Wasaga Beach names best in business

Wasaga Sun
By  Trina Berlo
Article from http://www.simcoe.com/

The best in business were honoured at the Wasaga Beach Chamber of Commerce’s 18th annual Awards and Recognition Ceremony May 8.

Patrice McCammon is the recipient of the Citizen of the Year Award, sponsored by the Wasaga Sun.

McCammon is recognized for her tireless fundraising efforts on behalf of Hospice Georgian Triangle and the Rotary Club of Wasaga Beach and Area.

Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities holds the honour of being named Business of the Year.

The award, sponsored by RBC Royal Bank, recognizes a business that has experienced outstanding achievement in growth, innovation, excellence in leadership, increased productivity and has a positive impact on the community through good business.

The Athena Award, sponsored by the Wasaga Beach Women’s Business Association, goes to Janice Campbell, financial advisor.

The award recognizes excellence and leadership in a Wasaga Beach businesswoman who has a positive impact on the community through good business citizenship.

The Community Involvement Award, sponsored by Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities, goes to Boston Pizza.

The award recognizes a local business that has made a noticeable contribution to the community through volunteerism, financial support and representation by employees who enrich, protect or entertain the citizens of Wasaga Beach.

The Gene Langevin Award, sponsored by George Watson of Primecorp Commercial Realty, goes to Luau Resort owners Nick and Monique Plesa.

The award recognizes 25 years or more in business.

Travel Time Travel Agency is the recipient of the Professional Service Business of the Year Award, sponsored by TD Canada Trust.

The award recognizes an individual or business that has demonstrated responsible business leadership, customer service, commitment to local development and community support.

The title of Employee of the Year is bestowed on all of the nominees: Sunset Grill staffers Bernadette Lehner, Carolyn Beaulieu, Joyce Peterson and Lori Barter, Chris Carrigan of 97.7 The Beach, Christine Melanson of Pizza Dee’s and Nadia Vittorella of Boston Pizza.

The award, sponsored by Wasaga Tax and Accounting, RBA Financial Group, recognizes employees with a professional manner who are courteous and contributes to the company by continuously going over and above and shows leadership and problem solving skills.

Brenda Lougheed at Wasaga Flowers is named Boss of the Year.

The award, sponsored by Enterprise Bulletin, recognizes the person whose vision, inspiration, and leadership make them an extraordinary boss. The award is also to identify the many unsung heroes and heroines who use their positions of power to empower others to achieve career success and are a pleasure to work for.

The title of Young Business Person of the Year, an award sponsored by the Centre for Business and Economic Development, goes to husband and wife team Kareem Thomas and Pina Stillitano of Taste of Paradise, the event caterers.

The award recognizes inspirational people under the age of 40, who show commitment and passion, demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial spirit and inspire a new generation of young business people.

Rick Baldry of Rick’s Happy Hooka Custom Tackle is named Entrepreneur of the Year.

The award, sponsored by Travel Time Travel Agency, recognizes a person who has developed their business to meet changing community and consumer demands in the past year, providing a high level of business service or product needed in Wasaga Beach.

Trina Berlo
Article from http://www.simcoe.com/

'Pursuit of Happyness': Chris Gardner on Reinventing Yourself

BY Michelle V. Rafter | September 30, 2011|
Article from http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Chris Gardner knows about reinvention.

Gardner's journey from homeless dad to millionaire stockbroker was the basis for his autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, and the hit 2006 film of the same name starring Will Smith.

People who lost a job during the recession might not be living in a subway bathroom like Gardner did. But they may feel just as desperate, the 57-year-old Gardner told a crowd of several hundred at AARP's recent Life@50+ convention in Los Angeles.

Though he's come a long way since his homeless days, Gardner is still reimagining his life and facing obstacles doing it. In the middle of last decade, he spent four years and millions of dollars to launch an investment fund supporting South African business development. But the global recession killed his project before it got off the ground. Now he's starting over with a different plan and new business partners, he told the crowd.

Your struggles to earn a living might be different from his or anyone else's, but Gardner says the answer to pulling yourself up is the same. Find something you're passionate about and go for it. "Maybe it's not time for us over 50 to be finding a job," but instead finding a career to create, Gardner says. "Maybe it's time to find our button and push it."

Here's his advice for people contemplating a midlife reinvention:

1. "Ain't nobody gotta dig it but you." Forget what other people think or say. Do something that makes you happy. "We're afraid that because everybody might not like it" we shouldn't do it, Gardner says. "But you gotta push that button."

2. Go with what you love, but stay grounded. "Probably the hardest question I get asked is 'How do I choose between passion and practicality?'" Gardner says. "I can't answer that. I had to do both. I was passionate about pursuing a career in financial services. But I was also passionate about feeding my child."

3. Start a business. Gardner added his voice to the chorus of experts who see a wave of small-business startups run by baby boomers pushed out of Corporate America due to ageism or the bad economy. That's OK, he says, because entrepreneurs over 50 are in a better position than younger workers to capitalize on their "reputations and Rolodexes." It's the start of a creator economy, he says, "with a whole lot of folks being entrepreneurial."

4. Have a plan. If you're starting a business, hope isn't enough. You need a plan that's clear, concise, compelling and consistent. On top of that, you need to be committed to what you're doing, he says.

5. Play to your strengths. "Your skills, talents and expertise are transferable" to other types of jobs and industries, he says.

6. Look out for yourself. "The cavalry is not coming....and things might be getting worse."

7. Remember what's important. For a long time, Americans worked to get things, Gardner says. It's time to focus on what really matters -- family and friends.

8. Any progress is progress. "Baby steps count, too, as long as you're moving forward," he says

Michelle V. Rafter | September 30, 2011|
Article from http://www.entrepreneur.com/

Why Passion Matters, According To 15 Of The World's Most Inspiring People

: Inc.  | by  Dave Kerpen
From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Posted: 04/02/2014 6:29 pm EDT Updated: 04/02/2014 6:59 pm EDT

I am passionate about social media. I'm passionate about helping small businesses. I'm passionate about playing with my wife and kids. I'm passionate about watching baseball, and playing tennis. I'm passionate about writing and reading. Heck, I'm passionate about passion.

Passion is the energy that keeps us going, that keeps us filled with meaning, and happiness, and excitement, and anticipation. Passion is a powerful force in accomplishing anything you set your mind to, and in experiencing work and life the fullest extent possible.

Ultimately, passion is the driving force behind success and happiness that allows us all to live better lives.

I'm also passionate about quotes, and the power of quotes to inspire people. So, I thought I'd share my favorite quotes about passion with you. I share quotes like these with my team all the time. May these quotes inspire you to live a better life, and may they inspire those you share them with as well.

1. "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." - Harriet Tubman

2. "There is no passion to be found playing small--in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." - Nelson Mandela

3. "Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

4. "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." - Oprah Winfrey

5. "If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins." - Benjamin Franklin

6. "We must act out passion before we can feel it." - Jean-Paul Sartre

7. "It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind." - T. S. Eliot

8. "Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate." - Jon Bon Jovi

9. "You can't fake passion." - Barbara Corcoran

10. "You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out." - Steve Jobs

11. "Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion." - Deepak Chopra

12. "If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it." - Wanda Skyes

13. "If you don't love what you do, you won't do it with much conviction or passion." - Mia Hamm

14. It is the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion. - Rebecca West

My personal favorite quote on passion is from a man who clearly had way more talent than he claims in the quote:

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." -Albert Einstein

: Inc.  | by  Dave Kerpen
From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Posted: 04/02/2014 6:29 pm EDT Updated: 04/02/2014 6:59 pm EDT