How giving things up can help you get more out of life.
Effective steps to help you get your ‘boss’ to buy-in.
Apps to achieve your best work-life balance ever.
HILTON HEAD
BLUFFTON
BEAUFORT
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“If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.”
— WARREN BUFFETT
MAINTAINING A GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE MAY BE MORE COMPLEX THAN EVER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
HHow do you balance your business and your personal life? We asked that question to several successful local business owners, and to our surprise, many came back with similar responses: “I don’t.” “You’re asking the wrong person.” “My workday is never-ending.”
A few suggested we reach out to other business owners, but many of those individuals were in the same boat — spending a disproportionate amount of time on the job at the expense of their relationships and interests.
This imbalance is not unique to the Lowcountry. According to a survey by Apollo Technical, 48 percent of small business owners in the United States consider themselves workaholics, and 66 percent admit they lack the work-life balance they need.
Today's professional landscape has made achieving that oh-so-valuable work-life balance more challenging than ever.
First there was the development of modern digital technology. As valuable and helpful as advanced digital devices are, the fact that they allow constant connectivity is not without its downsides.
Second, the dramatic increase in people working from home made matters even more complicated, erasing the natural, physical divide that once separated work from home.
The net result is that many professionals now feel they are “always on” and are never truly away from their jobs.
This Q4 issue of LOCAL Biz takes a closer look at our work-life balance and why it matters; plus, it provides actionable tips for finding the right balance in this demanding business landscape.
Maintaining a good balance may be more difficult now, but that doesn't mean it is impossible. We hope this issue inspires you to find a balance that works for you and your team as you finish the year strong and set high goals for 2023.
LANCE HANLIN Editor-in-Chief
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Inspiring stories for the three most important stages of your business.
Roundup P. 22
Office chairs that command attention
Marketing P. 40
Why cause marketing is a win-win-win
Sales P. 48
How to avoid burnout and dig out of a sales rut
HR P. 50
What workers want: Focus, flexibility and family time
Learn to delegate your way to a better life, create a better work/ life balance plan and understand the power of significance.
Meet local business leaders who are doing it right, on and off the clock.
The bottom line on lines of credit
Reducing the stigma of mental health issues
Smart Stuff P. 86
Tactical tools, tips and resources
Links P. 91 Bonus content at LocalBizSC.com
Cheers to three distillers who give back
Good contacts for doing local business
Determine your priorities and set quarterly goals
Q: What do you do and for whom do you do it? A: I'm a licensed associate marriage and family therapist and the owner of Heart Mind & Soul Counseling on Hilton Head Island. I specialize in couples work and individuals who are experiencing relationship issues. Q: What do you do during your downtime? A: I can be found reading, spending time outdoors or snuggling on the sofa with my pups and husband, watching my next favorite series. Q: How do you balance work and home life? A: It's a work in progress. Every day I make time to meditate and move my body. I also pay attention to my emotional state. Whenever I begin to feel resentful or energetically depleted, it's my cue that I'm out of balance. This is when I check in and ask myself, what do I need that I'm not getting? Usually I need rest or fun. Then I calendar it in and do the thing.
Q: What's next for you? A: I have a podcast in the works: End the Juggle Struggle. The release date isn't set yet, but I'm getting closer. It's about creating a work-life balance that allows you to live a more aligned and present life. Learn more at heart-mind-soul. com. Q: What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn't fail? A: I would write a book, most likely fiction. I have a few ideas.
Q: What do you do and for whom do you do it? A: I’m a manager at Talentify. Business owners can reduce recruitment costs and get better candidates using the programmatic, AI-driven Talentify platform. Q: What do you do during your downtime? A: I spend time with my family and friends. I also practice some sports, cook (I love cooking) and study anything I feel inspired to. I consider myself a “forever learner.” Q: How do you balance work and home life? A: I am very lucky because my family and friends really understand my concept of working from home. They know that I have a working routine, time to start working, time to finish it. Also I use some apps to help me divide work activities from life activities. They help me prioritize actions and get the right amount of daily work and personal activities. I have embraced the advantages of working from home and get some work breaks during the day, so I can go to the gym or have a pretty good coffee with my mother. Yes, she loves it! Q: What's next for you? A: Leaving a great legacy professionally and, most importantly, as a great person. Yes, too romantic and cliché, but it's real. Q: What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail? A: I would do it anyway. I think nobody does things intending to fail. It is the way you deal with your failings that makes the difference. I don't believe in the sentence "you can fail.” If you do something, there is the risk of failing.
Q: What do you do and for whom do you do it? A: As president and COO for the local payment processing company, Equity Payment, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. Therefore, I wear many hats. I am also a Certified Payment Professional, a nice term for someone who knows the ins and outs of the credit card/payment industry, thanks to decades of experience. Q: What do you do during your downtime? A: I absolutely love to be outside and try to be there as much as possible. I frequently video the antics of my two Shar Peis, Sophia and Franco, and you can find me working out at CannonFit in Bluffton or at Planet Fitness on Hilton Head any day of the week. Q: How do you balance work and home life? A: For years I worked two full-time jobs. I served as the general manager and bartender of Trattoria Divina, formerly on the island, in addition to my role at Equity Payment. Since Covid broke out, balancing has become my quest. Q: What's next for you? A: This is a toughie. As an entrepreneur, I am always willing to explore different opportunities and experiences. Q: What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn't fail? A: I originally thought of quite a few things. For example, fly a balloon around the world, sing in front of a crowd. But honestly, I would open a fun, relaxed eatery and bar, where I could enjoy people and the creativity of food.
EEnergy healing may be rooted in ancient holistic medicine, but as the saying goes for fashion, film, and politics, “what’s old is new again,” even in the medical field – something that Shembra Carter believes the healthcare industry desperately needs.
After working as a registered nurse in the Lowcountry for over 20 years, Carter was becoming disappointed with the lack of medical options available. No matter what new medications or surgical devices appeared on the market, she felt as though the industry was consistently “one step forward, two steps back,” and her patients were paying the price.
The Harmonic Egg uses frequencies and vibrations emanating from music and light to unblock and restore the body’s natural energy flow.
1Trust your intuition. Honestly, if I had put too much thought into it, I probably would not have gone through with it. My logical brain told me no. “New technology, energy healing, no one has heard of it, never owning a business before, all you know is nursing,” but this little nagging voice would not quiet down. This feeling I had would not go away, and I had to trust my heart and go with what I felt, not what I thought. No regrets!
2You must be willing to work hard, every day. There are no days off when you own your own business. Keeping your service in the awareness of new and old clients is the goal, and it takes dedication, patience and time.
I can honestly say I have found my soul's purpose. And as long as you are in service to others, you will always be abundant.
The Harmonic Egg is a large resonate chamber that uses energy therapy to treat a variety of mental and physical ailments.
With the influx of overprescribed medications, Carter noticed that too few of her patients were truly healing from their ailments, with the majority merely managing their symptoms.
After coming off a 12hour shift one night, Carter was winding down with Gaia TV when Gail Lynn, inventor of the Harmonic Egg, came on screen.
“After watching the interview, a feeling came over me so strongly. One that I’ve never had before,” Carter said. “I had to have a Harmonic Egg. Within a week of watching the interview, I booked a trip to Colorado, met Gail, got into the egg and bought one!”
And so, Equilibrium, Carter’s energy therapy center in Bluffton, was born (er, hatched). Energy therapy is associated with Asian healing practices like acupuncture, yoga and Qigong and is based on the theory that illness is the result of blockages or imbalances in the body’s life energy. These healing techniques work to unblock or re-balance that life energy and restore the body’s natural energy flow.
The Harmonic Egg operates under similar principles. Using frequencies and vibration
emanating from music and light within a resonant chamber, the Harmonic Egg guides a person to a state of relaxation. Some have likened this to achieving “Shavasana” in yoga.
“Everything is energy, including us at the cellular level,” Carter said. “We are vibrating beings of light, so it makes sense to use those same principles to heal the body. We have forgotten that the body is a self-regulating organism. It is the most magnificent design ever made. It is programmed to heal itself under the right conditions. The Harmonic Egg primes the body for this natural healing to occur.”
Equilibrium opens the Harmonic Egg to people seeking therapy for anxiety and stress, pain and injuries, illnesses and past traumas. Carter has seen some patients find relief from autoimmune disorders, chronic illnesses, PTSD and beyond while behind the egg’s geometric walls.
She says that the best business strategy she’s used so far is getting to know each of her patients individually. She’s able to recommend treatment plans based on their unique needs, and word-of-mouth marketing has made an enormous difference to her business.
But no matter what brings a patient to Equilibrium, Carter says that the Harmonic Egg’s “magic” can only go so far.
“Finding a work-life balance is so important,” Carter said. “I have seen the repercussions of people waiting too late as far as their health is concerned. Finding time to reduce stressors in your daily life can have profound effects on your physical body.” ■
Shembra Carter with her daughter, Cayden (age 24), and her son, Jaxon (age 12).
AAs someone who looks at art all day, Stephen Ball knows value when he sees it – just as he did when he bought The Great Frame Up in Bluffton. Before he decided to purchase the 17-year-old custom frame store in 2018, Ball received his MBA and had careers in management, marketing and corporate training. It was Ball’s understanding of effective salesmanship and customer relations that made The Great Frame Up what it is today: a “bright, clean and pleasant” store that makes framing feel less like an errand and more like a treat.
“When customers come into the store, we’ll ask them a few questions about the art and their home decor,” Ball said. “We might ask where the art will hang, wall colors there and furniture style. All of this gives us a good idea of [the customer’s] taste and preferences so we can make sure the art looks its best in their home.”
a customer walks into a store, they need to enjoy and get excited about the purchasing process. Most importantly, when they leave, they should believe they had a great experience.
teach my employees that the customer is not always right but the customer is always the customer. That means even when they are wrong or we cannot give them what they want, we always treat them with respect.
job is too big or more importantly, too small. We cater to aspiring and famous artists. Our customers come from all economic and cultural backgrounds. Everyone who walks in our door gets the same respect.
All dressed up Stephen Ball and his wife, Karen, at Hilton Head’s 2022 Yacht Hop.While the business’s name speaks to its specialty, it offers every service needed to take something from a project to a piece of artwork, including photo restoration and professional printing.
In addition to The Great Frame Up’s gallery collection that’s displayed in-store, the framing business also does custom prints from many local artists – everything from Lowcountry-inspired art to abstract designs. The business specializes in giclee prints, or high-resolution, high-quality prints that can last up to 100 years. They are one of only 27 locations in the country that is authorized as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) map provider.
Ball has seen a steep uptick in the frame store’s traffic since he purchased it, and he credits his success to considering his business both “a hobby and a passion.” But as a self-proclaimed workaholic, Ball has spent the last three years working six days a week – until now. Like many business owners, Ball struggled to find employees during the national staffing shortage brought on by the pandemic, but he now feels like he has a team he can trust.
“I am in the process of training our employees to give the same quality customer service when I am not there,” Ball said. “I have started taking a day off every other week to get things done outside of the store and just do something enjoyable.”
When he’s not working, Ball enjoys going to the pool, playing euchre on Saturday nights, attending church activities, playing with his dog, Sophie, and his newest hobby, pickleball. His greatest passion is ballroom dancing, and he won the Fred Astaire national championship after he turned 62. Ball also won two national golf championships between the ages of 62 and 65.
As enthusiasts of art in multiple forms, Ball and his wife, Karen, support many of the local art leagues and associations, the Hilton Head Symphony, the Hilton Head Piano Competition and Hospice Care of the Lowcountry.
While the couple is hoping to make more time to visit their grandchildren in Indiana, they are committed to setting the work aside weekly and having a day to themselves.
“On Sundays Karen and I go to church, have lunch together, go home and take the dog for a golf-cart ride and then do something together that evening,” Ball said. “That is our personal time together. We are careful to not let anything interfere with our Sunday time together very often.” ■
Let's dance Stephen Ball balances running The Great Frame Up with a variety of hobbies, including competitive ballroom dancing.
HOW GREG PARKER SCALED HIS BUSINESS FROM ONE LOCATION OFF OF I-95 TO ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL CONVENIENCE STORE CHAINS
BY HANNAH MASSEN
FFor tourists, Parker’s is their introduction to the Lowcountry, as it’s where they fill up their gas tanks as soon as they arrive and right before they leave. For locals, it’s the go-to convenience store for an early-morning coffee run or a late-night cravings fix. And for Greg Parker, owner and founder of Parker’s gas stations, it’s the culmination of over 46 years of hard work.
Not only is Parker’s one of the most well-known companies in the Lowcountry, with 71 locations between South Carolina and Georgia, the gas station and convenience store chain also has won numerous national awards. Parker’s won the coveted Convenience Store Decisions “Convenience Store Chain of the Year” award in 2020 and earned spots on USA Today’s
Family man Greg Parker is shown kayaking and spending time with his children Bennett, Olivia and Lily. Parker is the founder and CEO of Parker's convenience stores.
Best Gas Station Brand Top 10 list twice and Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America six times – just to name a few.
But Parker is still “kind of shocked” by his company’s level of success.
Prior to starting Parker's, Parker attended the University of Georgia on a scholarship and graduated with honors. He considered attending law school but opened up his first convenience store in Midway, Georgia, in 1976, right off of the then-brand-new I-95.
At the time, Parker’s father worked as an Amoco distributor, with territory near the new interstate. Parker saw the influx of traffic and the chance to work near his father as a business opportunity that was too good to pass up. He was deeply involved in the construction of his first store in the fall of ‘75, and as soon as he opened the next year, there was no part of the business he didn’t have a hand in. He wore a change belt, pumped gas, cleaned the windshields, checked the oil, checked the air in the tires, cooked food, made deposits and did the books.
He never took a day off for three and a half years.
“I would get up before sunrise and work until I had to go home,” Parker said. “I worked Christmas, I worked every day and have never regretted working hard to achieve my goals.”
And achieve them he did. Parker said that his first big “tipping point” toward achieving his goals was when he realized how profitable Parker’s had become compared to other convenience store chains. He and his team created a “scorecard for success” using key metrics to make the company’s success quantifiable. Parker’s has enjoyed 20-24 percent growth over the past 24 years.
The second “tipping point” was realizing the importance of the working mother, as she is Parker’s primary customer persona.
“The working mother is our most timestarved and discriminating customer,” Parker said. “She wants great customer service, clean stores, spotless restrooms, good lighting and quality products. We realized that if we could appeal to the working mother, we also would appeal to everyone else in the process. That was
an important turning point in our brand identity.”
The third “tipping point” – to which Parker credits much of his success — was emphasizing loyalty amongst his customers and his staff. The company has developed various incentives that reward frequent customers and encourage them to return to Parker’s, including give-back programs.
“No matter how big our company is, we know it’s vital to give back to the communities that support us,” Parker said. “Giving back is part of our DNA at Parker's. Our Fueling the Community Program donates a portion of the profit of every gallon of gas sold on the first Wednesday of the month to area schools and has donated more than $7 million to support education over the past 11 years. I’m a big believer that education is the rising tide that floats all boats and makes communities stronger.”
The company also launched the Parker's Community Fund in 2020 – which focuses on healthcare, education, hunger and heroes – with the goal of making a transformative impact in the communities that support Parker’s in South Carolina and Georgia. The company has donated more than $22 million to the Parker’s Community Fund to support area nonprofit organizations operating within the Parker’s footprint.
Parker is especially proud of the community he’s built within his own organization, saying that the best part of his job is working with his fellow mem-
yourself with a great team who can help create and achieve goals.
The Senior Leadership Team at Parker's has been critical to the growth of our company over the years. Hire smart, ambitious, team-oriented professionals who can help you achieve your goals.
a scorecard for success. In order to make success achievable, you first must make it measurable. Identify the key metrics you need to track and monitor them closely, making strategic adjustments as needed.
hungry and nimble. Don't just be satisfied with the status quo. We believe in maintaining a healthy state of paranoia. Always keep learning, keep growing and stay open to new ideas.
bers of the Parker’s senior leadership team: hardworking professionals who challenge him to push himself and his business further every day.
“I also love growth,” Parker said. “I love to figure out how to grow in smart, strategic ways. I'm a futurist by nature and am intensely curious. I think the future is always evolving. As an industry, convenience stores are going to have to rely less on gas and cigarette sales in the future and to expand the definition of fuel as our nation moves away from petroleum-based gasoline. We need to become a gathering place for commerce and a hub of innovation.”
When he’s not working, Parker prioritizes spending time with his friends and family and enjoys reading, playing tennis and practicing yoga. He believes that it’s important to maintain a healthy work-life balance as you progress in your career, but he didn’t always feel that way.
Like many entrepreneurs, Parker sacrificed much of his free time early in his career in order to scale up his company. But working hard and keeping his head down paid off.
“My success is built on two things: a profound sense of insecurity and a fear of failure,” Parker said. “I don’t think those are necessarily good motivators for other people, but they were my motivators. I never ever expected to be as successful as I have been, but I'm constantly driven to do better and am always focused on continuous improvement.”
■
IIn a culture that prioritizes productivity over personal fulfillment, it’s no wonder that professionals strive for unattainable levels of efficiency at their own expense. The pressure to hold a full-time job, have a “side hustle” and somehow make time for themselves traps many business people in a cycle of battling burnout while trying to meet the demands of a “busy culture,” then digging their heels in to prove they have what it takes. But some Lowcountry leaders have found that drawing on their passions, personal values and support systems has made them all the more successful.
Carrie Manning and her mother, Valerie Leighty, co-owners of V.C. & Co. Salon in Bluffton, and Kaitlynn Vassalle and her mother, Anita Boose, co-owners of Urban Brew + Co. in Beaufort, show that striking a balance between family and business is possible, even while running a family business.
Community engagement is at the core of owner and founder Jeff Maine’s business, Pay Proudly. His payment-processing services make it easier than ever for small business owners to give back. Our Q4 Faces prove that it’s not what you do, but how you do it, that matters most. ■
WWhether it’s a battle against “bed head” before the school day starts or an elaborate braiding session on the couch, many people grow up with memories of morning hair routines with their parents. But Carrie Manning and her mother, Valerie Leighty, never grew out of their love of styling hair together.
The mother-daughter team co-owns V.C. & Co. Salon in Bluffton, which has consistently been named “Best Salon” in Bluffton Today’s Best of Bluffton Awards. Manning describes her business as “a little Steel Magnolias and a little Palmetto Bluff,” speaking to the salon’s quaint Southern charm and welcoming atmosphere. Manning and Leighty see their customers’ self-confidence walking out of their salon as a measure of their success as hair stylists and as a team.
Manning grew up next door to both sets of her
with people who balance you out. We have polar opposite personalities, but we keep each other grounded – and keep the “crazy” in check – better that way.
2Do what you love – always. If you are doing what you love with who you love, then you never really have to work.
3Practice gratitude. Lead each day with a thankful and grateful heart and the universe will open up and return the favor. We are living proof.
“It was essential that we made sure that we lived each day from a ‘work to live’ and not a ‘live to work’ perspective.”
grandparents and says that seeing her mother’s relationship with her maternal grandmother set the tone for their own dynamic. Manning says that Leighty always has had her best interests in mind, from both an emotional and a financial standpoint. Manning was ready to make a career change about 20 years ago, and as mothers always know best, Leighty convinced Manning to join her at cosmetology school.
“When people ask me how I work with my mom, I laugh because I can’t imagine not working with her,” Manning said. “I’m super blessed, and I definitely do not take our relationship for granted. She’s always been my best friend and biggest supporter, and she’s never put a glass ceiling over my head.”
While Manning knows that her mother will always have her back – whether she needs someone to cover for a blow-dry appointment or someone to bounce around ideas with – their personalities are not “like mother, like daughter.”
Manning, who says that Leighty is “the calm, quiet, supportive backbone that keeps me from running like a crazy train at a hundred miles per hour down a track,” describes herself as a “Type A” personality who’s learning to channel her energy into healthy practices. Leighty is Manning’s role model when it comes to balance, inspiring her to set aside time for yoga, painting and relaxation.
“I think with all the events in the last two years, it was essential that we made sure that we live each day from a ‘work to live’ and not a ‘live to work’ perspective,” Manning said. “With both of us having creative brains, it’s important that we take some self-care time outside of the salon. Whether it’s painting on a canvas or a pot that we’ve thrown and built, it’s so much fun for us to work on art projects at the same time and always get totally different styles and results.”
Manning's and Leighty’s artwork provides another outlet for creativity and self-expression outside of the salon. Their artwork is currently for sale at The Complete Home in Old Town Bluffton. They also will be running a booth at the Bluffton Arts and Seafood Festival on Oct. 15.
“Watching our hobbies grow into passions has been so much fun to share with my mom,” Manning said. “She keeps me grounded but reminds me not to ever be afraid to fly.” ■
Luxury hair care V.C. & Co. Salon is the project of the mother-daughter styling team of Valerie Leighty and Carrie Manning. Twenty years ago Valerie decided she was ready for a change in her career. She convinced Carrie to join her in cosmetology school, and the rest is history.
BY HANNAH MASSEN
BBusiness is personal – something that Anita Boose and her daughter, Kaitlynn Vassalle, know well. They have expanded their definition of “family business” to also include their customers, and they like to think of their cafés as “an extension of [their] family’s living room.”
Vassalle, Boose, and Boose’s husband, Ken, who have lived in Beaufort for over 17 years, founded Urban Brew + Co., a local coffee bar and spacious lounge-style café with a single mission in mind: “We want everyone to feel like family when they walk in.”
The café stays true to its owners’ eclectic styles, as it’s furnished with plush chairs, rustic accessories, and long, blonde-wood tables, making it an ideal workspace for digital nomads or rainy day haunt. While the ambiance is reason enough for customers to choose Urban Brew + Co., the menu boasts a wide variety of artisanal coffees, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, and brunch favorites.
Vassalle, who joined Urban Brew + Co. after working in the food and beverage industry and as a bookkeeper, appreciates how well she and her mother’s strengths complement each other. While Boose is Urban Nest's design expert and merchandiser (and a self-proclaimed “people person”), Vassalle is a fellow merchandiser and is the café’s social media marker.
She particularly enjoys the creative freedom she has in her business, online and off.
“We have always felt that the best form of advertising is word of mouth and also social media because you are able to share more of the heart of the family/business you’re supporting,” Vassalle said. “We feel our social media and happy customers reflect those things best.”
Urban legend Find a variety of premium handcrafted drinks and artisanal treats at Urban Brew + Co., a friendly neighborhood coffee shop in Beaufort.
1Don’t go into debt when you start. Our business began with the cash we had in our pockets and we’ve learned to grow slowly and gradually always is most effective. Our customers have loved to watch us start something and grow it and in a sense, they’ve grown alongside us. It’s just that much more satisfying to look back on your beginnings.
2
Lead by example. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty as an owner.
3 Recruit people on your team who really understand your mission. As owners, our interviews are most important. Make sure your staff is a reflection of your character. This takes much more time but is so worth it.
While Vassalle and the Booses are dedicated to creating a comfortable, welcoming space for their community to enjoy, the family has struggled to achieve a steady work-life balance from the start. Until recently, Vassalle and Boose ran a second business called Urban Nest, a Beaufort home, accessory, and gift boutique with a coffee bar so customers could “sip while they shop.”
But after weathering the COVID-19 pandemic while running two businesses, followed by Boose’s father being diagnosed with cancer, Boose and Vassalle realized their priorities had changed. It was time to slow down.
In August, Boose and Vassalle posted a message to Urban Nest’s Instagram account, explaining their plans to liquidate Urban Nest’s brick-and-mortar store and host pop-up markets alongside local artists once a month instead.
“We feel that this change will be the healthiest way for us to continue to do what we love because frankly, we cannot continue on like we are physically or mentally,” the message continued. “It’s honestly a shock for us too, but our family plans on uniting together on a daily babis at our sister location, Urban Brew + Co.”
As “huge foodies,” the mother-daughter team enjoys having family dinners, exploring new restaurants, and traveling in their spare time, but many of their days off are still spent working. Even so, Boose said that hiring the right people has made a world of difference. ■
BB2B and B2C are common buzzwords in the corporate world, but Jeff Maine’s payment processing company, Pay Proudly, is about much more than businessto-business or business-to-customer transactions. The Bluffton-based electronic payment-processing company allows business owners in all industries to give back to causes that are important to them at no additional cost to their businesses.
Maine launched Pay Proudly in 2019, but the business’s altruistic mission began much earlier. Growing up, Maine’s father encouraged him to strive to pursue excellence and follow his dreams. From an early age he learned about the importance of perseverance while using his skills to better the lives of others.
After studying finance at St. Louis University and gaining over 25 years of experience in the payment processing industry, Maine founded Pay Proudly with the idea of bringing respectability back to a literally money-driven industry. Each quarter, Pay Proudly gives a percentage of its merchant fees to charities and non-profits that represent its clients’ philanthropic interests. To date, Pay Proudly has donated over $35,000 on behalf of its merchants.
“I truly believe that the more you give, the more you get and that we’re all here to serve,” Maine said. “I hope our business inspires everyone to support the people and causes that make the world a better place.”
Pay Proudly’s service model also extends to its customers, as Maine’s primary business was to provide a level of one-on-one customer service support that didn’t exist within the industry.
Maine prioritizes getting to know his clients personally, something he feels is especially important in an era of remote work. He is known for hosting in-person meetings with prospective clients not to sell them on Pay Proudly’s services but to learn more about them, their businesses and the causes they support.
1There are creative ways to pour into your community and 'give back' without necessarily writing a check. It's a reciprocal relationship... the more you give the more you get back for generations.
2In an era of remote (both virtual and “distanced”), the value of spending time with people in your community shoulder to shoulder has never been greater. The impact is systemic across your wellbeing, your community, your business, your family.
3In building healthy, successful businesses and communities, the most important thing is to prioritize balance in your own life. Cant build healthy communities with unhealthy members.
THIS BLUFFTON MAN’S BUSINESS MAKES IT EASIER THAN EVER FOR BUSINESS OWNERS TO GIVE BACK.
Giving back is especially important to Maine and his team around the holidays. Pay Proudly’s 2021 “12 Days of Christmas” campaign donated to a different charity or non-profit every day for 12 days in December – a tradition Maine hopes to continue.
While the company currently donates to a wide variety of charities and non-profits – including the Palmetto Animal League, Bluffton Self Help, Library for Kids, and the Coastal Conservation League – Maine was personally named as “Man of the Year” by The Leukemia Foundation in 2020 for his outstanding generosity. Maine’s father, who believed in him so much, died from the condition almost a decade ago, making Leukemia research and awareness a cause close to Maine’s heart.
Maine balances his business ventures, being president of the local BNI chapter and serving on the board of Hilton Head Christian Academy with intentional family time.
Maine and his wife, Renae, host regular family dinners with their three children, Mason, Molly, and Maggie, where phones aren’t allowed at the table. The family enjoys spending time outside in the Lowcountry, but Maine says he has a habit of researching the latest financial trends even when he’s off the clock.
“I want to provide the best payment-processing service possible to Pay Proudly business partners,” Maine said. “The best part of my job is playing a part in helping others find success.” ■
A new way to pay Jeff Maine and his wife, Renae, are shown with their children Mason, Molly and Maggie. Maine is the owner of Proudly, a unique payment-processing company that helps business owners give back to causes that are important to them.
OOffice chairs of yesteryear were big, bulky, heavy and noisy. The colors were funky and the material, chintzy. Even if you liked the retro look, you probably traded in comfort for aesthetics when taking an old chair for a spin.
So what should you look for in a modern-day office chair where you make your phone calls, type your emails and take your meetings for (more than) eight hours a day?
When striving to maintain a healthy work/ life balance, a great place to start is choosing a desk chair that supports your back, enables mobility and productivity and is comfortable. Whether looking to lounge, recline or sit upright, the bench is deep – from lumbar-supported X-Chairs, to sleek Steelcases, to deluxe Herman Millers.
“Physical and visual comfort inspire an efficient work environment,” said Brittani Anderson, Allied ASID designer for J. Banks Design in Hilton Head. “Most often you spend more time in a work environment than you do at home. Investing in style and comfort is the key to success.”
Adjustable backrests enable you to sit up straight or gently recline. The angle of your seat may provide support for your spine, and a locking mechanism safeguards against any jarring back and forth. Aim to adjust your backrest at a 100- or 110-degree angle to your seat, and allow for two to four inches between the back of your knees and the seat of the office chair for ultimate comfort. The FlexFit Hyken Mesh Task Chair offers recline options. staples.com. $220
When you start shopping for office chairs, make sure there’s a pneumatic adjustment lever to adjust its height. Your thighs are supposed to be horizontal to the floor and level with your hips so your feet stay grounded. This will limit back strain and encourage good posture. Plus, your eyes should line up with the top of your monitor or laptop to minimize any pressure on your neck and spine. The Amia Chair by Steelcase boasts comfort and easy height adjustments. smartfurniture.com. $899
In addition to backrests being able to tilt, they should also contour to the shape of your lower back. A lumbar support that can move forward and backward should keep your back slightly arched the whole day so you don’t start slumping and cause pressure on your lumbar discs in your spine located between your hips and chest. The X-Chair X2 K-Sport Mgmt. chair’s lumbar support feels like a cushion and adjusts as you move your seat. xchair.com. $880
Adjustable armrests are some of the most important components of a comfortable office chair because they help mitigate strain on your neck and shoulders. Armrests should keep you upright and prevent opportunities to slouch. If they are placed too low, you could experience discomfort in your forearms and wrists, which should be level with your keyboard. If your palms rest directly on your desk, it could cause nerve pressure and carpal tunnel syndrome. The Steelcase Gesture Chair has adjustable arms built to support the use of various devices including tablets or smartphones. smartfurniture.com. $1,330
When sitting for a long period of time, it’s best to consider buying a chair with breathable fabric. Mesh-back chairs have become very popular as they provide ventilation. Leather and faux leather chairs look luxurious, but they can be too firm or too soft. But no matter what material you choose, it’s recommended that you don’t sit on an office chair for too long as being sedentary increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The AmazonBasics Mesh chair is economical and offers breathable mesh backing. amazon.com. $60
An office chair should be so comfy, you’ll want to stay seated when reaching for something from across the room. That’s what the wheels, or casters, are for. You should be able to swivel and glide across your office floor to access your file cabinets, garbage can, bookshelf or to consult with a co-worker. And if it looks like the casters could cause damage to your floor, you can buy a see-through plastic floor mat to absorb the shocks, or replace them. Enso Casters are versatile, colorful and based on Zen minimalism. ensomotion.com. $75 for set of five
Anderson recommends office chairs with ergonomic features and credits the Via Seating line with a striking balance between form and function. “I love working with clients to truly understand how they live in their spaces,” she said. “As their designer, I want to design spaces that are beautiful yet functional and improve the way of life of those who use them.” viaseating.com. $500+
The Rolls-Royce of office chairs are souped-up ergonomic ones that are synonymous with Herman Miller designs. They mimic the movements of a user’s body and offer support throughout the entire design. The popular Aeron model offers three sizes to accommodate a wide range of body types, smarter weight distribution through 8Z Pellicle, adjustable PostureFit SL for total spinal support and balanced recline and natural movement, thanks to Harmonic 2 Tilt. The chair also has gone green, as it features ocean-bound plastic in the body of the chair. hermanmiller.com. $1,600+
balanced recline and natural movement, thanks to Harmonic 2 Tilt.
Brittani Anderson specializes in high-end residential and hospitality interiors, from conception to completion, at J. Banks Design in Hilton Head
BBusiness assistance, reduced-cost insurance options, power-hour tele-town hall meetings: You can learn about all these opportunities and more when calling the Hilton Head Island–Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, and being placed on hold.
“In today’s tech savvy world, we’re all communicating on multiple platforms,” said Chamber Vice President of Communications Charlie Clark. “We’ve had people attend networking events because they heard about them via our on-hold messaging. We utilize every opportunity to get the word out on helping businesses thrive.”
What used to be an empty void filled by Muzak and old Barry Manilow melodies has now become a sacred space for captive audiences and marketing enterprise to ring true.
Mike Tucker, owner of Tucker MarCom, a Hilton Head marketing and branding agency that helps connect small business clients with customers and results, said this “soft touch marketing opportunity” can get your brand message buzz directly into the ear of your customers.
Charlie Clark, the vice president of communications at the Hilton Head Island – Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, said callers learn a lot about the Chamber when placed on hold. They even attend events publicized on the looped advertisement.
According to the On Hold Messaging Association, executives spend 15 minutes a day, or 68 hours a year, on hold: 94 percent of all marketing budgets are spent on inducing a customer to call, while only 6 percent is spent on handling the call once it’s received.
“If a client or potential customer is going to be on hold for a minute, you might as well fill that minute with something meaningful,” Tucker said. “Give them some information, a tip that they didn’t know or something to engage them. If you don’t, it’s just dead air, and nobody likes dead air. It’s another opportunity to capitalize on.”
A study by North American Telecom found that callers listening to music on hold will stay on the line 30 seconds longer than callers experiencing silence, and callers hearing commercials on hold will stay on the line for up to 3 minutes longer.
“I would opt for meaningful dialogue over music when possible,” Tucker said. “If you’re in a business where you have an opportunity to educate your customer or your prospective client during that time when they’re waiting on hold, it could be a golden opportunity to share with them details about your company that they didn't know about. It will also help them improve their experience while they’re waiting.”
Mike Tucker, the owner of Tucker MarCom, said you don’t need to hire a big PR firm to create effective on-hold messaging for your business. If you already have a marketing partner, Tucker said they can come up with a plan to target your audience before you even get to speak with them.
Spectrio and Mood Media are just a few of the major companies that create effective and memorable hold-time messages for national businesses, but Mike Tucker of Tucker MarCom said if you’re already working with a marketing agency, get on the horn and touch base with them.
“There’s an entire industry for this,” Tucker said. “But reach out to your marketing company first, and chances are they already have resources on staff that do this. They’ll make sure your branding stays consistent. It’s easy for us to use voiceover that typically is featured in our client’s commercials, and it’s a familiar voice. If not, we come up with a script and tailor it to our client’s needs. You don’t need to work with a big studio. We produce four or five of these a year.” ■
Deliver your message Instead of playing lame music, use on-hold messaging to promote and advertise your company’s products, services, special offers, promotions and more.
HHybrid working arrangements are here to stay. Whether you work at home in a separate room, at your dining room table, or in a corner of your bedroom, and whether you visit a workplace daily, occasionally or never, feng shui changes can help bring balance and harmony.
Feng shui (pronounced fung shway) is the art and science of arranging your indoor surroundings in balance and harmony with the natural world. While the roots of feng shui come from ancient China, the underlying principle is the same for contemporary feng shui: when the energy around you is blocked, your prosperity, relationships, health and well-being are affected; when the energy is balanced, good things naturally flow into your life.
In these troubled times, more people are asking how feng shui can help them feel comfortable in our new hybrid workplace. Here are five of my favorite tips to help restore balance, reduce stress and adjust to transition in any home office or workplace situation:
Sit facing toward the room entrance door, and avoid sitting with your back to the door. This “command” position assures nothing happens behind your back, whether actually or symbolically. If you can’t move the furniture, place a mirror where you can glance up and see what’s happening behind you so you won’t be caught off guard.
A desk that’s too small symbolizes not being up to the challenge, while a desk that’s too big makes you feel overwhelmed by your job. Think like Goldilocks and find the size that’s just right for the work you do.
When you work where you sleep, your personal and professional lives are too tightly connected, and that’s not healthy. If you must work in your bedroom, designate the work area using curtains, a floor screen, or décor so you don’t see your work from the bed.
Choose art that inspires and motivates, and avoid art that feels lonely, dark or depressing. If you don’t love it, don’t display it where you work.
Choose plants with rounded leaves to represent wealth, and avoid those with thorns or spiky leaves. If you can’t grow plants, use silk. Avoid dried or plastic plants because they represent dead energy.
Carol Olmstead is a feng shui master practitioner, author and speaker. For almost 25 years she has helped clients, students and readers of her books rearrange spaces, shift energy and transform their lives. Learn more about Carol’s practical approach to feng shui at www. FengShuiForRealLife.com.
"I may be an anomaly, but I find balance by not separating my professional life from my personal life. I'm available for our business when we are on family time, and I'm available for my family when we're on business time. As of now, this approach hasn't been very intrusive, and I don't have to choose between one or the other."
— Mike Trezza, Trezza Termite & Pest Control
“I’m a print and TV news reporter who also works as a communications coordinator for a nonprofit. I’m deadline driven, and things can get stressful when all my media worlds collide. But to unwind I like to shoot photos of rock stars and famous musicians onstage and backstage. The energy of a live music performance is infectious, and it recharges me. I currently have an exhibit of 38 of my favorite pictures I snapped on display in Las Vegas, including shots of Jimmy Buffett, Duran Duran, Nick Jonas, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Chaka Khan, Kid Rock, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Sting and Keith Urban.”
— Leslie Snadowsky, reporter“The key to my achieving a good work-life balance is to create separate spaces and keep regularly scheduled times. I’ve found that being able to ‘leave work’ by walking out of the workspace and closing the door and walk into your home allows for me to transition to non-work life. I do this at a regular and consistent time so I can shift focus to home and family.
Working with my husband, we also make it a practice to not talk shop at dinner, on weekends, vacations, etc. We fail at doing these things at times such as during the busy holiday season, but this is our goal, and we are not too hard on ourselves when work and life overlap, which brings in two other key points to find the balance — grace and forgiveness.”
— Mandy Arnold, Eagle Creations
“I balance work and life by having the mentality that work tasks will still be there tomorrow, but my daughter’s first basketball game won’t. A work-life balance does not come naturally. You must make the decision to be conscious of it and work each day toward accomplishing it.”
— Stacy Floyd, Memory Matters
“The work-home life balance is something I am still working at balancing. With being in the service/construction industry, you are never ‘clocked out’ after 5 or on the weekends. Though we have an after-hours call center, I am available for my clients at all times to answer questions or assist with service emergencies. The downside to always being ’on call’ is that you are on your phone a lot or checking it often. With still being available to assist my customers and their needs, I make sure to make time to ‘be present’ with my family and disconnect for a bit. My clients know that our office number is always there for their emergency needs. My daughter, Stella, is 6 and won’t be a kid forever. My husband and I want to soak up these moments that we have as much as we can. I’m not perfect and definitely have moments where I spend a lot of time on my phone, whether it’s sending and checking emails or making or answering calls. On busy days I tend to think that if I keep it nearby and just check it ‘occasionally’ and still be in the moment, that’s OK. However, I know it’s not, but at times I have to be ’on call’ and work during family time, but I keep my daughter as my focus and keep work efficient and in moderation.”
“Finding the perfect work-life balance is a never-ending balancing act. On my 40th birthday I decided to prioritize my personal and professional goals and how to achieve them ‘my way.’ To do so, I carved out a rigid schedule for work hours. I set expectations early and often with my clients and coworkers when I am available and when they should expect any deliverables. I do the same with the family, reminding them constantly to plan ahead for any out-of-the-ordinary requests. My secret tool is Google Calendar. I block time for work and play and schedule weeks ahead. By using a calendar to organize my days and weeks, I can be where I need to be and fully engaged at that time. It appears seamless to others who don’t know the amount of planning that goes on behind the scenes."
— Kathryn Drury, Drury Consulting
“As a cinematographer and photographer, managing my work and personal life can be challenging. There are so many moving parts with a single project such as preproduction, scouting, scripting, prep, filming, editing and more. My hours are at the mercy of the client: what type of imagery needs to be produced and the amount of editing time involved with the project. To ensure that I produce the best possible product while giving myself time to spend with my family requires planning, diligence to stay on task and communication between the client and myself. Proper planning and scheduling allow me to be as efficient as possible, keeping me on task and allowing me to prioritize my time to what is needed at that moment. This process not only allows me to produce exactly what my client expects but, more importantly, deliver that product on time. This leads to an efficient production process, allowing me to know my tasks each step of the process and allowing me to shut down work, both physically and mentally, to focus on my family. Family absolutely comes first, and properly managing that work-life balance not only enriches the relationships you have with others. It is essential to a healthy lifestyle.”
— Ryan Greco, Moonlight Productions
“My wife, Lyn, and I own and staff Red Piano Art Gallery just about every day. After commuting to the island for 28 years, we consider it quite the blessing to be working in Bluffton, just a short drive from our home in Moss Creek. Our downtime is spent in our home enjoying the view of the marsh from our back deck. For fun we like to attend concerts. The year before COVID, we saw The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Segar, The Rolling Stones and Steve Miller, who had Peter Frampton open for him. So far this year, we saw America in concert in The Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah and Steely Dan in North Charleston. A big highlight for us this year will be Andrea Bocelli's Christmas Concert at the new Enmarket Arena in Savannah. So fine art, live music and some good wine certainly go a long way for us in regard to the things we love to do in achieving a work-life balance."
“The million-dollar question, one of which I am not sure that I have really figured out just yet. I would love to be able to tell you that I have the answer and can help you achieve it too. In all reality, achieving work-life balance looks different for each person. What might work for me might not work for you, and vice versa. No matter the responsibility, I was raised to give 110 percent, or I would simply have to redo it. Since relocating to Bluffton, I have involved myself in my career at the Greater Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and throughout various leadership roles, organizations, committees and more in our community. It is important to me that I am wholeheartedly involved in and give back to my community, but with involvement comes great responsibility and hard work. Now work-life balance becomes complicated. The difference, in my opinion, is passion and the willingness to go above and beyond what is expected. Each day looks completely different for me, but it often consists of early mornings and late nights because I am involved in or working on something that I believe in and am passionate about. However, the early morning and late nights begin to consume my life and take away from work-life balance. With that being said, I find balance in protecting my weekends. Weekends, for me, are for family, exploring, re-energizing, and filling my cup; after all, you can't pour from an empty glass. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to work-life balance, so find what works best for you and make it happen. Just be sure that it makes you happy and refills your cup.”
— Natalie J. Osterman, Greater Bluffton Chamber of Commerce
— Victoria Marangio, Howell-Chase Heating & Air Conditioning
— J. Ben Whiteside, The Red Piano Art Gallery
A. 6:30 sharp, enough time for me to hit the gym before the emails start pouring in.
B. 7:45, giving me time to scroll through Instagram while I sip my latte.
C. It depends on what time zone I’m in.
D. 9:00, because what’s the rush? If I work from my bed anyway, then I can never really be late.
A. Black, poured straight from my French press. I add ice when I’m feeling fancy.
B. Three words: caramel mocha frappuccino (you can thank me later).
C. A latte from my favorite local coffee shop.
D. It doesn’t matter what the flavor is so long as the coffee’s hot and plentiful.
A. Only the essentials: the meeting agenda, my team’s slide deck and a blank doc for notes.
B. Slack, WhatsApp and my email account in case anyone messages me.
C. Do you mean all 72 tabs? All I know is that my laptop is hot enough to fry an egg, and 20 of them are about to crash.
D. The YouTube video or podcast I paused just in time for this meeting. What?! They keep me company!
A. Slacks, blazers and buttondowns – functional pieces that work with our dress code.
B. Bright colors and statement pieces that will get conversations going with our customers.
C. Light, comfortable clothes that transition well between my inoffice and work-from-home days.
D. You know the drill: all business on the top, elastic waistband on bottom.
A. My agenda or calendar. It’s the only way I can keep everything straight.
B. A fully charged phone battery. Does this thing ever stop ringing?
C. My enormous tote bag. It holds my laptop, my Nikon and a spare change of clothes (for whatever adventures afterhours might bring).
D. Earbuds. Enough said.
A. Free time? There’s still so much to do!
B. Catching up with friends over a bottle of pinot grigio on my patio.
C. Exploring local shops and restaurants.
D. I’ll be in the same place that I started my day: on the couch.
A. I like to break down my day into small chunks, sometimes in half-hour increments, to better focus and prioritize my tasks.
B. I hold team meetings and client calls first, then everything else typically falls into place.
C. I usually need a change of scenery sometime around lunch, so you’ll find me working anywhere from the beach to a café in the afternoon.
D. Morning, afternoon and night. Does it need to be more complicated than that?
One thing that makes you such an asset to your company, clients and coworkers is that they know they can count on you to get the job done. Your motivation to get up, get goin’ and get ‘er done is something the rest of us only aspire to – but remember to pencil in time for yourself as well. You can only move ahead with all-due speed for so long before you eventually run out of steam.
MOSTLY B’S: The Comms Capitan
Business is all about relationships, and that’s the reason why you love what you do. As you are a probable extrovert, the quality of your day largely depends on your interactions with other people – and so does your sense of work-life balance. You might be fatigued after a full day of staring at a screen, but catching up with friends and coworkers in the break room or after hours is all you need to feel inspired again.
MOSTLY C’S: The Digital Nomad
Whether you’re on an official business trip overseas or “researching your audience” around town, you’re rarely in one place for long – which is exactly how you like it. As an outside-the-cubicle thinker, you draw your inspiration from the scenery and culture around you, which is why your idea of a healthy work-life balance involves a lot of day trips. If you haven’t already, consider asking for or instituting a flexible work program that allows you to log on from wherever the open road (or Yelp) takes you.
MOSTLY D’S: The Laid-Back Boss
You know what they say: all work and no play makes Jack burnt out. Some people live to work while others work to live, but let’s just say that you’re more interested in the balance side of work-life balance. There’s nothing wrong with taking one (OK – a few) social media breaks during the workday, but make sure you’re not watching the clock because you simply don’t like your job. If that’s the case, it’s time to move on to a career that has you excited to wake up early again.
HOW DIDYOU DO? Checkanswersyour here.BY ELLEN LINNEMANN
If this sounds familiar, you’re far from alone. And if you find that your days are bogged down with a seemingly unending list of “tasks” that may or may not be impacting both your work life and your home life – and if you’ve found yourself spending too many evenings toiling away at your computer when you could have (and should have) been cheering your child on from the sidelines at his/her Little League game, you’re unfortunately not alone, either.
The key to freeing up your time, achieving that coveted work-life balance and making both your sales goals and the game? According to Jenna Spencer – the visionary behind the creation of the virtual assistant matching service AssistPro™(www.assistpro.com) — the key is to learn, and master, delegation. Unfortunately, though, delegation remains something that is underutilized by many people – from over-extended professionals struggling with getting out from under their own ”to do” lists, to over-scheduled parents trying to “do it all” at work and at home – each of whom could benefit from the power of effective delegation.
So why aren’t people delegating? And, more importantly, how can effective delegation help not only improve someone’s work-life balance, but improve their overall quality of life?
Whether at work or at home, effectively delegating the tasks that are weighing you down not only can free up your time but help you gain that all-important work-life balance that can improve your overall quality of life. Here are three of Jenna’s “tried and true” steps to taking those first steps towards delegating just about anything – and harnessing the power of delegation that she’s seen change lives.
BRAIN DUMP a list of items you’d like to get off your plate. Pick three that would have the biggest immediate impact to your schedule but not too difficult to hand off in 30 days.
WRITE THE ANSWER to this question: “What does it look like when this has been SUCCESSFULLY delegated to someone else?” Take your time and think about the details here.
TRANSFER THIS INFORMATION to the person you are delegating to, answer their questions, and set a weekly meeting to review until you are confident they own the new items.
“I would say the main reason people don't delegate is that it seems too hard, or they think it will take too long or, most commonly, they mistakenly believe that it's just easier and faster to do it themselves,” said Jenna, who in addition to her role as AssistPro’s founder and CEO is also a busy mother of three. “But the problem with that is they never get in a position to grow like they want to, because all the things they could just do ‘faster and easier’ pile up, and now they have too much on their plate. Slowing down to hand things off the right way is the best use and investment of anyone’s time and energy if they want not only to grow their business but to enjoy a better worklife balance.”
With her passion for helping people learn how to delegate more effectively, Jenna has just launched an educational platform to help anyone master delegation. The program, Delegation Works™(delegationworks.com), provides a stepby-step process to attaining Delegation Mastery™ — and is based on the delegation techniques used by her hundreds of AssistPro clients not only to effectively master delegation but to significantly grow their businesses.
Through the delegation strategies and techniques she lays out (which she has seen work with countless clients who have mastered delegation), she is helping so many people attain that work-life balance, all with some simple delegation tools.
With the creation of the Delegation Works educational platform, Jenna is committed to helping others achieve the improved work-life balance that she has witnessed in so many of her clients. The first step, she stresses, is getting rid of your feelings of having to be “in control” of every task and see just how much time you can save by mastering delegation.
“Sometimes people find it hard to delegate because they don't know how to delegate some things, or they feel like they can't be delegated because they're too big, or too involved, or too sensitive,” she said. “By learning the process, they not only can hand it off for good but do it in a way that is comfortable for them and for the long haul.”
For more information about Delegation Works, including a full description of the educational platform and program elements, visit delegationworks.com. ■
DAVID NELEMS is vice president of innovation for the Don Ryan Center for Innovation. Founded in 2012, the center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed and innovative companies grow.
IIf you’ve seen the Apple TV show “Severance,” you’ve seen the extreme dystopian interpretation of a work/life balance. In this show the main characters agree to a surgical "severance" program in which their non-work memories are separated from their work memories. While they’re at home, they have no idea what they do at work. While they’re at work they have no idea who they are outside of work.
Covid made work/life balance top of mind again.
The challenge in our western culture to be successful is strong. It’s about “getting there,” “living the American Dream.” At some point you come to the realization that maybe you never “get there.” It is always “over the horizon.” Thus, you keep working; trying to achieve something that maybe you’ll never achieve.
This is a powerful mentality that many of us have grown up with. It’s hard to shake. A friend told me: “It was always about the next thing, whether it was a promotion or another opportunity,” he says. “It’s difficult to see beyond that when you’re in that world.”
Personally, I have been successful in different ventures but still felt I had not “succeeded. “ When I thought about it, I realized some people would look at me in a successful light, but I still thought I had not achieved enough. For so long it was all about work. I mean, I spent 60-80 hours a week doing it for decades.
Many people are opting for more life and less work. More experiences and fewer things. Less money but more sunsets. Only recently did I figure out what worked for me and balanced it out. I was listening to society, to the work culture –not myself.
Set Limits. If you don't set limits, work can just spread into your non-work life. We are always connected. It’s easy to pick up the phone at home for a two-minute work task and still be working 60 minutes later. Try to disconnect.
Manage your time. Give yourself enough time to get things done. Don't over schedule yourself. More on that in a moment. Learn to say "no." Evaluate your priorities at work and at home. Cut or delegate activities you don't enjoy. Another way to look at it: When you say “yes” to something, you are saying “no” to something else. When you quit accepting tasks out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you'll have more time for activities that are meaningful to you.
Detach from work. Working from home or frequently using technology to connect to work when you're at home can cause you to feel like you're always on the job. This can lead to chronic stress.
Consider your options. Ask your employer about flex hours, a compressed work week, job sharing or other scheduling flexibility. The more control you have over your hours, the less stressed you're likely to be.
When I was asked to write this article, I had recently come to my own epiphany. After 36 years of working, (and a pandemic), I thought that I should consider myself successful. Maybe I should enjoy experiences. And get off the treadmill because treadmills don’t get you anywhere — they just make you work.
What had really started working for me right as Covid hit was managing my time. I have a 25-minute talk available at www.donryancenter.com on various ways to do this, but for me it came down to managing my work calendar.
I hate to-do lists. They just don’t work for me.
I had a daily planner in which I listed the things I needed to do, while I kept the places I needed to be in my calendar.
While these may seem like two different ideas (doing things vs. being places), they
are really just explanations for how I’m going to spend my time.
Many people have a calendar and they have a “To Do List.” Why not combine them?
My calendar is my To Do List. Many of my tasks are repeating and are scheduled weeks in advance at the same day and time. Then I schedule other things around them. If you have things you do every week, schedule them at the same time on the same day — it gives you more structure, which creates more discipline, and that helps you get more things done.
What brings me balance is to leave work at work. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not always.
Sometimes that’s not possible. But for 95 percent of the time, my work stays at the office. I don’t check email. I don’t answer work texts after 5 p.m. My colleagues know this about me. They know that when I go on vacation, I am
completely gone. I’m a black hole. Work is not who I am. Work is one thing I do. I have found that the last thing I want to do when I go home is to keep working. Did I mention that it took me decades to figure this out and to be disciplined to do it? It is not a switch you flip. This may take time.
Now, depending on your job position/ title, or where you are in your career path journey, you may not be able to completely turn it off after 5 o’clock or while you are on vacation. But do try to set boundaries for yourself so you can try to keep a good balance.
Beyond these thoughts I can’t really tell you how to achieve your work/life balance. It’s up to you. It’s up to you to have that epiphany on your own. I hope you don’t wait as long as I did to have it, to become comfortable with your work life and your personal life and how much importance you give to each. ■
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EEven if you’ve never worked in the food service industry, movies like Boiling Point and shows like Sweetbitter give an (albeit dramatic) impression of what it’s like to work in a restaurant. From the energy and focus required on the floor to the near-simmering heat and pressure in the kitchen, restaurant shifts can be intense.
Combine the general atmosphere of a packed restaurant with the uncertainty and staff shortages caused by the pandemic, and it’s no wonder you’ll spot cooks and waiters on the sidewalk at night, aprons finally off, savoring every breath of cool air until they’re back in the frying pan tomorrow.
No matter how seasoned a chef or staff member is, the pressure of the food service industry can take a toll on one’s mental health – something that owners of FARM Bluffton know all too well.
“I think that if you work in [food and beverage industry] long enough, there are inevitably going to be demons that you have to face,” owner and chef Brandon Carter said.
“The industry is becoming a little warm and friendly, but I came up in a time when the restaurant industry was toxic. There have been times when I thought the pressure was going to crush me. This is one of those jobs that must become a way of life to excel. You eat, sleep and breathe work.”
When Carter opened the award-winning restaurant six years ago, he felt that things took a turn for the better. For the first time in his career, he was able to open the kind of restaurant – and be the kind of boss – he knew the industry needed.
After a few “rock-bottom moments” and some sound advice from his business partner, Ryan Williamson, Carter realized that the traditional restaurant management style wouldn’t be sustainable for him or his employees.
“We’ve really started putting our team first,” Carter said. “Initiatives like a reasonable work schedule for our leaders, four-day work weeks for our hourly team (when possible), treating each other with respect and dignity, and livable wages from the bottom to the top are just a few examples of how we’re trying to be the change we want to see.”
And the FARM team hasn’t stopped there.
The restaurant is known for using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, but the restaurant’s Lowcountry roots run deeper still. FARM has partnered with several nonprofit organizations, including Bluffton Self Help, to give back to our community but is now focused on supporting the people who make restaurants like FARM possible.
In 2021 FARM’s three partners, Carter, Williamson and Alan Sheriff, established the Rootstock Community Foundation in partnership with Common Thread Savannah to serve both the food and beverage communities of Bluffton, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, by addressing the mental healthcare of restaurant employees.
Chef Brandon Carter
Rootstock Yoga
Rootstock also partnered with PsychHub, the world’s most comprehensive digital platform for mental health education, to provide online mental health education resources and screening tools to restaurant employees. PsychHub’s co-founder, Marjorie Morrison, sits on Rootstock’s Board of Advisors.
“I think that we need to prove that we can move the needle locally before we look regionally or nationally,” Carter said. Once we feel good about our model, I think it’s about replicating it in other markets where we can identify like-minded partners.”
Rootstock hosts a free, one-hour yoga class for food and beverage professionals in the Lowcountry and Savannah areas every month at Service Brewing, though the management team hopes to begin hosting weekly classes soon.
The organization is also working on a class to help equip leaders with the tools to be able to see and assist members of their team who may be in a mental health crisis and has tied all of its guest chef dinners to Rootstock in order to donate 10 percent of their proceeds to the foundation.
Ashely Cope, one of FARM’s two event coordinators alongside Jessica Carter, said that Rootstock’s first yoga class, which was hosted in July, was a success.
“We were pretty happy with the turnout and hope to continue to grow that program and more programs to come,” Cope said.
Rootstock may be the first foundation of its kind in the Lowcountry, but Carter hopes the organization will have a national impact.
“So many of us crave a better work-life balance, but that’s hard to achieve in the restaurant industry,” Carter said. “We hope that Rootstock will inspire restaurant employees – not just in the Lowcountry, but nationally – to make the most of their time outside of work, too.”
To donate to Rootstock, visit rootstockcommunityfoundation.org. ■
Alan & Karen Sheriff
Ryan & Joanne Williamson
We are facing an unusual convergence of challenges in the workplace. Many companies are experiencing difficulties attracting and retaining employees. There are concrete reasons for this: economic, generational and cultural. What can be done to separate your company from the pack when employee prospects have thinned? One way is understanding the timeless principle of employee significance. Here are five steps to understand and enhance employee significance.
In the influential book “Good to Great,” Jim Collins dedicates an entire chapter to the idea of getting the right people on your company “bus” and getting those people into the proper seats. This takes for granted that you know your employees well enough to determine if you have the right people in the right roles. Knowing your people is the instrument for unlocking their potential within the company vision. This gives them a sense of purpose and satisfaction. We feel significance when we exercise our unique gifts to contribute our highest value.
Every one of your employees has a superpower. Most people exercise it unconsciously. Few people understand it enough to articulate it in a sentence. Once you identify it, you lean into it for exponential effectiveness. Your employees' path to significance is proportionate to their success at honing in on this superpower.
Tim Tamashiro is an author and advocate of the Japanese wellness concept of “Ikigai” or “Life Worth.” In his book, "How to Ikigai," he states, "according to studies conducted by Gallup through its Clifton Strengths service, your strengths can be amplified. When you put energy into developing your strengths, your growth is exponential. When you focus on trying to fix your weaknesses, your growth is slow, uninspired and only modestly incremental." The path to significance is a path to effectiveness. This is each individual's path to leaning into their own superpower.
People were made with unique strengths and the need to join forces under the banner of an even deeper desire to fulfill a glorious destiny.
Helping your employees to greater significance starts with knowing them. Knowing starts with listening. This is a very inclusive way to do business, and by listening to people you show that you recognize they have something worthwhile to say. This is even more important for retaining younger talent, like Gen Zers. In the Employee Benefits News article, “Gen Z Employees are Struggling to Feel Seen at Work,” Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence, says, “When employees don’t feel heard or feel their needs aren’t met, they are less likely to maximize their talents and more likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.” Listening affirms employees and increases their sense of significance.
There are many books that help readers identify their superpowers. I recommend "Unique Ability" by Catherine Nomura and "How to Ikigai" by Tim Tamashiro. There are also many personality tests to help people learn about themselves, including Myers Briggs, Clifton Strengths Finder and my own rapid framework: Superpower Quest. Before bombarding others with tests, choose one, feed your passion and clarity, and then invite others as an outflow of your enthusiasm. Learning more about your superpower will help you guide others into theirs.
Praise is effective when it is specific. Don’t just say, “Good job solving that problem.” Tell the employee the specific character quality you noticed and how it affects the team. For example, “I noticed that you showed initiative when you … that motivates the rest of us to look for opportunities to make an impact.” When you call out accomplishments, you give a road map to increased significance.
In order to motivate yourself to play the long game of maximizing employee significance, consider the benefits of a team in which each member feels valued and significant:
JOHNNY LEVY is the president of DataJoe Research, which produces “Best Workplaces” and other research campaigns across the U.S. Johnny uses insight gained from identifying and celebrating highly engaged workplaces and his experience as a business leader to help other business leaders increase workplace health and employee satisfaction. He has a passion for helping people and companies understand their “superpowers” and lean into their areas of greatest joy and effectiveness. Follow him on LinkedIn for tools, book recommendations and more.
Enhanced Output. Positive psychology demonstrates that people are highly fulfilled and effective when they reach a “flow state,” also called “being in the zone.” It’s the mental state when you are performing an activity, and you become fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus. Imagine that you can help your employees find their “flow,” so you are not only putting them in the right seats but maximizing their effectiveness within that seat. Imagine your team firing on all cylinders and loving it! This is the power of helping them achieve their flow.
Retention. Employees of any generation tend to stay where their desires are met. My company produces “Best Workplaces” campaigns in which we survey thousands of employees, asking them to give feedback about their workplace experiences. High performing companies often have employees who comment that their workplace “feels like a family.” Among other things, the idea of family speaks of a culture of mutual investment; a place where you belong; where you are significant. You can enhance your sense of family by fostering significance.
Profit. Profit is a byproduct. The most sustainable profit is a byproduct of a healthy workplace. When you have high retention and a good reputation in your community, it reduces your costs of talent acquisition, which affects your bottom line. People operating in their superpowers will have a positive impact on sustainable revenue. ■
BY SMARTMARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
IIn an increasingly profit-driven world, savvy business owners know they must compete for customer attention on the basis of more than just price. Today’s buyers are more informed than ever about where their goods are coming from – from food to fashion accessories – and what their hardearned money is going to support. Consumers across generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Zs, believe in supporting companies that have a social conscience. According to 5W Public Relations’ 2022 Consumer Culture Report, 71 percent of consumers check brands’ ethical values before buying.
The bottom line: if your business isn’t already supporting one or more social causes, it’s high time you take a stand.
Cause marketing puts humanity back into companies, allowing them to champion a cause to be a force for good – while also turning a profit. This marketing method allows businesses to align themselves with social issues or beliefs that are important to them and execute a campaign accordingly. A cause marketing campaign can be in the form of a partnership with a nonprofit, a fundraising event or an employee engagement initiative, as long as the campaign strategies support a social cause in a meaningful, measurable way.
Cause marketing is a win-win-win: it raises awareness for nonprofits, helps businesses make a positive impact in their communities and allows customers to feel good about their purchases. There’s no right way to run a cause marketing campaign, but we have a few ideas to get you started.
If your business isn’t already supporting one or more social causes, it’s high time you take a stand.
Don’t think you can fool your customers. They’ll see right through efforts if you’re shallow or focused on revenue. For a cause marketing campaign to work, raising revenue for your business should be at the back of your mind. First impressions matter, and according to a recent study from Google, it takes customers only17 to 50 milliseconds to form an opinion. Don’t waste that precious opportunity by coming off as shady or insincere.
If you find a cause related to your product or service, the more deliberate your strategy will be. You need to care about the cause you’re supporting (and your staff does too). Otherwise, the campaign can fall flat when everyone lacks enthusiasm. Consider holding a focus group to learn what issues are important to your staff or leaving a suggestion box in the break room.
Even if you’re interested in championing a broader issue like women’s rights or mental health awareness, we recommend partnering with a related nonprofit in your community. Joining forces with a local organization can strengthen your community ties, and you’ll be able to see the direct impact your fundraising efforts have. But remember: the best partnerships are forged out of connection, not convenience. Only partner with a local organization if you have a genuine interest in their work.
As with all great campaigns, the best cause marketing campaigns are memorable. It’s been widely reported that the average buyer’s attention span has dropped from 12 to 8 seconds, so your messaging needs to be clear, simple and to the point. If you’re posting information about your campaign on your website or social media, don’t make users search for information on the organization you’re partnered with to find out how they can get involved. If you’re printing flyers, hand-outs or other materials, only include key statistics, and make your call to action clear. Simplicity and transparency are key.
No one likes a flake. Committing to a cause for an extended period of time will demonstrate your business’s reliability while cultivating a passionate, loyal consumer base. Making your first fundraiser the last – and only – fundraiser may have the opposite effect. Has a pressing social issue come to your attention, or is your current nonprofit partnership not panning out? Sponsor an additional cause, or transition into a new nonprofit partnership rather than dropping the ball on donations altogether. ■
SMARTMARKETING COMMUNICATIONS is a Bluffton-based marketing agency that has been serving clients for over 30 years.
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CChances are if you don’t own a pair of TOMS shoes, you have heard of them. TOMS is the company that pioneered the ‘buy-one, give-one’ model of giving by donating one pair of shoes to a child in need for one pair sold. That model caught on and is now known as One for One®.
Since the launch of TOMS in 2006, many companies have used One for One® as part of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) plan. For example, with each purchase of “one,” these companies give “one.”
• Warby Parker gives a pair of eyeglasses to people in need.
• Bombas donates essential clothing items to homeless shelters.
• This Bar Saves Lives sends essential food to kids in need.
• State Backpacks donates essentials to local charities.
There are many reasons why this model of giving works, but one of the main reasons is that it engages the customer in the giving process. They need to buy an item anyway, so why not buy from a company that gives back? While there are many ways to give back as a company and One for One® is just one, the benefits of giving include tax deductions, employee engagement and retention, and customer loyalty.
Despite those benefits, many would argue that a company should give back to the community in which they do business because ‘it is the right thing to do.’ If you are thinking of including giving back in your business plan, here are five questions to consider.
85 percent of consumers have a better outlook on businesses that give to a charity they care about.
There are many reasons to give back, and your reason should be a key driver in your selection of a cause. For example, if you want a tax deduction, make sure the cause is tax deductible. If you love animals, make sure you thoroughly vet the charity to ensure it directly impacts the animals you are passionate about.
If your customers care about whom you support, they will care more about you. In fact, a 2010 study by Cone Communications found that 85 percent of consumers have a better outlook on businesses that give to a charity they care about.
According to All Business, one research study showed a 13 percent jump in productivity among workers whose employers consulted and included them in their company’s philanthropic initiatives. In other words, your employees care more when they know you care.
One for One® is an obvious example of perfect strategic alignment because the company’s product that is purchased is also given to a person in need (shoes, socks, eyeglasses). Locally this works. For example, if you are a restaurant, you can give to Second Helpings (SERG Group does this). If you are a dog daycare, you can give to the Humane Association (Evergreen Pet Lodge does this). If you are a real estate company, you can support Habitat for Humanity (Charter One Realty does this).
• Partner with a local organization – ask your employees to pick a cause and get started. It could be as simple as a Blood Donation Day or a day to help Bluffton Self Help pack bags.
• Donate products or services – if you are an accountant or lawyer, most charities welcome free advice.
• Offer discounts to community heroes – Veterans, EMS workers, nurses and teachers are some examples of the many unsung heroes in the Lowcountry.
Don’t let the thought of giving back overwhelm you or scare you to not take action. You don’t need to give a lot of time or money – the expression “it’s the thought that counts” holds true. Just get started, and it won’t take long for your heart to fill as you fill other hearts. ■
CComplicated. That's how I describe my relationship with work-life balance.
As an over-functioning overachiever, I am no stranger to living an unbalanced life. I once had a work bag I affectionately named Steve. Because, well, it sounded better to say I was spending my evening with Steve instead of working all hours of the night.
Eventually my body gave out. I became unwell. Even Steve broke under the weight of all the work. The full tilt of the seesaw let me go. It was like life jumped off the other side, and work came crashing down. I'd hit bottom, and I knew I needed to make changes.
But here's the thing. Letting go of doing proved to be tricky.
Society tells us that more is better. We must be productive or, better yet, wear busyness as a badge. It's become tied to our self-worth, sense of accomplishment and success.
There's an internal battle with the constraints of time. Too much to do and not enough time to do it all.
The concept of work-life balance is somewhat elusive. It's ever-changing and deeply personal. There's an underlying mythical theme of control and accomplishment in all areas of our lives. — you know, when all the work and chores are done, and everything's in perfect harmony.
The idea of perfection where everyone's needs are met and we have endless energy sounds too good to be true. And, well, it is. Yet this is what we strive for, and we are often hard on ourselves, guilt-ridden or shamed for falling short.
Here's the unfortunate truth: work-life balance isn't a constant state of being where our shoulders are relaxed. We let out a long exhale and arrive. Instead, it's constantly changing to meet our needs.
The concept of work-life balance is somewhat elusive. It's everchanging and deeply personal.
It's enough to cause overwhelm and make you crave a nap. If only there were time. Which begs the question, how do we create work-life balance in a world that rewards busyness?
Well, it's complicated. And it's doable.
Let me share what I've learned along the way. Moving toward work-life balance is a multi-step process that you'll continually repeat. It requires:
1. Self-reflection.
2. Action steps.
I've also included a few tips I've learned along the way. Let's dive deeper into each step.
Find a quiet spot where you can go inward. Take a deep breath in through your nose and blow it out of your mouth. Without overthinking, write down your first thoughts to the following questions.
• What are you prioritizing?
• What are you sacrificing?
It's been many years since Steve and I dusted ourselves off and began our mission of creating work-life balance. I'm happy to report that Steve has settled into retirement as an upcycled tote. Meanwhile, I've learned to revisit my needs and be more gracious and flexible when my work-life balance isn't so balanced.
SHEILA TUCKER is a licensed associate marriage and family therapist and founder of Heart Mind & Soul Counseling. She specializes in working with couples and individuals to better their relationships so they can connect more deeply to themselves and each other. When not in the office, you'll find her walking her pups or planning her next vacation with her husband.
• What feels like peace or calm?
• What's already working for you?
• What do you need?
• What brings you joy? And, how can you do more of that?
If an answer doesn't come right away, that's OK. Don't skip or rush through this part because it's uncomfortable or difficult. Understanding your inner workings will lay the framework for your success.
Now that you better understand yourself and sense when you're experiencing work-life balance, below are four action steps you can take today.
• Keep work at work. This also includes the mental load you may be carrying back and forth. Try this exercise. As you leave for the day, imagine your office doorframe is like a car wash. The bristles, glitter, or whatever you imagine removes all of the stress from your day.
• Say no. You have permission to respectfully decline. Insider tip: you may feel a twinge of guilt. It's OK; still, say no if it doesn't align.
• Ask for help. Really, ask.
• Right now, schedule one thing in your calendar that brings you joy. Then actually do it. Give your play or family time the same priority as a work event.
• Slow and steady wins the race. I know, I know this is not a popular stance in a world where we want it right now. And it creates more sustainability which equals an increase in positive results.
• Celebrate your wins, no matter how small.
• Focus on what works for YOU. Not your neighbor, co-worker, or that socialmedia person who looks like they have it all together.
• Let go of perfectionism. It will not be perfect. Perfection is unattainable because the bar moves just out of reach when you get close. Instead, aim for really good. This allows wiggle room to make adjustments when needed.
• Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Work-life balance is a lifestyle, not a one-and-done way of being.
Learn to notice your out-of-balance cues and make adjustments. One of my cues is resentment. ■
DDisney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against Florida legislation after criticism of his silence began trending on social media. Microsoft stopped sales and service in Russia after releasing a sharply worded statement condemning Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. And Goldman Sachs pledged $10 million to address racial and social injustice after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
From the Black Lives Matter movement to immigration and beyond, increasingly more companies and CEOs are taking a stand on social issues. The question is, should you?
Research suggests that the majority of people prefer supporting businesses with a social conscious. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 54 percent of employees globally believe that CEOs should speak publicly on controversial political and social issues they care about, and 53 percent of consumers agree that every brand has a responsibility to get involved in at least one social issue that does not directly impact its business. Members of younger generations are especially aware of where they shop and what brands they support, with 81 percent of Millenial respondents to a Nielsen survey saying their preferred companies make public declarations of corporate citizenship.
The numbers indicate that taking a stand on social causes could be good for your brand awareness and bottom line. But with the country more politically divided than ever and so much of your reputation on the line, many business owners have trouble deciding “to Tweet or not to Tweet.”
Just as there’s no one school of thought on today’s hottest topics, the answer as to whether your business should take a stand on social causes isn’t quite so clear. Here are a few questions to consider when deciding if you should speak out.
It’s both impossible and impractical for one business (or business owner) to publish an opinion on every issue our world is facing today. While you should hold true to your company’s values, championing too many causes can come off as disingenuous. But chances are good that there are one or two social causes that already align with your business’s mission. For example, if you only sell sustainable products, it makes sense for you to have an opinion on the latest climate initiatives. Or if supporting women entrepreneurs is part of your business purpose, then by all means, go all-out for International Women’s Day. But beware…
If there’s one thing that consumers like less than “band-wagoning,” it’s business owners who commit to making a change at their company or in their community and, well, don’t. I’m sure we can all think of a business or two that pledged to “foster an inclusive and equitable company culture” in 2020, but its board has remained entirely white and male. Bottom line: before you post any promises to Instagram, make sure you can actually see them through.
Most of today’s most pressing social issues spark conversations about our society and culture that need to be had. And if all goes well, your Pride Month social media campaign should launch a discussion amongst your customers about what you are (or should) be doing to better support the LGBTQ+ community all year. You don’t want these discussions to happen without you, so don’t post and ghost. Have an honest conversation with your customers about why this issue matters to you and what you’re doing to make meaningful change. Just be sure that your messaging is sensitive to the feelings and concerns of those directly involved. The last thing you want is to accidentally come off as tone-deaf.
A company can certainly have a relevant social message that resonates with its target audience and that strengthens the brand – without ruffling anyone’s feathers. The key is to take concrete action on the cause you support. ■
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Mental health is a very important subject for us to discuss as it relates to our work life and, I believe, our sales life as well. Please understand that I am not a clinically trained therapist in any way, shape or form. I do hold an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certification from the International Coaching Federation. My intention with this article is to try to provide inspiration to those of you who might have found yourselves in a sales rut or mentally fatigued at work or in life. If you are experiencing significant mental fatigue or issues related to your mental wellbeing, please seek professional advice.
We’ve all had those days and weeks and months; days when you just don’t feel like doing much of anything, much less selling. If you haven’t, you’ve probably not been selling for very long, because it’s quite normal to feel this way. But know this: you are not alone out there.
So, what do you do? Is there a way to get yourself out of a sales rut? Is there a way to push through the mental fatigue? The answer is a resounding YES! Rather than blaming this dilemma on the pandemic, it’s probably better for all of us in sales land to recognize that we’re just normal people that have chosen a career many would never take for any amount of money.
BY RYAN DOHRN
RYAN DOHRN is an Emmy Award winner, Fortune 500 advisor and globally recognized sales consultant. Since 1994 he has trained and coached over 20,000 sales reps to date and speaks over 60 times per year. Ryan loves teaching sales reps his simple and effective way to achieve sales success. Ryan is the CEO and founder of Brain Swell Media LLC, a corporate training and revenue strategy firm. He is also the publisher and owner of the corporate sales training web portal SalesTrainingWorld.com.
The first thing for every sales rep to recognize is that sales ruts are normal and happen to everybody. You are a unique person, but this circumstance and situation is not unique at all. It’s important also to surround yourself with other people who understand where you’re coming from. Oftentimes those around you can’t sympathize very much because they don’t really know what it’s like to be in the sales business. Being in sales is tough. We live and die by our sales activity. Having a few mutual connections who are also in the sales business is important to your long-term sanity. While it’s always good to get people’s outside perspective, it’s also equally important to surround yourself with people who completely and utterly understand what you’re going through on a daily basis. There’s a reason people crinkle their noses when you tell them you are in sales. You probably do not smell bad. They just know they could not handle being in sales.
All of us have clients we love. In some cases, I’ve been in the wedding of some of my favorite clients. After all, sales is about quality relationships with quality people. Do I love all my clients? The answer is no, I don’t. But I do have a select group whom I absolutely enjoy and would spend time with regardless of whether they did business with me. These are the types of people that I often call on when I’m having a bad day. I do not usually tell them that I’m having a bad day. But I will engage in conversation with them, knowing that they are not going to beat me up about price. I find that when you talk to people who really like you, you tend to re-energize yourself with positivity.
In addition to the list that I work on a daily basis, I will oftentimes change my sales approach on categories that I sell. Personally, I like to trade accounts with other sales professionals on my team. The reason for this is because when I give someone an account that I’ve worked hard and they trade with me, we almost always close a deal one way or the other. Many times customers just need to hear a different tone of voice or a different approach. From a team perspective, I like the fact that I can get out of a certain category and focus on another category to give my brain something fresh to look at. And finally, never, ever be afraid to ask for help. ■
BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY
TThe Pew Research Center found low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement and feeling disrespected at work are the top reasons why Americans quit their jobs in 2021 during the middle of the COVID pandemic, causing This Great Resignation. But job website Indeed rebranded this phenomenon as The Great Reassessment. Indeed states 85 percent of employers agreed the pandemic altered beliefs about what constitutes a good job, and that workers’ top five priorities are higher pay (59
percent), schedule flexibility (58 percent), better worklife balance (56 percent), remote work options (54 percent) and the ability to focus on personal and family responsibilities (50 percent).
“I think COVID gave everybody a chance to stop and reassess,” said Hilton Head licensed professional counselor Dr. Debi Lynes. “The pandemic was a time to reboot and regroup, and I think many people had a chance to reflect on what was really important to them in their lives.”
Dr. Lynes earned her Ph.D. in counseling psychology and re-frames the work/ balance conundrum into three domains.
“The first is our relationship life, which includes our friends, family and intimate relationships,” she said. “Our second domain is our work and our education. And our third domain is our self-care, including what I call mind, muscle and mouth. It’s how you keep your physical and brain health in check and move and fuel your body.”
Lynes said during the pandemic when many employees worked from home, they had time to realize what was important to them and figure out how to devote enough time, energy and resources to those pursuits.
“If 80 percent of the time we can practice balance,” she said, “being well rounded in each of those domains, we don’t even look at it now as happiness as much as it is achieving a sense of purpose and a reason for living. It allows us to be our best selves.”
When businesses were forced to adapt to hybrid work models, it affected time-management strategies. Flexibility took on a whole new meaning when keeping employees engaged and productive. Company goals still had to be met, whether employees worked remotely at home, kept a blended work schedule or worked exclusively from an office, and flexibility also affected work hours. Employers are now adding flextime options as a benefit, so an average workday is not always from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“COVID had a huge impact on our time management and how we want to spend our time,” Lynes said. “Many of us are all about work, work, work, and we forget to take a few minutes for ourselves, to pace ourselves to manage our time.
“It used to be, you were the best employee if you were the first one at the office and the last one to leave,” she said. “Now people are being rewarded for the opposite. They’re being rewarded for their quality of work, not the time they’re at work. People are being rewarded for working smarter, not necessarily longer or harder. I think a lot of employers are stepping out of the old paradigm of a traditional workday, and now they’re looking for efficiency and outcomes as opposed to just hours spent at the office working.”
Spending time at home during the pandemic enabled many in the workforce to spend more time taking care of children and older relatives. Childcare and adult care-giving benefits are perks employers have realized keep their employees from quitting, reducing their hours to parttime, or taking sick days and unpaid leave.
“I think families are being considered a lot more,” Lynes said. “Compared to around the world, we were kind of late on the uptick for considering family obligations and choices in the workforce. At the center of everything are your core values. If you are living your core values, you will achieve a work/ life balance. I think when COVID hit, a lot of people asked themselves, ‘Am I living my authentic self? Am I living my core values? What is my purpose? Am I money driven? Am I purpose driven? Do I want to be closer to my family? What’s really important to me?’ The pandemic has presented a really good opportunity for change.” ■
DR. DEBI LYNES Licensed Professional Counselor Dr. Debi Lynes is based in Hilton Head and has an extensive career exploring the relationship between the physical environment and its influence on health and wellness.“The pandemic was a time to reboot and regroup, and I think many people had a chance to reflect on what was really important to them in their lives.”
BY HANNAH MASSEN
IIf you’re reading this, you might be toying with the idea of quitting your job – just like millions of other people have during the pandemic. There’s been a lot of buzz about the “great resignation,” the “great reshuffle,” or the “talent tsunami” (pick your favorite name) over the past two years, especially as voluntary quit rates reached record highs within the past year.
But even with enough experience under your belt to finally go for that dream job or the thought of a flexible work plan calling your name, quitting isn’t a decision you should make on a whim. Here are three questions you should ask yourself before you decide to change jobs.
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we’re not the same person we were before the pandemic. Your values might have changed sometime in the last two years. Maybe you dread the thought of going back to a cubicle after having your own space, or becoming a full-time caregiver while trying to take calls made a separation between your work and home life look more appealing. Doing work that makes a positive impact on the world is also more important to many people. Decide what’s most important to you now, then go from there.
“Think about your big goals first, then look at your current job: Is it getting you where you want to go?”
Once you’re clear on your current priorities, you should consider what you want your career to look like in the next few years. Maybe you’ve been thinking about switching industries or going out on your own for a while now and don’t want to postpone that dream any longer, or perhaps you want to stay in your field but could use a new challenge and a title bump. Think about your big goals first, then look at your current job: Is it getting you where you want to go? If not, it’s time to take the first step toward something new that will help you move in the right direction.
The longer you think about the potential benefits of changing jobs, the easier it might be to convince yourself that quitting tomorrow is absolutely the right move. But you should compare the pros and cons of quitting to the other alternative: staying at your current job. If your skills are in high demand right now, this might be a good time to negotiate a raise or promotion at your current company. Because retention rates are so low, you might never be in a better position to ask for (and get) what you want. But will vision insurance, flexible hours or more vacation days make you happy enough to stay where you are? ■
While branded promotional products are excellent for marketing as they keep your brand in front of your audience for years, they are also gifts that people appreciate receiving. We spoke to Bill and Mandy Arnold of Eagle Creations, a local promotional product company about the hottest technology products that both customers and employees will enjoy. After all, 'tis the season to give thanks and gifts!
According to the Arnolds, "Attractive and functional products are always appreciated because they are handy and don't get relegated to the back of the drawer — they literally sit on a counter or desk. Everyone can use a phone charger and wireless speaker but one of the hottest products now is the Ring Light."
1. It's always helpful to have extra branded products on hand to include in gift bags and at events or conferences. We keep many items in stock, one of the benefits of local shopping.
2. Always check on the availability of items and shipping guarantees and if in doubt, go with what is in stock.
Bamboo Powerbank
Wireless Mini Cylinder Speaker
Plug and Power Wall Charger
USB Flash Drive
Utility Bank with Stylus
IImagine arriving at the office on a Tuesday morning prepared to do exactly what you were hired to do: nothing more, nothing less. No offering to buy coffee and donuts for the team meeting. No “helping out” a coworker when you have your own to-do list to get through. And no staying after hours to get through the rest of that paperwork. You show up at 9, you leave at 5:30, and you put away anything work-related after that.
In the past this might have been known as a normal workday. But in 2022 it’s an act of rebellion against the hustle culture that’s defined so many people’s careers.
Quiet quitting, one of the internet’s most viral buzzwords, has nothing to do with quitting at all. While there is no one definition for the term, it’s broadly understood as a retreat from workplace ambition: fulfilling only the duties outlined in one’s job description without “going the extra mile” unless compensated for doing more. While the term was born on TikTok, it’s now appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review, a sure sign that employees’ desire for a better work-life balance is something that CEOs no longer can ignore.
WHY QUIET QUITTING IS REPLACING HUSTLE CULTURE AS THE MOST VIRAL WORKPLACE TREND
While TikToker Zaiad Khan is credited with coining the term, quiet quitting is a trend that’s been decades in the making. But with unemployment and workplace fatigue hitting peaks during the pandemic, the same environment that set the stage for the Great Resignation (the ongoing trend of employees leaving their jobs beginning in 2021), the push for more reasonable hours has become all the more immediate.
According to Asana’s 2022 Anatomy of Work Report, seven out of 10 surveyed employees experienced burnout in the last year. And a 2021 survey from Gallup found that only 36 percent of people reported being engaged with their jobs.
Many people’s priorities have shifted in the last two years as the turmoil has made them realize that there’s more to life than working 60 hours a week to win “employee of the month.” Are you one of those people? If so, here’s how you can practice quiet quitting at any stage of your career.
Employers: you hired your employees for a reason. And employees: you are not responsible for the fact that your boss hasn’t hired enough people to ensure that all of your clients’ needs are met. No matter what role you play in your business, your direct responsibilities (a.k.a. those outlined in your job description or contact) should be your first and only priorities. Everything else is a favor that you can respectfully decline.
A key part of quiet quitting is knowing when “good” is good enough. Take a step back and reflect on the expectations you place on yourself at work. Are they realistic? Do they align with the goals and expectations of your team? Holding yourself to unrealistic – and probably undefined – standards only will perpetuate the cycle of burnout as you take on more to try and convince yourself and others that you’re an asset to your team.
You are a person before you enter your office, and you have worth as you close out your inbox at the end of the day. Quiet quitting encourages people to view their work as something they do every day to pay the bills, not as an integral part of their identities. Celebrate your professional wins, but know that those are only a small sliver of what makes you great. ■
“Seven out of 10 surveyed employees experienced burnout in the last year. And a 2021 survey from Gallup found that only 36% of people reported being engaged with their job.”
BY RICARDO L. VON GROLL
The trend of a four-day work week raises questions on how to cope with the work demand and productivity.
TWhen asked about the possibility of implementing it in the company, people in charge need to be convinced.
If you are trying to implement the four-day work week within your company, here are eight effective steps we used in our company to help you get your 'boss' to buy-in.
There is no better way to start the process than with some questions and answers. Answer the following questions and any others you feel necessary: Do most employees like this idea? Is everyone willing to help in the implementation of this new work model? Do the leaders agree to help look for arguments that support the idea?
Schedule a meeting with the responsible people. Tell them you have intentions to implement the four-day work week and why. Before 'the boss' asks the questions in item 1, explain your analysis of the favorable conditions (the answers for the previous questions and any other you consider relevant). It is very important to show confidence to get the buy-in.
Organizing personal matters and tasks can be complex in an eight-hour day, five-day work week. Simple tasks such as going to the bank or a doctor's appointment are not always possible. An extra day off during the week would help the employee find their best work-life balance. Present any other argument you have detected in your analyses.
RICARDO L. VON GROLL is a manager at Talentify. Reduce recruitment costs and get better candidates using the programmatic, AI-driven Talentify platform.
As you have researched before, show your findings with proven trustful and relevant results for productivity and performance in a 4-day work week. For instance, a better work-life balance increases employee satisfaction, raising performance and productivity.
With the help of the responsible department, calculate how much the company spends for all employees to work five days on basic expenses such as power, water, telephone, office supplies and even coffee. Check out the costs associated with companies that operate remotely. It is a strong argument to use. What would be the expense reduction with one less day of work?
This is the time to work hard. The bosses must be confident that you will not let them down. Most employers like to see for themselves the professional attitude of their employees. Show how to maintain performance and achieve results in four days of work.
This is the most important step. Things don't happen overnight. Show that everyone is open to trying it. Then your bosses can evaluate the experience and buy it (or not). A suggestion here is a three-month test.
Last, everyone must be willing to return to work for five days if needed. The responsible people will be watching closely. ■
BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY
LLet’s say a small business has an immediate opportunity to buy a new retail space in a perfect location, or it needs additional inventory in a pinch, or it can’t cover payroll during a disappointing month. Instead of repeatedly applying for small business loans to handle problems as they arise, establishing a line of credit can immediately finance the unforeseen and come in handy when a business is short of funds and needs working capital to keep it going or help it grow.
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Ideal for growing businesses that face unexpected expenses, this financing solution tends to be a low-risk revenue vehicle that offers a predetermined amount and can be paid back over time.
And the best time to apply for a line of credit is when you don’t necessarily need it.
Financial institutions can smell blood in the water, so lines of credit are more attractive to give to companies that don’t look like they are drowning.
You can apply for a line of credit at a bank, which usually offers the best rates and terms but takes the longest to apply and qualify for; a credit union, where you have to be a member, or a; fintech lender, which are generally easier to apply for (online) and qualify for.
They’ll look at your business’s credit score and debt repayment history and its monthly and annual revenue and cash flow. You’ll also have to show how long you’ve been in business and what collateral you have, including real estate, equipment and any valued assets, if you seek a secured business line of credit.
And ask about the term of your loan, payment schedule, interest rates and fees including draw fees for every time you withdraw, payment processing fees, late fees and prepayment fees.
Lines of credit are flexible in that you can use them for any business-related purpose including inventory, supplies and operating expenses.
They can optimize cash flow and allow businesses to act on strategic investment opportunities they didn’t budget or plan for.
Plus, you only have to pay interest on what you owe, not for the total amount of the line of credit. Unlike term loans, with revolving lines of credit once you pay back a balance, that money is available to borrow again.
Responsible repayment also can lead to an improved credit score.
While lines of credit could prove crucial for pushing your business to the next level and offer cost-effective solutions, there are some drawbacks. The application and credit evaluation process can take some time. Fees also can mount up, and you may feel forced to negotiate costly withdrawal and maintenance fees.
Plus, unsecured lines of credit with no collateral behind them can be more expensive than traditional loans.
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“WHAT IF YOUR MONEY COULD TALK, WOULD YOU LISTEN?”
BBanking has become more anonymous with online options and fintech vehicles. But a virtual agent won’t listen to you about your goals for growing your business, help you secure funds to start a venture, talk to you about lines of credit and cash flow or recommend financial products and services.
Investing in building a solid relationship with a reallife banker is still an asset and a valuable resource, especially when navigating troubled or challenging times when striving to attain business growth.
Like any relationship, one with your banker takes time and trust and the willingness to get to know them and have them get to know your business.
If you want your banker to become an advocate, you have to become a personal contact and not just an account. That means making quarterly phone calls, at least, to tell them about your business, share your business plan, review financial documents and send progress reports. Make them feel like a champion for your company, and ask for recommendations and guidance. Bankers are privy to the successes and failures of other businesses and may introduce you to new customers, vendors and merchant services that can benefit yours. Always ask for suggestions on how to grow. But beware of bankers who try to pitch a service or sell a product too soon, before they get to know your business. An experienced banking professional should only do that after they get to know who you are, what your business is about and what it truly needs.
Like any relationship, one with your banker takes time and trust and the willingness to get to know them and have them get to know your business.
The best time to ask for a loan is when you don’t need one. And applying for a loan can take a long time, so have your banker get you through the process during stress-free times as opposed to waiting until the last minute when you’re desperate. Bankers appreciate it when clients think longterm because it shows positivity and reduces the appearance of risk. Plus, you don’t want to miss out on opportunities when they arise. Having a banker help you secure funding ahead of time will help your business be proactive and be in a better position to succeed.
One of the best ways to get a banker on your side is to invite them to your business. Give them a tour, have them sample your products, and let them meet your crew. A walkthrough brings all your plans and financials to life and can get your banker enthusiastic about helping you achieve your goals. By seeing your brand in action, they’ll also be better equipped to suggest comprehensive ways to hit your targets and steer you towards growth opportunities, from payroll to short-term financing, to insurance to commercial real estate financing that could help expand your business.
One or two phone calls does not make a relationship. Be consistent, be patient, and be honest. Being generous with your time also means being generous with your data. A good banker wants to protect you, your business and your assets. They can best do that if they are armed with your updated financials and documentation, even if it’s not all rosy.
Sharing negative news can set up an opportunity for an experienced banker to step in and help. Remember, banks play a huge part in local economies and have valuable connections they could share with you to ensure your longevity in your community and beyond. ■
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BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY
PPhilanthropic footwear company, Toms, used to give free shoes to those in need with every purchase and now gives one-third of its profits to grassroots organizations.
Bombas, an altruistic apparel company, donates with every purchase and has given 3,500 community organizations more than 40 million socks and T-shirts for the homeless.
When someone buys a pair of Warby Parker eyeglasses, the warmhearted company donates a pair to someone in need.
And points from Marriott’s Bonvoy rewards program can be turned into donations to social action organizations. Magnanimous Marriott then matches donated points and converts them into cash for charity.
According to the National Philanthropic Trust, corporate giving in 2021 increased 23.8 percent to $21 billion. And Forbes finds 71 percent of consumers will purchase from a purpose-driven company over the alternative. Eighty percent of consumers are more likely to remember a company with a strong purpose and are almost five times more likely to recommend it to friends and family.
But big corporations don’t corner the market in benevolence. Any small business can support a charity, turn purpose into profits and build a customer base around its generosity.
“It’s hard to ignore the tax benefits when contributing to a local nonprofit organization.”
Choose a local cause that aligns with your business’s brand and mission statement and boosts morale among employees. You can ask your team what charities are important to them and see what they are passionate about. Psychologically your team should feel good about working to make a difference or a contribution and feel a sense of camaraderie that they are all building something together, especially if you let employees take a few days off a year to volunteer. Plus, a commitment to a cause can be very attractive to prospective employees who are looking to work for a business that cares about its community.
Whether you sponsor or donate or fundraise, attaching your business’s name to a respected local cause builds name recognition and good PR. And when customers are faced with choices, they tend to support and become loyal to charitable businesses. They feel their dollars are being spent wisely for them and the greater good. When efforts focus around helping schools or local nonprofits, the effects can be tangible and be seen and felt throughout the community. Charity also can be a great way to network, as many political, civic and business leaders are aligned with causes. Getting involved would allow you to introduce your company to new audiences, influencers and decision-makers.
When endeavoring to donate, your prime focus should be helping a cause and not getting a tax break, but it’s hard to ignore the tax benefits when contributing to a local nonprofit organization. A tax professional can help navigate the tricky landscape, especially if you choose to use donor-advised funds. Generally, your business can receive deductions on cash, property, equipment and travel expenses when used to help public charities, private operating foundations and private foundations.
Regardless of to whom or what you donate, and for how much, keep written records and receipts of every donation for your tax return. ■
Elizabeth Loda, MBA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™
Gigi Maxfield FINANCIAL ADVISOR
Women encounter distinct financial challenges and life experiences, and they do extraordinary works that often go overlooked, even by themselves. This is why embracing a woman’s worth is at the core of what we do. Through our eye-opening Key Approach, we work with women to demystify personal finances, build wealth, and plan for a life of fulfillment.
Women’s Worth Advisors is a registered investment advisor.
Island, SC
PLANNING FOR STORMY WEATHER
BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY
Depending on the political winds you adjust your sails to, we’re either in a recession or circling the drain. Small businesses have to anticipate stormy weather, and a volatile economic climate is just one possible forecast.
Scott Beebe, founder and head business coach at Business on Purpose in Bluffton, says despite recent interest rate changes, fuel price increases, supply chain disruptions and historic personnel shifts, you can use his “four Ps” to batten down your hatches.
“We can be naive and try to stop the storm, or we can diligently prepare for a potential hit and greatly increase the likelihood that we navigate tough conditions by focusing on your purpose, people, process and profit,” Beebe said. “For the majority of people, trauma leads to growth.”
Does your small business have a purpose that can keep you afloat during hard times? If so, what is it and, more importantly, do you have it written down? According to Beebe, the three primary elements of a business’s purpose are its vision story, its succinct mission statement that can be easily memorized and its three to five unique core values.
A vision story should be a detailed snapshot of the future of your business, and your mission statement should be less than 10 “power-packed” words that explain why you are doing what you are doing.
“Stay away from cliché values like ‘excellence,’ ‘integrity,’ ‘respect,’ et cetera, when identifying your business’s unique core values,” said Beebe, author of Let Your Business Burn: Stop Putting Out Fires, Discover Purpose, And Build A Business That Matters. “Those values are standard. Focus on the decision-filtering values that are unique to you.”
Beebe said a small business should have employees who believe in the business’s culture that compels them to remain committed to its mission even when business is bad.
“To ready your business for the threat of a recession is to take the written purpose you have committed to publishing and sharing and to ensure there is a recurring mechanism tilling that purpose into the soil or the people of your business,” Beebe said. “At Business on Purpose we read through our five-page vision story together as an entire team once every two months. We review our mission and values during our weekly team meetings and our weekly one-on-one check-ins with team members. We are obsessive about them and constantly revise them so we are ensuring the soil of our business is properly hydrated, fertilized and tilled.”
One of the most important ways small businesses can weather a recession is to perfect their processes in case there is a sudden disruption. Beebe said that means no matter the economic conditions or drastic personnel changes, a business has its processes documented, communicated, trained and deployed to ensure the company can continue to deliver on its mission and to its customers.
Studies show that during a downturn, customer loyalty is either won or lost. With customers and clients analyzing where to cut their own costs, many businesses benefit by investing more into their customer engagement processes to maintain their existing customers and go after prospective ones.
For Beebe, retained cash earnings will give a business options and opportunities even in the worst of circumstances.
“If you do not have cash, you will struggle,” Beebe said. “And if you do not know how much cash you have, you will struggle. Know your numbers by knowing your cash runway.”
A healthy cash reserve usually encompasses six to 12 months of operating expenses and can be boosted by offering customers early payment discounts and providing good collections practices.
Beebe said the true measure of your business's profit is the actual cash it has sitting in a separate, designated account on your online bank portal that you can withdraw from if and when you have to. ■
SCOTT
WWhen you’re working from home, worklife balance is a bit of a blurred line. Your home is your office, and your office is your home, so while never technically leaving work basically makes you the perfect employee, keeping your inbox open until 8 p.m. isn’t doing you (or your sleep quality) any favors. And worse, your team might feel pressured to respond to those late-night emails that could easily wait until morning, causing a net drop in employee productivity when they’re half asleep the next day.
Being constantly on-call from your home office is almost guaranteed to end in burnout, which is why it’s critical to set clear boundaries between couch-time and – er, productive couch time. Here’s how.
Or anything else that doesn’t have an elastic waistband. If you’re staring at unread emails through blurry eyes first thing in the morning, this crushes your sense of work-life balance from the get-go. Try your best to avoid the siren’s call of Slack notifications until you’re dressed and properly caffeinated. There’s no need for your “9 to 5” to start at 7 a.m., so keep your morning routine sacred. You’ll be sharper (and a whole lot less stressed) if you’re not trying to drop the kids off and join a group call at the same time.
While most office workers dread the rush hour traffic, their morning commute signals to their brain that it’s time to switch from “home mode” to “work mode.” Take a quick walk or drive around the block to give your brain time to gear up for the day ahead. Do the same thing at the end of your work day for the cue that it’s time to log off both literally and mentally.
Not everyone has a proper home office, but having separate spaces for work and play makes it easier to focus when you have to and relax when you want to. Over time you’ll start to associate your kitchen table or patio with productivity and your living room or bedroom with downtime. And if you do have a home office, treat it like you would a corporate cubicle: while you wouldn’t watch random YouTube videos at equally random points throughout the day, those spreadsheets also are more likely to stay right where they belong.
One of the many benefits of working from home is that (kids and pets aside) you can make your space mostly distractionfree: no chatty coworkers, no landlines ringing off the hook and no one slurping every last drop of an iced latte. But having your low-fi beats or white-noise machine turned on in your cool and private office can cause the hours to rush by. While this is great news for work-from-homers looking to up their productivity (or simply make it to happy hour), before you know it, it’s almost E.O.D., and you haven’t stood up since breakfast. Going from item to item with no time to reflect and regroup doesn’t allow your body or brain to work optimally. Set reminders to take stretch breaks, eat a snack and let your brain cool off before tackling the next item on your list.
Many work-from-homers feel guilty for taking time off when they can already work from anywhere (did you know that most of the beaches on Hilton Head have Wi-Fi?). But getting out of the office is not always the same thing as stepping away from work. Take advantage of your time off to truly disconnect, and once you’ve set your automated O.O.O. email reply, no cheating! ■
END-OF-YEAR CHECKLIST GETS A MAKEOVER
BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY
From short-term disruptions to supply-chain issues to accommodating hybrid workforces, businesses needed to continually reinvent themselves to stay in business during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, as they ready for the new normal, the end-of-year checklists most companies had used in the past will evolve too and offer new ways to capitalize on the future.
“It’s a totally different world,” said Robert Mora, CPA and managing partner at Pedelahore & Co. Certified Public Accountants in New Orleans. “Businesses are not facing the same problems they had two to three years ago. The key is being able to recognize an opportunity versus a problem in this changing world. It’s the only way you’re going to survive.”
“Businesses needed to continually reinvent themselves to stay in business during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
When assessing revenue and establishing goals, many companies run financial reports that offer a big-picture prognosis. By reviewing profit and loss statements (P&L), balance sheets and detailed cash flow reports, managers can step away from the day-to-day to evaluate the overall health of the business.
“This is the time to also review your income taxes and identify any actions that may have tax consequences,” said Mora, who’s been in practice for more than 40 years. “Should I buy new equipment to reduce taxes? Should I defer income? Accelerate expenses? We should do all of these things based on what the bottom line looks like today.”
Conducting an audit of employee information is an end-of-year tool that can update contact and payroll information and evaluate which employees have access to computer systems and company financial data.
“Updating your current employee list is also a way to get the information you need for W2s and 1099s, because your employees are all going to be eager for that information at the end of the year so they can file their returns,” Mora said. “That’s if you’re lucky enough to have a workforce because most businesses just can’t find or get employees. Post-Covid the workforce has changed, and so has the availability of good hires and ways to find them. Now is also a good time to rethink where you get your employees. Do you turn to social media? Do you turn to the people you have for referrals?”
BOB MORA, CPA, is a managing partner at Pedelahore & Co. Certified Public Accountants in New Orleans. The firm offers tax services, management consulting services, accounting and auditing, estate planning and administration.
When reviewing vendor and supplier information, keep an eye out for opportunities when renegotiating agreements and contracts.
“There are probably discounts you can get for next year,” Mora said. “If you tell a vendor how much you’re going to buy, they could give you a discount on price based on that projection. It’s an opportunity to beat them down a little bit on price. Looking at buying agreements also allows you to see where your supplies are coming from and the most reliable and quickest ways to get them.
“In this inflationary time, we have all reassessed what we’re spending and on what,” he said. “A lot of businesses are missing out by using last year’s prices. You have to go to your vendors and see what they are charging you and what you’re selling products for. If you bought something six months ago, are you still selling it for what it was worth six months ago? Adjust your prices based on what it would cost you today to buy it, not what you paid for it six months ago.”
If it’s where you keep your accounting records, point-of-sale systems and records about your employees, computers should be backed up frequently and annually.
If you do most of your business via a website, it’s also the time to update and make changes, especially if your business changed a lot last year.
“A lot of places have changed their hours because of Covid-19, and they don’t have as many people working for them as they used to have,” Mora said. “They may have scaled back a six-day workweek to five days. Your website should be updated to show when you’re open for business.”
“Businesses are struggling in the post-Covid world, and they have to change,” Mora said. “They probably had to change their hours, and now they have to change their mindsets too.”
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BY KAREN A. CASEY
WWe have heard of work life balance. I am sure you have tried, during your working life, to make each piece of your life make sense. But have you considered the balancing act you need to do in retirement? You look forward to that magical day that you can say goodbye to your employer or you have finally sold your business and no longer need to put in 10- to 12hour days. Now what? Your golf, pickleball or tennis game awaits? You start booking those travel plans? After a few months you begin to wonder, is this what retirement means? You may miss the camaraderie of the office or you want to keep yourself sharp and use that knowledge you have accumulated over the years.
What do you like to do? What do you miss from your career? Do you want to be employed, even part time, or do you not want or need to answer to an employer? Have you considered volunteering? SCORE is one of the over 1,600 nonprofits in Beaufort and Jasper counties alone.
Every one of them has a mission and a need. Each one is looking for volunteers to help. In many cases you set your own hours and commitments. Look for a nonprofit that supports what is important to you. There are various websites and organizations devoted to volunteer roles: www.VolunteerMatch.org or the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry. Take a look to see what interests you. There also are numerous articles on this subject, and here is an example: https://retirefabulously. com/4-essential-ingredients-of-a-balanced-life-inretirement-and-now/.
Just like any other task, be aware of over committing your time. Make sure you understand the time required for the volunteer role so you keep the balance in your life to do the things you want to do. So what is your passion, and how can you support this beautiful community we live in? Balance your retirement by giving back. The satisfaction you will receive is immeasurable. ■
KAREN A. CASEY, CPA, CFP, is a certified SCORE business mentor.
Retirement may not be as easy as it sounds. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy the Golden Years.
Your spending may fluctuate as you begin retirement, so keep a tracking sheet to make it easier to adjust. If you are not sure you have enough saved, check with a professional advisor before it’s too late.
One of the joys of retirement is that you can live anywhere. Consider what’s important to you, such as affordability, community, culture, climate or proximity to family. The Lowcountry offers many choices, and if your family isn’t close, you can encourage them to move here.
Often people don’t realize how much of their time and identity were defined by work. With more time in your day you can volunteer, take courses or find a new hobby. Another great option is to use your useful skills to mentor, guide and help people or small businesses.
Fitness isn’t all about pumping iron or running miles. As we age, flexibility, strength and balance are more important than ever. Walking is as healthy as running and can be done at the same time you spent getting ready for work – that will keep your routine, which is another healthy aging best practice.
Our nutritional needs change as our bodies change. Retirement is a great time to learn to prepare healthy meals and to take the time to enjoy them. Many local restaurants offer cooking classes that are educational and entertaining.
Social stimulation is good for the mind and spirit. Often, work friendships are an important part of our lives, but once work is over, those friendships can be forgotten. Make time to see former colleagues or rekindle friendships that faded over time.
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TThere are three primary causes of network downtime, and all of them are avoidable. To avoid or fix the amount of downtime in your company, you must understand the root cause. Is it one of The Big Three?
1. Human error
2. Software or hardware issues
3. Security issues
The most common errors include failing to update software, installing the incorrect software or unplugging the equipment. Yes, this happens and is the first question we ask our clients when we do a remote troubleshooting call. Most employees never mean to cause harm, but in their haste to do their job or lack of understanding of the technology they are using, mistakes happen. With the move to more remote working, this is becoming a bigger issue for many companies.
There are so many software programs that send frequent updates, often an update in one program can render it incompatible with another program if the updates are not aligned. Another issue is that hardware can literally melt down, usually caused by outdated technology or older equipment. Equipment should be placed in a cooler area with ventilation, and power sources should be surgeprotected to avoid interruptions.
technician
Yes, you should be afraid of the word cybersecurity as it poses issues bigger than just downtime. If you do not have the proper cybersecurity in place, you are at risk of phishing, viruses, malware and ransomware. Employees unknowingly can download and spread viruses that are not detected until it is too late. If you are not carefully monitoring your network and systems, a hacker could remain in your network undetected for days, and the longer criminals spend in your network, the more damage they can cause.
viruses, malware and ransomware. Employees unknowingly MarkTechnology is like a car – maintenance and prevention can extend the life and make it run smoother. The best way to prevent equipment failure is to take extra care when selecting, handling and replacing your hardware and software. Purchase quality equipment, and keep it well-maintained so it will perform its best and your organization can operate efficiently. At the same time, regularly review your inventory of equipment, and replace older tech before it slows down your operations or breaks, resulting in unplanned downtime. Before purchasing new equipment, check with an IT professional to make sure it is suitable for your business today and in the future. Not all equipment is created equal, just like cars – investing in quality and professional advice can avoid issues down the road.
Anti-virus and anti-malware software is just the starting point. Choose a quality protection product, and be sure that you have a protocol to ensure the software is up-to-date and running smoothly.
Consider data encryption to guard against hackers gaining access to your information. Networks require continuous monitoring to proactively identify potential problems before they cause damage. Finally, frequent data backups and implementing redundancy will help to ensure you do not lose critical information.
Everyone at your organization should know how to operate the technology they use in their jobs. Not only will this reduce equipment failures, but also it should improve productivity and efficiency. They should also understand cybersecurity basics, including creating strong passwords, keeping antivirus and anti-malware software up to date and knowing how to spot phishing, ransomware or other cyberattacks.
If you’re concerned about the cost of network downtime, seek assistance from an IT professional. KML does not charge for a no-obligation consultation and security risk assessment. As business owners ourselves, we understand the costs of downtime and how to reduce it. ■
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RRunning a business is far from easy. Combining the demands of managing staff, payroll and your daily interaction with family can be overwhelming. Even if you don’t own a company or manage a business, your job combined with children of any age, parents and or our four-legged friends can be exhausting.
It is time to up your game to get everything done so that you can “stop and smell” the roses. In other words, it’s time to enjoy your life. This is “stop and smell” advice from a mom, employee, wife, sister, aunt, daughter of aging parents, friend and dog mom who manages to enjoy more than the occasional glass of wine while smelling the roses.
Donna Peters studied Finance and Economics at Western University and later obtained her CFA. She joined the fixed-income Portfolio Management team at a prominent Canadian life insurance company following her graduation from university and has remained there since. She currently lives in Toronto with a loving husband, two teenage sons and an adorable poodle.
Streamline and simplify your life wherever possible. Little things make a difference, like signing up for automatic bill payments to reduce the hassle of constantly paying bills. Or take financial management to the next level and try Quicken (a personal and business finance management application) that allows you to see all your bills in one place. With either system you never will miss a due date and never have to look for stamps again. Don’t underestimate how automation and technology can help you save time.
Part of simplifying your busy life comes down to trust. Most people can delegate many more tasks than they realize, and some opportunities might be right under your nose. For example, if a grandparent offers to pick up a child, or a friend offers to run an errand for you, say yes. If your budget can afford it, combine “simplify” and “trust” and hire extra help, whether in the form of a nanny, elderly caregiver or dog walker. Pro tip: Virtual assistants can take care of many tasks at a reasonable cost.
Getting and staying organized is vital for a busy life. A digital or paper calendar system is a must, especially if you have been late to meetings or have left your children at the ballpark because you forgot to pick them up. A shared calendar with your spouse or significant other is also helpful so they can never claim to not know plans, and it will prevent doublebooking. (Sound familiar?)
Preparation = planning. This can be as simple as making meals in bulk on a Sunday and freezing them for when they are needed or cutting veggies in bulk to have healthy snacks on hand to grab when time is short. Being prepared does not stop with meals and snacks. Using that calendar helps you to plan logistically and sequentially. For example, if the grocery store is on the way home from the retirement home and you need to pick up tomorrow’s lunch and visit your 90-year-old father, planning helps you combine the two tasks into one trip. Bonus: You will save time and gas.
Strategizing will use time to your best advantage and help you to plan your course of action. For example, strategies include not procrastinating or wasting time worrying about things you can’t control. Strategic thinking will help you break a problem down into small parts so that you are not overwhelmed by the enormity of something you have to do. It is how you eat an elephant – one bite at a time.
When possible, multitask when doing things or chores that do not require that high level of focus. Some easy multi-tasking ideas: Walk your dog briskly while listening to an audiobook or podcast. Drop the kids at their sporting event and then run an errand, work out while waiting for them, or return five emails from the bleachers. It helps you get things done and saves the calories you’d consume eating while watching the game.
Efficiency can take many forms, and the lowest hanging fruit to simplifying your life is shopping online when possible. Grocery delivery services are time savers, and meal delivery services can save prepping and shopping time. Efficiency Pro Tip: Touch something once then follow the TRAF rule of "Trash, Read, Action or File." I keep a box in the corner of my den where I put objects that I want to lend, return or give away.
Do not underestimate the power of lists. They help organize your thoughts, keep track of needed items and prioritize things for that action plan. You can enter them on your phone so they are always in hand’s reach and not easily lost or a paper version can be helpful. It is surprisingly rewarding to check off a task when complete. I even keep a list of shows that I want to watch or books I want to read. This saves hours of scrolling time on Netflix.
Time is precious, so we have to get things done fast to enjoy life. We also have to take care of ourselves, as getting ill or being too tired will not help us get things done or help us create time for enjoyment. Book that manicure over the lunch hour at the same time as your friend to catch up. Exercise or run errands with a friend to make both more enjoyable. Keep an eye out for creative time-saving opportunities – like my friend who has their car detailed at their golf course.
I hope these tips allow you to stop and smell the roses and carve out that much-needed time for date night or to simply chill (a glass of wine is optional). ■
“With one in five adults suffering from mental illness in any given year, there are as many people living with mental illness in the United States as those diagnosed with cancer.”
BY DR. STEPHANIE JAMISON-VOID
TThe statistics surrounding the prevalence of mental health issues both throughout the country and throughout South Carolina remain startling – and have only gotten more alarming as a result of the pandemic. With one in five adults suffering from mental illness in any given year, there are as many people living with mental illness in the United States as those diagnosed with cancer – and about one in 25 adults suffer illness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities.
Most alarming of all? According to 2022 findings from Mental Health America (mhanational.org), more than half of adults with mental illness do not receive treatment (totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated) –and more than 60 percent of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment.
While it’s known that there has been a growing mental health crisis in the years prior to the pandemic – particularly among teens and children — it is clear that things have gotten significantly worse for many families both nationwide and right here in the Lowcountry. With so many individuals still not seeking help for their mental illness, the impact of unchecked and untreated mental illness (especially depression) is more than alarming – with suicide the second leading cause of death of youth ages 15-24, and the tenth leading cause of death for all Americans.
When it comes to why so many people still aren’t seeking help for mental health, one of the biggest issues is the stigma that still exists surrounding mental illness. Too many people don’t seek help because they either think they can do it on their own or are embarrassed and concerned about what other people will think (or worried that they may appear weak or “crazy”) if they go to therapy. Others may dismiss the problem – mistakenly thinking that their problems “aren’t big enough” to seek help. And many simply don’t know how to take the first steps – or what to do/where to go to get help.
With the mental health crisis showing no signs of slowing down, it’s more important than ever to end the stigma about getting help for mental illness. Here are some important things to remember about the importance of seeking help for any and all types of mental health concerns – and how to not only end the stigma surrounding mental health, but ensure that you and your family seek, and receive, the help you need.
• Recognize that seeking counseling and therapy is a form of self-care. It’s important to understand that mental health services are not only for people in crisis – they are for anyone to help manage a wide range of issues.
• Realize that seeking therapy is a sign of strength, not of weakness. It takes more courage to seek help from a professional and go to therapy than it does to simply ignore or dismiss your problem.
• Don’t wait to talk to your kids about their mental health. Although talking to your children and teens about mental health topics may be difficult, these conversations are critical. Talking with them openly — and validating their emotions and concerns – is an important way to decrease the stigma of mental health issues and let them know they can always come to you for help. Car rides with your child are always a great way to engage in these conversations and keep a check on any mental health concerns.
If you or someone you know is facing mental health challenges, help is out there. Now more than ever, it’s important to take that first step and reach out to a mental health professional, get rid of the stigma of asking for help and get the resources you need to help you and those you love to live a happier, healthier and more balanced life. ■
Dr. Stephanie Jamison-Void is the CEO of Jamison Consultants Integrated HealthCare Services, which is dedicated to providing clients with a wide spectrum of mental health services that have helped so many children, adolescents, teens and adults enhance their quality of life. Throughout her career, Dr. Jamison-Void has played an instrumental role in helping many local individuals and families as well as human services professionals throughout South Carolina obtain health services for a wide variety of behavioral health concerns. She has a background in organizational leadership and behavioral health management, having worked as a human resource director, case manager, social worker and trainer of mental health professionals. She holds a PhD in organizational psychology. Jamisonconsultants.com
A recent visit to a client who had been using various models of a cash register for the past 30 years revealed the cash register ‘technology” was paired with a standalone credit card machine that was still using a dialup connection to process payments. Clearly an outdated, slow and a very manual process. A discussion ensued about a cash register versus a point-of-sale (POS) system.
We often tell our clients that if they are looking for an intuitive POS with great hardware options and tremendous reporting resources, Clover can be a great fit for their businesses. However, there are many POS systems with a range of capabilities from which to choose, and the best one for your business depends on your needs – both your needs today and in the future.
Perform cash register functions
Access data remotely in real-time with system on the cloud
Use smart inventory management with automations and notifications
Identify trends and improvements with advanced analytics and reporting
Prevent theft with security features
Integrate with other software for accounting, CRM, marketing, loyalty, eCommerce and more
Offer stationary and mobile technology options
Since 1996 Custom Audio Video has been the best choice in quality, design, and service for reliable audio-video, lighting and shades for commercial applications. Contact us about tech solutions for your business or organization, and overcome your AV challenges.
The client wanted an updated POS system that would work both via ethernet/Wi-Fi or with a cellular connection, or all of the next-generation processing connections that increase the speed of a transaction and security. When the topic of changing to a POS system comes up, the most common concerns are about downtime, a fear of technology, cost or just not enough time to make a change. Therefore, before the installation of the POS system and, in this case a Clover, a review of the client’s current business practices should be completed. This ensures that the POS system functions as the client needs it to now and in the future. Clover POS was installed, including a Flex, which gave the client maximum mobility.
As with most things, there is no time like the present, and the good news is that changing systems is much easier than people expect, and the rewards far outweigh the time invested in transition. By upgrading the client’s technology to process payments, a POS system also availed them numerous reports that were performed manually for years. Thus, they saved time and resources, which all contributed to “paying” for the new POS system.
While needs vary, this comparison might help you in deciding if it’s time for an upgrade. ■
Pay attention Not all POS systems are created equal. One that works for one type of business might not work for another. Retail companies should invest in a system that is specifically geared towards the retail sector.
AA couple of years ago, I got some news from my doctor that I needed to make some changes. My cholesterol levels were too high, and I would need to make some lifestyle changes or go on medication.
I elected to try the lifestyle changes first and have been successful in lowering my cholesterol levels through diet and exercise.
But in that process I learned something else. I’ve learned to find joy in making coffee.
I love a nice, hot cup of coffee in the morning. However, as a busy person with lots to do, I looked for the easiest ways I could get my coffee. I originally landed on a Keurig machine because it is so fast and easy. I also would frequent one of the many locally owned coffee shops in downtown Springfield for a mid-day cup.
One of the dietary changes my doctor recommended was intermittent fasting. Essentially I have been skipping breakfast and only eating during an 8-hour window each day. This shifted my morning routine. I had been in the habit of making myself a hot breakfast every morning. To help me with the shift, I decided to up my coffee game.
I started by purchasing a French press and a coffee grinder. I searched for the best coffee beans, trying several brands before landing on a few of my favorites. I learned what I liked, and I learned how to make it the way I liked it. Over time I upgraded my process to include a temperature-controlled kettle and a better grinder. This year I even added an espresso machine. I purposely chose a good machine, but one that is manually operated. I’ve even expanded into coldbrew coffee in the summer.
a temperature-controlled kettle and a better grinder. This year I even added an espresso machine. I purposely chose a good machine, but one that is manually operated. I’ve even expanded into cold-
I have learned a lot about making coffee, and I have surprisingly found that I enjoy the process and the result. The result is easy to like. I drink the best coffee I can make every morning and that is a nice benefit. However, the surprising outcome is that I also enjoy the process. Something is fulfilling about doing something the right way, every day.
When I decide to make espresso, I follow the process I have learned from the machine directions and by watching online videos. I preheat the filter. I grind the coffee and carefully dose it into the filter, tapping the sides as it grinds to help the grounds settle in. I tamp the grind with the right amount of pressure so that I get the right extraction that I like. I run the machine before I add the filter to get the temperature perfect. When I’m done, I flush the system out, empty my drain pan and wipe down everything.
It’s quite a process and it seems like it could be a lot of work, but the process gives me joy. Doing something well gives joy. In a world where shortcuts are plentiful, it is easy to get through a day without doing some things really well. As humans we are hardwired to want to impact the world around us, even in small ways such as making coffee in the morning.
something well gives joy. In a world where shortcuts are plentiful, it is easy to get through a day without morning. Maybe it's packing a gourmet lunch. Maybe it’s sending a handwritten note to
If you are looking for a little more joy in your life, maybe it’s not a big change that you should be making. Find something that you can do really well, and do it. Maybe it's making your bed every morning. Maybe it's packing a gourmet lunch. Maybe it’s sending a handwritten note to someone every day. Maybe it’s making something.
Whatever it is, there are opportunities all around you to find joy in the everyday tasks that can be done well. ■
Don Harkey His first responsibility as CEO is to his team. He also spends time speaking at conferences and associations across the country, evangelizing the idea that organizations that create empowerment and alignment end up being much more successful. If you’d like to learn more about what it means to become People Centric, contact Don Harkey at PeopleCentric.com.
BY LESLIE T. SNADOWSKY PHOTOS BY ISLAND RECREATION CENTER
IIn January 2019 the Hilton Head Island Recreation Association completed its renovation and expansion of the Island Recreation Center on 20 Wilborn Road, more than doubling its footprint with a new gymnasium and playground, classrooms, fitness equipment, basketball courts, indoor walking track, renovated restrooms, pool, restroom facilities and more.
Staying true to its mission to improve the quality of life for people of all ages and to produce, provide and coordinate public recreation programs, wellness activities and community events, the local nonprofit turned to Hargray to ensure new technology was installed to support the recreational needs of the community.
“Without Hargray’s longstanding support, we wouldn’t be able to provide such quality service, at least in the technology sector, here at our new facility on Hilton Head,” said Frank Soule, executive director of the Hilton Head Island Recreation Association.
When the Hilton Head Island Recreation Association renovated its facilities, it purchased state-of-the-art equipment in need of technology to match.
“Our relationship with Hargray goes back more than 30 years,” Soule said. “When the original Island Rec Center was built decades ago, Hargray was there to install our phone lines. But four years ago we needed Hargray to give us a total technology makeover so our new equipment would work and those who came to use our facility would have access to fast and reliable internet connections and wireless network services for their smartphones and headphones.”
Rec your life Amenities at the Island Rec Center include basketball, fencing, karate, kickboxing, pickleball, tennis and volleyball. There also are indoor walking tracks, locker rooms with restrooms and showers and a pool. On right: Hilton Head Island Recreation Association’s Wingfest celebrated its 25th annual festival on Saturday, March 19, 2022. The 26th annual event will take place on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
Soule
Hargray assessed the needs of the Island Rec Center expansion and determined it needed a better and stronger infrastructure to deliver the proper tech services to the community. It provided and installed fiber internet circuits for network optimization and security and provided Wi-Fi for both the facility’s interior and exterior spaces and for “audiofetch” to connect handheld devices to TV sound. It also updated the Island Rec Center’s servers and phone systems.
“Working with Hargray, I learned how much we could do within our facility based on its upgrades that allowed us to keep up with today’s technology needs and challenges,” Soule said. “Having Hargray as a partner continues to improve what we’re able to offer within our facility.”
“It’s been smooth sailing, and it’s been a great partnership,” Soule said. “The long-term benefit of our partnership with Hargray is having a first-class company that’s been in our community for years be our partner, allowing us the opportunity to feature the latest and greatest in technology.”
Soule said Hargray makes it possible for the community to learn more about the Island Rec Center’s variety of activities from fitness, to childcare programs, to senior programs. When people go to the center and access its Wi-Fi, they can go to www.islandreccenter.org to learn about all the center’s programs and amenities that are being offered.
Be in shape Fitness classrooms include various cardio equipment, such as stationary bikes, treadmills, rowers, ellipticals, adaptive cardio machines, free weights and strength equipment.
Hargray has been a title sponsor for the Hilton Head Island Recreation Association’s Wingfest, which celebrated its 25th year last March. It’s a family-friendly festival that features up to 25 restaurants cooking more than 6,500 pounds of chicken wings and offers fun recreational opportunities, including a rock-climbing wall, a bungee jump, live entertainment, an adult wingeating contest and a cooking competition.
“Without Hargray’s title sponsorship and community support, we wouldn’t have been able to produce this popular festival that helps raise money for our scholarships,” Soule said.
Proceeds raised at Wingfest go toward the Carmines Family Recreation Scholarship Fund to ensure no child is denied recreation. The association gives more than $250,000 worth of scholarships annually to families so they have the opportunity to participate in recreation programs. The association offers scholarships to fit every individual’s financial situation and strives not to turn anyone away due to financial limitations.
“Being a nonprofit and having the support of local businesses like Hargray allows us the opportunity to help hundreds , if not thousands of families a year, and that partnership’s been critical to our success,” Soule said. ■
MBERKELEY HALL’S MARSHA LEVIN, OWNER OF CROWN CLOTHING COMPANY, SHARES GOOD BUSINESS ADVICE Marsha Levin is the owner and president of Crown Clothing Company in Vineland, N.J., which celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. This family-owned company was founded by her husband’s father and grandfather. Upon her fatherin-law’s death, it passed to her husband, Howard, and in 2013 it passed to her upon his death. She had worked at the company for 10 years previously, and she had 35 years of experience in human resources to bring to bear in her new role.
BY EDDY HOYLELevin said that when she and Howard took over in the mid '80s, the company made men’s suit jackets, sport coats and ladies’ blazers. They made for high-end names in the civilian clothing market, but business was down because most manufacturing was going overseas. However, a fortuitous scandal presented an opportunity when the Philadelphia Inquirer broke a story about companies that made military uniforms. They were charged with taking bribes for contract awards and they were debarred from bidding on future contracts.
Marsha Levin lives in Berkeley Hall. She is an avid golfer and has five holes-in-one. She also loves to cook and entertain in her beautiful new home, built in 2015.
“We got lucky when others broke the law,” Levin stated. “In 1987 we got an Army contract, and we persevered. Then in 1989 we got a five-year Marine Corps contract to make the dress-green coats and went on to get another contract for dress-blue coats. Since then we have had only one customer: the U.S. government.”
It was 1989 when the Levins first came to the Lowcountry on vacation and were invited to play golf at Haig Point on Daufuskie Island. They loved it so much, they bought a condo there in 1991 and were part-time residents until 1998, when they bought a permanent home on the mainland. Levin now lives in Berkeley Hall and is an avid golfer. She and Howard each have had five holes-in-one, and it’s her goal to get one more so she will top his record. She added that she was privileged to play in the Heritage golf tournament three times. “Over the years I’ve believed in the importance of giving back, supporting our veterans, educational scholarships and local non-profits in our community.”
1. Be prepared. “We should all understand that our personal and business lives are entwined,” Levin explained. “Whatever you do in your personal life, do in your business life. Never overextend yourself, and put money away for the unexpected. Save for a rainy day. To me Covid has taught us that you never know what’s coming. You’ve got to have money ready for these situations.”
2. People first. Levin said, “Hire the very best people, and always think about them – keep them in the forefront of your mind, and treat them very well. They come first. With Covid in mind, we must provide whatever they need to be safe. Pay them a fair wage, and ensure a healthy work environment. Hire people who trust and share your goals. My goal is for my business to keep going long after I’m gone, so the people I hire must have the same goals.”
3. Never forget. “Never forget where you came from and how you got where you are,” Levin advised. “We all have to work our way up. We can’t ever forget what those before us did to keep a business afloat. And we should be thankful every day.”
4. Good choices. “Make good choices about your business,” Levin said. “Look for new contracts, address capital needs, and recognize that equipment will have to be replaced, for example. Put money aside so that when you strive to make good choices personally and in business, you can succeed.”
5. Quality counts. Levin emphasized how important it is to turn out a good product. “When you work for the government,” she explained, “you’re under a microscope. So if you do what’s right for your people and what’s right in your business, being under such scrutiny shouldn’t matter.” ■
“Over the years I’ve believed in the importance of giving back, supporting our veterans, educational scholarships and local non-profits in our community.”
JJerry Seinfeld’s sidekick George was never accused of working too hard and had trouble holding down a job. Over the course of the series, he worked for a real estate transaction services firm, a rest-stop supply company, a publishing company Elaine also worked at (Pendant Publishing), the New York Yankees, a playgroundequipment company and an industrial smoothing company.
It may not be a coincidence that it was during his longest-held position at the New York Yankees that he perfected taking a nap under his desk. He went so far as to put an alarm clock under the desk so he would not oversleep. Now that is dedication.
Napping at work is not a new concept, though it seemed like the "hot new thing" when tech firms in Silicon Valley installed sleeping pods. It was the Japanese who made it part of their work culture and call it Inemuri. It is a fascinating phenomenon found only in Japan and roughly translates to “I am present while sleeping,” meaning one who sleeps at work yet can perform as soon as waking up is seen as a diligent and efficient worker.
If you can’t nap at work, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep. Dr. Debi Lynes shares why and how in this section. Should that fail, make sure you check out Mama Odi’s Business Scope because it will tell you your future, which may help you relax. ■
Sleeping on duty Have you ever felt like a short nap was all you needed to make your workday bearable? in Japan napping in the office is common and culturally accepted. It is seen as a sign of diligence (working yourself to exhaustion).
TThere’s stress, like the butterflies you feel before giving a presentation to a group of people. Then there’s stress, like when a loved one passes away the day after you lose your job and you find out that your mortgage interest rate just doubled. And there’s all the stress in between, like the nerves you may get before flying or the anxiety you feel about gaining a few pounds.
Regardless of the type of stress or the intensity you feel, stress is real and is literally ‘all in your head.’ That is not meant to diminish stress's impact on people’s lives and health. It is intended to assure you that there are ways to manage your stress so you don’t experience adverse effects.
Stress is natural and cited as the cause of many illnesses including hypertension, CVD, heart attacks, diabetes, chronic pain and fatigue, asthma, autoimmune disorders, thyroid, headaches, IBS, obesity and possibly Alzheimer's.
The cause of stress varies from person to person – what is stressful for one person could be exhilarating for another. Several common reasons underlie most stressful situations including:
• Something you care about is at stake
• The actual or threatened loss of resources
• A chronic condition that is taxing
• A change in circumstances requiring you to adapt
• A situation that evokes physical/ emotional discomfort
• Response of your brain and body to a perceived threat
• Multiple competing demands and/or scarcity of resources
Our brains and bodies are programmed to respond to any situation and have been for thousands of years. If you were facing a charging Sabertooth tiger, you would react in one of the same ways your caveman ancestors would have – fight, flight or freeze. While you might not be in that situation, you will face stressful situations. The feeling of stress literally starts in your brain in the amygdala. The amygdala iscommonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli, including detection of threats and activation of appropriate fearrelated behaviors in response to threatening or dangerous stimuli.
Because the causes and manifestations of stress are unique for each person, so are the coping strategies. This graphic from Verywellmind.com provides a few skills that may help, depending on whether you respond better to emotional or problem-focused strategies.
The advice I give my patients is to try a few techniques and see what works. I find exercising helps me release physical tension, and playing with my goats helps take my mind off whatever my ‘fear of the moment’ may be. For most people what helps is a combination of something physical, as simple as squeezing a rubber ball; something soothing, like taking a hot bath; and something actionoriented, like making a to-do list. Your life never will be stress-free; that would be boring. But you can live a less stressful life if you make friends with stress by developing positive coping techniques. When in doubt, pause, close your eyes, take some deep breaths in through your nose, exhale out through your mouth and think of your happy place.
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DR. DEBI LYNES Licensed Professional Counselor Dr. Debi Lynes is based in Hilton Head and has an extensive career exploring the relationship between the physical environment and its influence on health and wellness.
EVEN IF YOU LOVE YOUR BUSINESS, WORKING 24/7 SHOULDN'T BE AN OPTION
BY R.V. WINKLEWe turned to Lifehack. org for the top apps to help achieve work-life balance. Here are some of its recommendations: W
Calm is the number one app for meditation and sleep with over 100 million downloads. The app helps with sleep, stress, focus and self-improvement and its expertise includes a Director of Sleep Science. BONUS: Calm offers plans for companies to offer premium Calm services to employees. To check out Calm for your company, visit business. calm.com/plans.
Focus Booster is based on the Pomodoro technique. The app allows you to set “focus” time windows and breaks and switch on the timer to start work. During your work-time you can’t stop the timer as your session won’t be recorded and added to your time sheet. PRO TIP: This app is essential for freelancers to bill their clients correctly by setting up hourly rates for each client and then just auto-tracking the time spent on the project.
One reason you might be struggling to achieve proper life balance are your habits – e.g. lack of proper sleep, poor diet etc. Way of Life helps you get rid of the bad ones and develop good ones instead. You can plot daily/weekly goals and track if you are meeting them. Your progress is visually displayed in form of bar charts with trend lines, scoreboards for instant feedback and multiple daily reminders.
Make sure you always have time for the family with the help of Cozi Family Organizer. The app allows you to manage family members’ schedules, appointments and activities, so you will never miss your kid’s football match again. Sync it with Google calendar, share to-do shopping lists and keep a family collection of recipes to shop by dish. The app is essential to organizing your family life efficiently and making sure you have time for everyone.
Myfitnesspal.com cites study after study that have confirmed the benefits of keeping track of the food you eat and the activity you do. It's simple - the more consistently you track your food intake, the more likely you are to lose weight. That's why every successful weight management program suggests that you keep a food diary and/or an activity log. But recording everything you eat without the right tools can be tedious at best, or simply impossible at worst. MyFitnessPal.com, focuses on making sure you can log your meals as quickly and easily as possible. Because the easier it is for you, the more likely you are to stay on track, and the more likely you are to succeed in your weight loss goals.
Lights, camera, Aries! Maybe it's the positive feedback from your annual performance review, or maybe it’s the hard apple cider from your office Friendsgiving party, but you’ve got confidence to spare this quarter. Like, even more than usual. While you’re still feeling bold, put yourself in front of the heavy hitters and decision-makers who can help you realize your vision in 2023.
You’ll be home for the holidays, Taurus, exactly how you like it. You want nothing more this quarter than to cozy up with a mug of hot cocoa and your favorite holiday movies. Relaxation seems almost impossible when you’re gearing up for the holiday rush (wait –did you remember to send those company Christmas cards?), but the stars are giving you the green light to take that staycation you’ve been craving. If you don’t, you risk coasting into the new year on fumes.
We all know who’s the superstar here (yes, Leo, that’s you), but the other stars are urging you to circulate and collaborate this quarter. Leos tend to go big (and not bother going home), so chances are you’ll need all-hands-on-deck for your 2023 endeavors. And whether new contacts are entering your orbit or you’re the one gravitating toward new industries, now’s the time to make the connections that will launch your career to new heights.
If you don’t already believe in luck, you might after this quarter. The stars are sending you a surprise holiday gift. Just remember that good things can come in small, lopsided or slightly squished packages (no shade towards your wrapping skills; we’re just trying to make an analogy). Sometimes what doesn’t work out for you really works out for you, so that contract that falls through at the last minute might be a blessing in disguise.
Sagittarians love a good adventure, which is why you’re happy to be back on the “road less traveled” this quarter. You could find yourself at a turning point, ready to abandon one path to boldly pursue another. These synergistic skies spotlight your social network. Reach out to your peers for opportunities. One of them could make an introduction or pass along your resume to a perfect match.
In true Capricorn fashion, you’re making your list and checking it twice this quarter. You could feel a surge of motivation to get organized, decluttering your workspace at home or the office, filing away old papers and removing anything that's blocking your creative flow. While you don’t want to shred any important papers by accident (we’re speaking from experience), simplifying your space can do wonders in the way of clearing your mind and helping you get into a more manageable groove before the new year.
‘Tis the season of giving, Gemini, and you’re embracing this quarter’s altruistic spirit. You’re focused on putting others first this quarter, making this the perfect time to launch an employee giveback program or donate a portion of your holiday proceeds to a cause you care about. Just be mindful of how generous you are with your time and energy. The last thing you want is to raise your hand for too many projects, only to be frantically typing beneath the glow of the tree on Christmas Eve.
Look out – Libras are coming in HOT this quarter. With January 1st on the horizon and E.O.Y. goals to meet, you’re ready to get down to brass tacks, plow through and get it DONE. With a cosmic boost of drive and determination, now’s a great time to wrap up all those lingering projects before the new year. Be careful not to overwhelm yourself (and everyone else you’re working with) since you’re likely to come on even stronger than usual.
Our message to you is simple this quarter: breathe. Waterbearers are known for their big ideas and creative solutions, which is why you probably feel the pressure to go bigger and brighter than ever. Don’t get swept up in a tide of unfinished projects, tight deadlines or self-imposed expectations that you simply can’t meet. Identify your top three goals for the quarter, do your best to achieve them, then go home and do what you do best: drinking herbal tea while watching an incredibly niche movie that no one’s ever heard of.
When was the last time you bought yourself a present, Cancer? If it’s been a while, this is your year to splurge! You’re seeing more green than red this season and you’re determined to keep it that way. You’re likely to push yourself a little harder to meet those E.O.Y. financial goals now that you’re seeing your hard work pay off (literally), but remember to reward yourself with a just-for-fun treat afterward.
Feeling the sting of gas prices lately? It’s you, us and everyone else. It’s time to make some sensible moves. You’re likely seeking an extra sense of security right now, and building a better budget might be just the thing to keep you grounded as the financial year comes to a close. A word of advice? You may find that you earn more by doing less when you put your time into the things that actually give you a return on your investment.
Pisces are known for making decisions with their hearts rather than their heads – a quality that could very well work in your favor this quarter. Data can tell you a lot, but it can’t speak to someone’s character. Your intuition is especially strong right now, so even if the numbers check out on a new deal you’re about to close, don’t ignore the little voice in the back of your head that’s telling you something’s off.
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BY IWANA BEVVIE
NNow there is a reason to feel good about your drinking. Here are three companies that are committed to supporting charities and causes.
Snow Leopard Vodka is produced in Poland. Snow Leopard Vodka donates 15 percent of its profits to the Snow Leopard Trust, which was created in 1981. This nonprofit works hard to protect the snow leopard in its natural habitats throughout Central Asia and works with locals to develop conservation programs. To date, it has donated over $250,000 to the trust.
Tito’s is a top-selling vodka in the Lowcountry, and it might be, in part, due to its commitment to helping dogs. Tito’s is so committed to dogs that it is considered the “vodka for dog people.” Proceeds from their online store go to Emancipet, which is an organization that helps make veterinary care affordable and accessible. Not only does the brand support animals, it also has an open, pet-friendly work environment where employees can bring dogs to work and are encouraged to rescue local strays.
Elephant Gin is handmade in Germany. The founders were inspired by their visits to Africa, so they created a company that helps conservation trusts in Africa. It donates 15 percent of its profits, adding up to over $1 million to elephant conservation.
Take your cocktail game up a notch with a mixology class (or two) that will leave you inspired to shake up delicious and creative sips like never before. Scan this QR code to browse classes available at Hilton Head Distillery.
According to medical experts, when you get stressed, your body tenses up and can cause you to feel stuck. A good laugh can relieve physical tension in the body and relax the muscles for up to 45 minutes.
DDo you have a funnier punchline? Now is your chance for 15 minutes of fame. Email your caption to info@localbiz.com, and we’ll share the best submissions on social media.
Here's your chance. If you have a punchline, send it to info@wearelocalbiz.com
Start your week off right by correctly answering a fun and challenging question on LOCAL Biz’s Facebook or Instagram pages (LocalBizSC). Questions are similar to those on the Mensa Admission Test, so be sure to have a pen and paper handy. You will definitely need to write down your thoughts to figure out the correct answer.
"Oh no!!! I forgot I have children."Busy?
Begrudgingly, I joined a BNI when I opened a small business in Hilton Head. A vendor we worked with took me to a meeting as a guest and promised not to do a pressure sell, just introduce me to new people. I went to his BNI’s 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting with many preconceived notions and apprehensions. This is going to be uncomfortable. I don’t want to ask strangers for business. I don’t know how to explain what our company does in one sentence. I don’t have time for this. But I put on my big-girl pants and went to the meeting, during which I joined the group and stayed with that group for three years (I left the group when I sold the business).
I confess, I thought I was too busy for a weekly meeting.
If something works, the time is well spent. I received more than enough business directly attributable to BNI that, all of a sudden, I wasn’t too busy to attend.
The idea of standing up every week and introducing myself to people I already knew, then asking for a good referral sounded weird. At first, it did feel weird, but I quickly realized that I became much better at describing my business ‘in the wild’ and I enjoy referring people to others.
I confess, I did not like the thought of ‘asking for business.’
The good news for me was that BNI is about giving, not asking. Yes, each meeting I said “A good referral for me this week would be…” but most of the meeting was about how I could help other people in my chapter find referrals. That was rewarding and they in turn gave me referrals.
Not everyone likes to network and not everyone is good at it. However, done well, there is no better way to build your business. According to the experts at BNI, the lifetime value of a referred customer is 25 percent higher than that of other customers. I believe that is understated - I left BNI three years ago and still give referrals to people in my chapter and still use the companies I met in BNI.
To learn more about BNI or attend a no-pressure meeting as a guest, visit bni-sclowcountry.com.
What have you got to lose?
Welcome to the LOCAL Biz B2B Marketplace. This section was created to help local businesses do business with each other. We are appreciative and proud of every LOCAL Biz advertiser — they are leaders in their industries, and they chose LOCAL Biz as an investment in their growth.These companies and professionals have a lot to offer, and we hope you will consider them when making your purchase decisions.
AlphaGraphics www.alphagraphics.com
At Home With David www.athomewithdavid.com
Atlantic Investment Advisory Group www.atlanticinvestorshhi.com
Billy Wood Appliance billywoodappliance.com
Choice Solutions www.dnachoicesolutions.com
Custom Audio Video www.custom-audio-video.com
Dodgson Floor & Window Coverings dodgsonflooring.com
Don Ryan Center for Innovation www.donryancenter.com
Eagle Creations www.eaglecreations16.com
Equity Payment equitypayment.com
H&R Block www.hrblock.com Hargray www.hargray.com
Hilton Head Distillery hiltonheaddistillery.com
Hilton Head Wrap Company www.wraphiltonhead.com
KML Computer Services www.kmlcs.com
Pay Proudly payproudly.com
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport www.savannahairport.com
SCORE SC Lowcountry www.sclowcountry.score.org
Signature Closets of the Low Country www.signatureclosetsandcabinetry.com
Smart Marketing Communications www.smartmarketingcommunications.com
Women's Worth Advisors womensworthadvisors.com
Proudly is a fresh concept business platform for credit card processing for any business owner who provides an extraordinary opportunity to give back to a cause that is important to them at no additional expense to their company.
carla@payproudly.com 843-540-6338
Payproudly.com
Reach 15,000 Lowcountry business decisionmakers by advertising in this magazine. All packages include digital and social media as well as complimentary ad design.
Info@WeAreLocalBizSC.com 843 -802-2258
Localbizsc.com
Does your payment system offer contactless transactions, POS, a broad range of payment options, e-commerce and mobile transactions, all with personal service?
Equity Payments does.
support@equitypayment.com 843-628-0505
MakeMoney@EquityPayment.com
From the boardroom to the ballroom, our outstanding products and services provide solid options for any audio, video or integration your business needs.
48 Pennington Drive, Suite B, Bluffton 843-815-5130
Custom-Audio-Video.com
Looking for a specific item or just browsing for ideas? We are your one-stop shop for promotional products and business gifts. With thousands of selections, Eagle Creations offers branded merchandise to fulfill all of your needs.
843.422.3372
Visit our new showroom at 2935 Argent Blvd, Suite B, Ridgeland.
eaglecreations16@gmail.com 843-422-3372
www.eaglecreations16.com
Your direct mail will reach the right audience with the most accurate and targeted specialty mailing lists and targeting strategy.
bruce@propertyownerlists.com 843-301-3788
propertyownerlists.com
SStephen Covey, renowned author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, popularized the Big Rocks prioritizing theory. Big rocks are about understanding that if you don’t prioritize the actions (Big Rocks) that move you toward your intentions or your goals, they are never going to happen. Your life and work can become filled with little rocks and not leave room for the big rocks. These are big rocks that will help achieve the elusive balance.
— RICHARD BRANSON
DETERMINE YOUR PRIORITIES AND SET QUARTERLY GOALS FOR BUSINESS
Rock your world
“There is no real difference between work and play — it's all living.”
96 LocalBizSC.com Q4 2022 INSPIRATION Things you can do every day:
Don’t
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Linked In: Equity Payment Merchant Processing
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Hashtag: #equitypaymentinc
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