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From the 9-5 Grind to Consultant – How do you know when the time is right?

I’ve met so many people who are frustrated and unhappy in their jobs/careers and they long to be their own boss. Sunday anxiety, Monday morning blues and Friday euphoria are the norms.  Sadly only a minute few will ever take the steps to get to the holy land of Entrepreneurship.

When I ask “Why?”, I get a slew of what I’ll call excuses.  I’m here to debunk the myths and give you some “real talk” on what it takes.

  1. MYTH: Not Enough Money REAL TALK:  I’ll push back and ask “So, what IS enough money for you to have the life you want?”  No one can ever give me a real dollar amount.  What it comes down to is fear of the unknown and the unwillingness to make some luxury sacrifices.  No, you will never really have enough money because most people, the more money they get the more they spend and it’s a vicious cycle.  Which goes back to the sacrifices.  In order to leave your full-time job with benefits, most start-up entrepreneurs have to give up a few things.  (Take my income reality test here)
  2. MYTH: Not enough Time REAL TALK:  Everyone has 24 hours in the day, out of that you should sleep for 7-8 hours.  Most people work for 8 hours a day, toss in some commuting and dealing with life things – say another 4 hours.  That leaves 4-5 hours every day that you can be working on getting what you want.  Most people waste a ton of time on things that aren’t going to serve their purpose of getting out of their 9-5 job.  Sure reading a good book is fun, binge-watching Netflix is as well, playing video games, cellphone games – the list goes on.  Make it a priority, just like eating and sleeping
  3. MYTH: Not Ready. REAL TALK:  Like having enough money, you will never be ready.  What you do need to know that DONE is better than PERFECT and you have to start somewhere.  Eat the elephant one bite at a time versus trying to eat it all at once.  You don’t need the fancy office now, hell you don’t even need business cards – all you need is you and maybe a notepad and pen.
  4. MYTH: If I fail, my life is over.  REAL TALK:  Every entrepreneur I know (including myself) has failed more times than they care to think about (including yours truly).  Failure is just part of the process, accept it in fact embrace it.  The more you fail, the more you learn.

Regret is a horrible thing.  Putting off until tomorrow rarely works, because tomorrow you’ll put it off again, and again until tomorrow doesn’t come.  I’ve seen it too many times.

As the famed Wayne Gretsky said – “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”.

From the 9-5 Grind to Consultant – How do you know when the time is right? Read More »

The Post Retirement Entrepreneur

“I’m ready to retire, but not ready to stop working, stop using my brain, stop… doing.”

When you have spent most of your life in Corporate America – leading teams, driving change, mentoring generations – retiring to Boca or moving to the Villages isn’t always an easy transition for some.

In fact, many recent retired execs I speak with feel lost but, more importantly, feel the need to take what they’ve learned and do something meaningful with it – they want to leave a legacy, they want to make a difference.  This mindset often results in joining a board, volunteering, or even opening their own company and working as a consultant or coach OR all the above.

It all makes sense.  Many retirees live 20-30 years post retirement and if they truly loved their career why not continue working and giving back, sharing knowledge, and padding the “fun fund” while they’re at it.

Here are some interesting facts I’ve discovered about my fellow Boomers who are opting to be entrepreneurs for the first time. (note this is based on my personal connections – not some deep market research!)

  1. It’s not about the money – it’s about the meaning, the mission, and the legacy.
  2. Speaking of money – most don’t NEED to match their corporate salary, in fact, most shoot for 50-100K per year.
  3. Most opt for service-based industries – such as coaches or consultants because the startup cost is not huge and the transition is seamless. They aren’t learning new skill sets.  YET – some opt to go in a completely NEW direction including retail.
  4. More often than not – they prefer to go solo. No employees but bringing in contract workers if needed since many managed large teams for decades.  “Been there done that” is the mantra.
  5. Flexibility is important. They don’t want stress, they want to work when they want and vacation when they want.  They are “retired” after all.
  6. If they are consultants – they are insanely picky about who they will work with. It goes back to enjoying the journey not building an empire.

If you are approaching the magical sixties and aren’t really ready for retirement, but are ready to exit your current job – perhaps entrepreneur life is for you.

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Personalize your Marketing efforts

Everyone (well, most people) wants to be noticed, loved, accepted and validated. It’s human nature.  So many marketing efforts forget this very important fact when they are building out their strategies and campaigns.

Put YOURSELF into your CUSTOMERS and PROSPECTS shoes.  It’s the Golden Rule – do unto others.  When clients ask me if something they’ve done is good, or if it will work, I ask them what they would do if they were one of their customers and THEY got that email, saw that billboard, saw that ad?  When they tell me their response – I say “exactly” – good or bad.

So, what are top brands doing to increase engagement and conversion?  They are getting deeply personal.

  • Know your data, your audience, and their actions. You don’t need a multi-billion dollar budget to do this – you just need a system.  It’s important that you are looking at your email open rates, your Google analytics, and your social engagement on a consistent regular basis.  Know what’s working and what isn’t.  More importantly, you want to SEGMENT out your DATA.  Find the highly engaged followers or readers and give them more, more, more of what they are looking for.  Next, you want to do a deep dive on who those high engagers who convert to clients are – what is their demographic?  If you find commonalities, you are building your TCP – your target client profile.
  • Personalize your delivery. From simply adding a first name or company name within an email marketing campaign to redirecting email and social media campaigns based on behaviors and actions taken, to highly personalized website experiences based on previous actions or their demographical makeup.  Artificial intelligence will play a big part in all of this over the next 5 years – in fact, big brands are already using it.
  • Be real. Once again I’m preaching authenticity.  Your customers want to know that you “get them” – the only way to do that is to be on their level and connect with them.  You won’t appeal to everyone but you will appeal to those who love love love you – and don’t you want them as clients versus the ones that could give a rat’s ass about you?  Enough said on that subject 🙂

In the end, you have to connect with your clients and prospects on a deeply emotional level.  Heart and soul, transparency, storytelling, BFF personal kind of level. When you do – the magic happens.  Try to constantly be pitching and making assumptions – rarely works.

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Insuretech: Virtual Property Claims Management in the P&C Space. Win/Win for Carriers, Agents and Insureds

Insuretech surely isn’t a new buzz word, but it is ever evolving.  From digital agency management systems to sales platforms and claims management – the P&C industry is slowly embracing the wonders of technology.  Albeit far slower than other industries.

When it comes to claims management, specifically in the property space, many carriers are heavily reliant on the human factor.  As far as I know, we don’t have robotic teams going out inspecting CAT events, chimney fires, building collapses, and the like – but we are using drones, video technology, and more.

For many insureds and claims adjusters, the pain comes from cataloging personal and/or business property before and after a loss.  In many instances, an adjuster will visit the scene of the loss multiple times to take pictures, inspect areas, review data, etc.  The process is slow, painstaking, and, in some instances, can be incomplete.

The use of technology to capture the value of not only the property, but the contents before and immediately after a claim, and then having access to that data throughout the claims process and even during a litigation situation, cannot only can save time, but more importantly, it’s a TRUE representation of the property and contents.

I spent some time chatting with Grant Breck, CEO and Simon Wojcik, COO of BeThere Virtual Tours.  The two hail from Australia and are changing the way insurance claims are handled.

Beck, a former carpenter turned specialized fire investigator & insurance claims adjuster became frustrated with the process of property claims management.  “During the claims process,  I would have to go back to the scene multiple times, inspect, take pictures, and then analyze the data.  Often there were no before images to compare the post claims images to, and to add to the frustration, we were reliant on the insured to remember what they had, what was lost.  The process was slow, it was painful, and surely not cost effective.  It never gave a true indication of the situation,”  said Beck.

Beck knew that using technology was the answer. More importantly, he knew the quicker a snapshot post claim was taken, the more accurate the data would be.  That’s where Simon Wojcik comes in.  Wojcik is an expert in immersive technologies specifically in the 3D Virtual Space.  Beck and Simon collaborated to launch BeThere™ Virtual Tours.  Combining the insurance and property expertise from Beck with Wojcik’s technology magic.

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Their pitch?  “What if you could walk through any claim, at any time, right from your desktop”.  No sifting through hundreds of ill taken pictures, no going back and forth to the scene. Within 48 hours of a claim, the adjuster, the carrier, and even the insured can view the BeThere 3D Inspection including a virtual tour of the whole property, 360 degree images as needed – ceiling, entry points, yard, doll house view (3D view), Floor plan, schematic floor plan (volume/measurements) and tour location specific data (images, photos, inspection site notes).  Here’s a sample of what they can do.  (CLICK HERE)  or scan the QR Code below.

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Why should Carriers Care?

What I love about this Insuretech process is it doesn’t replace the human factor, it just enhances it.  We still need experts to analyze data, but now with BeThere’s technology, it can be done a hell of a lot quicker and more accurately.  During a CAT event, teams of 3D technicians can be deployed quickly and the data qualified and quantified far easier.  Thereby reducing the time to get insureds back on their feet.

Quote from one of our carriers

\”Be There is an incredibly useful tool which has successfully identified fraud by exaggeration for a total loss contents claim valued at $250,000 and as a result, our business has been protected from this significant financial loss.  The software is simple and easy to navigate which makes claims processing much more efficient. Absolutely worth the investment\”  

Stacey, Fraud and Investigations Department, Auto & General Services.

Overall this type of technology offers:

  • Faster Claims Processing Times.
  • Increased Auditing Capacity
  • Decreased Travel time and Expenses For field agents
  • Reduction in False Claims
  • Reduction in Over Quoting
  • Increased Customer Experience for Agents and Insureds

In an era where insurance carriers are struggling to be heroes, adding to the customer experience is a big one.  “Using our technology in the personal homeowners’ insurance space brings so much value back to the insured.  As part of pre-binding field inspection, a 3D snapshot is taken of the property and the contents.  Yearly updates can be done upon renewal.  In the event of a claim or CAT event we have an extremely accurate picture of what the property and contents were,” says Grant.  “One of the biggest frustrations I’ve heard from insureds in my years out in the field was trying to account for all their personal property after a fire and trying to create a picture for the claims adjuster of what their house looked like, where everything was and the condition of the home and the property.  Our technology is the ultimate inventory taker.  We can literally look into every closet, every cabinet, and every corner.  No stone is left unturned.”

Will robots replace humans in the claims process?  Probably not in my lifetime but introducing technology like Grant and Simon’s into our current claims process on the P&C side just makes sense.  The great news for carriers and insureds – the Australian team has perfected their process to make it very affordable to everyone involved.  I don’t know about you, but a carrier who teams up with these two will have a leg up on their competition.  When will they head stateside?  Grant noted it was already in the works.  Stay tuned.

To learn more about BeThere and all the cool stuff they are doing – visit WWW.BETHEREVT.COM.AU

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Email in Her Forties and Going Strong

In 2018, marketing email celebrated a 40 year anniversary – crazy to think this was happening when I was in high school – but it was!  The first mass email was sent in 1978 by Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation to 400 potential clients. Mr. Thuerk claims that email resulted in $13 million worth of sales – more importantly it was an AHA moment.  Email marketing worked and well – the rest is history.

I’ve heard email marketing is dead.  For the 1000th time (or more) I’ll say “Nope, still relevant and effective” to the naysayers.

I’ll also tell people – the more the merrier.  I get looks, gasps, and OMG I can’t spam my clients with email.

If the content is GREAT, you aren’t spamming – you are bringing value. 

Not everyone on your list will read every email you send out.

Yes, some will go to spam.

Yes, some firewalls will block you.

Yes, you will get some opt-outs  Who cares?

How do you win?

  1.  Sanitize your lists. If they haven’t opened an email in 90 days – remove them.  They aren’t interested.
  2. Let them Opt in. We’ve all added folks to our email lists, and I’ve known more than one company who has bought lists.  The BEST ROI from your email marketing will come from an opted in list or lists.  If someone opts in – they want to get information from you.  It’s really that simple.
  3. People DON’T want to be sold to. People do want opportunities, they do want to solve pain points, they do want to add value and pleasure to their life. THEY want to make that decision based on information they’ve garnered and digested.  If you are constantly asking for the sale and offering no value in return – you will get deleted.  Go back and look at the emails you’ve read AND ones that you’ve taken action from.  WHY did you do it?  Your customers are no different.
  4. Tell a story. Your email marketing should be conversational.  People want to feel like they are sitting across a table from you at the little coffee shop on the corner, or sipping a scotch at the local country club – whatever that vibe is – they need to FEEL it when they are reading your emails.  The best brands make you FEEL, they pull you in, and they are masters at FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) as in OMG if I don’t have this I won’t be part of the inner circle or my life will never be the same.  Seems crazy – but FOMO has worked for as long as humans have walked the earth.
  5. Be Authentic. Damn if I haven’t preached this for decades… but I’ll say it again.  You can’t fake it – be authentic. Show your true colors, not the colors of your competitors – you can’t be a copy cat and win.  Just be yourself – you will attract the right clients and the right time and the right place.  Trust me on this one – just be you and let your team be them.

 Happy 41st Birthday Email Marketing – Damn we love you lots and wish you a long long life.

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From Employee to Consultant – the Transition

There is so much damn talent in the Boomer pool.  As part of that generation, I’m continually fascinated by the number of us who have zero interest in really retiring.  Sure, most want to get out of the structure and politics of Corporate USA, but they aren’t ready to drive a golf cart around the Villages in Florida yet – they want to share their brain power and get paid for it.

Many execs I talk to are fascinated with the prospect of becoming a business coach or a consultant specific to their field of expertise – be it operations, leadership, sales or marketing.  Some get even more granular and are industry specific such as finance, manufacturing or insurance.  They want the flexibility, they want to choose who they work with, and they want to feel like they have purpose – that they are creating a legacy.

The roadblock happens when they actually have to launch a business and market themselves.  Most stop at this point and determine it’s not worth the effort – they become overwhelmed and either stick with their job for another 10 years or head to Boca and become snowbirds.

It’s not that difficult to make the transition. It’s a process. 

  • The key is to flesh out your biz idea while at your current job. Let’s actually find out what your target client profile is, what you will charge, what your capacity is, and hell – let’s land a few clients.  In other words – let’s try it before you commit.
  • In the consulting world – you don’t NEED a ton of clients to make 6 figures. You just need the right ones.  (see the first bullet)
  • You do need to be a biz owner – so you have to set up an LLC, get insurance, hire an accountant and an attorney, manage the books and pay taxes – oh and find damn health insurance which is often a big expense. If you can ride the health insurance coattails of a spouse or partner – that’s a win!
  • You do need to market yourself and be a salesperson. This is the part where most execs melt down – but deep breath, this isn’t all that difficult.  No need for a 5 figure website and fancy branding package to start – let’s first see if you like it.  Next, we start with your current network – there is a ton of low hanging fruit to tap into for your first clients.   Once you’ve decided to go forward, setting up a simple website and building out content, nurturing your pipeline and clients will be important.  That’s Phase 2 and you can always outsource that part – marketing is a revenue generator not an expense.

I’ve coached countless people through this process with grand results. Plus, I’m one of “those” – I left my corporate job to become a biz coach and marketing consultant/implementor.  In other words – I’ve been in your shoes.

If you aren’t ready to retire – don’t.  Consider the consultant gig – it’s beyond rewarding on so many levels.  Legacy type rewarding – you are literally will change lives and make a great living doing it…on your terms since YOU are the CEO.

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It’s all about taking ACTION

I’m a huge fan of self-development books, podcasts, workshops – in fact, I’m probably a little addicted.  I’m fascinated by what makes successful people tick.  I guess I’m a bit of a voyeur.  I’m curious, I’m questioning, I’m a dreamer.

All of that is well and good, but the only way to accomplish any type of success is taking ACTION.

You can read every self-help book out there on how to be better at anything, but reading will only get you so far.

Most people fail because they get all hyped up over the process thinking it will be some type of magic pill (been there done that) and then they might implement for a while….and then….it falls apart.

So how do you make it sticky?

You have to really WANT the result, you have to be WILLING to do the work and in the end,  you need to be able to envision yourself in that place of success.  In other words, you have to act like you are already there.  Only then will the ACTION plan work and yes, be sticky.

Here’s how I roll

  1. I literally look in the mirror and talk to myself. I’m willing to do_______.  I want _______so freakin’ bad I can taste it.  I will be downright relentless until I get_________.  (Channeling my Gary Bishop a bit)
  2. I draw a line in the sand as to when I want to accomplish whatever it is I want. This is Channeling Napoleon Hill – a goal is a dream with a deadline.
  3. I tell someone or everyone – so I have accountability. I hate egg on my face.
  4. I create ACTION Plans and break them down into 90 Day sprints. What do I need to do in the next 90 days to get me closer to my goal?

Anything is possible.  You can have anything you want in life if you want it badly enough and are willing to do the work.  I believe that from the bottom of my soul.  It simply takes ACTION.  When the ACTION doesn’t happen – you just don’t want it enough.  #toughlove   Because when you REALLY want something, you do whatever it takes to get it.  Trust me – been there done that too.

What’s your plan?

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Can you envision your future?

One of the first things I do with a new client is ask them what the next 5-10 years looks like for them – in other words, what do they want their life to be?

Most people can’t answer that question or if they do it’s very vague.  Most say they just want to be successful, or be a millionaire.  That doesn’t cut it for me – I want specifics.

When you are crystal clear on what you want, creating the path to get there is far easier to follow and keep yourself accountable.

Here’s how to get started:

  1. Create a vision board, vision book, or write a story about what your ideal life looks like. Include everything you want.  The idea is to get you to a point where you can taste, hear, touch, and feel exactly how your life will look like.
  2. Get a planner or a notebook – you will now be living your life in 90-day increments. Create your first 90 plan – what goals do you want to accomplish by the end of those 90 days – all have to be related to achieving your ideal life.
  3. Create a list of things you will need to DO in order to reach said goals in #2. Be very specific.  If you want to be debt free what are the specific things you will need to do to get there?
  4. Break it down into daily activities – what do you need to do each day to cross the things you created in #3 off your list?
  5. Hold yourself accountable by telling someone else your plan.
  6. Do weekly recaps – where are you, where did you lag, where are you ok? If you are crossing everything off your list without a struggle or a little discomfort it’s probably too easy.  Beef it up a bit. 🙂  If you are struggling to cross anything off – reassess the list.  Are you just not doing the work or were you unrealistic on what you had on there?
  7. At the 70 day mark start thinking about the next 90 days.
  8. Rinse and repeat.

In order to achieve what most people will tell you is unachievable you need to be able to envision your success and start living “As If” you are already there.

Be a dreamer. Adopt the “Yes I can, and Yes I will” mindset.  Write it down.  Take Action.

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Stop asking “what do you do?” – ask this instead…

It seems like every time you meet someone new at a networking event, social gathering, or via an acquaintance the first question people ask, besides the standard “how are you”, is “what do you do?” For some reason I’ve always hated this question. I think it started back when I worked for a manufacturing company because it was always so hard to give a 30 second summary of what I actually did. Sure, my official title was Customer Service Rep., but it really didn’t tell people what I did. Of course, I dealt with customer orders, complaints, and questions, but I also worked on inventory, handled the shipping paperwork, sent invoices, and even helped in various other departments when needed.

It wasn’t just about trying to explain my job, I also had to explain what the company did, which could get technical, but we won’t get into that. But all that aside, what does my job really have to do with me. My job doesn’t define me, I didn’t grow up saying I wanted to be a CSR. Even now with a job title of President, it still doesn’t help you get to know me any better does it?

So, after years of answering and even asking the question “So, what do you do?”, I’ve decided that the phrase is now dead to me. I’ve deleted it from my vocabulary. If you really want to get to know people, start asking them “Who are you, what are you passionate about?”. Here’s why. What you do is such a small part of who you are. Let’s pretend you just asked me “So Jenn, what do you do?” my standard response is “Well Joe, I’m the President of Red Barn Consulting, a sales, marketing, operations, and biz coaching and consulting company. I pretty much handle all the day to day operations and make sure everything gets done.” That’s pretty boring right. You really didn’t learn anything about me – other it’s my responsibility to make sure shit gets done.

Now, let’s pretend you asked me my new go to question about who I am and what I’m passionate about. Here’s how I would respond. “ Hi Joe, thanks for asking! I’m a wife, pet mom to 3 cats and 2 crazy German Shepard puppies, and an avid animal lover. I work for Red Barn Consulting, a sales, marketing, operations, and biz coaching consulting company, and I love what I do because I get to learn new things, work from home so I can spend time with my zoo, and I handle all the operations of the company – I make sure nothing falls through the cracks. I’m also very interested in Real Estate, own a 3 family investment property, plan to get my license eventually, and I LOVE to travel – especially to anywhere in the Caribbean. I have a passion for baking, I’m a neat freak, but I also love spending time outside getting dirty, at the gym, or relaxing in my pool. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies and I’m a Harry Potter dork.”

Which question gave you more insight in to who I really am and what I love to do? Where you able to find anything that we have in common? Asking better questions leads to better conversation and truly tells you about who the person is. I don’t care if you are a CEO, janitor, or mid-level manager. I want to know why we should be connecting. What do we have in common. When it comes to networking, it’s not all business – it is personal and that’s how you make those connections. I want to learn about people, what makes them tick, what do they love to do.

Next time you attend a party, networking event, etc. give my new method a try. And make sure you let me know how it goes. Let’s try to start a new trend!

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Changing Career Gears

Thanks for following our blog, we have a special treat for you today, a guest blogger. Bill Cox is a local Realtor and a recent graduate of our Business Success Framework course. Enjoy Bill\’s blog and POV on how to handle changing careers after 32 years of teaching!

Fifteen or so years ago, while still in the role as a public school teacher, I remember reading about life in the private sector.  Subsequently, I spent hours in conversation with those actually living the life outside of the school walls – how was their career experience different than mine?

The point-of-departure for that difference seemed to be the fact that they would have two, three, or more careers during their working lives, whereas I knew (at the time) that I would be a teacher for 32 wonderful years, and then simply retire.  Life was fairly status quo as a teacher, sure we got the new stream of eager students each year, the biggest changes for those of us at the school would be which grade we taught in a particular year; perhaps which district school we would be assigned to; and often, which zany, empty-suit principal would be making the speeches.  You can tell I loved the kids far more than the establishment, but that is another story.  I’m an old rock and roller.  A trombonist who back in the day donned long hair and (gasp) wore bell bottoms.  I was probably the student my then empty-suited principal would shake his head at.

So eventually, retirement came.  I had the proverbial party and all was grand until it wasn’t.  I was bored. After seven years of retirement it dawned on me that I needed a challenge, I needed to exercise my brain again.  Here’s what I knew: I loved to work and learn new things.  I loved meeting people,  I love helping people through change, and I love helping by supplying creative solutions to whatever the problem is.

I wasn’t really sure how to use my previous experience – how to find the “right” thing to get me energized. Remember, I had the same career for 30+ years and no, I did not have a resume!  I really needed to get over being at-all tentative and look for some like-minded types.

Who was like me?  Who loved all those things I loved?  He or she needed to be outgoing, imaginative, and absolutely fearless about the unknown.  Flexible and motivated!

I found the master, he was a guy who lived right in town who I knew just to say hello – the indomitable, high-spirited Ted Murphy who was really the ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Jimmy Stewart character by reputation.  Unlike the movie character George Bailey who ran the local ‘building and loan’, Ted Murphy was a real estate broker of significant renown.  He and I went to lunch where I confessed I didn’t know much about real estate, and even less about private sector business.  He laughed and told me that what mattered was how I viewed people in general and if I was a good guy. And if I had a sense of humor, of course. I liked him even more at this point, I’m a good guy – he’s a good guy.  Sounded like I hit the jackpot!

His final words of wisdom after that faithful lunch and the words that sealed the deal on my post retirement venture are these:  “You’ll learn, but learn it in the context of staying positive, helpful, and wanting a challenge. “  In other words, it isn’t about the money, it isn’t about the sale, it isn’t about how many awards you get it’s about helping people, staying positive and last but surely not least just have some grit and determination.  Ok – I was in.  From that point on, everything got better and better, and if I was concerned about being bored in retirement or becoming somewhat dull or predictable,  – that was never going to happen in this new environment.

So after a couple of years being in this office, all I can say is that the rapport; the dialogue; the zaniness; the jokes (OMG); and just the SPIRIT of it all makes all the situation comedies on television dull by comparison.

About Bill Cox

Bill Cox has been a resident of the Litchfield community since 1987.  He graduated from Scarsdale High School in New York and holds degrees from Columbia University, the University of Bridgeport, and from Western Connecticut State University.  Bill retired from a 30-year teaching career in Westchester County in 2010 and is currently a Realtor for EJ Murphy Realty.  Bill and his wife, Trudy, live on Avalon Lane in Bantam where they raised their two children.

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