At Alchemy West and our magazine, Bridging the Paradigms, we promote community: from creating healthy, balanced lives with our animals, homes, businesses, and nature to creating connections between good businesses and good people. Let me introduce LaBelle Construction, and my adopted godson, Vincent LaBelle, and his friend and coworker, Brian Meuller. Viincent is a general […]
business ethics
Choosing Our Way in the New Economy
He didn’t mean to make me smile. He had been loitering by my shopping cart. We were both stocking up on office supplies. I was, as usual, simply exhausted by the choices. Wouldn’t life be easier if we didn’t have so much to choose from? Think about it. I do. A lot. Even choosing a […]
Living on the Planet of Awesome and Forever
I live on the Planet of Awesome and Forever. I have proof. Sometimes my planet is real and physical: I revel in the sun and rain, the dark and stormy, the people and the beings who make me laugh and think while challenging me to be my best, no matter what. Always my planet is […]
How a Company’s Raffle Prize Helped an Animal Shelter
On the weekend before the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show back in February I attended a pet writing conference in New York City, the day before I won the Merial Human-Animal Bond Award for my book, Bridging Species: Thoughts and Tales About Our Lives with Dogs. Yay! It was a fun weekend and I met […]
How We’ll Make the Economy Work Again
We’ll get the economy rolling again when we start taking it—and ourselves—seriously. That means we start saying ‘NO’ because we should have said that way back at some crazy point when buying things became convenient, and price and ethics didn’t matter. What is a fair price? What is a fair profit? How do we exchange […]
It’s Summertime: Lavender and Good Business Are Both In!
It’s been a strange summer in Seattle, in fact, two stranger summers in a row. Cooler than normal, and damp when it’s usually dry. But all’s well because the lavender is here! I use lavender for my business. I keep huge bunches of the grosso variety everywhere, clumped in vases, draped over towel racks, and […]
Hug Sale: Get Yours Now!
Yesterday I took the afternoon off to have some fun. I loaded up on tasty candy at my local food co-op and headed off to see Cowboys & Aliens with a new friend. Sure, Wall Street was acting up big time (again, and pointlessly, really, how should we handle a spoiled brat?), but I had […]
Yellowstone: It’s Why I Buy Canon USA
Sure, I love my Canon printers. Even the non-techies among us can use them, and if you can’t, they have excellent customer support. I should know: this summer the kind folks at Canon have had to help me install my printer drivers for two printers on three different occasions, as I dealt with computer issues. […]
You Are Your Brand: How Being a Lousy Criminal Can Be Good for Business
Yes, being a lousy criminal can be good for our business. Let me explain. We are our brands. As entrepreneurs, as people living our daily lives, everything we do reflects on our business, good, bad, or indifferent. It makes a difference. So how do we make that difference a good one? By always thinking about […]
Starbucks—Good Enough to Pee At
I used to be proud to say that I was one of Starbucks’ earliest clients, back when they opened their first store in Seattle. Even though I didn’t know what they were talking about until I acquired a taste for espresso in Spain, and brought home a stovetop espresso pot for my parents. Starbucks was […]