For the past 17 years, one of my annual highlights is attending the Moulding Design Show in Italy. I love it because in my experience, Italy is the worldwide leader in producing the best-designed products that feature superior quality.

All of us want to be successful. Throughout my travels, I’ve never met someone that didn’t want to achieve some form of success. Many of us have different versions of what success looks like.

For the folks who know me well, you know that I’m a huge advocate of social media! I also know that I can be a big pain in the butt when it comes to sharing the benefits of social media.

Keep avoiding failure, I dare you… How’s that working out? The fact is, failures are the secret and most powerful ingredient to success!

The retail market is tough! We’ve all seen the much-publicized closures over the past few years and recently even more major retailers have begun to pull the plug.

You know that new car smell that everyone loves? How about the feeling of cracking open a book for the first time? Maybe you love peeling the plastic off a new mobile device.

I need to come clean folks. I’m guilty of one of my cardinal sins, even though I’ve repented my old ways. I too had an office and worse yet, had all my leaders in offices at some point.

“The old rule was to create safe, ordinary products and combine them with great marketing.” Seth Godin, from Purple Cow. For better or worse, times have changed.

Leadership can be scary but so can a lot of things in life such as raising a family, going on a first date or skydiving. As scary as those things can be, there’s no shortage of people willing to take on those challenges.