On Pointe
News and stories for friends like you.
Input = Output
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Put People First.
During a dermatologist visit some years ago, the doctor was encouraging me to wear sunscreen and said, “what goes in when you’re young, will come out when you’re old.” We’ve all been told about the importance of sunscreen, but she put the advice in real terms that I could visualize. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a future with wrinkly hands and sunspots.
Because her advice struck me so clearly, I’ve reflected on that from time to time, …
The Power of a Purposeful Life
Happy Monday Everyone and Happy President’s Day! Our Core Purpose is to Beautify the World. I love rainy weekends, and true to form, I had one of the more relaxing weekends I can remember – I even got eight hours of sleep Saturday night! Combine that with my deep appreciation for our Founding Fathers…let’s go!
In 1755, George Washington was a 23-year-old colonial volunteer for the British army in the French and Indian War. During the Battle of Monongahela, Washington had two horses shot out from under him and four bullets pass …
Whatever is in front of you…
Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Embrace Results. “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Abraham Lincoln…today’s Birthday Boy!
Results don’t just happen—they’re earned through the choices we make in the moment. In our work and in our lives, progress comes from leaning into responsibility, not around it. When we decide to tackle the small things today with discipline, focus, and pride, we stack the deck for big wins tomorrow.
Whatever is in front of you—an overnight snow event, a full production schedule, a challenging …
Release and Create
Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Create Our Future. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Victor Frankl
All of us have gone through hardship at some point in our lives. Some more difficult than others, but all of us have faced loss, fear, hurt, and a feeling that life isn’t fair. Sometimes those situations can become a story in our minds that gets replayed, repeatedly, in slow motion, trying to get our brains to process what took place, hoping if …
Grit – The Surest Path to Success
Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Create Our Future. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the very early days of owning my business, I had a client who was the managing partner of a local Northwestern Mutual office. He had gone to a conference for entrepreneurs, and during a talk in his driveway one Saturday, he shared with me a lesson …
Faith in Something Bigger
Happy Monday Everyone! Our Core Purpose is: To Beautify the World. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today, our Nation honors the memory of Dr. King. I have long been inspired by the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, and I think that inspiration is strengthened by the fact that many of them had a broken nature. It’s my personal belief that their wisdom was not limited to their own potential – divine wisdom was sewn into their thoughts.
To Be Worthy of Trust
Happy Monday Everyone! Our Vision is to be The Most Trusted and Admired Landscape Company in the World.
“Trust is the ability for everyone in an organization to confidently rely on (and predict) that others will do the right thing and make good on their promises.” Marie-Claire Ross.
What in your life may get in the way of keeping your promises and growing into someone people confidently rely on? It’s important to know that not all trust eroding actions are due to bad intentions. Just because you may have good …
Our Mission
Happy Monday Everyone! Our Mission Statement is intended to articulate what, at our core, we provide for our clients. At Focal Pointe, our Mission is to Create the Backdrop for Life’s Most Impactful Moments.
The start of the New Year isn’t only a good time to take inventory of your personal and professional goals, but what about the goals of our clients? What improvement opportunities do you see in how we serve them, or the results we produce for them? Living our Mission means that we look beyond the task we need …
A Story of Nines and Tens
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Put People First.
For the past several years, Molly and I have taken the family skiing at Crested Butte, CO. We didn’t go this year due to a pesky Freshman boys’ basketball schedule, but the habit of the trip has that vacation on all our minds.
I bring this up, because eight years ago, we started a tradition in Crested Butte of going out to dinner at the “Wooden Nickel” on the night of January 1st, which was usually our last day or …
It’s a Wonderful Life
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Put People First.
Looking for the Christmas Spirit, Sunday night, my daughter Amanda and I watched the 1946 Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” where Jimmy Stewart plays the character George Bailey. In the movie, George wants to move out of the small town he grew up in, get a college degree, and do big things in the world, like “plan modern cities.” As George’s life story unfolds throughout the movie, life events send him on a different path, and he questions the worth …
Take a Moment to Be Inspired
Happy Friday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Inspire Communities. Two cool stories to share this week that brought today’s Core Value to life. The first coming from the hygiene kits we put together at the Leadership Summit at Big Cedar…
“Hi Molly, I wanted to reach out and sincerely thank you for your generous donation of hygiene kits. Our Club staff absolutely loved them, and the parents were incredibly appreciative. These items were a high priority for many families, and your support made a meaningful difference. Thank you for helping meet …
Creating Your Future
Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Create Our Future.
The Holiday Parties are in full force, which reminds me of a story. Several years ago, I was at a dinner party, and somehow, I got in a conversation with a few lawyer-types about what we’re all good at. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t give compliments well and I don’t take them well…the only thing more awkward than my relationship with compliments is vocalizing what I think I may be good at. “Get me out of this conversation” was the …
Putting A Loved One First
Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Put People First.
Last Friday, I was listening to a very busy gentlemen who facilitates retreats. Prior to one of his upcoming retreats, he was looking over the attendees list, and saw his dad’s name on the list. This was not good, because his dad was a “cash cow” of stories for his presentations – some flattering, some not so flattering, and almost all were…humorous.
This was not an ideal situation for the son, so he reached out to his dad, and the conversation went …