By Jill Vater with Jianna Studio Designs

I would have thought that I worked for myself.

But, in fact, I really work for my potential clients, providing people with greeting cards to uplift, Inspire, and comfort them.

There are generic categories for greeting cards: birthday, get well, sympathy, thinking of you, etc. They are created in mass quantities and basically have the same feel and look to them.

I want to change that by making them special and from the heart which is why my cards are created with handmade paper with seeds to plant. Jianna Studio Design cards make giving and receiving a memorable experience.

Planting seeds into the hearts of your loved ones to uplift, inspire, and comfort them.

The major key players in the greeting card industry in the United States are listed in the Greeting Cards Market Report are: Hallmark Cards and American Greetings (as of March 10, 2022).

You may wonder: what are the most popular greeting cards – in terms of everyday cards? Birthday cards are the most popular, followed by sympathy, thank you, wedding, thinking of you, get well, new baby, and congratulations. Birthday cards account for over 50% of the total cards sold (as of January 27, 2022).

Let me take this opportunity to share with you some options for what to write in a greeting card.

Start with “dear” or even “dearest.” Or try “hi” or “hello” or the old-school charm of “greetings.” Add the recipient’s name and you’re off!

Next, write your message on a spare piece of paper first. It’s best to avoid writing directly on the card until you’ve crafted your preferred message. Then, let them know why you are writing. If you’re sending a greeting card that already explains it, skip this step. Otherwise, let the recipient know what got you thinking of them today.

How do you write a heartfelt message or a meaningful letter?

• DO write about anything special, entertaining, or touching that’s happened lately.
• DO write about interesting or significant events in your past and lessons you’ve learned from them.
• DO include anything personally relevant to your reader, like shared interests or hobbies.

How do you end a heartfelt card? Here are some ways to end a letter or a card:

• Best Regards,
• Best Wishes,
• Fare thee well,
• Hope this helps,
• Kind wishes,
• Neighborly Yours,
• Stay tuned, or
• Warmly.

There are so many ways to write a greeting card. Just remember who the card is going to and what purpose or need it provides or fills for that specific individual.

Write the words freely from your heart. It will mean more to the person reading the card.

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By Ceone Leistner with ENJO Canada

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I represent ENJO. Our founder, CEO and amazing leader is Johannes Engl. (Can you figure out where the company name comes from now??)

Johannes was a chef; he had no plans to start a business let alone a business that would be in over 26 countries around the world. So, how did that happen?

Back in 1985, Johannes’ father Friedrich Engl observed an oil spill on Lake Constance near his home in Austria. Watching the proceedings made him start to think that there must be a better, healthier, and more effective method of cleaning up the leaked oil. So, he began his endeavour to find a fabric that would be better to filter the oil out of the water. During this research, he found that one of the fibers he created and tested was able to clean deep into the pores of different surfaces. This was the beginning of what would become ENJO.

Johnannes took his father’s idea (and that fabric) and founded ENJO in 1990. The fabric was sewn into a glove, and he went around Austria sharing how cleaning with this fuzzy mitt was so effective. Soon he developed a line of ENJO gloves and ENJOfils (drying cloths) and the idea was catching on because people realized that cleaning could be easier and more effective without being harmful to their health or the environment.

The Head Office for ENJO International remains in Austria (Vorarlberg to be exact). He 100% believes in treating his employees the best he can, and the Austrian government has recognized ENJO as a family friendly company for many years. These happy employees produce hand sewn fiber products that must meet his high standards but also in an environmentally friendly method. Recently, he managed to improve his climate neutral company into a climate positive company (because our products not only protect the environment while cleaning, but also during production through to the end of their lifespan when they are collected back by the company and recycled into filler used for cushions, insulation etc.).

Johannes’ high standards have led to OEKO-TEX certification (meaning the products are both environmentally friendly and health-preserving), and 5-Star Dermatest certification.

Johannes is an extremely down-to-earth person who admits that he loves visiting us in Canada (he says Canada holds a special place in his heart). You are bound to find him deep in conversation with anyone that wants to talk, enjoying a walk in nature, or having a blast on the dance floor. I have been fortunate enough to meet him several times. The last time he joined us at our conference in Canada he brought his daughter (Paula) with him. My husband Clint and I joined the two for breakfast one day. How often do you get to literally break bread with the founder and CEO of your company? No matter where you encounter Johannes Engl, I am confident you will be greeted with a quick “Wilkommen.”

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Contact Ceone at cleistner@enjo.ca or 1-705-739-1023

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By Cheryl Clark with Clark Strategies

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R-2 – Roller By, Inc.

What is this you may ask?  It is my absolute favorite pen ever!  It is a Dollar Store item! 

True story – I go to the Dollar Tree every now and then and buy multiple packages of them, so I never run out.  They come in multiple colors, and you can bet I own every color they do come in, but I only buy multiples of the blue and black inked ones (the ones I use most commonly or the ones I expect others in my office area to steal). 

If I opened my drawer beside my desk, you would see there are five to six packages of the blue and black inked R-2 Rollers sitting there just waiting to be used.  They come two to a pack so you can do that math!

However…

What a learning curve it was using this product to do this blog challenge!  Discover who really owns my favorite product?  I chose this pen before I knew what choosing this pen would truly mean.

It taught me a rather large lesson.

Go ahead Google my favorite pen!  This task is easily done and right away up comes page after page of where you can purchase it!  I truly never knew it was available anywhere else but the Dollar Tree, so I sure learned a small lesson here!  The Dollar Tree retail store is not the only distributor, and well I can say I let out a small happy sigh knowing should my local store ever not have stock, I have options!

Go ahead and Google my favorite pen and learn about who owns it, how it came to be, how many are sold, what countries it is sold in, find reviews on it, find how long the company has been in business, who the founder is, what their mission and or value statement is and where we can send them a thank you card! 

Good luck!  

I aborted my mission but not before several attempts of putting in various words and re‑arranging said words in hopes of finding what I was in fact looking for.  Roller Pen, Roller pens by Inc., Pens by Inc., R2 Pens, R2 Pens by Inc., R2 Pens made by Inc., and so on and so on.

I wanted a warm fuzzy moment.  I wanted to read thousands of these pens are sold every day across the globe and that the owner of Inc. is a huge humanitarian with a heart of pure gold.  I wanted to read they have been in business for 15 years and are a stable company that will always be around.  I wanted to read…. I wanted to read!

Instead, I got page after page of where to buy!

Oh, the learning moment for me – thanks to this blog topic. 

Is it still my favorite pen?  Absolutely.  However, I feel like now it’s lacking a further connection.  I don’t know how else to articulate this.  Will I still buy it?  Yes – FOR NOW.  Historically those words “FOR NOW” would not be there if I found a ‘story’ to buy into with my heart and brain – I am buying in with my debit and credit card, but now I feel like my heart and brain are lacking a buy-in moment that so easily could have been there.

If your Google skills are better than mine – Hook me up will ya!?

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By Jamie Allen Bishop with Jamie Allen Bishop Coaching

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Company owner: Jamie Allen Bishop

Favorite product owner: Eric Yuan

Research fiend here!

Do you like or dislike research? Why? What brought you to that conclusion?

The interesting thing about research is that when we investigate, we are likely to “prove” (or spin) our viewpoint/subject matter in whatever direction we choose. Research is malleable that way.

For me, research often leads to finding a different truth than originally intended. Since most people don’t enjoy being wrong, most people don’t enjoy research. In fact, I suspect this overlooked complication of doing research is why many of our group’s business owners will resist answering this call to action – writing for this BLOG prompt.

I know I did – struggled with submitting my written account of what I found to be true.

But I can’t preach what I am not willing to do. To be an authentic leader, I must lead by example. As such, I am setting aside all concerns about what others may think about this answer to showcase a brave answer to this wise question.

Who do I really work for… meaning who owns my companies?

No one. Not even me.

Here’s why.

I think of ownership as a means through which something endures. As such, I must ask myself what would exist of my company if I were no longer running it.

That answer is nothing. Nothing would exist. It would fizzle away into oblivion.

While I take pride in the fact that none of my companies are indebted to any bank or credit company, none of my businesses would exist without me.

That is a HUGE problem.

Have you heard of Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad? In his book, he posed a cash-flow quadrant system to outline why some people are poor and some are, indeed, rich. This financial freedom chart includes the following: employee (time = money), self-employed (time = money), business owner (employees = money), and investor (money = money). The only way to become truly and independently wealthy is through being an investor… removing people and time from the equation.

I have a plan in place to delve deeper into business ownership, and with this question at the forefront of my mind, I realize I need a better plan to gain faster traction on transitioning from business owner to investor.

This awareness is a bit of a slap in the face and a solid motivator.

Kudos to you, Julie Rose, for being our resident legal mastermind.

As for who the heck is Eric Yuan? Mr Yuan owns ZOOM. Without the launch of his web-based video conferencing software started in 2011, none of my businesses would exist. I may owe him much more than my annual licensing fee.

Perhaps I’ll send Kiyosaki and Yuan unsolicited checks when I reach full investor status. How fun will that be?

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By Suzy Rawlins with Roots and Boots with Suzy Rawlins

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“The measure of a (wo)man’s greatness is not the number of servants (s)he has, but the number of people (s)he serves.” ~John Hagee

For many people it takes years of difficult life lessons to realize that working with a servant’s heart is the only way to build a worthy life. My story is no different. For decades, I was in survival mode.

Recently I became aware of how much I have grown as a person who embraces her true and authentic self because of the path that led me to this… to right now… to this very moment.

I worked in many industries including restaurants, childcare, construction, auto leasing and repossession, sales, insurance billing, and customer service. These experiences served my personal growth and helped me build skills I call upon today. However, none of my work history felt like it was my calling.

The opportunity to be part of the network marketing industry has been another blessing. The chance to learn from incredible mentors has given me the courage to lean deeper into my purpose.

God didn’t give me an entrepreneur opportunity just to provide for my family. He gave me this platform to impact others through beliefs, education, and business.

Right now, I am waiting on me to take all I have learned to help them. My business is a vehicle to do God’s work. As I lead with a heart of service, I have greater impact. I show up for those who need what I have to offer and leave the outcome up to God. 

Who do I REALLY work for? To me, that is simple to answer. I work for God through the people He brings into my life, serving and blessing us both with our shared values and talents.

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By Wil Becker with Turning Leaf Solutions

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When I heard about this topic, I immediately thought about the people that I have partnered with. While I have my own coaching business, I also have a partnership with two of INC Magazine top leaders, Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. They have been business partners for about 30 years!

Brady and Woodward started out in the network marketing industry with a well-known company. However, they landed in an ethical dilemma and felt it would be better to leave the company to do their own thing. When word got out, 50,000 people left with them. The company decided to sue Brady and Woodward because when they left, one-third of the company’s income left with them. (Yes, their share of the profitability was creating about one-third of the income for that company.)

While this was heating up, Brady and Woodward had published a book titled, Launching a Leadership Revolution. This book shot up the New York Times Best Seller list and landed them in the world of international leadership. Their work has provided numerous speaking and teaching opportunities around the globe.

What Brady and Woodward learned through the trial and speaking engagements was how much they enjoyed actively leading people. In November 2011, they launched a new company called Life Leadership. This company teaches the three keys to building wealth: leadership, financial literacy, and systems. This has become their signature program known as Building Business Systems. Their goal is to create 1,000 leaders who then help 1,000,000 people get out of debt and live a financially abundant lifestyle.

I was first introduced to Brady and Woodward through their teaching audios. A friend on Facebook tagged me on a post, and I responded to the topic. Another person responded to my comment and that sparked a conversation. This discussion piqued the interest of Melissa and DJ Berezay, one of Brady and Woodward’s top 1,000 entrepreneurs, who sent me some of their learning packs. Because I had already been on a journey of learning and self-education, I was excited to join their training program.

The audio teachings of Brady and Woodward helped to strengthen the foundation I had been building. The knowledge and education that would come through the Life Leadership program helped to accelerate my personal growth and development! My self-taught leadership skills have continued to grow and flourish with the Berezay’s guidance. Their encouragement and support prepared me to join Cheryl Clark and Jamie Allen Bishop’s networking call and be a benefit to them. It also prepared me to be humble and willing to learn through their networking group and trainings.

I cannot begin to put in words my gratitude for what Brady and Woodward started with the Life Leadership program, for the Berezay’s and their leadership system, and for what Cheryl and Jamie have done to help me grow into the leader and coach I am today.

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Contact Wil Becker at events@turningleafs.com or 1-443-404-7142

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