AudreySpirit blog — Xamtee

A few weeks ago I was invited to talk on our local NPR radio station's Up To Date Program hosted by Steve Kraske and was joined by Dr. Jeff Hornsby, Interim Director, Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation UMKC;  Ryan Bennett, Vice President of Idle Smart; and Mike Farmer - CEO of Leap.it. One of the radio program listeners, an executive of an apparel manufacturing company with international reach, contacted me to offer AudreySpirit his help (as a personal philanthropic gesture!). I met with him and the level of executive and practical guidance he's willing to provide and connect me to "insiders" is no less...

The logo is an evolution of a drawing created by Audrey Grace. As Donna recollects: “The logo is an abstract design by graphic artist, Lee Orrison, based on an original artwork Audrey created. Children’s Mercy Hospital's Teen Advisory Board (TAB) was involved in a project to update posters in the hospital cafeteria. As a member of the board, Audrey brought posterboard home from the teen meeting and drew the picture of a cheerful, welcoming and colorful mouse with an elaborate background. At the following TAB meeting, she turned in her mouse poster. It was mounted in a prominent location in...

The Power Pose is something I tried and it worked!  Heading into a potentially contentious meeting, I excused myself to use the bathroom and spent 2 minutes doing this.   The meeting went entirely different than I anticipated -- in my favor. I can do something for 2 minutes!  This video is 21 minutes, but is well worth the time http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html  Whenever I am in a situation (or just having thoughts run through my head) that make me feel uncomfortable, I try to remember the Power Pose!  It is amazing, it does make me feel much better!

After Audrey passed away, I found a book she had written after a three month stay in the hospital, part of which she was on a ventilator. She titled the book "Dealing with Disease .. Your Way." The book is only 7 pages, but is full of heart, truth and humor. Her topics ranged from advocating for yourself to soulful animals to her 7th grade year at school. Reading her book in the midst of the daily grind of launching AudreySpirit helps remind me of her beautiful soul and why I am doing this. I wanted to share with you...