PEERS | Corvallis Women in Business

Back to the regular PEERS blog schedule…

Good morning and happy Friday.

We met yesterday for our last October meeting and quickly realized, “Oh no! Next week will be November!!! Already?” Which played into Lora’s {Initials Inc} commercial quite well as she announced that there’s ONLY 2 months left for holiday shopping. Holidays and the new year seemed to be on everyone’s mind… Mary and Janelle {Drs. Bugni, Laster, & Jensen} are a general practice dental office and are accepting new patients, especially with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all that candy around the corner. Amy from Carefree Massage offers gift cards for her warm and cozy massages. New member, Tami from University Honda, only has 5 2012 Civics left! An affordable commuter car with excellent fuel economy is hard to pass up this time of year. Elaine {Simply Home Professionals} just renewed her contractors licence(s) and is ready to take on your next home improvement project. Tara {Jeff Mills State Farm} pointed out that your home-owners insurance doesn’t necessarily cover your in-home business. It’s always smart to regularly review and update policies with your agent. Shelley {Alta’s Antiques & Collectibles} would everyone to attend the Downtown Albany trick-or-treat bash this Saturday Oct 27th. …and then stop in to the antique mall for some shopping. Bonnie {Rice’s Gift & Pharmacy} also had some holiday goodies to pass around. Rice’s is a great place to shop for unique gifts. Peg {Pathfinder Travel} reminded us to ALWAYS get trip cancellation insurance. Many people travel for the holidays and well… stuff happens. Don’t get caught without it, plus it’s really cheap. Karen {KidSpirit & GOTR} shared that next week there’s no school on Wed, Thurs, or Fri. Need a fun and safe place for your kiddos to be for the day? Check out their ‘No School Days’ programs. Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} wants you to have great art and graphics for your business cards and print media. But what if you already have some great art? She can help you size it appropriately for all your different printing needs! Lori {Thank You People} suggests standing out from the usual Christmas cards by sending a Thanksgiving card. It’s never too early to tell people that you appreciate them. 🙂 Need a new portrait for your holiday cards or to send as gifts? Amanda {Amanda Photographic} says that the rain can’t stop her from taking awesome family portraits for you. New member, Maureen from Valley Eye Care, encourages EVERYONE to get an annual eye exam… yes, even if you don’t wear glasses. Many eye diseases/conditions have no outward or visible symptoms and like always it’s best to catch it as early as possible. Anne {Remax Integrity} was very excited to share that she was able to help a first-time home buyer get a FIXED 3.25% interest rate after she completed the FTHB course at Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services. She also received 2 grants toward her home purchase! We had a guest yesterday: Cory from Heresco Chiropractic. She’ll visit again next week and hopefully we’ll get to learn more about their office.

Joni {Essentially Healed}was our first speaker yesterday giving us the down-low on essential oils. As a life-long Girl Scout, preparedness has always been very important to her, and her ability to care for her family is no exception. So like most parents she kept her medicine cabinet stocked with the products likely to be used… but they rarely were, and would expire with most of the contents unused. When Joni started her education on essential oils, their uses, and benefits she was also very pleased the learn that they don’t expire. This feature alone would save her time making trips to the pharmacy and money. She shared with us that essential oils are fast acting, have few if any side effects when used correctly {except that you smell wonderful!}, and help your body achieve its natural balance. Some of the oils can be taken orally; under the tongue or in a capsule, others are best used locally on the skin, or even better on the bottom of the foot. Why the bottom of the foot? The skin is less sensitive – especially on babies and children, the pores are bigger, and our feet have reflex points that link to every other part of our bodies. Joni gave us a list of essential oils that should be in every medicine cabinet: Clove – pain and toxins, Frankincense – inflammation and more, Lavender – calming and stress reduction, Lemon – cleansing and mood elevation, Lemongrass – cramping muscles, Melaleuca – soothing and healing, Oregano – immune system support, Peppermint – indigestion and cooling. If you’d like more information on oils or purchasing contact Joni via her web page or facebook.

Nadine was our second speaker and though her businesses are well known within our group and community she decided that with so many new members since her last presentation that she would give an overview of what she does at the Gluten-Free RN and RN On-Call. At RN On-Call Nadine works mostly with health care management and patient advocacy. When many of her clients come to her they’re taking up to 20-30 medications that, while built over time, are infrequently reviewed by the patients {likely multiple} doctors. Her main objective is to help her patients live healthier, longer, and with more independence {from a nursing facility}. For many patients approaching the end of their life they, and their families, have a lot of questions and need more constant or on-demand care. As a independent RN she is able to arrive at a moments notice to give care or be with a patient at the hospital. For more information check out her web page here.

Her second and closely related business is as the Gluten-Free {GF} RN.

Did you know that gluten has the same effect on your brain as morphine? That our brains and bodies CRAVE it? I know mine did {17 months sans gluten has been tough, but worth it!}. Nadine’s office is a well of information on Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance; gathering information from around the globe including GF research centers on the East Coast and Chicago. 10 years ago Celiac Disease seemed very rare {it wasn’t}, but with better testing methods and recognition of symptoms the numbers are growing at an alarming rate! Celiac used to be thought of as a GI tract disease, however only 29% of Celiac patients suffer from GI issues. Where 51% suffer from neurological and skin issues.  Surrounding this is a new-ish $2.5 million industry of GF products like breads, flours, and more to accommodate not only Celiac patients, but those choosing a GF or Paleo Diet to improve their health.

Nadine felt us with a simple statement: Food is medicine. What we put in our bodies day in and day out has a very POWERFUL effect on us. Most of our aliments can be corrected through a healthy GF or Paleo diet. For more information check out her web page or facebook.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday Oct 27th 11:00am-3:00pm – GF Holiday Food Fair.

Sat. Oct 27th 9:00am Runaway Pumpkin Half-Marathon in Lebanon, Ore. GOTR & KidSpirit will have a water station.

Tues. Oct 30th  2:00pm-5:00pm Facebook 101: Pages for Businesses Workshop @ Market of Choice Community Room.

Hello and happy Tuesday.

I realized that I haven’t been on the blog in 3 weeks! Yikes!!! To keep this post from turning in my first novel, I’ll point out the highlights, guest speakers, and upcoming events…

October 4th was our monthly business meeting. We’ve had several visitors lately, so during our business meeting we discussed ways to help and encourage our guests as they get to know the ins and outs of the group. Next month we plan to review how to make & write-up a referral as well as how to deliver an effective 30 second commercial.

Oct 11th we welcomed Dr. Maureen Arthurs from Valley Eye Care and Dian Svendsen from River Crossing Art Therapy to our group. We also recently welcomed Tami Andersen from University Honda to PEERS. Joni {Essentially Healed} brought samples of two new essential oil blends, I recall that one was a sleep aid for people who snore. Tami was excited to show off her cute AND branded chap sticks – honey ginger lemon flavor! Lori {Thank You People} reminded us that saying thank you is always in season. Tara {Jeff Mills State Farm} had an interesting bit of info for us; if you’re thinking about getting life insurance better do it before the holidays. …most of us put on an extra few pounds during November and December which can affect your premium and policy. On a more pleasant note Oni from Balance Point Acupuncture shared that acupuncture treatments can help increase fertility and later can help with labor. Dr. Arthurs gave a short presentation about some common eye conditions, explained the differences between all the optometry titles {ophthalmologist – surgeon, optition – glasses only, optometrist – gen. eye doctor, and optimetric – testing}. She also showed us some really fun contacts for Halloween …they’re pretty spooky.

Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} also presented with a display of logos that she has done over the years for various businesses and events. She also offered to redo our group logo {YAY!!!} and walked us through a standard creative questionnaire. We’re all very excited to see what Julie comes up with!

Oct 18th was a fun meeting that included a short field trip to the parking lot to see, touch, and smell a brand new 2013 Honda Accord. Tami brought the car from the University Honda lot so that we could all experience the new and cozy features. The new model has some smart ways to help with fuel economy – taking the engine down to fewer cylinders when all six aren’t needed for example. Everyone got to sit inside and check out the new display and safety features. …I’m pretty sure we all want one now. 😉 Tami also has a new business facebook page, click over and give her a *like*.

Karen from Girls on the Run was our other presenter last week. She gave us an overview of how the program got started from a single chapter in the South and grew into an international organization. The 10 week curriculum serves girls grade 3-5; beginning in the spring and ending with a 5K on OSU campus. The 2012 event had more than 800 runners! Initially Karen’s team supported only Benton County… but they’re still growing. The 2013 season will include Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk Counties, and Warm Springs Reservation. WOW! As you might imagine this program is heavy with volunteer support and can always use more. Check out their webpage here to see how you can help this AWESOME program continue to grow.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sat. Oct 27th  Runaway Pumpkin Half-Marathon in Lebanon, Ore. GOTR & KidSpirit will have a water station.

Tues. Oct 30th  Facebook 101: Pages for Businesses Workshop @ Market of Choice Community Room

We’re meeting again on Thursday so keep those eyes right here for more information on what our ladies are up to.

Good evening.

Wow, what a day… what a morning! We had a full house today with everyone present, plus two guests. Karen from KidSpirit started us off today by letting us know that there’s still time to sign up for gymnastics and archery {thank you Hunger Games for bringing that back into fashion}. Our first guest, Tammy, is joining us from the University Honda Dealership. Did you know that Honda never sells their vehicles to rental companies? This is a large contributor to them maintaining their re-sale value. Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} announced that she is happy to now offer QR Codes {square bar codes you scan with your smart phone} with her graphic design service. Bonnie brought in some canvas prints today from Rice’s Pharmacy & Gift; they’re a clean and classy way to display art without the expense of big frames. Peg O. shared that she’s been in banking for 39 years! With many members of the Citizens Bank team having decades of experience you can be sure that you’ll get the best service at this community bank. Melissa was our second guest this morning from AHMB Inc {A.lternative H.ealthcare M.anagement & B.illing} consulting company. Often healthcare providers are very good at doing just that, but not as good at the office management end… that’s where AHMB Inc can help. Shelley {Alta’s Antiques & Collectibles} is expanding into fine jewelry. Oooooh! She’ll maintain her stock of costume and vintage jewelry, but is now also on the look out for the finer things. Joni from Essentially Healed reminded us that it’s the time of year for colds and other sickies. She has On-Guard {an anti-viral essential oil blend} available now so you can protect yourself early. Elaine {Simply Home Professionals LLC} just got back from spending two days in Portland for continuing education on federal and state codes for general contractors. She’s still just as excited about wall paper striping. 🙂 Oni of Balance Point Acupuncture shared about achy joints – especially ones that have had surgery and metal rods inserted – with the changing weather and how acupuncture help. Do you run your business from your home? Do you have insurance covering your supplies, inventory, materials, and equipment? If not, go see Tara at the State Farm Office of Jeff Mills. …it’s important. Nadine {GF RN/RN On-Call} had some exciting news this morning: Dr. Oz will be talking about the gluten-free lifestyle all next week! Nadine’s office is always open to further discuss the topic and answer questions. Chris from Valley Eye Care reminded us that VEC is a full service office keeping hundreds of frames in-stock. Also with VEC is Ebeth, and it was her last meeting with us as she prepares to move out-of-state. We’ll miss you 🙂 Amy {Carefree Massage} shared that last week she gave a 90 year old his very first massage! Wow! Mary and Janelle from the dental office of Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen had this announcement: if your crown falls out do NOT use super glue to put it back on. Instead use denture paste or flour & water, call your dentist, and have them re-cement it. Super glue will make it VERY difficult for the dentist to remove and properly re-cement it and can cause a lot of damage. You’ve been warned. Ilene {A&S Accounting} also had a warning about emails from the IRS. Do NOT open them or reply. The IRS will not try to contact you by email. On a happier note Anne Fahy of Remax Integrity was the #5 Realtor for the month of July in the PNW. Great work Anne! Lori {The Thank You People} is always there to encourage others with her greeting cards. They’re available in local businesses {Rice’s Pharmacy & Gift and the Bookbin to name a couple} if you can’t get them from her directly.  Lora announced the new “Glitz & Glam!” line from Initials Inc. Check out her webpage for more details. And Peg W. of Pathfinder Travel still has the most knowledge and resources for planning and booking your next trip… big or small.

We had planned to take a new group photo today, but with so many guests applying for membership we decided to postpone the photo so that they would be included. 🙂

Amanda {Amanda Photographic} was our speaker this morning, though she didn’t talk about photography or prints this time. Instead she talked about how to effectively utilize your social media – Facebook. Dun dun dun!!!  Just a quick sum up since this topic could go on and on for days: Social media needs to be active AND interactive in order to be effective. Facebook has recently, over the last 6 months, made several changes that effect the visibility of the posts we all make – both personally and for our businesses. The more other people interact with your posts and page, the more visible it is. Sounds simple, but getting there can be complicated. Here’s a super simple break-down: For any of your posts a “like” is good, a “comment” is better, and a “share” is best. If you’re a photographer, like Amanda, and you want your client “tagged” in their photo it’s better if the client tags themself than if the photographer does. On a scale of least likely to get an interaction to most likely: text only post, post with link to other webpage, post with picture.

…And there’s so much more. Oh wow is there. Amanda is hosting a Facebook 101: Business Pages Workshop at the end of October. We’ll post more details here as they are available. In the meantime you can also watch her business fb for updates.

Happy Thursday!

Good afternoon 🙂

I’m sorry to say that I won’t be able to sum up the 30-second commercials this week, due to being very tardy this morning. …You know that feeling when you wake up and you’re already late? That was me this morning. But we did have a presentation today by a guest speaker, Chris Scaffidi, who is a new professor at OSU.

Chris is a software engineer and has something new for businesses in Corvallis. Imagine a home-base web page {with mobile app} for all the local businesses in the area that residents, and visitors, could use to easily find us. Chris’s research leads him to believe that most independent businesses don’t have as much difficulty keeping customers/clients as much as they have difficulty getting new ones. This home-base would give businesses, both new and established, a common avenue for being discovered, build awareness about our “buy local” scene, and communicate why customers/clients should visit our locations.

With the help of QR Codes {those funny looking squares you scan with your smart phone} and the community of local businesses working together we can grow our local economy and increase the possibility for new enterprise.

If you are interested in participating, have suggestions, or questions you can contact Chris at: Chris.Scaffidi@gmail.com

Happy Thursday!

Hello all. 🙂

Sorry that there wasn’t a post last week, but honestly it was our business meeting so you didn’t miss much. We’re holding on to our lovely weather here in Corvallis. Fall is in the air and folks all over town are gearing up for OSU’s students to arrive, football season, and the upcoming holidays.

We started our meeting this morning with a very small group, people trickled in for a while, but the group remained small-ish. Peg O from Citizens Bank started us off today with a positive message. Our local economy is growing. Yay! With 13 locations they are here to help with commercial loans of all sizes. Bonnie {Rice’s Pharmacy} brought in their monthly specials catalog along with some digests. Amanda {Amanda Photographic} is ready for fall family portraits. She got lucky last year with good weather for outdoor portraits until Thanksgiving, but encourages people to book early for the best chances of good weather. Lora brought out the big guns with “…there’s only 102 shopping days until Christmas.” Her new Initials Inc fall catalog is full of great gift ideas. We don’t often get to hear from Diane, one of our members-at-large, but today on behalf of the membership committee she welcomed new members Jacquie Dunham {Jacquie Sews} and Elaine Forrest {Simply Home Professionals LLC}. Ilene from A&S Accounting is here to help fix your messy financial statements. She encouraged everyone to review their statements regularly. Mary & Janelle {Drs. Bugni, Laster, & Jensen} reminded us that they are always accepting new patients from small children to your elderly parents; they can take care of the whole family. Ebeth walked in just in time for her commercial for Valley Eye Care. She shared that sometimes an elderly or disabled patient can no longer make it to their office to have their glasses fixed or adjusted. VEC is happy to make a mini house call for such cases. Oni {Balance Point Acupuncture} shared an article by the AP that whether you have a physical or psychological reaction to acupuncture a response is present in the healing and coping with pain. Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} is also here to straighten out messy things for your business… she’s all about the print media and will create beautiful and well designed media for your business. Lori {The Thank You People} reminded us that sending a greeting card, whatever the occasion, make s a big difference in someone’s day. Have your reviewed your insurance policies this year? Tara at the Jeff Mills State Farm office can help you with that. Make sure that you have the coverage you need for your home, car, and business… before the weather turns on us!  Today we missed Jacquie, Joni, Elaine, Nadine, Karen, and Peg W.

Our speakers today were Amy and Shelley.

Shelley of Alta’s Antiques and Collectibles ran us through a vintage jewelry gauntlet, giving us a brief overview of three distinct jewelry eras. She also had jewelry samples to illustrate the descriptions of each era. 1920-30 Art Deco: in response to the flowing, organic, feminine style of art nouveau; art deco brings geometric shapes and style into jewelry (and everything else). This costume jewelry was cheap, compared to actual gems and precious metals, easily mass-produced thanks to the new industrial revolution, and available to the common woman. – Shelley then talked about some of the grades of silver and gold, but I’m not going to get into numbers – The Retro era from 1935-50 had a distinctly American look with plastics, bakelite, rhinestone, and military influence. The 1950-60s held the Art Modern style with chunky jewelry, bold colors, charms… oh the charms. We see all three of these eras swinging in and out of current fashion. Shelley shared that a year or two ago she couldn’t hold on to any of her bakelite, but now people are over it unless they’re a collector. …for now. Shelley has her antiques and collectibles available for sale at several locations around the Corvallis/Albany area; she is also available for home or office parties.

Amy {Carefree Massage} has magical fingers. It’s no wonder that she uses her light, but confident touch to help heal people through massage. Today Amy showed us how she would arrive to our home or office. With her massage table or chair ready she showed us her heated pad and variety of soft sheet options for the table. She also carries a padded slip cover for the face cradle on her table & chair. Amy knows that not everyone likes the same scents in their massage oil so she has a variety to choose from. She passed around a few bottles for us to smell; some strong and some mild. Which brings up an interesting problem for Amy – and probably all mobile massage therapists – of oils leaking out of their bottles. She has a number of different styles, but all of them have to be kept in a big ziplock bag to keep them from leaking onto her sheets and things. So… if anyone wants to, or knows someone who wants to, invents a 100% leak proof re-usable bottle for oils Amy and pretty much every other LMT in the whole world would be happy to purchase those from you. …just an idea.

Amy is available at your home or office for $60/hour. Several businesses around town use her to give 15 minute chair massages to their staff {awesome!} for $10/person. If you’d rather see her outside your home or office she is also available at Oni’s Balance Point Acupuncture office on Grant Ave.

Until next week…

This month we have 5 Thursdays which means that today we had our “OOPS” {Other Occupations and ProfessionS} meeting. Many of our members are involved in businesses other than the one they represent at PEERS and non-profits. Our OOPS meeting is a place for us to talk for 5 minutes to each other about those activities.

…But first our 30-second commercials.

Mary from Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen’s office reminded us that their office understands that sometimes your dental needs can’t wait until the next business day… or maybe even until the morning. Patients are welcome to call their home numbers in the case of a dental emergency {which I did last night… I was ok to wait until the morning, but I didn’t know that for sure. Dr. Jensen saw me first thing this morning without hesitation. THANK YOU!}. Anne {Remax Integrity} shared that when she’s working with you to sell or buy a house she’s not just your Realtor, she’s also your advocate; looking out for your best interest at all times. Tara announced an open house at the State Farm office of Jeff Mills on Sept 8th from 11am-1pm. Stop in and meet Jeff. 🙂 Peg O. and her team at Citizens Bank are ready to start ordering ‘new money’ for the holidays. If you’re giving cash this year let them know  how much and get fresh, crisp, clean bills! Oni {Balance Point Acupuncture} is surprised how many people are still suffering from allergies so late in the summer. But she’s happy to make them feel better. Acupuncture is also helpful for summer cold and flu… yuck. Nadine {Gluten Free RN & RN On-Call} is also your advocate. As a nurse and healthcare professional it is her mission to make sure you get the best care with the least medication. Chris from Valley Eye Care shared an article about being aware of what you’re buying online {with respect to glasses and eye care}. It’s not always as cheap as you think. Karen {KidSpirit} announced that the Girls On The Run garage sale last weekend raised over $5,000!!! Yay!!! Also it’s time to register for fall gymnastics for kids K-12. Ilene {A&S Accounting}reminded us that if you get a nasty letter in the mail saying you owe penalties to the IRS to give her a call. Often times she can get some or all of them removed. Lora shared that during Sept all baby stuff with Initials Inc is 50% off! And Initials Inc was featured today on Good Afternoon America. They featured some of their products and those will be available today at 50% off.  You can shop Lora’s website at www.myinitials-inc.com/vitekl.  The sale is only for 24 hours! Amanda {Amanda Photographic} is gearing up for family portraits this fall. There’s also still times available for her Back-to-School mini sessions. Learn more and sign up here. And Peg of Pathfinder Travel let us know that it’s never too early to start planning your next trip. …and it’s apparently never too early or late to call her. 🙂

We are excited to welcome our newest member Elaine Forrest of Simply Home Professionals LLC. Elaine is a general contractor that specializes in remodeling and sprucing up your home. She is particularly fond of stripping wallpaper and helping her clients with colors palettes. Welcome Elaine. Yay!!! We’re also excited to see Jacque Dunham {Jacque Sews}, who’s visiting again this week. Hopefully she’ll be ready to be a full member next week.

UPDATE: Julia Waterhous’ documentary project “Don’t Waste People” is nearing the end of its fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. At this moment she has only $462 left to raise {in order to receive the other $8,288 that has already been pledged} by 9:30AM on Monday September 3rd. To learn more and donate to this AMAZING project visit her Kickstarter.

OOPS Speakers:

Amanda {Amanda Photographic} shared some insight into facebook and how to make it work for your business. She manages 8 pages for local businesses, plus contributes photography to 4 more. A quick tip is to post a picture with your text information. People are more likely to notice and respond to images than text alone. The more interactions you have the more you audience will grow.

Joni {Essentially Healed} shared the book by Michael Port “Book Yourself Solid” and some of the philosophies behind his business/marketing strategies. It boils down to the fact that there are people each business is meant to serve. Trying to serve and market yourself to EVERYONE is a waste of time and resources, because not everyone wants or needs your service. I could go on and on, but this is a blog, not a novel. Peg O. also highly recommends this book.

Shelley {Alta’s Antiques and Collectibles} updated us on the Heart of the Valley Birthing Center that she, with others, is working to open. Corvallis really has two options for delivering a baby: Hospital or Home-Birth. For some women neither of these options are what they want and the Birthing Center would be a middle-ground alternative. There is a possible partnership in the works with the Benton County Health Dept. They are currently fund raising, looking at spaces to house the center, and offering bi-lingual “Mama + Baby” support group classes.

Peg O. {Citizens Bank} shared two topics. 1. Puttin’ on the Pink. A breast cancer awareness and education event on October 10 at the LaSells Stewart Center & Corvallis Public Library. There’s a lot of GREAT information so please go check them out here. Peg also talked about the Trillium Farm Home School Building. It will officially open in December with room on the second floor to host conferences, meets, etc. Peg is going to update us as soon as she has info on cost to rent, size, and accommodations. This fully renovated space is in need of volunteers. Anyone interested can contact Cheri Galvin at: cgalvin@trilliumfamily.org

Lora {Initials Inc} shared about Soroptimist International. The local chapter offers support to girls and women in our area. SI hosts a “Career Closet” of gently used professional clothing for women. Working with other support groups like Altrusa International, CARDV, Vina Moses, LOVE Inc and more this closet helps women have the clothes they need for interviews and getting started at work.  SI also gives boxes of comfort and support items like journals, chocolate, tea, candles, etc. to women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Our local chapter gives out about 15 of these boxes EACH MONTH. Funding for these boxes and other SI activities is raised through their annual Spring Tea & Auction.

Karen M. {Heilig, Misfeldt, and Armstrong LLP} had a simple message for us today: Don’t put off your estate planning. GET IT DONE! “Oh, but I don’t have an ‘estate’.” …if you own anything {car, business, inventory, etc.} you have an estate. DO IT!

Lastly Nadine {GF RN & RN On-Call} talked about Health Care for All Oregon. They are marching on the capitol on February 4h. Wear a red T-shirt. Meetings are held every month and all are welcome. The basic message is that the US is the only industrialized country that has for-profit health care, that we’re the only country were people go bankrupt because of their medical bills, and that quality health care is a basic human right.

Next week is our business meeting…

In a couple weeks were getting ready to send our students back to school …that means everyone is BUSY and all the end-of-summer events are here!

Our meeting was very full today {just like the parking lot} with all of our members in attendance, plus a guest speaker. We began our meeting with 30-commercials. Joni {Essentially Healed} is hosting a educational movie night with the documentary “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World” about artificial sweeteners and sugar.  Karen is gearing up for the 3-day garage sale for Girls on the Run this weekend. You can find more info here. She’s also excited to begin sign-ups for Fall Gymnastics for kids 2 years and older. More info here.  Shelley {Alta’s Antiques} had a busy week at her daughter’s wedding in British Columbia – Congratulations! She is eager to get back to her antique store displays in the Corvallis-Albany area. Anne Fahy {Remax Integrity} is glad to see the real estate market in Corvallis continue to grow and improve. She’s particularly happy to work with so many first time home buyers. 🙂 Nadine {GF RN & RN On-Call} announced that a PBS documentary on the Gluten-Free diet & Celiac Disease will be filming in Corvallis …maybe we’ll get to see a familiar face when it airs on PBS/OPB. Lori {Thank You People} reminded us that everyone likes to feel appreciated and what better way than with a thoughtful card. Oni {Balance Point Acupuncture} shared that she gets asked if acupuncture is good for *fill-in-the-blank* ailment… the answer is yes. Janelle & Mary {Dental Office of Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen} are proud to be part of a dental office with 3 happy dentists. They keep up to date on all the procedures their clients need and are always accepting new patients. E*beth from Valley Eye Care announced today that after 15 years in Corvallis her and her family are off to California for a new job. We’re sad to see her go and wish her all the best in their new adventure. 🙂 Amanda {Amanda Photographic} is focusing her mini sessions on back-to-school portraits for the month of September. Click over to her fb or blog for more info.

Our speakers today were guest, Julia Waterhous, and Ilene Anderton.

Julia Waterhous is the daughter of a former Member at Large (Therese Waterhous) and visited us today to talk about a new project she’s working on.  Julia recently graduated from Boston University with degrees in journalism and psychology. Unhappy with the state of the current media outlets, Julia has been reluctant to begin her journalism career with an existing company. She studied abroad in India, Senegal, and Argentina learning about a group of people that make a living by going through trash & recycling to find re-sellable items. This activity is illegal since the refuse belongs to the state causing tension and hostility between the waste pickers and police. These impoverished people have few, if any, rights and are often targeted for harassment. Julia started Empowerment Media LLC, a multi-media journalism company focusing on international human rights. She is currently fundraising so she can return to New Delhi in 3 weeks for 3 months to begin filming her first documentary “Don’t Waste People”. Her documentary is already accepted for viewing at Boston University, a media convention in NY, and will hopefully be aired here at home on OPB. You can learn more about “Don’t Waste People” and make contributions to this project here.

Waste Pickers. Photo Credit: Avery Williamson

Ilene from A&S Accounting was our second speaker today. Since 1973 A&S Accounting as been first in the phone book {what’s a phone book? haha} and that was exactly what they were going for. The ‘A’ coming from Ilene’s name Anderton has stayed the same with the ‘S’ taking on different meanings – some unofficial & funny, others coincidentally applicable – after her and her initial business partner split. With that early experience Ilene shared that she encourages people who visit her office wanting to start a partnership to consider an S-Corp instead.

Did you know that Oregon is the least expensive state for the IRS to monitor? That’s because we have some of the most strict laws requiring those who would prepare our taxes to be licensed with regular sessions of continuing education. Ilene is one step ahead. She holds a special license with the IRS that gives her a direct line of communication. How many people can say that they can just call the IRS? Not many, but Ilene can. 😉 She told us about odd scenarios of people not filing for 10 years then wondering why they’re getting “you owe us money” letters… see, accounting can be funny too. She also talked about depreciation, but wow, you’re going to have to call her if you want more info on that. I think I get it, I just can’t explain it to anyone else.

Ilene and her AMAZING staff are located on the corner of 3rd and Washington. Available for all manner of financial council & preparation the folks at A&S Accounting are best… anywhere.

Good Morning Corvallis.

I’m getting straight to writing the blog post this week… so here we go!

We started with our 30 second commercials, as usual, though today was a little different. In order to prevent members from going over the 30 seconds, as it’s been known to happen from time to time, Bonnie had a bell and timed everyone. A few people got dinged. but it was a helpful reminder that these commercials are suppose to simulate the “elevator speech” where there is no room for rambling or unimportant information. Peg W. from Pathfinder Travel is very excited that many tour operators are picking up that people want to travel with their friends instead of large groups of people they don’t know. More and more tour operators are offering small group (up to 6 people) rates that are quite reasonable. Ilene {A&S Accounting} brought in an interesting document today. Did you know that charities are required to file financial reports with the Oregon Dept of Justice showing their income and expenses? The Better Business Bureau {BBB} issues guildelines that state that a charity should dedicate at least 65% of their funds to charitable programs and the cause they serve. Today we got a look at 20 charities that failed to meet that standard over a three year period and by how much. The worst only putting 3.63% of their funds to charitable work. Yikes! I won’t spill it here, but you can go to the Oregon Attorney General’s webpage for more info. On a more positive note Mary and Janelle shared that Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen are accepting new patients at their Corvallis dental office. Also positive was Anne’s {Remax Integrity} information that interest rates are AWESOME, as low as 3%, for a mortgage. All the businesses and departments involved with home selling & buying are backed up due to the demand. Hooray! And Karen {KidSpirit & Girls on the Run} is excited to announce a GOTR garage sale coming up later this month. It’s going to be BIG and a lot of fun. You can check out more info here.

Our speakers today were Lora and Amy.

Lora is an Independent Creative Partner with the company Initials Inc. …but first a little bit about Lora. A graduate of Oregon State {Go BEAVS!} in speech/communication Lora went to work at a local home furniture and decor store, The Inkwell, until 2008 when she had her first daughter Bailey. She continued to work for them seasonally until she had her second little girl Olivia just over a year ago. With two little ones at home she decided that she wanted to generate additional income so that her girls could participate in fun programs like KidSpirit, swim lessions, etc. She found Initials Inc while reading a magazine and liked the foundation and future of the company. You can read more about Initials Inc. here.

Lora shared with us the brand-spankin’-new Fall/Winter catalog {good until February} and passed around the ring of fabric samples including fun new patterns. Initials Inc. & Lora use home parties to sell their personalized-monogrammed bags, cases, wallets, purses, totes, etc. Each month there is a hostess and customer special as incentive to invite more people or buy a little something extra. The August hostess special is a SoHo style purse called the East-West Bag for $20 {reg. $48}. Initials Inc. is also involved with a program called I-Care that gives a fixed amount of a specific product purchase to a skill building organization. For the fall/winter catalog $5 from every purchase of a Zip Around {reusable shopping bag} goes to support the building of a new sewing training center in Zambia. Good work Lora!

Amy was more of an impromptu speaker today as Peg W wasn’t feeling well after an emergency root canal yesterday. Ouch! However that gave Amy {Carefree Massage} the opportunity to give a helpful demo massage on Peg. If someone isn’t feeling well first Amy will ask them if they’re actually sick. Massaging someone who is ill can make their sickness worse so it’s important to know why they don’t feel well. If they’re not sick and she finds out for example that they just had a root canal then she’ll want to check on medication. A person who is heavily medicated may not be able to give her the cues she would need to know if her pressure is too hard and they might hurt worse for it later. So, starting out light and getting the muscles warmed up, checking on pressure and tenderness, Amy’s goal is to work out knots, relieve pain and tension, and help her client relax without causing more inflammation. Sometimes a little pain is expected, but only in that “hurts so good” way. As we watched Amy work on Pegs upper back and shoulders she opened the floor for questions. Peg O. asked about massage in conjunction with physical therapy {pre or post surgery}. Physical Therapy tends to be very difficult and strenuous on the whole body. Amy often finds that if a person is doing PT for their shoulder that their back and/or neck might become tight or sore from the unfamiliar and difficult activity. Massage can be a great tool to use with PT to help the rest of the body recover, relax, and heal.

Amy will come to your home or place of business for chair or table massages by appointment. Several of our PEERS members use Amy to give 10-15 min. chair massages to their employees and what a treat it is. Having Amy come to your home allows many people that are in pain to avoid a car ride or driving that might cause more pain. …From personal experience let me just say that Amy has a warm and gentle touch with healing energy radiating from her fingers. 🙂

That’s all for this week. Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!