Blog
Stories, tips and ideas about creating the connections that galvanize success.
Building Strong Connections: An Interview With Marki Lemons-Ryhal
One of the highlights of the 2018 National Speakers Association Winter Convention was being selected to be a FutureInFIVE speaker. I had just five minutes on stage to deliver my predictions on the future of the speaking profession. If that wasn’t challenging enough,...
Connection Rejection? Don’t Take It Personally!
As business professionals, we know that connecting with others is important for our success. Yet too many of us are convinced that we aren’t very good at making or maintaining new relationships. Usually, it’s our own mental barriers that hold us back. Instead of...
The Sweetest Sound: Conversation & Connection
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the conversation hearts that have become a Valentine’s Day staple? According to the National Confectioners Association, early American colonists made homemade candies with love notes scratched on the surface. In the...
A Fresh Approach to Relationship Building
Happy New Year! The change in calendar coincides with a change in my 9-year-old daughter's weekly routine. On the first day back from winter break, she began riding the school bus for the first time. She came home that first afternoon lamenting the fact that as the...
Ghosting in the Workplace? Not if You Value Your Reputation as a Connector!
Have you ever tried to finalize the details of a contract, inquire about an overdue invoice, or follow up on a job interview only to get no response from someone you’ve communicated with previously? If yes, then you’ve been ghosted. Ghosting Creeps Its Way Into the...
The Human Aspect of the Mortgage Business
Empathy Goes a Long Way in the Mortgage Business We’ve all had tough business conversations, whether we are in the mortgage business or another business altogether. Empathy goes a long way toward establishing a strong human connection that transcends any one...
Lemons to Lemonade: How Our “Failure Stories” Set Us Up For Success
"The more you do, the more you fail. The more you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you get." - John Maxwell Lemons to Lemonade With just a few weeks left in the school year, my daughter is thinking ahead to summer. She recently announced plans...
To Combat Loneliness, Build Stronger Connections
The numbers are hard to fathom: One in five Americans suffers from persistent loneliness. Loneliness increases the chances of preventable death by 14% which is nearly double the risk of early death by obesity. Many of us are connected to people who are lonely. Yet, we...
Make Success a Team Effort
Ask any successful person how he or she got where they are and they'll probably admit that they couldn't have done it own their own. It's also likely that they weren't afraid to ask for help along the way. In the same way that you can't serve others if you don't know...