During the year, it’s easy to get wrapped up in work, carried away by “making progress,” and becoming so focused that we forget to say, “Hey, you’re important to me” to the people that matter most. But no matter what your faith, the holidays force us to put on the brakes and spend special time with those we love. In fact it’s an institution that is hard to ignore. If it’s not the familiar holiday music, it’s the decorations everywhere. They’re all signaling us that it’s time to get back to basics, it’s time to touch base, and it’s time to be a real human being again. And do it quickly before this year is history!

Thank goodness for this annual reminder!  Sure, it always seems like it arrives way too fast and we’re always unprepared. As the clock counts down, we may even feel pressured to visit friends, buy presents for family, and call everyone we can’t see. But wait! Let’s get back to what’s really going on here. We’re being reminded by these holidays to show appreciation for who’s really important to us in our lives.

And if we haven’t connected as much as we would like to during the year, we are reminded that this is our last chance before the year is over. In the process, we are also reminded how busy we have become that we may have inadvertently relegated some important relationships to a lower priority than our work, career or projects. In fact, if it wasn’t for the holidays we may even lose track of some of those important relationships. We ourselves certainly fit into that profile more than we would like to.

But this is what we are all working for; this is what we all have at the end of the day and the end of the year, family and friends. So try not to see it as a chore and don’t feel under pressure. Be grateful that you have some folks that you care for and who care for you. Be grateful that you can spend some time and show them that you truly appreciate the relationship you have with them, even if you don’t express that during the year. As far as business is concerned, it’s OK to hang it up for a while. You have permission to take some time to give and receive appreciation!

We want to take this opportunity to give appreciation to each and every one of our readers, all of the students of entrepreneurship who have listened to us, all of the professors and academicians who have hosted us, and all the organizations that have brought us in to keynote their events over the past year. We wish you all the happiest of holidays and the very best for you and yours for the New Year. And yes, you are important to us!

Happy Holidays!

Michael and Bonnie

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Happy Holidays! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

The EBV program in Syracuse, NY involves an intensive 30-day online course moderated by entrepreneurship faculty, a one-week residency phase that brings in speakers to share their real world entrepreneurial experience and coach the students, and a 12-month technical assistance program with ongoing support and mentorship.

These vets are committed to success and are sincerely excited about getting out there and making it happen. Of course, the road to successful entrepreneurship is always fraught with challenges, but these people have already demonstrated their bravery, tenacity, and spirit. Now their country needs them again. This time it’s to build new businesses, create new jobs, and provide new goods and services – the real backbone of our recovering economy. And once again they are heeding the call to action!

We hope that our experience will save them some of the time, setbacks, and false starts we suffered. Here is our parting message to these inspiring veterans that summarizes some of the key elements our real world stories exemplify.

A Note of Encouragement and Gratitude

To the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities

(July 30, 2013)

Last week we had the pleasure and the privilege of sharing our real world experiences with each of you! Your enthusiasm and commitment are inspirational. We hope we gave you some tools you can use to get out there and be successful. Although the risk is great and the safety nets are nowhere to be found, you still have some important advantages over your civilian counterparts: Discipline, Hustle, and Respect for Policies and Procedures.

You can mitigate the risk by realizing that when you succeed, someone else succeeds. Identify your strategic allies. Treat them like true partners, keep them abreast of your challenges, and empathize with the risk they take with you. Whether they are employees, suppliers, vendors, associates, customers, or the community, put yourself in their shoes. Treat them like you would like to be treated and they will go to bat for you.

Start small and make your big mistakes in a limited area you can manage. Change the documents that need to be improved to prevent a re-occurrence before you take your show on the road. There is no “yes” or “no,” just “now” or “later.” You are the one who says “no” when you stop asking. So ask or a different person, a different day or a different way, until you get to “now.”

Remember, sales trump everything and you can’t sell it if it isn’t there. So focus on how your product or service will get to market and stay there. Then deliver the best quality and service you can. All companies have only two divisions – Sales and Sales Support – and Sales Support works for Sales.

Don’t try to do everything yourself. Do what you do best and leave the rest for the specialists. Pay for performance and attract the performers.

Hardship plus Hustle equals Opportunity. Opportunity plus Heart equals Success! We are proud of you and we are pulling for you. Thank you for having us and we look forward to your success!

Michael and Bonnie

PS: Use The Barefoot Spirit – It’s not a cure-all, but it is a helmet, a flak jacket and a darn good flashlight!

PPS: For more help, check out  www.barefootwinefounders.com and www.thebrandauthority.net

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Yes, imperfections may stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, but we still have nine good fingers. It seems like the more we notice something, good or bad, the more we give energy to it and the more it reoccurs. Just the process of giving thanks forces us to think positively about situations, occurrences and achievements that have a powerful impact on our business and lives.

When we take the time to acknowledge what is going right, we tune in with our eyes and ears for more of the same. We tend to miss opportunities if we’re bent on complaining or looking for what’s wrong.

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in America, we chose to share some things for which we all should be thankful:

Health. Most of us are reasonably healthy, and our life expectancy has increased significantly, just in the past few decades. This means we have the opportunity to be with loved ones and share what we’ve learned over a longer period of time. We can employ new discoveries about diet and exercise that will improve our health and fitness over an extended life span.

Wealth. Most of us are living well above the poverty level, and we are certainly better off than most of the world’s population. We have inherited an incredible infrastructure from our parents. It enables us to communicate, access knowledge, travel, drink clean water, and reduce disease. Efficient commerce enables us to enjoy a higher standard of living.

Cooperation. The people we work with and depend upon give us the opportunity to make a living. Our income is dependent on customers, colleagues, vendors, employers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. They all play a part in our wellbeing, and provide opportunities for us to sell our products, services and labor.

Friends and Family. The people who know and love us have been there over the years, giving invaluable support and encouragement. They provide us with the long-term view of what’s important and how we are growing though our experiences. These time traveling companions give us a point of reference and share the memories that keep our history alive.

Transparency. Probably the biggest change brought about by the information revolution is the new realization that we can now see where our money goes. We now have the opportunity to research the products and companies we patronize for their practices that affect our welfare, environment, and rights as a global community. Today, we can choose to do business with those we best resonate with. By using our money as our vote, we have an opportunity to improve the world.

There are many more benefits to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Let’s not just take them for granted. When we verbally acknowledge that which is most important to us, we tend to see more of it in our lives. Give it a try and see if it improves your attitude!

Well, if that hasn’t cheered you up, check out these two great videos:

• From TED, this short video is on our favorite book of the year, “Abundance” by the editor of Popular Science
• An oldie but goodie from the late, great Godfather of Soul, James Brown

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Increase Your Abundance by Expressing Gratitude appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.