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Do you believe in Santa or Do You Believe in God?

Nothing new there, but it works. Who can forget “Have a Coke and a smile” among others. In brainstorming different ideas, my marketing manager, Kim, suggested putting “Happiness is…” with several different answers, the last of which would be Zoe’s Granola. Nice idea. Simple. Everyone wants to be happy.

Then I started to over think it… happiness means so many different things to so many people. For me, happiness is…

… laughing with my family
… sharing stories with friends
… hugging my dog
… reading emails from happy Zoe’s consumers
… helping Zoe Foods to grow
… my mom’s chocolate cake

What does it mean to you?

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Happiness is…

My girls had finally both gotten rid of their slight colds and it was time to get their annual flu shot. I think I had casually mentioned it at dinner at the beginning of the week. Mistake #1. Don’t ever talk about getting a shot with your kids. The fear of getting a SHOT is far worse than the reality – try explaining that to four and six year old children.

At the end of the week, after my poor girls have had all week to stew on their upcoming flu shots, we finally go to the doctor to get them. They fuss and cry in the car almost the entire 20 minute ride there. In order to get a little peace and quiet so that I can focus on driving, I bribe them with ice cream for dessert. It works until the nurse calls us into the exam room at the doctor’s office. Mistake #2. Don’t waste a bribe too soon, save it for when you’re really going to need it.

Like many doctor’s offices, ours has a waiting room with a serpentine hall to the multiple exam rooms. There is no door to keep the patients in, or keep them out. My two girls walk very reluctantly behind me and their nanny, (Stephanie, our awesome Au Pair!). We all step into the exam room. The nurse asks the girls who will go first. Both children backup very quickly out of the exam room into the hall so that there backs are against the wall. One starts crying and fussing, the other follows suit. With 17 months between them, they take turns copying each other’s bad behavior.

Neither child will come into the exam room. The nurse is waiting and starts to look a bit impatient. Her look says “Can’t you control your own kids?”. Clearly, not I think.

Bribe #2. Whoever goes first can select some extra play gemstones from the party favors I had gotten for an upcoming birthday party. My older daughter starts to step forward hesitantly. She puts one foot across the threshold of the exam room and then makes a break for it. Before any of us can blink, she and her sister are screaming at the top of their lungs and running back into the exam room and heading for the elevators. Mistake #3. Bribes are meaningless in the face of an impending shot.

I look at Stephanie not sure if I should laugh at this ludicrous situation or be truly mortified. I look at a group of doctors and nurses all watching our spectacle, and they nod reassuringly and tell me that this is normal behavior. Hmmm… I’m not convinced.

Stephanie and I take off after the girls and pick them up, crying, thrashing and all. I take my older daughter into the exam room and have to hold her down for the shot. A really horrible experience that makes me feel like a bad parent. The shot is over before she knows it, I hug her tight and pass her to Stephanie who she clings to like a monkey around a tree. The same thing happens with her younger sister. There must be a better way…

We’re all finished and I think, thank God, maybe next year when they’re a year older it won’t be so bad. The nurse then looks at me and says, please book an appointment one month from today so that your younger daughter can get her booster flu shot since she didn’t get it last year.

You’re kidding. Right?

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Have You Ever Seen Your Child Run for Her Life?

Dear Tori:

I’m the fellow who found the carton of (expired date) Zoe’s bars in the street. You subsequently sent me some samples. And then in August, you sent me a box of Zoe’s Honey Almond Granola which I never thanked you for cuz my computer had died. Finally replaced it [my computer], ate and enjoyed the cereal, and recently spoke to the manager of Market Basket in Bellingiham where I primarily shop.  I told him about the cereal (but not how I got it) and said “too bad you don’t carry it cuz I have to go to Shaws in Milford to get it” (this was a fib cuz I never bought it at Shaw’s and didn’t even know if they carried it but I didn’t want him to know I was trying to help you). To this he replied: “get me the box and I’ll see what I can do.”  Today I went to Shaw’s, and sure enough they do carry Zoe’s Granola (Cranberries Currants). so I bought one and I’m going to empty the box of all but a small portion and take it into the Market Basket Mgr. tonight or tomorrow. It has the Zoe email address on it.  In this fashion, perhaps I can get you another account in payment for your kindness in sending me samples.  In fact I may even try this “customer technique” for fun at Stop &Shop in Franklin where I sometimes shop (but not often cuz they are very pricey).

Best,
Hollis

I think this just goes to show you that if you keep thinking about what you want to make happen, other people will start helping you to manifest your thoughts - people you don’t even know and could never dream of.

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Zoe’s Bars Run Over By a Car and The Law Of Attraction

Have a great day!

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Zoe Foods in the Boston Herald - What Fun!

What I didn’t know until recently is, how bad for you processed meats really are. The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research’s “Second Expert Report” concludes that “processed meat is a convincing cause of colorectal cancer.”

The National School Lunch program, a federally funded program that often provides the best meal a child may get in a day, currently distributes and subsidizes processed meats like hot dogs to 30+ million children. Given the link between cancer and processed meats, it’s time to eliminate these meats from the National School Lunch program.

As a concerned parent who wants to make a difference, I’ve signed the petition to the Secretary of Agriculture requesting that the government halt the distribution and subsidization of processed meats like hot dogs through the National School Lunch program. Whether you have children or not, if you’re reading this blog you’re concerned about nutrition and health, please take a moment and click on the following link to sign the petition too. Thank you.
http://support.cancerproject.org/site/PageServer?pagename=usda_national_school_lunch_program_petition

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Controlling What Our Kids Eat

I discussed my personal values with my Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Forum last night (a small group of 9 Boston entrepreneurs who meet monthly to share experiences and learn from each other – part of a worldwide organization of 9,000 members). From this I realized that if I make sure that my actions are consistent with my values, I’m happy.

Sounds simple, but this is how it works (for me). One of my values is to “make a difference”. When asked last night what this means, I replied that it’s simple. As long as I feel like I’m making a difference in someone’s life, I’m happy. It could be as simple as opening the door for someone who has too much to carry, letting someone who is obviously in a rush cut ahead of me when driving, etc.

Given the economy, I decided to apply my values to my work at Zoe Foods. This lead me to rereading emails that Zoe Foods and I have received from its customers (i.e. you!). When I read emails from people who tell me that they love Zoe’s new crunchy granolas because they taste good and have great nutrition, I can’t help but think “Score!”. There’s another person I helped make a difference for today. So… if it makes you happy to make someone else happy, please keep the emails coming and commenting on the blog.  I promise that I will pay it forward!

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What Motivates You In A Difficult Economy?

We not only need to provide our children with healthy choices, but we need to teach them how and why we combine these healthy choices. Yet, the puzzle is still larger.

I believe we also need to teach our children to appreciate the wonderful choices that they have and the importance of not wasting food since it is a precious gift. When I was a child, my mom used to tell us that children were starving in Ethiopia and that we needed to finish the food that we had taken. As a child I don’t think I fully understood the implications of what she was saying, but it clearly made an impact on me since I recall her words 30 years later.

I am torn on this issue because I have been asked to participate in a group of concerned parents who want to improve the nutrition at my kids’ school. I would love to see my children have healthier choices with no fast or fried food. And yet spending my limited free time to help my children’s school is like tutoring a child who scored 90% on a test so that they can get 100% the next time. There are so many children who need much more help since they’ve only scored a 30%.

The National School Lunch Program provides $2.57 per lunch for over 30.5 million children, and for many of those children, that’s the best meal that they get. If I am to help my children’s school improve its nutrition, then at least I can make sure that my children learn that there are others less fortunate than themselves and that we all need to make an effort to help others less fortunate than ourselves in any way we can.

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Nutrition In Schools

In order to make a positive change in our world, I think that the singer and songwriter Jack Johnson says it best:

With My Own Two Hands by Jack Johnson, featuring Ben Harper ?(repetitive refrains are edited out for brevity’s sake)

I can change the world
With my own two hands
Make it a better place
With my own two hands
Make it a kinder place
With my own two hands
I can make peace on earth
With my own two hands
I can clean up the earth
With my own two hands
I can reach out to you
With my own two hands
I’m going to make it a brighter place
With my own two hands
I’m going to make it a safer place
With my own two hands
I’m going to help the human race
With my own two hands
I can hold you
With my own two hands
I can comfort you
With my own two hands
But you’ve got to use
Use your own two hands
With our own two hands
With my own two hands

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Yes We Can!

As a mom, your kids cannot just give you the day off. Even if your husband or helper has agreed to let you rest so that you can take care of yourself to get better – did you tell your kids that this was the plan? When they’re little, they just don’t get it. If you’re in the middle of a nap and you hear the stampede of feet followed by “mommmmyyyyyy” – so much for the nap.

Not to mention, in my house I’m the grand coordinator of everyone’s schedules and plans. Because I wasn’t feeling great, my husband took the kids when they woke up Sunday morning to have brunch with friends and then to the playground. By the time they got back it was well past noon. Since my head was feeling fuzzy, I didn’t even realize until dinner-time that one of my daughters missed a birthday party.

As for work, as a business owner, there really are no sick days either, just somewhat less productive ones. There’s only so much you can get done when your head feels like it’s filled with custard. And, if you decide to work from home because you don’t want to infect the rest of your team, your kids are thrilled. You then have the challenge of telling them that they need to let you work even though you should be in bed resting to get better. Now if that doesn’t send a confusing message! So… it’s now 4:45pm and I have not seen my kids since 1:30pm. Guess they got it after all.

Not really sure how that makes me feel, but it does let me get my work done. Now all I need to do is feel better so that I can get back to work and to my family!

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Sick Daze