Archive for category: 2009-11 TMLP Times

Water Works

WATER

Water Works

Laura Sauter, Team New England, T2Q4

Can one person make a difference?

Just ask Laura Sauter and she will reply with a resounding “Yes.”

Laura and her boyfriend Pat are leading an organization called Water Works — making a contribution to worldwide environmental issues.  They believe we are living in the “Sustainability Revolution” era. Their goal is to have their work, volunteer and family activities contribute to a more sustainable way of life.

While there are many environmental issues in the world, one issue has stayed with them.  Laura and Pat found out that there is a trash pile the size of Texas, made up mostly by plastic water bottles, floating adrift in the Pacific Ocean.  To make matters worse, many endangered birds are feeding their young babies pieces of the plastic bottles because they think it is food.  The entire eco-system is at risk and Laura realized she must be in action.  Out of this, she and Pat created Water Works.

In the past Laura was daunted by all the issues in the world and felt too overwhelmed to take action and make a difference. As a single mother, living in a new town, with very few friends she was just surviving through her daily routine.

Laura created a breakthrough for herself in the Landmark Education Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP).  She became unstoppable, making a difference for herself, her family, and the world.   Laura learned tools to help her create numerous projects and teams in her life.  Now, she was finally able create the life that she loved and had a team of people supporting her along the way.

Water Works’ mission is to eradicate the use of plastic bottles, creatings a world where people are conscious of their impact and responsible for their actions. By switching to reusable metal bottles, they can help save the planet one bottle at a time. The organization shows others that one simple thing can make a difference.

The Water Works team works with schools to educate children about the impact of using plastic bottles and the benefit of using reusable metal water bottles.  They have begun work with city governments to ban the sales of plastic bottles.   Laura and Pat are inspiring countless people and communities.  Even their kids are getting involved by teaching other kids to use reusable metal water bottles and influencing their sports team coaches to stop the use of plastic water bottles during practice and at games.

BOTTLES

They began Water Works on the South Shore of Boston, but the movement is growing and has already been approached by towns as far away as California.  Four months after beginning the organization, the team has accomplished the following:  Aquarion water has agreed to install hydration stations in two local towns as well as distributing 200 reusable bottles to the public and providing water for free to businesses that want to provide hydration stations; partnering with the Chamber of Commerce in Martinez California to help them redefine their town as a green town rather than a refining town; and created a pledge to help people declare that they are part of the movement and they will no longer buy bottled water.

So, can one person make a difference?  Yes one person can!

If you are interested in finding out more about Water Works, please visit their Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hingham-MA/Water-Works/154040632217?ref=ts

Written by Minling Chuang / edited by Jeff Bonar

WISHING ON WISHART

WISHART

Wishing on a Wishart

Crissy Adams, T2Q4

When Crissy Adams’ first grandson, Jonathan Wishart, was born, he needed numerous surgeries to save his life. Months later, the family was grateful to have him come home from the hospital for the first time. But Jonathan needed 24-hour nursing care and other medical treatment. Needless to say, the financial strain kept growing as Jonathan continued to fight for his life. Crissy and her family reached out to numerous resources for financial relief. Out of their commitment to Jonathan and his life, the Jonathan’s Wish Foundation was born. And now, four and a half years later, Jonathan is a happy, healthy growing boy. Although Jonathan is better, there are many more families who are dealing with similar circumstances. This is why Crissy’s team continues to grow the foundation. The vision of the Jonathan’s Wish Foundation is to alleviate financial stress, one family at a time.

With the team’s hard work, numerous people have access to funding to help them pay off medical bills. Now, instead of worrying about how to pay off medical expenses and work extra jobs, families can be together and focus on having their loved one get better. This is what motivates the Jonathan’s Wish team to continue to raise money for the foundation.

In total, close to $2,000 has been raised for charitable foundations that give money to people undergoing financial crisis because of medical emergencies. How many people has the foundation helped? Thousands, once you consider a child’s parents, grandparent, siblings, cousins, and extended family members such as employers, neighbors, and godparents. As they saying goes, “It’s a ripple effect” and the benefits of paying a $50 heating bill is always much greater than the fifty-dollars.

Crissy’s two year participation in Landmark Education’s Team, Management, and Leadership program gave her the confidence to be unstoppable in making requests of people to donate or support her non-profit organization. From bake sales, to concerts, and even renovation projects, her team steps up to any fundraising challenge.

Jonathan’s wish is that all wishes come true! His did and thanks to the Jonathan’s  Wish team, other peoples’ wishes will also come true.

If you are interested in finding out more about Jonathan’s Wish Fund, please visit  http://jonathanswishfund.org.

Written by Djuna Wojton / edited by Wendy Zalles

FREEDOM, FUN & BEAUTY TO THE PLANET

FREEDOM

Freedom, Fun and Beauty to the Planet

Kennerly Clay- Team Philadelphia T1, Q3

As we move further into the 21st century over 75 million baby boomers are becoming middle aged. People are interested in looking young for as long as possible and many are looking to Botox and facelifts, as well as alternative methods to preserve their looks. Kennerly Clay created a game, Freedom, Fun and Beauty to the Planet, to help people look younger and more vibrant with a painless, natural alternative to invasive surgery without any harmful side effects.

When Kennerly was 36, she had her first baby. After the pregnancy, the strain of sleepless nights from nursing her baby, as well as hormonal changes, and years of sun damage showed up on her face. For the first time in her life, she felt self-conscious when she looked in the mirror. Her skin looked so tired, she felt that her days of youth and beauty were over. But when a friend introduced her to NuSkin technology from Europe that dramatically improved her skin condition, her confidence returned. She was inspired to promote the technology and sell the products to others.

Now, four years later, Kennerly went from being an independent sales person to having a sales team to launch this innovative technology in the US marketplace.  “My goal is to build leaders within my team of sales representatives. I train my reps to be accountable for producing the results they say they want.”

While in the Team, Management, and Leadership Program, Kennerly learned to recognize leadership in others, empowering them to build their own teams. As a result, her sales volume reached an all-time high, in spite of a sagging economy. She is now known by NuSkin reps throughout the region and across the country as a leader.  Her vision is that people are delighted and confident in the face they show to the world.

Written by Djuna Wojton/ edited by Wendy Zalles

A NEW VOICE FOR HAITI

HAITI

A New Voice For Haiti: The Nicole Claude Show Creates Opportunities to Unite the Caribbean Community in the Midwest

Nicole Claude – Team Heartland T2, Q3

It’s Saturday afternoon in late June. A single mom gets in her Chevy in Addison, IL, a suburb 20 miles west of Chicago, and begins a new journey.

“On my way, driving to the city, I saw many fathers on their bikes with their children.  Some of the parks are closed for activities and there are block parties where families can gather and experience the special weekend,” said Nicole Claude.

It is Father’s Day 2009 – a day to celebrate family and where we come from. Claude realizes, “Since I immigrated here 35 years ago, I have not been in touch with my dad, Murat Claude.”

The irony is not lost on her. Claude is on her way to the radio studio for the premier of “The Nicole Claude Show,” an hour-long program that aims to bring the Haitian and Caribbean communities in the Midwest together.

The program is acting on a theme of separation found in many immigrants’ lives.  It is a place to give people a voice – in “English, Creole, French, and Spanish and, of course, the language of love,” Claude tells her listeners.

Claude and her co-host Victor Gulley talk about current events in Haiti, news that makes a difference, as well as events in Chicago for the Haitian community. Each week there is a guest and the topics range from Love, Health and fitness, to Wealth and financial fitness. The radio show came about as part of Claude’s participation in Landmark Education’s Team Management and Leadership Program.

The Haitian Consulate in Chicago estimates there are as many as 22,000 Haitians in the Chicago area. Community leaders estimate the numbers to be as high as 35,000.

“What’s missing is for us to have a voice,” said Claude. “One thing that is specific to the Haitian culture is speaking French and Creole.”

If you go to Florida and New York, everyone in the Haitian community still speaks their native languages, but not in the Midwest. “It’s not something we experience. We move here and lose our language. Our presence is silent in the Midwest.”

Claude was born in Port au Prince, Haiti, also known as “La Perle Des Antilles” (the pearl of the Antilles). She came to Chicago in 1974 as a teenager with her brother Ronald, joining her mother and oldest brother Jean, who immigrated to the US first.

Claude reconnected with her “terra natale” or native country on a trip in 1990. “The most memorable moment was standing in a most beautiful turquoise sea and admiring its color and vast ‘etendue’, it appears that time stood still,” said Claude. “The laughter, dances and speaking the native language, Creole, still echoes in my mind and this moment remains alive today many years later.”

So each Saturday from 9 pm to 10 pm on WSBC Access Radio Chicago, 1240 AM, Claude takes to the airwaves to unify the Haitian and Caribbean communities. “We are building multicultural opportunities, a network of people.”

Among its regular contributors are love expert Bruce Hart and medical correspondent Mary Bess Zouvas. Claude’s professional experience is in critical care nursing, occupational health and health management, so it’s no surprise health is a primary focus of the show. Marcia Lane, the executive director of the Haiti Nursing Foundation, was a recent guest.

MAN

Claude sees physical fitness and health directly tied to wealth. “Mostly we talk about health and the wealth is missing.” This is especially true in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

“I’m taking on speaking about financial fitness,” said Claude. “Haitians are always excited, we always want to start businesses. But in Chicago we have not been successful in maintaining successful businesses, like restaurants.”

Claude lamented about not being able to get traditional Haitian cuisine in Chicago, like mais moulu – a type of corn meal served with red beans or avocado.

While she may not be able to recreate the aromas and tastes of Haiti on the radio, Claude can bring the sound of the Caribbean to Chicago listeners. The show features music from the islands including recordings made by Gulley for his theater production.

On Gulley’s recording, Nicole’s sultry, inspired voice drifts across a background of musical infinities crooning, “Love is my papa calling me ‘pipirite chantant’ [a small singing bird], love is my mom telling me that I am ‘potelé’ [healthy], love is my second mom, love is my brother Jean sending me a trousseau of clothes from the USA, love is my brother Ronald cooking for me…”

Through the love of her homeland and a commitment to her culture, Nicole Claude is giving the Haitian community an opportunity to connect with each other and its heritage. She plans to connect with her own heritage by traveling to Haiti to find out about her father and to broadcast from the island.

One of the challenges in connecting the community is actually hearing her voice over a wide area. “There are a lot of stations in Evanston [a suburb just north of Chicago] but the frequency is not strong enough to hear in my town [in the western suburbs]. My show is not able to reach everyone,” said Claude.

Her goal is to build a team of investors and vendors to create and operate a 24-hour/7-days a week radio station in Chicago dedicated to Caribbean issues that can be heard all over the Midwest.

“The future is a Caribbean voice, a Haitian voice that can be heard in Chicago,” said Claude.

For more information, or to purchase T-shirts and recordings, visit the show’s website at thenicoleclaudeshow.com/.

Written & Edited by Steve Schapiro

BRINGING SEXY BACK

SEXY

Bringing Sexy Back

Marghe Carbonaro – Team Philadelphia T1, Q3

Even though the Victorian era with its sexual repression is long past, many people still feel uncomfortable talking about sex. Yet, good communication is necessary for true intimacy.  One needs to feel at ease making requests and giving feedback to one’s partner. Marghe Carbonaro’s game, Bringing Sexy Back, empowers individuals and couples to be comfortable with their bodies and sexuality so that they are free to express themselves. With her team of trained women, they create home parties in the Philadelphia area. Though the party centers around selling innovative adult toys and products to enhance intimacy, sensuality, and romance—party guests leave with much more than expected, such as empowerment and new possibilities for upping their intimacy game.

The party process is all about teamwork, the “golden key” Marghe realized was missing before her participation in the Team, Management, and Leadership Program (TMLP). Now Marghe and her team use techniques she’s learned in TMLP to create teams and teamwork in any situation. For example, using social networking sites to invite guests (who in turn invite more guests) to upcoming events for her business, The Velvet Lily.

Here’s a typical party plan: The hostess of the party invites friends to create a group of four to twenty-five participants who can either be all women, co-eds, or couples.  The guests usually arrive nervous, but all it takes is for one person to share about a personal sexual experience to make the group feel at ease. By sharing their experience, they contribute to each other. When people are authentic and generous with their communication, people feel related. It gives everyone permission to let go of being embarrassed or ashamed.

“Being involved in the Team, Management, and Leadership Program enabled me to really listen to my clients so that I was able to hear what problems women were having in their sex lives. I discovered that during the home parties, I could make a difference by providing a safe space for them to talk about sexual experiences they otherwise would feel uncomfortable bringing up.”

Once the guests start talking about a taboo topic, it’s hard for Marghe to finish the entire presentation in a timely manner because the guests have so much to say. The result is that not only do women buy products that will enhance their love lives, they are left feeling understood and empowered

Marghe and her team are ready to go out and take on the world of intimacy through communication.

If you are interested in finding out more about The Velvet Lily, please visit: http://www.thevelvetlily.com/

Written by Djuna Wojton / edited by Wendy Zalles

CELEBRATING LIFE AFTER RESIGNATION

LIFE

Celebrating Life After Resignation

Kimberly Chiswell Team Sydney, Australia, T1,Q4

Before Kimberly Chiswell joined the Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP), the world looked scary, filled with threats of global warming, terrorism, corruption, epidemics and global financial crises. The impact on Kimberly was that she often felt overwhelmed with fear and afraid of the future, so much so that she was could not fathom bringing a child into this dangerous place. She didn’t believe that anything she did, not even her job as a social worker, could really make a difference.

But in November of 2008 she joined the Landmark Education Team Management and Leadership Program and within a couple of weeks her worldview shifted. Even her apprehension about bringing a child into the world changed and she asked herself. “Kimberly, if you were to not add any judgments but simply come from nothing and create, what would make a difference at the end of this year-long course?” Her response was “I would have a baby”.

In the first quarter of the course, she created a colorful, musical festival entitled “Viva la Vida! (A celebration of life the Latin American way!)” The event was alive, exciting, and raised $3000 for a Mexican orphanage.

A week later she and her husband conceived a beautiful soul.

In the last quarter of her year in the Team Management and Leadership Program Kimberly realized she’d been saying she couldn’t really do anything about the threats to the environment, but she saw she was afraid to be responsible for the difference she could make. She created a ‘game’ designed around building a community of gardeners who would get together and inspire each other to harvest and share their produce.

The result for her game was to have ten neighbors sharing ideas to improve their soil, sharing the food grown in their local gardens and fish from the sea. But her game really began when she realized she could be accountable for the environment by having her community reduce carbon emissions for transporting food and by putting healthy fresh food on the table. She says, “There is nothing like eating fruit and veggies freshly picked!” The unexpected benefit of her game has been a stronger sense of community.

Kimberly now knows herself as someone who can make a difference with the environment. She is being the change she wants to see in the world for her family and for her community. Rather than living in a world filled with fears, her new life is filled with incredible heroes and heroines committed to creating love, peace and abundance with freedom and ease!

Written by Kimberly Chiswell/ edited by Judi Romaine

DISAPPEARING DIS-EASE

MUSIC

The Gift of Music

Cecilia Rossiter, T, Q3 Team Heartland

Rossiter was born with the gift of music, and spent years developing her skills. The road to mastery was long and had many stops along the way. She began cello lessons when she was 10 years old and has worked in Chicago, Nashville, Pittsburgh, South Korea, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Rochester, MN, and the Washington, DC metro area.

“I did not have mastery in cello playing until I had mastery in practicing. I worked on it and broke through in being especially effective around age 28,” said Rossiter. “My primary teacher, Frank Miller, was principal cellist for [acclaimed conductor Arturo] Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the ‘50s and for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than 30 years. He was the master of master cellists.”

Rossiter went on to become the principal cellist at the Rochester Symphony Orchestra in the early 1990s where she met Peter Ostroushko and performed on his album “Heart of the Heartland,” which won the 1995 Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year. She founded the Joioso Trio and performed on public radio, in concert and at the Music and Medicine Series of the Mayo Clinic.

She taught in all the places she lived, sharing her gift with all age groups and skill levels. She was affiliated with music schools, high schools and universities. After moving to Washington, DC in the late 1990s she also started working for the National Academy of Sciences, her right arm wasn’t lifting up. Rossiter thought she had moved too many boxes.

And then one night, playing Kol Nidre – a piece for solo cello and orchestra – Cecilia dropped her bow during the performance. Her symptoms had finally become too obvious. Within months, Cecilia was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. A year and a half later she heeded her doctor’s advice and retired.

She was struggling with the disease when, due to a high fever, she went completely blind for two days. “It was a kick in the rear. I needed to move forward and create a life that had workability, even with the circumstance of blindness.” said Rossiter.

So she moved from Washington, DC to Lincoln, NE and began to create a community she could participate in. She bought a house near the University of Nebraska so she could be “within power chair” access to its library and its collection of science publications. She also started attending a fellowship group. It has great people and the community Rossiter was looking for. Through Landmark she found an outlet to connect her community and her experiences to a broader audience.

“I don’t have the ability to demonstrate, and I don’t have the stamina,” said Rossiter. “So where [performing] was bringing music out of silence, we now have something else to bring out of silence – a play, a sharing.”

So what is MS? It is a degenerative neurological disease, with an aspect of brain atrophy that resembles an acceleration of aging. Cecilia gets lost unexpectedly, has slowed reactions that explain falling and breaking her arm in 2006, and she deals with cognitive challenges. There is no cure, but there are drugs that can slow down the progression of the disease.

There are three things that determine its severity – how much inflammation in the brain or spinal cord, how destructive the inflammation is and how much capacity the brain has to work around it.

Symptoms that frequently lead to diagnosis are vision problems, numbness, or limbs that do not move properly. As the disease attacks the immune system, it gets harder to control muscles and body functions. The two leading causes of death from MS are starvation and bladder infection.

In “Disappearing Dis-Ease,” Rossiter teamed up with comedian Juli Burney and her mother, retired syndicated columnist Joan Burney to write scripts for 12 people diagnosed with MS, including Rossiter. It is an expression of living powerfully, no matter what the circumstances.

Each show is different, as anywhere from five to seven of the vignettes are performed. The topics vary from a husband and wife dealing with a leg that won’t stop shaking, to a professional bioengineer who takes everything coolly with Coors as the medical treatment.

There is a vignette titled, “I’m Fine,” performed by a former nurse who details how it is easier to say, “I’m fine” than to talk about and deal with disabilities.

Another woman shares her story of being a mother and grandmother who refuses to let the disease prevent her from riding roller coasters. She is determined to have fun and live her life. Her MS started in 1980, but wasn’t diagnosed until 1987 at the Mayo Clinic. She actively volunteers for the Midlands MS Chapter and won the National MS Society’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003. One of the vignettes, “MS Sucks” is by a doctor who has worked all over the world – in Pakistan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Antarctica, and the Pacific Islands.

Rossiter and her troupe have performed the play five times in Omaha and Lincoln, NE this fall. They are slated to perform at the end of January with the support of a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council. And that is just the beginning.

“We’re creating it for anyone who wants it in the country,” she said. A film of the play will be created and distributed to all 54 MS chapters so a local version of the play can be written and performed with their own members, their own stories. There is an included script/blueprint that provides a formula to write the script, how to publicize the play and what steps to take.

“We’re creating a voice for us,” Rossiter said. “Now I’m being healed and healing.”

By giving people a voice Rossiter now finds that her father, as well as a larger audience, has an unprecedented grasp and empathy of what life with a diagnosis of MS implies. Communication has become free where mystery once inspired silence. “Our miracle is simply being on stage and sharing as people living with circumstances that are difficult to wrap your mind around. We present as amazingly fine.”

Written & Edited by Steve Schapiro

HEAL YOURSELF AND THE PLANET

EVE

Eve Turner T1, Q4 Team Newport  Beach

Eve Turner has a vision of everyone on the planet being of service naturally, and in this way, recognizing and accepting their own divinity. By 2040, she sees a world where all people are left happy and content, their basic needs met. With this goal in mind, she and her husband, Paul, created a weekly meditation and healing session called Heal Yourself and the Planet.  The goal of the weekly healing session is to provide energy healing to people in various communities.

By the end of the average day, many people are drained by stresses occurring throughout the day.  They lose themselves in their daily work and are often only able to focus on completing the next task.  Heal Yourself and the Planet gives people the space to recharge themselves. Once they are re-centered, they can shift their attention to their family, their communities, and their world.

Eve, Paul, and the team at Heal Yourself and the Planet want to show the world that healing body, mind, and soul is important and that anyone can take part in the healing of one’s self and others.

Since the creation of Heal Yourself and the Planet, Eve and her team have held 145 meetings and had over 1,300 people attend their sessions.  They have also inspired former attendees to start their own events in new locations around the US.  Now the team is branching off to develop lectures, courses, and a workshop series.

Eve is so proud of how far this program has come and credits Landmark Education’s Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP) for teaching her how to create teams and teamwork in any situation and cause effective leaders.

Through this process, she has also discovered a purpose for her life–to continue to teach others to heal, her goal that every person in the world is healed.

What’s next for Eve’s Game?   “Creating a bigger space to hold the meditations and continue to offer them as a free service to the community.” “I have been reminded of my gift–knowing that everyone is a cause in our own lives and the healers of our own bodies.” What a gift indeed.

Written by Judi Romaine, Edited by Minling Chuang

CONTRIBUTION

JUAN

Contribution

Juan Cortes, Team LA, T2,Q3

Juan Cortes loves having kids win in life and in the process, discovering they are the leaders of the future. Juan designed his Game in the World, Contribution, inside of the Team Management and Leadership Program, so that the children of Los Angeles can enter art and writing contests at the community level and get the experience of winning.

The possibility of his game is being of service, powerful, loving and generous, the outcome is people experiencing love, abundance, and contribution with each other as one extraordinary family of the world.

Juan’s wife and team leader, Lisa Marie Valle supported her art students from her inner school East Los Angeles Skill Center and other schools in the Los Angeles area to enter art contests. In one instance, she had her students enter the an Asian-American Culture art contest and the great thing was that the majority of the students entering were of Hispanic descent and two of them, who painted Japanese-Americans in the interment camps during World War II in California, won first and second places. Those students discovered in the process that you don’t have to be Asian to win an Asian-American contest because they are the world. The winners were honored by meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, tickets to Disneyland and a scholarship.

One student from Lisa’s school wrote a piece about his mother entitled 3:00 am. in which he acknowledged his mother, a single parent, for waking up so early to take care of his needs and make sure that he was prepared for his day. The miracle was that his mother saw her commitment to him acknowledged at the ceremony where he won a prize. All the students get to see that just entering a contest is being a winner and that life is always about playing.

What Juan learned from his Game how important a team is in the playing of a game, and he has discovered that he actually has the power to create something amazing in the world.

Written by Judi Romaine, Edited by Minling Chuang

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TMLP Times Contributors:

Dave Baldwin

Jeff Bonar

Valri Castleman

Minling Chuang

Judi Romaine

Cecilia Rossiter

Steve Schapiro

Djuna Wojton

Wendy Zalles


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