Jumpstart Your Future We are nearing the end of 2021. It’s time for us to reflect on our experiences over the past year. What challenges did we encounter? In what ways did we grow or become better people because of those challenges? What kind of impact did we have on others? How will we change how we present ourselves to our families, friends, and the world next year? These are some of the things I believe we should reflect on as this year winds down. We should use our past outcomes as a compass for the future, which is why I decided to dedicate this last issue solely to Gratitude, Wisdom, and ..read more

Leslie Lucy “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6 Many preschools quote biblical scripture to encapsulate their philosophy, but Orange Tree Christian Preschool isn’t like many other preschools. Founded in 2006, its teaching methods are a sea change to the now-established philosophies of late 1990s educational reform. Since its founding in 2006, this non-denominational school is attracting parents from far and wide – parents who prize classical education’s more traditional methods and values. Who’s behind this massive shift in ..read more

Gila Kurtz “We are not getting a dog.” The rest, for Gila Kurtz, is history. Kurtz’s husband Jon, an active duty U.S. Navy Captain, couldn’t have been any clearer when she mentioned visiting a new litter of Dalmatian mix puppies in the area. But Gila went. Gila saw. And Gila was conquered – by a little spotted fluffball she named Zoe. Within a few days, dog-loving Jon was smitten too. Seven years earlier, Gila had put aside her childhood dream of teaching when Jon’s successful military career required the couple to move almost annually. Instead of teaching, she started three companies which co ..read more

Raquel Miller Starting a new business venture is rarely easy. Making one successful during a pandemic lockdown requires savvy pivoting talent and nimble action. That’s exactly what Raquel Miller did when Covid-19 hit. Bunchful, her fledgling corporate gifting platform, offers individuals and companies the ability to personalize and send meaningful gifts to clients, employees, and others. Miller started Bunchful in 2018, after studying philosophy at Queens College and working in financial underwriting and technology at companies like Bear Stearns and Heartland. Bunchful’s “smart gift” technolog ..read more

Dr. Karen L. Semien-McBride “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, Agatha Christie, Sally Berger, and others. No one knows for certain who actually coined it. But while speakers, coaches, and teachers regularly use it to motivate their audiences, few have actually lived it – and then committed their lives to helping others do the same. Dr. Karen L. Semien-McBride is one of those few. Her enthusiastic, inclusive, and perpetually positive energy is infectious whether she’s speaking to a group, teaching a class, or coaching a C-Suite execut ..read more

Huntley Lawrence “Are you focused on what you don’t have… or what you do have?” Huntley Lawrence posed this question last month during his commencement address to more than 200 graduates at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens, New York. He was addressing the specific issues that this class of 2021 has faced over the past year – the impact of hate, racism, and pandemic lockdowns. Lawrence continued, “What if I told you that no matter where you were born, where you started, where you came from, or how much money you have, you have the opportunity to forge your own path. A new ..read more

Charles Laverty If you’re like most Americans, you start each year resolving to improve at least one aspect of your life. For many, that resolution is to get in better physical shape, work out more, or lose weight. But 92% of us don’t stick to our resolutions, simply because we don’t have enough time for a good workout in our busy days. Charles Laverty is here to change all that – with a new way to get the full benefits of a 2-to-3-hour workout in only 20 minutes. It’s called Electro Muscular Stimulation (EMS), and it’s an FDA-approved physical therapy which uses localized conduction pads to d ..read more

Traci Campbell When Traci Sanders Campbell authored her first book, she wrote it straight from her aching heart. Geared toward helping pre-teens and teens in single parent households to survive and thrive against all odds, The CHAMP Within reveals Campbell’s own personal journey as a child in a financially-strapped fatherless family. Campbell was raised in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest child of a single mother driven to lift her children out of the poverty cycle. When the teenage Campbell wasn’t at school or studying, she earned money as a print fashion model and hostessing at a prestigiou ..read more

Eliyahu Jian Imagine you’re watching a small snail as he struggles to hang on to a slippery marble ledge during a rainstorm. The snail suddenly loses his grip and plunges down, smashing his shell on the cement below. Is your gut reaction alarm, horror… or joy? In Eliyahu Jian’s children’s book, The Snail With No Shell, Joshy the Snail falls and cracks his shell during a storm. But Joshy doesn’t worry – he just continues on his way. His friends don’t recognize him without his shell. But when he arrives home, his parents know him instantly. Now freed of his external armor, Joshy can live his gen ..read more

Article Written By Tim Rhode I’ve been in the Real Estate investing and selling business since 1983. Over the course of that time, I’ve bought many properties, and sold over 2,500 homes as a Real Estate Broker. In all of those deals, whether they were mine or for a homeowner or investor, I’ve noticed common negotiating concepts that have led to not only great deals, but that left both sides feeling like winners. Sounds pretty great, right? In an effort to pass on this success, and consequently winning vibes you and others in your negotiating ring, I’ve decided to share the fundamental concepts ..read more