inspiration, ideas & inroads for health
Jay and I paused at the crest of a foothill overlooking Boulder to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west. According to my iPhone Activity App, we had climbed 71 floors. We decided to rest on a fallen log. While we soaked in the vista, Jay recounted a memory about hiking in the woods of Northern Wisconsin with Continue reading Resting Logs Kept Little Legs Moving
Snow covered the grounds of the Cooper Aerobic Center in Dallas, TX, when Georgia Kostas arrived for her interview with Dr. Kenneth Cooper in 1977. Tip-toeing out of the cab in her winter-white suit and pink floral blouse (with a flouncy bow), Georgia’s heart was set on getting this job. A few years earlier, Georgia had become inspired to work Continue reading Nevertheless She Persisted in Wellness
At the close of an intense month of immersion and ideation on a new opportunity, my client was in a rocky place about the next steps in their project. Like most deep dives, the process had surfaced new questions and many possibilities. Valuable marketplace, consumer, competitive, and technical data had been collected and reviewed. The team had generated a plethora Continue reading Drowning in Data? Pitch with a Story!
Four-year-old Jackson sounded like a seal barking as he called from his bedroom one wintery Sunday afternoon. I’d put him down for a nap an hour earlier and hoped sleep would curtail his cough. He was frightened and struggling to breathe. A call to our doctor: “hang up and dial 911.” The ambulance arrived in no time, and medics whisked Continue reading Lessons from Croup and Captain Hook
Gravity pulled me down the narrow ski trail as I navigated a series of sharp turns with trees on either side. My relief in making it to the bottom without a tumble turned into a sense of pride and accomplishment. I’d been skiing for over an hour and was headed back to my car. Tired but exhilarated, I’d had a Continue reading Lost and Found on Skinny Skis
Tech check was done … 15 min countdown ticking. Equipped with a clicker and a wireless mic, Chris Quam stood on the stage of a cavernous ballroom in the Las Vegas Convention Center. His heart sunk with dread that people might not come. Nervous, but not scared, his confidence soared as the audience started to fill the hundreds of seats Continue reading An Exhilarating Career Experience Became a Book
The winter sun was setting as Jay and I arrived at the tree farm to harvest our first Christmas tree as a married couple. The farm was a little more primitive than we’d expected. A fog was settling in. The next evening we were hosting a “Tree Trimming Party,” so we really needed to get a tree. Distracted with party Continue reading 2017 Holiday Story: Tale of the Toppling Tree
We dreaded the arsenic hour … 5:00-6:00 pm, the first hour that Abby was home from day care. She would melt down and become inconsolable over small things. After a series of tantrums, she would retreat to her room (or be sent into a time out) and re-emerge with a new outfit … often dressed as a character. Princess, bride, Continue reading “From Grinch to Our Neighbor” Inspires Imagination
On a steamy day in the summer of 2006, we were boating on Lake Minnetonka with our kids and family friends—Kathy, Dave, and their daughter. Kathy got me musing about plans for my upcoming 50th birthday on October 30. I imagined a Halloween dancing party with live music, but was stuck on where/how to find a band that plays dancing Continue reading 10-Year Reunion with My Birthday Band
On my 40th birthday, I told my husband (Jay), “I’d like to start lifting weights and take guitar lessons.” Surprised to hear those words coming out of my mouth, he asked me why I wanted to become a strong guitar player? I reasoned … if I’d started practicing skills that didn’t come naturally 20 years earlier, perhaps I would have Continue reading A Guitarist Was Born