Your Income Increases

51 Fear of Failure

52 Superstars Negotiate to Win—

Do You?

54 What’s Networking Got to Do

With It?

55 Disciplining Children Through

Divorce

56 Don’t Follow the Herd

57 How to Make Networking Work

for You—Part 2

58 Is Job Stress Affecting Your

Health and Your Performance?

59 Financial Brain Buster Solution

60 Forgiving Your Parents

Dear Friend, When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? We often force ourselves to accept uncomfortable situations because we don’t know what to expect or how things will turn out if we change or move forward. We’re often afraid to try something new. It is this sense of fear of the unknown that keeps us from experiencing “the extraordinary” in our lives. Some of the people you’ll read about in this issue have faced the unknowns in their lives; they became fearless, took a leap of faith and used unique approaches in pursuing their goals. They found extraordinary success and are helping others to achieve even greater success in their lives. Della Reese wasn’t afraid to remain true to herself and her values during an era when she was one of very few African Ameri-can women in the entertainment industry. She paved the way for many female entertainers. Sarfo Abebrese stepped away from an amazing law career after passing the New York Bar, to help unify the people of Africa. Rebel Brown is helping entrepreneurs view their businesses in a new light. She’s changing the status quo when it comes to business success. Can you imagine how we’d be communicating today if Alexander Graham Bell had been afraid to face many unknowns while attempting to invent the telephone? Life will always be full of unknowns. This is a new year and it’s time for a new you. I encourage you to “Be Bold” and “Be Fearless”. Break out of your comfort zone, break away from the “usual” and do something extraordinary. It may change your life and the lives of those around you and that, my friend, would be remarkable. Sincerely,

Letter

From The

Editor

Setting the Stage for Setting the Stage for Setting the Stage for Africa’s Democracy Africa’s Democracy Africa’s Democracy

Dr. Christopher FomunyohDr. Christopher FomunyohDr. Christopher Fomunyoh

Extraordinary ProfilesExtraordinary ProfilesExtraordinary Profiles

Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh is one of the most respected voices speaking for democracy in Africa. He serves as the senior associate and regional di-rector for Central and West Africa at the National Democratic Institute. In this capacity, he has organized and advised international election obser-vation missions in Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar and other countries. He has shared the stage with such po-litical luminaries as President Jimmy Carter and General Colin Powell. “I think very highly of Colin Powell, the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was always so humble. I remember being on a mission, an election observation mission with him in Nigeria and sit-ting there and listening to him engage former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and things that Obasanjo could do to ensure the Nigerian peo-ple that their voices would be heard and that their votes would count and saying to myself, ‘This is an accom-plished world leader looking for ways

years his mission has been “trying in our own small way to have an impact on the lives of people in Camer-oon. The foundation was borne of an idea that came to me and members of my family and friends who had heard that those of us who had been fortunate to leave Cameroon and to have a better way of living elsewhere should find opportunities to give something back to the community, however modest it could be.” “The idea was to launch a foundation that, first, would encourage people to espouse volunteerism and philan-thropy and, in that process, also pro-vide some training and support to small organizations that are working very hard in Cameroon to promote democracy and human rights and that are doing things that can raise citi-zens’ awareness and also improve upon their wellbeing.” Dr. Fomunyoh has traveled through-out Africa, Europe and North Amer-ica. He holds a Licence en Droit from

to give something back to the conti-nent.’” “In many ways, being in Washington and getting the opportunity to see many American leaders serve their people in the United States but also reach out to the disadvantaged, the poor, the downtrodden in other parts of the world, notably in Africa, has been a true source of inspiration to me.” Hailing from Cameroon, Fomunyoh’s achievements to inspire democracy throughout Africa have put him on the world’s stage and his efforts have gar-nered international attention and re-spect from world leaders. His opin-ions and thoughts on democracy are often featured on television networks such as CNN, PBS NewsHour, Voice of America, BBC, Radio France Inter-nationale (RFI), as well in major na-tional and international newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune. As founder and president of the Fomunyoh Foundation, for the past 12

Christopher Fomunyoh with prominent African and American leaders at a conference on African Renaissance, held in

Johannesburg, South Africa.

March-April 2011 | Exceptional People Magazine | 5

Yaounde University in Cameroon, a Masters Degree in international law

from Harvard Law School, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University. He is also an adjunct fac-ulty member at the Africa Center for Stra-

tegic Studies and a former adjunct professor of African politics and gov-ernment at Georgetown University. He and his family reside in the Wash-ington, D.C. area. The founder of Exceptional People Magazine was delighted to speak with Dr. Fomunyoh about his vision for change in Cameroon, as well as the continent of Africa. Monica: Would you mind describing the function of the National Democ-ratic Institute for International Af-fairs? Mr. Fomunyoh: The National De-mocratic Institute for International Affairs, commonly known as NDI, is a non-profit organization, a non-governmental organization that was created in the mid-‘80s to help sup-port and promote democracy world-wide. So we are non-partisan in the

the first time in their lives. We have provided capacity building and tech-nical assistance to civil society or-ganizations, women’s groups that are seeking a voice in the political proc-ess as well as young men and women who are from human rights organiza-tions or advocacy groups that are in-terested in democratic governance. Monica: How did your interest in the political scene come about? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, in many ways, it’s a combination of two fac-tors, one being my inborn aspiration to reach out to people and to work with people. I look back at my life and my childhood years, the years that I spent in primary school and in secondary school, how I interacted with my schoolmates and always took a leadership role. There was part of me that always wanted to provide leadership. And it so happened that when I came to the United States for graduate studies, at the time when I just finished my mas-ter’s degree in International Law at Harvard University, at Harvard Law School -- I accomplished a Ph.D. in Political Science at Boston University that coincided with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the resurgence of this democratization wave around the world. So I felt like it was a combina-tion of having the desire to do good things for people and then being in the right place at the right time with the right kind of background. So when NDI approached me in 1992 and asked if I could join the organiza-tion upon terminating my Ph.D., I was very glad to do that in 1993. Monica: Speaking of democracies in other societies in the world, what is your opinion on – if you don’t mind giving me your opinion on a couple of them?

sense that we don’t endorse candi-dates. We conduct programs that tran-scend democratic processes and insti-tutions rather than specific individual candidates in the countries in which we work. Monica: What are some of the things that you promote or focus on through the organization? Mr. Fomunyoh: For example, NDI in the last three decades has worked with leaders of political parties. You know, coming from the background that many countries have only re-cently begun the transition from one-party states or countries under mili-tary rule into becoming functioning democracies. What has been com-monly referred to as the third wave of democratization really began in the late ‘80s with the collapse of the Ber-lin Wall, the end of communism, the end of apartheid in South Africa and all these new changes which various countries have had to embrace. NDI has worked to provide training and capacity building to newly-elected members of parliament in those countries, to leaders who are creating new political parties and dealing with political pluralism for

Christopher Fomunyoh with former Ghanaian President Jerry J. Rawlings in

South Africa.

6 | Exceptional People Magazine | March-April 2011

Mr. Fomunyoh: Sure. First of all, I believe very strongly that democracy is something that peo-ple aspire to in every corner of the world, which people in Africa aspire to live under the same free-doms and enjoy the same liberties that citizens in established de-mocracies may take for granted. So I think that it’s an inner human aspiration for democratic govern-ance and all of the freedoms that we have come to enjoy in estab-lished democracies. At the same time, I also think that the issues of human rights, the freedom of women to participate in political proc-esses, the right of young people to advocate on behalf of citizens and to interact with their governments, these are responsibilities that citizens would like to embrace everywhere in the world. And so for me, it’s always im-portant to break down the notion of democracy into those small things that can mean a lot to people at the grassroots level. Twenty-two decades ago there were only four countries on the entire Afri-can continent that had multi-party systems. Those countries were Sene-gal, The Gambia, Botswana and Mau-ritius. The rest of the 48 countries – the rest of the 49 countries were either under military rule or one-party states. When you look back at Africa today, I am delighted that 11 countries are now considered totally free, and 19 others are considered as partially free. So the continent has gone from four countries in 1990 to about 30 coun-tries today that are considered free enough to allow for democracy to take root and that, for me, is an ac-complishment for the continent, an accomplishment of which Africans ought to be proud. So you can cite countries such as Ghana, Botswana,

The more countries we can have on the continent that are doing well, the easier it’s going to be for all Africans to realize that democracy is not a for-eign concept. It’s something that is doing well on our continent, and it’s something that should do well all across the continent. Monica: In all of your experience working in this area, can you recall any times when the U.S. has actually tried to – not impose, but at least ad-vise any of the African countries on how to establish a democracy? Mr. Fomunyoh: Yes. I should say that the work that is done by organi-zations such as NDI and also the In-ternational Republican Institute and many other U.S. based organizations – that this work is funded for the most part by the U.S. government either through the U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development or through the State Department or through the Na-tional Endowment for Democracy. And these are all entities that use U.S. public funding to help support and encourage the institutionalization of democracy in various countries in Africa.

South Africa, Benin, Mali, Mauritius and Zambia. These are all African countries that are making tremendous progress to strengthen democratic institutions and to make all Africans feel that you don’t have to leave the continent to be able to live in a de-mocratic society. Monica: Would you say that those countries are perfect examples of how the rest of Africa can improve their democratic governance? Mr. Fomunyoh: Absolutely and es-pecially because a decade or two ago, when you had a discussion about de-mocracy on the African continent, you would be hard-pressed to find examples of African countries that you could cite or African countries that could be emulated by other Afri-can countries. But today, when I talk about democracy in Cameroon, I am not comparing Cameroon and France. I am talking about Cameroon and Mali and Cameroon and Benin and the things that Benin has done well for the Beninese people, the things that the government of Mali is doing well for the people of Mali, that the government of Cameroon ought to be doing for its own people.

Christopher Fomunyoh speaking to Cameroonians and friends of Cameroon in

Montreal, Canada, in 2009, on the role of the Cameroonian Diaspora.


We also note that President Barack Obama has been very straightforward in articulating his policy, the policy of

his government to-wards Africa and in underscoring four pri-ority areas, democracy and good governance being the first one.

The resolution of conflicts is the sec-ond one. HIV/AIDS and health care are the third priority and the promo-tion of agriculture being the fourth. So if his first priority is democratic governance or helping African coun-tries put in place democratic proc-esses and systems, there is no doubt in my mind that he and his government will continue to make resources avail-able for NDI and similar organiza-tions to continue in this line of work. Monica: You are the founder and president of the Fomunyoh Founda-tion. What is the main mission or the purpose of the foundation? Mr. Fomunyoh: Sure. The Fomun-yoh Foundation was launched in 1999, and so for the past 12 years we have been trying in our own small way to have an impact on the lives of people in Cameroon. The foundation was borne of an idea that came to me

organization that rates governance processes around the world, recently issued its report for 2009, and it stated that Cameroon was one of 16 African countries that are considered as “not free”. That’s a track record which the coun-try has kept, unfortunately, for over two decades now. Organizations such as Transparency International, The Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International and even the State Department’s human rights re-ports have consistently decried or criticized the fact that the current gov-ernment of Cameroon is not living up to standard when it comes to democ-ratic governance and respect for hu-man rights. Monica: In addition to establishing freedom, what other issues would you like to see addressed in Cameroon? Mr. Fomunyoh: There are several issues that will need to be addressed. I would say, first of all, the issue of democratic governance is a big issue because you need to have an execu-tive branch in Cameroon that’s totally accountable to the people of Camer-oon beginning from the very top, from the head of state himself, the prime minister and members of Cabi-net, and that currently is not happen-ing. You need to have a legislative branch of government that can exer-cise proper oversight over the execu-tive branch and that can represent the voices of the citizens of the country. Secondly, you also need to create an enabling environment that can foster entrepreneurship, which can generate and stimulate Cameroonians in their entrepreneurial spirit. They need to be able to create private enterprises and attract foreign investors because it is through these investments in the private sector that you can create jobs

and members of my family and friends who had heard that those of us who had been fortunate to leave Cam-eroon and have a better way of living elsewhere should find opportunities to give something back to the commu-nity, however modest it could be. So the idea was to launch a founda-tion that, first, would encourage peo-ple to espouse volunteerism and phi-lanthropy and, in that process, also provide training and support to small organizations that are working very hard in Cameroon to promote democ-racy and human rights and that are doing things that can raise citizens’ awareness and also improve their wellbeing. So in the last 12 years the foundation has tried to do that in its own small way, and my hope is that in the years ahead we’ll find ways to do more. Monica: What is your view of the current governmental structure in your homeland of Cameroon? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, definitely I would say that, first of all, Cameroon is not among the 30 countries that I just mentioned based on Freedom House’s ratings. Freedom House, which is an internationally known

Christopher Fomunyoh with His Excellency Victor Smith, close friend and current

Ghanaian Ambassador to the Czeck Republic.


and contribute to the economic devel-opment of the country. Thirdly, I really think that Cameroon needs to mend its relationships with the international community and de-velopment partners. With the track record that the government currently has, it’s extremely difficult for private investors, as well as foreign partners, to want to invest their resources in Cameroon because they are unsure how those resources would be man-aged. Fourthly, I would say we need to cre-ate an environment in Cameroon where each and every Cameroonian, irrespective of their province of ori-gin, their region of origin, their lin-guistic capabilities, will feel comfort-able that they can make a contribution to the development of their country and be appreciated for it. Monica: You have met with many heads of state as well as other politi-cal leaders over the years. How are you leveraging that to help empower the people of Africa and to incite positive political and economic change? Mr. Fomunyoh: I have been very fortunate in my life and my career to benefit from the advice of a number of African leaders, current and recent past. And in 2005, for example, I helped create, launch an initiative called the African Statesman’s Initia-tive. This was an initiative to encour-age former African heads of state, those who have credible democratic credentials, to engage in humanitarian causes across the continent, to be-come peacemakers, peace builders and mediators in various conflicts. They should become engaged in monitoring of elections and become ambassadors of goodwill on health-related issues.

Monica: Do you consider yourself to be an agent of change or the vehicle that brings other peo-ple together who then create the change? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, I feel that there are those of us who have been fortunate to gain exposure on how things can be done well, how good governance works, owe a duty to our continent and to our respective countries to give something back. And it is extremely difficult for some-one like me to go around the conti-nent helping other countries make a difference and not want to do some-thing for my own country. I think I also owe that to the people of Camer-oon. And so ultimately I think that it will be important that I also find a way to make my own contribution to the change that comes about in my coun-try of Cameroon. At the same time I realize that change is a collective endeavor that each citi-zen – each one has got to bring their contribution to the table because no one individual can do it alone. And so

And we succeeded in 2005 to have 17 former African heads of state meet in Bamako, Mali and agree to continue to play a positive role in political and economic development issues across the African continent. I am pleased to see today that, after that initiative, we now have former president of Mo-zambique, President Joaquim Chis-sano, the former president of Benin, President Christophe Soglo, who have taken the leadership in what they now call the Africa Forum, which is an assembly of former leaders who are involved in conflict mediation and conflict resolution initiatives across the continent. And I think that every time Africans see that former presidents play a con-structive role, the message will go out very strongly to incoming presidents that there is life after the state house and that you don’t have to make your-self president for life in your country. You don’t have to change the consti-tution of your country to become president for life because if you serve your people well, even when you are out of office, you will be respected for your contribution and the world will continue to draw on your experience and your goodwill.

Christopher Fomunyoh with former African Heads of State, all seated in the front

row, namely: Nicephore Soglo of Benin; Ket Masire of Botswana; Pierre Buyoya of

Burundi; Aristide Pereira of Cape Verde; Jerry J. Rawlings of Ghana; and Kenneth

Kaunda of Zambia.


whether you take the lead in provid-ing that change or you come forth

with ideas and recom-mendations of how that change can be brought about, once you are able to galva-nize a cross-section of

society in this collective endeavor, I think the chances of success are ex-tremely high. Monica: Generally speaking, women in Africa have always been active in keeping the home in order and taking care of the children. In your efforts to help bring democracy to all of Africa, what changes would you like to see take place for women? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, you have raised a very important point because, in Africa, women constitute slightly more than 50 percent of the popula-tion. In many countries women al-ready play a leadership role. They run the household, which is an extremely important task. Sometimes they are the ones who are involved in eco-nomic activities, especially in the ru-ral areas, that can put food on the ta-ble for the family and who can be-come involved in a way that will raise

than later, we would be able to look at an Africa where women can run for president and win elections. And lo and behold, a few months after the Bamako conference, the first woman president was elected in Africa in the person of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is currently the president of Liberia and who is doing a fantastic job help-ing that country rebuild after about 14 years of civil war. And so by Ellen Johnson’s example, women in Africa can now feel em-powered and emboldened to also strive to be heads of state in their re-spective countries. Monica: Would you say that the most important way that women can become involved as far as helping to bring about self-sufficiency in Africa is through participating in the political process? Mr. Fomunyoh: Yes, it is true of participating in the political process. It is also true through other means, which I think we have to pay attention to. One is education. Access to educa-tion is crucial. In the past, in many African societies when families were strapped for cash and couldn’t afford to send all of their kids to school, the preference would be to send the boys and have the girls stay home. But to-day I think it’s important – it’s ex-tremely crucial for any government seeking development to provide equal opportunities for girls, girls and boys, so that girls can have access to educa-tion because once they are educated, then they can compete equally with male politicians. The second avenue that needs to be explored is the avenue of small busi-ness enterprises, economic freedoms and the ability – creating an environ-ment where women will have the abil-ity to operate their own businesses

the family’s standard of living. We need to provide the same kinds of op-portunities for these women, not just to play a backseat role in the rural areas, in the small family units, but also to project this leadership at the national level. In Senegal, for example, in 2002 NDI engaged in a program to help Sene-galese women who were very dy-namic become more active in the gov-ernance process in their country. We trained close to 2000 women and en-couraged them to run for office as local counselors. Many of them ran for office. About 1400 of them were elected as counselors and members of municipalities. The hope is that some of them will become mayors and heads of councils and they will take this cumulative experience to run for offices at the national level, for parlia-ment. During this conference that we had for heads of states in Bamako, Mali in 2005, one of the things that I said at the time was our hope – because this was a room full of men. All former presidents on the continent now are men. And I said at the time in 2005 that our hope was that sooner rather

Christopher Fomunyoh with fellow Cameroonians in Montreal, Canada, includ-

ing the traditional Queen of Bonedale, Douala, Ikollo N'Doumbe Jacqueline to the

left and veteran journalist Cyrille Ekwalla to the right.


and have a sense of economic inde-pendence so that they can make deci-sions that impact their lives. So I think that economic empower-ment is an important leverage that we need to provide to women if we want them to have equal say or an impor-tant say in the way in which African countries are run. Monica: You believe in the renewal of political leadership on a global level. Would you say that thinking also applies to those who have been very effective for many years? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, we are all human, and you can only be effective to a certain point. The running of a country or managing the affairs of state is a very demanding task. And if you do it well, then, obviously, there will be a time when you will run out of energy. If you don’t do it well, then there’s even more reason to create an opportunity where others can also come to the forefront and make mean-ingful contributions. And so when you see the rest of the world today, the leaders that we have for the United States, a young talented leader in his mid-40s, in France, a president in his early 50s. These are leaders who want to raise the stan-dards of their countries to another level because they think about the world today and they think of the 21st and 22nd centuries. On the other hand, if you have leaders who were born in the early 1920s or 1930s that are still clinging to power, it’s difficult for them to conceptualize the fact that the world today is in the 21st century. It becomes very impor-tant for people to know that when you have an elected mandate, it is a man-date from the people to serve them for a given time and to create an environ-

in terms of material well-being, but in terms of human capital and the vision that can move the con-tinent to take its seat as a global actor in to-day’s world. So I envision a Camer-oon that would be vi-brant, where the rights and liberties of all citizens will be respected, where businesses can invest with the cer-tainty that their investments will be well-protected, where civilians can live side by side with security services without feeling a sense of harassment, where democratic institutions will function such that a leader would not feel compelled to remain in power for decades in order to derive personal benefit. �

ment where a renewal of political leadership can take place in a way that continues to move the country forward. Monica: Overall, what is your great-est vision not only for Africa as a whole but for your native homeland of Cameroon? Mr. Fomunyoh: Well, I have always said that Cameroon really should be a shining star on the African continent because, first of all, it’s blessed by its history and its geography. Its geogra-phy puts it right at the center of the continent, a good mixing point be-tween north and South Africa, as well as between west and east Africa. Its history places it as a country that has experienced Portuguese, German, French, and British colonization and that has the diversity of historical background as well as cultural diver-sity. It’s a country whose citizens are bilingual and, therefore, well poised to be able to compete in today’s world globally. And so my vision for Cameroon is a country that can be the shining star of the African continent, that can project what is best in our continent, not just

Christopher with close friend and US-based Simon Ekiko. Chris and Simon worked

for Cameroon Airlines, in Africa in the 1980s; and more significantly, Simon was the

principal photographer at Chris' wedding in 1982 in North West Cameroon.

Listen to the full interview in the sub-

scriber’s area on

www.exceptionalmag.com.


Sonja FisherSonja Fisher

Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009Former Mrs. Corporate America (2009))))

Promoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In TechnologyPromoting Women In Technology

Sonja: The inspiration for me is I have made it my plat-form my entire life to assist women to achieve their goals and dreams and to overcome any obstacles they may have. So for me it was a way that I could get my message out there and be able to help as many people as possible. So that’s why I became involved with the pageant. When I won, I was so excited because I got to meet many different people. So it was really great to promote that platform. Monica: Of course, your platform focused on women in business, specifically in the technology field, and that is your background as well. Sonja: Correct, yes. I’m typically one of 25 women in a room at my day job, so I have lots of challenges you could say, being the minority. But I definitely want to let women out there know that it’s still a potential possible career where you can do well and become successful. A lot of people give up when they face obstacles. For in-stance, one of the obstacles I faced when I was in college, I had a statistics professor who told me I would never gradu-ate in math or statistics because I was a woman. I proved him wrong. Not only did I prove him wrong, but I stood on the same stage with him to receive a special award at graduation. I felt so empowered by that. Monica: What are some of the challenges that you have encountered on the job, being the only woman in a room among 25 or more men? Sonja: Well, one of the things that I find the most chal-lenging is actually being taken seriously. It’s really hard in a room of men who don’t always listen to what you say. In fact, you might actually throw out an idea, and five minutes later a guy throws out the same idea, but he gets credit for it. So that part gets to be really challenging for me. I have to constantly prove myself. Once I’ve proven myself, they tend to show me respect and value my opinion, but it takes a while to bring them on board. So that’s what I’m saying. You have to have persistence in that regard in order to sur-vive in a technological world because it is the old boy’s network. It’s hard for women to find mentors within or outside of the organization to help them move up that corporate ladder because there are so few women at the top. In lots of cases, even within my own company, the men would go to bars or attend functions outside of the workplace that the women were not always invited to.

Today, more than ever, there are more women in the workplace and they play a major role

in how business is conducted in the private and public sectors. In 2009 Sonja was named Mrs. Corporate America. Her life-long passion is to help women achieve their dreams and overcome obstacles. As winner of the 2009 Mrs. Corporate America pageant, she adopted a platform to inspire women to enter the technology field. Throughout her career, Sonja Fisher found there were a small percentage of women who actually worked in the technology field. “I’m typically the only woman of 25 in a room at my job, so I have lots of challenges, you could say, being the minority. But I definitely want to let women know that it’s a potential career where you can do really well and be very successful, and you just have to go for it,” said Fisher. As part of her mission and effort to help women achieve success in the field of technology, she formed the first technical sorority in America called Alpha Sigma Kappa (ASK), Women in Technical Studies. The organization now has over seven chapters and it has touched the lives of many women. Sonja currently serves on the board of Oracle, Inc., a technology based company, and the Oracle Women Leaders Group, which promotes women working within the company and encourages them to reach their highest potential. It was a pleasure to speak with Sonja about her passion to help bring women into an industry that is both challeng-ing and rewarding. Monica: I want to congratulate you on being named Mrs. Corporate America of 2009. Sonja: Thank you. I did that for a year. I just ended my reign in March of 2010, but it was an amazing experi-ence. I got to speak to women of all ages and races within the United States concerning careers in corporate America and in technology. Monica: What was your inspiration for that?


Extraordinary ProfilesExtraordinary ProfilesExtraordinary ProfilesExtraordinary Profiles

So that gets to be a challenge because then you miss out on the relationship-building and the things that are going on from the aspect of learning the inside scoop. You have to put in a lot more effort and per-sistence and know a lot of the key things to be able to network and put yourself out there. Monica: What are some things that you have done to overcome that? Sonja: To overcome those feelings that I face every day means being proactive. I document things a lot to protect myself and so that I’m able to share my ideas. So a lot of that is the more documentation you have to support your ideas and whatever you’ve been working on, that’s better, because sometimes it hap-pens that someone else will take the credit. It’s very frustrating because I can be on accounts for million-dollar deals, and I won’t get any credit. The person who is leading the account gets all the credit, or even some of the guys that have been brought into the account. It’s very frustrating. So I try to dot my i’s and cross my t’s as much as possible. In fact, in corporate America, one percent of women are in the CEO positions. Five percent are in execu-tive positions. That’s a really small number. I think something needs to be done to change that. Also, women earn far less than men. The average woman makes 75 cents to a dollar. If you happen to be a dif-ferent culture or race and you’re a woman, it’s 50 cents on the dollar. To me that’s unacceptable. If you’re doing the same job, I think you should earn the same amount of money, especially if you’re con-tributing. So I’m a big proponent of telling women to be more aggressive. A lot of women don’t ask. That’s where I think I can make a difference too. I try to encour-age women to go for what they want. At the end of the year go to your boss and say, “Can I have a raise,” or supply documentation about all the things that you’ve done and actually show the bottom line, how much you’ve improved the bottom line or how you’ve improved processes within your company. If you can prove that you’ve done a good job, it’s hard for them to say no. Monica: How are you reaching out to these women?

Sonja: Actually, when I was Mrs. Corporate America, I was talking to lots of different groups. I focused on educational groups. I’m doing a Ph.D. program along the same topic as my dissertation. So I would reach out to a lot of the college stu-dents, talk to those women and instill in them and the profes-sors that women should pursue work in the business and tech-nology sectors. My focus on my dissertation paper will be major computer companies. I’m going to pick the top five, send survey forms to women in certain age ranges and narrow it down to see which women succeed, why some succeed and some don’t suc-ceed. A lot of women drop out of the field because they be-come discouraged or want to start their own companies. One of the statistics today is 65 to 70 percent of all the companies owned in the United States are owned by women. I generally feel that women get fed up because they can’t succeed in corpo-rate America or they have a lot of politics to overcome, so they end up starting their own businesses to get around that. Monica: Of course, that’s a great thing, and they also end up providing opportunities for other women. Sonja: That’s why another way that I get out there too, I’m a member of many women’s clubs. It began when I was in col-lege. I formed the first technical sorority in America called Al-pha Sigma Kappa (ASK), Women in Technical Studies. We have over seven chapters; I believe it’s touched about 700 women’s lives over the time frame of when I graduated from college. We began as a group of Sisters of Triangle, which was an engineering fraternity at the time, and we branched off and became a sorority. We’re recognized in the Greek Society. It’s a sorority focused on women in technology. That’s been very beneficial and influential. That’s part of the reason why I won the award I told you about when I graduated from college, because of its impact on colleges in the United States. Aside from that, I’m involved with a lot of groups like National Association of Female Executives (NAFE), and Pro-fessional Business Women of California (PBWC). I became involved with as many women’s groups as possible. I’m also on the board at Oracle, the Oracle Women Leaders Group, and that’s to promote women within Oracle and focus on their achievements. Monica: So you can say that Oracle is certainly a supporter of promoting women in technology. Sonja: Yes. They formed the Oracle Women’s Leadership Group. I think we have about 300 members now.



Monica: The very first time you attended a meeting where you learned that you were the only woman in the room, what was your immediate reaction? Sonja: It started in college when I attended the Institute of Technology in Minnesota. I was maybe one woman of 26 students in almost every class. So for me it was quite the challenge. I’m a very outgoing person and I have been able to get along well with men, so that’s not an is-sue. The issue is you’re kind of looked down upon until you prove yourself. So that, for me, was frustrat-ing and a little over-whelming at first, but I adjusted after a while. Being in this career for 16 years, I face this every single day. Monica: You’re working on obtain-ing your Oracle En-terprise Architect Certificate. What do you plan to do after you have achieved it? Sonja: At Oracle they have a new pro-gram called the Ora-cle Enterprise Archi-tect, which is based on the Oracle Enter-prise Architect Foundation, which is based on the five different method-ologies that are in existence today. One is CIA, a govern-ment type of methodology used for IT architecture, ITEL. There are a couple of others out there as well. All of

these basically come together, and they are tailored to be specific to Oracle products. So my goal is to go out once I get the certification to become more of a champion for my clients in regard to solving their IT problems from an archi-tecture perspective. I would bring in Oracle technologies,

focusing on how that marries with their current ar-chitecture, and offer practices and meth-odologies on how to operate an IT depart-ment. That is basically what it comes down to -- the best architec-ture. In today’s day and age, tech-nology has become so

complex because there are so many companies -- and Oracle is one of those do-ing acquisitions. Since I have



pushed in that direction rather than into standard gender occu-pations. I’m all supportive of that. I have attended science fairs to help students, especially young women, young girls, become involved as well. I think it’s very important for our young folks to get involved. So however I can promote that, I do. I think everyone should love their job, love what they do, and they shouldn’t be afraid to go for it. Monica: What advice can you offer women who are interested in entering technology or other male-dominated fields? Sonja: If you’re in college and you’re seeking a job, I would definitely research the positions that you’re interested in. You can obtain information by calling HR departments or doing some informational interviews to determine what positions would really be in line with your values and your goals. You could also make a list contacts to identify people in the field that you’re interested in and schedule informational interviews with them. About 80 percent of all jobs are obtained through people you know or through networking. LinkedIn is a great source for that. You can definitely say I want to know someone from HP. I would log in and find people I know who work at HP or are connected to people at HP. That’s what I mean, you have to be proactive, and you have to be out there in the sense of wanting to meet people and network because that’s when opportunities come. Always be aware of opportunities when you see them, and go for it. If you wait for opportunities to come to you, it’s going to be a lot harder. Monica: I would imagine that same advice applies to women who want to go into a field that is mostly dominated by men. Sonja: Exactly. For instance, one of the things that I did when I was in college, I became connected with a program that was mentoring at the University of Minnesota, which is what I cur-rently do with students in the IT department. I used to mentor two students a year via phone and email. I live in California now, but I talk to each individual and ask them about their goals and desires. If I have anybody in my network, which is pretty vast, I’ll hook them up with people they can speak with to obtain information. One thing leads to another, right? Another group that came into my world when I was in Minne-sota when I first started my career, was a group called Ment-tium. I was actually mapped to a woman that owns her own company. She was an entrepreneur. We would meet for lunch regularly, and she would give me ideas on how to go about my

been working at Oracle they have had about 56 acquisitions. So managing Oracle and thinking of all those different acquisitions you’ve made, you have to incorporate all of those systems within the systems you currently have. We’re talking HR, we’re talking finance, and we’re talking technol-ogy. All of them have to come into play. So how do you effectively manage all of that, plus all of the data and information needed to obtain a single source of business intelligence? So it’s bringing it all together. From that architecture framework, I want to be able to help other customers become successful. Monica: Through your sorority, how do you get women to join? Sonja: For our sorority we do a lot of activities on the campuses. We’re involved in a lot of the stu-dent unions and we offer activities where we have an orientation and different events that they can attend. From there, if they have an interest in the group, they can join. We advertise to classes where they’re registered and do tours and things. We give them documentation. There are flyers and things about events that are coming up. We’ve been able to get a lot of people that way. We even had a house at one point. I believe a cou-ple of our chapters are considering obtaining a house so that we can build more camaraderie. It’s a really neat thing to be a part of. I was involved on the board throughout my college years. After I graduated, I was also on their board from the per-spective of being a national officer helping the group to expand. A lot of women still network in the group. Some of the people who are in the working world help new graduates obtain jobs. So it’s really, really beneficial. Monica: In terms of the women that you meet, for those who may not be sure what they want to do next or in general, do you encourage any of them to enter the technology field? Sonja: Yes, I do. I think there is a lot of reward in the technology field, especially if women show interest in it. You can tell from an early age who has a natural interest for it, and they should be



bimbo brunette. So we need to change the cultural views not only within the technology field, but I think we have to do it across our entire culture because unfortunately it’s just the way that women are perceived. I say to all of the women out there go for what you want. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something because you can. If you want to achieve a goal, break it down into small compo-nents to the point that you are able to achieve smaller goals. Eventually you’ll reach that big goal. Just keep at it. �

career. She was also an engineer, another male-dominated area. She gave me lots of tips on how to view my career and how to achieve my goals. Monica: And so now you’re passing it on. Sonja: Yes, exactly. I love to do the mentoring too, and I love to seek out other mentors. One thing you can do too is brainstorm. What people do you want to meet? Who inspires you? Make a list of those people and try to see if there’s a way you can meet them. Put yourself in a situation to try to meet them. You never know what will come out of it. I’ve done that before. I actually had another dream, to become an actress, so I’ve been fulfilling a lot of goals. One of the things I’ve always wanted all my life was to be to be on General Hospital. When I first moved to LA, I thought about how I could meet Mark Teschner who was the casting director of the show. I found out that he taught some classes at TVI Actors Stu-dio. I showed up, did an audition, was accepted, went to his class and met him. It took three years of classes, plus lots of mail to his office, but I landed a role on that show about a year and a half ago. I had a one-liner on the show. I can say my dream came true because I pursued it. I didn’t wait for it to come to me. Monica: From your perspective, what is your view of women in male-dominated fields? Sonja: My perspective of women in male-dominated careers is, I think, you have to develop a thick skin. I think you have to be persistent in what you want to accomplish. You should really enjoy it because if you don’t, you’re going to feel beaten down during the process. I believe that’s true in general, but it not only occurs within the tech field, it occurs in other fields as well. I don’t know if you know this but only 17 percent of all roles in film and TV go to women. I found that very sur-prising. Out of that 17 percent, about ten to twelve percent of those are not major roles. I was motivated about how we could fix this prob-lem and I recently joined the Geena Davis Institute. Geena Davis is making a big impact on women within the media because sometimes women are portrayed as the dumb bimbo blond or the dumb



Sarfo AbebreseSarfo AbebreseSarfo Abebrese

Africa’s Date with Destiny Has Come Africa’s Date with Destiny Has Come Africa’s Date with Destiny Has Come Africa’s Date with Destiny Has Come and Gone… But the Dream Lives Onand Gone… But the Dream Lives Onand Gone… But the Dream Lives Onand Gone… But the Dream Lives On

Unifying Africa Through the Unifying Africa Through the Unifying Africa Through the Universal Sport of SoccerUniversal Sport of SoccerUniversal Sport of Soccer

For many years it has been one of the most popular sports around the world, the sport of soccer or football as it is often called throughout Africa. During the 2010 World Cup series held in South Africa, it is estimated that over 24.3 million people watched the game between Spain and the Netherlands. The 2010 series set a record for being the most-viewed World Cup ever on English-language television. As people around the world watched the game, Sarfo Abebrese was behind the scenes planning strategies to change the lives of many Africans, and the World Cup presented a unique opportunity, in Abebrese’s view, to implement his plans. Abebrese says, “Africa has won the bid to host the FIFA soccer World Cup games for the first time in over 100 years of FIFA’s existence.” The more he thought about it, the more it became clear to him that, if ever Africa needed an opportunity to bring the people together then the soccer World Cup was going to be the best opportunity. In Africa, soccer is everything. All 53 countries of Africa are very much interested in soccer. Imagine the interest that baseball, bas-ketball and football generate in the

through sports, Abebrese has begun a powerful movement to unify all of Africa through the sport. It was per-fect timing that the World Cup series was held in Africa. One of Abebrese’s key missions is to have all 53 countries join his efforts to accomplish his vision, which has not been met without opposition, es-pecially in its early stages.

United States. All of them put together are what soc-cer means to African peo-ple. “So I felt that if the conti-nent has now had an op-portunity to bring the whole world to Africa for the hosting of the soccer World Cup, then those of

us in Africa, we owe it to ourselves and to posterity to try and make use of that opportunity that the soc-cer World Cup is presenting.” As founder of Coalition of Supporter Unions of Af-rica (COSUA), a Pan African sports support organi-zation seeking to promote and achieve African unity

news reporter with Ghana Television, to support myself through law school. Thank God, I was able to do that suc-cessfully. After I became a lawyer in Ghana, I did some work, but I always aspired to accomplish higher things in terms of law and expanding my horizons. There were people who greatly influ-enced my ability to come from that stage to be able to take the New York Bar exam and be admitted. Within the very first year, by the grace of God, I was able to make it and become an attorney in the United States. I think I owe it to them for their help and the assistance that they provided. But eventually I was able to get here to the United States and study for the bar exam. Monica: After arriving at such a level of accomplishment, you decided to step away from it all and fulfill a specific vision that you had in mind. So what was the driving force behind your decision to go back to Africa? Sarfo: Well, the driving force was the opportunity to help the people. I mean basically that was what it was because personally I thought I had reached the height of my career aspi-rations. And every lawyer all over the world, in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, many of them aspire to pass the New York Bar because it’s the most promi-nent of achievements for every law-yer. So as far as personal education is con-cerned, I now have what it takes to be able to practice here and work to make a living for myself and my fam-ily. But just at that time there was a call on my life as well. Basically, what it was that -- I mentioned my back-ground as a lawyer, a political scien-

who benefit from education. The few of us who become fortunate enough to get an education, the onus is heavy on us to help less fortunate people.

One thing that I will say is that in for-mulating the concept for COSUA, the project that I’m working on right now, I think that my background as a political scientist and as a lawyer helped. It’s a matter of fusing sports with the political arena, the knowl-edge in the political arena and making it work. Politically we bring the peo-ple of Africa together for peace, de-velopment and unity. I think that background has been a great help to me. Monica: In May of 2002 you were admitted to the New York State Bar. In addition to that, you’ve also ac-complished other things since you attended the University of Ghana. What was the journey like, going from the University of Ghana to arriv-ing in America and being admitted to the New York State Bar? Sarfo: It has been very hard. It has been difficult because I accomplished all of that from the background of Africa with all its problems, difficul-ties and economic circumstances. What I would say is that it is a testi-mony to God’s glory that I could make it so far. Following my graduation from the University of Ghana in 1988, I pro-ceeded to the Ghana Law School to get my law degree. I became a law-yer in Ghana in 1993. But before then, I started working as a news edi-tor with Ghana Television and was a television news reporter. So the chal-lenge was that throughout my law school years, I was also working full-time as a journalist and as a television

“We’ve also come a very, very long way. I must say that a lot of the other govern-ments in Africa have been very good to us. In most of the other African countries we’ve had tremendous sup-port even from the govern-ments. We can only move forward because we do have the official recognition now of the African Union as a body, certified by all the 53 presidents of Africa,” states Abebrese. Abebrese enthusiastically shared his aspirations about uniting Africa through the sport of soccer with Excep-

tional People Magazine.. Monica: Having earned a law degree and a degree in political science, did you anticipate pursuing careers in both of those areas? Sarfo: Yeah, precisely. Yes. I stud-ied law and political science. I have joint degrees at the University of Ghana, which I completed in 1988. The idea was to become a lawyer, but in Ghana, when you finish your de-gree in law, you’re not a lawyer until you proceed to law school. In law school, I read only law, so I didn’t study political science any further than the first degree. But definitely the idea was to become a lawyer and a good one, and to use my experience to better myself in my career aspirations. I also wanted to use my expertise to benefit society. In Africa there aren’t many people

The Pan African investment group, KATOTA, has been COSUA's primary

sponsors since 2006. Here, Mrs. Grace Eshun, Vice-Chair of KATOTA pre-

sents samples of jerseys to Sarfo Abebrese as part of KATOTA's kit-donations

to COSUA.


tist and sports journalist? The fusion of all three had created a burning de-sire to see Africa prosper, something better for my native continent. So when I went back to Africa, I be-gan thinking and believing in the ide-als of the collaboration of African unity which took place on the May 25, 1963. That’s when the political leaders of Africa at the time came together and formed the Organization of African Union. Basically, it has been a burden on the continent to find a way to unite the people of Africa. It has been something that, ever since that declaration 47 years ago, African leaders have been working very hard to achieve. We now have an African Union just like the European Union that is work-ing very hard with all the govern-ments of the 53 states of Africa. When I went back, I found out that there would be a possibility for this to be done in a much easier and sponta-neous manner because something that never happened in Africa was about to happen. Africa has been able to win the bid to host the first ever FIFA soccer World Cup on the continent in over 100 years of FIFA’s existence. The more I thought about it, the more it became clear to me that, if Africa ever needed an opportunity to bring the people together, then soccer world cup that was coming up in South Af-rica in 2010 was going to be the best opportunity. Africa could take hold of and use it to bring people together for the simple reason that -- people here in the States may not appreciate this, but in Africa, soccer is a religion. In Africa, soccer is everything. All 53 countries of Africa are very much interested in soccer. You can imagine by putting together the sort of interest that baseball, basketball, football and other sports here in the United States

generate, all of them put to-gether is what soccer stands for in Africa. So I felt that if the continent has an opportunity to bring the whole world to Africa for the hosting of the soccer World Cup, then those of us in Africa owe it to ourselves and to pos-terity to make use of that opportunity that the soccer World Cup is present-ing. I thought that the best area in which to get it to work for the people is unity because with soccer you do not need to differentiate between who’s Ghanaian, Nigerian, Cameroo-nian or South African. Every African was basking in the euphoria of the prospect of the World Cup being hosted in Africa. So I gave that my thought and atten-tion. The more I thought about it, the more I saw it as a calling to make that sacrifice of going back to Africa and getting this to work. I must say that it has been a very, very big personal sacrifice that I had to make, but I had to do it. I guess this project started -- I think I’m so very happy about mak-ing that decision and leaving law practice for the past eight years. Only God knows how much I would have made by practicing in New York. But I think the seed that we’ve been able to sow by working on this project -- putting in our time and other things for the past five years I do believe that it is paying off. And I do believe that it is going to establish a lasting legacy for Africa. At the end of the day I would be happy to know that my sac-rifice and those of the others have not been in vain. Monica: How did you go about find-ing the people to put together this team? Amy: Well, first of all, I do a lot of networking in Africa because of my --

let’s say popularity as a tele-vision personality. So it was not very difficult for me to reach out to people I had met, people that I had spoken to and people that I knew had the heart to help the conti-nent. So I was able to reach out to some of these people, beginning with Ghana, then other countries. I believe we have a very strong team of professionals and people who are well-educated to articu-late our mission. Monica: In September of 2006 you were successful in forming the Coalition of Sup-porters Unions of Africa, which is COSUA. Obvi-ously, this achievement did not hap-pen overnight. What were some chal-lenges that you encountered and were able to overcome? Sarfo: Well, from the beginning we knew that the basic challenge was going to be finance. We also had an inclination, a premonition that chal-lenges were going to come from some African governments. Africa is a continent in which power play is the order of the day. A lot of govern-ments in Africa are run by politicians who are always suspicious of activi-ties that are meant to mobilize the citizens that vote them into power and keep them in power. So basically, with finance, we felt that we had to start on a personal level because we believe in the vision, and we made huge sacrifices, putting our own personal funds at the core of this.

Sarfo Abebrese (extreme right), with fellow-delegates at the African Union

'Year of Football Conference" in Pretoria, South Africa in March 2007. Those

in the picture include, Her Excellency Biennce Gawwanas, Commissioner of

the African Union, and Dr. Djibril Diallo, U.N Director, Sports for Peace and

Development. Photo by courtesy of Mark Ouma, VOA.


We have 53 countries that are divided not only in terms of their geographical boundaries but also in terms of cul-tural and colonial heritages. People who have read African history would agree that the colonial masters di-vided up the continent in such a way as to not allow us to relate to each other as brothers and sisters of the same continent. What is different is that I am from Ghana. In Ghana the three countries that border Ghana are all French-speaking countries. If I travel north, I will be entering a terri-tory that is French-speaking because their colonial masters were not Eng-lish. I will be unable to relate to them because when I cross the border, I have to be able to speak French be-fore I can communicate. That is the way Africa is. People speak French, English, and Portuguese, depending on who their colonial masters were. Monica: In 2007 you went into exile. While you were in exile, what were your thoughts about what had tran-spired up to that point and how were you going to overcome that particular adversity? Sarfo: Well, it was a very difficult time because I had gone into this with intentions to help my country and to help the continent of Africa. I think at that point a lot of the persecution arose from misunderstandings about the whole purpose. I also think that there must have been a bit of personal vendetta in the matter because at that point in time, strangely enough, the persecutions were led by a colleague of mine. He was my schoolmate in law school. He became a lawyer and a minister in the government. At the end of the day, I was well-received when I went into exile in South Africa. That was also better for the soccer World Cup. Most impor-tantly, the African Union, through its

What we have on the table now, we can only move forward, and we can only suc-ceed because failure is not an option. Within

the next four years we want to estab-lish a lasting legacy for Africa in terms of the 2010 soccer World Cup that has just ended. We know that opportunity is not going to present itself again for a long time because it took Africa a hundred years of FIFA’s existence for the first World Cup to come to the continent. We have put forward a four-year plan of action between the 2010 soccer World Cup and the 2014 soccer World Cup that will be played in Bra-zil. We are using it to run the most massive campaign in terms of bring-ing people together in Africa that has ever been attempted because our tar-get is to bring together about 300 mil-lion people from the continent of Af-rica in these four years. We are going to use that to raise our own funds and employ both the human resources and the financial resources that we can put together for the benefit of the conti-nent. This is exactly how we want it to work out. We know that once we are able to put these numbers of people together, we will have taken a very strong step to-wards unifying the continent of Af-rica. But the eventual aim is to help our political leaders to establish a United States of Africa just as we have the United States of America, because the salvation of Africa does not lie in our numerous natural re-sources. Africa is a very blessed con-tinent. Almost every country has dia-monds, timber, gold and other re-sources, but we’re still suffering be-cause we’re not harnessing these re-sources together. There is no unity of purpose.

September 7, 2006, was when we officially inaugu-rated COSUA. But before then we had been working at it for about two years. Prior to that, we were able to or-ganize the Supporters Union of Ghana as a starting point for this project, because we needed to begin in my coun-try before we expanded it to the rest of the continent. Un-fortunately, we had problems with the then-ruling govern-ment and the sports ministry that didn’t want to give us the support and even tried to put impediments in our way. I’m glad to say that with Ghana’s present government

those problems have been handled, but they are a serious challenge to me. Several times I was tempted to leave the project and return to the United States to practice law. But the more I thought about what I stood to make, the difference that this will make in the lives of millions of people, the more I felt the need to hang in there and continue sacrificing. I had to leave my country and live in exile just to keep this working. We’ve also come a very, very long way. I must say that a lot of the other governments in Africa have been very good to us. In most of the other Afri-can countries we’ve had tremendous support. We can only move forward because we now have the official rec-ognition of the African Union as a body, certified by all 53 presidents of Africa.

COSUA members flank their President, Sarfo Abebrese and Director in

charge of Southern Africa, Mr. Daniel Mundea, during the 'African

Day' celebrations at the African Museum in Johannesburg, South Af-

rica, May 2010.


commission of social observers, sup-ported me in those very difficult days. That helped me to keep my resolve to remain in Africa and get the work going. I must express my gratitude to the African Union, especially to the commissioner for social affairs. If I am permitted to mention the name, Advocate Bience Gawanas, stood strongly behind me and helped me move through all the other African countries, even though I was suppos-edly wanted by my government in Ghana. Monica: The same court that ordered your arrest later rescinded the order and dismissed all of the charges. What does that say about the power of faith and your belief in your vision? Sarfo: Precisely. It is amazing the way God works. It is the same court that issued the bench warrant for my arrest and that had been used to perse-cute me dismissed the charges and set me free. Basically, I have a very strong faith in Christ and in God. With the passage of time, ever since I felt the call to begin this project in Africa, I have strongly believed that this was a divine call. I may not have the ability to minister in church, but God gives us niches to fulfill, depend-ing on our strengths and weaknesses, as well as what He wants us to do. So I personally believe that this pro-ject is a call of God on me, and if it is, that means God is able to take you through every form of adversity. He is able to bring you out of it. The Bi-ble says that He will take you through it. It doesn’t say that He will take you around it. So those adversities will come, and you will go through them, but God goes through them with you, his hand is upon you and the mission that you are embarking on is from him. That is the personal experience that I have had because there are so

many testimonies of God’s divine prove-nance throughout these past years for the work that I have been able to do. At the time that the same government was in power and I was supposed to be in exile, I won a court case. That is something where you need God on your side to be able to do. Monica: Sure. The bottom line pur-pose of COSUA is to bring about unity in all of Africa. What advan-tages can the players receive from it? Sarfo: The actual soccer players? We are not benefiting the soccer play-ers themselves. We are benefiting the soccer spectators. Our focus is on the people that sit in the stadiums to watch the soccer games and not the people that play. Millions of people watch on television and go to the sta-diums to watch. Those are the people that we target. Those are the people that we bring together because there are large numbers, millions or hun-dreds of millions of people. As we are able to bring them together, we are bringing virtually all the citizens of Africa together. What we do for them is -- right now the four-year plan that we are putting into action is very simple. We are telling the people of Africa that we want all of you to come together. Then we will be able to have a drawing and select some of you to attend a subsequent world sporting event for free. That is the catch because we have euphoria right now in Africa. We know that within the next four years there are three ma-jor sporting tournaments that every-body would like to attend. Next year there is the women’s World Cup in Germany that is going to be hosted by Germany. In 2012 there are the Olympic Games in London. In 2014

we have the soccer World Cup in Brazil. What we are trying to do is to mobilize people in Africa and generate enough funds to send 10,000 people to these competitions. We want them join with other Africans that have come from the Dias-pora, be there in the stadiums for the purpose of supporting the African teams. By doing so, we are causing a social integration, a melting pot of social integration in Africa and in the Diaspora in a way that would have been impos-sible using any means aside from sports. Monica: You have been on a multi-country tour to have various African countries take on an affiliate of CO-SUA. How successful have you been so far? Sarfo: Very successful. We would have been much more successful had it not been for the problem of funding. Africa consists of 53 countries, and the moment the AU gave me the man-date to work on this project, I had the opportunity to travel through all 53 countries. So far I have done 22. As I said, the only reason why I have not been able to do all 53 is because of funding. We receive occasional help from one or two individuals who be-lieve in the project. On the strength of that I have been able to tour 22 countries in Africa. It is our projec-tion that once we receive the funding, we will bring the remaining countries together under the banner of COSUA.

COSUA has had tremendous support from African leaders in its effort

to use sports to build the foundations of a United States of Africa. The

Vice-President of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama lis-

tens to COSUA President Sarfo Abebrese as he expouses the tenets of

COSUA at the African Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethio-

pia, January 2009.


In terms of politics, I studied political science at the university, but I never practiced politics. Going through this mission for the past six or so has shown me the practical side of poli-tics, especially in Africa. Both the good side and the bad side have equipped me with a lot of knowledge that I wouldn’t have been able to learn in books. What I have come to stand for and what I have come to believe in is you have to persevere in pushing for your goals, so long as you know it is going to benefit millions of other people. �

richest continent in the world. In terms of natu-ral resources, we are very blessed. Every country of Africa has a good sup-

ply of natural resources. You’re talk-ing about gold, diamonds, oil and tim-ber and rich agricultural lands. We have everything. So basically, our problem as a continent is we went through so many years of colonialism and slavery. Coming out of it, we have not been able to coordinate our resources with our neighboring coun-tries. So it is basically the lack of unity that has been our bane and not the lack of resources. If the aim of the African Union to build the United States of Africa ma-terializes and by the year 2020 we have the whole continent of Africa as one nation, countries that are lacking in their own natural resources are go-ing to benefit like in the United States. Every state benefits from fed-eral development of resources. That is what should happen in Africa. If we are able to do that, we are going to be an economically empowered conti-nent. We will be able to take our des-tiny into our own hands and share our resources with less fortunate coun-tries, both the human resources and the natural resources. Monica: Since you began executing your vision of COSUA, what are some lessons that you have learned throughout the process? Sarfo: The very first one I will tell you is it is very rewarding for any individual to put his own life at stake for the benefit of millions of others. For me as a Christian, it has shown me that a walk with God is not only in terms of church activities, but what you do with your life for humanity and for people that are less fortunate is also very rewarding.

Monica: Have you set a timeline as to when you would like to have all of Af-rica on board? Sarfo: Yes, we set a time-line. By the time the next World Cup takes place in 2014, we at COSUA should be able to say that we have the whole of Africa on board with this project. We should be able to say that in every country of Africa we have two to six million people that are officially registered as members of this organization. We want to say they are on board and they share our vi-sion and aspiration for a bet-ter Africa through unity and

development. So our timeline is the next soccer World Cup. As to when the political mission will follow, we are not politicians. We are only mobilizing our citizens together. It is now left to the African Union, with the 53 presidents of Africa, to take this as a catalyst and move the continent toward political unity. We are bringing the social unity, and they have the task of bringing the political unity where they can then move the continent towards building a United States of Africa. Monica: I would imagine that with everything you’re doing right now, you’re establishing a foundation that will hopefully have an impact on the economic development structure. Sarfo: Precisely. Precisely. We are about one of the poorest continents in the world, but in reality, we are the

John Obi Mikel

Samuel Eto’o

Michael Essien

Sarfo Abebrese with officials of FIFA/Match on arrival at the Abuja Airport,

Nigeria, during the official African country tour preceding the 2010 Soccer

World Cup. With them is African soccer legend, Abedi Ayew Pele,(middle)

3-time African Best Soccer player, and FIFA's Goodwill Ambassador.

Listen to the full interview in the sub-

scriber’s area on

www.exceptionalmag.com.


Minding MyMinding My

BusinessBusiness

C ori Maedel

ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY: EFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESSEFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR BUSINESS

With over 25 years of experience in the human re-

sources and business development arenas, Cori Maedel

is armed with the knowledge needed to help small busi-

nesses and corporations overcome obstacles in dealing

with issues relating to employment. As founder and CEO of the Jouta Performance Group, she has enabled businesses to figure out the best approach to their human resource requirements. She helps business owners avoid costly mistakes. Her company offers many personal and professional consulting services to help

In her interview with Exceptional People Magazine, Maedel shared the successes she’s encountered in working with clients. Monica: Can you talk about how you became involved in HR, human resources? Cori: When I was younger, HR was really a policing sort of place. They were the place that hired and fired you. So this was 25 years ago, and HR really wasn’t a place that I was interested in at all. But I was fortunate enough to work in an organization that was doing some really innovative things, and they were all being done outside of the HR um-brella, although they’re all HR-related things. So it was like organizational development. We were doing total quality management where we were taking an organi-zation that had been around for 40 years and putting a team environment in place. So I was doing that kind of work early on. I also found that I had an ability to work with peo-ple. Somehow they trusted me. I was able to empathize with them. I was able to understand. So I had a combination of the connection with people and the ability to do HR work, that wasn’t at the time called HR. And the truth is I was born an entrepreneur. My parents are both entrepre-neurs, and I had an incredibly strong work ethic that I learned from my mother. I was constantly looking around and thinking, “What can I do differently here? How can I improve?” I was always looking at ways to do things bet-ter. Monica: How has being in business for yourself changed your life? Cori: I’ve wanted to start my own company for as long as I can remember but couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. The thing that I think surprised me the most is how much I would be up against myself. And what I mean by that is one of the things I committed to is that I would walk my talk. I joke about the fact that I work with so many executive teams, that any advice I gave them I had to follow here be-cause if I was okay to preach to them, then I better walk my talk. So I committed that any time I came into a crossroads at Jouta I would look back at what advice I had given and make sure I took my own advice. Just coming up against my own beliefs and understandings and just constantly learning how to be better, how to get more balance, how to do everything that you have to do as an entrepreneur and do it well. It’s an amazing process. It has been for me anyway.

businesses create an infrastructure that will attract and retain quality employees. Maedel provides practical and realistic advice for small business owners and suggests policies that could be im-plemented for recruiting and retention, development and training. She’s always ready to answer questions from business owners relating to building effective and successful teams, as well as other issues.


Minding My BusinessMinding My BusinessMinding My BusinessMinding My Business

Monica: And what do you find most rewarding about helping other business owners build effective teams and bring on the best employees?

Cori: Well, I’m going to go back a minute. When I was an adolescent in my early teens, I was a pretty troubled kid. I was making bad choices, and there was nobody in my environment that could help me. My mom didn’t have the skill. I decided after that I would do everything I could to help people. So that was the start. As I was helping people, helping organizations and bring-ing them together, the reward was amazing. For an or-ganization to turn one degree to do things better, for me there’s nothing better. So I believe that I come from a place of giving now. I switched that throughout my life, and it’s about how I can make a difference in the lives of the people that I touch, organizations and individuals alike. Each organization is nothing more than a whole bunch of people.

So it’s really helping everybody to become the best that they can be. I think often in organizations we get caught up in the sales, and we get caught up in building the business.

But we forget that we need an infrastructure of people around in order to do it effectively. Helping, again, to bring those two together is incredibly empowering for me. I couldn’t work this hard or these long hours if I wasn’t hav-ing a good time. So many entrepreneurs go out there, and they start these amazing businesses, but they are masters of their own craft. There is so much that they don’t know. Normally, they come to us at the time of some sort of pain point. Some-thing’s happened. They’ve had to terminate an employee, or they’ve grown so fast they’ve said, “Oh my, what do we do now? We need some structure.” It’s so great to be able to say, “Hey. I know I can make a difference here. I know I can make a difference for that entrepreneur. I know I can help them sleep better at night because I can take care of some of the things that I know are bothering them.”



JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA level of intensity they need, then they’re not going to be successful. And I think there are different types of entrepreneurs, the ones that really want to start companies or those that want to take contracts here and there and manage on their own. Monica: From a business owner’s perspective, how can one attract the right candidates for the job? Cori: That’s a great question because here’s my belief; I’ll tell you my two cents here. Traditionally, what I see organizations or entrepreneurs do is they focus on noth-ing but sales to start. That’s all they do. In those instances I see lots of businesses fail. So I thought, okay, you need to set up an infrastructure. You need to have a place where, if you’re going to hire an employee, they’re going to know you have your act to-gether. So that means ensuring that you’re not grabbing the first employee that you find, that you are clear on what you’re looking for and that you understand what you need and where you’re going as a company.

the right persons to help me as I grew, I had to be able to invest in them. There’s different ways. Canada is different than the United States. There are different ways you can go about doing it in Canada that are probably a bit easier than in the United States, but it’s possible. The problem is entre-preneurs don’t get help to find out what is possible. They go about it based on what they know to be true around the service or the offering. It’s amazing to me the amount of times that I walk into companies and I ask employees what their biggest chal-lenge is. One of the biggest drains on productivity is the fact that there isn’t a structure in place. There isn’t consis-tent treatment and behavior of employees. Because they don’t have a lot of money and that presents a challenge, entrepreneurs often feel that they have to compromise. When they compromise, they may often promise things that they can’t deliver. “When we get really big, I’m going to give you ten percent of the company, or something.” So what they do is they don’t think about five years from now. They think about right now. That’s where entrepreneurs get in trouble. I’m always thinking five years out because whatever I’m doing, it has to be sustainable, but it has to grow with us.

Monica: Is there a good or a bad time to hire employ-ees? In other words, when is the best time as a new busi-ness owner to hire employees? Cori: When you’re a brand new business, and you’ve got a million things that you’re doing, you have to realize when you’ve got too much, like you can’t handle it any-more. One of the things I do when I work with small business owners, is I say to them, “What I want you to do now is to make a list of all the things that you have to do in a day.” I’m talking clean the floors if they have to, the IT work they have to do, the sales, the marketing, what-ever it is – and then categorize them. And once they cate-gorize them, I get them to look at it. Okay. What is it I really think you can do here? And from there what is it you need help with, so identifying what it is they can do, and what they need help with and building it from there. So I think the ideal time is at the point where you think, “Okay. I’ve done all that I can do, and now I need help to take myself to the next level.” If entrepreneurs take themselves down the road to where they actually burn themselves out and can’t sustain the

I remember when I moved to our first office, the first thing that I did was make sure that the place was set up so when we hired an employee, that person would enjoy being there. So this may sound crazy, but I made sure that the kitchen was stocked with knives and forks and plates and cups and dishes, etcetera. I made sure that the office was comfortable and productive so that when the employee came in, the re-sponse would be, “Wow. I can work here.” I think we’ve grown organically, and I think we’ve grown pretty solidly, in part because of the way that I handled it. I did it to make sure there was structure in place. Then I un-derstood the people component side so that when I was bringing people in, I took care of the organization, meaning I made sure I had the right employment agreement, those kinds of things. Another thing I did, the very first em-ployee I hired had benefits, the very first one. Could I afford that, do you think? Not really. Monica: Most small business owners can’t. Cori: I couldn’t either, but I knew if I was going to attract



So when I put a practice in place, I know what it’s going to look like five years down the road. One of the things I find with entrepreneurs where I think they’re challenged is when they’re just starting their company. Many of

them don’t have a business background. I’ll say, “Okay. You’re working on hiring your first person. What are some of the things you want to establish as practices for your employees going forward?” Well, the problem is they don’t know what they want right now. So I could say to them, “Okay. Here are some policies you should put in place. Maybe you should have a sick leave policy.” We have a policy that we recommend. It’s called the patio pass. So on long weekends during the summer, the staff gets to utilize one patio pass. They get to leave early on a Friday. There are different variations of that. The problem is en-trepreneurs don’t know the business well enough and don’t know their tolerance level well enough. I’ll give you an example. This is a company that has been in busi-ness a long time but it still highlights the idea. He was

implementing a sick leave policy, and he decided that em-ployees weren’t eligible to have any sick time until they had worked for the company for three months. What we implemented was the minute you started working with us,

you got sick time. So the very first employee that started who needed to take sick time within the first three months, which is a probationary period in Canada, he was amazed. He said, “This person has only worked for me for a month, and they’re taking sick time.” And I said, “Yes, I know, but this is what we decided.” He said, “I don’t like that.” So entrepreneurs don’t know what their tolerance levels are. Monica: How can they recover from that? Cori: Great question. We recommend to employers that if you’re putting in an employee handbook, for example, that you commit to make changes only once a year. Often what happens is employers put handbooks in place, and they’re constantly changing them. They are often changing them because of something that’s happened, so it’s more of a reactive response and more of an emotional response.



JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA Monica: How important are job descriptions? Cori: I think what’s important before you start hiring is to absolutely know what you need that person to do. I think where people get into trouble with job descriptions is they create a job description, hire based on it, and then ignore it all together. It’s a piece of paper that gets put away. So I think you have to manage that. You first have to get really clear what it is you need. What’s the profile? What are the skills you need? What are the knowledge, skills and ability? I like saying that you need to create a job profile because every time an employee comes in, they’re never going to do everything that’s on there. Again, it depends on how detailed it is. It depends on the ability of the person to craft that information. Entrepreneurs have trouble being clear on what they want the person to do. So what hap-pens is the person comes in, and they create the job. They craft it. So the clearer they can be up front, the better. I think job profiles are critically important. You can call it a description. In order for that to be effective long-term, it needs to be maintained, and often they’re not.

Cori: We don’t traditionally work in the unionized field because that’s not an area we specialize in. So it would be non-union, but other than that people are people. Organiza-tions are organizations. When we first started, I thought we would never get into manufacturing. I loved working in manufacturing. So we’re in more industries than I thought. We’ve got provincially regulated organizations and feder-ally-regulated, two different types of legislation. So we work in both of those. We work in many kinds of indus-tries. Monica: You mainly focus on entrepreneurs within Can-ada. Do you cross border into the United States? Cori: We have gone across. We have done work with companies in the United States. Often where we find the connection there is it’s a U.S. company that has Canadian employees, so we usually connect with them there. We stay within Canada. Outside of that, we just haven’t broached over to the United States.

So when that happened, I said to him, “Our practice is to only change once a year.” In the fall of that year we re-view it. I said, “Okay. Do you still want to change this?” He said, “Yes.” Then we knew that there were no em-ployees currently working that would be affected because everybody had already passed probation. It was an easy practice to change. So the new handbook for 2010 said that you had to pass probation before you could take sick time. So you can change some. You just have to do it in a way that obviously is compliant with the law, and if you’re changing anything fundamentally, you have to make sure you balance that. Entrepreneurs don’t know what they don’t know. At Jouta we have well over 90 years of experience in these things. You know the great thing for us? If there is a question to be asked, chances are we’ve been asked that question. Well, I shouldn’t say that because every day there’s something new. Truth is stranger than fiction, I think.

They build recruitment based on the individual versus what the company needs. So, for instance, they hire the first per-son and whatever that person brings. Hopefully, they’ve done a detailed job description. The person comes in, and they start doing other things. So when that person leaves, they say, “Oh, I’ve got to fill that person.” I say to them, “Okay. Wait a second. The role is the important factor, not what that person did. What should that role be, and are they the same?” I find that often they’re not the same be-cause entrepreneurs, as an organization, don’t step back and do the planning around the positions they need. What duties should be performed and are all the right people in the right places? Who do I need to hire to fulfill those requirements? Monica: Otherwise you’re not getting the best out of them. Cori: Absolutely not. You’re absolutely right. Monica: Your HR experience as far as your business is concerned spans across various industries, for example, aviation, construction and even gaming. Is there any par-ticular industry that you would not normally approach?



Monica: From an entrepreneurial standpoint, what can employers do to reduce the turnover rate in an up econ-omy and if the economy is down, how can they keep the employees content and give them incentive?

Cori: I think this all comes down to one word, and that’s clarity. You need organizational clarity. The entrepreneur has to be really clear who the company is, make sure that everybody working for him or her know exactly who the company is and what it stands for. They need to be held accountable to objectives; measurable things that help drive the business. So many companies, as they start to grow – and I know this takes time, but what they don’t do is stop and say, “We need to make sure everybody’s on the same page. We need to make sure everybody knows exactly where we’re going so we’re all headed in the same direction.” It’s easy to motivate people when times are good.

So when times are tough, it can be the most empowering for employees because they can rally around you and help you grow. They can help you through the tough times. But if they don’t know what’s going on, how could they possi-

bly do that? When we work with companies, one of the main things we do is make sure that everything is inte-grated so there is clarity. If I go into a company and I ask the same ten questions of ten employees, I may get ten dif-ferent answers. They may not be 100 percent different, but I could get a majority of responses that were. If that’s the case, not only am I not motivated because I’m not clear on what I’m doing, I’m not clear on the impact I’m having with this company. It’s all about organizational clarity. People talk about mis-sion and vision. I actually think those are overused words. At the same point, they’re critical. We have a purpose, which is to make sure any client we touch is in a better po-sition than they were before we got there.



JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA JOUTAJOUTAJOUTAJOUTA portant to us, which is on our web site. It’s something we live by on a consistent basis. If we’re doing all of those things, then I know the rest will come. So that’s the foundation. Somebody said to me the other day, “What’s your financial goal?” I said, “Well, we’ve got financial goals because that’s something we have to measure.” We need budgets. But for me it’s about our growing organically, not too fast for the sake of the money. It’s about growing in a way that we can manage as an organization. I think many companies get the sale, and then they figure out how to service it. Well, we know how to service it, and then we get the sale. When we go in and say, “This is what we can do,” we actually can. I’ve seen too many companies go, “Okay, now what? Everybody scramble.” Monica: I’ve heard that quite often, where people say, “Go ahead and say yes. Then you can figure out how to do it.” Cori: I think that’s the constant approach within organi-zations. And the approach must be working because many of them do it, and at what cost, I guess, is my ques-

immediately. But when you don’t have those practices in place, when you don’t have the kind of leaders in place who understand how to deal with those situations, things like that are going to happen. This particular leader, a lovely individual just said, “I didn’t know it was going on.” I said, “How didn’t you know?” Literally, the behavior was happening within 10 feet of him. I know he knew, but he kept hoping it would go away. What they underestimate is that when they ignore it, that it festers and productivity suffers for sure. One of the things I do with the team is I sit down with each employee. We go for lunch and we talk about expectations, what I expect of them, what they expect of me to make sure that we under-stand where everyone is coming from. One of the things I say to them is, “If you ever have an issue with me about anything and you don’t come to me when it’s happening and you take it home and you let it fester, shame on you,” because I want to set up an environment that no matter what it is, we can talk about it. �

Entrepreneurs often don’t do that. They don’t make sure everybody knows. They often say, “People know.” I say, “They don’t know,” because if you’re not talking to them, if you’re not sharing, here’s where we’re going, here’s what we’re doing, they lose sight of that. They lose sight of their connection to it. If I’m clear about the role I play in the company, if I’m really clear where we’re going as a company, if I know when times are tough or when times are good, if you include me in that, if I’m part of that, I’m going to rally when things are down. Monica: How do you measure the success of your com-pany? Cori: A big way we measure it is by repeat customers, meaning we have long-term clients, also the referrals that we get. Most of our business is referral-based. Revenue comes, obviously. You can measure it by revenue, but that’s easy to do. It’s all about what’s our reputation in the industry? What’s our reputation within our company, with our clients? How do our employees feel about us? I think for me it’s, if we are honoring all that we say is im-

tion. What’s the cost to the employees? What’s the cost to the bottom line because that’s going to create incredible amounts of inefficiency and messy productivity? If you can’t get in and get it done because you’ve got to call peo-ple in and you’ve got an 11th hour fire to put out, that in and of itself, cannot be as efficient as having a system in place that you just move into. Monica: Do you focus on issues such as workplace vio-lence and bullying with your clients? Cori: Yes. One of my clients, who had been told to contact us for about the last year, hasn’t done so because the indi-vidual thought they were fine. I received three bullying complaints against one employee and a sexual harassment letter against another. That’s a tough thing because, again, it’s about the leadership. So how did it get to a point where that kind of behavior was okay? I’m not saying that it was okay, but not knowing about it is not an okay answer. If that was my organization and that was happening, I would take 100 percent of the responsibility. If I saw it or somebody knew it was happening, it would get stopped

For more tips on the human resource process on

effective management, listen to the full interview in the sub-

scriber’s area on www.exceptionalmag.com.



Rebel BrownRebel Brown

Rebel Brown – her name says it all. When it comes to business, she is a rebel who has chosen to take the road less traveled and she’s helping her clients obtain amazing results. Beneath the fiery red hair and bright smile is a tenacious woman who believes in changing the status quo. It’s not about how we’ve always done it, but what’s happening around you and how you can realign and restructure your business to meet the needs of today’s customers. Defy Gravity -- it’s not only the name of her latest book, but it is the basis of her approach to business. If you con-tinue to conduct business “as usual,” then you’re missing out on many profitable opportunities. Your customers’ needs change and so should your business approach to fulfilling their needs. From quickly gaining market share, to introducing a new product and changing the way you think about increasing revenue, Rebel shares insights on how entrepreneurs and business owners can improve their business returns by defying gravity in the marketplace.

The examples she shares will help you turn your business into a magnet for success. From ramp-up and roar, rescue and restore, to redefine and rejuvenate -- Rebel explains how she uses her leadership skills and tactical strategy to deliver optimum solutions for “high velocity growth.” Rebel has worked with over 100 business clients in Europe and the U.S., helping to fund and launch companies and she’s ready to help entrepreneurs channel their energies in new directions. As founder of Exceptional People Magazine, I fastened my seatbelt and prepared for liftoff into a new dimension as Rebel began to unleash her approach to defying gravity in the world of business. Monica: How did you reach the decision that you wanted to help entrepreneurs? Rebel: I worked for 20 years to gather information. I started out in a corporate environment, and I learned from the outside. I had a very great mentor early -- actually in college -- tell me that the best way to learn about a business and about business in general was to start with sales and selling directly to customers to understand that aspect, and work my way into the back office, into marketing and prod-uct management. I started out selling in the computer industry, and I sold big systems not associated with IBM, which was the most chal-lenging position you could have as your first job. After becoming successful in selling, I moved into marketing jobs. Then I moved into running a product line for a com-pany. That involved a number of considerations, e.g., what is the product? What’s in the offering? How do we market it? How do we price it? How do we package it? How do we sell it? It’s similar to operating your own business. The company I was working for was acquired by several inter-national companies. They weren’t too happy about having a woman running their top product line. They let me go so they could bring one of their guys in, and that’s when I started my consulting business.

Rebelizing the Way Entrepreneurs Do BusinessRebelizing the Way Entrepreneurs Do BusinessRebelizing the Way Entrepreneurs Do Business

I went out and I started helping small businesses do prod-uct planning, marketing launches, and those kinds of things. I started there, focused on product definition, helping companies. Back then it was start-ups, technol-ogy businesses -- finding out where their value was, where they could sell, what they could sell and how they could make money and then helping to launch them into their markets. I gradually expanded and began working with larger companies. I operated companies in Europe, so I learned about global markets. The average person has maybe five jobs during their life-time or has worked for five or six companies. I’ve worked with over 150 companies. It’s purely exposure to the point that – I’m to the point now that I don’t see new problems. I see different cir-cumstances, because a lot of the problems are the same. Even today, people talk about a new economy. New economy problems are similar problems that we’ve had before because we’ve had market shifts. It’s just that the circumstances of the new economy are different because we’ve shifted to the industrial age. Then we shifted to more and more computer usage and automation. Now we’re shifting into an information age where it’s a whole different ballgame, even if you’re selling products. The dawn of the internet has changed the way to market, sell, talk to customers and relate to customers. That’s just an-other shift. So it’s really about being able to look at what’s going on in the market, what has shifted and how to change the way that you look at your business to intercept the market shifts and take advantage of them versus fearing them and trying to avoid them. Monica: The mentoring that you received was certainly very valuable to you and your business. Rebel: Oh, yes. As I was helping other companies, I learned a broad spectrum of business types and business models. I also learned about distribution of products and offerings, people and management styles. What that al-lowed me to do was to obtain a broad base of exposure and experience unique problems. Stages of businesses is probably a better way to look at it. The problems you have in a start-up are very different from the challenges you face in a company that’s already grown but has hit a wall.

The problems you face in a high-growth company are very different from the problems you face in a company that’s crashing and burning. The problems you face in a company whose markets are changing dramatically are very different from those you face with a company where the markets are slower and more sedentary. So it’s really having that broad, varying base of exposure that helps me assist companies because I can look at a company -- and no two are alike. That’s why I wrote “Defy Gravity,” because most books, especially strategy books, give you a strategy, and when you finish them, you say, “Well, now what do I do? Good book, but what do I do with it?” They also tend to give you one, two, three step processes. I don’t think one, two, three step processes work because what you need to do as a com-pany may be different from what I need to do. The process may not apply, pure and simple. Two, the strategy books don’t tell you what to do. What I wanted to do was write a book to teach people to think differently about their busi-ness. If you think differently, you don’t need a one, two, three step process. Simply by thinking differently, there will be a shift in your perspective. Then you can start ask-ing questions, and you’ll view the opportunities differently. The way to think isn’t a one, two, three step process in a business. Yes, there are certain fundamental rules. There are fundamental rules about business. For example, one of the things I teach is – it’s a really simple rule, but we all forget it. We grow our businesses when we deliver distinct value to a market that is compelled to buy that value be-cause it solves a problem, or it gives an advantage. We think we know that basic rule, but then we get stuck in gravity around the very things which allow that rule to help us become successful. We get stuck in gravity thinking about our value. We get stuck in gravity thinking about our markets. We get stuck in gravity thinking about our prod-ucts and what we’re doing. No process is going to change that unless you shift the way you’re thinking about your business today so that instead of relying on who you were in the past, you’re relying on what your business – what your customers need today in value and what they’re going to need in the future as your guid-ance system. Monica: That’s an excellent point.



Rebel: We allow our past to deter-mine our future. That may have worked ten years ago because markets were slower. That doesn’t work today. Our suc-cess a year ago is not necessarily what’s going to make us successful today or in the future. Yet we as-sume that that will be the case. We assume the same customers will buy for the same reasons. We assume – we launch a new product, and we assume that the same people will buy in the same way they did the last time we launched a new prod-uct. We pattern things after our suc-cess in the past. Monica: I guess we take the market for granted. Rebel: We take it for granted that it hasn’t moved, and in fact, it’s moving all over the place. Monica: I would like to talk about what I’ll call your R & R approaches, for example, the ramp-up and roar, the rescue and restore, and the redefine and rejuvenate ap-proaches. Rebel: Those really aren’t approaches. That’s just a way to categorize some of the things I do. Monica: With ramp up and roar, one of the things that you do to help businesses or entrepreneurs is to gain im-mediate market share in a variety of industries. Is it not true usually, that it takes a while to gain market share? Rebel: That’s a fallacy. That’s a piece of gravity. I’ve helped launch over 100 products or companies. One of the places where we have the largest amount of gravity is around how we launch our products or our companies into the market because we do it backwards. We have this whole approach that says – let’s say it’s a product. It could be a company. It could be a service, but let’s just say we have a new product. We go out, and we develop this product. We keep it secret from our sales force and the market. We develop it and a week or two before it’s going to come out or maybe a month, we begin to talk about it. A week before it comes out, we talk to the press. Then we put the press release out and train our sales reps. And we have this big boom, here it is, this big lightening

bolt, “Here’s our new product,” with no one using it, no sales, no revenue. We’re starting from that point in time and we have no credi-bility. That is not the way to become suc-cessful in a market launch. Early on you want to say, “I’m go-ing to take my product concept and go to the top ten target profiles who I think will buy this. And I’m go-ing to test it. Then I’m going to go to them, and I’m going to have them begin using it, or I’m going to show it to them. I’m going to have them begin talking about it quietly.”

What you want to do is have customers using your product. You want to have a sales force out selling your product. You want to create a buzz in the market about it before you ever announce it. You want to get that – I refer to it as whispering, but what you want to do is market and whisper because everybody wants to know about the thing that only a few people know about. Monica: I understand what you’re speaking about. That sets you up for success. Rebel: It sets you up for success. By the way, (a), it’s cheaper than the way we usually launch products. It’s much more cost-effective, and (b), it sets you up to be credible. Monica: Absolutely. What about rescue and restore? Rebel: I have a couple of different kinds of things that I do for companies. I differentiate between a turnaround busi-ness and a start-around business. A turnaround business is the rescue and restore. Last year I worked with a company that had been $5 billion in revenue, and they were down to $500 million. $500 million may sound like a lot, but when you’ve been $5 billion, that’s bad. So that’s a turnaround because in that case you’ve got a company that’s crippled. It’s already spinning in a downward spiral – to my flight analogy and “Defy Gravity”. You’re spiraling downward, and you’re getting ready to crash and burn. The techniques you use in that environment can be different than what you’d use with a start-around. A start-around



business is somebody that says, “Okay. I did really well, and now I’ve hit a plateau,” or, “I’ve hit a wall,” or “I’ve stalled, and I don’t know where to go next. I need to ex-pand my business. I need to shift my course. I need to catch up with my markets. I need to find distinct value.” Monica: What can a small business person, after reading your book, take away to help them ramp up their busi-ness? Rebel: I specifically wrote the book so that it could be used by any business owner, whether it’s a small business owner or a business executive, because the basic funda-mentals operate the same whether I’m a $500 business or a $500 billion business. I wrote the book in a way that I wanted it to be immediately accessible for a small busi-ness owner. The way the book is set up is the first section discusses gravity and the sources of gravity in businesses. It pro-vides small business owners with a way to look at their businesses and determine how they can attain growth by shifting their perspectives from the way they’ve always done it. It’s going to give them specific examples of the types of gravity I’ve seen and questions to ask them-selves. At the end of each section I have a series of ques-tions and exercises for small business owners, executives and teams that will help them to identify problems with respect to where they’re stuck as far as business thinking.

I’ll give you an example of that. I have a friend who runs a small business. What he runs is the equivalent of a chamber of commerce. In this region they help develop small businesses and invite new businesses to the area. He’s got a staff of five people. Here’s a friend, a CEO, who’s running a business that is a nonprofit, completely funded by other businesses. He said to me, “I’m a barnacle on everybody’s butt. I go out and I am begging for money from businesses that don’t have the money. I should be helping them make money instead.” That’s the situation he found himself in. I sent him an advance reader’s version of “Defy Gravity” be-cause I wanted his feedback on the book. He called me about a week later and said, “Rebel, I preordered five copies from Amazon. I want to know if I can ship them to you and you can sign them for my team.” I said, “Sure, but why?” I said, “Randy, what got you so excited?”

He said, “Rebel, you just solved the problem I’ve had for a year, which is I am the barnacle. I’m out there begging for money, and I should be helping companies make money. I’ve been so focused on the struggle of how I provide enough value that these people will donate to me. How do I make it easier for businesses to give me donations? How do I get them to understand the value I deliver to get them to donate money to me?” He said, “I went through the book and what happened was I did one of your exercises, which is, “List the things you know to be true about your busi-ness.” So I wrote down, “I help develop businesses in the local geography. I have a team of five who have over 80 years combined business development expertise. Together we’ve all been through three economic ups and downs. I’m a nonprofit organization. I am funded by donations from other businesses. I am” – and he says, “That’s when it hit me. Who says I have to be funded by donations?” “My two top guys and I have been through three economic ups and downs helping businesses grow through those times. Why don’t I go out and sell myself and my execu-tives as consultants to the businesses in the area that need my help? So instead of going out and asking for donations, I will go out and offer consulting services. I will help them find ways to grow their business. They will pay me, and the revenues they pay me will fund my nonprofit.”



Stuck in the gravity of one word, donations. All he did was change donations to revenue, and his entire business model changed. Think about that. Why was he stuck on that? Because nonprofits are funded by donations. Says who? This is an example of the way we’ve always thought about it or done it. In this new economy you have to shift your perspective from that kind of gravity to growth-oriented thinking. We are natural born gravity. We create it. It’s the only reason it exists. We are natural born gravity creators be-cause it’s in our DNA. We learn from our experiences, both positive and negative. We learn from other people. As kids we learn from our parents and our siblings and then our playmates and our teachers. In business we learn from our experiences, from our mentors, from what we hear and what we know. As we learn, we create beliefs about ourselves, about our world, about our business. Over time those beliefs become more and more formal-ized until they become facts and knowns. Over time, those facts and knowns become tradition, status quo, the way we’ve always done it. Monica: And traditions become hard to break. Rebel: They become gravity. All of a sudden, you’ll find that because we learned from these experiences, we cre-ate gravity. The experience we had a year ago doesn’t necessarily apply to what’s real today because the mar-kets around us are changing so quickly. So we get stuck into this status quo belief of, “Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it. We’ve always served customers that way. That’s what they love about our value.” Maybe last year, but guess what? It doesn’t matter today. It changed. That customer changed. What’s available to them changed. The way people deliver – look at the internet. Would you have thought five years ago that the internet would be-come the major delivery system for information, prod-ucts, ecommerce? People didn’t see that coming. Some of us did, but people in general didn’t see that coming. Would you have thought five years ago that Facebook and Twitter would be a way for you to interact and build customer relation-ships? No. Well, guess what? Even a year ago you may not have thought that, but if you’re not doing it today, you’re behind. You have to constantly make those shifts.

Monica: Yes. And you have to think not only outside the box, but well beyond it. Rebel: You have to think well beyond the box that you’ve always been in. I don’t care what kind of small business you’re in today. The way you ran your business five years ago or two years ago or even a year ago is not going to be successful for you in the future. Monica: That is true. You take small steps first. Rebel: It’s shifting from the “nobody wins in this econ-omy, and I can’t grow” to “in any economy there are op-portunities, and the question is where is mine. I need to shift my thinking to find it, and I will find it.” Monica: I have spoken to many people over the past years that seem to be stuck in that frame of mind. Rebel: A lot of this is human behavior, and you can’t sepa-rate human behavior from business behavior. The other thing that happens is if you look around us, we are bom-barded with negativity. Nobody succeeds in this economy. “Business is bad.” There are successes everywhere. The news doesn’t cover them because success doesn’t sell. There are successful businesses all over this market, small businesses and large. What we do when we get bombarded by negativity and we become afraid, the natural human in-stinct is to hunker down into the way we’ve always done it and what we know is safe and comfortable. Monica: That is true. Sometimes people want to feel com-fortable with situations that are uncomfortable. They be-come comfortable because they’re afraid to move forward. Rebel: Right, because it’s known. �

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CHANGING RESTRICTIVE CHANGING RESTRICTIVE CHANGING RESTRICTIVE

THOUGHT PROCESSESTHOUGHT PROCESSESTHOUGHT PROCESSES

Amy NakosAmy NakosAmy NakosAmy Nakos

like I had lost myself. So what ended up happening was I went to Florida and did a seminar with Barbara Parsons, who is the creator of ‘The Process’. It was a three-day seminar, and on the second day, it became so clear that I needed a change in my life because the direction I was heading in was not right for me. I left that seminar and told my fiancé at the time, who is now my husband -- I said, “I need to quit my job.” And I did. I went in, went back to work and I quit my job. Monica: Do you think a person has to have a certain mind-set get up one morning and say, “You know what? I’m go-ing to quit my job”? Amy: Absolutely. It takes a level of being fearless and trusting that everything’s going to be okay. I guess I had the luxury of knowing that I was getting married in the next couple months and that my life was already changing and that financially I was going to be okay if I switched careers. So it’s an attitude of being fearless and trusting that things will be okay, along with having the freedom to be able to make that change financially. That’s the part that a lot of people struggle with who stay in careers. Whether it’s true or not, they believe that they can-not quit because of finances. Monica: I have spoken with people who did not have the finances that they needed to support themselves after they quit, but they quit anyway. It was amazing what they ac-complished. Amy: Absolutely, and that is what I mean about being fearless. Also, I think part of it, is believing in yourself. Monica: As time moved on, you found that you were pregnant, and of course, now you’re going to have an addi-tion to the family, and at the same time you’re not working. How did you handle that situation? Amy: It was one of the most difficult times in my life be-cause I had been so focused my entire life on my education. I was the valedictorian of my high school class. I received a full scholarship to undergraduate school and completed my English degree in three and a half years. I was accepted into a law school that was one of the top 20 law schools in the nation, so all I did was focus on excelling in academics. That was my thing. That’s what I did. So when I quit my job, all of a sudden, the way that I de-fined myself as being a bright, intelligent career woman

If you could design or redesign your life,

how would you do it? What would you change? What improvements would you make? What beliefs would you want to change? You have the power to redesign or change your life, as well as how you think and view yourself. Amy Nakos, CEO of Mind Redesign along with her part-ner Barbara Parsons, is using a revolutionary human tech-nology called The Mind Redesign Process, founded by Parsons. The process is designed to help people reach subconscious beliefs that are aligned with their desires. Amy’s vision is to share this process with the world. “The most gratifying thing is when I meet with a person. They come in frazzled and what the Mind Redesign Proc-ess does is get people in touch with their spirits and get them centered. When you start to remove the junk and get people aligned with who they are, they’re unstoppable but in a way that is very confident and peaceful. That’s the best part. Usually they leave the first session a differ-ent person.” For the past 16 years hundreds of people have benefited from the Mind Redesign Process, including those who have rediscovered happiness, regained their confidence, lost weight permanently and achieved other results they thought were unobtainable. If you’re looking for a lasting change and balance in your life; if you’re looking for the “real you”, Amy believes that Mind Redesign can help you. A litigation attorney turned life-changing agent, Amy shared her career transition experience with Exceptional People Magazine. Monica: You studied English and went on to law school. You had these great opportunities ahead of you in terms of those areas of life, but then you decided to quit. Why did you decide not to continue with your legal career? Amy: The best way I can describe it was I really fol-lowed my gut on that or followed my spirit because I had worked for almost six years as an attorney. I was on the fast track at a major law firm in Chicago to do very well. But I found that getting up in the morning was hard. I wasn’t excited to go to work. I had migraines. I just felt



Amy: Absolutely. It was suffocating my soul. Monica: We’ll get into about what the process is, but when did you realize that going in that direction was your calling? Amy: I was born and grew up constantly questioning the reason I’m here. I would say, “What am I meant to do? What am I meant to be,” and always looking for answers to that question. I grew up in rural Nebraska in a strict Catho-

lic family. So the things that I was taught about your spirit and religion were very rural-based and things like, “If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re going to hell,” and “If you die, and there’s sin on your soul, you’re going to hell.” I always questioned those things. In fact, I used to actually get in trouble -- I went to Catholic high school -- because I constantly questioned them. I said, “I don’t think that can be right. I don’t think that’s what God intended. How can you be eternally damned to hell if you never even had Jesus in your life? That doesn’t make sense to me.”

was gone. While it was the right decision for me, I had left it all behind. I just cut it off. So what that meant for me was who am I without this because that’s where I had been so focused. So I had to really understand who I was, and I think that the process of getting married and having a baby during that time gave me a different focus on who I was, a mother and a wife and bringing a new life into the world. It was a 180-degree shift, so it was very difficult. Just to

be clear; I didn’t just completely cut it off. After I left the law firm, I did some contract work. My law firm hired me to work as a consultant to work on a case that was still going on that I had been working on for five years. So I did some consulting work. While it wasn’t a 100 percent cut-off, it was a dramatic change. Amy: It was a very difficult time of just adjusting. “Gosh, who am I, and what am I supposed to be doing here on this planet?” Monica: And you say that practicing law was suffocat-ing your soul.



So I was constantly questioning. In that respect I feel that I always knew that my spirit and the reason for being here on this earth was an integral part of who I was. I didn’t really get in touch with that specifically in the world of personal development and really focusing on it until the year 2000 when I did a three-day seminar at Landmark Education. I did this three-day seminar, and it really transformed my thoughts about me and where I fit. Then shortly thereaf-ter, I met Barbara Parsons who is now my mother-in-law. Monica: What is ‘The Process’? Amy: It is a systematic way of locating limiting beliefs in people. So an example is, if you go to do a project, let’s say, or you decide, “Gosh, I really want to train for a triathlon,” or, “I want to lose 20 pounds,” or whatever it is that you want to do, and the voice inside your head says, “Yeah, but you can’t do that.” That’s a limiting belief that you have in your mind. What the process does is it locates the limiting belief, and then we redefine a new belief that you want to have. Through a process of muscle testing, visualization, mind-body integration, we change that belief so that when you’re moving forward, that block is gone. That’s the esoteric explanation of it. One example is Barbara worked with an individual who had an intense fear of flying. It was so bad that he would stress about it days before getting on the airplane. Before he got on the airplane, he would drink heavily. He would always get a window seat and cover himself up with a blanket, head, body, and cocoon himself in a fetal posi-tion on the seat. This was a terrifying thing for him. He went through a process and literally flew home the next day. He sat on the plane and worked on his laptop and felt completely different. What happened was he had a belief or a limiting belief and it may have been, “I’m out of control,” for instance, or, “I don’t have control over what happens to me.” When he switched that during the process, he was able to get on the plane, and that be-lief, that program that he had, didn’t interfere anymore. It was redirected. That’s one example of an anxiety that can be removed. So you can imagine test taking is one, public speaking. I recently worked with a pageant winner, and she went on, to the national pageant. She had a block about speaking. When you’re on stage and you’re handed a microphone, you had better be on. You’d better be okay with speaking

because you’re going to have to do it. We worked on that with her, and she finished in the top six of a national pag-eant. She said that she had never felt more confident in her speaking ability. It aligns your subconscious mind, which is where these be-liefs are stored, with what you want to happen so that when you move forward, you don’t have the blocks or the anxi-ety. You’re in the flow. Monica: Who can benefit from ‘The Process’? Amy: You can’t say everybody’s going to benefit from it. The most success, Monica, comes from people who really want to change. The people who can benefit are the people who really feel stuck, who feel like they want to make a change, and maybe they’ve tried. They have a barrier or a block in their way, and they don’t know what it is. Monica: How long does this process take for an average person? Amy: Usually the first takes a half-hour, and that's because it’s all new. So I have to give more instruction on the meth-odology and how we go through it. After that, I can usually do a process in 15 to 20 minutes. Sometimes they’re 10 minutes. Sometimes they’re quick if the person really gets it because what you’re doing is you’re guiding them through visualization. Monica: Through your company, Mind Redesign, you have chosen to focus on certain groups of people, for exam-ple, professional athletes or pageant contestants. Why? Amy: That’s an interesting question. I’ve been involved in pageantry since I was 17. So I’m in the circle, if you will. Women who compete in pageantry, along with athletes,



selling real estate. What made you decide, after selling real estate that you wanted to return to helping people? Amy: Good question. I still own a real estate company with my husband, so I still do that. The real estate switch happened when I left the practice of law. I was able to get my real estate license relatively easily because I was an attorney. I liked real estate from the aspect that I liked snooping through people’s houses. So after I had my first son, I said, “I’m going to just sell real estate because I need something I can do that has flexibility.” I obtained my real estate li-cense and began selling real estate in Chicago just before we moved to Colorado, but mainly I was a stay-at-home mom. When it was time to move to Colorado, I decided, “Okay. Well, now this is the time in my life when I decide to go back to the practice of law. Should I stay in real estate or do something different?” This was also when I strongly considered becoming involved in the personal development field, partnering with Barbara and saying, “Let’s get this going.” We were doing our own real estate investments, and I kind of fell into it. I just had to do it because it was around me and it was what was there. We did development work, and we bought investment real estate. So my husband and I are very real estate-oriented. That is our business and what we do. So I was there to support him and to grow the family business. Then we had the real estate frenzy. The whole world knows about the American real estate frenzy. In 2006 and 2007, I was so bombarded with real estate. Everybody wanted real estate. Loans were being handed out like lollipops. Then the market started to crash in 2008. It really hit here probably late 2008, early 2009. So the thing that was keep-ing me really busy, the real estate business kind of just stopped. That is when I was able to reignite my passion. This is the longest answer to the easiest question, but I was able to reignite my passion and say, “Okay. It’s time to do this now.” I now have the focus. I was always passionate about it. It was just that real estate took the front of the stage and this had to be put in the back. Monica: What would you say is the most satisfying or gratifying thing about what you do through your business? Amy: Right now, the most gratifying thing is most often when I meet with somebody. They come in and they’re

tend to be competitive and are striving to be their best. Those are the people who are going to have the best re-sults. The people who want change the most will have the best results. So those are the two areas. Barbara, who is my business partner, is very passionate about athletes. We both were athletes in high school, and we both loved sports, so that’s part of it. We get the com-petition in sports because we not only were involved in it, but we’re sports fans too. So that’s one reason, also be-cause of the level of want. Pageantry, those are my cir-cles. The women who do that have a level of want. Weight loss is something I’m incredibly passionate about. Weight loss is a whole different animal because when you’re dealing with food, there’s an addiction as-pect to it. So we have a whole program for weight loss called Body Works, which helps to break the addiction and set up good habits. It might take more than just re-moving the subconscious barriers. It might not. Some people do well with it, but it needs maintenance. It’s like taking a shower. You take one shower and it last two weeks or forever? No. You’ve got to take a shower every day. So working on these things -- it may be a quick fix. Like the fear of flying guy, that was immediate for him, and you will see immediate results with some things. Other times it just takes more maintenance because people are like onions in their beliefs. So maybe you get rid of one layer, and you’re good for a while, but there’s another layer. There’s something else there that’s blocking you. So while this is an amazing technology that can help launch people to their dreams, it’s not necessarily a one-shot thing. Monica: Before you got to the point where you are now helping people, you took a different route. You began



When I was selling real estate and everyone was happy, everybody was buying properties they loved, and that was really nice. I got that sense of wow, I really helped some-one accomplish something, and they’re really happy. Nobody was happy in law. That was just a negative-fest. I practiced litigation, so pretty much I just spent my days fighting. I would come home and think, “Gosh, what did I accomplish today? All I did was fight, and all I did was focus on the negative.” So the real estate step was a posi-tive step because I was focusing on the positive. I was ef-fectuating positive change. And this is effectuating positive change, helping to improve people’s lives, and their daily existence. Monica: Why do you think it is hard for people to change? They know what they want to do, but it’s just so hard. Amy: I think that most often it comes back to negative beliefs about themselves, probably a belief that, “I could never do that. I could never have that. What, me?” You don’t believe that in your conscious mind because you’ve consciously made the decision to change. Everybody should believe that they can accomplish whatever they want to accomplish. It really is a testament to the process in my life. A very common thing is, “I’m not good enough. There’s no way I can do that. That’s too big for me. That’s bigger than me. Who am I to think I can do that?” That’s just my nature. Those were the beliefs I took on as a child, it was nothing my parents did. That’s my nature. So using the process has actually helped me overcome all of those doubts I had about myself. Monica: So you are your own testimonial. Amy: Yes. The birth of Mind Redesign is truly a testament to the success of the Mind Redesign Process. Without us-ing the process to get where I am today, Mind Redesign would not exist because I don’t think I would have had the confidence to believe that I could do it. �

frazzled. We start with, “Well, what do you want to work on? What do you want in your life?” That’s what I ask, “What do you want in your life that you don’t have now?” What the Mind Redesign Process does is it gets people in touch with their spirits. It gets you centered. It gets you back to who am I, what do I want, and what’s getting in the way of that. When you begin to remove the junk and get people aligned with who they are, they’re unstoppable but in a way that is very confident and peaceful. That’s the best part, just seeing people make that shift. Monica: What did it take for you to get your business started? There are so many people who would like to start a business. They have an idea in mind, but one of the ma-jor requirements is that you need financial backing. How were you able to fund your business and get it off the ground? Amy: The Mind Redesign business, it’s a grassroots type of thing. It takes money, and I put some money into it, but I need more. So financing, it is really the trick right now, especially in this recession. My husband, Darren is a born entrepreneur. As a kid he had a lemonade stand, and from that time on he has been earning money. So what do you do to become an entre-preneur? It’s really fueled by money, a lot of passion, a lot of work and by word-of-mouth. Monica: I’m sure you know how some people feel about their mother-in-laws. How do you like working with Barbara Parsons, your mother-in-law? Amy: She’s the one who’s been doing it for 17 years. She’s the one who has her system in place, her company in place. She’s got her seminars. She’s got the way she does it, and I’m coming in to revive it in a new way. We have the same passion, the same purpose, which is so grandiose. Monica: If you could sum up your view of your life in terms of what you have accomplished over the years and where you are now, what would it be? Amy: I guess I would have to say finding my passion and then living it. I was successful as a lawyer. I’m suc-cessful as a real estate broker, but those things did not truly feed my soul.



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Can Help You Plan Your Investment Strategy and

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Food For ThoughtFood For ThoughtFood For ThoughtFood For Thought

“Every man is entitled to be valued by his

best moment.”

Emerson

“To be a master of any branch of knowledge, you must master those which lie next to it; and thus to know

anything you must know all.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of an-other person is essential to your own.”

Robert A. Heinlein

“A man who doesn’t trust himself can never really trust anyone else.”

Cardinal De Retz

“Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; / Prosperity is full of friends.”

Euripides

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Dean G. Campbell Dorothy Rosby Greg Williams James Adonis Margaret Paul

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William R. Patterson

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ISSN 1944-9062


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Choose a brighter futureChoose a brighter futureChoose a brighter future...

September-October | Exceptional People Magazine | 49

How to Increase Your Income by

Solving Greater Problems as an Employee

Many people struggle to build wealth as employees because their ability to solve large problems is greatly reduced by narrowly defined job roles and a limited ability to control their

time and allocation of resources.

Employee Wealth-Building

Action:

Identify Ways to Solve Bigger Problems

for Your Organization, Clients and

Customers

As an employee, you can increase your income by changing the way that you think about your skills and role in the organization. By seeking ways to solve greater internal problems for your organization and more significant external prob-lems for customers and clients, you will raise your value to the organization, increase your job

security and attract larger compensation.

The More Problems You Solve,

The More Your Income Increases

By William R. Patterson

EmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowermentEmpowerment

How to Build Wealth by Solving

Greater Problems as an

Entrepreneur

One of the BARON Wealth-Building

Strategies for quickly attracting more income as an entrepreneur is to change the way that you think about selling your products and services. Many entrepreneurs struggle because they try to sell low-value products and services to the wrong customer seg-ment.

As an entrepreneur, there are typically two audiences that you want to avoid when establishing your primary cus-tomer base:

• People who cannot afford your products and services.

• People who do not need or want your products and services. You can find the profitable "sweet

spot" between the people who can't

afford your opportunity and the

people who don't need your oppor-

tunity by answering the question:

"What problem am I solving?"

Next, focus on effectively communi-cating the value of solving that prob-lem for your target audience. By iden-tifying their return on investment of time and money as well as the emo-tional needs that are satisfied with your solution, you will help others and in the process build significant wealth. Entrepreneur Wealth-Building

Action:

Identify Ways to Solve Problems

for Niche Audiences

Look for ways to integrate and re-purpose your product and service of-ferings for niche audiences. You can identify opportunities by asking your-self, what problems can my com-pany's offerings solve for:

• Entrepreneurs

• Large Businesses

• CEOs

• Non-Profit and Charitable Organi-zations

• Women

• Sales Professionals

• Network Marketers

• Faith-Based Organizations

• College Students

• School Administrators and Youth Organizations

• International Markets

If you view your product and service line development from the stand point of "How can my company's offerings solve a specific set of prob-lems for a new niche audience?" you will be able to create hundreds of

products that are completely differ-ent from anything on the market and you will be well on your way to building a six- or seven-figure busi-ness.

Remember, there is no recession

for people who can solve problems. You will find that people have more problems in a recession, so it is one of the best times to start or grow a business if you are marketing to a

qualified audience. �



Failure! What do you feel when you think about failure? Inadequate? Unworthy? Unlovable? It is so sad that you might have learned to link failure to your value as a person. Most people who are successful in their work and their re-lationships have experienced many failures along their road to success. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric bulb, is often quoted regarding failure:

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt dis-carded is another step forward. Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure.

If Edison had been afraid of failure, or believed that failure meant he was inadequate, he would never have invented the light bulb! In order to achieve success in any area of your life, you need to redefine failure. Instead of seeing failure as an indi-cation of your inadequacy or lack of worth, you need to see failure as a stepping-stone to success. Some of the most financially successful people experienced repeated failures. Walt Disney was a high school drop out who suffered bankruptcy and repeated financial and business disasters. Milton Hershey, chocolate maker and founder of the fa-mous Hershey Foods Corp., found success only after filing for bankruptcy for his first four candy companies. Henry Ford filed for bankruptcy for the first car company he started. He didn't succeed until he started his third com-pany, Ford Motor Company. After P.T. Barnum, American showman, went bankrupt, he joined forces with circus operator James A. Bailey to found Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth.

Quaker Oats went bankrupt three times, as did Wrigley from Wrigley's Gum. Pepsi-Cola went bankrupt twice. Other famous companies that also went bankrupt are Birds Eye Frozen Foods, Borden's, and Aunt Jemima. Albert Einstein did poorly in elementary school, and he failed his first college entrance exam at Zurich Polytech-nic. Winston Churchill had a lifetime of defeats and setbacks before becoming prime minister of England at age 62. All of his greatest accomplishments and contribu-tions came when he was a senior citizen. Sir Laurence Olivier, one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, tripped over the door sill and fell headfirst into the floodlights the very first time he had ever set foot on the professional stage! Woody Allen flunked motion picture production at New York University and the City College of New York and failed English at N.Y.U. Astronaut Ed Gibson flunked first and fourth grades. Lucille Ball was once dismissed from drama school for being too quiet and shy. If these successful people had been afraid of failure, they would never have offered the world their talents. They were able to go on to success because they saw failure as a learning opportunity rather than as an indication of their inadequacy. Are you ready to change your concept of failure? Are you ready to let go of worrying about what failure says about you and just learn from it? Are you ready to free your soul to do what you really want to do? If the fear of failure is stopping you from doing what you really want to do, I want to encourage you to change your concept of failure. I want to encourage you to let go of your old way of seeing failure and start to envision fail-ures as learning opportunities on the way to success. Just as Thomas Edison did, I encourage you to see every fail-ure as a step forward! �

Fear of FailureFear of FailureFear of FailureFear of Failure

By Dr. Margaret Paul

Does the fear of failure stop you from doing what you

really want to do? Discover how failure is a wonderful

learning opportunity rather than an indication of your

inadequacy.



Superstars Negotiate To Win - Do You?

Negotiation Lessons Learned From LeBron James’ Situation

For those that aren’t aware, LeBron James is a basketball player mega superstar. When super-stars negotiate, they’re afforded a certain nego-tiation latitude. So, who can fault LeBron James for taking control of an advantage he had when negotiating? When you’re in a ‘power’ position, that’s the time to ‘push’ your agenda forward. Most savvy negotiators know how and when to advance their negotiation position. Are you aware of the times in which you hold advan-tages in a negotiation, and how to utilize those advantages? This article examines the negotiation pros and cons of what occurred when LeBron James negotiated for his freedom. In it are negotiation lessons from which you can increase your

negotiation skills. By the way, don’t lynch the author for saying LeBron negotiated his free-dom. By freedom, it is meant, the pursuit of his dreams. Be Fearless: When you’re fearful about negotiating, think about the outcome and weigh what you seek to achieve versus settling for what you have. If the odds are in your favor to stride forward, do so. Be courageous. After all, courage is nothing more than possessing the judgment to realize that something else is more important than fear. (LeBron tossed naysayer comments to the wind in seeking the path he felt best served the out-come he sought.)

By Greg Williams



Understand the ‘value proposition’

in the negotiation: Sometimes, money is not the deciding factor in a negotiation. Thus, if you’re focusing on dollars to solve a negotia-tion problem and the other negotiator is seeking another form of resolution, chances are the negotiation will not come to fruition. When you’re at an impasse, understand the root cause of that impasse and address that point of contention. (The management of the Cavs (LeBron’s former team), thought money would be the deciding factor that would keep LeBron in Cleveland, which turned out not to be a major factor in LeBron’s decision.) Reframe a ‘point of contention’ to

one that’s more favorable to your

position: Cav’s management shifted the infer-ence of the conversation, related to LeBron leaving Cleveland, to one of the pain that such action would cause the city. They didn’t highlight the fact that LeBron had fulfilled his contrac-tual agreement, and thus was ‘free’ to explore other avenues. To do so would have weakened their position, as they played to the sympathy of the public. Consequences: There will always be consequences to the actions you take. Weigh them and proceed accordingly. Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and a host of former NBA (National Bas-ketball Association) players, and non-superstars have derided LeBron’s de-cision to leave the Cavs. Neverthe-less, LeBron, knowing the desire he had to play for a team that could win a championship has pushed all the negative rhetoric aside to follow his desires. (When you’re sure about the direction in which you’re going, go on! Since you’re the one that will

• Utilize your negotiation power when you’re powerful in a negotia-tion. To allow it to wane is to forgo an advantage. Even if you chose not to use it, let the other negotiator know that you realized you had an advan-tage and chose to forgo utilizing it. In so doing you still gain mental credit with him for having it.

• Consider ‘playing the victim’ when placed in a precarious negotia-tion position. The owners of the Cavs cried ‘wounded’ when LeBron was considering playing for another team. They lamented, “how could LeBron leave us after all we’ve done for him”. In a negotiation, sympathy can beget interest. Just be careful how you util-ize it.

• When you negotiate, there will be times when you’ll have to lead with your head and other times when you’ll have to lead with your heart. Regard-less to which you choose, do so confi-dently. It’s your life and not another soul can experience the sorrows and joys that you experience, except you.

The Negotiation Tips Are … have to endure the consequences, fol-low the path that suits your interest for the negotiation.)

Expand the scope of the negotia-

tion: When seeking leverage in a negotia-tion, consider expanding the negotia-tion to metaphorically include parties that will be affected by negative or positive actions, based on the out-come you seek. (i.e. The owners of the Cavs brought up the fact that Cleveland’s economy and its people would be negatively impacted, if LeBron left the team). They were at-tempting to make the situation affect a broader segment of people. In so do-ing, they wanted to increase the per-ceived level of pain that would be inflicted upon the people of the city. When you negotiate, after weighing all the options of a potential outcome, if you’re prepared to incur the conse-quences and you wish to go forth, ‘go for it’. Do so with all the zest and zeal you can muster. Fret not about ‘what could have been’. You’re the person in charge of your destiny. If you fall short in the negotiation, just remem-ber, sometimes, that’s the way the ball bounces … and everything will be right with the world. �



• Reaching out to new contacts is neither pushy nor frightening but a refined skill

• Build industry connections to expand possible con-nections

• Use innovative technology after you have estab-lished a personal rapport

• Discover resources with acquaintances rather than sustain myopic perspective

• Establish trust and linkages between people on issues of mutual interest

• Roles and rules change regularly so frequently ex-pand your circle of contacts

Finally, networking includes useful skills for sea-soned professionals as well. Staying connected with new allies might provide opportunities for those with years of expertise to stay connected and offer special-ized insight. Networking for a seasoned veteran might even be an opportunity to serve as a mentor or adviser. Networking skills are essential to maximize a strate-gic approach. Sharing insight, contacts, and resources has everything to do with it. Trust yourself to get out and start. �

Networking is more than “schmoozing” for those

climbing the proverbial career ladder. On the con-trary, networking helps open doors for growth and sharing ideas. You might have asked yourself: How do professionals refine their networking skills and become even more effective? Are relationship-building skills relevant for both new professionals and more seasoned professionals? Why is networking so important? Networking is the exchange of ideas where people share and teach technical concepts and connect, yielding further insight. It might be summed up as small talk and includes finding out who can be of as-sistance. The key to effective networking is to create and build relationships and manage the information shared. The first part involves cultivating existing relationships and making new acquaintances. For in-stance, you gather business cards and develop a sys-tem of tracking contacts. You also notate the relevant information of mutual interest. Furthermore, networking as a communication process happens when you exchange information but also expand your personal ties and affiliations. Some con-siderations about effectively building these ties in-clude:

What’s Networking Got To Do With It? By Dawn McCoy

Article Summary:

Networking is more than “schmoozing” and for

those climbing the proverbial career ladder. It

includes exchange of information and cultivating

relationships.



By Rosalind Sedacca, CCT

Disciplining Children Through Divorce:

Limit their Behavior but Not their Thoughts

• Remind your children that thoughts and feelings are not "bad," even when behavior is inappropriate. The differ-ence is important for them to understand -- and for you to remember.

• Seek to influence thoughts, to understand and accept feel-ings and to improve their behavior. Making a conscious effort in this direction will bring rewards in terms of be-havior changes and respect for you as a parent. This is obviously more difficult to do than it sounds, but it is definitely worth the effort. When children feel heard and accepted, they are much less likely to lash out at their par-ents, siblings, friends or school-mates.

• True discipline should not be thought of as punishment, but as a lesson to teach your child about Life. When you discipline from this mind-set, you will come from a sup-portive perspective and not get caught up in destructive behaviors yourself that come from vindictiveness and re-sentment.

Families that are dealing with divorce or separation need to pay particular attention to conscious disciplining. Children forced to handle the break-up of their family dynamic may be holding on to a broad range of feelings and thoughts that need to be expressed, accepted and influenced in a positive direction. I encourage parents to seek out the assistance of a counselor or other professional as soon as they sense any depression or other problem behaviors. This is not a time to forego discipline, which is an essential part of the parenting process. It is a time to pay keen attention to your children to make sure they are moving through the challenges of "change" in their lives with age-appropriate acceptance and behaviors that fall within a normal range for your family.�

Discipline is always a challenge for parents. Regardless of the age your child may be, they inevitably find ways to act out, challenge your authority and test the limits of their boundaries. Often these behaviors create tension and disagreements between Mom and Dad, which children are good at exploiting to their advantage. This, of course, is the time for Mom and Dad to forge a solid bond of agreement regarding their approach to discipline. If they do, the child is less likely to test the waters and more likely to alter their behavior into more appropriate chan-nels. When separation or divorce takes place, disciplining chil-dren can become even more difficult, especially if Mom and Dad are not on good terms regarding parenting their children. Parental discord can open the door for children to move into behavioral extremes, pitting you and your former spouse against each other. We've all seen the con-sequences when this occurs, and your children are defi-nitely on the losing end. Marriage and family counselor Dr. Paul Wanio (a con-tributor to my new book, How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce?) offers some sound advice on how to disci-pline your children without their developing a negative self-image. His suggestions include:

• Focus on limiting your child's behavior, but not your child's thoughts and feelings. If you do not allow your children the space to express who they are and how they feel about the subject at hand, they will repress the communication, but their resentment will incubate and grow.



• Stay focused on your long-term goal. Don’t try to avoid the down-turn by jumping out of the market. No one can accurately predict when it will rebound. Remembering why you invested in the first place will help you stay calm during times of market uncertainty. �

Campbell Retirement Planning Centers does

not render legal, accounting or tax advice.

Please consult your CPA or attorney on such

matters. The accuracy and completeness of

this material are not guaranteed. The material

is distributed solely for information purposes

and is not a solicitation of an offer to buy any

security or instrument or to participate in any

trading strategy. Provided by courtesy of

Campbell Retirement Planning Centers, 888-

910-7526, 5334 Dixie Highway, Waterford,

MI 48329.

Securities offered through Sigma Financial Corp. Member FINRA/SIPC

Good Advice

In response to market downturns, some investors shift a greater percent-age of their assets to money-market accounts. Time and again, this strat-egy has proven to be a mistake.

Keep in mind that the stock market has experienced nearly twice as many bullish periods as bearish periods over time. And while past performance is no guarantee of future investment re-sults, the stock market has bounced back from every major market down-turn to date. When times get tough for stocks, we generally recommend that you main-tain your confidence in their long-term growth potential and use these simple strategies:

• Reduce your cost by averaging down. If one of your stocks de-clines in value, but the underlying business is still sound, consider buying more shares. You will re-duce your overall cost basis.

• Stay diversified. Keep your assets spread among investments likely to perform differently under the same market conditions. Profits from appreciated investments can help offset losses from any losing in-vestments.

There’s a theory on Wall Street

that goes something like this: If

you follow the crowd and buy the

hot investment of the day,

chances are you’ll be scooping up

shares when most others are

about to sell. This natural ten-

dency to buy when everyone is

euphoric can have you buying

at the wrong time -- and not

buying when you should.

Investors often jump into an invest-ment at the wrong time because they are worried about what others are do-ing instead of focusing on good old-fashioned fundamentals, such as the company’s earning potential and its management. History has continually shown us that when individuals make investments without a prudent basis for doing so, they often wind up losing money that can take many years to recover. We saw this in 1999, when investors drove the Nasdaq composite over 5,000 -- only to see it fall to less than 2,000 over the following year. History has also shown that when in-dividuals avoid investments because the popular thinking is to steer clear of them, opportunities are often over-looked. We saw this in early 1982, when interest rates were high and companies had a difficult time im-pressing analysts with their earning potential. That period proved to be the beginning of a bull market that lasted more than fifteen years.

By Dean G. Campbell

Don’t Follow the Herd



you are being true to yourself and moving away when the conversations around you do not serve or the energy is draining you. Being present is about engaging your mind. Finally, being present is about giving and receiving. It is about giving your energy to the group, to the speaker to the facilitator. It is about giving your full attention to the immediate con-versation in which you are involved. It is about giving your time, your spe-cialized knowledge and your thoughts to whoever is in need of them. Giving is fully 50% of the Universal Law of Giving and Receiving. The other 50% is in the Receiving. It is about receiving the compliments, advice and know-how from others. It is about sharing in the laughter, the smiles and the concerns. It is about a give and take relationship, kind of like breathing in and breathing out. Being present is always a two-way street. Who knew that being present could be so involved? Who knew it could be so complicated? And who knew that be-ing fully present is synonymous with networking? If you already know this, kudos to you! If you’re just learning now, that’s great! If you still don’t think networking is about being fully present, try not be-ing “present” at a meeting and notice how you feel. Chances are you will find it a waste of time. And I don’t know about you, but I know I have no time to waste. Time is precious and networking takes time. So, go ahead and follow these steps. Make your time network-ing work for you! Now, that’s Pow-erful! �

with today? Who’s here that I don’t know and I would like to meet? What can I learn from these people today? How can I serve this group today? Be aware of the energy, the people, and the space. Be aware of the time, the sounds and the silence. Be aware of your impact on those you connect with. Being fully present is being aware. Second, being present is listening. It isn’t always important to talk. In fact, some of the best conversations you will ever have with anyone are the ones where you do most of the listen-ing. The conversations, where you simply interject a comment or a nod of your head here and there, can be the most insightful. The ones where you ask the questions and you receive the answers with enthusiasm and un-divided attention are the ones where you have the opportunity to create a deep bond. Listening is an art. Being present is about listening. Third, being present is about being genuinely interested in what is going on around you. Being genuinely inter-ested often requires you to ask ques-tions. Showing a genuine interest in someone or something often leads to new knowledge for you. Being genu-inely interested often leads to a new relationship. Sometimes, being inter-ested for a short time will let you know where not to spend your time in the future. Being genuinely interested leads to valuable information, and the more information you have, the more valuable you are! Fourth, being present is about engag-ing your mind before you take action or speak. It is about thinking three or four responses ahead. It is about not asking the questions you don’t want the answers to. It is about making sure

How can you make your networking experience a valuable one? What is the single, most important action you can take at a networking meeting? It is simply to show up and be pre-sent. This may sound like no big deal to you, but the fact is that there are plenty of people who show up at net-working meetings and they go home or back to work with nothing to show for it. They might say it was a waste of time, they didn’t meet anyone to do business with and they didn’t learn anything at all. This is not anyone’s fault but their own. What this means is that they weren’t fully present. A networking meeting is fertile ground for anyone who cares to show up and be truly present. It is the path to the kingdom, the road to riches and the little thing that make the big dif-ference. Networking is the key to business success, and it all starts with showing up and being present. Being fully present is definitely an action. It is not just about being in the room, in your body, sitting in the chair, breathing the air, eating the food and taking up space. Being pre-sent is an action. Being present is much more involved than it sounds. Being present takes energy. Being present takes brain waves. Being pre-sent is most definitely an action. There are five steps to being fully pre-sent. First, being present means being aware. When you walk into the room, take a few seconds to look around the room. Take it all in. See who’s in at-tendance. Ask yourself… Who’s here that I know I would like to connect

How to Make Networking How to Make Networking How to Make Networking Work For You Work For You Work For You ––– Part 2 Part 2 Part 2

by Sue Urda


Behavioral Symptoms:

• Lack of interest in your work

• Sudden mood swings (easily be-coming impatient or irritated with people around you)

• Becoming reliant on or increasing your usage of alcohol or drugs

If you recognize a number of the above symptoms are consistently showing up for you, below are a few coping strategies you could consider. It is important for you to develop a realistic picture of yourself and gain an awareness of what you are feeling, and why, so as to be able to develop or seek an appropriate coping strat-egy.

Some coping strategies could in-

clude:

Establishing firm and realistic

goals and sticking to them. Aim to complete the most crucial projects so as not to become enslaved by an ex-cessive workload and bogged down with trivial tasks. Avoid becoming the “yes” victim by learning to ask for help, or becoming more assertive and comfortable in saying “no” if asked to take on extra work by colleagues or demanding clients who continually present im-possible deadlines. Setting a reasonable number of

hours for your work day and work week – and sticking to it. Taking regular ‘power’ breaks - get up; stretch; walk around; change your posture.

Incorporating change into your

routine to avoid getting stuck in a

rut. Following strict schedules and performing repetitive tasks can lead

A research team at the University of Melbourne recently prepared a report for the Victorian Promotion Founda-tion (VicHealth) which indicated that health problems can be a direct cause of stress occurring within the work-place. The study demonstrated that job stress continues to be a serious public health issue and could also be linked to preventable diseases among staff, which was also having a nega-tive impact in the workplace. Ac-cording to the report it seemed that job stress was most serious with em-ployees who had the least authority in the workplace, which in this case hap-pened to be women and young people with limited skill-sets. Any person who is working in an en-vironment with an overwhelming amount of work can experience high levels of stress and anxiety and if this is not monitored can cause the person to burn out. Some of the symptoms to look out for include: Physical Symptoms:

• Chronic fatigue

• Tiredness and lack of energy

• Depression

• Weight loss or gain

• Sleeplessness

• Frequent headaches Psychological Symptoms:

• Diminished self-esteem and confi-dence

• Boredom

• Inability to make decisions Feelings of powerlessness or help-lessness

• Cynicism, negativity

to boredom, disinterest in your work, and eventually burnout. Rotate your schedule; incorporate a new task into your day; or put aside some time to develop your skill-set – anything that adds an element of change to your daily routine. Maintaining a regime of proper nu-

trition and physical exercise. Exer-cise is an excellent way to relieve ten-sion and stress so when scheduling your diary, block in 20-30 minutes of exercise at least three or four times per week. Increasing your fitness level can also benefit your productiv-ity and level of awareness plus assist in avoiding other physical ailments. Learning to delegate and avoid

temptation to do everything your-

self. Train someone or outsource any daily and repetitive tasks that do not necessarily require your expertise so that you can concentrate on more im-portant issues. Learning basic stress reduction

techniques such as meditation or

deep breathing. And most important – taking time

out for yourself and your family. Maintain an active personal and social life outside of work. Your life should not revolve solely around work, but rather follow a healthy balance that incorporates time for yourself, your friends, and your family. If you do recognize some of the symptoms of burnout and you really feel unable to cope or powerless to implement some of the strategies, it’s important to be willing to seek out the support of a professional. �

To your success!

Annemarie

Is Job Stress Affecting Your

Health and Your Performance?

By Annemarie Cross


Solution to the Financial Brain Buster in the January/February 2011 Issue

Daisy invests in two certificates of deposit, one paying 6.5% and the other paying 3.5%. The total of her two investments was $15,000. If the certificates paid yearly simple interest and the total interest earned at the end of the year was $540, how much did she invest in each certificate?

Let x = The amount invested in the 6.5% certificate. Let y = The amount invested in the 3.5% certificate. x + y = 15,000 0.065x + 0.035 y = 540

Multiply the first equation by -0.065, and add the equations.

-0.065x - 0.065y = -975

0.065x + 0.035y = 540

-0.030y = -435

Divide both sides by -0.030

y = 14,500

x + y = 15,000

Substitute 14,500 in for y

x + 14,500 = 15,000

x = 500

Daisy invested $500 in the 6.5% certificate and $14,500 in the 3.5% certificate.

Financial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain BusterFinancial Brain Buster

By Christopher Powell, Mathematician


“My parents were distant, unaffectionate people. I don't remember ever being held by them. They were never inter-ested in how I thought or felt. I never felt important to them at all.” “My mother was crazy - nice one minute and the next a screaming maniac. My father was sweet but he was never around, and he never did anything to stop my mother from the emotional abuse.”

“My father was an angry violent man and my mother was weak and pathetic. He often beat us and my mother did nothing to protect us.” “My mother didn't believe me when I told her that my father was molesting me. She is still with him, and still doesn't believe me.” Many people grew up with parents who didn't know how to love them in the ways they needed to be loved. Others

By Dr. Margaret Paul

Do you feel that you want to forgive your parents yet your resentment keeps surfacing? Discover the Inner Bonding path to true forgiveness.

Forgiving Your Parents



grew up with parents who not only did not love them, but who were physically, emotionally and/or sexually abusive. Unloving and abusive parenting has far reaching affects on our lives. Many people spend years trying to heal from their child-hoods. Often, at some point in their healing process they ask, "Should I forgive my parents? Would it be healthy for me to forgive them? How would I go about feeling forgive-ness toward them?" Forgiveness is not a feeling that you can just decide to have. Many of my clients who decide that they want to for-give their parents find that the forgiveness doesn't last. Something happens and they find themselves once again angry with one or both of their parents. In my Inner Bonding work with my clients and with my-self, I have discovered an important thing about forgive-ness:

AS LONG AS WE ARE TREATING OURSELVES

THE WAY OUR PARENTS TREATED US, WE CAN-

NOT REACH TRUE FORGIVENESS.

• If your parents ignored you and you didn't feel impor-tant to them, as long as you continue to ignore your own feelings and needs, you will not be able to forgive your parents.

• If your parents were judgmental toward you, as long as you continue to judge yourself, you will not be able to forgive your parents.

• If your parents were physically or sexually abusive to you, as long as you abuse your own body or allow oth-ers to abuse you, you will not be able to forgive your parents.

Most of our parents were unhealed, wounded people, doing the best they could. Since they were our role models, they passed their woundedness on to us, so that the wounded part of us is generally a carbon copy of the wounded parts of them. When you decide to embark on a healing journey, it is this part of you - your wounded self - that needs healing. Heal-ing occurs as you compassionately open to learning about the false beliefs of your wounded self - the beliefs you ab-sorbed as you were growing up. The more you understand

the fears and beliefs of your wounded self and learn to live from truth rather than from these fears and limiting beliefs, the more loving and compassionate you feel to-ward yourself and others. You will find that your anger and resentment toward your parents gradually fades away as you practice Inner Bond-ing and learn to treat yourself in the ways you always wished your parents would have treated you. As you learn to feel compassion for the wounded parts of you, you will naturally feel compassion for the wounded parts of them. Forgiveness is the natural outcome of doing your own Inner Bonding healing work. However, just because you forgive your parents, doesn't mean that you want to spend time with them. If they con-tinue to be unloving or abusive people, you might decide to forgive them from afar. It is wonderful for your well-being to let go of anger and blame and feel forgiveness in your heart, and it is also wonderful to give yourself per-mission to not be around your parents if it is not in your highest good to do so. If your parents have mellowed over the years, you might find that you enjoy spending time with them, regardless of what happened in the past. �




but we’re all part of but we’re all part of

the same family.the same family.

We may look a little different...We may look a little different...

Exceptional People Magazine – March/April 2011 Part 1

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