Selling Your Business Story:  Identify Your Bad Guy

Most every memorable story has a good guy and a bad guy, and if you want to sell your story in a way that connects with people and makes them take action, you must identify your bad guy.  Disney does this beautifully.  We cheer for Cinderella, because we all can’t stand the thought of the […]

Flipping the “Play Switch”

We were on our way to school drop off at 7:30am.  Simply getting in the car on time with everything we need and with our teeth and hair brushed can be a challenge.  Now realize it’s a Monday in April with less than two months to go in the school year.  We see the summer […]

What Tourette Syndrome Has Taught Me

My son has Tourette Syndrome, a neurobehavioral movement disorder causing motor movements, or tics, he cannot control.  And that’s just what is obviously visible on the outside.  Many children with TS deal with obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and various learning disabilities.  The Tourette Syndrome Association of Texas estimates up to 1 in […]

A Heart Story for Busy Moms

Like many moms, Julia Lou spent most of her time taking care of others, until she learned taking care of herself literally saved her life.  She was on vacation with her husband and three young children in Hawaii when she felt a tightness in her chest and numbness on her left side.  She had felt […]

Small Batteries Teach Big Life Lessons

As a journalist, sometimes it takes a bit of searching to find a story you just have to tell.  Other times, the story moves in next door to you.  Literally.  I met Jennifer Buaas when her family rented the house next door to me.  I took over some cookies on Christmas Eve day to welcome […]

Writing Your Own Happy Endings

Not every story has a happy ending, but it sure is wonderful when it does.  It’s even better when it has multiple happy endings that don’t seem to stop.  This is one of those stories.  Better yet, it’s a love story.  Glorious!  But wait – don’t expect a Disney style fairy tale.  Each happy ending […]

Christmas after San Bernardino

As I put the final few ornaments on my Christmas tree, it seems terribly wrong that the room is full of sound from law enforcement officials giving yet another update on the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.  The investigators, the journalists and all of us watching have plenty of questions.  However it was my […]

A Medical Journey Leads to the Pantry

You might not think there’s anything to the gluten-free or dairy-free trend until you meet the Landau family in north Austin.   They take the old saying “they’ll do anything for their kids” to a whole new level.  They are also a perfect example of what many patients fear happens frequently in today’s world of […]

The Power of Telling Your Own Story

From a very young age, Lila Igram was well aware of the power of telling your own story.  She was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Her mother immigrated to the United States from Lebanon.  Lila was a young female Muslim growing up in the Midwest and felt as if other people were telling […]

From Competition To Collaboration

For about half of my television news career Judy Maggio was my competition.  We sat on anchor desks in Austin, Texas during the same time slots in the evening on two sides of town.  We would see each other out when covering stories or speaking at events, say polite hellos and promise to “do lunch […]