You can tell it’s getting closer to summer, school getting out, graduations and vacations as a few of our members weren’t able to show up today. We were all excited that Sue Ferrell was back. She was recently recognized for the third straight year as Kyle Chamber Volunteer Ambassador of the year AND she was the recipient of a brand new award Spirit of Kyle Award. Well done Sue!

Started with announcements of some upcoming events which got everyone excited about the ‘happenings’ around Kyle. These included:

The annual “Sip and Savor” that is sponsored by Rotary will be in September some time. This year’s theme is going to be a Casino Night which sounds like a lot of fun. More info was promised in upcoming meetings.

Then we were reminded that the Second Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival, “Pie in the Sky” is coming on Labor Day weekend and it is anticipated that there will be as many as 20,000 people in attendance.  The Rotary Club is coordinating another shot at the Guinness World Book of Records to get the World Record for the number of “Kyles” in one place. Now that can be a person that has Kyle, or Kylie, as a first, middle or last name.  Ron Martin, President of the Rotary said they were thinking it will take about 250 Kyles to be identified in order to get the record. In any case it’s fun add-on to the event.

So a lot of things are ‘happening’ in Kyle

Member Spotlight today was Vanessa Zelitt with Rodan + Fields  skin care line.

As always it’s so fun to hear the backgrounds of everyone. Vanessa’s dad was in the Airforce retiring when she was 11.   He also served as a baseball umpire so baseball played a huge part of her life growing up. She described how the game was in many ways a metaphor for life.  His love for baseball was the basis for a four week long ‘road trip’ where the family drove around the United States with stops at major baseball venues.

Another major influence on her life was her parents work ethic. Watching her mom, a teacher, and her dad’s work helped form Vanessa into the person she is today. She started working selling the GRIT newspaper door to door on the military base when she was 9 or 10 and after a family move she sold Christmas Cards door to door, helping her see that she was good at it. She also worked hard to get her nursing degree while being a single mom with 3 jobs. Life was not easy but she worked hard and is enjoying life today living in Buda, with her husband of 14 years, Marvin, and her 2 kids and 5 grandkids.

While continuing working 3 days a week at nursing, two years ago Vanessa researched another option for income. She remembered her time in sales as a kid and went on the search for the ‘perfect product’. That’s when she discovered Rodan + Fields, a company started by the two women who created the super successive Proactive product line. Vanessa connected with the quality of the product itself as well as the management style and philosophy of the company. This style allows her to be her own boss and commit what time and energy she wants into her business. It has been a match made in heaven.  You can reach out to Vanessa for more info on the product at her email: vanessazelitt@gmail.com .

Rob Oskins from Blue Crest Media, postponed his SEO training session to a future date due to the need for a better WIFI hookup. We’ll be looking forward to how we can all improve our SEO using Rob’s tips.

 Upcoming meeting, Member Spotlights:

JUNE

6th:  Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
13th: Guest Speaker?                                                             Education Moment:  Irene Melendez

20th: TBD                                                                                 Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

27th: Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair                           Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

Today was a lighter turnout with folks getting ready for end of school year and such. but it’s kind of fun when it happens as we can spend a bit more time getting to know one another.

Ron Martin our president opted for tossing out an icebreaker of sorts to include in our one minute intros. His question: ‘What was your first car’?  Trust me when I say it took us all down memory lane when everyone began sharing a story from their teen years.

One fairly common theme was the fact that several of our members loved drag racing back in the day, (or at least pushing the car to the maximum on the speedometer).  It’s amazing how incredibly stupid we are when we are kids and now that we’re adults and have kids of our own, we all pray that they aren’t as crazy as we once were.

Member Spotlight today was Stacy Morgan with Freedom Technology Partners.  

Stacy shared her background growing up in a little, little, little town in Kansas with a population of about 800 people.  Living far out in what she described as the middle of nowhere, Stacy and her family spent every summer ‘putting up’ veggies, chicken etc to provide much of their own food. An experience she admits her two boys can’t relate to at all. Yet thinking about it you have to think it undoubtedly made her who she is with the values she has.

She shared a bit about her family with the rough start her first son had coming early, and how in her second pregnancy she was bedridden for several months. But when all is said and down her boys are growing like weeds and they have a healthy and happy family with the addition of two furry pups called Biscuits and Gravy. (Which I think are really clever names by the way.)

Stacy and her husband Paul Morgan must get along extremely well because a year or so ago they decided to partner up and create a communications business called, Freedom Technology Partners .

Freedom Technology Partners provide consulting services for locally owned small businesses who need help or simply don’t want to spend time researching communication solutions.

In this fast moving industry it’s hard to keep up with what’s available and how the various systems and services inter-relate. Their consulting services includes, traditional phone lines, business internet (cable modem or fiber), redundant or back up business internet (4G wireless or satellite) hosted phones, circuit monitoring, cyber-security, cloud solutions, SD-Wan, conference calling and many more.

Stacy and Paul make a great team as they compliment one another, While Stacy has a background is in accounting with a BS in Business Management/Accounting from Kansas State University, Paul has been in the Telecom industry for 18 years. The two love working with other small business owners to understand their communication needs and help find a solution. They have access to other 95 top ten companies including companies such as Spectrum, ATT who may have similar problems/victories. I hope I can learn from others in their area of expertise and also share my knowledge and insight to help the group. I want to have a group of trusted locally owned businesses that I can confidently refer to other people of businesses.

If you have any questions related to your office technology and voice needs shoot Stacy an email. She can be reached, SMorgan@FreedomTechPartners.com

 Upcoming meeting, Member Spotlights:

MAY 
30th: Vanessa Zelitt Rodan + Fields                                   Education Moment:  Rob Oskins   SPECIAL 30 minute program after about “HOW TO USE VIDEO CLIPS TO

                                                                                                  MAXIMIZE EXPOSURE AND IMPROVE YOUR POSITION ON THE SEARCH ENGINES”

JUNE

6th:  Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
13th: Guest Speaker?                                                             Education Moment:  Irene Melendez

20th: TBD                                                                                 Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

27th: Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair                           Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

Another sunny Texas morning and we all come together at Kyle IHOP to meet, greet and refer business.  We had quite a few visitors this morning which is great as we love to meet new people. You can see below but in case you’re wondering, you can come visit, we’ll even pay for your breakfast. So come check us out and meet some great people that are interested in helping you grow your business.  Now back to today’s meeting…

Member Spotlight today was Rob Oskins with Blue Crest Media.  

As we always do Rob shared info about his past. He started with a baby photo which was so cute and had us all saying awwww. Only to find out it wasn’t him. He snagged a photo off the web, (kind of like Sandra Bullock did in the movie Blindside when she couldn’t find Big Mike’s baby photo). So we all knew we were in for a treat hearing about Rob’s past. He shared a photo of his dad and his uncle in military uniforms when they were in the service in WWII. His uncle never made it back. A hard hit for any family.  His dad did make it back thank goodness and not only made it back but with several military honors including the Silver Star which means he saved numerous lives. He really was a hero in the real sense of the word.

After his time in service he got married and started a family. Rob, was the oldest of four and the only boy.  The family moved to Mexico City when he was very young in order that his parents could go to university which is kind of cool (I bet there is a story there…). His mom was an artist and to be honest I can’t remember what his dad studded. Rob remembers that time fondly.

Overall sounded like Rob had a pretty great childhood. Music was important to the family and he shared how they would go into the desert and play to the cactus plants. He did apparently get pretty rowdy during some of the years and had hair that hung to his waste and a long beard. Now that he is, well let’s say, hair challenged, it’s hard but fun to picture. It’s fun to see the stages of life many of the members went through growing up and Rob was in the hippie years where we all drove our parents crazy with the long hair.

Come to find out that Rob quite an accomplished musician (French Horn and Base). So accomplished as a matter of fact that he played during his four years with Air Force, in the official Air Force Band.  (Trish WIlder, another member of the group shared that getting into the Air Force band was not an easy thing to do, so he had to be really good.)

Rob said his life changed when he accepted God into his life. He is married and has two sons.

He also shared more about his business Blue Crest Media and how he came to get into SEO Marketing. To make a long story short, it’s almost like the industry found him, rather than he finding it. He was working for the United States Postal Service for 10+ years and started doing websites on the side. He had a knack for it as within a very short time he said that the income he was making on his ‘side’ job eclipsed what he made at the post office, so a new career was born.

Now, based on Kyle, Rob helps companies figure out how to get through the maze of internet marketing. Several members in the group have been using Rob’s services and within a few months have been able to attest to the fact that they are moving up in the Google rankings.

Rob is available to talk to you about your website/SEO needs and see if his services are a match for your needs. He’ll even do FREE Web Analysis.

Here’s a banner on his website that pretty much says it all:

Bottom line if you aren’t paying close attention to your position on the web searches you’re missing out on business. Call Rob to see what he can do!

 Upcoming meeting, Member Spotlights:

MAY

23rd: Stacy Morgan Freedom Technology Partners       Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
30th: Vanessa Zelitt Rodan + Fields                                   Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

JUNE

6th:  Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
13th: Guest Speaker?                                                             Education Moment:  Irene Melendez

20th: TBD                                                                                 Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

27th: Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair                           Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

Can’t think of a better way to start Wednesday mornings than with the folks of Hometown Networking Group at the local IHOP in Kyle. (Okay if I’m being honest, yes,  I can think of a few things I’d prefer to do on Wednesday mornings, but meeting with this group is in the top ten…or at least somewhere high on the list as I really do like these people.)

The President of the group Ron Martin got us started down memory lane with a challenge to add to our one minute intros, where (and some offered when…I didn’t) we graduated from High School. Then Stacy Morgan got up and added info abou

t living way out in the country and having party line phones. Boy did that bring back some memories for a lot of us. It does make you chuckle at some of the stories of the party lines and the rotary dial. One member even remembers having a crank phone!!!!!!!! It’s amazing how technology has changed things.

Education Moment was presented by Irene Melendez with Broadway Bank. Irene had shared in previous meeting that she loved how, I think it was the Broadway founder, told them that if they good care of  their customers and their employees, the money will walk through the door. What a great concept.

Along that line she shared an article with 15 tips for good Customer Service. Items such as; Empathy, using positive words and posture, having clear communications, always have patience, be an effective listener, Item 15 of 15 was the need to have thick skin. That is so true, in all of our businesses we are bound to come across someone who yells at us and hurts our feelings. Irene pointed out we do the best we can, even referring them elsewhere if that is better for client, but at the end of the day you can only do what you can do. If they are unhappy and yell at you, you’ve got to let it roll off your back. Here’s the link for the entire article: https://www.salesforce.com/hub/service/important-customer-service-skills-list/

While none of the info was new, it is always a good reminder for all businesses that we should never forget that it is our clients who keep us in business and we need to treat them right.

Irene added a personal #16, to have religion or faith to keep you grounded in life, always a great idea.

Member Spotlight today was Terry Lee with Northwestern Mutual. Terry shared a bit of his life journey. Sounds like he had a great childhood in Nebraska which is a looong way from Kyle Texas.

He told us after a visit to Texas Terry fell in love with Texas A & M and proceeded to go after an engineering degree, however after a few semesters he decide that engineering wasn’t for him so he switched to…you guessed it…History.

Yep he switched to a totally unrelated field. (I for one LOVE hearing this kind of story since I can relate. I went through 5 majors while in college before settling on business and only then stopping because I wanted to graduate.)

But back to Terry. Terry met his wife Ali (who he clearly adores) and the joke in the room was that based on the photos and what he shared about her AMAZING work with kids with Autism, ‘he married up’ when he married her. The couple have expanded their family and now have two adorable kids, a girl, Avery (who can read at 4 1/2!!!)  and a boy named Tate. He added there is a baby number 3 on the way this summer…little Hannah, so congrats on that.

As always I love hearing people talk about their families and see their family photos. Terry showed a super cute photo of himself when he was in a little red toy car. It’s so fun to hear/watch people share their family photos. You get to see a totally different side of them and learn something new each time. I have to point out that when I mentioned Terry was an Aggie, it sounds like he is serious out it. He had a photo of Aggie rings at the wedding and if I counted right there were 7 Aggie rings from the guys in his wedding party. That’s a lot of Aggies.

He shared how he started at Enterprise originally in order to be close to his then girlfriend, now wife, which I think is cute from the get-go. Then he shared how he spent several happy and successful years with enterprise before a life event changed his life.

Terry shared that while driving to meet clients on a business trip, he had a stroke. Luckily he felt funny/tired and pulled over before having the struck, which in my mind is a miracle in and of itself. That experience changed him in many ways as it made him stop and take stock of his life and what’s important and how much time he was on the road.

He said the stroke (and the fact that his mother was employed at Enron and how the crashing of Enron messed with a lot of retirement plans for Enron employees, hers included,) made him decide on a career change. He opted to go into financial planning.

He made a career change and got into financial planning.

Terry works with Northwestern Mutual and he prides himself on being a purely holistic financial planner and resource person for clients in every walk of life. Whether they’re starting their journey and wanting to lay the proper groundwork for many years, ensure they have adequate income in retirement to live comfortably, or simply want to update and optimize their current plan, he said that he loves working with individuals to help them realize and ultimately accomplish their financial goals and likes the fact that Northwestern Mutual doesn’t have an ‘agenda’ he is forced to work within. Rather he can do whatever is best for his clients.

It’s clear that Terry has a great life philosophy and a servant’s heart. He suggests whenever you have financial questions, no matter your age, to shoot him an email. He’s more than willing to help.

 Upcoming meeting, Member Spotlights:

MAY

16th: Rob Oskins  Blue Crest Media                                  Education Moment:  Rob Oskins
23rd: Patty Dittrich Well Boutique Spa                              Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
30th: Vanessa Zelitt Rodan + Fields                                   Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

JUNE

6th:  Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
13th: Guest Speaker?                                                             Education Moment:  Irene Melendez

20th: Stacy Morgan Freedom Technology Partners        Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

27th: Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair                          Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

It’s another Wednesday morning and our group got together at Kyle’s IHOP for coffee/breakfast to say hello, share successes, pass referrals and generally see how we can help one another build our businesses. We call ourselves, the Hometown Networking Group.

Education Moment was presented by Celeste Messer Adkor Group with Maxavenue. Celeste piggy backed on last week’s Education Moment by our SEO expert Rob Oskins from Blue Crest Media. She reminded the group of the importance of reviews and how, as a networking group, we need to step up and make sure we remember to support our fellow members; we are after all, customers/clients  of each others as well as fellow members. Doing a review for a job well done, is a great way to support and show appreciation to our fellow members.

Celeste challenged each member who had been a client of another member to take the time in the coming week to write a few reviews. We often get so busy we forget the little things we can do for our fellow Hometown Networking group members. Rob Oskinds agreed to give us a guidance and push to do this by creating a spread sheet with our links so it’s easy for us to ‘catch up’ with our thank yous.

Member Spotlight:    Meli Van Natta   Texas Reverse Mortgage 

Meli pitch-hitted as today’s speaker as our planned speaker was unavailable. She did an amazing job with no preparation showing her comfort level with her service as well as her comfort level with public speaking in general.

Meli shared that prior to coming to Texas she had worked as a real estate broker in California for several decades. In addition, while in California she had gotten her mortgage license, not for the purpose of giving mortgages, but instead she got the license for the purpose of helping her clients (and others) walk through the seemingly endless process of refinancing or restructuring their mortgages. This was especially critical because of the overall mortgage climate in California at the time.  Stepping up in this way is another example of what we call a ‘servant’s heart’, something the group really appreciates.

Meli moved to Kyle a couple of years ago and while she did get her Texas real estate license and continues to work with select investor clients, Meli made the decision to focus on the mortgage side of things. She liked the idea of helping the Seniors. Her niche is helping people, age 62 and older, find ways to access the equity in their home by way of using a Reverse Mortgage.

Meli gave an example of a recent client she was able to help. A woman who recently lost her husband, and with his death, lost his pension. By tapping into the equity on the home Meli was able to help the woman stay in her home, something she would not have been able to do without Meli’s assistance.

This was but one of the ways the Reverse Mortgage can be used. Meli gave us a few ideas of the most common ways this program can be helpful to people over 62 years old who have substantial equity in their home. The top three included:

1. Help Seniors stay in their home when a mortgage payment might otherwise cause them to have to sell.
2. Help Seniors who want to downsize to a smaller home but don’t have enough equity to pay cash.
3. Help Seniors who might want to go into business and want to use the equity in their current home to get the ball rolling so to speak without requiring a cash outlay/monthly payments.

Meli explained there were various combinations and ways to use the program so for more information it’s best to email her and see how she can help. It’s clear the Meli knows the program and has seen how it can really be a life saver for qualified clients.

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers and Education Moments:

MAY

9th: Terry Lee                                                                        Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
16th: Rob Oskins  Blue Crest Media                                  Education Moment:  Rob Oskins
23rd: Patty Dittrich Well Boutique Spa                              Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
30th: Vanessa Zelitt Rodan + Fields                                   Education Moment:  TBD

JUNE

6th:  Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
13th: Guest Speaker?                                                             Education Moment:  Irene Melendez

20th: Stacy Morgan Freedom Technology Partners        Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

27th: Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair                          Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

It was a gorgeous Wednesday morning for Hometown Networking Group meeting this morning.

Education Moment was presented by Rob Oskins with Blue Crest Media. As a media expert Rob is a wealth of information. He gave us a four minute crash course on some highlights of internet SEO.  The key is inbound links.

Rob explained a few key things you should know about how Google ranks.

• If you have important friends, then Google will rank you higher.
• Google loves inbound links from high authority websites.  So if you have a website or not you can take advantage of this.
• Nearly every website on the first page has thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of inbound links.

Member Spotlight:    Dr. Virginia Kekahuna O.D. with Acuity Eye care.

Dr. Kekahuna did her undergrad at A&M and her graduate work at University of Berkeley in California before returning back to her Texas roots. Dr. Kekahuna  shared her love of ballroom dancing, all the sweeter as that is how she met her husband. The two have a little fur baby named Kona, who from the photos she shared, appears to rule  the house.

She is new to the Kyle area, opening her optometry office Acuity Eye Care in the next few weeks.  While her office will be offering comprehensive eye care, Dr. Kekahuna’s specialty is in the Task specific/Performance Vision niche. This specialty will have her helping people with specific eye needs such as those in occupations such as Pilots, mechanics or electricians; or those in sports including golfers, archers, shooters, where they need to switch quickly from up close to distant and back.

Dr. Kekahuna spent a few minutes giving us an idea of specific needs of the various groups and how the eye care solutions for them can be very fine tuned and very specific. Sounds like it can be a HUGE value to the patient.

She mentioned that one of the reasons she loves the field of optometry is that she can take a patient with a problem/need and in the time they spend with her, she can provide them a solution. She finds it satisfying to be able to see the results of her work.

Acuity Eye Care is located at 4217 Benner Rd, Ste 450 here in Kyle just a few doors down from Summer Moon coffee shop by the Plum Creek Golf Course. So next time you are in Summer Moon you might want to stop by and welcome her to the area!

UPCOMING MIXER: Thursday April 26th from 4:30-6:30 we will be having a mixer open to visitors, at the Rail House 107 E Center St, Kyle, TX 78640. Come join us and meet some of the members.

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers and Education Moments:

• APRIL

  25th: Jade Warren – ATX Air                                                 Education Moment:  Trish Wilder

  MAY

  2nd: Judy Burdett – Sodalis Senior Living                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  9th: Terry Lee                                                                        Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  16th: Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                      Education Moment:  Rob Oskins
  23rd: Megan Rogers                                                             Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
  30th: Everend Thorne – ET’s Home Repair                        Education Moment:  TBD

  JUNE

  6th:  TBD                                                                                 Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  13th: Paulette Sanford – Kohler’s Crossing Dental          Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  20th: Ron Martin – Ron Martin & Associates                    Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

• 27th: TBD                                                                               Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

We changed up our meeting today in order to allow more time for our Guest Speaker, the Mayor of Kyle Travis Mitchell.

Guest Speaker this week:    City of Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell

Mayor Mitchell was elected to office November of 2017 and his term ends November 2020.

It was interesting to hear some of the challenges of a Mayor in the city of Kyle. Our city is set up on a City Manager and City Council form of government so the Mayor’s charter is to be ‘ceremonial head of the city with duties necessary for good government.’ This apparently leaves a lot of white space for a new mayor to define his role.

At first you might get the impression that he has little accountability, but listening to even a brief presentation with a few highlights of what he is facing during his term, it’s obvious that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Mayor Mitchell is committed to Kyle and while he admits his job description might be vague, he is making the most of it. For example, he’s helping to lead the charge to get funding from other sources to change the ‘train stop’ so t

he citizens of Kyle won’t be stuck  sitting at the Railroad stop on Center Street waiting 30 minutes for a train to load/unload and move on. It’s bad now but with highway congestion it’s getting cheaper for commerce to go back to using the train system. That will mean more trains, longer trains and more stops blocking Center Street. We need someone like Mayor Travis to fight for us.

And in case you wonder what it means in dollars and cents…this one task, moving the train stop, will cost in the neighborhood of $15,000,000. So you can quickly understand that getting government money to help pay for the project would be a huge win for the Mayor and for the city.

Another project that he is involved in hits close to home as well, it involves the city water and waste water sourcing. This is a project that has been in the works 12 years. Working in conjunction with San Marcos sourcing our water from Gonzalez county. There would be enough water to keep up with the planned growth of Kyle in coming years.

These two projects alone will not come without growing pains and costs, none of which are in Mayor Mitchell’s control, yet I’m sure he’ll hear plenty about it during his 3 year term.

Despite these big ticket items, Mayor Mitchell is still the mayor of the people. He gave  an example that proved it. He told us the other evening (Tuesday) he returned home from CAMPO meeting (the regional transportation planning organization encompassing Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties). It was 10pm and Mayor Mitchell said that, as his normal habit, checked Facebook before heading to bed. He saw a ton of entries complaining about the sudden loss of water pressure.

After a few calls Mayor Mitchell was advised that there had been a short (or something like that) at the plant and an automatic safety measure kicked in to lower the pressure in order  to avoid burning out the motors.  With the problem identified it wasn’t long before everything was up and running as usual so that in the morning people like me who were already asleep by 10pm didn’t even know there had been a problem. So thanks to the mayor and anyone else involved in the fix.

I might not have all this exact and Mayor Mitchell shared more info with us, but if you are wanting to get more info, head over to the City of Kyle website and check things out.

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers and Education Moments:

• APRIL

  18th: Virginia Kekahuna – Acuity Eyecare                          Education Moment: Rob Oskins
  25th: Jade Warren – ATX Air                                                 Education Moment:  Trish Wilder

  MAY

  2nd: Judy Burdett – Sodalis Senior Living                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  9th: Terry Lee                                                                        Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  16th: Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                      Education Moment:  Rob Oskins
  23rd: Megan Rogers                                                             Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
  30th: Everend Thorne – ET’s Home Repair                        Education Moment:  TBD

  JUNE

  6th:  TBD                                                                                 Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  13th: Paulette Sanford – Kohler’s Crossing Dental          Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  20th: Ron Martin – Ron Martin & Associates                    Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

• 27th: TBD                                                                               Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

This morning was a gorgeous, if chilly, day. Noticeably back today was Sue Ferrell our ‘professional volunteer’ and undoubtedly a favorite of the group. Sue had been under the weather awhile and it was great to know she’s on the mend.

After our sixty second intros we had a few minutes of business in which we agreed to split Education Moments into four people sharing the responsibility. Each would be responsible for one week a month. This way all the pressure doesn’t fall on one person and a person has a bit more time to find a topic/business hint that can be useful to the group. The four volunteers were: Celeste Messer, Irene Melendez, Trish Wilder and Rob Oskins.

Member Spotlight this week:    Celeste Messer, Realtor, Adkor Group with Maxavenue

As one of the founders of Hometown Networking Group, Celeste has been a fixture in the group for over a decade now.  In her Member Spotlight Celeste gave a timeline of her life from her upbringing in the Midwest, to her days as a corporate executive with GTE. Celeste shared info about her need to leave the corporate despite her success and high paying job in order to get her life back on track. During the time with GTE she was married and had four daughters ranging from 37 to 24. After leaving GTE she was asked back as a consultant when her husband Tim was given a job assignment in Venezuela. They lived in Caracas 4 years before moving to Kyle back in 2002.

While in many ways Celeste felt her upbringing and history was very ordinary and on the boring side, but after putting it all on paper and sharing it with the group, it was agreed that maybe it wasn’t quite as ordinary as she thought. For starters Celeste got an MBA and worked up to the executive ranks  in a Fortune 500 company at a time where there were very few women at those levels. In addition there were a few more colorful adventures including having dinner at Oprah’s apartment in Chicago, being on the Oprah show; swimming with wild dolphins, (writing 10+ books, the four recent ones can be found on both Amazon and Audible); and more recently walking the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain. But a couple of the things Celeste admitted to being most proud of is that though her almost 3 decade marriage ended in divorce in 2003, she and her husband were able to have a positive relationship and live in the same neighborhood for the kids. That and the fact that after 40+ years of not going to church, and being ‘anti church’, Celeste actually found her faith and her relationship with Jesus and the church has become the center point of her life. She shared that she was baptized in 2017.

The last few minutes (as is the tradition) Celeste spoke a bit about her business and what sets her apart from other realtors. She explained that she chose to become a realtor after having moved 13 times herself with corporate job. Through the moves she learned how much difference a good realtor can make to what can be a very stressful situation. So she got her license and became a realtor in 2003. She became a broker in 2008 and is currently working with two of her four daughters in the ADKOR Group with Maxavenue. Adkor stands for A Different Kind Of Realty.

Celeste’s commitment to her clients is what she feels sets her apart from many other agents. An example is that she and her daughters began doing house staging long before it was cool (eg on DIY channels). She pointed out that they do staging and professional photos at their own expense for their clients while most agents don’t do it at all, and many of those that do, charge extra for it. When asked why? Celeste’s answer; why wouldn’t I? A staged home sells faster and for more money than a home that is not professionally staged. We do what it takes to help our clients move on to the next stage of their lives.

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers and Education Moments:

• APRIL

  11th: Guest Speaker – Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell
  18th: Virginia Kekahuna – Acuity Eyecare                          Education Moment: Rob Oskins
  25th: Jade Warren – ATX Air                                                 Education Moment:  Trish Wilder

  MAY

  2nd: Judy Burdett – Sodalis Senior Living                         Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  9th: Terry Lee                                                                        Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  16th: Jim Collins – Fire Light Laser                                      Education Moment:  Rob Oskins
  23rd: Megan Rogers                                                             Education Moment:  Trish Wilder
  30th: Everend Thorne – ET’s Home Repair                        Education Moment:  TBD

  JUNE

  6th:  TBD                                                                                 Education Moment: Celeste Messer
  13th: Paulette Sanford – Kohler’s Crossing Dental          Education Moment:  Irene Melendez
  20th: Ron Martin – Ron Martin & Associates                    Education Moment:  Rob Oskins

• 27th: TBD                                                                               Education Moment: Trish Wilder

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

An usually raining/stormy day for Kyle but that didn’t keep us away from our weekly Hometown Networking group meeting. 

We had our ‘usual’ networking time from 8:15 to 8:30 and then we got on task

. Our first subject of business was our quarterly mixers. The Spring Mixer is scheduled for April 26th from 4:30-6:30 at The Rail House 107 E. Center Street, Kyle TX 78640. This event is open to members and non-members alike. It’s a great opportunity for local business owners to check us out!  Consider this an open invitation!!!!

Trish touched on her career as well which is with Edward Jones Investment. As such her motto of being a ‘blessing to those around her’ still comes into play .  It’s clear that Trish has a real servant’s heart which I’m finding over time is a consistent theme among the members of Hometown Networking Group.

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers:

• April 4th: Celeste Messer – Adkor Group with Maxavenue
• April 11th: Jade Warren – ATX Air
• April 18th: Virginia Kekahuna – Acuity Eyecare
• April 25th: Sue Ferrell – Retired/Professional Volunteer

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org

There’s nothing like starting your Wednesday mornings with a group of friends and colleagues at the local IHOP in Kyle. Whether you’re a first time visitor coming to check us out, or you have been a member a few months, or one of the ‘ole timers’ who have been in the group almost a decade, everyone is welcoming and truly happy to see one another.

Meli Van Natta a member of the group let us know that the group she is in; A Cappella Unlimited Chorus, came in 1st in their division and 3rd overall of the Sweet Adelines Region 10 competition in Houston this past weekend. So Congrats to Meli and the group. Love that we have such diversity in the group.

Today we were lucky to have a Guest Speaker who was back by popular demand.  His name, Cal Marcantel .  Cal speaks from a world of experience and from what many would call a ‘bygone’ time because he learned about sales in the day of door-to-door salesmen and his product…encyclopedias.

Now I’m one in the group who actually remembers the day where we had salesmen (didn’t have many saleswomen that I recall) come up to the house almost daily with one product or another. While we didn’t buy a set of encyclopedias back then from the salesmen that likely came by, I DO remember the long row of hardback books that sat on shelves in our house. These were the books we turned to for school reports. Sometimes we’d even just look at the colored pictures in the encyclopedia. I remember my parents bought them on a payment plan. (Granted I also remember the milkman delivering milk to our door daily.) We didn’t ask the group but I wonder how many remember that era.

But I digress, back to our speaker. Cal is a colorful guy. Hearing about his upbringing in the Louisiana Bayou was an interesting story of it’s own. His first language is French and he didn’t know English when he started school.  Yet through determination and hard work he went to college and succeeded. Today however his topic was “Selling”. While Cal could, and has, talked for hours on the art of selling, during our breakfast meeting he focused on a few of the basic fundamentals of selling and the importance of asking for referrals.

At first one might think that the sales world that Cal was living in during that era has nothing to do with sales today. People may argue that the sales skills he learned that made him one of the top salesmen in the country  wouldn’t be pertinent to today’s business. However that couldn’t be further from the truth.  As Cal points out we are all in sales and we better realize it if we want to stay in business. Cal pointed out that whether we’re talking 40 years ago, or now people are people. There are still 6 major reasons that motivate a person to buy a product or service; 1) Love of Family 2) Caution or Fear of something if they don’t purchase the item/service, 3) Pride of ownership, 4) Profit-getting our money’s worth, 5) Utility-it will do the job, or 6) Emulation-or keeping up with the Joneses.

Cal stresses that we need to know our potential customers and figure out their motivation if we hope to get their signature on the dotted line. And we need to show that we care, using the old adage, People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

When all is said and done Cal Marcantel is the epitome of a great salesmen, in fact he mentioned that he had increased his sales 29 of the 30 years he spent selling encyclopedias. That means he grew his business regardless of the economy. I wonder how many of us can say that.

We’d like to thank Cal for spending the morning with us. We all found your talk both informative and motivating!

Upcoming Member Spotlights/Speakers:

• March 28th:   Trish Wilder –  Edward Jones
• April 4th: Celeste Messer – Adkor Group with Maxavenue
• April 11th: Jade Warren – ATX Air
• April 18th: Virginia Kekahuna – Acuity Eyecare
• April 25th: Sue Ferrell – Retired/Professional Volunteer

NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?

Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners.  What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.

The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP  5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection).  Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.

You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org