Thanks for a great 2015!!

This is the time of the year for reflection, for self-analysis, for planning…and most importantly for being thankful to those who have helped you along the way in 2015. Please indulge me while I give a big tip of the holiday cap to a few of the companies I had the privilege of working with this year.

Not only was 2015 my company’s most successful year to date, our topic base was widened and deepened with newly created programs, expanded previous programs and special requests from companies that eventually turned out to be some of the most dynamic engagements we had this year. The release of my second book Reach YOUR Peak! Become CEO of Your Success! has led to many of the speaking and training opportunities I was fortunate enough to have this year, just as I had hoped it would!

Thank you to the fine folks at the STEAM: Building Blocks of Workforce Leadership Seminar in Gainesville, FL, for having me in to do my “Take A Trip to Outer Space: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!” topic for their lunchtime keynote. Also in the Gainesville area, I got to visit my good friend Joe Johnson at the Chamber and work with his outstanding Connect job seeker group for the sixth time. Another visit to Gator-central in the summer had me sharing my “Climbing Your Personal Mountains” topic with the outstanding folks of Florida Food Service at their vendor kickoff breakfast.

I was thrilled to share a new topic on leadership (Next Generation Leadership: STRIVE to Connect!) with two Association for Talent Development groups this year – first in Jacksonville at the ATD Annual Event and then in Chattanooga, TN for a special luncheon mini-workshop at the beautiful new Wilson Air Center. Speaking of leadership, I was honored to have been asked by the leadership team at JAXPORT to put together a full day sales workshop for their group, which we held at Keiser University.

Another new client this year were the Meeting Planners International of Northeast Florida – in fact this turned out to be two events for the same topic (Advanced Time Management Strategies), one at the beautiful Bowing Oaks Plantation in Jacksonville and a second early next year in Tallahassee. This collaboration has led to several exciting opportunities with MPI across the country in 2016 that I’m finalizing right now.

I was also humbled to be asked back for the third time to speak to Paul Venditti’s outstanding IIBA Northeast Florida group and this time we did something new – I used my “Are They Hearing What You Said – Or Something Completely Different?!” mini-workshop to rock the house and get the attendees thinking differently about how they interact and communicate with others.  That same topic was one of two that I did for the Keller Williams Jacksonville Realty Mandarin office, with the other one being “Climbing Your Personal Mountains”. Both the IIBA and KW folks have asked me back for next year and we’re working on dates right now.

The final experience I want to share involved Cengage Learning and their North Texas division headed up by Ellen Edwards. Ellen runs the show for multiple offices in her region, heard me on a podcast, bought an e-book of Reach YOUR Peak and then reached out to get a special rate on dozens of books for her annual sales summit. She used the book as the roadmap for the summit and I even Skyped in for two hours to help her with two deeper focus topics. Her usage of my book is exactly why I wrote it the way I did – it is a perfect workshop on its own or combined with other activities!

Once again, thank you to all folks I got to work with this year – I appreciate your support and confidence in the programs and topics we provide. This year has been outstanding for not only my company’s growth, but for opportunities to work with new organizations, to meet some incredible people and to push the bounds of my creativity to new heights. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!