I was born and raised in the San Francisco bay area of California. In the early 80's I began my career in the financial industry working for Great Western Bank as a loan processor and soon to be promoted to Operations Manager and Underwriter. I spent the next 23 years honing my abilities as an underwriter to really understand the complexities of income, credit and debt including extensive analysis of individual and business tax returns. At the height of the mortgage boom I finally realized it was time for me to leave and begin something new.

I decided to go back to school and get some additional education in the field of accounting and tax preparation. I spent the next 2 years completing the entire accounting curriculum at DeAnza College and obtained my Advanced Accounting certificates in Accounting Practices and Tax Principles. I also obtained my first bookkeeping certification and became a QuickBooks Certified Pro-Advisor.

During my time at school I began working for a small bookkeeping company and enjoyed working with the different business and owners. At the end of my 2 years working there I was managing over 45 small businesses from a startup government contract company to a small corporate florists and may other types and sizes of businesses in between.

In August of last year I set out on my own and started Best Books, LLC back in California but that was short lived as my husband lost his job of 14 years with Intuit in Feb of this year. We had been thinking for some time to move to Florida and this seemed to be the sign me needed, so in July we officially relocated to Wilton Manors and I have since begun my new company Best Books & Taxes, LLC.

It has been a crazy year but looking forward to all that life has to offer us here.

For more information, please visit Doug's website at www.bestbooksandtaxes.com.

3 Adaptogens That Help Your Body Adapt to Stress

Resiliency - bounce back ability - is a good trait to have. It helps us to recover from the rough spots on life's road. The mental aspects of resiliency can be learned, to some degree. And the physiological aspects of resiliency can be enhanced with botanical medicines, called adaptogens. An adaptogen is, simply, an herb that helps your body adapt to stress, rather than succumb to it. In Chinese, Russian and Indian culture, adapatogens have been used for centuries as general tonics, to strengthen immunity, improve sexual vigor and athletic performance, and as "anti-aging" therapies.

Here's what you need to know about three of the most popular adaptogens:

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is an Indian plant that is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine. Research shows it can help to protect parts of your brain from stress-induced changes. It also seems to reduce stress hormones secreted by the adrenal gland, and to reduce secretion of lactic acid, the biochemical created in muscles when they are heavily used. It can reduce anxiety.

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While BPG is a networking organization, people also join and remain members because of the social activities and friendships that we provide. Several of our members are retired and have no need to network for business reasons. But that doesn't mean that everyone isn't networking in one way or another. Having breakfast every week with people you like is networking, even you you are not looking for business and have been retired for 15 years (of course, you may be networking for a date that weekend). 

That being said, networking to increase one's business and visibility, and finding referrals for home and business projects, is really what we do best. When we invite people to join our group, it should be with the pledge that not only do we have interesting and fun members, but we help each other in our businesses. With that in mind, each week we keep track of referrals made by members to other members during the past week. I collect those referrals sheets at the end of each breakfast and scan them into the computer. 

It is time to award our members who excelled in referring business to other members this past year. I was honored last year to receive the award for most referrals. As a result, I am the Networking chair on the Board of Directors. So it is time to turn the torch over to the new champion.

Congratulations to or former president, Dr. Donna Watson, for having the most referrals in 2012. In second place, we had Dr. Arlen Leight. Finally, we had a tie for third place between two Board members, Bev Shaffer and Chris Traini.

An organization like BPG cannot exist without members who look out for other members, and continually refer business. Thank you to all of you for you referrals to other members this past year.

Cal  

The Business Professional Group believes that building long-term relationships between community members enhances personal and business growth. The group is open to people of all walks of life and does not discriminate against sexual status, orientation, race, religion or nationality. 

The only limits to the membership in the BPG are the limitations in professional representation as laid down in the organization bylaws (no more than three representatives of a particular profession at one time).