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Elizabeth Gordon interviews Jill Spiegel, author of How to Talk to Anyone About Anything, on the Chic Perspectives Show

Jill Spiegel know How to Talk to Anyone About Anything – and she shares tips, tricks, secrets and more in this exclusive half hour radio interview.  www.jillspiegel.com

Jill talked about sending Mind Messages and how you can use them to create an instant connection with people before you ever open your mouth by using the power of thought to radiate an energy that draws people to you.  Jill’s mind message technique allow people to sense your positive energy which makes them want to talk to you.

I love Jill’s advice on how to converse intelligently on any subject as well as how to handle your popularity gracefully.

We talked about how to translate her powerful connection ideas into the digital world and how to develop and strengthen personal and professional relationships using email, social media, podcasting and videos and still create true personal lasting powerful connections and a level of trust that translates into business.

Jill’s book has some truly magical phrases that win people’s trust as well as a host list of ways on how to start positive conversations or break into other groups when you arrive at an event. She also teaches how to maintain a connection once its formed and build lasting relationships.

Jill gave great ideas and examples of conversation starters and enders that can be used in all kinds of networking situations and advice on how to handle dicey topics like religion, sex and politics without faux pas.

Jill also shared her formula for answering the age old question “What do you do?” authentically, interestingly, and memorably.

Thanks so much for coming on the Chic Perspectives Show today Jill to share your energy, passion and enthusiasm for forming genuine connections in business and in life and build profitable, powerful relationships in our own style to further our Chic Success.

Check out How to Talk to Anyone About Anything and Jill’s other great books, Flirting with Success, Flirting with Spirituality, and The Flirtologist’s Guide to Dating, and the Pocket Pep Talk at www.jillspiegel.com

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Lorraine Chilvers, CEO of Delaney Consulting LLC on the Chic Perspectives Show

CIMG3003Today on the Chic Perspectives Show I got to chat with Lorraine Chilvers, CEO of Delaney, a professional services company that provides financial expertise to businesses.

Lorraine has held some high-level executive positions with Fortune 100 companies, she talked about why she moved from that to being an entrepreneur.  She reveals why given the current economic climate, Delany’s services are uniquely suited to meet the needs of growing businesses.

I always like to ask successful businesspeople about mistakes or failures in their past.  Failure can be a powerful teaching tool and often businesspeople’s own past failures helped create the person they are today.  Lorraine shares what failures she’s observed in the past that have led her to this point in her career.

The economy is still down and people are beginning their plans for 2010.  Since Delaney Consulting provides financial advice to companies, Lorraine gave some great advice to small entrepreneurs.

She also talked about what makes a smaller company such as Delaney different from all the other consulting companies out there.  Delaney is also placing significant efforts towards education, with their “Delaney Learning”  program.  Lorraine talked about why the company is focusing on education.  Lorraine also talked about a new program Delaney is also starting for CEO’s, called Delaney Think-Tank.

A large part of Ms. Chilvers outside life is focused on supporting women.  She is on the board of Zonta, which is part of Zonta International.  She talked more about the work she does to support women.

Lorraine also shared some great advice for women who are in the early stages of their career and deciding whether to start up their own company.  And lastly don’t miss the personal side of Lorraine.  We all have our pre-conceived ideas of “accountants”  – Lorraine tells me, what a CFO really does in her time off…

Thanks Lorraine for being a great guest on the Chic Perspectives Show today.  For more on Delaney Consulting, LLC go to: http://www.delaneyllc.com

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Kimberly Douglas about The Firefly Effect on the Chic Perspectives Show

Elizabeth Gordon & Kimberly Douglas

Elizabeth Gordon & Kimberly Douglas

Want to make your team meeting the most exciting part of the week ?  If so check out this episode the Chic Perspectives Show.


This week I had the pleasure of talking with internationally recognized team effectiveness and innovation expert, Kimberly Douglas, President of FireFly Facilitation about igniting the innovation on teams.  Kimberly has earned numerous awards and recognition and was recently honored with two awards for innovation – the SHRM Pinnacle Award and Facilitator of the Year by the Southeast Association of Facilitators. www.fireflyfaciliation.com

I got the chance to find all about Kimberly’s critically acclaimed book, The Firefly Effect, and how the concepts in the book have been changing the way leaders and managers think about their own creativity as well as that of their people.

Innovation is the way out the recession, says Kimberly. Businesses need to dare more to be different if they are going to survive and thrive through the recession.  Kimberly talked about how everyone can find that spark of creativity within them and what a tremendous corporate asset that can be to businesses.

We talked about the new role of leadership in corporations, no longer is the charge to command and control, but rather to inspire and creative an environment when collaboration can lead to the productive leveraging of all team members unique strengths.  Kimberly talked about how to find untapped talent within an organization.

Next we got into workplace conflict – surprise – you shouldn’t be by it.  Conflict is normal, natural and can be a great impetus for sparking creativity.  Kimberly shared how to make conflict a source of “creative abrasion” and avoid the time wasters of infighting, destructive sarcasm and ego battling.

There’s so much talk about strategic planning in companies, that often the plan is so overwhelming and complex, it causes a scattered focus – which no company can afford these days.  Kimberly shared how to keep the team focused on the marketplace and business goals.

Kimberly talked about how when you tap into the innovation of your team, infinite possibilities become available that can catapult your business results to new heights.   She shares tools and techniques for holding team members accountable and keeping them engaged.

She also shared with us the secrets of the world’s leading thinking styles assessment tool – the HBDI – explained how people can use these practical tips to immediately improve their communication effectiveness.

Kimberly shared some of the projects she has been brought in on and the specific results her company has achieved for clients.  She also shares her outlook for how companies are innovating out of the recession, the opportunities smart companies are spotting and taking advantage of and the changes she says to expect in 2010.

Thanks Kimberly for illuminating your light on some very complex and challenging business issues and reminding us all to look for our own unique spark of innovation – we all have a unique light to shine.

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Mark Allen and Gary Ellis of LockboxData.com on the Chic Perspectives Show

CIMG2972Mark Allen, veteran entrepreneur, and Gary Ellis, marketing and sales professional and graphic design entrepreneur, were in the studio today to talk about LockboxData.com, and online safe deposit box for personal, confidential information and documents that can be accessed from anywhere.

Gary and Mark have been friends for years and attend the same church.  After founding the company, Mark approached Gary this year to help take LockBoxData.com from a developed concept to a marketable business.

Mark talked about how he created Secure Data Systems with Todd Cormack. Todd came up with this idea when his son’s computer crashed. Disasters like that, make you think – wouldn’t it be nice to have somewhere you could store all the important data you might need. So Todd and Mark worked on this concept for several years, developing it as different situations occurred.

Then Hurricane Katrina really showed the team the value a product like this could have in the marketplace. After all, when your hard drive is washed out to sea…you’ve lost it. Katrina victims also learned everything in safe deposit boxes were turned to mush, along with all the documents in their homes.

First Mark and Gary talked about how LockBoxData.com works – it’s really like an online safe deposit box. Mark and Todd built it so you can download, scan or even fax your important documents and data into your account. LockBoxData.com is an encrypted service monitored daily by Trust Guard a third party online security service.

When you sign up for an account you receive a personal encryption key that encrypts your data a second time. The encrypted data is stored in multiple offsite server farms to again assure information is safe and protected.

You set up and manage your account just like you would your computer files. You set and name the folders like you want them, then you download your documents, place them into your folders. For security,

LockBoxData.com will send you an email every time your account is opened.

We then talked about why people need something like this.  Everyone who works on a computer knows to always save your documents; you never know when something might happen.  It’s kind of that way with life,we just never know when something might happen.

Generally in a family, one of the parties handles the majority of the family business, “what if” something happened to that person, would the other know where to locate all the important or critical documents.

Studies have shown millions of dollars are left in bank accounts because something happens to the account owner and no knows about it.

What if you lost all your passwords, lost important personal or family documents, it just goes on and on. There will be a point for all of us, when it’s not “what if” but “when”.

For those whose grandparents or parents are still living, who knows where their important information is located in a time of stress or death.

Mark and Gary spoke about why data security has suddenly become so important for people.

People have so much stuff these days, we can’t keep up with it all. Whether you’re in college or retired, you need somewhere to keep your documents and data where you can easily access them. The world is becoming all internet, online business and transactions. We worry about viruses, hard drive crashed and look for back up resources. There are several out there, some are for documents like Lockboxdata, and others for hard-drive backup.  Once again, the “What if” creeps up…what if your apartment or home burned up, that external hard-drive won’t do you a lot of good, or the boxes in the attic. “What if’ you were on vacation or out of the country and needed a document, could you easily access it?

Mark told the story of when his family went to England, and lost their passports on the way from the airport to the hotel, and how his LockBoxData.com account allowed him to download copies of the passports to take to the embassy.  In a couple of hours they had new passports and were able to travel on to France and enjoy the rest of their trip.

Mark and Gary next explained how people can purchase a box.  They also explained the residual monthly income opportunity for people who work LockBoxData.com as a business.

Thanks Gary and Mark coming into the studio today to talk about LockBoxData.com and how it can be a valuable resource for everyone.

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Mireille Guiliano, author of Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire on the Chic Perspectives Show

It was such a pleasure to have Mireille Guiliano on The Chic Perspectives Show today.  Mireille Guiliano is the bestselling author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, and she came by the studio today to talk about her latest book, Women, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire.

Despite my terrible (terribly non-existent) french accent – we had a great time getting to know each other.  Definitely want to listen in to this great interview with Mireille Guilliano  – she is a woman who knows her stuff and has walked her talk, through many successful adventures and stages in life – she says we live in episodes – and as a transformation goddess myself, I really must agree.

Mireille shares her experiences working at a CEO of a french champagne company in the states, as she headed to the US to lead up their new presence in America.  And how she grew market share of the brand from less than 1% to 23% of the luxury champagne market.

Mireille talks about how make career decisions that will allow you to maximize and achieve your potential and also enjoy your life. Personal branding, enlightened self interest, and getting unstuck and manifesting a magnificent turnaround – are all part of the wisdom she shares.

Her unique french -american perspective is indeed a treasure.  Check out her book and her free websites for all the latest on business sense and sensibility for the chic entrepreneur.

I love Mireille’s philosophy and the book is a delight – definitely pick it up …  some of my favorite of her ideas are:

“Communication skills are the key to a successful career, more than intelligence, knowledge or experience”  — or hard work, I would add  — “The latter might get you the job, but the former gets you promoted” – really, yes, that is how it actually works out there.  Wake up and realize that there is a game, it needs to be played – and you can play it like a woman and win.

“The enlightened career move has to balance talent with passion and opportunity. Nature did not give us the bodies to succeed in certain professions or the minds for others.”  — Stop fighting with nature and instead maximize what you have, Mireille tells us to work with what we’ve got and communicate how we are unique, different and special – because we all are.

We also had an interesting chat about how too much talent can be a burden, and how to make important career decisions by taking into account your life as well as your ambition.

Thanks for stopping by Mirielle and sharing your Chic Perspective with our listeners today (she was on Good Day Atlanta this morning), safe travels back to NY and lovely Paris.  I certainly look forward to applying the art of savoir faire to my business and my life and I know our listeners do as well.  Check out Mirielle Guilliano and her latest book Women, Work & the art of Savoir Faire @  www.mireilleguiliano.com and http://frenchwomendontgetfat.com/

For more on how to be a Chic Success as a Chic Entrepreneur, get all of Season One of Chic Perspectives on CD on download.  Thanks for listening to the Chic Perspectives Show.  Let me know who else’s you like us to get on the show to share how to “succeed in style” – your own personal style, that is  – creating an authentic flourishing business as a unique reflection of yourself, your joy, your genius and your ambition for yourself, your family and the world.

Thanks for being a Chic Entrepreneur.  Until next time, wishing you all Chic Success.   — Elizabeth

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Image Consultant Laurie Mondato on the Chic Perspectives Show

Laurie Mandato

Laurie Mandato

Today on The Chic Perspectives Show, I had on Wardrobe and Style Consultant Laurie Mandato to talk about fashion and style.  As some of you know, my take on “style” has less to do with following the trends and more to do with finding yourself.  Laurie’s philosophy is also all about authenticity and she knows that people feel better when they look good.

Laurie talked about how she empowers women to be confident in the bodies they have, while giving them the tools they need to reach their own version of perfection.  Laurie talks about her passion for working with speakers, authors, executive leaders, coaches and consultants who are stepping into the spotlight and what they can do to match their image to their message so they can feel fabulous and confident in the role of speaker.

Laurie also talked about how she recovered from the fabulous SHINE event put on by Ali Brown in Las Vegas with some scheduled R & R out at Canyon Ranch – a resort I know all too well, having recently spoken there for a few days with my friend and business partner Ana Weber as part of our Your 48 Hour Day seminars.  Tips like this are available on Laurie’s website

Laurie also explains how what you wear on the outside is a reflection of what you feel on the inside and how to use colors, fabrics, and tailoring to enhance you inner light.

There is a strength that comes from expressing your authentic self, and when you find your individual style that you can wear with confidence.

Thanks Laurie for spending time with us today and sharing your Chic Perspective on how entrepreneurs can use style to maximize the first impression they make on others and increase their overall earning power.

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Rich Horwath, author of Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action, today on The Chic Perspectives Show

Rich Horwath

Rich Horwath

Today on the Chic Perspectives Show my guest Rich Horwath talked about business strategy and his new book, Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action.


I love strategy – and you certainly can’t build a flourishing business without a good one – yet so many companies fall down in this area – and it ultimately leads to mediocrity at best and failure at worse.  Want to avoid these unpleasant fates?  Then take your strategy advice from Rich, he’s an expert.  I like simple clean models that help companies make smart and fast decisions and take action – and that’s what I like about Rich’s ideas and advice.

Rich talked about the mistakes big companies often make in the strategic planning process, and his model for defining competitive advantage.

Rich talked about the automakers, and other big business bailouts and whether or not that was really the best thing for our economy, as well as the macro economic implications of such federal stimulus measures such as the cash for clunkers program.

While many CEOs have cited the weak economy as a cause for poor performance in 2009, Rich shares why a business’s performance has little to do with the economy as a whole and much more to do with smart strategy and effective execution.

Bulletproof your business plan, avoid the million dollar mistake, learn the secret to finding a job or getting that next promotion in today’s economy and avoid letting your experience hold your business back – this interview is packed with practical nuggets of wisdom to help you take strategic advantage of the current economy and avoid the certain doom facing many who do not heed Rich’s advice.


Rich and I also got into how to maintain mental agility in the marketplace and the boardroom, innovation and resource allocation, and developing strategic discipline.

Packed with great case studies and insightful ideas to get you laser focused on what you are best at and maximizing the value of that in the marketplace through a killer strategy , definitely check out Rich’s latest book, Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action.

Check out more strategic tips from Rich and his monthly Strategic Thinker publication at www.strategyskills.com. Rich, thanks for taking the time to share your Chic Perspective with us today!

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Peter Bowerman author of The Well-Fed Writer on the Chic Perspectives Show

Peter Bowerman

Peter Bowerman

Today on The Chic Perspectives Show, I got to meet Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer, a fantastic how to guiding to achieving financial self-sufficincy as a commercial freelancer in six months or less.


If you’ve ever wondered how to separate “starving” from “writer”, this book has all the answers you need and will give you a perfect plan for how to turn your writing abilities into cold hard cash.

Peter talked about how businesses of all sizes generate an enormous volume of writing projects, and how in today’s downsized business world, much of that work gets outsourced to freelancers.  If you like to write and don’t mind the fabulous work from home lifestyle that goes along with the occupation, Peter can tell you exactly how to get your share of this huge and growing market for commercial freelance writers.

What exactly is commercial copywriting?  you may ask… well Peter Bowerman shares his wealth of knowledge on this large and growing industry, and why you don’t need a lot of experience to make a well-fed living at it.

Commercial copywriting is a great field for stay at home Moms, and Peter talked about why the work is so popular with women who are looking for a good work, life balance with a profitable career with flexibility and no commute.

Peter talked about what people can be doing right now, to lay the groundwork for a career in commercial copywriting while they may be working at other jobs now.

For a comprehensive review of the industry and how you can start to pick up jobs immediately with little or no experience, check out the latest edition of The Well-Fed Writer at www.wellfedwriter.com

Thanks again Peter for coming on The Chic Perspectives Show today to share your expertise on creating a highly profitable business as a freelance commercial copywriter.

Peter is also the author of The Well-Fed Self Publisher www.wellfedsp.com


Elizabeth Gordon interviews Stone Payton, Sales and Marketing Troubleshooter and author of Never Fry Bacon in the Nude: And Other Lessons from the Quick and the Dead

Stone Payton, Sales and Marketing Troubleshooter and author of Never Fry Bacon in the Nude: And Other Lessons from the Quick and the Dead was on the Chic Perspectives Show

Stone Payton, an accomplished speaker, works directly with CEOs, managers and key employees to help them acquire the disciplines necessary for producing tangible results, faster and cheaper.

In this Chic Perspective, Stone shares his unique formula for achieving SPEED which he defines as the ratio of results to time invested).

Many entrepreneurs desire greater results in their business but feel they are already maxed out on the amount of hours they are putting in as well. Stone explains how to crack this formula so that it works for you. He discusses how to produce greater results in less time.