|
|
or...
stop being so darned professional and take a break today!
|
|
Welcome! If you enjoyed last month you'll be craaaaazy about this month!
The purpose of this ezine is inspiration, humor, business, personal and just plain fun: aka the don't-take-yourself-so-seriously ezine.
|
|
|
In case you've missed past issues of the ezine Click here to visit the archives. |
|
I've been to Montana!
WOO HOO!
 If you read my social  media you know this is a huge thing for me, a milestone...now I have spoken in every U.S. state, every Canadian province and on every continent in the world! Well, except Antarctica (where I can't wear my stilettos!) So now what?, Well, stay tuned for the September ezine!!! In Montana I spoke at Freedom Bank.
|
| |
Freedom Bank President, Don Bennett
|
Then spent a week in New Orleans. Went as a passenger, came home as cargo...oh the glorious food.  Then on to my National Speakers Association convention in Washington, DC. I took two of my coaching clients for the first time Rose Venditto and Tamilee Webb (aka BFF and Buns of Steal). It's always fun to watch it through the eyes of first-timers. Also had time to catch up with Jenn Lim, Co-CEO of Zappos while I was there. I had another awesome Speakers School with interesting folks
such as Steve Gilroy, CEO of Vistage UK; Nikki Scott, Rotary Governor and Lisa Dunsky, attorney. Special friend, Joanna Norcross who couldn't make my July birthday party surprised me with a spa day at Trump with her and former Vistagemember/friend, Anna Belyaev.  Finished off a great week with Steve Dobbins, Sr. V.P. Member Engagement at Vistage, to conduct auditions of member company execs to give a TED-like talk at the Vistage Executive Summit on Sept 24th at Navy Pier. We chose three fabulous businesses and presenters. If you're interested in Vistage membership and attending with 600 other execs from the Midwest, just send me an email ( mikki@mikkiwilliams.com) or call me (312.664.8447) to arrange. I am now also on the Advisory Board of Food, Travel and Wine, a roll-out of their many new networks...cool things happening. Summer was too short but I am grateful to have wonderful friends to share it with. Grateful, too, that my back has healed and that I continue to check items off my Experience List...life is good, and
I hope it is for you too!
|
|
Come on by...!
I will be the guest speaker on Sunday, Sept 13th at 10am at the very place where I worship, Bodhi Spiritual Center, 2746 North Magnolia, here in Chicago.
I'll be doing part of my presentation, We Interrupt This Life to Bring You... to honor three of the eight spiritual practices of visioning, gratitude and sacred service.  Open to the public - I hope many of you will come!
|
The Blue Zones Solution
Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People  Dan Buettner
Truth be told, I love reading about health, longevity and fitness due to my..."ahem"... own aging process. The author reveals what the world's longest-lived people have eaten over the past 100 years to help them lead a healthier, more fulfilling life. The five Blue Zones are Ikaria, Greece, Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy, Nicoya, Costa Rica and Loma Linda, CA. The book is filled with stories and strategies for applying these lessons to our own lives. It includes the 44 Blue Zone foods that centurions eat to live to 100. He's got 77 recipes included as well as checklists to preparing your home and kitchen to promote healthier habits.
I love this book! Go get it and join me at the 100 mark.
|
Hair of the Dog (dog groomers)
|
Rocket Scientists Create a Stealth Stiletto
A former SpaceX employee has assembled a design team including an astronaut and a rocket scientist to build comfortable high heels. By Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal
|
| |
Kinder Heels: The stilettos will be made of ballistic-grade plastic to absorb shocks more easily and comfortably.
Illustration: William Waitzman for Barron's
|
Leave it to an aerospace personnel recruiter with a stiletto fetish to realize that it does take a rocket scientist to build a killer pair of heels that doesn't kill your feet. For six years, Dolly Singh trekked back and forth across Elon Musk's massive SpaceX facility in sky-high shoes before the pain finally got to her.
Singh, now 37, went looking for a solution. "I thought somebody would be taking an architectural approach to high heels," she says. But no one was. So she founded Thesis Couture in 2013 and assembled a team including an astronaut, an engineer, a podiatrist, and a rocket scientist to create the blueprint for a comfy stiletto.
Other designers have ventured into this space. In 1998, Taryn Rose, an orthopedic surgeon, unveiled her line at Nordstrom. In 2006, Anyi Lu, a ballroom dancer turned chemical engineer, made shoes lined with the same NASA memory foam used in space shuttles. Both are comfortable, but hardly Vogue material.
Singh promises stylish comfort. Her heels will be made of "ballistic-grade plastic" to absorb shock better, she says. The relatively low angle of the shoe limits the heel to less than three inches. But a concealed platform under the toe and a clever optical illusion make the spike look like a more fashionable four inches-plus.
Come fall, the first 1,500 pairs-from a mystery guest designer-will go on sale at thesiscouture.com for a cool $925. Investors in the enterprise include Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com; Susan Lyne, former CEO of Gilt Groupe; and Karen Dykstra, chief financial officer of AOL. Should be quite a launch.
-- Crystal Kim
|
AwardWalletIf you travel like I do you're going to love this app! Keep track of all your rewards programs in one place. Yay!
|
MIKKI MOUTH Things I Wish I'd Said and Some I Did Say!
|
|
Enjoy a quote each month from my book - some funny, some poignant, some professional, some just darn cute!
"Failure is success if you learn from it."
~Malcom Forbes
|
NOW...not one, not two, but THREE divisions of
The Mikki Mouth Club!
CLICK HERE for more information
If you want Mikki's expertise at an affordable price on an ongoing basis The Mikki Mouth Club is for you.
Questions? We've got answers!!
Just call 312.664.8447 or send us an email
|
 PERPLEXING PONDERANCES |
Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
|
 SOCIAL MEDIA GURU GUY by Dave Nelsen |
|
Dave's formal title is President, Dialog Consulting Group. From 2005 to 2009 he was CEO of TalkShoe, a social media company now serving more than one million monthly listeners...and the fabulous company I use to produce my monthly teleseminars.
Travel Apps While I don't have an objective measure to prove it, I believe that I am at least twice as productive as I was 5 years ago because of the various apps I use on my smartphone and tablet. I'm constantly surprised at how many business owners haven't yet embraced this amazing new technology.
Here's a typical example of how I use apps for improved productivity, in this case for travel.
 Yesterday, I did morning and afternoon keynote presentations for groups in Houston, TX. At 4:00 PM. As I headed out into the unbelievable Houston rush hour traffic using Uber (a transportation app) to the airport, my TripIt app told me that my flight was cancelled. This was a serious problem. I had to be in Canton, OH by morning or I'd miss my next speaking engagement. So I fire up my FlightBoard app, which shows every flight out of Houston during the next four hours. I see that Delta has a 5:50 PM departure running 15 minutes behind schedule and I can make that because Waze (my social GPS app) has a deadly reliable estimate of my arrival time at IAH (5:03 PM in case you're curious).
So I fire up my Kayak app and discover that the Delta flight to Pittsburgh (via Altlanta) is available for less than $200. I buy the ticket and then launch my Delta app to get my boarding passes. I add these to my Apple Passbook app so they'll be available on my Apple Watch when I reach the airport.
I board my Delta flight bound for Atlanta and we pull back from the gate 15 minutes late as projected. Unfortunately, within one minute, the pilot stops the plane and shuts down the engines. I can't help but remember that DELTA is an acronym that stands for Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport, but this time it's not actually their fault. It's a thunderstorm that has the entire airport under ground stop.
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE
You can find more formal details here:
To contact Dave directly:
|
LIFE LESSONS...FUNNY, FIT  OR FABULOUS
by John Godoy
|
John Godoy is a healthy lifestyle expert. Through personal coaching, training and healthy lifestyle seminars, John guides clients in developing and sticking to the healthy habits necessary to tap their bodies enormous energy reserves - enriching their personal and
professional lives.
|
 THE HAPPY COOKER That was the name of one of my businesses and oh, come on,
I know guys cook, too.
|
|
Yum!
Homemade Dump Cake with Peaches, Blueberries, and Pecans
9-12 servings
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for pan
- All-purpose flour (for pan)
- 1 pound sliced frozen peaches (about 4 cups)
- 1 pint fresh blueberries (about 2 cups)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Homemade yellow cake mix or 1 (16-ounce) box store-bought yellow cake mix
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 350�F. Butter and flour a 13x9" baking dish.
Arrange peaches and blueberries in a single layer in prepared dish.
Top evenly with sugar and add vanilla. Shake pan gently to cover fruit with sugar.
Sprinkle cake mix and cinnamon over fruit and shake gently again to combine.
Dot evenly with 3/4 cup cubed butter and top with pecans.
Bake cake until surface springs back to the touch and cake is set and golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cake can be made 3 days ahead; wrap in plastic and chill.
|
 MikkiLeaks by Phil Liebman
that YOU need to know!
|
Musings From A Musement Park on The Jersey Shore:
Lessons From a Happy Panting Golden Retriever on a Hot Summer Day...
Well, it's no secret. They are here. Actually they're back: The Dog Days of Summer. The phrase  conjures some weird images for me - especially being an unabashed dog-lover. And in particular being in love with a certain Golden Retriever named Bella. Her rich luxurious tasseled coat and feathers seems to be a cruel adornment on the 3-H (hazy, hot and humid) days we have here in The Hudson Valley. Her fun and sun loving proclivities leave her panting long after she retreats like a spoiled brat back into the shelter of our (thankfully) air-conditioned home. The secret is that I feel the same way.
I thank my lucky stars for air-conditioning. And we can thank one star in particular, Sirius, the dog star for the actual reason the hottest part of the summer in the northern hemisphere is called "the dog days." Sirius is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky and the prominent star in the constellation Canis Major, or Greater Dog. The reference can be traced all the way back to the ancient Greeks with mention made by Homer in The Iliad to the discomfort of summer under the dog star bringing of "heat and fevers to suffering humanity." The ancient Romans referred to the "days of the dog star" to describe the sweltering heat of summer. The Old Farmer's Almanac traditionally identified the Dog Days as beginning July 3 and continuing 40 days. Bella reminds me to keep my head down and keep smiling, in spite of the heat. We'll miss the summer when it's past and the winter makes me rue our frigid late-night walks that always seem too long for me and not long enough for her and that thick coat of hers.
Phil Liebman is a Vistage Group Chair, a Fellow at the Thayer Institute for Leadership Virtuosity and the Founder of the BullFrog Group - helping CEOs become better leaders. You can reach him by email at phil@Strat.com - or by phone at 845.262.8611 |
 HE WHO LAUGHS...LASTS! |
To book me or any of the other guest columnists like Dave Nelson, Brian Beaulieu, John Godoy, simply contact us. For any or all your presentation needs on any topic at any price point, be it keynote, training, seminar, emcee, facilitator, moderator, concurrents (I just don't do floors or windows) I know many great speakers from my years with the National Speakers Association and Vistage International.
|
Bring Your Coworkers A Special Treat  Small surprises and tokens of your appreciation spread throughout the year help the people in your workplace feel valued all year long. Surprise your coworkers with donuts, cookies or a homemade treat.
|
The next Speakers School is September 10-12, 2015
|
 MIKKI ON THE MOVE Check out where Mikki will be speaking and piggyback your company or association event. Or just invite her to dinner or shopping!
|
|
MIKKI WILLIAMS, CSP, CPAE
|
Mikki Williams earned the dual designations of CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) and CPAE (Council of Peers Award for Excellence) Speaker Hall of Fame from The National Speakers Association, an achievement attained by fewer than 1% of all professional speakers. She specializes in business dynamics and human potential. She has been named one of the top speakers in the country by Meetings and Convention Magazine along with Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Colin Powell, Lou Holtz and Mike Ditka. Mikki is also one of the top tier speaker resources for Vistage International, the world's leading executive organization, and Group Chair of two of their peer advisory boards in Chicago.
Her company Mikki Williams Unltd. produces Speakers Schools in Chicago, a monthly ezine: Hair She Is...! and a blog: Mikki Williams' Blah Blah...Blog. She is sought after for business, life and presentation skills coaching through her firm Coaching, etc... She also facilitates The Mikki Mouth Club, an annual subscription-based presentation skills coaching membership with three distinct divisions...Speaker Source, Accountability Academy and Keynote Kamp. If you need other speakers, she can book you the best through her Outrageous Orators...speakers who rock, an uncommon speakers bureau.
To hire Mikki or learn more about any of these services:
CALL ME: 312.664.8447
E ME: mikki@mikkiwilliams.com
SEE ME: www.mikkiwilliams.com
|
Thanks for joining us!
Me and "the staff" at Mikki Williams Unltd.: Marissa Pedroza, DOE-in training and Samantha Hoffman, aka 'my Sam, Director of Everything. When you have a director of everything (or two!), what else do you need?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you enjoyed this ezine and know others who would like to receive it, please forward this along to friends, family and colleagues! Use the "Forward e-mail" link at the bottom of this newsletter.
To unsubscribe please use the link at the bottom of this newsletter (but we'd rather you didn't!). All contents � 2012 Mikki Williams, except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.
Duplication or reprint only with expressed permission from Mikki Williams. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. All contents provided as is. In our extensive research we've made every attempt to be accurate in attributing quotes, poems, jokes and the like, and want to apologize in advance if we have not given proper credit or given it erroneously. If you are the owner of the rights of any of this content, please contact us so we may arrange for appropriate permission and give credit. |
|
|
|
