Networking/Seminar Event: Essential Skills of Dynamic Public Speaking

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    On January 18, 2o18, International Performance Coach, and award-winning business owner, Kristen Hertzog will host a business seminar event: Essential Skills of Dynamic Public Speaking. For over twenty-five years, Kristen has been communicating her brand of empowerment and motivating people through speaking engagements, business and life advice, leadership development, inspirational singing, acting, and writing.

    Located at the award-winning Hertzog Homestead Bed & Breakfast, you will enjoy light appetizers and the opportunity to enjoy a glass of Hertzog Reserve Red, her signature wine label, in partnership with Nissley Vineyards. This event is free, but advance registration is required. You can register here!

    Out of the area? Stay at Hertzog Homestead Bed & Breakfast, book now at: www.hertzoghomestead.com Use code: COACHSEM15OFF for a 15% discount on your stay.

    Event Time Line:

    4:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Arrival and welcome, appetizers and wine, networking

    4:30 PM – 5 PM: Essential Skills of Dynamic Public Speaking Seminar

    5:15 PM – 5:30 PM: Q and A with Kristen

    5:30 PM – 6 PM: networking and mini-tours of Hertzog Homestead property

    Top 5 Things NOT To Do at a Bed & Breakfast

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    Secret Pet Peeves of Innkeepers Revealed!

    Are you new to the etiquette of staying at bed-and-breakfast? Each one is unique and no two are the same. First, how is a hotel different from a B&B?

    • Most “B&B’s” are 3-5 rooms. An “Inn” is often larger, some are 8-12 rooms.
    • Usually the Innkeeper is the owner, you’re not dealing with some large corporation.
    • While the price of a B&B might seem higher than a hotel at times, the actual value is much greater. Most B&B’s serve a wonderful breakfast, so when you figure you won’t have to spend $30+ dining out, it’s a pretty good deal. Many B&B’s, offer complimentary wine, cold and hot beverages, local snacks, free wireless, free parking and other perks.
    • The accommodations and amenities at a B&B are almost always superior to that of a hotel…better linens, bedding, furniture, etc. At our B&B, we have the Hertzog Home Spa Collection, our own small batch, luxury spa line of lotions, soaps, shampoos and more for purchase. (www.hertzoghomestead.com)
    • Innkeepers are a wealth of knowledge, from great restaurants to wineries and tourist attractions—a built-in concierge if you will.

    Again, each Bed and Breakfast is completely unique, which is part of the charm and excitement of the experience. Unless you’re staying in a really high-end resort, a hotel room is often typical and boring. At a B&B, each room has distinctive, thoughtful decor. For example, at Hertzog Homestead, all suites have their own theme (romantic, historic, contemporary and Amish), as well as our treasured family antiques, private bathrooms and entrances and a private Amish made breakfast overlooking farmland views.

    DRUMROLL PLEASE… Here are the top five things NOT to do while staying at a B&B. This list was compiled with the help of Mike Schbic of Mikes Road Trip and my fellow innkeeper friends in Lancaster County, PA:

    1. SHOW UP BEFORE CHECK IN TIME: Unlike hotels where there is usually someone at the reservations desk, a B&B is run by a small business owner who has to juggle many things, including setting the “stage” for your arrival. Check-in time usually between 4 PM – 6 PM. If you can’t arrive within that time, mention it at time of booking your reservation or text/call to let us know, so that we can prepare an express check-in. While a late arrival may be acceptable, arriving early and expecting check-in without notice does not give us time to adequately prepare for your visit. Often, innkeepers are at the store or cleaning rooms and thrown off by not having the “stage” set for you.

    2. TREAT IT LIKE A COLLEGE DORM ROOM: The Innkeeper probably lives here. Be kind to the property as if is your own. Don’t shine your shoes with the Turkish towels, or drape wet ones on finely crafted wood furniture. Drying your underwear on the ceiling fan may also be a bit too much! (Yes, this happened.) Although the Innkeeper is honored to serve you, our guest, and does not expect gratuity… if you find yourself at a B&B that has a small tipping envelope in your room, it is customary to leave the housekeeping staff your appreciation in the envelope, on the day you check out.

    3. DON’T TELL US YOU HAVE DIETARY RESTRICTIONS: Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian? No problem! Simply let us know in advance. Most B&B’s prepare certain breakfast dishes the day before. Share any dietary restrictions at the time of booking your reservation, so we can adequately prepare alternatives and have time to shop for ingredients.

    4. DON’T BOTHER REVIEWING THE B&B WEBSITE: Its always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the vibe of the B&B through their website. Be mindful of the rules and regulations, some B&B’s are kid-free, pet-free and/or smoke-free zones. Read the rules prior to booking your reservation, that way your expectations will be met and so will that of your Innkeeper. Please don’t just show up with your elderly cat or screaming toddler in tow. (Yes, these scenarios have also happened.)

    5. THINK OF THE B&B AS A CORPORATE BUSINESS. A Bed and Breakfast is typically a mom & pop small business, so we simply do not have the resources or margins that a larger hotel might have. You may see discounted prices during off-peak periods but it’s customary not to negotiate prices with your Innkeeper, unless maybe you’re staying for an extended period of time.

    I hope this overview will help manage your expectations the next time you consider staying at a bed and breakfast…it can be a wonderful and unforgettable experience!

    Kristen Hertzog is a Performance Coach and Co-Owner/Innkeeper of the award-winning Hertzog Homestead Bed & Breakfast in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Now in its 15th year, Hertzog Homestead also includes a rustic barn event venue and quaint spa cottage offering holistic options. www.hertzoghomestead.com.

    Categories: Inspiration, Uncategorized

    Connecting with My Business on Linkedin.com

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    “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” – Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance… I love to make ideas happen! Please check out and like my business, where I make my ideas happen: the award-winning Hertzog Homestead Bed & Breakfast, Event Venue, and Spa Cottage.  I would love to have you connect on Linkedin.

    Categories: Business, Uncategorized

    Kristen’s Tips: Charitable Giving: What You Need to Know

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    Last evening, I spoke at an event about how to give towards causes that you are passionate about. So many organizations have great websites and inspiring photos and videos of the work they do. November and December are two of the biggest months for charitable giving and organizations are preparing now for their final push to their networks. If you are a discriminating giver, here are Kristen’s tips that can help you choose wisely:

    Get out there: I always encourage people to get involved and see an organization in action. You can learn a lot by being involved and donating some time to help out, prior to significant financial giving. Before giving to the local food bank, spend some time dishing up soup. If it’s an international nonprofit, I encourage you to take a trip to see the work firsthand, it’s leaders in action, and if there are holes in fulfilling the mission and goals.

    Recently, I was doing consulting work for an international documentary film and traveled to Haiti along with the film crew. As a business development professional who has worked in nonprofit and for-profit sectors in Haiti for many years, I had the opportunity to tap some of my colleagues to contribute to this film.

    To witness an organization’s work on a “regular day” level can be telling. It can be inspirational and empowering to see the results a well-facilitated organization. Asking questions not only about the leadership, but those being served and their perspectives on the work of the organization can sometimes show holes in the infrastructure and where financial giving could be designated in the future. It could also show gaping chasms in infrastructure, transparency, and organization that may make you grateful to walk away after the visit and before investing financially.

    Do your research. Guide Star (www.guidestar.org) has records of close to 2 million nonprofit organization’s registered with the Internal Revenue Service. There is a free section of this website that allows you to check out non-profit organization’s Form 990, which is the basic filing document for all nonprofits. Here, you will be able to see the charities income, spending, mission and leaders salaries.

    We all want to see our charitable funds go towards causes we care about, and more importantly, that are making a sustainable difference. Get involved and do your research. There is nothing wrong with “shopping around” for the organization that’s right for you. Once you have done your due diligence, give generously to causes that make a difference and make a difference in the lives of others!

    Categories: Nonprofit, Uncategorized

    Who Says I Don’t Belong Here?

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    My eyes darted around the busy restaurant, looking for my business associate with whom I had a meeting scheduled. It was an upscale restaurant in Petionville, a town distinctive throughout all of Haiti.  The gated and privately guarded neighborhoods resemble a Haitian version of Beverly Hills, but with barbed wire. The community is stable, and business conducted with an appearance of western normality, in striking contrast to many other parts of greater Port-au-Prince.

    My cell phone chirped. My associate was stuck in traffic along busy Autoroute de Delmas. She was running late, but on her way.

    Accompanying me to the meeting was one of my brightest college students. Standing at 6’2, he was an articulate, thoughtful 28-year-old in a neatly pressed dress shirt and tie. He was studying Business Administration through an online university partner, and my role as Executive Director was to give students the opportunity to shadow me and see what a real-life business meeting was like. We settled into a corner table while a dark-skinned waitress, her eyes averted, timidly took our drink orders and left a bowl of pistach on the table.

    We exchanged some small talk as we waited. He seemed distracted. Then, he started breaking out in a cold sweat, his hands trembling. I called him by name, but he did not look in my eyes. I asked him if he was feeling unwell.

    “Mrs. Kristen, I do not belong here.”

    At first, I was incredulous. “Why wouldn’t you belong here? Of course, you belong here!”

    “Madam, please look around us. These are all important businessmen. They are all white and mulattoes. Or foreigners working for big companies and organizations. They can tell I am NOT one of them.”

    I looked around. The restaurant was literally filled with every shade of skin color, but not a single dark-skinned Haitian other than the waitress standing in the corner, trying so hard to look invisible.

    “Do you honestly think that you have something written across your forehead that says that you are less than these people? You have a higher IQ than most people in this room, and you have overcome more adversity in your life than many. You belong here.” I said. We both were a little teary-eyed.

    He nodded thoughtfully, then excused himself to the restroom to collect himself. He returned a little more confident and collected than before, and he even contributed to the meeting.

    I marveled for many years at our exchange, and just how powerful our own “head chatter” can be based on our personal and sometimes cultural history. Haiti’s has a powerful social class structure that groups people according to wealth, income, education, type of occupation, and membership to a specific subculture or social network. Since colonial years, race has played an important factor in determining social class.

    Years of negative head chatter, combined with powerful cultural expectations and norms not only can sway an impressionable college student in a developing country. Negative mindsets can try to strangle all of us from our God-given potential and desire for success.

    I found myself in a “head chatter” situation recently. Ironically, I have been an executive in several higher education institutions, but my strength has not been found in traditional academia personally. Diagnosed with learning disabilities at an early age, I forced myself to excel in the things that I came easier for me, in order to hide my learning challenges.

    This year, I was accepted into Harvard University: Division of Continuing Education’s professional development program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was thrilled and nervous. Over the years, I had become quite comfortable being the “teacher”, It has been a long time since I was a student myself.

    Arriving at Harvard University, I could see that I was surrounded by greatness. My class was filled with 40 professionals from over 15 countries. Executives from companies such as Visa, Starbucks, Hyundai, international companies, banks, and foreign high-ranking government officials were my classmates. As mandatory introductions began, I was mentally preparing for what I would say when it was my turn. Internally, I panicked.

    I do not belong here. 

    I remembered the exchange with my Haitian college student, years earlier and wondered what these executives would see written across my forehead. Would they see a crestfallen teenager who struggled to take her written driver’s license test seven times because of my learning disabilities? Did they know that my high school guidance counselor told me once that, with luck, I would probably end up working at  McDonald’s?

    “My name is Kristen Hertzog. I am an entrepreneur and own a bed-and-breakfast, event venue, and spa cottage in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I am also a performance coach and motivational speaker. I am here to learn all I can about leadership coaching from all of you and our professors here at Harvard.”

    “I am here to learn too, maybe we can help each other, yes? We all have much to learn, Kristen. After all, why are we here?” said a stocky man in a well-dressed suit next to me. His name was Aqeel, Director of Finance and Treasury of the Capital Markets Authority of Kuwait.

    I did belong there! So did Aqeel! So do all of us! It was a great reminder to me that we all have head chatter that does not serve us for our advancement. We can be our own greatest enemy of our success. We are responsible to fight our own negative chatter daily and fill our thoughts with our dreams and vision for our own future and how we will get there. We belong anywhere we want to be.

    Kristen Hertzog is an entrepreneur, international performance coach and award-winning speaker with a certificate in Leadership Coaching Strategies from Harvard University: Division of Continuing Education.www.facebook.com/yourperformancecoach/

    www.kristenhertzog.com

    Categories: Inspiration, Uncategorized

    Similar Challenges Across Diverse Businesses at Harvard University

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    I had the pleasure and honor to participate in Harvard University: Division of Continuing Education professional development program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This intensive program with a certificate in Leadership Coaching Strategies with both eye-opening and empowering.

    Our class of 40 passionate business people, spanned the globe. People came from 15 countries and across the United States to experience and learn from this prestigious academic program. Industry professionals hailed from Sweden, Dubai, France, Mexico, China, Philippines, Australia, Amsterdam, Venezuela and more. I had the privilege of being paired with Aqeel, Director of Finance and Treasury for Capital Markets Authority in Kuwait. He is every bit a successful businessman, and also person who finds passion and joy in what he does. We were often paired together during break out clusters. 

    One of the things that struck me as unique about this program was the tremendous low risk to the students. Our professors encouraged transparency in this academic setting that included much discussion and learning from each other. There were so many diverse industries represented amongst our group, and yet, so many of our challenges were similar. How do we strategically empower those in business? How do we show empathy to those with in our networks who are struggling professionally or personally? How do our personalities affect negatively or positively with others in the workplace?

    Aqeel and others shared so candidly, without judgment of others. Everyone was there to learn and be a student, not the teacher. There was little concern about looking silly, stress about transparency about losing lofty titles, getting promotions, etc. This program was about being real, and gleaning from other people’s experiences and learning additional skills in leadership coaching from the best and the brightest at Harvard.

    We also learned some new amazing skills related new research being done on the neurochemistry of positive communications, the benefits of external executive coaching for growing businesses and explored case studies related to performance management, measuring and improving the effectiveness of employees across all levels of management. 

    Performance coaching is such an art form as well as a science. Agreeing on the purpose, inquiring and advocating on behalf of the coachee, identifying and reviewing next steps, and follow-up actions to be taken all contribute to a positive and balanced coaching experience.

    If you are looking for greater freedom and an outside perspective to gaining more freedom in life and business, I welcome you to contact me directly. Answers are a phone call or a cup of coffee away! Contact me at: kristen@kristenhertzog.com or call/text 717-201-4893.

    Categories: Inspiration, Uncategorized