Reebok's President Uli Becker Jumpstarts the Shaping Up of America [Be Inkandescent Magazine, January 2012]
JANUARY 2012 CEO OF THE MONTH: REEBOK’S ULI BECKER
By Hope Katz Gibbs Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
“I do and say what I believe in,” Uli Becker told me when we met in his office at Reebok’s corporate headquarters in Canton, Mass., in December.
That attitude undoubtedly has helped the current president of Reebok International chart new territory for the firm that he says was in the hospital, on life-support, when the new parent company, the Adidas Group, bought it in 2006.
The German-born Becker, who has worked for the Adidas Group since 1990, explains: “We found that Reebok was not in its best shape based on lowering of price points, and distribution channel dilution. The brand itself also wasn’t a high flier, because it was at the border of being a branded but unbranded business, in terms of how the public perceived it.”
Alan Webber's Rules of Thumb [Be Inkandescent Magazine, December 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
While Alan Webber’s name may not be familiar to you, odds are good that you have read the publication he founded in November 1995 with Bill Taylor — Fast Company magazine.
Both men were former Harvard Business Review editors, and their new publication was founded on a single premise: A global revolution was changing business, and business was changing the world. “Discarding the old rules of business, Fast Company set out to chronicle how changing companies create and compete, to highlight new business practices, and to showcase the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business,” Webber explains, sharing that they were both proud to have been named Adweek’s Editor of the Year in 1999.
Prior to his successful foray into publishing, Webber was a political speechwriter focusing on innovative policy initiatives. Today, he continues exploring reinvention, and considers himself a “global detective“—one who travels the world speaking at innovation and foresight conferences and investigating how things work. To that end, in 2009 he published a bestselling business book, Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self.
Hope Gibbs featured in Parents.com article
In a December 2011 article for Parents.com, reporter Linda DiProperzio writes about how interfaith families across the U.S. celebrate the winter holidays.
“One thing that can make the process easier is discussing with your spouse what each of you would like to do to celebrate your respective religion during the holidays,” she explains. “Whether it’s decorating the house or attending services, work out all the details well before the season begins.”
When interviewed, I told Linda about our way of mixing my Jewish roots with my husband Mike’s Catholic upbringing. Linda shared:
Hope Katz Gibbs, a mom from Arlington, VA, makes sure her house is decorated for both Hanukkah and Christmas, and isn’t afraid to combine the two. “Our tree is decorated with popsicle-stick ornaments in the shape of Jewish stars,” she reveals.
Who's a Dork? [Costco Connection, November 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Costco Connection
November 2011
Sometimes kids just know whom they are going to be when you grow up. Take Rachel Renee Russell, author of the New York Times Bestselling Series, the “Dork Diaries,” who has been writing young adult books since she was in the 6th grade.
That’s the year she wrote “The Donny and Ronny Book,” for her younger twin brothers.
“They loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Sesame Street, and I told the story of their lives with markers and construction paper,” explains the native of Saint Joseph, Michigan who from that point on dreamt of becoming a professional writer. At Northwestern University, though, her literary dreams were dashed.
Tom Brokaw on "The Time of Our Lives" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, November 2011]
By Hope Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent
“What happened to the America I thought I knew?” asks respected broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw in his new book, The Time of Our Lives.
With this sixth title he has penned since leaving the anchor seat of NBC Nightly News in 2004, Brokaw says he is determined to have a conversation about America with the people who can make a difference in setting her course. The author describes this tome as a discussion about “who we are, where we’ve been, and where we need to go now, to recapture the American dream.”
And Brokaw, whose previous bestsellers include, “The Greatest Generation,” “A Long Way From Home,” and “Boom!” insists that he is not the only one who is worried about the future of America.
“Wherever I go I am asked, ‘What has happened to us? Have we lost our way?’ Will our children and grandchildren have better lives than we do? Is that essential part of the American dream disappearing? I believe it is time for an American conversation about legacy and destiny.”
Picking the Brain of the Head Motley Fool [Be Inkandescent Magazine, October 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
How do you master the art and science of investing? That’s one of the many questions we asked Tom Gardner, CEO and co-founder of The Motley Fool, a multimedia financial-services company based in Alexandria, VA, which provides financial solutions for investors through various stock, investing, and personal-finance products.
“Use your brain, your emotions, and your personality,” says the leader of the 265-person firm that he and his brother, David, founded in 1993. “If you harness these ideals, your investment returns will lead you to financial freedom in the Foolish fields of opportunity. But if they harness you, close your eyes because the chili won’t stop hitting the fan.”
What he means, as eloquently expressed in the foreword to LouAnn Lofton’s 2011 book, Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl—And You Should, Too, is this: “Don’t sell when you should be buying. Don’t believe what you should have doubted. Don’t shout while you should be learning. And don’t trade when you should be investing.”
Practical Magic: A glimpse inside author Alice Hoffman's enchanting career [Costco Connection, September 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
September 2011
Love. Loss. Survivorship. These are the themes that are at the heart of the 18 novels, eight young adult books and three books of short fiction that the prolific Alice Hoffman has crafted since the beginning of her career in 1973.
Her novel, Here on Earth, was an Oprah Book Club choice in 1998. That same year, her book, Practical Magic, was made into a Warner Brothers film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her young adult novel, Aquamarine, made it to the silver screen in 2006, starring teen queens Joanna “JoJo” Levesque, Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton.
Hoffman says that while it’s thrilling to watch her books make a splash in theaters, her goal is to understand life’s biggest questions. Her novel, At Risk, for instance, concerns a family dealing with AIDS, and can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools.
Spreading Good Vibes: Bert Jacobs on the Power of Optimism [Be Inkandescent Magazine, September 2011]
For my 8th birthday, my grandparents bought me my first Life is good T-shirt. It was really soft, the color of the night sky, and featured a superhero named Jake—playing basketball, my favorite sport. I wanted to wear it to school every day that week. After day three, my dad just laughed as he put me into the car and took me to the nearest Life is good shop in Old Town, Alexandria, VA, to buy more.
I’m 12 now, and haven’t worn anything but a Life is good shirt ever since (I even wear them under my Boy Scout uniform). I recently checked, and I have 24 of these Ts in my dresser—including a few that I outgrew, plus two that I turned into pillows for my bed.
Guy Kawasaki's "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, August 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
August 2011
In addition to being one of the people who helped make Apple Computer into the mega success that it is today, entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an online magazine rack of popular topics on the Web.
He is also the founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures, a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital fund that seeks to invest in extraordinary entrepreneurs who have the ability to build great teams and great companies.
His nine previous books include the bestselling title, The Art of the Start, as well as “Reality Check” and “The Macintosh Way.” A native of Hawaii, Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California.
Think Big! [Be Inkandescent Magazine, July 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
July 2011
The head coach and general manager of the Washington Mystics women’s basketball team has no time, or patience, for small-mindedness. Dressed in a tan pantsuit and black heels, Trudi Lacey watched intently from the sidelines on June 16, as the women of her team, the Washington Mystics, battled the players of the Connecticut Sun.
The Mystics were eager to bring home a win for the 7,000-plus fans who gathered on the hot, rainy night at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC.
The Mystics had lost 89-73 to the Sun on June 4, their first loss of the season. And by the end of the first period, the Sun was ahead, 23-11. Lacey was undaunted. She knows that her team, which has suffered a handful of injuries since the season’s start, is lacking when it comes to playing defense.
“First and foremost, we need to play defense,” Lacey had told the sports reporter from The Washington Times prior to the game. “I have been preaching it, and they just need to shift their mindset and play defense for the entire game.”
Funny Rules [Be Inkandescent Magazine, June 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
June 2011
We’ve heard it before: Laughter is the best medicine. Funny brothers Dave and Sam Barry share some thoughts on why humor is mission-critical in their lives.
Odds are good that if you have been awake for some of the past 20 years, you know Dave Barry. The humor columnist (pictured right) has been syndicated in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, and his book, “Dave Barry Turns 40,” became the basis for a TV show that ran for four seasons on CBS.
Dave has also written dozens of fiction and nonfiction books, two of which were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom “Dave’s World,” in which Harry Anderson played Dave. He also plays in a band with other famous authors — including Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom — called The Rock Bottom Remainders. For more information, visit Dave’s blog.
Howard Schultz Moves Us 'Onward' [Be Inkandescent Magazine, May 2011]
Undoubtedly, Starbucks is one of the great 21st century American success stories. The specialty coffee retailer has grown from a single store in Seattle in 1971 to 17,009 stores in 54 countries, as of January 2011. Last month, it officially became the third-largest U.S. restaurant chain, according to industry tracker Technomic Inc., with more sales than Burger King Holdings Inc., but less than Subway, thanks to a 20 percent increase in second-quarter profits.
More than 60 million customers, called “guests” by Starbucks, sipped its coffee last year. They were served by 200,000 employees, aka: “partners,” who are referred to by their first names. Schultz, in fact, is known internally as Howard, and like all execs in the firm, his title is not capitalized. He is, modestly, the ceo.
That simple, but powerful, wordplay is part of Howard Schultz’s approach to building a coffee empire that exploded by serving up a great cup of joe, and sticking to its core philosophy. Given that, it’s not surprising that Schultz’s 2011 book, “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul,” is such a forthright account. It not only details the experiences of his youth that laid the foundation for the company he has built, it provides case studies and details of meetings and conversations, making it a primer for how to do business with heart and conscience.
The Business of Rock: Insights from Roger & Camilla McGuinn [Be Inkandescent Magazine, April 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
April 2011
At 68, legendary rock star Roger McGuinn is going strong. On April 1, he performed at the popular DC music venue The Barns at Wolf Trap, where his one-man show wowed the packed house. McGuinn strolled out onto the stage singing “My Back Pages,” which was penned by his long-time friend Bob Dylan.
For the next hour and a half, the minstrel in the Stetson sat before a beautifully lit ruby backdrop surrounded by his favorite three guitars and a banjo. As he eloquently shared the history of folk music and told the story of his career, he sang and strummed dozens of the songs that he and The Byrds have made famous.
For the finale, he sang “May the Road Rise,” an old Irish blessing he turned into a ballad with his wife of more than three decades and official roadie, Camilla McGuinn. April 1, in fact, was their 33rd anniversary, and the inspiration for the name of their music label, April First Productions.
Lee Woodruff on Being "Perfectly Imperfect" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, March 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Editor & Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Lee Woodruff is no stranger to the limelight. The wife of well-known ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff — the reporter who in 2006 suffered a traumatic brain injury while covering the War in Iraq — is a contributor to “Good Morning America,” a former senior vice president of the PR firm Porter Novelli, a contributor to Health, Redbook, Country Living and Prevention magazines, and a spokesperson for “Family Fun” on TV and radio, where she discusses parenting and family life.
When Bob began recovering from his injury, they penned “In An Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing,” an eloquent, candid description of what happened in Iraq, and the struggles the couple and their children faced as Bob recovered.
In 2009, the mother of four published her second book, “Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress,” where she shares deeply personal and uproariously funny stories highlighting topics such as family, marriage, friends, and how life never seems to go as planned.
Why We Love: Insights From Dr. Helen Fisher [Be Inkandescent Magazine, February 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
February 2011
What is love? Why do we pick the people we choose to love, hire, befriend? Is there really love at first sight? How did love evolve?
To answer these eternal questions, Rutgers University professor and anthropologist, Dr. Helen Fisher, has traveled from the the desert outback of East Africa, to Tokyo, to Iran, and back to her home in New York City, to determine if one culture perceives love differently than another. She then used fMRI technology to look inside the brains of 50 men and women who said they were madly in love.
Her perspectives on love, sexuality, women, and gender differences have been featured in Time magazine, National Public Radio, NBC, the BBC, and CNN. She has also authored five books: “The Sex Contract,” “Anatomy of Love,” “The First Sex,” “Why We Love,” and her 2010 book, “Why Him? Why Her?” Fisher is currently working on a new title about why we choose one partner over another.
How Will Nonprofits Face the Challenges of 2011? [Be Inkandescent Magazine, January 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
January 2011
What does the future look like at three of America’s largest nonprofit organizations? Below you’ll read remarks from Mark Tercek, CEO, The Nature Conservancy; Terri Lee Freeman, president, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region; and Wayne Pacelle, CEO, The Humane Society of the U.S.
The nonprofit execs were panelists at the 2011 Nonprofit CEO Outlook forum hosted by Bisnow on December 16 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in DC. The moderator was Richard Newman from the law firm Arent Fox, which sponsored the event.
Picture Perfect [Costco Connection, January 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
January 2011
From a fatal car crash and the death of a parent, to the drama of comforting a sick child and coping with infidelity, life’s greatest emotional challenges play out in the pages of Caroline Leavitt’s “Pictures of You.”
Here’s the scenario: Two slightly desperate women get into their cars late on a September afternoon in an attempt to run away from their marriages. But on a windy, foggy highway they collide. The survivor of the fatal accident is left to pick up the pieces, and not only of her own life. Within months she becomes intimately involved in the lives of the other woman’s devastated husband and fragile son, who suffers from chronic asthma. Can they build a new life together?
Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams Gives Us a Glimpse Into the Future of the Workforce
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
December 2010
Do you speak a foreign language? How about your employees? Have many, or any of them, mastered a second language or lived in a foreign country?
If not, you may be behind the curve in terms of the future of the workforce, believes Tom Adams, president and CEO of Rosetta Stone, Inc.
“Speaking more than one language is no longer just an asset in today’s job market; it is a requirement,” insists Adams, whose company provides interactive solutions that are acclaimed for the power to unlock the natural language-learning ability in everyone. “The United States risks falling behind in the global economy if we do not strive to be a multilingual society.”
Why is nonprofit guru Robert Egger is "Begging for Change?"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
November 2010
“Hello, my name is Robert and I’m a recovering hypocrite,” writes nonprofit advocate Robert Egger in the beginning of his book, “Begging for Change: The dollars and sense of making non-profits responsive, efficient, and rewarding for all.”
The founder of the DC Central Kitchen, who among other leadership roles was tapped to clean up the beleaguered United Way National Capital Area as interim director back in 2002, is on a mission.
“I discovered soon after I started the DC Central Kitchen that winning my war — the war against hunger — wasn’t just about feeding more people or building more efficient kitchens,” Egger explains in his book. “Even if I spent the rest of my life raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the ‘cause,’ I realized that all the money would never end hunger. Hunger is tied to other battles. It’s about education, child care, job training, AIDS work, drug counseling, affordable housing, and health care.”
The Wall Street Journal interviews Inkandescent PR owner Hope Katz Gibbs
October 6, 2010, The Wall Street Journal — In today’s issue of the Wall Street Journal, reporter Emily Maltby interviewed five small business owners for an article entitled, “Preparing for a Double Dip.”
“Many business owners are worried that the economy will get worse before it gets better,” she explains. “Here’s how some are readying their companies for a double dip.
Steven Schussler explains why "It's a Jungle in There," and what entrepreneurs can do to tame the beasts
By Hope Katz Gibbs
October 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
When Steven Schussler was 18, he got a job in Miami climbing phone poles for the Southern Bell Telephone Company. But the young man, who as a teen figured out a way to make thousands of dollars each summer selling playing cards and soda and running errands to poker-playing rich guys at the beach, had his sights set on something bigger.
“It was hard work for little pay and offered limited opportunities for advancement,” he writes in his new book, It’s a Jungle in There. “When I learned I could make more money selling airtime for radio and television stations and build a future career for myself, I knew it was time for me to make a move.”
President of Bread for the World Calls for Change in Politics of Hunger
By Hope Katz Gibbs
September 13, 2010
The National Press Club
Photo by Noel St. John, www.noelstjohn.com
The U.S. has not made sustained progress against poverty since the 1960s and early 1970s when the poverty rate was cut in half, said anti-hunger and poverty advocate David Beckmann at a luncheon Sept. 13.
“If countries as different as Bangladesh, Brazil and Britain can reduce poverty, it’s clearly possible in the USA,” said Beckmann, an economist and ordained Lutheran minister who has been president of Bread for the World since 1991. “As a nation, we have opportunities to moderate what the economy is doing to hungry and poor people.”
He said influencing politics is the key.
Dylan Gibbs tells us, "How Boy Scouts Saved My Life"
By Dylan Zane Glenwood Gibbs
Age 11
And Hope Katz Gibbs
his mom
This summer I learned some big lessons about the perils of catching grapes in my mouth, the importance of knowing first aid, and what an amazing dad I have.
It happened in August when my dad and I went on a biking and camping trip with two of my best friends and their fathers. Our mission was to bike at least 25 miles along the C&O Canal tow path, camp overnight, and bike back the next day as part of our Boy Scout cycling merit badge.
Michael Chasen teaches us the benefits of connecting education and technology
By Hope Katz Gibbs
September 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
At 38, Blackboard Inc. CEO Michael Chasen has already achieved more than he ever dreamed was possible.
His company, which develops and licenses software applications and related services to more than 7,500 colleges, universities, K-12 school districts, corporations, and government agencies in more than 60 countries, projects revenues of $445.4 million in 2010.
Total revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2010, was $107.7 million, an increase of 17 percent over the second quarter of 2009. The company went public on Nasdaq in 2004 and by the summer of 2006 was making headlines in The New York Times.
“Chasen [pictured below left with his co-founder Matthew Pittinsky] will never be confused with the brash upstarts that defined the Internet boom of the 1990s, or Silicon Valley’s ever-growing crop of disruption-crazed entrepreneurs,” wrote Times reporter William Taylor. “”[Blackboard] may be disruptive, but they conduct themselves like diplomats.”
Dr. Ben Carson's tells us when to take a risk
By Hope Katz Gibbs
August 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
How risky is it to separate conjoined twins? Dr. Ben Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, says he doesn’t think about his work in those terms.
“You don’t go into a field that requires cracking people’s heads open or operating on something as delicate as the spinal cord unless you are comfortable with taking risks,” explains Carson in his latest book, “Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk.”
Previous books include “Think Big,” and “Gifted Hands,” which became a made-for-TV movie for TNT starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. Directed by Thomas Carter (Coach Carter). The film reveals Carson’s inspiring life story as a poor, inner-city youth who overcame great odds to become one of the world’s best surgeons, thanks to the love of his determined single mother (played by Kimberly Elise) and an unswerving faith.
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter on President Obama's first year in power
By Hope Katz Gibbs
July 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
The word “promise” was repeated 19 times during Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on August 28, 2008 — the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, explains Jonathan Alter in the prologue of his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One.
The President said: “I told you my story of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. It is that promise that’s always set this country apart.
The promise of America, [is] the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper. That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now.”
Alter writes that less than three weeks later, “the economy nearly vaporized, and some of the promises he mentioned would soon recede from public view. But many of his words would resonate — or clang — through the first year of his presidency.”
Here’s why.
Meet the CEO of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence
By Hope Katz Gibbs
June 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Even before Nell Merlino founded Take Our Daughters to Work Day for the Ms. Foundation in 1992, she was considered “a professional rabble-rouser with a very active imagination.”
In 1990, she helped produce the 20th Century Anniversary Earth Day Concert in Central Park (www.earthday.net). That year, she also did advance work on Nelson Mandela’s first trip to New York after he was released from prison.
Nell helped organize the distribution of 100,000 condoms around New York City through the Gay Men’s Health Crisis organization (www.gmhc.org), was the communications director for the NGO Forum on Women in Beijing (www.ngocsw.org), and with her brother, Joe, helped organized the YWCA Week Without Violence (www.weekwithoutviolence), which ran for more than five years around the U.S.
President Bush's daughter Barbara tells about her life as president of her nonprofit, The Global Health Corps [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club, The Wire
May 26, 2010
“The extreme disparity in health outcomes and access to healthcare that exists today between the world’s rich and the world’s poor is unjust and unsustainable,” said Barbara Bush today at a National Press Club luncheon where she spoke about the nonprofit organization she co-founded and is president of — The Global Health Corps (http://ghcorps.org/).
“We aim to mobilize a global community of young leaders to build a movement for health equity,” said the daughter of President George W. Bush, who brought her twin sister Jenna to the event. “Global Health Corps believes that a global movement of individuals and organizations fighting for improved health outcomes and access to healthcare for the poor is necessary in order to change the unacceptable status quo of extreme inequity.”
Social entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus offers new insight into microfinance in his third book, "Building Social Business"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
May 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
A native of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. In 1972, he became head of the economics department at Chittagong University.
He then served as chairman of the economics department at Chittagong University before dedicating his life to providing financial and social services to the poorest of the poor.
Former President Jimmy Carter says of Dr. Yunus’ work: “By giving poor people the power to help themselves, Dr. Yunus has offered them something far more valuable than a plate of food — security in the most fundamental form.”
Beverly Cleary's World [The Costco Connection]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
April 2010
“RAMONA QUIMBY WAS nine years old. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and no
cavities,” writes beloved children’s book author Beverly Cleary in the first chapter of her bestseller, Ramona’s World. It chronicles the day our heroine meets her new baby sister, Roberta.
This is one of more than three dozen books penned by Cleary in the more than five
decades (her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950; her last was Ramona’s World in 1999) that she has been drawing kids into the adventures of her characters. Klickitat Street, where several of them live, is based on her own childhood neighborhood.
Ted Leonsis, one of AOL's entrepreneur extraordinaires and owner of the Washington Caps, has a new book out: "The Business of Happiness"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
April 2, 2010
Be Inkandendescent Magazine
“The happiest and most successful people I know have in common with one another not just an ability to function with multiple communities, but a real desire to do so,” writes Ted Leonsis in his new book, “The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work.”
Surely, any entrepreneur would love to know the secrets to Leonsis’ success — much as they did a decade ago when Jack Welch’s GE ideas seemed like the best path to follow for many business owners.
But this book, co-written by John Buckley who was Leonsis’ friend and PR director when he was an executive at AOL, focuses on self-actualization — the top of the pyramid in what Abraham Maslow termed the Hierarchy of Needs.
“What a man can be, he must be,” Maslow explained. “This forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person’s full potential is, and to realizing that potential.”
Gina Schaefer, owner of seven ACE Hardware stores in Washington, DC, is on the cusp of a trend: the return of the mom and pop shop
By Hope Katz Gibbs
March 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Owning a string of hardware stores in downtown Washington, D.C., isn’t what you’d expect Gina Schaefer to say she does for a living when you meet the perky, petite 39-year-old. But she and husband Marc proudly stand at the helm of an $11 million company that is opening its seventh store this spring — a 7,500-square-foot space at 7001 Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park.
Why did a girl who graduated with a degree in political science, and worked for a few years at the Children’s Defense Fund, get into the hardware business? “We were young and dumb,” Schaefer says with a grin. But the real answer seems to be equal parts necessity, opportunity, humility — and true grit.
Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen talks about budget cuts and the future [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The National Press Club
February 12, 2010
Friday Marked Final State of Coast Guard Address by Commandant Thad Allen
At his annual State of the Union address today at the National Press Club, Adm. Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, said he is concerned about the cuts in the agency’s 2011 budget proposed by President Obama.
Funding is expected to drop by 3% to $10.1 billion, and active-duty personnel would decrease by up to 1,100, to approximately 41,984, he explained, noting that the budget contains nearly $1.4 billion to replacing aging ships and equipment, especially high endurance cutters. Of 12 cutters assigned to the relief efforts in Haiti, he said 10 have broken down and three were forced to return to port or dry dock due to propeller or propeller-shaft problems.
Crafting a Career in the Arts [elan magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
elan magazine
February 2010
Elaina Loveland wanted to be a prima ballerina. The graceful waif of a woman was a dynamic dancer, too. But after attending the dance program at Goucher College to study for a few years, she realized the reality of her choice might not make for an ideal career.
“It became clear that I should have gone straight to New York City to dance instead of going to college to study it,” she admits. “I also realized that my dance career would probably only last as long as my body held out—and that seemed like a bit of a gamble.”
So she opted for Plan B and became a writer—another career she had long dreamed of.
Jim Bognet and Jeff Kaiser, owners of the $50 million firm, Bognet Construction, are relentless about delivering high quality, on-time, on-budget solutions for our customers
By Hope Katz Gibbs
February 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Photos by Steve Barrett
Little did Bognet Construction founders Jim Bognet and Jeff Kaiser know when they leased their first office in 1998 for $500 per month in the basement of a Starbucks on MacArthur Boulevard that 12 years later they would be manning a $50 million firm that employs 45 people.
“We love construction, and are relentless about delivering high quality, on-time, on-budget solutions for our customers,” the owners say. “Our goal is to continue to build this firm into a $150 million company in the next five years.”
Motion Pictures: Scanimation inventor creates a literary movement [Costco Connection]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
January 2010
The Costco Connection, page 71
“I’m mostly interested in finding ways to make magic,” says Rufus Butler Seder, a filmmaker, inventor, toymaker, and author of several moving picture books published by Workman Publishing including Gallop! (2007), Swing! (2008), and his 2009 newest release, Waddle!
What is scanimation?
“It is a technique that combines the eye’s ability to use parallax perception with moiré-style multiple-line patterns, and a sheet of acetate,” Seder explains. “Ultimately, the brain thinks that the images on the page are actually moving. But really the only thing that is happening is what is going on between your ears. It’s a wonderful, patented, optical illusion.”
Dubbed the "queen of putting people's lives in order" by USA Today, organizational and time management expert Julie Morgenstern teaches us to clear the clutter
By Hope Katz Gibbs
January 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Dubbed the “queen of putting people’s lives in order” by USA Today, Julie Morgenstern is an organizational and time management expert, business productivity consultant, and nationally renowned speaker. She’s also a New York Times bestselling author, having published five books that are reference guides featuring techniques and observations culled from her 20 years of experience as a consultant to individuals and companies.
She founded Julie Morgenstern Enterprises in 1989, and her common-sense approach to getting, and staying, organized has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey. In fact, in the last decade she appeared as a guest on Oprah nine times.
She has also appeared on CNN, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and Good Morning America, and has been quoted in The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Julie was also a monthly contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. Her new monthly column premiered in the March 2009 issue of Redbook.
Business owners are making New Year's resolutions [Associated Press]
December 30, 2009, Associated Press — “Small-business owners aren’t just putting together budgets and sales projections as 2010 approaches,” wrote Associated Press reporter Joyce M. Rosenberg in an article that published in dozens of newspapers around the country on New Year’s Eve. “Like the rest of us, they’re making some New Year’s resolutions but their goals aren’t about losing weight or exercising more. Business owners are resolving to fix problems in their companies or come up with ideas for working smarter in the new year.”
Working on work/life balance
Hope Katz Gibbs wanted to spend less time at work in the new year and more time with her two children. But “instead of dialing things back for a work/life balance, ramping it up seems to be the best strategy at this point,” said Gibbs, president of Inkandescent Public Relations. Her Washington-based company, which targets entrepreneurs, expects to have more work as more people start businesses.
So she looked at her family life and realized that overbooking her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son with after-school activities wasn’t the answer. “The trend is to overextend them, give them a million activities, make them competitive,” Gibbs said. “I’m trying to have more fun with them rather than micromanage them.”
So Gibbs and her husband, illustrator Michael Gibbs plan to involve her children more in her work, taking them to child-appropriate work events when possible. She likes the idea of exposing them to the business world so they can find out how it works. “It’s balancing in a different way,” she said.
Hope Gibbs offers "6 Tips for an Easy Move with Kids"
December 30, Life@Home magazine, Century 21 — In today’s issue of the Century 21 newsletter, reporter Robyn Friedman writes:
Hope Gibbs thought her move from Clifton, Va. to Arlington, Va.-a mere 45 minutes away-would be easy. And it was for daughter Anna, 14, who found new friends on Facebook even before she moved.
But Gibbs’ 10-year-old son Dylan found it more difficult. “You’d have thought we moved to Mars,” says Gibbs. “He still wants to go home despite having made tons of friends.”
Riding shotgun with Velva Jean [Costco Connection]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection / Book Beat
August 2009
“Daddy says I’m going to hell,” writes Jennifer Niven in the first chapter of her first work of fiction, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, a coming-of-age tale of a spunky young woman growing up in Appalachia in the years before World War II.
“You, my baby, are not going to hell,” comforts her mother. “You’re a good child, true and pure, and the Lord will call you when it’s time. You can’t bloom the flowers before they’re ready.”
After reading those few paragraphs it’s nearly impossible to keep from being drawn into Niven’s melodic prose as she unfurls the bittersweet drama of Velva Jean’s life. Readers are quickly catapulted into the pivotal period from July 22, 1933, the day her father insists she be baptized, to the tragic moment her beloved mother dies a few weeks later.
Before Velva Jean’s mama passes, she urges her only daughter to “live out there” in the great wide world. “That’s where you belong.”
Lunch with Phyllis Richman [Crystal City magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Crystal City magazine
For nearly three decades, most Washingtonians wouldn’t have recognized Washington Post restaurant critic Phyllis Richman, even if she was sitting at the next table. She kept a low profile, was rarely photographed, and often wore a silk scarf over the bottom of her face when she went out in public. Since retiring in 2000, the woman who could make or break a restaurant’s reputation is no longer hiding.
Phyllis Richman will have the sorrel soup, please. And the grilled squid. And, if possible, one perfect oyster. “Thank you, madam,” says the gracious, white-shirted waiter at the elegant P Street seafood bistro, Johnny’s Half Shell.
“Thank you,” replies Richman with a grin that indicates she is happy to be ordering exactly what she wants for lunch—and not sampling the entire menu, as was her mission for two decades as the Washington Post’s award-winning restaurant critic.
Readers often awaited her opinion before trying a new dining spot. Indeed, the success of a restaurant sometimes depended on her opinion. It was a serious responsibility, she realizes. “I often said mine was the world’s most wonderful job,” Richman says today. “Still, every job has its drawbacks.”
Hope & Michael Gibbs featured in Washington Post article, "At home with work"
By Dan Rafter
Special to The Washington Post
November 21, 2009
When Michael Gibbs and Hope Katz Gibbs moved this August, one house in Arlington rose to the top of their wish list: a remodeled and expanded ranch home. The big selling point? The house had enough flexible space that both of them could both set up their own home offices.
Both Hope, owner of the District-based Inkandescent Public Relations, and Michael, an illustrator, work from home. And they needed a house that would allow them to create two home offices. The ranch house in Arlington fit.
The couple have since turned their new home’s large basement into two separate offices. The space also includes a dance studio for their 14-year-old daughter, Anna.
“This is nothing new for us. We’ve each worked from home since we got married,” Hope said. “It enables us to both work as much as we do and still take care of our children the way we want. I remember when the kids were babies: I’d work, and he’d hold a baby. Or I’d be nursing one of the kids and be interviewing people on the phone. We couldn’t have done it without both of us working from home. I think that working moms have a tough time when their husbands work incredible hours and are out of the home all the time.”
NTSB Chairman Warns 'First Impessions Can Be Wrong'
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The National Press Club
The Wire
Photo by Terry Hill
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman criticized the way some members of the press cover the aviation and transportation accidents at a Luncheon Nov. 16.
“We understand the need to solve the puzzle in the early hours of an accident, and we know your editors and producers want you to be the first to get the ‘cause’ of the accident, but what is the cost to your credibility if you are the first to get the cause wrong? We have learned from experience that first impressions can be wrong,” she said.
U.S. Postal Service in acute financial crisis, Postmaster General says [National Press Club]
The 234-year-old U.S. Postal Service is in acute financial crisis, John Potter, the 72nd Postmaster General said Thursday during a National Press Club luncheon.
After losing a projected $7 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Potter said he is working to help the USPS reinvent itself. It won’t be an easy task, as 28 billion fewer pieces of mail were sent last year compared to fiscal year 2008, he said. Potter said that holiday mail, one of the traditionally highest volume periods of the year, was flat last year — and he expects it to be flat this December, as well.
In addition to more people using email rather than snail mail, and the lagging economy that is causing fewer people to mail printed ads pieces and other promotional materials, Potter believes the USPS’ deficit also grew out of a three-year-old law that added more than $5 billion to annual costs for prefunding retiree health benefits.
Kati Marton to come to DC on Oct. 22 to talk about her new book, "Enemies of the People: My family’s journey to America"
“You are opening a Pandora’s box,” author Kati Marton was warned when she began the research for her new book, Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America.
The Hungarian-born writer paid little attention and dove headfirst into the files of the Hungarian Secret Police (known as the AVO). There, she found the fascinating and sometimes excruciating details of the controversial careers of her parents — Endre and Illona Marton — two journalists who during the 1950s wrote hundreds of articles for the U.S.-based Associated Press and United Press about what was going on behind the Iron Curtain.
MEET KATI MARTON IN PERSON: Oct. 22, 6:30pm in DC
Kati Marton is coming to DC on Oct. 22, from 6:30-8pm, for a special evening to talk about her new book and network with local women. Hosted by Robin Strongin, publisher of the popular blog Disruptive Women in Health Care (www.disruptivewomen.net), Kati will be taking questions and sharing her insights. Tickets are only $28, and include a copy of the book, cocktails and food. Buy your tickets today at www.meetkatimarton.eventbrite.com.
Laura Lee Williams: The art of the design [elan magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
elan magazine
August 2009
Beautiful beads from Tokyo—more than 30,000 of them—grace the most elaborate offering by Laura Lee Designs, a handbag firm founded in 2005 by California native Laura Lee Williams.
Other designs—such as her trademark M bag—feature fewer beads, but the focus here is on the three-inch wrap of Australian snakeskin in the middle.
“The white version is perfect for weddings, and pink version is a personal favorite because we contribute a portion of the proceeds from each purchase to Breast Cancer Research,” says the soft-spoken brunette, who shares the tale of how she got started in the handbag business as she sips chamomile tea at a café not far from her current base of operations in Vienna, VA.
Gail McGovern: Leading the Red Cross through turbulent times [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
July 21, 2009
When Gail McGovern took over as president of the Red Cross last year, the former AT&T vp had no idea she’s have to deal with the aftermath of eight hurricanes and tropic storms, a record tornado season, and the worst flooding in the Midwest in 15 years.
She did know that she was inheriting a $209 million operating deficit, a mandate from the Board of Governors to eliminate it within two years, and that she was the 10th person to take the helm of the PR-challenged agency in the last decade, she told the crowd packed into the McClendon room at today’s Club luncheon.
And the Harvard marketing professor — who since 1998 has twice been named one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Corporate America” by Fortune magazine — said she isn’t complaining. “I pinch myself every day because I feel so fortunate to serve in this remarkable [128-year-old] institution.”
FASB chairman insists transparency is key to maintaining a sound financial system [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
June 26, 2009
“One welcome development that has arisen from the financial crisis is that a broader constituency is calling for greater transparency as necessary ingredient for recovery and the rebuilding of investor and public confidence,” said Robert Herz, chairman of the influential Financial Account Standards Board (FASB), at a June 26 Club luncheon.
While accounting did not cause the crisis and improvement of standards will not end it, admitted Herz, “it did reveal a number of areas requiring improvement of standards and overall transparency.”
Transparency, Herz said repeatedly in his hour-long speech, is the key to getting the country back on its feet — and keeping the world from suffering another economic crisis.
"Wire" Producer Laments Future of Professional Journalism [National Press Club]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
June 8, 2009
Photo by Noel St. John
Clad button-down blue shirt, no tie, faded black jeans and black-and-white wing-tip shoes, former Baltimore Sun police reporter David Simon — producer of HBO’s The Wire — said professional journalism self destructed.
Simon, who has earned awards and fame writing and producing NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street, the Emmy Award-winning HBO mini-series The Corner and The Wire, spoke at an NPC Luncheon Monday.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that the Internet crept up on us,” said Simon, who said he is worried about the future of journalism since before he took a buyout in 1995. “We destroyed ourselves. We didn’t care enough about the product. All of the research and development money went to Wall Street. The people in the board room wanted monopolies — and now they are lamenting about the demise of newspapers as they play 18 holes on the golf course in Hilton Head.”
Virgin Atlantic's Branson Says No to British Airways/American Airlines Merger [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club, The Wire
May 14, 2009
Photo of Sir Richard Branson by Noel St. John
“Please join me in saying ‘No Way BA / AA,’ ” said Sir Richard Branson during his breakfast speech on May 14. The English industrialist was in Washington to make his case about why the proposed merger between British Airways and American Airlines would damage competition on transatlantic routes.
Cokie Roberts on "Ladies of Liberty" [Truly Amazing Women]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 24, 2009
Truly Amazing Women
What would the founding mothers say to us today? “They’d look us square in the eye and say, ‘Honey relax, you got it easy,” says Cokie Roberts, the award-winning journalist who spoke today at the EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT conference in Washington, DC. “The truth of the matter is that this is so true. We are not pregnant every year. Typhoid hasn’t just come through town and killed two of our children. We are not making candles and bread before we prepare the evening meal. I think this perspective is wonderful because it’s true: We have it easy.”
Fran Drescher's Powerful Role: Health Advocate for Women [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 14, 2009
National Press Club
Photo: Greg Tinius
April 14, 2009, National Press Club — “I am not glad that I got cancer, but I am better for it,” award-winning actress Fran Drescher told the National Press Club today when she came to DC to promote her new role as the U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Women’s Health, and her nonprofit organization Cancer Schmancer (which is also the title of her second New York Times bestselling book).
IRS Presses Off-shore Tax Havens, Commissioner Says [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 13, 2009
National Press Club
Photo: Greg Tinius
April 13, 2009, National Press Club — With millions of Americans facing job losses and the threat of foreclosure — and just two days before the April 15 income tax filing deadline — IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a luncheon audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC: “In today’s economic environment, it’s more important than ever that the American public feels confident that individuals and corporations are playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.” He said the IRS has been turning up the pressure on off-shore financial institutions that help U.S. citizens conceal taxable income.
G is for Green [Costco Connection]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
April 2009
From organic peas to natural wooden toys, more parents and grandparents are determined to expose their little ones only to the safest, environmentally correct products. Execs at the UK-based publishing company Priddy Books have taken the cue from these savvy customers, and recently launched the Organic Baby book series, which is printed on recycled paper with soy ink.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Success in the City
Truly Amazing Women
February 11, 2009
Debbie Wasserman Schultz was raised to believe you can have it all. At 42, the attractive, active U.S. Congresswoman from the 20th Congressional District who represents Miami-Dade / Broward County Florida certainly seems to have hit the mark. With two kids, a husband who is incredibly supportive — he buys her clothes and is willing to put her career before his — and a plum seat on the House Committee on Appropriations and Committee on the Judiciary, she is determined to expand on her reputation as a fighter for families.
Mind Your Manners: Emily Post's kin Anna Post on "The Etiquette Advantage in Business"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Success in the City
Truly Amazing Women blog
March 23, 2009
Etiquette expert Anna Post (great great granddaughter of the queen of good manners, Emily Post) charmed a room filled with dozens of businesswomen at a networking event on March 23 honoring past winners of the Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business awards.
Anna’s top tips included 7 Best Business Social Practices, 5 Tricks to Terrific Table Manners, and ways to ensure your house guests always have a fabulous time. Indeed, being graceful, authentic, and polite is the key to having the etiquette advantage in business, Anna insists. “As today’s workplace becomes increasingly competitive, knowing how to behave can make the difference between getting ahead and getting left behind.”
NPR President Vivian Shiller: What Public Broadcasting can learn from commercial media - and vice versa [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Article for National Press Club
Truly Amazing Women blog
March 2, 2009
With only eight weeks under her belt as the head of one of the 39-year-old media organization, Vivian Schiller, the new president and CEO of National Public Radio, is to many an ideal choice to take NPR into the digital age. Since May 2006, she served as senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. Prior to that, she was the senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, and before that senior vice president of CNN Productions.
As the head of NPR, Schiller – who took the helm on January 5 – will oversee all network operations, including partnerships with 800-plus member stations reaching more than 26 million listeners every week. It’s a job that Schiller says she relishes.
How do you get to be a curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum? Ask Joanna Marsh
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women
February 26, 2009
When Joanna Marsh was a child, the James Dicke curator of contemporary art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum dreamt of becoming a doctor. She reconsidered after one year as a biology major at Cornell. “It became very obvious, very quickly, that I was not cut out for a career in the sciences,” admits the 32-year-old.
Several women on the Cornell faculty, however, inspired her to double major in English and art history — and once she found her passion success came quickly. Following graduation she spent a year and a half at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, where she received a master’s degree in post-war and contemporary art. “The Institute was minutes away from the British Museum and within walking distance of the National Gallery and Sotheby’s auction house, as well as the University of London. It was an incredible place to learn and grow as student of art history.”
Modern Mom: Adriana Escalante Calderon [I Am Modern magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
I Am Modern magazine
Modern Media
Spring 2009
Adriana Escalante Calderon considers herself a typical modern mom. She has three small children (Alberto, 6, Alejandro, 5, and Valeria, 7 months), a sterling jewelry company called Vaccari that she founded in 2002, and a new venture — a thriving blog, www.themomsbuzz.com that she writes and sells advertising for.
Of course, the Peruvian-born beauty doesn’t realize the wonder woman she is — and when it’s pointed out shrugs off the compliment saying that her life is similar to most women today.
Press Release: Dr. Muhammad Yunus to Speak at GWU's Lisner Auditorium Feb. 4 at 7pm about his new book, “Creating A World Without Poverty”
Washington DC, February 2009 — Anyone who understands the importance of micro-lending as a means to end global poverty will want to join our client Hooks Book Events when it hosts a special event with Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. on at the Lisner Auditorium on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
The Grameen Foundation founder and managing director will be speaking about his latest book, “Creating a World Without Poverty,” which outlines his vision for a new business model that combines the power of free markets with the quest for a more humane world. He’ll share the inspiring stories of companies that are doing this work today.
This event is open to the public. Portions of the proceeds of book sales will benefit the Grameen Foundation. Tickets to event are $25 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
Former Sec. Margaret Spellings talks about 21st Century Skills [City Schools Close-Up / The Parent Diaries]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Director of Communications
City of Fairfax Schools
Editor, City Schools Close-Up
Winter 2009
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visited Fairfax High School on November 19 to view the AVID program and observe other cutting-edge initiatives it has embarked on with the goal of improving students’ 21st Century Skills.
As one of the principal authors of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, Spellings said throughout her four-year tenure, “We cannot prepare students for the global economy if we don’t get them to grade level first.” In 2005 she convened a Commission on the Future of Higher Education to recommend reform at the post-secondary level.
The reason for concern, she explained during her trip to FHS, is that students are not being adequately prepared to land jobs after they graduate from high school.
ConocoPhillips CEO Urges Pragmatic Approach to Green Energy [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club, The Wire
Photo by Rex Allen Stuckey
January 14, 2009
ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva addresses a luncheon crowd at the National Press Club
James Mulva does not yet drive a plug-in or hybrid car, but at a Jan. 13 luncheon, the chairman and CEO of the nation’s third largest energy company, ConocoPhillips, was adamant that the Obama administration focus on the energy opportunities.
“In just seven days, our new president takes office, [and] his confidence and calmness are reassuring,” said Mulva, pointing to one of the solutions that the president-elect has suggested is the creation of a green energy economy. “We agree that we must reduce the environmental footprint of energy production and consumption. But we must be realistic about the cost of green energy. Also about its true potential, and how long it will take for commercial-scale supply contributions.”
Philanthropist Edie Frasier: A magical bumblebee
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Director of Communications
Success in the City / CEO Chick Chat
January 14, 2009
“A magical bumble bee” is what Success in the City’s founder Cynthia de Lorenzi called Edie Frasier, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and diversity advocate, who spoke to a room filled with professional women business owners at a recent SITC CEO Chick Chat.
As the president, founder and CEO of Diversity Best Practices, Business Women’s Network and Best Practices in Corporate Communications — all part of the Public Affairs Group, an iVillage Company — Edie supports more than 170 organizations, corporate and government members. Most recently, she co-authored Do You Giving While You Are Living, with well-known TV and radio reporter Robyn Spizman.
Dr. Helen Fisher to speak about her new book 6pm, Feb. 11 at the at National Press Club
Washington DC, January 14, 2009 — Why do you fall in love with one person rather than another? That’s the question biological anthropologist Helen Fisher will address when she speaks about her new book “WHY HIM? WHY HER?” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11 at 6pm.
Dr. Fisher’s new book — the fifth from the world-renown Research Professor and member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University — stems from her current work as Scientific Advisor to the Internet dating site, Chemistry.com, a subsidiary of Match.com. Her data and ideas are based on her analysis of patterns of attraction among 28,000 men and women, as well as data from genetics, neurochemistry and personality studies.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori offers message of hope [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Record, National Press Club
Photo by Marshall Cohen
December 16, 2008
“Help us tell the world that fear is not the answer,” Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told a room filled with the faithful and skeptical who came to hear her speak today at the National Press Club.
“When one part of this nation or world suffers, we all do,” insisted the 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, who is the first woman to lead a national church in the 520-year history of Anglicanism. “We no longer live in a hermetically sealed nation or economic system — if we ever did. Protectionist and isolationist policies are not going to heal us. We are all going to be affected by massive layoffs in the manufacturing sector, and in the financial sector. The same maxim applies to us in this country as is often quoted in the developing world, that when the U.S. sneezes, Haiti or Honduras gets a cold.”
Do Your Giving While You Are Still Living [The Parent Diaries]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries
December 23, 2008
I love the title of this new book by Washington, DC activist / philanthropist Edie Fraser and TV journalist Robyn Spizman. Not only is it a great message to send our kids, it’s a message that parents need to hear — especially in this time of economic uncertainty when more people are hoarding what they have, out of fear for the future.
“We believe the most important word in our vocabulary is love,” the authors write in the introduction. “We’re talking about the kind of love that opens our hearts to others and expects nothing in return. It inspires us to do kind and caring things even when no one is watching.”
It is that belief that inspired the these two truly amazing women to put together nearly 300-page tome that gave 66 leaders of some of the country’s most influential nonprofit organizations the opportunity to talk about the benefits of giving.
DNC, RNC Chairmen Review Presidential Campaign at Luncheon [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club Blog
News & Noteworthy
Nov. 6, 2008
The Democratic and Republican national committee chairman paid homage to their candidates, voters, and the political process at a sold-out National Press Club luncheon.
“We accepted this invitation long before we knew how the election would turn out, and that was a bit of a risk,“ joked DNC Chairman Howard Dean who shared the stage today with RNC Chairman Robert M. (Mike) Duncan. “ My heart goes out to Mike, because I know he is in a tough spot. ”
Nonetheless, a proud and admittedly sleep-deprived Dean announced that America chose hope over fear and unity over division when they elected Sen. Barack Obama last night with 52 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent for McCain.
Parade magazine features The Gibbs Family in article, "The Best of Both Worlds: Making the holidays happy in a house with two religions"
Article by Lynn Martin
Parade Magazine
December 4, 2008
Journalist Hope Katz Gibbs, 44, a veteran of Hebrew school and her husband Michael Gibbs, 54, an illustrator and former Catholic school altar boy, make sure that their shared traditions provide plenty of glow—from the candles on the menorah to the Christmas lights that bedeck their suburban Virginia home. If you want to know how well they’ve meshed their two cultures, look no further than their tree—adorned with popsicle-stick ornaments in the shape of Jewish stars.
“We’re trying to teach our children to be good, moral people,” says Hope Katz Gibbs, explaining that Anna 13, and Dylan, 9, are learning about both religions and reap the benefits of two celebrations. On Chanukah, the family lights candles, says prayers in Hebrew and enjoys a dinner that includes matzoh ball soup made from Hope’s grandmother’s recipe (the secret’s in the fresh dill and parsley seasoning.)
On Christmas, “We do the tree, the lights, and the whole Santa routine,” says husband Mike, adding that it’s one of his favorite times of year. On each occasion, they take a few, important minutes, to re-tell the story of the holiday. Hope’s mom Bobbi Katz often comes to Christmas dinner, Mike’s parents, to Chanukah. “It’s all about sharing,” says Hope. Still there are parts of the other’s celebration that neither partakes of. “I still don’t eat the Christmas ham and Mike doesn’t like gefitle fish,” she laughs.
Hope Gibbs tells The Mom Entrepreneur show she "Turns Lemons into Lemonade"
By Hope Katz Gibbs for Traci Bisson’s blog
The Mom Entrepreneur
November 22, 2008
In addition to blogging and working as a freelance journalist, I am also the owner of Inkandescent Public Relations — a PR firm I officially launched this fall.
I left a good-paying part-time job as the leader of corporate communication for a global futurist firm to embark on this new venture, and although I had an inkling that the economy was faltering (I worked for futurists for two years, after all) I hoped for the best and took the plunge. So when our financial institutions tanked and the recession firmly took hold, I continued to stick to my plan and hope for the best. How could I not when that’s what I always tell my kids to do!
An American Love Story: Suzanne & Bob Carbone
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women
Nov. 27, 2008
In support of Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month (November) and in celebration of what it truly means to give thanks for your loved ones this Thanksgiving Day — we honor Suzanne Carbone, a caregiver and advocate for research into the prevention and cure of Alzheimer’s disease. Last May 14 she testified before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging on behalf of Bob Carbone, her husband of nearly 40 years who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2000.
“In many ways, his story is a classic American success story. He was born in Plentywood, Montana, where his immigrant father was a section foreman for the Great Northern Railroad and his mother was a homemaker. Relying on his sharp mind and love of learning, Bob earned a Masters degree from Emory University and PhD from the University of Chicago. He was the Special Assistant to President Fred Harrington at the University of Wisconsin, and before his diagnosis, was the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Always interested in the political process, he ran for the Maryland State Legislature in 1982.”
“In January 2007 my husband moved into assisted living, when caring for him at home was no longer an option. I am just one of millions of caregivers who are faced with such a difficult decision. Every day, I meet another caregiver who needs help and doesn’t know where to turn. Our country is not prepared for the emotional, physical, and financial impact of this disease.”
Yes We Did!
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Democratic Women of Clifton
Nov. 2008
As a journalist for 25 years who recently launched a PR firm, Inkandescent Public Relations, I’ve long been most comfortable working behind the scenes, making others look good. So the idea of knocking on doors, handing out campaign literature at the polls, or even making cold calls to change the minds of angry Republicans to vote for my candidate of choice simply wasn’t something I ever wanted to do.
But after eight years of living in the Fear Factor and suffering from Bushonomics, I simply had to do something.
Mind you, I was a Hillary supporter. I thought she had the experience needed for the job of President, and it sure would have been great finally to have a strong, brilliant woman making decisions for our future.
My husband, illustrator Michael Gibbs, and most of the smart men I know and admire, liked Obama from the start of the campaign. They saw him as the ideal leader of our time, a man who embodies the leadership qualities of Lincoln, JFK, – and Jesus.
So once Obama defeated my favorite lady, I was willing to jump on the Barack brigade. But I wanted to know more. Was he really up for the job? Would Middle America, not to mention my Jewish mother, actually be able to put aside their prejudices and vote for a black man for President?
I needed to find out for myself what power Obama held over people, so Michael and I took our two kids to a rally in Fredericksburg. After standing for six hours in the rain, Obama finally took the stage — and it was an awesome thing.
32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny [The Parent Diaries]
Book review by Hope Katz Gibbs
Book by Phillip Done
Winner of the Schwab Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award
Every now and then a book comes along that makes you laugh until you cry. Such is the case with this first tome by veteran third grade teacher Phillip Done.
He weaves a tale that’s so engaging you’ll either be rolling on the floor in hysterics – or be so touched that a tear will suddenly appear in your eye. Either way, this 288-pager is a something you’ll likely want to share with every teacher, parent, and third grader you know.
“After my first week of teaching, I knew I had to write this book,” Done explains from his home in Northern California. “But after a day of working as a third grade teacher, I had absolutely no creativity left in me. So for years the book just lived in my head.”
Then about two years ago, Done had the opportunity to teach in Eastern Europe. He learned something interesting while abroad: He didn’t have to teach his class alone. While one of the other teachers was working with the students, Done found time to write.
To Explain Election Dean Cites Hope, Unity; Duncan Cites Spending [The Record]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Record, National Press Club
Nov. 7, 2008
Read this issue of The Record
The Democratic and Republican National Committee chairmen paid homage to their candidates, American voters, and the political process Nov. 5 at a sold-out National Press Club Luncheon.
A proud and admittedly sleep-deprived Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman, announced that America chose hope over fear and unity over division when it elected Barack Obama with 52 percent of the vote (349 electoral votes, as of the morning of Nov. 5) compared to 46 percent (163 electoral votes) for McCain.
Data-Driven Instruction [INSIDE Instructional Services, Fall 2008]
Newsletter by Hope Katz Gibbs with Peter Noonan
Fairfax County Public Schools
Fall 2008
“When it comes to maximizing student performance, concepts like data-driven instruction are often bandied about in education circles
as the ‘new thing,’ writes Fairfax County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Peter Noonan in the Fall 2008 issue of INSIDE, a quarterly newsletter for his Instructional Services Division. “This suggests that perhaps the idea isn’t sound, or it will likely go out of favor when another educational fad becomes more popular.”
Nonetheless, he adds, he has long been a proponent of this concept, and knows that with technological tools such as eCART principals and educators can successfully use data to help all students master
the curriculum.
“A tool like eCART helps educators thoroughly and concretely understand where students stand in the core subjects so they can intervene in the areas where kids are struggling, and enhance
learning opportunities in the areas that they have already mastered,” he explains.
The Gooseberry Patch is Cooking [Costco Connection magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
November 2008
Things are cooking at Gooseberry Patch, a multimillion-dollar company with a country flair that publishes catalogs, comfort-food-friendly cookbooks, calendars and organizers.
Last year, the company published its 100th cookbook and shipped out more than 350,000 packages from its catalog of more than 500 items less than $20-which includes a selection of wall and pocket-size calendars, night lights, Mason jars, bowls, kitchen accessories, food items and kits, Christmas ornaments and soap pumps.
The company’s 100 employees are like family, say founders Vickie Hutchins and Jo Ann Martin-two entrepreneurs who didn’t expect to build an empire back in 1984. They were both stay-at-home moms looking for something to do after the kids went off to school. One morning the neighbors were chatting over their shared backyard fence in picturesque Delaware, Ohio, and decided to start a catalog company.
CEO Stephanie Cohen to Host First Annual DC Health Summit: Oct. 29
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
October 27, 2008
Truly Amazing Women
Mark your calendar for Oct. 29 when award-winning entrepreneur Stephanie Cohen hosts the first annual DC Health Summit, a meeting that is bringing together 100 of the top minds in the health care industry on Oct. 29 from 11 am to 1 pm at the Mandarin Hotel in Washington, DC www.dchealthsummit.com.
This free, groundbreaking event is open to business leaders and health care professionals who want to learn more about workplace wellness and how it can not only potentially lower health insurance rates. Wellness expert Steven Aldana, CEO of Wellsteps, Inc. and author of “The Culprit and the Cure,” will give the keynote speech: “The Truth About Return on Investment and Worksite Health Promotion Programs.”
A representative from the Barack Obama campaign, Dr. Melinda Buntin, will be on hand to talk about each candidate’s health care plans. (Although a representative from the John McCain campaign was invited, they declined our invitation.)
Nardos King: 2008 Outstanding First-Year Principal Award [Truly Amazing Women blog]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
October 24, 2008
Truly Amazing Women
Earlier this year, beloved Fairfax County Public School educator Nardos King, the principal of Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria VA, took home one of the most prestigious FCPS awards: the 2008 Outstanding First-Year Principal Award.
Praised for her ability to motivate students, she set several goals when she became principal. The first was to have Mount Vernon become a positive focal point in the community. She also wanted to reach out to Hispanic parents who were underrepresented at the school.
Then last year she did what few other educators might be willing to do: She promised to cut her hair into a Mohawk if students raised their SOL scores to 80% or higher in each of the four core areas. Not only did they accomplish that, but 28 students in the class of 2007 earned the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma—the highest number in the school’s history. Last November 20, King headed to the hairdresser to make good on her promise.
"Don't Bother Me Mom, I'm Learning" [The Parent Diaries blog]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries
Oct. 24, 2008
Educator Mark Prensky’s book begins with a warning: “You are about to hear a message that, while absolutely true, will fly in the face of prevailing wisdom about computer and video games: Computer and video games arent as bad as you think they are. In fact, theres good reason to believe that they do a tremendous amount of good.
And so it goes in “Don’t Bother Me Mom I’m Learning,” a 254-page paperback published by Paragon House that outlines why, and how, the technology provided in games is actually helping prepare children for the jobs they’ll have as participants in the 21st century workforce.
In chapters that include, “Economics and Business Lessons for a 10-year-old from a Computer Game,” and “Video Games Are Our Kids First Ethics Lesson,” Prensky convincingly argues why its a good idea to let children have access to such titles as The Sims, Harvest Moon, and Zoo Tycoon.
Gen Y in the Workplace: HR expert Alice Waagen offers tips [The Parent Diaries]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries
Oct. 17, 2008
I don’t know of a parent today who isn’t worried about how their children are going to fare in the future. Our young adults who have already entered the workforce are reportedly struggling to find their place — and evidence suggests that employers are struggling right alongside them.
Fortunately, Alice Waagen, PhD, president of the executive Workforce Learning, has some advice. Waagen suggests:
• Dress to impress.
• Listen, listen and listen.
• Avoid office politics.
• Don’t loose your outward focus.
• Build and keep a budget.
Q&A with Dr. Howard Book, co-author The EQ Edge [Leadership Strategies]
Book review by Hope Katz Gibbs
Leadership Strategies newsletter
Dr. Howard E. Book, the author of The EQ Edge, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and is guest faculty at the INSEAD School of Business in France. He is also a founding member of Associates in Workplace Consultation, and works with mid- and large-size corporations in enhancing the EQ of their executives and developing EQ programs for middle managers.
Hope Gibbs: You explain in your book that emotional intelligence, which you also call “street smarts,” “savvy,” or “know how,” is the personal quality that gives you a competitive edge for success. You also seem to believe that successful leaders are in touch with their emotions and that emotional intelligence is key to business and personal success. Is this something you are born with, or can be learned?
Dr. Book: It can definitely be learned. Studies in the workplace have demonstrated that an increase in emotional intelligence can lead directly to a better bottom line. For example, in a study at American Express Financial Services, a group trained in emotional skills sold 10% more life insurance than a comparison group of salespeople. The group trained in emotional competencies produced 16% higher sales than other salespeople across the company. This resulted in millions of dollars of additional sales. Interestingly, participants reported improvements in their personal lives as well.
Two Time Emmy Award Winning Producer Janet Shalestik [Truly Amazing Women blog]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
October 9, 2008
Truly Amazing Women
When it comes time to make that incredibly challenging decision to be a stay-at-home-mom or follow your career, two time Emmy Award winning TV producer Janet Shalestik didn’t hesitate.
“When I was in my 20s, I thought my greatest accomplishment was winning two Emmy Awards as a producer for ‘Capital Edition’ on WUSA-TV, Channel 9, and getting nominated for a national Emmy for an ‘America’s Most Wanted’ story against producers for Nightline, 60 Minutes and 20/20,” she says.
But then came Alison in 1991 and Sam in 1994.
“It wasn’t a choice,” she says. “I simply knew that my kids were the most important people in the world to me. That made giving up the glamour and the world of TV a lot easier.”
INSIDE Instructional Services [Fairfax County Public Schools]
Newsletter by Hope Katz Gibbs with Peter Noonan
Fairfax County Public Schools
Summer 2008
This newsletter is a quarterly publication for Peter Noonan, assistant superintendent of instructional services at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Its mission is to share thoughts and ideas about curriculum and assessment that are fundamental to the work that principals and teachers are doing to improve student achievement.
This first issue, entitled “Staying Ahead of the Curve,” was published in the summer of 2008. It focused on how three FCPS principals adopted strategies from the cutting-edge book on assessment (by the same name) edited by education expert Douglas Reeves.
“The 268-page hardback, published last year by Solution Tree, features essays by a dozen authors who I consider to be the greatest minds in assessment,” says Noonan, who selected three chapters to have his principals focus on.
The Importance of Learning Chinese [The Parent Diaries]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries
Oct. 10, 2008
First graders in Grace Yuan’s Chinese class at Providence Elementary in Fairfax County, VA aren’t shy about showing off what they’ve learned since the start of the year. The 6-year-olds are all eager to come to the front of the class to recite their names in Chinese, the days of the week, numbers from 1-31, months of the year, the four seasons, and some basic greetings.
“I couldn’t be more impressed,” beams Providence’s Principal Joy Hanbury. “To say these students are picking up Chinese with great ease and enthusiasm is an understatement. I can’t wait to see what they’ll know by the end of the year.”
She credits the 1st graders’ success to the high-energy and creativity of Yuan, who has also helped Fairfax County Public Schools develop the curriculum for the Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) Chinese program that is being integrated into the 1st grade curriculum at Providence this year.
These students will continue with the program next year when they become 2nd graders—and the new 1st grader class will begin learning Chinese. Within six years, all 1st through 6th grade students at Providence will be studying the language.
Weekend Getaway: Little Palm Island [New Miami magazine]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
New Miami magazine
Travel: Weekend Getaways
Design by Kevin Jolliffe
A THREE-HOUR DRIVE FROM Miami south into the Keys, weary execs will find solace at Little Palm Island, a secluded island paradise—with only one telephone. It’s reminiscent of the uncharted isle where shipwrecked Gilligan found himself castaway. Of course, Gilligan, never dined at a first-class French restaurant, received an hour-long Thai massage or paddled around in a heated pool. The pampering begins at check-in where a perky concierge greets guests inside a hut by the side of the road near Little Torch Key (at mile marker 28.5). Bearing cocktails and information packets, she charms guests until a zippy motorboat arrives to transport visitors to the island.
Weekend Getaway: The Grand Bay Hotel [New Miami magazine]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
New Miami magazine
Feature: Weekend Getaways
SOMETIMES THE BEST WAY TO get away for a weekend is to forego the hassles of traveling. That’s a secret Miami’s elite have known for years, and one of their escapes is the five-star elegance of the 181-room Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove. From the white-gloved bellman that whisks luggage and ladies through the gilded front door to a complimentary glass of champagne offered at check-in, most everything about the Grand Bay is presented with silver-platter courtesy and discretion. Guests even get to choose the room décor they’d like for their suite: safari, Marrakech and Mandarin are most popular, the concierge confides.
Hope Justman Hikes China's Old Roads [Blog: Truly Amazing Women]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women
October 1, 2008
Hope Justman is one of those women who younger broads look up to and say, “If only we can grow up to be her.” As a retiree, she penned a “Guide to Hiking China’s Old Road to Shu.” So not only has she written a great book, which was published in December by Universe Press — this academic adventure, who as a 60-something grandmother, has hiked some of the toughest paths in China. And she wants us to, too!
“I first became interested in China as an art history major at Mount Holyoke College,” she writes on her website, http://www.chinasgreatroads.com. “I also first heard of the Road to Shu at this time as we studied the painting Emperor Ming Huang’s Journey to Shu. I was particularly intrigued by the plank road skirting the sheer mountain peaks in the background (lower right), although I was convinced that the artist had taken a few liberties in perching it so precariously on the side of a cliff.”
Safe Young Drivers
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries
September 29, 2008
Driving on highways and winding back roads is scary enough an experienced driver is behind the wheel — but when teens start driving cause for concern increases. Reports of teens dying behind the wheel seem to dominate the news. That’s why Phil Berardelli’s book, “Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens,” is an essential read for every parent.
The Fairfax County, VA dad, former teacher and journalist originally penned the 176-page paperback in 1996. In its fourth edition, it has sold thousands of copies — and still, he says, each year far too many teens die or are harmed due to unsafe driving. In fact, he was inspired to write the book 10 years ago after an area crash killed three teens and disabled another.
“Those kids reminded me of my own two girls, who I had taught how to drive a few years before. The tragedy launched me on this course of urging parents to protect their teen drivers,” says the journalist, who immediately crafted an article on the topic for The Washington Post. The piece generated so much fan mail that an editor at the Post encouraged Berardelli to turn it into a guidebook. He did, making sure his message was effective.
Chef Kim Alvarez: A Dinner to Remember [Blog: Truly Amazing Women]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women
Sept. 19, 2008
Entrepreneur and chef Kim Alvarez was featured today (Sept. 19) with her husband Edgar in a front-page article in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Entitled, “To market, to market, to buy a dinner to remember,” by reporter Adam Stone, the story focuses on how the two young entrepreneurs manage their gourmet shop and catering company in a dicey economy.
“As business plans go, the one for the Delaware Market House is perhaps not the most sophisticated. But it sure is straightforward,” Stone wrote. “Kim and Edgar Alvarez [pictured right] have a catering business to run, they’ve got a retail shop to manage, and they have ambitions for growth. Their strategy: Make the best food they can.”
Nature vs. Nurture: A Father's Debate [The Parent Diaries blog]
Written and illustrated by Michael Gibbs
An Illustrator and Dad
From his blog, perceptiion
Illustration by Gibbs, “Here’s the Catch”
www.michaelgibbs.com
The floor of my son’s room is an almost comical testament to the life of a typical nine year old boy.
A baseball glove. Drumsticks. A Game Boy. Stuffed animals. His stash of coins. A week’s worth of clothes. A Captain Underpants book. A book on scientists. Gizmos made of disassembled old toys. Stacks of his drawings, next to a toolbox filled with crayons and markers.
Two of those things stand out, for not so obvious reasons; the baseball glove and the toolbox of crayons and markers. He’s very good at throwing a ball, and he’s very good at creative thinking and drawing. Yet those two things also represent opposite extremes of social behavior: team sports, and solitary expression of self.
One of my jobs as father is to figure out where he’s going to go in life, and help him sort things out and get there.
The Council on Competitiveness Issues a Challenge for the 44th President: Put energy policy first [National Press Club]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club luncheon
Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008
Photo by John Metelsky
The next president of the United States must put the full of weight of his office behind an energy plan, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson said at an NPC luncheon Tuesday.
“The priorities and legacy of a new administration are often defined and judged by the actions that are taken within its first 100 days,” said Jackson, a MIT-trained physicist and current president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who is the vice chairman of the Competitiveness Council — a group of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders committed to enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the global economy through the creation of high-value economic activity.
“The future economic competitiveness, national security, and prosperity of our nation will be determined by how we obtain and use energy, protect our environment, and address global climate change,” she said.
Barbara Mitchell and Sharon Armstrong: The Essential HR Handbook [Truly Amazing Women]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women interviews
Barbara Mitchell and Sharon Armstrong
Authors, “The Essential HR Handbook”
September 8, 2008
In 14th-century England, masons, carpenters, leather workers, and other skilled craftsmen organized themselves into guilds—the first unions that were used to improve their work conditions.
With the Industrial Revolution came divisions of labor, negotiable wages and hours, and challenging work conditions, and the owner was replaced by a new character, the boss, who was solely focused on getting the job done fast and right.
Conflict ensued—and so the human resources industry was born to help set things straight, explain authors Sharon Armstrong and Barbara Mitchell in their new book, The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional.
An Answer to Cancer? [The Costco Connection]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
September 2008
Dr. David Servan-Schreiber believes we have the power to fight cancer
BEFORE HE WAS diagnosed with brain cancer at age 31, Dr. David Servan-Schreiber could be found scarfing down a bowl of chili con carne on the elevator at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in between teaching classes and seeing patients.
“I’d sometimes add a bagel to the mix, and wash it all down with a can of Coke,” admits Servan-Schreiber, the author of Anticancer: A New Way of Life, which hits bookstores in September. “It’s a pretty scary mix to me now.”
However, it took another bout with cancer seven years later, when he was 38, before the neuropsychiatrist could bring himself to slow down or change his habits.
Help your kids live a Creative Life
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries interviews
author Elaina Loveland
“Creative Colleges,” and “Creative Careers”
When she was a little girl, Elaina Loveland dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. The graceful waif of a woman was a dynamic dancer, but after attending the dance program at Goucher College to study for a few years, she realized the reality of her choice might not make for an ideal career.
“It became clear that I should have gone straight to New York City to dance instead of going to college to study it,” she admits. “I also realized that my dance career would probably only last as long as my body held out—and that seemed like a bit of a gamble.”
So she opted for Plan B and became a writer—and ever since hasn’t let anything get in her way. Elaina firmly believes anyone who wants to have a creative career can do it. All they need to do is plan, prepare, and be brave enough to take the leap.
Making Money in the Metaverse [Change)Waves newsletter]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Change)Waves newsletter
Summer 2008
When Daniel Terdiman set out to write a book about Linden Lab’s virtual world Second Life (SL), the award-winning CNET News.com reporter was hoping to answer
one basic question: Can you really make money in the metaverse?
The answer is yes, and Terdiman proves how in his 309-page glossy trade book published last October by Wiley. In 11 chapters, he offers a multitude of ideas about what it takes to become a successful cyberpreneur. He also covers the history and economics behind Linden Labs, and even offers case studies and business plans.
But Terdiman doesn’t sugar coat the reality of making money in the land of avatars and sims. “Despite some breathless press reports that suggest that making money in Second Life is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, that really isn’t true,” he insists. “The reality is that conceiving and running a Second Life business is, in many ways, very much like doing so with any kind of business. Those who do well are the ones who come up with a plan, commit to it, put in the time required, and are willing to be flexible as conditions demand.”
How exactly does all this work and what is the future of Second Life? Change)Waves managing editor Hope Katz Gibbs recently interviewed Terdiman about that and other aspects of his book.
Bratproofing Your Children [The Parent Diaries]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries interviews
Janet and Lew Solomon, authors
Bratproofing Your Children: How to raise socially and financially responsible kids
When college professors Janet and Lew Solomon were raising their son Michael, now 33, they were determined to teach him the value of money. On the morning of his 10th birthday, they got their chance.
Young Michael came bounding down the steps and announced it would only be 6 more years until he could get a car. Lew (a lawyer who taught taxation and trusts and estates at George Washington University Law School), and Janet (a business school professor who specialized in human resources management) gave each other a sideways glance and sat Michael down for breakfast and a taste of reality.
Karaoke for Charity [Truly Amazing Women]
Blog entry by Hope Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women on
Cynthia de Lorenzi’s new charity
Mark your calendar for Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008 when the life of Bobby de Lorenzi will be celebrated in grand karaoke style. The event is a fundraiser for the beloved brother of Success in the City founder Cynthia de Lorenzi, who has started a foundation in Bobby’s name.
“When Bobby died suddenly in 2002 it was completely devastating to the entire family and all of the people who worked for him at his company, Patriot.Net,” explains Cynthia today. “Bobby was one of those people who lit up a room the second he walked into it—who changed people just because he knew them. This foundation is our way of honoring his life and bringing joy to the people who never got to meet him.”
The mission of the Bobby de Lorenzi Foundation is to provide a grant to an adult who has had to stop their studies or career so they can continue on their path with renewed confidence and support.
For more, Read Entire Article and visit http://trulyamazingwomen.blogspot.com
Handbag entrepreneur Laura Lee Williams [Truly Amazing Women blog]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women interviews
Handbag entrepreneur Laura Lee Williams
August 11, 2008
Beautiful beads from Tokyo—more than 30,000 of them—grace the most elaborate offering by Laura Lee Designs, an international handbag firm founded in 2005 by California native Laura Lee Williams.
Other designs—such as her trademark M bag—feature fewer beads, but the focus here is on the three-inch wrap of Australian snakeskin in the middle. “The white version is perfect for weddings, and pink version is a personal favorite because we contribute a portion of the proceeds from each purchase to Breast Cancer Research,” says the soft-spoken brunette, who shares the tale of how she got started in the handbag business as she sips chamomile tea at a café not far from her current base of operations in Tyson’s Corner, VA.
IIF chairman Josef Ackermann offers remedies for worldwide financial crisis [National Press Club]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
The National Press Club
June 28, 2008
What can be done by the to address the turmoil the financial industry finds itself in today? That was the question that banking industry leader Dr. Josef Ackermann tried to answer before a room packed with journalists, bankers, business leaders, and politicians at the National Press Club on July 17.
“What became a sub prime mortgage crisis has since turned into a much deeper problem and spread across a wide array of global markets,” said Ackermann, who in addition to being chairman of the board of Deutsche Bank heads up the Institute for International Finance (IIF)—a Washington, DC-based association of 380 financial firms worldwide. He spoke to the NPC in that capacity.
Miami Mayor Urges Rescue of Cities [National Press Club]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
The National Press Club
Aug. 4, 2008
At a packed National Press Club luncheon on Aug. 4, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz challenged the next president of the U.S. to invest in solutions to the growing problems that threaten America’s cities.
“Is this country still willing to provide the tools necessary for advancement?” said Diaz, a lawyer born in Cuba who immigrated to Florida on a “freedom flight” at age 6, spoke not only as a second term mayor — but also as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Obesity and Kids: What can parents do? [The Parent Diaries blog]
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Parent Diaries reports on a new study by CSPI
“Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu”
August 4, 2008
“Nearly every single possible comibination of the children’s meals at KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A is too high in calories,” according to Margo Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who released a new report, “Kids Meals: Obesity on the Menu” on Aug. 4 at a press conference at the National Press Conference in Washington, DC.
Wootan explained that 93% of 1,474 possible choices at 13 top chains exceed 430 calories—an amount that is one-third of what the Institute of Medicine recommends that children aged 4 through 8 should consume in a day.
The problem, Wootan explains, is that kids are eating out more than ever and when they do they consume twice as many calories as when they eat a meal at home due to the extra saturated fat, less fiber and calcium in fast food meals vs. home-cooked ones.
Click on “Read Entire Article” for other weighty facts.