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Monica Murray is a registered nurse, former airline employee, with Delta, world traveler and a inveterate shopper.  Monica tells a funny story of what lead her to open her own women’s fashion consignment store in Johns Creek.  Something about a closet that threatened to overwhelm her house…

The big surprise is how a lady with a passion for helping people and loving to find bargains and unusual things turned it into a business. It’s inspiring when you realize she started it as her first business venture and is now doing so well.  Jewelry, clothing and unique new crafts that Monica selects to help people with great talent and vision show off their crafts in a great, high traffic location and gain a following make her shop a stand out among other similar stores.

Monica does point out that consignment store owners are something of specialists, some handle furniture, others clothing for children, others women’s apparel and accessories etc.  Most know the others and can point you to a store where they know you can find something you are looking for that is not in their store.

You might not realize how helpful a good consignment store can be. It was interesting to find out how you can use it to take away some of the pain of losing a family member and having to dispose of their things.  Explaining that if you have a cause you support, by using a consignment store, you can transform things you don’t need or can’t use any longer into cash that you can donate to your favorite charity or cause rather than just give it to a non-profit like Goodwill.

A clever way to use consignment stores like hers is to host a “shopping event” with appropriate adult libations and get a group of your friends together to come in, perhaps put in an “entrance fee” for the charity and raise money for your cause or to support a school, etc.

You will find Monica to be sharp, widely traveled and very knowledgeable and happy to help. You can find her and her store in Johns Creek directly above the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, on the web at www.monicasboutiquejohnscreek.com phone 770-623-0062 or email monicasbotiquejc@hotmail.com

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Our guests today will be of particular interest to those who run businesses. Patrick Clements is the founder and CEO of bigWebApps, a respected provider of customer service portals for education and government agencies to manage customer service tickets. Also in the studio were the three partners of the largest law firm in N. Georgia, Hipes & Bell Isle, represented by the three principals, David Bell Isle, John Hipes and Karen Cashion.

Our first guest was Patrick Clements. His company recently took their years of experience providing customer service ticket software to non-profit and governmental organizations and created SherpaDesk, a brand new ticket management system for companies who are looking for a simple to use and quick to implement but powerful customer trouble ticket management system.

Patrick says that the new system draws on almost 13 years of experience with service ticket, employee and vendor management to give the business person running a service fleet, or repair crews a way to manage for customer satisfaction and efficiency.

Good customer service is more important than ever and having your teams meet their commitments with on time, one trip excellence is the difference between keeping customers and getting recommendations from customer defection.  As a fully unbundled application, you can start out and use this web based application for free. As you need more teams, tickets, etc., you can buy exactly what you need without being forced into costly packages or locked-in to terms before you can made downward adjustments.

If you have customer service or teams working on projects and you need to manage them for on time delivery, minimum cost and maximum customer satisfaction,you’ll want to try SherpaDesk. You can find it at www.sherpadesk.com and can reach Patrick Clements at patrick@bigwebapps.com or phone 404-849-7145.

The partners with Hipes & Bell Isle, Attorneys, in Alpharetta were our second guests today. David Bell Isle, John Hipes and repeat guest and firm partner, Karen Cashion, discussed business related law issues and covered the 6 things they see businesses get in trouble with that could be prevented with some prior legal counsel and agreements.

By way of introduction, David Bell Isle is the Mayor of Alpharetta and a 5^th generation Atlantan. He received a BBA from the University of Georgia, an MBA from Ga. State and his JD from Georgia State College of Law.  His is an expert in closing complex real estate and other securitized transaction loans including SBA 7(a) and 504 funding.

John Hipes received his BA cum laude from Wake Forest University and his JD magna cum laude from Georgia State College of law. John has been a prominent attorney since starting out 25 years ago with Smith, Gambrell and Russell LLP then Morris Manning and & Martin before he and David formed Hipes & Bell Isle. His practice is in the area of commercial litigation, including insurance coverage, construction, real estate, employment, partnership and shareholder disputes, tort and injury law.

Karen Cashion received her BA cum laude from Emory University and her JD with high honors from Duke Law School.  She has practiced law for over 15 years representing companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms. Karen’s practice focuses on providing corporate and technology law services including company formation and start-up advice, litigation and risk management consulting.

Now the largest law firm in North Georgia, the partners shared their insights on where businesses continually run into problems simply because they did not avail themselves of proper legal counsel and put in place simple up-front agreements before a problem arose.

The top six problem areas they discussed were:

1. Failing to form a corporation or other legal entity to provide protection from liability
2. Lack of proper insurance coverage to cover claims and lawsuits and to pay for counsel
3. Lack of internal controls, oversight, precisely written contracts, and other risk prevention measures that can prevent problems before they occur
4. Failure to implement employment policies and to train employees on those policies
5. Lack of document retention policies and the risk of spoliation
6. Failing to protect confidential information and intellectual property through use of restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicit, confidentiality clauses)

You will not want to miss their advice and insights on how to best avoid problems in these and other areas. You certainly don’t want to make the mistake one company made on a simple $100,000 transaction that cost them $4 Million to settle! Find out what that mistake was by listening to this show, it’s a graphic lesson on the value of prevention.

Contact the exceptional attorneys to discuss your situation by visiting www.hblawfirm.com, or by calling 770-664-6699

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Pogontomy and Mobile Device Security headline today’s show with Gary Gwynn and Rolf Versluis

Is pogontomy curable? How is it contagious… well, as you’ll learn, it can be a great thing. Our first guest was Gary Gwinn of Shoe Box Shave Shop, an online retailer of pogontomy supplies.  OK, so, what is this thing you can’t pronounce? It comes from the Greek “pogon” for beard and it’s all about all things shaving.  Gary is an expert on the movement back to “wet shaving” and says it has many benefits, not the least of which is a comfortable shave that’s close and eliminates razor “bumps” on your skin.

It turns out that many men and women too are rediscovering that the old safety razors and soap in a mug give a far better shave and do more for your skin and psyche than the commercial multi-blade razors do. He says it’s also cheaper… but to learn more about this below the radar movement, you’ll need to tune into today’s show. When you do you’ll find out why some razors go for almost $200 and shaving brushes pushing the same range. In fairness, there are far less expensive solutions but, hey, everyone wants to see a Rolls-Royce even if they go away with a Geo….

You can learn all about pogontomy and order everything you need online at www.shoeboxshaveship.com or email Gary at shoeboxshaveshop@yahoo.com or call Gary at 786-200-2774 for his personal advice in selecting the perfect razor, boar or badger brush, soaps and even gifts for the ladies, who by the way, are turning in droves to the wet shaving movement!

Rolf Versluis with ADCAP Network Systems and his team deliver the technical integration services companies need to use consumer phones, tablets and pads and protect their data and corporate systems. Explaining that the company was named for a sophisticated new torpedo gives you a clue that Rolf might have a Naval background. He did, 22 years as an officer on a nuclear sub where he came to appreciate the value of having smoothly functioning interoperating technologies that work together flawlessly.

Listen in to the program to find out how you can end the hassle and expense of making sophisticated mobile devices play well with other technologies like Wi-Fi, networks, Bluetooth, phone systems and routers…  Rolf’s team of almost 60 are experts in making almost any technology play well together while locking down valuable or sensitive data from the legions of cyber thieves patrolling the electronic world today.

You can contact Rolf Versluis at rversluis@adcapnet.com 678-456-6755 or on the web at www.adcapnet.com

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Rich Lockhart, Sales Manager with The Magnolia Golf Group was our guest today. What timing with the Masters finishing yesterday with a fantastic playoff between Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera. Seeing two class competitors shoot almost side by side balls time and again was unforgettable. Aussie Adam Scott finally won the Masters for Australia, beating Angel Cabrera with a birdie on the second hole of that playoff.

As you listen to this program, you’ll discover Magnolia Golf Group makes fundraising golf events for charities and corporate tournaments as unforgettable for their participants and sponsors as the Masters.

Being in business for over 13 years, Magnolia Golf now runs some of the biggest golf fundraising tournaments for some of the biggest non-profits in the country.  How well it works is easy to tell because their clients engage them year after year. Why? Because the profit from the events grows year after year and helps fund their organization.

When it comes to making any golf tournament, even a small one a huge success, Rich and his team deliver.  Handling everything related to the event, they take the work off the company or non-profit’s staff so all they need to do is show up and show off.

Expanding beyond golf, Magnolia Golf makes marathons, road races and contests special with their professional electronic scoreboards. Beyond local events, they do work anywhere in the nation so if you have a company or charity that needs to run multiple venues, Magnolia is the easy solution.

You can reach Rich Lockhart, Sales Manager, at 678-852-4499 email: rich@magnoliagolfgroup.com and on the web at www.magnoliagolfgroup.com

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Karen Cashion, law partner at Hipes & Bell Isle, LLC in Alpharetta, GA, was our guest today. With over 15 years of experience representing companies from start-ups to Fortune 500 giants, she shares her insights with business owners on avoiding litigation by being proactive and, if embroiled in litigation, how to minimize your expense.

In this show, you’ll discover situations where many businesses and executives needlessly get embroiled in expensive litigation that, in hindsight, would have cost almost nothing to have preempted had they recognized the minefield they faced.

A graduate of Duke Law and a former Assistant General Counsel for EarthLink, Inc., she is an expert in technology related law and very ably represents her clients who are in technology and other industries. Her partners add exceptional expertise and experience so their clients can be assured of having expert representation in almost any area of law and their many years of practice in the Atlanta area have allowed them to single out specialists and refer clients to specialists in various areas of law as required.

Common sense is not always a guide when it comes to law and downloadable contracts from the Internet may well turn out to be worthless. It takes an expert in business law to properly advise you and keep you out of trouble. You wouldn’t do your own appendix surgery so why try to be your own attorney?

You’ll want to contact Karen, she is an expert who regularly speaks to very large groups on corporate law. She will help you get out in front of legal quagmires and head off problems before they even start.

Karen can be reached at: 770-664-6699 or email kchashion@hbilawfirm.com n the web at www.hbilawfirm.com

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Louis Agudo is president of “It’s a Great Day for Business, Inc.,” a business coaching and networking company; and Jeff Waller is president of “Excent Corporation,” and educational software company helping at-risk kids discover a world of possibilities and changing their lives forever – Changing lives and changing beliefs to help people and businesses thrive was the theme of today’s show. A New Yorker by birth, Louis spent 20 very successful years in the construction business in a competitive world. A few short years ago, he moved down to Atlanta and sought a different path for his future. Coming to the realization that by helping others get everything they want, you can get all you want and discovering that he could help many business owners market themselves better, run their firms with less waste and friction, he found a calling and a second career. Bringing 20 years of lessons learned from a competitive world to what he does, he and his partner, Randall Phillips, help owners find a better way to function and achieve what is important to them. The is a limit to what any one of us can do on our own, we have limited ability to see things differently than we’ve always seen them. Helping you discover what holds you back from making huge improvement in you business and personal life is sometimes as simple as being a mirror and a skilled questioner that reveals what you already know but could not bring to the surface and take action upon it. You may want to attend one of his networking meetings and get to know him and find out how you can use networking effectively to grow your business. If you don’t network the right way, the event is just a high-priced bad food waste of time. You can learn about his events and also get in contact via his website at www.itsagreatdayforbusiness.com or call 404-375-7461. Jeff Waller, president of Excent Corporation and co-founder of Magic Wand Foundation focuses on helping at-risk children discover a different future by changing their beliefs and adopting new approach to life. After years of study and research he and his partners have developed a proven program that in real world situations are making 250 percent improvements in graduation rates through engaging at risk middle schoolers with software, games and energizing their creativity and natural abilities. Showing what is under their control, the program turns around lives and changes futures. It’s an amazing program that school systems are rapidly taking on because it’s cost effective and more importantly, it works. Magic Wand foundation is a non-profit program that is designed to take the software and program world wide. Already in use in Mexico, Columbia and other nations, benefactors and interested non-profits are helping spread the benefits of these empowering programs to the youth of this world. The mind that is saved may be the mind that develops the next breakthrough in science, finds new solutions to old scourges and problems, or leads a major company and it’s people. We highly recommend you lean more about Jeff and his company and foundation, its a remarkable story. You can do so by visiting http://excent.com or call 404-444-9782.

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Scott Beckwith, VP and Director of Sales & Marketing for  Southern Capital Mortgage Group (GA & FL) was our guest today. An expert in residential lending up and down the east coast, Scott brings many years of experience linking mortgagees with specialty lenders, private lenders and traditional mortgage firms. An owner of his own 11 state mortgage company, Scott helped many hundreds of new homeowners find the perfect mortgage.

The experience of going through good times and tough times before gives Scott an advantage, he has developed many direct sources of funding besides the mortgage companies, a distinct advantage when serving jumbo loans with special situations and homeowners with unique needs.

With private sourcing and multiple conventional sources, Scott does the legwork for you to find the very best mortgage product for your situation. As a direct writer, you won’t be working with a faceless committee in Timbuktu who sees you as “application #1,434,330,911 C”.  For those with special situations, Scott and  his company are the go to guys.

First time homeowner? Figure a mortgage is impossible? Scott has been very successful matching new homeowners up with mortgage products and putting them in a home. In fact, Scott admits that helping people get the financing for their home is a huge reward and why he has loved every minute of the 17 years he’s been in the business.

Freddie or Fannie mortgage holder? Have you checked what HARP can do for your payments? Go online at www.scmgonline.com and use their HARP calculator to see how HARP can benefit you.

Refinance? You should also talk to Scott and his team first. Maybe your best solution financially is to not refinance, they’ll work the numbers to show you what is the right course for you… even if it means forgoing a loan they could have made.

But then, that’s Scott’s attitude and one of the things that sets Southern Capital Mortgage Group apart – putting their client first and doing what’s very best for them.

You can contact Scott at 678-905-9605 email: sbeckwith@scmgonline and on the web at www.scmgonline.com.

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Today’s show investigates how to best staff, hire, motivate, retain and lead high performance teams in growing companies and cost-effective solutions for today’s distributed workforce that provide the high level of administrative support as enjoyed in the best corporate offices (maybe even better).

Randall Lucius, Ph.D. with the Turknett Leadership Group was in the studio today along with the Gurl Friday Services team of Theresa Widmann and Victoria Hunter. Both are experts in helping expanding businesses deal with growth and a more demanding work environment. Randy’s company does that by applying the tools of Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology to optimize the interactions and management of people while the other brings the host of support services growing companies need to run a business smoothly, efficiently while minimizing their costs.

Dr. Lucius is Vice President of Turknett Leadership Group, and Director of the Human Performance Division. He has over 15 years of progressive consulting experience that spans such diverse areas as executive assessment and coaching, job analysis, competency modeling, employee selection, litigation support, performance management, 360 degree feedback, frame-of-reference training, organizational re-structuring, employee opinion surveys, personality assessment, and leadership development. He has worked for numerous organizations of all sizes and types from small to the Fortune 500, government agencies, and non-profit.

He is a graduate of The University of Georgia with a doctorate degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Prior experiences include Employee Relations specialist with United Parcel Service, research director for the Center for Leadership and Career Studies at Emory University, Research Director for Fitability, and Project Manager for Applied Psychological Techniques.

Dr. Lucius is the co-author of the Fitability 5, a personality-based assessment administered to over a quarter-million individuals across the U.S. Dr. Lucius’ co-founded Organizational Diagnostics Online, a company acquired by Fitability in 2001.

Dr. Lucius is a licensed psychologist, has served as an adjunct faculty member at Oglethorpe University, and once served as the President for the Atlanta Society of Applied Psychology.

You’ll want to find out how professionals can dramatically transform individual, team and company effectiveness, innovation, nimbleness and creativity and transform small, medium and large firms into fearsome competitors.

Explaining that many small family firms and even companies with 4 or 5 individuals can afford their services and set themselves up to avoid conflicts while maximizing individual contribution…

I/O psychology is heavily business based and focused and is assuredly not the stereotypical “on the couch, chin-stroking” type of psychologist asking about your childhood. The Turknett Leadership Group works to improve the business effectiveness of senior executives, manager and employees using the principles of psychology. This approach helps people understand themselves and their coworkers better, assemble the right teams of the right people and form cohesive, goal oriented teams that excel, compete and win. A necessity in today’s ever more competitive international business community.

You can reach Dr.Randy Lucius at 770-270-1723 rlucius@turknett.com and online at www.turknett.com.

The  “Gurl Friday Services” team delivers the suite of services today’s distributed business can’t get along without. Teleworkers, remote sales agents operating from small offices and home offices, startups and many growing businesses need administrative support for accounting and bookkeeping, managing email, setting appointments, making travel and event arrangements, dealing with expense reports, taming accounts receivable and accounts payable, correspondence, etc., but they can’t afford to nor they need all those people full time, sitting around and costing money.

They need a service that delivers an on demand, al la carte menu of business services at reasonable prices. That’s what Gurl Friday Services does for their customers.

Both Theresa and Victoria have broad experience and backgrounds with large and small companies and they and their team of people bring put business expertise and experience in the hands the small companies while saving them money over other alternatives.

If you are being buried in the details, tax time means reaching for the grocery bag of receipts, you have a big marketing program and need to send out a thousand invitations, plan a conference or the pile of to-do’s is robbing you of handling your real business and has you working in, not on, your business, then you’ll want to call your own Gurl Friday.

Contact Theresa Widmann at 770-315-8613 theresa@gurlfridayservices.com and Victoria Hunter at 678-643-3132 victoria@gurlfridayservices.com and on the web at www.gurlfridayservices.com

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Our two guests today were Yvonne Riner with Uber Trade LLC, who explains the advantages of using barter in your business, including using it to get new clients. And, Todd Burkhalter, a Financial Planner and Partner at Ashworth & Sullivan Wealth Management Group, who discusses how financial planning can help individuals and families meet their goals for wealth creation, preservation and create a legacy.

Yvonne Riner is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Uber Trade LLC, an online barter exchange based in Alpharetta.  With over 500 members and 25 non-profit members, Yvonne and her husband Preston have plans to rapidly expand their concept nationwide.

Business owners are consistently challenged to do more with less and to seek ‘multiple’ and ‘creative ways’ to promote their business. The times of relying on one medium as your revenue source no long exist.  Find out how business owners are introducing ‘bartering’ as a new marketing channel and means to more to their bottom line when you listen to Yvonne discuss Uber Trade and how you can use it too.

If you are a non-profit, you’ll certainly want to tune in and learn how non-profits are using barter as a way to raise money and gain support for their causes.

Yvonne says she is a transplant from Florida, and a GA Bulldog alum where she earned her Executive MBA. She serves as a board member and an ambassador for the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, volunteers with the Alpharetta Business Association, is an ambassador for the UGA MBA Alumni,  and as marketing co-chair for the Hospitality Industry Ministry. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to establish Riner Associates, which provides marketing and business services for local non-profits.

You can contact Yvonne at ypriner@comcast.net or 770-329-3276. Their website is www.UberTrade.com.

Todd Burkhalter, partner in Ashworth & Sullivan Wealth Management Group, is a standout among wealth managers having been named five times as an Atlanta Magazine Five Star Wealth Manager for Best in Client Satisfaction in 2008 through 2011 and now again in 2012. Five Star Best In Client Satisfaction Wealth Managers are selected as a result of a rigorous research process. The resulting list represents no more than 4% of the wealth managers within a specific market area. Also, in 2010 named as a Top Wealth Manager in the Southeast by Newsweek Magazine. In 2011 and 2012, was recognized by The National Association Of Insurance and Financial Advisors as a member of The Top 40 Advisors Under 40 in Atlanta. These recognitions and awards are indicative of the passion he has for helping others achieve more reflect the skill, depth of expertise and competence of the team backing up Todd in serving his clients.

Todd says he’s been privileged to assist families, business owners, and professionals in realizing their financial dreams. Through a commitment to excellence, he has been fortunate to build a solid client base throughout the United States, which continually expands through referrals from satisfied clients.

Saying his company is very focused on serving its current customers best by understanding their needs, goals and situation in depth, Todd emphasizes their dedication to in-depth personal service to clients is a defining difference between his company and so many other. That, and their philosophy of costing a client a net of zero through sage investing, wise management of assets and careful planning gives you yet another reason to contact Todd.

You can reach him at 404.429.4132 On the Web: www.toddburkhalter.com or at www.ashworthsullivan.com Email him at: todd@ashworthsullivan.com