A Quick Trip to North Myrtle Beach

Yesterday, for a change of pace, I went to a Business After Hours. This time, however, it wasn't in Leland, North Carolina, but in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I went down (it's only an hour away) with SendOutCards distributor Kerry Kasotsky to meet some folks and see how they do Business After Hours. The quick answer is they do 'em up pretty fine!

This event was held at a huge spa. There were roughly 80-100 people present.When we signed in (there's Kerry on the right - she's a member, I was a guest), everyone was very friendly.
Catering was provided by The House of Blues and Wild Wings - they were busy!

North Myrtle Beach Chamber's Visitor Center Director Ruth Anne Ellis was a lot of fun. We met her right off - and of course took pictures of each other.
Kerry is a huge fan of The Carolina Oprey and was happy to meet some folks who work there.
Two Chamber ambassadors on hand were Cathy Honeycutt of WFXB Fox TV and Betty Mauney.
I tried a paraffin wax treatment for my hands. It was pretty cool. Well, actually it was sorta hot, the wax, that is, but it wasn't painful, and after a while of course it cooled off, well really it got to room temperature, or maybe skin temperature, but then they took the gloves off and peeled off the extra paraffin and I rubbed the oil in it all felt good. So that's cool.
Just before we left we checked out a couple of energy efficient street cars in the lobby.
I had a good time, we met some nice people, and it was good to experience a Business After Hours event in another area. Thanks, North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, come up to see us some time!

Zen-Sation Day Spa - Ribbon Cutting - July 2009

Trust the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce to turn out in force for a ribbon-cutting at a cool place like Sue Barnes' new Zen-sation Day Spa & Boutique in Leland, North Carolina.

ATMC's Eddie Hughes walks in just as the event started.

Zen-sation office manager Shannon Hendrickson (laughing in the dark top to left center) and owner Sue Barnes (in blue) got ready to cut the ribbon. NBCC Executive Director Terry Grillo and President George Murray held the ends.
NBCC's Terry Grillo, Connie Reeves, Dana Fisher, and Brenda Bozeman checked out one of the treatment rooms.
Eddie Hughes and Terry Grillo.
The spa's boutique section.
Ken Schiess makes a point to Mary Bennies.
Yes, of course there were refreshments.
Craig Spafford knew just what to do with the cookies.
Denise Kinney in the boutique.
Dana Fisher, Carolyn Pirnat, and Sue Cruse.
Alice Razzano, Kate Carter, and Dana Fisher.
Alice and Monica Clark helped Justin Williams sign in.
Kerry Kasotsky signing in without needing help from other folks (in contrast to Justin).
Bob Baer hadn't met Denise Kinney before, but that didn't hold him back.
NBCC's Peggy O'Leary, Justin Williams, and George Murray.

So thanks Sue, Shannon, and the rest of the Zen-sation staff - we had a nice time, we wish you well, and the cookies rocked!

A Natural Beauty

Can anyone identify the moth in these photos? This guy (or maybe girl?) showed up on our office window this morning. We took a bunch of photos. The one above, with the turquoise background, was taken by Ophard Willis, slightly enhanced with Picasa by me.

I took the one below, trying to catch something other than cars in the parking lot in the window reflection.

He stayed for a few hours, maybe resting? After a while, once the photo op was over, he apparently decided it was time to take off, because he did - though no one witnessed his arrival or his departure.

Change Is Good - New Directions for Being Bruce

"Late to the party, last to leave."

I started this blog in September 2008. Since that time I've posted more than 250 times and used 49% of my Blogger allotment of image storage space (that's a lot of photos). I had intended to wait till this September to announce a change in, or rather an addition to, the blog direction, intention, and purpose, but, in a move that will come as no surprise to those who know me best, I'm not waiting. I'm starting with this post, but intend by the first of August, to make significant changes to the Being Bruce blog. These changes reflect parallel changes in my business/work life.

I'm not going to stop blogging. I'm also NOT going to stop writing about and posting many photos of places, people, events, and things I think interesting or amusing. The changes will be in added content and additional direction. Therefore, if you're already at or near your limit of my view of the world, you might consider un-following the blog or killing the RSS feed. The previous sentence will be your only warning.

Here's what's going on: I'm a big believer that we each have unique purpose. I also believe that many of us find our best expression of purpose through multiple outlets or directions. In this post I'm outting myself about going back to some of my career/life roots and adding another patch to my current professional canvas.

A while back in my professional life I was a counselor and therapist, later on a computer and business consultant, and (sort of in between and always) a life and business coach. I have decided to charge back into that realm (in my usual high-energy manner) while continuing my profession as a full time REALTOR in the great Wilmington area and also working with Marge on Fat City Cards, our SendOutCards distributorship. I'm passionate about all three endeavors and am looking forward to once again having two full-time jobs and one half time gig.

I should make it very clear that I'm not going to be "doing" therapy or personal counseling - I'm not licensed in this state for that and that's not my interest or passion. I'm also not going to be a business/computer/marketing consultant (been there, got the t-shirt). What I am going to do is offer my services as a coach to a very narrow niche. That niche is defined as high-energy, high-achieving people who have had one or more business successes and one or more failures and are now ready to make a huge leap, a significant change or advance in their business or career.

We've named the service Quantum Results Coaching, which is both denotative and connotative. It's not for everyone, but those for whom it will be of best service will recognize it. Others likely won't get it at all, which is fine.

Here's a graphic we're going to use that depicts the service:

How will that effect the Being Bruce blog? The major difference you'll notice, if you read all the blog items and not just specific event-focused posts, is that each weekday I'm going to be posting content that speaks to change agency.

I will post about:

• teachers or writers I follow or find interesting,
• books I think useful,
• specific tools or principles for personal realization or success,
• profiles of people I know who love what they do or making great leaps, and
• a running personal business diary.

I'll also be changing some of the side content and possibly the color and graphics on the blog, but those changes will come gradually.

So, the Being Bruce blog is going to "be" a lot more personal. It's going to "be" more focused on people taking charge of their (business) lives and living boldly. It's therefore going to "be" longer.

But I'll still post photos like this one of my yummy breakfast today.

Thanks for bearing with me on this post.

If you have questions about Quantum Results Coaching, I'm reachable in all the usual ways. The best ways to contact me are:

• E-mail: brucerbrown@yahoo.com
• Cell phone: (910) 297-8753
• Twitter: @brucebrownnc
  
  

NBCC Summer Board Retreat July 2009

Saturday July 18th the North Brunswick Chamber Board of Directors headed down to Terry Grillo and her husband Frank Doherty's Oak Island beach house for a half day guided training by Laurie Paarlberg and Karen Papps from UNC-W's QENO program - and some good eating and beach time, too.

I rode to the meeting with Justin Williams and George Murray.
Riding in the back seat of Justin Williams' car to the meeting. Check him out in the mirror.
Board members gathered and met the two faciliitators from UNC-W.
Our first exercise - a warm up we used at the end of the session to see how well we knew each other.
This is where most of the focus was early on.
Notice how Justin and Laurie are not at all seeing eye-to-eye.
But in this picture, Terry and Justin are definitely tuned in.
The builder (Jeff Harvell) and the banker (Donna Cameron) arrive with vital supplies.
Justin's on a diet that, well . . . you don't really want to know.
George Murray making a strategic call for more supplies.
Karen Pappas and Donna Cameron discussing fine points.
Here's why it's not a great idea to sit behind me at meetings. Actually, in truth, Terry was wide awake, but it sure doesn't look that way.
George Murray's hat graphic reads, "laugh". We laughed a lot that day. Here George is demonstrating the "Point at the audience while singing on stage" gesture he learned while singing with The Buckinghams in concert in June.
Sheila Hanby relaxing while Jeff Harvell pondering someone else's dessert. We all learned that "stressed" spelled backwards spells "desserts"

Wilmington TweetUp July 16, 2009

Sarah Barbee of Fuss Budget Promotions did her promoting thing again, this time with a successful Wilmington Tweetup hosted by the Wilmington Holiday Inn Express off South College Road on Van Campen Boulevard, with adult beverages provided by Front Street Brewery.

In the photo below Bernadette Hayes of N2 Publishing, Susan Kadar of Friendly Computers, and Sarah Barbee are happily networking. Brooke Foreman of RightLeftStudio (left) and Kimberly Brumsey of KB Organic Skin Care and Waxing.

A better shot of Brooke (this time you can see her face). DJ Don Jewell, a local disk jockey.
Gayle Taybor of Glynne's Soaps, Tina Shropshire, and Jennifer Watkins.
Jennifer Watkins and Jessica Howell (Jessica works in promotion and social media for the Holiday Inn Express).
Another shot of Jennifer Watkins.

And another one of Jessica Howell. The smiling woman facing the camera is good friend Katie White, an account rep for Logos Direct.
Marge Brown and Don Jewell.

The lady in the center in black, facing the camera is Pierrette Cornter, Director of Sales for the Holiday Inn Express.Everyone's favorite ActionCoach, Reggie Shropshire, with his daughter.
Sarah Barbee and Brooke Foreman.
Sarah Barbee, Jenn Beddoes of Glynne's Soaps, and Kimberly Brumsey.
Shannan Bowen of Star News Media and Marge Brown.