Telling Personal or Business Brand Stories

The Reason I Don’t Celebrate Halloween

October 31, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 2 Comments

A Catholic elementary school in the Hamilton district school board has asked parents not to sent their children to school in their Halloween costumes because "it distracts from the school's focus on education." (sidenote: in Canada, catholic schools are the only religious educational institutions that are publicly funded) Most of the comments left under the article blamed ethnics and political correctness for removing the fun out of Halloween. I, too, was disappointed by the elementary … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: ctv, halloween, Matthew Coutts, refuse to celebrate, St. Therese of Lisieux

Corn Flakes, Anti-Racism, Dogs and Responding to Story Hijackers

October 26, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall Leave a Comment

Kellogg's has just released a limited edition box cover of its most popular cereal, Corn Flakes. The cover on the left was used in the 1940s or 1950s (can't find reference to it online) and you can buy the limited edition box for, well...a limited time. When I looked at the cover, I couldn't take my eyes off the sad boy with the bowl of cereal in his hands (see picture on right). He's either sad because that's his only meal for the day or that he has to share it with his 6 siblings. I was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: boing boing, corn flakes, kellogg's, lord of the flies, ohio university, S.T.A.R.S., STARS, story hijackers, Students Teaching Against Racism in Society

What Steve Jobs and I Have in Common (And It Has Nothing to Do With Technology)

October 24, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 6 Comments

Steve Jobs and I share something in common. We were both NOT raised by our biological fathers. Like Steve, I "accidentally" met my biological father when I was a teenager. My mother and one of her very close church friends told me that we were going on a trip. After driving for an hour, we walked into an autobody shop, met this really tall man in the office and the church friend told me... "Leesa, this is your father." I remember being cold and aloof about the encounter (blame that on my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: anne of green gables, arab spring, millionaire mind, steve jobs, t. harv eker, the royal tenenbaums, vulcan

How Cog Marketing Stifles Innovation

September 29, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 2 Comments

Yesterday, I had a wonderful conversation with Maria Gamb, author of Healing the Corporate World. I shared my unhappiness about my business structure. While I'm well versed in the matters of marketing (especially internet marketing), I feel as if I'm going through a reset that's lasting a good year or more and I'm getting impatient with all this waiting. God places certain people in my life at certain times and my conversation with Maria was no accident. She listened to me and after I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: chris brogan, cog marketing, healing the corporate world, maria gamb, nancy marmolejo, spotlightu

What Jack Layton Taught Me About Influence

August 22, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 5 Comments

I was saddened to hear that Jack Layton died following a year long battle against cancer. He just turned 61 a few weeks before his death. I first became aware of Jack Layton in 1998 when I moved to Toronto. I moved to the Broadview & Danforth area in what is known as Greektown. Because I respect what my ancestors sacrificed to allow me the freedom to cast a ballot, I'm extremely interested in politics and took an interest in learning more about the politicians that represent me. The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: canadian politics, jack layton, red tory

Why Political Correctness Stifles Growth

May 10, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall Leave a Comment

An National Hockey League agent, Todd Reynolds, recently tweeted the following from the @uptownhockey twitter account: When Todd started to see the negative reaction to his tweet, he followed up with the one below just a few minutes later: While I'm sure social media experts will pick apart the error of tweeting such an inflammatory comment from a business account, I'm saddened by the hateful response Todd received. People attacked hate with hate - even when it was under the guise of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: political correctness, sean avery, todd reynolds, uptown sports management

To Celebrate an Evil Person’s Death Makes Us Equally Evil

May 4, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 6 Comments

Death is what happens to all of us. When we die, our body returns to dust and our breath is no more. Our soul goes back to God, no matter if we lived a good or evil life. To celebrate the death of a wicked man is, in itself, an oddity. He wasn't born wicked because God doesn't make wicked things. Despite how one was raised, we make a choice to live a good life or one filled with evil. I find it uncomfortable that some celebrate the violent death of someone deemed to be evil. One online … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller

Why Selfishness Will Hand the Conservative Party a Majority Government

April 22, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall 10 Comments

When you lead with ego, you lose out. When selfishness guides your intentions, you sacrifice connections. You become irrelevant. On May 2, 2011, Canadians will vote federally for the fourth time in seven years. Elections have been held in Canada in 2004, 2006, 2008 and now, 2011. Unlike in the United States where a President is elected once every 4-years, in Canada, the rules aren't as cut and dry. Since 2006, the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper have held a minority … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller Tagged With: conservative party, election canada 2011, elizabeth may, gilles duceppe, green party, jack layton, liberal party, michael ignatieff, new democratic party, stephen harper

What Happens When I Stop Reading

April 13, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall Leave a Comment

When I stop reading, I stop blogging. I stop thinking. I stop coming up with innovative ideas. Since Christmas 2010, I started reading again. I watch 2-hours of television a day - and even that I feel is too much. Outside of that, I read. And since I'm very particular about which events I attend, books fill the gap. I go through 4-5 books per month and when I do, I feel smarter. But over the past 6-weeks, I've focused my attention on filling a program (which sold out 30-days before the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller

Plugging the Energy Leaks in Your Business

March 22, 2011 by Leesa Renee Hall Leave a Comment

In her book, Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, Laurie Beth Jones says that Jesus guarded his energy because He had a bigger mission. He prevented energy leaks from happening in His life so that he wasn't distracted from what he was placed on this earth to do. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Teller

Topics