Yes! There are five key ways to keep your clients

I have been reading and reading about how customers in today's business environment move from vendor to vendor with a drop of a hat.  No one seems to have a clear idea, but my theory is:  buyers mirror their dating habits. And the younger generation is into 'hook ups' not relationships.. 

But the truth is the truth:  humans are unpredictable.  One day it's the Beatles the next it's The Rolling Stones.  What is a service provider to do? 

I ran across and article by Jim Billington in The Harvard Management Update.  Although written in 1996, it still holds some tried and true ideas that still work today. 

So break out your CRM files and: 

1.  Identify Core Clients: who loves your service and why?
2.  Measure what matters:  Measure your individual customer's satisfaction not  the 'market satisfaction
3. Analyze defections: Why did they leave - only the truth please
4. Mass customize: How can you service each client according to their specific needs 
5. Learn to meet unspoken needs: Need to understand what makes the relationship tick

 At Strategies for Growth we work to consolidate core clients, train and support our clients in the development of client relationships to insure steady revenue streams for company growth and profitability,

Tech Coast Angels 6th Annual LA Fast Pitch Competition

 6th Annual Fast Pitch LA 2011

The Tech Coast Angels 6th Annual LA Fast Pitch Competition is February 24th at UCLA Anderson School of Business. CEOs of 8-10 start ups, selected from more than 100 applicants, will have 90 seconds to pitch their companies to a panel of judges. The winner will be invited to present their company and business plan at a Tech Coast Angels deal-screening session.

CEOs of Southern California-based companies who want to apply to be a Fast Pitch competitor should submit an application now at www.pitchtheangels.com. The deadline for applications is February 5th. Applications are already being screened by members of Tech Coast Angels, so apply today. More than 20 CEOs will be invited to participate in pre-event coaching sessions in February where TCA members and other coaches will provide them with tips and guidance on their pitches. The coaches will select the best companies to appear onstage at Fast Pitch on February 24th.

The 6th annual event will include presentations from CEOs and venture capitalists on funding and starting a company, and the Fast Pitch competition. A light dinner and refreshments will be served after the program at a networking event that will be attended by investors, entrepreneurs and other industry experts.

In the meantime, startup CEOs, please submit your application now. The sooner you get your application in the better.


I have been a coach to the start ups for the last 5 years and I encourage all my entrepreneur friends to apply.  If anything, it gives you visibility and ACCESS to investors.  Go for it!!!

Just Listen

Finishing up Dr. Mark Goulston's book, "Just Listen" and am walking away feeling whole. Whole?

Being heard is key to the health of the soul. Communication is what links us in community and in intimacy.  There are two sides to any exchange: output and input. Listening is input.  Talking is output. Listening to others feeds the soul in ways we regularly forget.  Listening eliminates loneliness, isolation and a host of other non-medical aliments.

We turn to each other in times of crisis to be HEARD.  We turn to others to connect and to HEAR what is occurring in the lives of others that helps us feel better about our own world.  All through LISTENING.

I am refreshing my listening skills by reading Dr. Goulston's magnificent book,"Just Listen."  A 2010 objective for myself is to LISTEN more, talk less.  This will allow me to hear the issues of my particular set of clients and work with them more effectively to find the required solution. To listen is to learn. To listen is to connect deeply.  To listen is to build trust.

So this months' pick is "Just Listen," by Dr. Mark Goulston.  Easy read, well written and immediately applicable in everyone's day-to-day world.  Enjoy!

Lunchtime Dreamers

I worked for a busy Fortune 500 corporation from the age of 24 to 40something.  I rarely looked up from my desk from 7AM-10PM that the job and promotions demanded.  But on the weekends I turned into the outdoor adventuressI wanted to be in high school.   Why did I not pursue this path full time?  'Cause of the money honey.  There was NO money in adventuring in those days.  You took a vow of poverty and that was that.

Well I like to inhabit nice, clean places and wanted to own a home of my own. So off to work I went on Monday mornings, tired, exhausted from the all-night driving when coming back from a high energy weekend in some distant California outpost.  I kayaked, skied, climbed, backpacked every weekend and had a blast.

During the week, I ate lunch at my desk and plotted with my travel agent adventure buddy where to go next.  I wished I had had the internet then to keep me company.  I could have viewed all manner of places with out leaving my desk and reduce my stress. Check this link out and you'll know what I mean.

http://bit.ly/cWUI72

Happy Lunchtime Dreaming!

The Brand Within, By Daymond John, Shark Tank Investor

Sarah Shaw of Entreprenette interviewed billionaire Daymond John on the secrets of his success.  He is known for the creation of the FUBU clothing line and one of the investors on 'Shark Tank.' It is a riveting, powerful 30 minutes of direct, honest answers about starting up companies, investing and continuing the success from company to company.  Sarah Shaw is a member of my mastermind group and one very smart seasoned entrepreneur.  Take a moment to listen to this interview as I think you will find the lessons useful to your enterprise.

http://bit.ly/cH6xK2

Enjoy!

Carnitas Sabrosas in Los Angeles

Carnitas in Los Angeles

As a child in Mexico City I was served every style of Mexican food cooked in our kitchen: empanadas, pollo, carne asada, rice, beans, plantains, etc. But NOTHING and I mean NOTHING compared to the taste of fresh tortillas from the tortilla factory around the corner from our apartment.  Our criada would carry a cloth-covered basket and a small black coin purse, grab my hand (I was only 5) and take me to the corner tortilla factory. While we stood in line I would watch in wonder as the tortillas were placed on a conveyor belt after being 'slapped' by the strong hands of the 'fabricantes.'  The belt would carry flat, wet tortillas up towards a hole near the ceiling, disappear behind a wall, through the stove and then back down towards us, hot, puffy and delicious. It was magic!

Our criada would take 2 out of our basket and have the local food cart fill each with carnitas.  One bite into the tortilla and I was transported to heaven. This is the experience I look for every time I enter a Mexican food joint in Los Angeles and give their carnitas a try.

Here are two of my favorites:

Poquito Mas - Sherman Oaks - Dos Sabrosa Estrellas

I often skip lunch just so I can bee bop down to Poquito Mas in Sherman Oaks, order to go and eat on the way to picking up Daughter#2 at school.  When she gets in she can smell the wonderful smell and says, "Hey, where is my burrito?"  I hand one over to her and she smiles in extreme pleasure.  Puts her in a good mood the rest of the day.

Hot fresh Mexican/American food is their pervue and they cook it up fresh everyday.   The carnitas are tender, well-cooked and not too greasy.  SABROSA is the word I use as they are not mixed with lots of salsa or other some such cover up sauce. Several all over LA.

La Luz Del Dia - Olvera Street - Tres Sabrosa Estrellas

My mother loved Mexico with all her heart and when not traveling through the country, she would trek down to Olvera Street, with us in tow, for a bit of authentic Mexican food.  After trying all the various restaurants on the street she declared "La Luz Del Diaz" the best. The atmosphere was 'very public Mexican marketplace' and the food home cooked.

It became a habit that we would go there every Sunday night.  We had the place to ourselves, the owner would flirt with my mother and we would gobble up the extra portions he served us along with the best rice, beans and guacamole going.  We would leave the place beyond full and drop into a deep sleep on the drive home.

A recent trip to Olvera Street showed me the the place nor the food has changed.  The carnitas are still the juciest, cooked slow overnight.  They are so tender that the women behind the glass counter serve them up by hand as a fork makes them fall apart - as carnitas should be. The tortillas are thick and warm and puffed up as in Mexico.  TRIPLE SABROSA is the rating on these puppies.  Ordered with or without beans, rice, salsa and guacamole.

Clients: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is an adept description of the feelings we have towards our customers. 

Those we love (the good), those that drag their fee to pay, but pay big (the bad) and those that drive you straight into the arms of the shrink!

So what is an entrepreneur supposed to do?  Keeping a consistent revenue stream is so important to the small business and entrepreneur market segments. Let's look at ideas on how to deal.

The Bad - Large Health Care Organization

Problem: 

Client had not paid their bill in 8 months.  They did not return calls, ignored dunning notices and trashed the emails.  The bill was up to $15K! Outstanding invoices created a additional $641 in interest accrued.  Our services had saved this client 50K in operational costs.

Solution:

Did a bit of research and found out the objectives of the CFO.  What does he stand for?  What is he measured on? He had been PROMOTED because of his cost-cutting measures.

Letter:  We wrote an old-fashioned letter, sent via registered mail, to the CFO letting him know that 1) his company had saved 50K by using our services and 2) his company had accrued an extra $641.00 in interest COSTS due to ignoring the bill.

The client called the next day (after having his butt chewed out by the CFO), apologized with some excuse (ok by us) and said the bill would be paid immediately.

The check arrived the next week - All 15K of it!  AND......

We got a call to come back in and help them save once again.

What are you doing to turn your bad into good! Future blogs on the good and the ugly.

'Tis the season of customer retention

I have received more emails, newsletters and blog postings from all whom I have encountered during this very tough year of 2009.  That's ok, but doesn't float my enthusiasm boat. I think in tough times, personal touch means everything! So 'tis the season to GET PERSONAL!

Clients love to hear from their vendors, vendors love to hear from their clients.  Your personal touch means you care, you are ready to listen to them about what is going on in their lives and you both will walk away with a feeling of mutual gratitude.

Here is a reach and touch a customer tips for the season:

1. Make a list with phone numbers of all clients, however brief, that you did business with this year.
2. Make a list of all the vendors, with phone numbers, however brief, that you did business with this year.
3. Prepare a thank you statement that has at least three versions.  Ex: Hi I am calling to thank you for your business this year.  Hi, I am calling to thank you for being such a great vendor.  I so appreciated bringing the (insert product/service name) to (XYZ company).  Have a happy new year and a prosperous 2010!
4. Take one hour each morning until December 31st and CALL EVERY CLIENT and VENDOR. Use the prepared statement as a springboard for what you really say. 
5. Don't ask for anything - no referrals, no more business, no reminders.  Just a THANK YOU to them for having chosen your product or service.  Just a THANK YOU to those vendors that did a great job servicing your account.

You will be amazed at the reaction you will get and you will automatically rise to the top of visibility list.
Happy Holidays to all of you!

Google trends and more trends

Mary Ellen Bates is a superb librarian, and Bates Info Tip has transferred her skills of classifying information to the internet.  I received this from her and am using the tools provided by Google below.

Google has been doing some interesting things with its analyses of what people are while they are on the web. Google Trends, which was rolled out in 2006, lets you see how frequently words or phrases were search for in Google, over time. You can even compare the relative frequency of two different words or phrases. I was curious about how people referred to the H1N1 flu, and when the shift occurred from calling it “swine flu”. I typed in the two phrases, swine flu and H1N1, separated by a comma. [“swine flu”, h1n1] According to the search results, it wasn’t until October that most people shifted over to referring to the flu strain as H1N1. I can also see search trends in specific countries and in specific cities and states or provinces.

Google’s latest analysis tool is Google Trends for Websites. You provide one or more URLs; for each web site, Google displays the number of daily unique visitors, the countries or states/provinces they came from, other web sites that they have also visited, and terms they have also searched for. Just as Google Domestic Trends went beyond search queries to compare financial trends to its information, Google Trends for Websites extends its reach and analyzes information on web traffic from a number of outside sources.

Google Trends for Websites only works for fairly high-traffic sites, but can be a useful tool for seeing the relative popularity of web sites, and for getting ideas on alternative search queries on a topic.
Companies can use this as a quick way to see how their web traffic compares to those of its competitors, as well as to see what search words were being used to find them. See, for example, the difference in traffic by geographic location and over time for NBC, CBS and ABC.

Use this tool well to help you increase your keywords to direct traffic to you web site.  Also good information to use to see what your competition is doing.

The Rush for Private Schools

We are in the middle of "rushing" for private schools for D#2.  She is touring and viewing, we are calculating the costs and wondering how we will do it.  We will fill out reams of questions on application forms that will tell the administration everything about us short of a DNA map.

I find these "gauntlets" interesting as they are as discriminatory as they can be within an inch of the ethical and morals boundaries. And they all stand proud on their non-discriminatory philosophy. Bah!

Each private school forms it's own "tribes" with a uniform student body. They look for the commonalities that allow them to create insular worlds and for 30K per student per year to cater to the delusions parents have that their child is the next  "Bill Gates."  And if not, at least entrance into a top Ivy League school.

In Los Angeles there are 57, yes that's right 57, private schools that vie for a small percentage of students that qualify for entrance.

The private schools, funded in the past by tons of money from parents, allowed them to "overbuild." Every school had to offer it all in order to compete with each other.

That is exactly what has gotten them into trouble.  57 flavors of schools is NOT sustainable even in a large population center as Los Angeles.  Parents able to pay for a customized education that emphasized their values, morals and delusions about their kids, are rare and far between.

I think the schools are now the ones with delusions!  Offering to "mold" the students into perfect cookie cutters semblances of their parents expectations is ridiculous.  Children are as varied as their parents and only those with the gumption and determination make it in life.

If I am to find the perfect "tribe" for D#2 then I guess I need to look at the commonalities of culture. Wonder where I can find that school, seeped in reality, with a touch of low-cost.  That's my kind of tribe.

Demise of Print, Part 2

Previously on Innerwealthspeakers blog, I covered my love of books and absolute rebellion towards the e-book concept.  The gist was that the e-book will dominate the printed book and how sad it will be for those of us who love them. That is until someone turns off the electricity.


Electricity powers our ability to read e-books, use cell phone, computers, and any modern invention that somehow fuels our lives. Without it, life comes to a stand still. Remember the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still?" (version from the 50s) when the aliens shut off all electricity and mayhem ensued?

Electricity is the new gold.  Where once governments funded teams of adventurers to find natural resources of wood, water, gold, fertile land and cheap labor,  electricity is the new replacement as the "most precious commodity" on earth.  Now the solar/wind scientists are racing each other to increase our electrical output.

Reading is the first of skills that you need to function in the electro-literate world. The second is learning new commands and navigation of the electricity-fueld organization of information.   Every time I log on to a new web site, I have to learn a new software. AHHH.....it is fueling my resistance to change greater than my natural resistance to change.

The demise of print does not stop with books. Newspapers, magazines, reviews, brochures, flyers, pamphlets, leaflets, treatise, yellow and white phone book pages filled with names, numbers and addresses, are all becoming obsolete. So how do you know you exist?


Can you really count yourself among the citizens as bona fide because you are stored electronically somewhere?  Will you be able to vote just because you have a chip in your birth certificate or passport or neck?

Will an electronic profile a server somewhere produce the kind of outburst similar to Steve Martin's in "The Jerk?" While holding the white pages he starts jumping around yelling "I am somebody! I'm in the PHONE BOOK!"

I ponder these questions as I am the last generation that bridges the gap between fully electronic and paper-based for the verification of my existence.


I never battle my kids time spent on the computer as I know they are developing their "electronic literacy" that prepares them for a future of 100% electronically based information of all types.

But as for me, I plan on becoming the dinosaur of my generation, comfortably installed in my little house lined with books that I can read at any time, rain or shine, electric lamp or candlelight and without the need to push a button to create a deeply ingrained joy!

Hubby and the teenage girl thing

We have two daughters, aged 16 and 13.  You can imagine the amount "female" energy that flies around this house on a weekday evening. Hubby is in the minority.  There is Jake the cat, but he does not count much as a "guy" cat.


Teenage girls are a big mystery to everyone, but where this train goes off the tracks is Hubby thinks he has it down. They gleefully or brutally tell him he doesn't.

Homework:  Whenever one of them needs help with homework, they avoid him like the plague.

If D#2 asks him, he launches into a complicated course of self-study (that includes the internet)  while she waits for him to "get it." Twenty minutes later he is ready to answer said question with a history of information.

Lots of eye-rolling and frustrated arguments ensue which end up with D#2 slamming bedroom door and husband coming to me to ask for "a little backup here."

Personal looks:  Hubby has a great eye for hair and makeup and dress.  Training on these matters was acquired during his tenure as a director in Hollywood for oh say... 2 movies. When he comments on my hair, dress, looks, I'm good with it as I must concede that the man has great taste and dresses me well.

But he doesn't quite get the tinderbox of emotions (associated with looks) that sits just below the surface of teenagers.

He commented on D#2's hair twice in two weeks.  First comment was delivered with his glasses off his face and positioned two inches from D#2, "What color did you die your hair?  It's too dark." The wailing was so loud, my neighbor called to see what was wrong.

The second comment was delivered from 5 feet across the dinner table and eyes in a squinting mode. "D#2, you need a hair cut.  Your hair needs better styling."  D#1 jumped to her sister's defense by pummeling her father verbally ( I must admit it was a good pummel).  But too late, the damage was done.  D#2 objected loudly at first and then swiftly walked to her bedroom and slammed the door.  

He tried a retraction (he is in PR and thought it could work) but that went nowhere.  Pretty funny to watch a 6 ft guy speaking to a slammed angry door, trying to appease D#2.

Car sharing:  D#1 drives.  She drives Hubby's car as it is a tank.  But now she and Hubby are negotiating, er battling it out, on who gets the car when.  D#1 feels it's hers to use as she pleases over the weekend.

Interesting conversations that sounds a bit like this:

D#1: Dad, Friday night, car.
H:  Where are you going?
D#1:  With friends

H: How are you paying for gas?
D#1: OMG you want me to do well in school to get into a good college so I have to study every night of the week with no time to have a job so I can pay for my own gas? This is a joke, right?
H: Well you need to spend some money on gas, kiddo.
D#1: I can't.  I have to buy an outfit for the night.  Remember, you guys don't buy my clothes any more.

And on and on it goes until he relents and he is excusing himself from weekend golf games so she can have the car.

We have had discussions about his thinking towards the D#1 & D#2, but I prefer not to upset that apple cart too much.  The girls need to know how to argue with a man and WIN.  Makes them fearless for the future.

Gosh I do love my family - better than TV.

Socks

I have been running around barefoot all summer long. I love barefoot as I can really feel dirt or grass or carpet between my toes. I love walking from a warm carpet to a cool kitchen floor on a hot summer's day. And most of all, I love digging my toes in the sand while sitting on the beach, watching the family surf the waves.

So when I recently put on a pair of socks for the first time in 4 months, I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful they felt. I mean really surprised. They were soft and warm and cushiony in my gardening shoes. Ohhhh...... how sweet it is.

My daughter #2 knows the sweetness of socks. Last winter she posted a sign on the refrigerator door. To it was pinned one gray sock with the following message:

"Lost Sock. Please help me find this sock. Reward, $6.79. Very important sock. My feet are cold."

I went to my chiropractor, Dr. Dana Zappala (drdanazappala.com) today for an adjustment. I noticed she was wearing Uggs. Now mind you, it is 89 degrees outside and Los Angeles is headed for another Santa Ana dry hot wind with temps spiking up to 101 degrees.

Why the Uggs, I ask? Apparently her home was fogged in this morning and she was chilled. She wanted to feel snuggly and cozy and warm up her bones. It threw us both into "wanting winter" so we spoke about oncoming winter fog, cold winds and socks.

Her eyes lite up and she said, pointing to her Uggs, "I am wearing socks and it feel sooooo good!" She knows the sweetness of socks.

With winter coming on, I decided to match up all the irregulars in my drawers. Had 26 socks and only got to six full pairs. Well I guess the washing machine and dryer also know the sweetness of socks.

By the way, D#2 found the sock herself and kept her reward.

A Viking Perspective.

It all a matter of perspective. A point of view is completely influenced by the sum total of all personal experiences. A communications professor once explained it this way - everything you have every said and done has lead you to this exact moment in time.

Knowing that all medicine is influenced by that same concept, I listen to my French cousin Claude while he describes unimaginable pain while walking. He tells me he can't walk more than 300 feet before needing a wheelchair or electric cart.

This is not my cousin. For all the years I have known him, he never sits still. He is always on the go; dancing (his big love), traveling, surfing, and walking all over Paris. There are many other physical feats of wonder and he is a man who lives to the fullest. To be relegated to a wheelchair is a cruel joke on such a lively man.

But see this is where the matter of perspective takes over. His diagnosis, delivered by a French Doctor, in a French hospital was simply this: Vikings!

His type hip degeneration was only seen before in the descendants of the Vikings.

If you read the previous posts, you will immediately know that this is not possible. The antecedents of the Michel clan are strictly French, Dutch and German. Not Viking. So why the declaration of a most nebulous genetic history on the part of a French Doctor?

Sum total of everything ever experienced or said by this French Doctor! A point of view influenced by the very geographical location of this French Dr.

In the US, it would have been blamed (yes we Americans love to blame) on sports. In China, blocked chi or heat or cold or bad feng shui.

Now let's give this French doctor a break, shall we? He is limited by his lack of exposure of people from around the world, from many different tribes, with a variety of aliments "never before seen, except in the case of..."

This got me thinking about perspective, point of view and the influences on our lives via exposure to that which we know nothing about.

More about this in the next post.

Skyping with Family

Michele and Nathalie (from Brussels) did all the genealogy research and found my cousin Claude in Versailles, France. He, in turn, sent them my information way out here in Los Angeles, Ca. USA.

During their visit here we planned to Skype to cousin Claude in France. They are both only daughters, Claude is an only child, and we are an isolated branch of the family in LA. Thus the motivation to meet and bond and compare notes.

We planned the Skype hour to "reach out and touch" each other across the globe.

But before I get too enthused about the whole Skype deal, I remember that every time I try to Skype with visual, something goes wrong. The picture is fuzzy, the delays monumental and the dropped calls frequent to the point we give up and switch to ATT voice.

Those calls always remind me of the scene in the movie "Mother" by Al Brooks. They are using the first generation of a "picture phone." She can't seem to "stay in the picture" and the other end keeps telling her to go right and left, which of course is reversed. Hysterical scene that could only have been plucked from the wild imagination of Al Brooks. And now reality catches up with fantasy!

Claude is on my MAC screen, but I can't hear him. He can hear me, but can't see me. We go back and forth for some moments then just hang up. Claude calls me with France Telecom and bingo! no problem. We hear him loud and clear.

But it's a bad day for Claude. As his hips are degenerating he is in pain. His Dr. has let him know that his particular form of hip problem is normally only seen in the descendants of the Vikings! So he is no longer Jewish, but a Viking.

And I thought only LA was filled with re-inventors.

Stay tuned.......

Belgium Cousins

Just got a call from Michelle and Nathalie. They arrived in San Francisco safe and sound, are sleepy and looking for a great restaurant to eat at. Any suggestions?

Dinner - What's it going to be tonight?

A new mother and friend sent me this question. I thought I would post the answer.

Since you've been so great about offering sanity....a practical question:

How often did you hit the store when your girls were little? And far in advance did you plan menus?

I'd like to plan a week out. But I wonder if that's not smart when it comes to meat and produce.

And yes, I could take the kids with me to the store, have already done that. But it's so easy to run up a bill that way, and I'm watching my pennies after six months of my folks living with me.

Write back whenev....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you can solve the "How to shop with two small kids and keep your sanity" issue you will make a fortune. There are pages & pages of "quick and easy shopping tips," from every woman who found herself in the same situation. There are blogs, magazines, radio shows, TV shows devoted to the topic and insane asylums filled with perfectionist moms who failed."

If you go through the KCRW "Good Food" archives (use my name as keyword) you will find the segment I did on "rip n' pour". The best of packaged/frozen food for next to nothing.

I tried to plan, but something always got in the way. So I decided to have some staples on hand at all times to be able to "throw something" together.

I kept soups and thick french/rustic/paisano bread. If I could not get to anything else kids got soup and bread. Rich thick soups with a handful of rice thrown in. In addition, I picked up roast chickens. I would buy two and eat the second one cold or cut it up in the soup or throw some in a salad. Kids loved it.

Veggies are great fresh in the summer, but winter means frozen fresh. Most time I put all them in soups so no one can identify the "yucky" stuff.

To control costs try and find the smaller stores that don't buy prepackaged fresh fruit and veggies. The food is priced for less, ripe, thus ready to eat.

Price difference:

Whole Foods avocados were hard as rocks: $5.99 a pound
Olive Fresh Garden Market: ripe, ready to eat, $2.99 a pound.

You can't be all things to all people and cooking is always optional. Remember Julia Child did not have children!

Laurelle

FOUND FAMILY!!!

My family has found me. They found me through concerted effort, followed the ramblings of a senile grandmother and located my 1st cousin in Paris who then let them know about the "american" cousins in Los Angeles.

Michelle and Nathalie (mother and daughter respectively) are only children and direct descendants of my grandmother's younger brother. Got that? My grandmother was born in 1878 and gave birth to my father in 1907. Herman, the younger brother, was born in 1887 , daughter Giselle was born in 1925, gave birth to Michelle in 1953. I can give you the ages of all other descendants and a trend emerges: no one gives birth early in life. Remember that in the 1900's women gave birth multiple times by age 20. My grandmother was 29! Giselle was 28! My father was 45, 47 and 50. I was 38.5 and 41.75 respectively with my two girls.

We are adventurous at heart and deed, intensely curious about all aspects of life and great travelers.

I have never met them, they have never met me. So meeting family who are perfect strangers will be a new adventure for me and them. They are staying with friends of mine who have graciously agreed to host them. I am throwing a dinner with friends who knew my father and my family while growing up in LA. The French Chef I hired for the occasion is an old family friend who knew us quite well.

So stay posted as I will be blogging on the experience and discovery of common traits, mannerisms, etc. We already look alike to the rest will be up for exploration.

Laurelle