At a recent conference for gemstone experts in Washington, D.C. my fellow keynote presenter, Shawn Achor, nailed the definition of Happiness. During his segment, Shawn shared the following: "Happiness is the joy you feel moving towards your potential." Brilliant. Happiness in not short-lived pleasure. Based upon Shawn's definition, we can fe

Sandra, the factory employee I’m observing, works tirelessly and methodically at her station. Reaching into a large cardboard box filled with hundreds of teabags, Sandra pulls out enough bags to fill tea-bag-sized indentations in a tray situated in front of her on the workbench. Once she fills each indentation—15 for this job — she c

This post is from my wife and business partner, Pam: Yesterday, Jack Lindquist, former President of Disneyland, passed away peacefully in his sleep. In 1982, honored to be a Disneyland Ambassador finalist, I was one of many profoundly impacted by Jack’s many rewarding programs. If not for …  my 1970’s Main Street candy make

Setting the Stage: I visited Disneyland for the first time in the summer of 1963. As an 8 year-old, I was completely caught up in the Davey Crockett craze and thoroughly enthralled with anything connected with the Old West. My bedroom paid tribute to this era; scenes of American Indians and teepees comprised my bed spread, posters of cowboys and C

They say that the number of people telling other people about bad experiences with a certain product or brand is more than double the amount of people who talks about their good experiences. That is why it is important that you keep your customers delighted in as much as you possibly can. Delighting your customers means that you are able to beat