I’ve been an Amazon shopper for many years. At first I really didn’t order anything but books, but when my daughter, Sophia, was in college and told me about the benefits of Amazon Prime, I signed up and started using Amazon more often.
It’s so easy. I might be sitting at home in the evening and feeling lazy, not wanting to drive to a bookstore, supermarket or electronics store. With a couple of clicks, I can order almost anything I want. However, over time, I started to notice a few cracks in the armor.
First of all, when I misplaced the charger for my iPhone a few years ago, my friend Michael surprised me by shipping me a new one via Amazon. I noticed it wasn’t made by Apple, but I thought, “What the heck.” I figured it didn’t really make much of a difference. That was until I tried using the charger in a rental car. My phone didn’t charge and I got a message on the dashboard letting me know my charger wasn’t working properly.
Since then, I’ve made certain to purchase official Apple charging cords. I couldn’t find them on Amazon, so I resorted to going to an Apple store.
Most recently, I purchased my favorite brand of shampoo and conditioner on Amazon. It was so easy to place my order at night on my computer and have it simply arrive at my home a day or two later. I thought: No more errands to run. Amazon will save me so much time.
But then I received the shampoo and conditioner, and started using it. I noticed the viscosity of both had changed. They were kind of runny. I really didn’t think much about it until I went to get my hair cut. I mentioned it to my stylist, who is fully trained in all things hair and a great resource for product recommendations. She pointed out that most brands of hair products have a shelf life. The benefit of purchasing products at a hair salon or beauty supply store is that they get rotated frequently, assuring that the product is fresh. Product does not sit on shelves for months. She said she had recently told many of her clients NOT to purchase hair products on Amazon, as there is no guarantee of their freshness.
So, of course, I purchased fresh product at the salon and used it when I got home. What a difference an expert’s opinion makes.
Have you had this experience with Amazon or any other third-party seller? If the product has some sort of perishability, you really can’t be sure it is fresh unless you purchase it directly from the manufacturer or in person. That’s just one of the reasons I started purchasing many products directly on a manufacturer’s website or at a store.
Who knows, maybe Amazon will start listing shelf-life or guaranteed manufactured dates on their website. But until then, I will be spending a little more time running my errands.
Happy New Year!
Karen
About four years ago after filing for divorce, I started seeing a therapist. Sometimes we need help sorting through big changes in our lives.
One day I was sitting on my therapist’s couch and I was visibly uncomfortable. My jacket didn’t feel right. Lois noticed it right away. She said, “You look uncomfortable. Why don’t you take off your jacket?” So I took off my jacket. Then my high-heeled shoes were uncomfortable. So she suggested I take those off too.
She asked me what was going on. I told her I had a lot on my mind at work and was super busy and preoccupied. Then I randomly made this comment to her, “You know, I always feel like I get more done when I wear my jeans and dress casually at work.” She asked me the obvious next question: “So why don’t you wear your jeans every day to work?”
I told her I just couldn’t. Honestly, I told her that I was the CEO of my company and CEOs don’t wear jeans to work. She, of course, pointed out the obvious examples of Steve Jobs and John Mackey. Then, my next line of defense was that I had a closet full of expensive dress suits, skirts, and high heels, so I would look the part of a CEO. I had to wear them.
She looked me straight in the eye and told me, “I want you to wear jeans to work every day. Period. You must wear jeans to work and dress casually every day until I see you in two weeks.” Yes, ma’am!
So I wore jeans to work every day. I wore jeans to work even when I met with a big client. (Admittedly, I am in the agriculture business, so it’s not a big stretch to wear jeans to a client meeting).
When I went back to see Lois two weeks later, I was able to report to her how much more productive I was at work. I felt like a wave of freedom and flexibility had come over me. Not surprisingly, a few months later, I changed the dress code at my company, going from casual summer dress to casual dress all year long. I think everyone at my office was instantly more relaxed and productive.
Then last summer, I went to get my color wardrobe palette done. About every 10 years, I see Jennifer Butler (www.jenniferbutlercolor.com) to make sure the color and style of my clothes are most complementary to my eye color, skin tone, and hair color and texture. As we grow older, our colors become more muted and evolve. During this session, my colorist noticed a slight curl in my hair. She asked me about it and I revealed that I had naturally curly hair but had straightened it for the last 30 years or so. Jennifer suggested that I might want to wear my hair “natural,” i.e., curly, and darken it to my natural color (instead of having it highlighted)—to be more authentic.
I told her I just couldn’t. Honestly, I told her that I was CEO of my company and CEOs don’t have curly hair. I mean, people wouldn’t take me seriously if I let my hair go curly. (I had secretly hated my curly, frizzy hair since I was a child, so when the Brazilian straightening technique came out, I was hooked.) Well, Jennifer pointed out the obvious example of Shonda Rhimes, creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal“ who rocks curly hair 24/7.
So I took a couple of deep breaths and decided to see what it felt like when I wore my hair naturally curly. The next day I came into work with my hair curly (some coworkers didn’t recognize me!), and it felt great. I’ve never looked back. I forget about it when I run into a friend or business colleague I haven’t seen in a couple of years. More than one was startled as they didn’t realize it was me. I just fluff my curly hair and say, “Yeah, I went back to my natural hair.”
I am sharing these two stories because I think there are other people out there who are afraid to reveal their real selves. Their authentic selves. There are so many stereotypes of how we should look, how we should act, how we should be. So we develop this habit of being—imposters.
That’s what I felt like. I felt like no one would take me seriously as a CEO if I didn’t look and dress the part. And then I decided to be the real me. The casually dressed, curly-haired me.
And the most interesting thing happened.
Many, many women are now wearing their hair naturally curly. It’s like they were hiding before and now they’ve all appeared at once.
I also noticed that, at many business and social events, people were dressing in jeans, creating a more casual vibe. It’s a lot less stressful.
So, if you ever get that feeling of not being comfortable in your skin (or your dress), I can assure you that no one will judge you as an imposter. It’s much easier to be the real you. So try it!
Karen
Inspire your shoppers with creative and colorful produce in the new year.
Los Alamitos, CA – (December 2018) – January is always a time when shoppers are looking to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables in their diets. According to a recent Wakefield Research survey, 87 percent of consumers are interested in making small diet changes, such as eating more fruit and veggies, as part of their diet in the new year. Make it easy for your shoppers by inspiring healthy everyday eating through unique and colorful produce.
“Consumers want colorful and different produce items to shake up their healthy eating habits in the new year,” said Alex Berkley, sales manager at Frieda’s Specialty Produce. “They’re looking for recipes that make healthy eating fun and delicious to help kick off 2019 right.” In fact, 78 percent of millennials are looking to discover new food favorites through recipes, according to Wakefield Research.
Frieda’s can help you inspire your shoppers with merchandising, signage and recipe solutions that will make produce the star of their plates. Call your Frieda’s account manager today.
About Frieda’s Inc.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce has been inspiring new food experiences for friends, families, and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit to dragon fruit and from Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes to habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the family company is owned and operated by Frieda’s daughters, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, in Orange County, California. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce, and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.
I thought I had always taken good care of my teeth. That included going to see my dentist twice a year to check for cavities and have my teeth cleaned by a hygienist.
But a few years ago, after I decided to use Invisalign® to get my once-straight teeth re-straightened, I started to see a periodontist, a dentist who specializes in gums. My periodontist is Oscar Valenzuela. I see Oscar once a year and he takes measurements of the gum line on each of my teeth to determine if I have unusual recession of my gums. I know some recession is normal with age, but I learned that my over-zealous brushing technique actually caused additionally recession.
I remember my first visit to him. “Do you floss your teeth?” I said, “Sometimes.” Then I asked him, “So, how often should I be flossing?” He responded with: “You should only floss your teeth on the days you want to keep them!”
Got it. So I started flossing my teeth every night before I went to bed, right after I brushed my teeth.
That began my love affair with Oscar and his dental hygienist Mylene. After my first time cleaning by Mylene, she told me that she wanted to see me back in three months. Three months? It felt like punishment. She said that plaque builds up quickly and based on what she saw on my teeth, she wanted to see me every three months. I asked her if there was anything else I could do to reduce plaque.
She asked, “Have you ever considered using an electric toothbrush?” (I didn’t tell her that once I had a boyfriend who gave me an electric toothbrush for Hanukkah. When we broke up, I gave away the toothbrush.)
I asked her more about using an electric toothbrush. She said it was more consistent in applying pressure while brushing. Plus, some models have a timer on them, which ensures you brush for a full two minutes (30 seconds on each section of your teeth: upper, lower, inside, and outside). Two minutes of brushing your teeth with a manual toothbrush seems like forever.
So, I went to Costco and bought an electric toothbrush (the brand Mylene suggested, Philips Sonicare). When I started using it, I could not get over the super clean, smooth feeling of my teeth. They felt completely different, as compared to when I was using a regular manual toothbrush. Hereare some toothbrush options.
Three months later when I went to see Mylene, she noticed the improvement. Nine months later, when Oscar re-measured the recession on my gums, he told me they had stabilized and improved. Within a year, I had graduated to visiting Mylene every four to five months.
And with all I have been learning about Alzheimer’s, there appears to be some sort of potential link between “plaque” in our teeth and “plaque” in our brains (which is what causes Alzheimer’s). Just today, I learned from my coworker Cindy that in her previous job at Wrigley’s gum, they had done research showing a link between gum health and heart health. Personally, I don’t chew gum for other reasons, but there are gum types which can help reduce plaque.
So, my recommendation is:
Floss your teeth every day.
Switch to an electric toothbrush, use the timer function for the full two minutes, and brush at least twice a day.
See a periodontist to make sure you have excellent gum health, in addition to tooth health.
And if you really want to take care of your teeth, carry a gum stimulator, featured below, and dental floss with you at all times (I carry a gum stimulator in my purse).
