Lately I keep asking the question “What’s it all about?” I find the older I get the less I know. The conversations I am having with my girlfriends these days are usually about what does it all mean? It doesn’t seem that long ago that all we talked about were boys and whether or not...Read More

As my husband and I we were checking out of an Inn on the central coast of California, we asked the front-office agent for directions. Showing her a driving map of an area we wanted to explore for photo opportunities, I was totally unprepared for her response. She looked up at us briefly and said...Read More

Gratitude for the Moment My husband Bill, an extraordinary professional photographer (www.aptonphoto.com), asked me to help him title some of his photos for an upcoming exhibition. While it could have turned out to be just one more item on my to-do list, it became a magically memorable moment. Working collaboratively to name his photos was in...Read More

Every once in a while, I really enjoy indulging in a hamburger with all the fixings at a restaurant near my home. On the last visit, I was very impressed by the customer service skills of my waiter, Max, and the rest of the staff that were all between the ages of 17 and 25....Read More

When speaking in Miami last November, I was working with the Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau whose slogan is “Miami Begins With Me.” I love that slogan, not only because it was created by my favorite blogger, Bruce Turkel, but also because it says so much with so few words. It is also in complete...Read More

Over the holidays, I met a very interesting character named Donnie Tash. Donnie, a close friend of an old friend of mine, recently designed and developed an awesome website called The Psychic Library. The entertaining and informative site assists viewers in making sense of a wide range of metaphysical subjects we have heard of but...Read More

I was visiting a friend at her concierge desk a couple of days ago when she showed me a quote she has hanging behind her desk: She told me it has helped her to understand and have patience with people throughout her career. I instantly related to the quote by my favorite writer, Anonymous, as...Read More

One of the most important lessons I learned in the hotel business is the following adage: Nothing sounds sweeter to a customer than the sound of his or her own name. For many, that is easier said than done. Participants in my concierge training programs are always telling me how bad they are at remembering...Read More

A reservation confirmation is such a mundane, necessary function that it is hard to think of it as an opportunity to make an emotional connection and yet it most definitely is just that. As I made arrangements for a speaking engagement in Arkansas, I received three reservation confirmations. The one from a chain hotel was...Read More

My favorite TV show is CBS Sunday Morning because it showcases informative and ‘feel good’ stories. A few months ago, they did a piece on an unlikely place for a world-class museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Created by Alice Walton (heir to the Walmart fortune) and designed by Moshe Safdie,...Read More