Robyn Pellei from ViveVita addresses Charlotte Chamber of Commerce regarding innovation

Posted on March 11, 2011 by David

Robyn Pellei, stay-at-home Mom of 9 children, founder and CEO of ViveVita, has been invited by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce to speak as a panelist at the Charlotte Creates Conference from 1:30PM – 5:00PM today, Friday, March 11, 2011 at The Fillmore Charlotte (at the NC Music Factory).

The Charlotte Creates Conference is and experiential conference designed to educate and inspire community leaders on the critical role of creativity and innovation in our new economy. Robyn will be speaking to 300+ business, civic and public leaders and sharing ideas on how Charlotte can leverage and connect current assets and use creativity to attract and retain talent and drive economic growth.

Robyn was invited to be part of a panel of nationally and locally recognized innovators and entrepreneurs who have transformed people, businesses and communities through the power of creativity and innovation.

Go get ‘em, Robyn!

Taking Time to Care, Personally

Posted on March 5, 2011 by David

One thing that makes delivery of customer service real and special is when an individual takes the time to care, and to make that care personal. On a flight back home from the DFW Family Expo in Dallas we sat waiting for our airplane to back away from the gate. Upon glancing out the window we noticed a Midwest Airlines (now Frontier Airlines) plane also at their gate, preparing for departure.

After the ground crew had serviced and inspected the plane, and then moved on to service other planes, we saw something remarkable (for today’s world). A gentleman dressed in a flight officer uniform (not sure if it was the captain), complete with hat and all, exited the boarding ramp and descended the stairs. He then took the time to personally inspect the airplane himself, occasionally giving the machine a touch as though he was a rider from the old wild West stories, petting his trusty steed.

The inspection took only about 5 to 10 minutes of his time, then he went back up the stairs and entered the boarding ramp. Now, I don’t know if the folks on his flight could see him, but I know he left a huge impression on us. I don’t know where that airline flies, but if I ever get the chance, I will choose them over the other standard ‘brands’ because they have the wisdom to have a flight officer who takes the time to care, personally.

We strive to do the same at ViveVita. It means a lot to us, and we hope it means a lot to you too, even if you don’t have a window seat that allows you to see it happening directly.

Note: photo “airplane-takeoff” courtesy of http://www.public-domain-photos.com; Author: Magnus Rosendahl

Robyn Pellei speaks at McColl Business School

Posted on November 15, 2010 by David

Robyn is lecturing at the McColl School of Business, BUSN 303 class, An Introduction to Entrepreneurship, today, Monday 11/15/2010, 6:00 – 8:30PM for Louis Foreman (Everyday Edisons, CEO of Enventys).

She will be telling ‘her story’ about how she got started on the road to entrepreneurship, and how she arrived where she is today.

Robyn is flying solo on this presentation, her first solo graduate-level lecture. Good luck, Professor!

Mother’s Day, Garden Gloves, and Facilitating Your Team

Posted on May 10, 2010 by David

Happy Mother’s Day! (by Dave)

We’ve had incredibly good weather in Charlotte this weekend, being in the low 70′s yesterday and mid-to-high 60′s today.

Robyn asked the children to help her replant her “Mother’s Day Garden”, an old tiered fountain. The fountain was a maintenance nightmare so she turned it into a colorful cactus, plant, and flower garden with cascading greenery (very fun and creative). The little ones also helped us weed and straighten the planting beds around the house, which was no small chore given our month-long absence in April for our trip North.

While we usually get some moans of discomfort from some of the kids when gardening, a few bucks bought several pair of cotton gardening gloves in different colors and patterns, and helped facilitate our young troop to overcome their biggest complaint and apprehension: hurting hands.

I am not sure why we have not done this a long time ago. I know from my professional life that the best way to encourage an employee to do a job is to facilitate them in performing their duties and keep the task moving so they can recognize visible, tangible results. That is what the simple addition of garden gloves did for our little tigers, plus the variety of styles threw in a fun and personalized element for each of them. We had a great day and were able to clean up all but the blueberry garden (which is a fun chore we saved for another day).

Bells–recently bought some nicely toned silvery brass bells. Thinking of mounting one in the garden so Robyn and the children can play with it.

“He doesn’t realize it can’t be done.” -By Dave

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Robyn

Albert Einstein on a bicycle My Dad has a friend who we think has a great perspective on business. He’s very bright, got frustrated in his industrial equipment job years ago, created a new product in the field, and when his managers declined to implement it he started his own business.

He developed the product and developed the niche market for it over the next several years. He then sold the business and ‘retired’ at 45. For the last 10+ years or so he has fun by building houses, building businesses, and donating his time to the Church.

The most telling part of his drive was a comment one of his former managers wrote on his performance review. I think it was meant as a negative, but it shows the inside-out thinking that can get incorporated in an established firm. The comment was something to the effect of “…the guy doesn’t understand that he just can’t do it…”

I guess that’s the difference between those that “DO” things and those that don’t.

It is encouraging to me to see my boys and girls, when they get into a dilemma, stop and say “OK, now how do we DO this?” Then they hash out all the options. I have to teach them sometimes that it’s not that their idea can’t be done, but they may have to be patient to find the right time to do it.

Thomas Edison in the lab I am sure that Edison and Einstein both heard so many times “that can’t be done”, but what they were hearing was “that CAN be done a different way” or ” that CAN be done at a different point in time.” If there is one business lesson I can teach my children, this would be it. Whether it is in design and engineering or in negotiating a deal, there’s always a way to figure something out.

And one more thing…Happy St. Patrick’s Day today, and Happy Birthday to our beautiful SIX-YEAR-OLD!!! Happy Sixth Birthday, Bright Eyes!

How I Do It…Stop Procrastinating (Eat That Frog!!)…by Dave

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Robyn

I have recently been book-worming through several very interesting books and audio books.

One that I enjoyed was “Eat the Frog: 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” by Brian Tracy.

Eat That Frog! As the author recounts one of Mark Twain’s musings, (I will paraphrase) “if you start each day by eating a live frog, you can pretty much bet that’s about the worst thing you will encounter for the rest of the day.” In other words, get your most important and most difficult task done first, and everything else after that should flow easily. If you sit there and stare at the “frog” all day, your apprehension and stress will just increase and it will psychologically be harder to start the task.

Living in New England as a child, I remember my Dad would encourage me with his tongue-in-cheek wisdom when it was time to shovel the driveway to simply “pick up the shovel and only shovel one end of the driveway at a time”. In other words, “don’t complain about it or delay, just start on one end and keep moving.”

This is how I try to keep moving when it seems difficult and I feel stuck in the ‘inertia of fear’. Whether it is a phone call I don’t feel like making, or a task I am dreading, I try to think of it as a frog I have to eat, and it is sitting on my desk staring at me and getting bigger and bigger the longer I wait.