If you knew me in high school or right after high school, you would have thought my future was a ski bum in Tahoe with not much of a future. And to be honest, it was looking like the truth.

All that changed when a friend of mine from high school bluntly told me I didn’t look good, and that I needed help.

Long story short, I took her advice, took a chance to get out of my conform zone, and ended up driving my old Volkswagen across the country to enroll in a school that I did not fit in at.

At first the papers I submitted; the professor refused the grade my work.

I told myself, I can do this and ended up excelling at college and graduating from Columbia in NYC. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it and has made me who I am today.

Don’t think about where you are, or even think too much about where you want to go. Just put in the hard work and success will find you.

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Going to college in Manhattan in 1982 or now, things don’t change, NYC is very expensive, and working in a restaurant is a great way to make money.

I never worked in a restaurant before, but I landed a job and next thing you know I was in the middle of chaos.

My worst day was when I dropped a large tray of desserts on table of international diplomats.

Amazing, I wasn’t fired, but had to pay for their dry cleaning.

The lessons I learned working in a restaurant have stayed with me. I learned a tremendous amount working in restaurants. You learn how to serve people, how to take care of people, and the basics of good service.

Life is always teaching us; you just need to be open to the lessons and grow.

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I will never forget 1992 and living in Los Angeles during the social unrest after the Rodney King case.

I knew I wanted to help the mothers who couldn’t get diapers or formula after their local stores had been looted and destroyed.

About 6 of us from my church drove an old station wagon with a makeshift red cross on the side to a Presbyterian church at the corner of Florence and Normandy.

We dove in and began to help as much as we could.

We soon discovered that what this community needed was affordable childcare so the parents could get back to work. Using my connections with construction firms, we transformed a largely unused building behind the church into a city-approved childcare center.

I am so proud of that experience, and I find great joy in the memory of countless people from all walks of life coming together to help the community.

When we work together, we are the solution.

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When it comes to picking the best insurance, knowledge is everything. You need to know how to avoid the landmines in the insurance contacts that are out there.

You could end up paying more for a much lesser contract.

Do your homework and ask questions.

Awespira is designed to help people navigate this very confusing industry.

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When I graduated college I took an entry-level job as a credit manager for a large company that manufactured cash registers. It was a mess, but I dove in and a few months later I cleaned everything up. At that point, they didn’t know what to do with me.

They put me in charge of their inventory system. Same thing happened. A few months later I organized the system and brought them new ideas on how to innovate. This time they really didn’t know what to do with me.

They didn’t want to improve on their processes. They like the stale, slow way they did things.

I soon resigned but look back at the experience with pride.

It was when I discovered I have a unique knack for seeing the big picture and how organizations can gain efficiencies.

Is your company stuck? What action could you take to innovate?

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I love classic cars. I went from going to car shows, then volunteering at car shows, to being on the board of car clubs and now producing amazing car events.

We even produced an event that combined classic cars and vintage airplanes. It was a huge success.

I am amazed to think about how it all came about. None of us knew how to produce an event, but we just dove in and figured it out. When people work together toward a common goal, amazing things happen.

I feel the same way with businesses of all sizes.

When you bring people together, all working towards a cause and allowing them to contribute in different ways, greatness happens.

I’m inspired every day that no matter what, you need to jump in, communicate, and rally people to accomplish amazing things.

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Years ago, I was very depressed because I couldn’t play tennis anymore, so I decided to take up skiing, I love skiing and at the time I thought I was pretty good.

I met a few pro instructors who said I was bad and needed to completely start over as a skier.

It hurt at first, but I accepted I needed to change and now thanks to that self-reflection and honesty, I am now a very good, advanced skier.

Are your past beliefs and actions holding you and your company back?

It’s time to accept change is needed. It will be tough, but in the long run, both you and your company will be improved.

It’s time to change the way you interact and connect with your members. The old ways are not working.

With Awespira, we know how to use the technology your members already have to help change your organization’s culture and build on that success.

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I’ve been an athlete all my life and I’ve suffered injury after injury.

Each major injury slowed me down drastically or completely took me out of the game.

I no longer take my health for granted and gladly work out every day. If I’m healthy, I’m a better mom and boss who is active and innovative.

I feel the same way about my company.

Ask yourself, is your company staying active using innovative ways to engage your employees and keep them healthy?

Thanks to COVID, your employees are less active and eating more, which leads to increased health issues that will affect your bottom line.

You need healthy members to have a healthy company.

With Awespire, we are committed to helping you, help your members stay active and healthy.

It’s a new world and the time is now to be innovative.

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Why are employee benefits so confusing?

It doesn’t need to be. With the right education and plans, both the employer and employees can benefit.

My true calling is bringing people and businesses together. Once everyone understands the terminology, everyone can make life-changing informed decisions.

My goal is to ensure that companies are doing the right things for the right reasons.

We are in a new world, a new environment, and because everyone is looking at their phone, we must connect with them using this technology.

With Awespira, we provide a safe and easy way to educate everyone.

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I never back down from a fight or a challenge and I’m raising my daughter to be the same.

I was married and never had children and I always wanted to have kids.

Since I adopted my daughter, Anya my life has never been the same. I’m a single mom and I take her everywhere with me.

She’ll come to me and say, “Mom, you’re my hero. Everything that you do for me and still do all these things for other people.” And I’m so humbled that she sees that in me. She sees me, she knows me. I don’t think I really knew my parents and it’s so amazing to me, that my daughter knows me.

I am so proud of her.

Don’t wait. Take the leap and don’t back down.

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