: About Me

My only qualification for writing is that I consistently think "outside the box" and I am passionate about issues. Although a better than average student, my grammar was never perfect and I am not a writer by profession (which will soon become obvious to most skilled writers). I have accomplished more things than most people as many of you will soon realize and have quite a few failures (and even a few wins) under my belt. Most importantly, I have witnessed my own transformation and issues that used to be black and white have turned grey. I have an abundance of original ideas and I love to solve problems, create businesses and improve processes.

I am happily married for the first time in my life. In my twenties I struggled to survive raising two sons as a "single" mother, although I began that journey with a husband who bailed out. I realized my own potential in my thirties. I look at those years as my "late-bloomer, coming-out" party, which lasted for a decade. I realized that I was smart, attractive and that I had the strength to start a business (or many businesses, in my case) while raising children. I saw many of the businesses eventually fail always due to insufficient capital, but at the same time I discovered that I was not afraid to try.

One of my failed businesses happened to be a magazine. Like all of my business projects, I passionately studied magazine publishing attending courses in Chicago and New York and even hiring top consulting firms to teach me how to properly launch a magazine. Over a decade after the magazine idea was canned (due to insufficient investment) existing publications began rolling out similar content/articles. I am proud of the accomplishment even though it was not successful.

I did find some success in my forties with several of my own companies. I even managed to purchase three homes (when they used to have value). I also learned that I could never own a truly successful company because I was not shrewd enough. But the innovative ideas just keep coming.

My passion is ...

My family (husband, children, siblings, friends and extended including my dog), music, life, work and my country.

I know too much about ...

Launching businesses...

My parents always told me ...

To clean up my room and stop starting businesses (actually, they encouraged me)

My childhood ambition ...

To start a restaurant and a music promotion company, to have my own hotel (or bed and breakfast)

My favorite memory ...

My first restaurant began when I was 10 (until my parents came home from work and discovered it); that's when my allowance began...

Why I write ...

It's cheaper than a therapist and I have a lot to talk about

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Helium, CBS Sunday Morning, Knowledge at Wharton, House and miscellaneous non-fiction (current events)

My first job ...

Statistician.

My best moment ...

Marrying the love of my life

My inspiration ...

My mother. She challenged/educated me throughout my life.

Food & Drink > Dining & Restaurants (Other) The health risks of eating at restaurants

1 of 7

While sanitation is the first thing that comes to mind when eating at restaurants, there are relatively unknown facts about restaurant food quality one should also consider.  Most diners who have never been in a commercial restaurant kitchen assume that the Chef is in the kitchen supervising the preparation of food from scratch.  In most commercial restaurant kitchens, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is that much of the food supplied to commercial restaurants via large commercial food suppliers is processed and contains many highly questionable ingredients...

More..

• Helium Charter Member