Monday, January 28, 2013

Business And Life Success Secrets Of A Remarkable Woman


I have wanted to write this article for some time. It is about what some have called a remarkable woman. As a matter of fact, she was recently featured in a book by the same name, “Remarkable Woman” by Insight Publishing.

The businesswoman’s name is Dr. Devona Williams. She is the Founder and President/ Chief Executive Officer of a 16-year-old Performance Consulting Company Goeins-Williams Associates, Inc. Dr. Williams is an accomplished inspirational speaker, trainer and consultant with nearly 30 years experience in the fields of public policy, planning and public relations with the corporate, government and non-profit sectors.

Highlights of her public career include her appointment as a Presidential Management Intern in the Reagan Administration and Legislative Fellow in the Delaware House of Representatives. With an eye to business as a young child, she found her way clear to start her own very successful full time consulting and training business in 1993, Goeins-Williams Associates, Inc.

Besides being a successful businesswoman, she is a wife, mother and recently became a grandmother. Incredibly accomplished, she has a story of overcoming tremendous obstacles and challenges in both her personal and business life. Her story of overcoming those challenges can provide business and life skills for us all.

I met her over 30 years ago when she was just a smart, pretty young teenager attending a prestigious high school in Philadelphia. I was attending Central High School of Philadelphia and she, Philadelphia High Schools for Girls.

More than 30 years after that fateful meeting, after not having seen or talk with her for almost 30 years, I read Dr. William’s remarkable story of how she was raised, the incredible challenges she has faced in her equally remarkable life, learned of her business success, and was inspired by her ability to persevere, overcome and experience genuine success.

The Remarkable Women book talks about her professional accomplishments, but also the obstacles and personal challenges she has endured, including sexual assault as a young college freshman, breaking the glass ceiling at a Fortune 500 company, starting her Consulting business in a State that historically was challenged when it came to women owned businesses, a devastating injury, and an unfaithful husband and a resulting divorce.

While reading her story, I could not help thinking that the obstacles and challenges Dr. Devona faced could have ended most careers and certainly a business.

In Chapter 22 of the book where Dr. Williams’ story is featured, she tells for the first time publicly, in detail, of these obstacles and challenges that she overcame, spawning for her a unique strength, philosophy and approach to life that forged the foundation for her successful 30-year career. Her unique philosophy, strength and faith have allowed her to preserver, grow and prosper even during these challenging circumstances.

The book discusses the key beliefs and principles that allowed her to continue and experience success while going through these challenges. To put it mildly, Dr. Williams’ story is both startling and inspirational.

In the book she shares some of her core beliefs that she has applied in her life and her business. Here are a few:

· Success is planned. It is not an accident.
· You must have multiple plans. Success people plan and have multiple plans.
· You can do the right thing, prepare yourself and then sometimes things just don’t go as plan. That’s ok. All things work together for good if you believe.
· You must have an overall vision for your own personal success. What will it look like when you get there?
· You must have multiple approaches to your goals and dreams, most of them written down or at least in a framework. The yellow brick road was not the only way to Oz!
· When unexpected things happen, contemplate the impact, readjust if necessary then quickly continue to move forward.

Dr. Williams continues in her book, “ Obstacles that come along should be viewed as temporary challenges or setbacks. Find a way to get around them. Learn from them. Use painful or a key learning’s to continue to fulfill your purpose. Your vision of success. Whatever that looks like for you.”

She describes the circumstances of a violent assault at the innocent age of 18. Dr. Devona says,“ The cab driver violently attacked me, and during our struggle he yelled racial and sexual obscenities, letting me know that he intended to rape me. He punched me in my eye and nearly knocked me unconscious. At this point, I called out to God to intervene. He helped me to escape. I felt like it was the end of my life. ”

She describes how that for her, was an end of a period of innocence, and at that early age in 1973, there was not a lot of opportunity for her to get the help she needed after such an incident. She was ashamed to tell her parents. Embarrassed as if she was responsible for the attack. Never got therapy. Never told anyone until recently. But through sheer will power and the need to complete her education, pay for it, and just plain survive the humiliation of the event…she just kept going.

As a business owner particularly as a start up home-based business, you are going to have many challenges. Some will seem like they just simply cannot be overcome. You will frequently take two steps forward and one step back prior to your business becoming what you and I would call “successful.” There will be times when your expense far out weigh your revenues. You will want to quit, give up, go and get a real job!

During those periods, take some advice from Dr. Williams. She says,” Obstacles that come along the way should be viewed as challenges that are temporary, that can be overcome.”

Dr. Devona believes everyone can be remarkable in both his or her business and personal life as well. It is possible to have it all…if you just refuse to give in.

She says, “ If you continue and never quit, then you too can be a Remarkable Success in your company, home, business and most importantly, in your life.”

Get the book and read her complete story. Have a handkerchief in your hand and then become that remarkable person that is you.

Warm regards,
Kenny Anderson

How to Get You Looks Cool


Lots of people who went thru school as one of the not cool people, spend much of their adult lives trying to become the cool kid they always wanted to be in school, and they go but and buy anything they can that may make people think they are cool, instead of taking a look at what makes some people cool and some people not cool.

Motorcycles and Cars: Many people who are looking to be cool will buy a motorcycle, maybe a Harley Davidson, a big sports bike or a sports car. This is because they feel that a fast car or motorcycle will make people look at them in a positive way, but in reality most people think less of these people.

Clothes, many people like to spend lots of money on the latest fashions to help them improve their image, thinking that people will find them interesting because they know what the hot new things to wear are.

Music: many people will find out what music is being played at the most popular clubs and drive around blasting it from their cars to make people think they are cool because they listen to the same music that is played in all the hot clubs.

Online and Casino Gambling: gambling has become a very popular thing in recent years and with Poker shows popping up on all the TV channels, many people think it is cool to go to the casinos dressed up like famous poker players, including vests with patches from sponsors. As un-cool as dressing like a professional poker player may be playing casino games like Craps, Poker and Blackjack may be cool, games like Sic Bo, Keno and slot machines are not cool unless you hit a Multi Million Dollar jackpot.

Bling: Bling is a term for gold ad silver jewelry, and in recent years the rule has become the cooler you want to appear the large your jewelry must be. For the most part these people are spending lots of money trying to look cool but wind up looking like fools.

Physical Fitness: in recent years many people have decided that if you want to look cool you have to belong to a gym, the people in the gym that are there just to look cool are always easy to spot. They are usually found sitting at the juice bar or in the hot tub. If they do ever actually do any type of workout it is usually ridding a bike for 5 minutes and before they even break a sweat they have to stop.

But the truth is that cool is not about what you have and how you look it is about who you are, and if you are choosing your car, your clothes, your music and anything else so that other people will believe you are cool and not because you enjoy these things then as cool as you may think you are, is in direct proportion to how cool you are not.

Being cool is not about wanting to be cool, being cool is about not caring what other people think and living life to its fullest, and in doing this you will find others with the same interests and these people will think of you as cool.

So I guess the key to being cool is just to make friends with people who enjoy the same things you enjoy and in doing so you will find that as your self image increases your need to be cool decreases, and then you will be cool.