Article from the Daily News Sun on recent Power Luncheon Event!

Find your passion and merge it with or develop it into a business, and you will find success.


That was the basic message delivered in a luncheon presentation Thursday by Margaret Merrill, the keynote speaker for the first Power Women in Business luncheon of 2009. In its fourth year, the series, presented by the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce, at Skye Restaurant in Peoria, brings West Valley business women - and men - together for lunch and a lecture relating in some way to business success. How to recognize it, how to develop it and how to achieve it.

Elizabeth Hartigan, from Sterling Expectations, Inc., is the chairwoman for this year's series. She said 70 people signed up for Thursday's luncheon, and 13 businesses purchased table space for the pre-luncheon meet and greet event.

Merrill, who is a life coach, author and business owner, taught on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico for 23 years. In that time, she said, she realized she had a passion for experiencing culture. She put that passion to work in the development and launching of Oso Vista Ranch, where a sacred hogan was built and is used to continue the traditions and culture of the Navajo people in Ramah, N.M. Merrill showed a video of the hogan's construction and use.

She had copies of her second book, "Creating Purposeful Living," available for sale, and used handouts with illustrations and exercises to demonstrate discovering one's purpose in life and living it with intention. "Know who you are and live it out loud," she said.

Magnetism was an illustration Merrill used, comparing a block of unmagnetized items to the disordered confusion some people experience in trying to find their purpose. Far from being a disaster, she said, such confusion must precede clarity as values, passions, strengths, talents and service align to help define purpose.

Once your purpose is clear, goal setting becomes easier. Goals, Merrill said, ought to stretch you, to be just far enough out of reach that you must take your first step on faith. And once a goal becomes clear, she said, "Don't question it! Pray, and move your feet!"

Following the presentation, David Lewis, president and CEO of Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce, presented a check to Heard Museum West, received by Kate Cox. Cox announced her retirement from the Heard effective April 15, having spent nearly 16 years with the organization. She and her husband plan to move east to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

The next luncheon in the series will be June 25, and the speaker will be Carla Reeves, CEO of Sanity Journals, speaking on "Journaling for Your Business. Registration for chamber members is $35, non-members, $40. To register, or to become an exhibitor or sponsor, call 623- 583-0692 or visit www.surpriseregionalchamber.com.


Link to article:http://www.yourwestvalley.com/news/business_5652___article.html/merrill_luncheon.html

I wanted to share a great tip by a local author, and speaker Marsha Petrie Sue she has a fabulous group on Facebook called Personal Responsibility for Success Club....
Business Success and Recognition

To members of Personal Responsibility for Success Club


Marsha Petrie Sue
Today at 7:42am

Take time today to send a special letter of gratefulness, gratitude and thanks to someone special that has helped your career and business. Don't send an email, I mean a real, on paper, letter. Tell them how they have helped and encouraged your success. This should take no more than 10 minutes so stop what you are doing right now, and get started. Business success starts with taking personal responsibility for your actions.

Here's an idea. Find someone that you had issues with and didn't agree; what you learned from that interaction. How did that tenuous situation help you grow your communication, relationship building skills and emotional intelligence.