A Community of Integrity - ideas from Dean BrunerPosted: January 4, 2010 at 3:12 pm | byFiled under: Building a Business, Articles of Interest Welcome to Lots 2 Say Baby's Blog! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! I am a big fan of Dean Bruner’s blog. I have always found his perspective insightful and interesting. His latest blog post on integrity seemed perfectly suited for the new year so I thought I would pass it on. Below is an excerpt - I recommend clicking to the link and checking out his other posts. http://www.darden.virginia.edu/html/DeansBlog.aspx Creating a Community of Integrity “We can afford to lose money. We can afford to lose a lot of money. But we cannot afford to lose one shred of our reputation. Make sure everything you do can be reported on the front page of your local newspaper written by an unfriendly, but intelligent reporter.”
– Warren Buffett [1] Last spring, a prospective student—someone who had been offered admission and was considering joining our community–approached me and said, “You talk a lot about ethics and integrity in your speeches, blog postings, and tweets. Does Darden have an ethics problem?” I replied, “No—precisely because we do talk about ethics and integrity pretty regularly. They are not values that we store in a cupboard and only bring out on ceremonial occasions; they are part of our daily life.” The person smiled politely and turned to someone else for conversation, giving no hint as to the kind of impression I had left. A community of integrity is not everybody’s cup of tea; almost certainly, we lose some students who won’t make a commitment to a high community standard. Thus, it was with a bit of surprise and satisfaction that I saw this person enroll last August. Does all our talk about ethics help or hurt us? A truism in management and family life is “if you can’t talk about it, it won’t get done.” Making progress on anything important is not a matter of … continue reading at http://www.darden.virginia.edu/html/deansblog.aspx?id=20752&blogid=198 (0)comments4% of sales go to charityPosted: June 24, 2009 at 5:04 pm | byFiled under: Building a Business, Company News, Nice things happen Hi Everyone! I am so excited to publicly announce our Lots to Say Baby giving plan. Six months ago we started donating 4% of all pacifier sales to charities that help children and young adults escape from the dangerous conditions they currently live in. We are part of a global community. One where children don’t have access to clean water, food, education or a safe place to call home. These kids are victims of human trafficking; of drug trade and extreme poverty. They don’t have access to education. We can make a difference in the lives of kids around the world. We can help them build a foundation of strength by making sure they have food, a safe place to sleep and access to education. We can help them get free from human trafficking and drug trade. With that basic foundation in place..they can start to dream. Dream..just like we want our kids to dream..of the difference they can make. Of the future they can have. I don’t want Lots to Say Baby to ever just be about the baby pacifiers we design. It is core to me that we use our resources to reach children in this world (locally and across the world) that don’t have the basics they need to survive. This includes supporting micro loans for families to start small sustainable businesses, expanding access to University level education in Cambodia, and helping at-risk teens and young adults get out of environments that support drug use and human trafficking. For more information on the charities we support please visit http://www.lots2saybaby.com/pages/Giving.php (0)commentsValentines Day - when you own your own businessPosted: February 15, 2009 at 12:57 am | byFiled under: Building a Business, About Me Today was a very romantic day for me. I didn’t wear red, get roses or even taste a bite of chocolate. Fortunately Grandma remembered to get Briggs a card and some treats (he LOVES the monkey)..because i completely forgot!..my mind was on air freight this week. My sweet hubby generously brought Briggs along with him to pick up our new merchandising displays - leaving me 2 1/2 hours to clean and prep my office for the arrive of our pacifier shipment. Later, in the afternoon, we went to the airport as a family. Pacis touched down at 12:55 and cleared customs just in time - the office closed at 3:30 and we arrived at 3:25! - phew. Thank goodness that pacis are small..we got all 7 crates in the car!
As a treat we thought a nice meal was in order and we were both in the mood for steak. Where do you take a two year old on Valentines Day without ruining the meal for all in your vicinity? - The Keg! It was perfect. Table with a kitchen view to keep B amused. A glass of sauv blanc and a yummy meal. Who cared it was 4:30 - all the ‘early birders’ thought B was cute! Sean and I laughed together about how much our lives have changed..and how great it is. Now, we will finish the night with taking photos and processing inventory. I am taking a break while we get B settled in for the night (the clack of pacis is SO distracting for a baby trying to get to sleep!). My Vday was not what the media or our society would describe as romantic or very ‘Valentiny’ but to me it was perfect. My husband with me, helping me, hanging out with Briggs and just being together. I am so lucky to be blessed with the best hubby in the world. That is all I need for Valentines Day! (1)commentWhere have I been?!Posted: January 23, 2009 at 11:51 am | byFiled under: Building a Business, Company News, Adventures in Mommahood It has been a crazy but fun 2 months for Chief Momma and our family. Christmas was spent in Toronto (I love Oakville!). We rang in the new year here in Snoqualmie. Our town flooded and my sons school had to temporarily shut down leaving me frantically trying to prep for my trip to San Antonio during nap time :). Now we are getting settled in. Visitors are coming here and I have no travel scheduled for5 weeks! So…what has Lots to Say Baby been up to? January has been full of some exciting milestones for us!
Stay tuned for more exciting stuff here at LTSB. For now, it is time to put the Mommy -hat back on. Briggs is just starting to stir (ok, he is calling Momma Momma Its great to be back! Erin (0)commentsI love a good find - Toiletpaper EntrepeneurPosted: August 29, 2008 at 11:44 am | byFiled under: Building a Business, Adventures in Mommahood My friend recently got me on the site -The Toiletpaper Entrepeneur. Their tag line pretty much tells it all: The tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business even when you are at the end of your roll! Check out todays blog: “Make your own Dream Machine” by Corrie Wilder. It pretty much sums up the hectic life we all lead as moms, wives, and entrepeneurs but adds in some solutions before we all have a nervous breakdown http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/?p=59 Have a GREAT Long weekend Chief Momma (1)comment |
) and I am off to make some pancakes for the little guy!