Minutes - May Meeting

Minutes

CBC (Cochrane Business Chicks)

Meeting started: 7:11pm

Theme: Summer Self Care

All attendees introduced themselves and gave quick synopses on their business.

Evening consists of eight demonstrations.

Demonstration one: Brenda Sourisseau, independent Consultant, Arbonne

·         At Arbonne, beauty begins with premium botanical ingredients, innovative scientific discovery, and an unwavering commitment to pure, safe and beneficial products. Arbonne creates personal care and wellness products that preserve and enhance the skin, body and mind for an integrative approach to beauty. Working closely with scientists around the world and our Arbonne Institute of Research and Development (AIRD®) facility in Switzerland, we continually explore and develop scientifically advanced, botanically based proprietary formulas that meet our exacting standards for quality, safety and sustainability.

Demonstration two: Jeannie Kennedy, Metabolic Weight Loss Center

·         At Metabolic Weight Loss Centre we utilize a time-proven, medically designed weight loss program and state of the art body strengthening and toning system.

Demonstration three:  Patricia Atchison, Journal Writing

·         At Journals and Papers, indulgence is allowed! Patricia shared with the group the benefits of journaling and gave some practical advice on how to journal.

Demonstration four:  Deborah Spence, Creating Balance

·         We want to help you ‘Live Ideal’ by reaching your optimum health goals. Deborah educated us on anti-aging products and services her business offers.

Demonstration five:  Marla Blackwell, Cochrane Arts Central

·         Marla helped the whole group become artists in 5 minutes. She showed us how anyone can find their creative side.

Demonstration six: Kathy Haigh, Independent Beauty Consultation

·         Kathy shared with us how we can use simple products to keep our skin, feet, and skin healthy this summer.

Demonstration seven: Group discussed some of the “hot spots” in Cochrane for mini-vacations.

      ·        Evelyn Marinoski handed out the ‘Cochrane Map’ and the “Alternate Routes – The Cochrane Guide” as resources for mini-vacation ideas.

Demonstration eight: Evelyn Marinoski shared with an art form that can be an effective stress reliever.

·         Teasles (also known as zentangles) is a method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It's a simple and fun way to create something beautiful. The repeating designs are a great tool for getting your mind to relax, so this is a good stress reliever.

·         For more information visit http://www.teasles.com/ and for pattern ideas visit http://tanglepatterns.com/ or http://www.zentangle.com/.

Group closed with a time of visiting and networking.

Meeting closed at: 9:10pm

(Thanks to Sandra Scott for the minutes.)

May Meeting Reminder

Hello Chicks,

Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is on

Monday, May 30

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Days Inn, Cochrane

With summer and all its busyness ahead of us, sometimes we need to take a bit of time to pamper and be good to ourselves. My mastergroup team suggested that we do a Summer Self Care evening – so that’s what we’re doing. Our evening will feature a number of local business presenters sharing and demonstrating ways to pamper and care for yourself during the coming summer (at least we hope it’s coming, right?!) – some samples included!

We’ll do our usual introductions, but will also make time for networking with each other this evening on a more informal basis.

A couple of reminders:

• Bring your business cards and marketing materials for the Chicks Binder.
• Minutes and Notes from last month’s meeting are on the blog at www.cochranebusinesschicks.com.
• We’ll have a sign-up sheet for what you want to bring to our Potluck evening next month (June 27) at Dianna’s. So think about what you would like to bring and sign up on the list so we can plan accordingly.

See you on Monday,

Evelyn & Vinny

April Meeting Minutes

The April 18 meeting of the Cochrane Business Chicks was held at the Days Inn in Cochrane at 7:00 pm.

The meeting was called to order and we began with a round of introductions.

This was followed by a feature presentation by Dianna Meyer on Finances (see previous post).

The following items were discussed or mentioned in our Discussion session.

• www.cochranebusinesschicks.com is now active and will take you to our blog/website.
• We agreed to have a potluck for our June 27^th meeting. Dianna offered to host it at her house. Thanks Dianna.
• Our CBC year will go from September to September. Those wanting to pay yearly fees may do so. Those joining during the year will have their fees prorated quarterly.
• Mastermind groups have begun. Anyone else who would like to join can contact Vinny or Evelyn.
• A Member Binder will be created – so please bring business cards and brochures for the binder. The binder will be present at each meeting, so that if you are looking for some help in an area for yourself or for a referral, you can get a business card and other information from the binder.
• If you have any suggestions for networking ideas or presentations, please let us know. Or if you would like to volunteer to do the networking session or to present a main feature, or to help out with other things, please let us know.

The discussion session was followed by two member presentations – Evelyn Marinoski with Willowrose Organizing and Amanda Tulk with West Valley Chiropractic Centre.

Instead of a networking session this time, Amanda shared details of a networking event she had recently hosted called “A Ladies Night of Indulgence”. This spa experience evening was a ticketed event and those who came were treated to their choice of a variety of products and services to try out (provided by other complementary businesses), as well as catered food, door prizes, goodie bags and more. About seventy ladies came and from all accounts the evening was thoroughly enjoyed.

The meeting was adjourned shortly after 9:00 pm.

Feature Presentation for April - Finances

Feature Presentation – Finances

By Dianna Meyer   (notes by Evelyn Marinoski)

Money and finances is often more about emotions than anything else – emotions such as fear, doubt, shame, etc. We frequently use money to measure our self-worth, to express love, to show our social conscience through donations, and so on.

All of us have a money style. There is no particular right or wrong answer to this – it just helps to understand what our style is and how to work with it.

Money is a learned behavior with lots of emotions attached to it. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether our past behaviors and emotions mesh with who we are or want to be now.

There are a number of Money Personalities – each with good and bad sides to them.

• Keeping up with the Joneses
• Gambler
• Financial fugitive
• Conservative
• Ostrich
• Miser

Are you conscious or reactive in your relationship with money? How does that affect your personal relationships?

Are we making decisions based on past emotions or present realities?

It’s important to have a personal vision for your life. But it can be a problem if others in your life have a different vision than yours. It’s important to discuss your personal visions with each other, to come to a similar vision that you can work on together, and to get expectations out in the open.

Dianna shared some questions from a financial survey that she works through with her clients.

She noted that while our lifestyle has increased, our disposable income has dwindled. We need to do some serious thinking about our retirements, to think about what that will look like for us, to consider how much we will need to live on, what about illness, what about travel plans, vehicles, dental care and so on.

Consider paying off your house as soon as possible.

Track your spending for awhile to see what you really spend and where. Start paying everything by cash and with only one credit card.

She suggested that we may want to consider a career change, one that would take us into our 70’s. So start now to think about alternate careers that you could enjoy and that could supplement your income now and later on a part-time basis. Choose something that is your passion – it will meet and address our emotional need. Often when we don’t have our emotional needs met, we self-gift ourselves by spending too much.

(Dianna Meyer is a Certified Management Accountant with over thirty years of experience in financial management and consulting.  She currently practices on a part time basis while she pursues her alternate career and passion, opening a Pilates Studio in Cochrane.

You may contact her for a consultation at diannam@shaw.ca or by calling 403-981-3033.)

Lynn's Presentation on "Intentions"

Lynn Thomson, who gave us a great presentation on "Intentions" at our last meeting, has graciously agreed to let me post my notes here for you. Enjoy!

******************************

We often use the word “you” to keep things at somewhat of an arm’s length. It becomes more powerful when we use the word “me” instead.

(Lynn drew a bull’s eye diagram with ME in the center, OTHERS in the next circle and COMMUNITY in the outer circle.)

We need to claim the ME space. Think about ME and the roles I play.

Then Lynn had us do a “Falling Still” exercise. Sit straight and comfortably with your feel flat on the floor. Close your eyes.  Now breath in – all the way to our toes – and then breath out. Repeat this several times and pay attention to your breath – how the air feels cool as it enters and warm as it exits. When she had us open our eyes, she made the comment that breath has the power to make you lose your mind and come to your senses.

Lynn then took us through a series of questions.

What made me get up this morning?

(Don't overanalyze this - just a simple answer like - to go to work)

We were then asked to define the word Intention.

Ÿ    Goals

Ÿ    Reason

Ÿ    Purpose

Ÿ    Choice

Ÿ    Motivation

Ÿ    Commitment

Ÿ    Wants

Ÿ    Desire

It can be more helpful to set intentions for the day than to set goals. Consider setting your intention for the day in the morning – perhaps by doing the Falling Still exercise. If you have an intention set for the day, it makes it easier to measure your success at the end of the day by how well you kept or acted upon your intention.

What was my intention in coming to the meeting tonight?

(and you are not allowed to use the word “should”!)

Ÿ    Build relationships here that then affect my client relationships too

Ÿ    Meet other business women, to learn more about the CBC

Ÿ    Share my business

Ÿ    Learn

Ÿ    Socialize (and get to have some adult conversation J )

Ÿ    To challenge and encourage

What needs to happen here to keep me coming back?

What would make the CBC really successful for me?

(We discussed a bit about celebration – What does that look like for me? Note: Celebration cannot have guilt attached to it.)

Where do we network?

Ÿ    At sports events

Ÿ    Moms groups

Ÿ    Organizations

Ÿ    Hobbies

Ÿ    Volunteering

Ÿ    Church

Where do I network?

What is something specific I want to walk out of here with tonight?

What do I have to offer?

Lynn finished her presentation with this list of Rules for Networking.

Ÿ    Be open-minded

Ÿ    Be prepared

Ÿ    Treat all as equals as a source of your referrals and info (ie, the waitress as well as the leader or speaker)

Ÿ    Don’t be afraid to ask

Ÿ    Don’t waste resources

Ÿ    Give without expectation of return

Ÿ    Always say thank you

Ÿ    Set realistically achievable goals

Ÿ    Be committed

Lynn then took us through a networking exercise where we met each other member. We teamed up two by two and were each given 45 seconds to give our elevator speech and to ask a specific question of the other person. As in, this is what I do in my business, and tonight I am specifically looking for such and such.

A great presentation – very practical. Thank you Lynn.

(Notes by Evelyn Marinoski)

Invitation to learn about Social Media for your business

Hello Chicks,

 

Social Media is the in thing when it comes to marketing these days. If you're like me, that feels like a daunting task to add to all the other stuff I already do.

 

However, if you would like to learn about it, the Cochrane Business Network is bringing in a speaker for their next meeting on Friday, April 8 at 7:30 am, who will be filling us in on why and how to use social media.

 

The fee is $10. You can sign up and pay online at http://calgarybiz.net/cochrane/ or you can pay at the door this time. We do need a head count, so if you could let me know you're coming that would be great.

 

The meeting is next Friday morning in the Community Room at Cochrane Toyota.

 

Thanks,

Evelyn

Gala Awards

As you know, the Chamber is hosting the Community Gala Awards on Sunday May 29th  from 2-5pm, at the RancheHouse, in the Chinook Dining Room. 

I would like to invite the Cochrane Business Chicks to attend.  The Cochrane Business Chicks were nominated for the Business of the Year Award in 2009 and although we did not win, it gave the group great exposure in the community. 

The tables are sold in groups of 8.  It would be great if we could fill one or two tables.  Tickets are priced at $26.25.   You are welcome to invite a spouse, significant other, family members or friend(s). Tickets can be purchased at the Towne Offices, IGA or Chamber Offices, online at the Chamber website.

Please consider attending and REMEMBER, it you know of someone, or a business in town who is deserving of one of the awards, please go to the Chamber website and nominate them.  Nominations close April 8th, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.

Thanks!

Vinny

March Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting March 28/11

Registration – fees & nametags

A display table was provided for business cards and promo materials.

Meeting began at 7:00 pm.

Welcome by Vinny

A member business presentation was made by Kym Johnston of BioDry Carpets.

Followed by a Feature Presentation by Lynn Thomson on Intentions (Notes to be posted later). This also included a networking session.

Chamber Announcements by Vinny

Evelyn noted that a Bank Account has now been set up for the CBC.

Request for approval to register a new domain name  ($15.70/yr) – moved by Dianna Meyer, seconded by Jeannie Kennedy, passed.

April meeting date – last Monday in April is Easter weekend – so agreed to move the April meeting date to the week prior - April 18

Discussion re elections. It was agreed that we would have a business year end date of June 30. Elections to be held in June so that the new leadership can start with the fall session in September.

Dianna Meyer volunteered to be our treasurer. Moved by Jeannie Kennedy to accept this and to have Dianna added as a signing authority to our bank account, seconded by Kathy Haigh and passed.

Sandra Scott volunteered to be our secretary. Both accepted with thanks!

Because of time, there was only a brief Presentation re Mastermind groups. It was agreed that those who are interested in being part of the mastermind program are to meet on April 11 at Evelyn’s place to set up the groups and get started. Responses will need to be given to Evelyn as soon as possible so the results can be e-mailed to the group prior to the meeting.

Meeting adjourned.

March Meeting

Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is on

Monday, March 28

at 7:00 pm

at the Days Inn in Cochrane.

We are having our own Lynn Thomson as our guest speaker to do a special workshop with us. I was told not to give out the topic, as it’s a surprise, but while we will be working on this for our group, this can also be a great tool to use for your business. So come prepared to get involved and to learn lots.

By now you should have received an e-mail from me (Evelyn) personally in regard to the CBC Directory Listing info needed and the info we need for the Mastermind group selections. Please respond to that as soon as possible.

Oh yes, a reminder. If there is anyone else who would like to do a 10-15 minute presentation on their business at this meeting, please let me know ASAP (deadline is Friday, Mar 25).

Please bring your business cards and any promotional materials you have for your business. We will have a display table available for those. Also come with your elevator pitches for your introductions.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday!

Evelyn & Vinny

Cochrane Labour Day Parade

Ever consider entering the parade as an advertising vehicle?  An opportunity to promote Cochrane Business Chicks and increase membership?  And to have a lot of fun!

I am also a member of Chickwagon! Foundation for Women and we have a parade float and chick costumes.  There may be an opportunity to use their parade float and costumes to promote our organization.

There will be some costs in changing the float banner and finding a tow vehicle. 

Anyone interested?

Wendy Petryk

GALA Awards

Note: Information about the Cochrane Community Awards can be accessed on the town website at Cochrane Community Awards or on the Cochrane Chamber of Commerce site (bottom of page).

From Vinny:
Many of our ladies may not know that the annual gala awards are for ALL businesses in Cochrane.  There may be a business or business person in amongst our group that is worthy of recognition but who may be missed because members do not know about the awards.

Nominations can be sent to the Chamber of Commerce web address between now and April 8^th @ 4 pm.  Nomination Forms are online also.

Also Chamber AGM is March 30^th. Anybody is welcome to attend.  Again, they can nominate someone for one of the Board positions coming available.

Thanks,

Vinny

PS. Information about the Cochrane Community Awards can be accessed on the town website at Cochrane Community Awards or on the Cochrane Chamber of Commerce site (bottom of page).

You're Invited to Jeannie Kennedy's lia sophia Show!

Jeannie has invited us to her lia sophia Jewellery Show - check out the details at this link - http://www.liasophia.ca/sites/judyswebb/evite?pid=156548&eid=35121&T=1300243983861

When

Saturday, March 19, 2011
2:00 PM

Where

69 West McDougal Road
COCHRANE, AB T4C 1M4

Questions?

Contact Jeannie at (403) 466-7791

The February Meeting

Greetings Chicks,

Our next meeting will be:

Monday, Feb 28

7:00 pm

at the Days Inn

Fee: $10/person, 

$5/guest 

(OR $100 membership per year – those who paid the $10 last time can just add $90 more for their year membership)

Agenda:

Our main features for the evening will be:

Vinny will do about a 45 minute session on Introduction to Personal Type Preference and how this enables communication in relationships and in a group/team environment to be significantly enhanced.  Each person present will do the tool so they can identify their type preference and learn more about

1. the way they get and stay energized

2. How they prefer to gather information

3. How they prefer to make decisions

4. How they organize their world. 

Vinny will also touch briefly on The 5 Love languages and how knowing yours and your personal style allows you to give and receive mutual love and respect in all your relationships.

Please let us know if you will be attending so I can bring enough handouts.

Quite a number commented that they would like to learn to speak in front of others or better present their business. So Evie will do a session on creating your elevator pitch and you’ll each get a chance to try yours out in front of the group. We may even open it for input from the group

Thanks,
Evelyn & Vinny

Some notes from our last meeting.

We explored the possibility of a room elsewhere but Vinny & I decided that the Days Inn is the best option for now. So that’s where we will meet on the last Monday of the month.

We will likely not meet for regular meetings during the summer or in November or December. However, we discussed the option of a BBQ sometime during the summer and a Christmas party in November.

We will also look at doing another retreat in spring of this year.

We decided for the regular meetings not to have munchies, so we’ll just stick to coffee, tea and water.

We decided on a $10 fee per meeting. Or for those who didn’t want to fuss with that each time, they could pay a $100 membership fee for the year (that would be prorated per quarter for those who join later). The fee for first time guests will be $5.00.

Thanks to all of you who filled in the sheets on what you would like to give to the group and what you would like help or encouragement with.

Meeting One Another

MEETING ONE ANOTHER

5 STAGES OF GROUP FORMATION

& DEVELOPMENT

For those of you who attended our first Business Chicks meeting of 2011 last night, I hope your experience was a good one.  Coming together or meeting new people in a group setting can sometimes be an overwhelming, nerve-wracking, or exciting time, depending upon how well you already know the other members of the group, your reason (s) for attending, your level of comfort in a group setting and/or your personality type, or all of the above combined.

At last night’s meeting I shared briefly with those of you in attendance, the 5 stages of group development and the 3 key things that all groups need in order to be a healthy, welcoming environment where all group members can flourish and be nurtured.

Evelyn and I want to facilitate a nurturing, supportive environment for each of you “Chicks” out, to enable each one of you to flourish in your business and also as individuals within the larger group.

Whenever two or more people come together, we have a group.  Each of our individual and unique groups represents “Me” “Myself” & “I”.  ME is the core of who I am (the inside part of MYSELF you only see as I allow you into my space and heart).  How do I and each of your individual groups function together as a healthy unit?

THE 5 STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

1.      Adjourning

2.      Forming

3.      Storming

4.      Norming

5.      Performing

Let’s look at Adjourning.  This stage of the group development process happens when groups are coming to an end or changing in dynamic.  Feelings associated with this stage are:

·         Grief, which might  include sadness, depression, bargaining, denial, anger, and ultimately acceptance

·         Emptiness, isolation

·         Anger (the feelings attached to this emotion are fear, pain or hurt and powerlessness)

·         Disappointment

·         Lack of direction/purpose/immobilized

·         Relief (especially if the group process has been difficult or unhealthy)

·         Exhaustion, frustration  weepiness

These are just a few.  This stage is often experienced in other situations (i.e.” empty nesters”, family units, life transitions, relationships ending).  It is often helpful for groups that are winding down, changing or transitioning to address this stage via debriefing or wrap up sessions.

Forming - “The Honeymoon Stage”.   This stage of group development is much like a new romance in its early phase.  Differences are overlooked.  Everyone is on their best behaviour.  Feelings and thoughts associated with this stage are:

·         Excitement/bonding

·         Uncertainty and curiosity

·         Anxiety and anticipation

·         Nervousness and hopefulness

·         Scepticism and caution

·         Fearfulness and hopefulness about new possibilities/connections

·         “This is great!” “Everyone is so nice!”  “This is going to be great!”

These forming feelings are also common in newcomers or tourists visiting a new country for the first time, new parents, honeymooners, teenagers leaving home to begin their own journey.

Storming – Differences begin to surface.  Every group will experience this stage in varying degrees.  Much is dependent upon the personalities that make up the group and the agenda of each group member.

It is very important at this point, that the group have a process in place to give and receive feedback in healthy ways.  If group members just try to side step difficult issues, or fall prey to “passive aggressive” behaviours, the groups involved simply bounce between Forming and Storming. Ultimately group dynamic is broken or destroyed and the group disbands or divorces. Without intervention in this stage individuals (or the group) literally have feelings of turbulence, as if they are caught up in some inner storm that is about to implode.

Feelings associated with this stage are:

·         Angry (fearful, hurt, powerless)

·         Frustrated

·         Misunderstood

·         Lack of trust

·         Avoidance behaviours

·         Jealousy/assumptions

·         Closed/distant

·         Shock/fury/withdrawal

·         Combative/argumentative

Norming –All groups seek to get to the Norming stage but try to avoid the Storming stage when or if it rears its ugly head. A healthy way to manage this stage is to have a guided “beefs and bouquets” time on a regular basis.

Feelings and thoughts associated with this stage are:

·         Comfortable/accepting/relaxed

·         Secure

·         Freedom

·         Empowered

·         Satisfied

·         Hopeful

·         “I know what to expect and how this group functions”

·         “I enjoy being with these people”

·         “I feel heard and validated

As a Life Management Coach, one of my goals for my clients is to teach them the strategies for giving and receiving feedback in nourishing v. punishing, passive aggressive ways, so that they can enjoy being in relationship with other members of their group (s).

3 Key Things All Groups Need

1.       Genuine care and concern – Everyone in the group needs to know they are important and cared for by the other group members

2.      **Inclusion – all members are included in group process.  New members are brought up to speed quickly, so they also feel part of the existing group.  Each member makes a valuable contribution to the group

3.      Shared Management – Responsibility and ownership of the group rests with all group members

In the Norming Stage, groups that are healthy are beginning to thrive and move towards the final stage of group development which is:

Performing – Group members know and take ownership of the guidelines and expectations within the group.  (This might also be addressed by a clear mission and purpose statement). Some key feelings associated with this stage are:

·         In this stage the group has established some Group Guidelines that each member of the group agrees to live by as a member of the group.  New members also need to be brought into the group and introduced to the Group Guidelines, so that the group continues to run like a well oiled machine (might still require regular check-ups, maintenance to achieve peak performance).

These regular checkups might be things like:

·         Regular educational component or sharing of expertise from within the group memberships

·         Guest Speakers

·         Reminder of Group Guidelines

In February, we will look at “Understanding Your Personality Type” and how it works in a group setting.  Hope you can join us.  What is introversion and extroversion?  Come find out!!

Survey Results

As part of getting the Chicks going again, we sent out a survey to the e-mail list we had.

Thank you to all those who responded. Following are the results to date.

What comes across is a strong sense that the main purpose for this group is what I would call the relational aspect - sharing and exchanging ideas, building relationships, staying connected, and providing support and encouragement (those items highlighted in yellow).

The main methods requested for accomplishing that appears to be networking, socials and retreats (those items highlighted in green). I presume that would also include our regular monthly meetings.

A third component appears to be that of learning (those items highlighted in blue) - which includes professional development, marketing, business promotion and education.

We'll discuss this at our first meeting, but this gives us some great direction and focus to build on.

__23__  Networking

__21__  Share & exchange ideas

__20__  Building relationships

__17__  Staying connected

__16__  Professional Development

__14__  Socials

__12__  Marketing

__12__  Business Promotion

__11__  Retreats

__11__  Education

__11__  Support & encouragement

__9__  Mastermind Groups

__9__  Brainstorming or Hot seat sessions

__6__  Accountability

__3__  Team building

__2__  Other

ü       Possible partnerships on certain community projects

ü       Supporting Activettes, Mustard Seed or other services such as these through donations or participation from time to time

ü       "Community Care/Outreach"

The Chicks are ReHatching!

Yes, indeed - after over half a year of inacitivity, the Cochrane Business Chicks are starting up again. After all, this was just too good a thing to let it die out.

So, we are having our first meeting of the year on Monday, January 31 at 7:00 pm at the Days Inn here in Cochrane.

Hope to see you there.

Evelyn Marinoski & VInny Gibson