Heidi Kraus
While dining alone at the Westin Maui a while back, I watched the flower girl go from table to table, being rejected at every one. I began thinking that her job was tougher than any retail salesperson I know of. Mine was the last table she came to. I asked her how she’s holding up with the rejection and she said, “Are you going to reject me too.” 
I said, “I’m alone this evening, but I was given a beautful lei this morning where I spoke, and in the Hawaiian tradition I passed it on to my waitress at lunch today.” She asked me where I spoke and I said, “At Windward Unity Church.” I went on to say that church isn’t where I usually speak. She asked me what I speak about, and I said, “I teach salespeople to handle rejection.” She starred at me and asked my name.
When I told her she teared up and told me that she grew up hearing about me from her mother, Anita Bell, and that she has read my books.
Anita worked for me for several years. Heidi went on to day that Anita died in April of Breast Cancer. She started crying, and said that she hasn’t gotten over it yet. I asked her to take a seat and we talked about Anita, my parents, rejection, life and success. She left smiling. I told her to say “Aloha” to Anita for me when she appears.
My regret upon her departure was that I didn’t buy lei from her, or better yet, all of them. I often remember this experience and wonder how Heidi is doing. Perhaps I should look her up.

-Guard Cat
Sometime around 2005 this sassy orange cat appeared at the Grand Hotel in Waikiki and took up residence in the garage. Even though she was mostly wild, she was soon embraced by the residents. At one point she was injured while “protecting the property” from a feline intruder and the residents took up a collection to have her treated.

-Promotion
Three years after moving in she was promoted to her official capacity as Guard Cat with her photo on the wall along with other employees. Her care and feeding are officially budgeted by the hotel. She is still a bit wild, but does cozy up to folks who feed her and take the time to get to know her. She likes greasy chicken bits and loves steak and other beef. She does not like big meals, preferring several small meals.

-On the Job
Scruffy is independent, and aggressively protects her territory that she circumnavigates each night looking for intruders.
She does all the usual cat things, like keeping other cats away and catching the occasional rat. Her care and feeding are budgeted expenses of the Waikiki Grand Hotel.

-Mahalo
I salute Rolf Nordahl and the other residents and board members at the Waikiki Grand Hotel. The mis-treating of animals is far too common these days, so it’s very heart warming to learn about Scruffy and her “Human Partners.“

RIP
At 9:30 PM on 1-22-2013 Hawaii’s beloved Eddie Sherman floated away to join his many friends in a more comfortable place. Of all of the things he accomplished while here, none topped marrying Patty. They loved each other in the best possible way. He meant everything to Patty, and she to him. I felt so sad, yet fortunate to be with him and Patty in his last moments.

Local Celebrity - National Friends

In his youth, Eddie became friends with the likes of John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley, Bob Hope, Sophia Loren, and locally Don Ho and Jim Nabors by way of his weekly columns in Mid-Week Magazine and Honolulu Advertiser. He wrote about those relationships in his book, FRANK, SAMMY, MARLON and ME. It’s available at Amazon.com. I just ordered a Kindle copy to read again.

“Keep Smiling”

This is something you never had to say to Eddie. He always was. It was an honor to be called his friend. Not because of the company he kept, but because of who he was. I first met Eddie out on the North Shore, taking in the view from Wyland’s Lanai. It was immediately apparent to me that this was a special man. When talking with him, Eddie would listen with an intensity like no other. And when his turn to talk came, he would floor me with his wit, wisdom and humor. Those qualities stayed with him until the very end. We will all miss Eddie Sherman. “Aloha my friend.”

25 Years of Smiling

It was 25 years ago that University professor Scott Fahlman got people adding to their e-mail messages.
I have been saying, “Keep Smiling” longer than that. A smile goes a long way. It can change how you feel as well as how you make others feel when they see you.
Here are 10 good reasons to smile. And then… KEEP SMILING; no matter what is happening around you.

1. Smiling Makes You Attractive
2. Smiling Can change your Mood
3. Smiling Is Contagious
4. Smiling Relieves Stress
5. Smiling Boosts Your Immune System
6. Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure
7. Smiling Releases Endorphins; Natural Pain Killers
8. Smiling lifts the Face and Makes You Look Younger
9. Smiling Makes You Seem Successful
10. Smiling Helps You Stay Positive

There are NO good reasons not to!

27 Years Ago
That’s when IBM introduced its first personal computer.

Then came:
Bill Gates
The Internet
The Mac
Steve Jobs
Floppy Discs
Hard Drives
Windows
The iPod
CD ROMs
E-mail
E-commerce
Instant messaging
The dotcom boom
The dotcom bust
Mobile phones
PDAs
Notebook Computers
Digital Cameras
Computer viruses
GPS
Google
My Space
FaceBook
iPhone
Cloud computing
YouTube
IBM drops out of the PC business
Texting
iPhone 3G
iPhone 4 - 4-s and 4 SI
iPhone5
iPad
iPad2 (New)
And Now…
iPad Mini

Time Flies!
Are you keeping up?

National Expanson
Mahalo Andrew Extrom for finding and sending me this copy of an ad I ran in 1972. A lot of memories came flooding back. That was a great year. My company (Empress Pearls) was 10 years old and we had launched a national expansion program. Our goal was 100 offices around the country with at least one in every state. We got close with 100 in 49 states. Alaska was just to cold. I loved my job.

1972 Midnight Blue El Dorado
I loved my car too, and put close to 100,000 miles on it in two years.

Work, Work, Work!
It was a lot of hard work, but when you are doing something you love, and you have your goals in sight, it’s a lot of fun too.

I had a lot More Hair Too
As much as I loved those days, it was pretty easy to walk away from it for something I loved even more.

“No” “Stop” “You Can’t”
There are several others of course, but too many times we hear these words and the person saying them is insensitive to their impact.
I went into a fancy coffee shop in an exclusive department store a while back to meet with a client. Upon our arrival I saw that half of the tables were full and the other half empty. As we approached one of the empty tables an employee barked out, “You cannot sit there.” I stood there a bit stunned and as I was calculating my response she said, “We had a leak in the ceiling and needed to close that section.” What’s wrong with this scenario?

Reason First
The fact that we couldn’t use those tables was reasonable; her approach was not. It was only after my initial reaction (negative) to her first words that I knew why we couldn’t sit there. It would have been better if she originally had said, (in a polite tone) “I’m sorry, but we have a water leak from above and had to close off this section.” Not only would I have understood, but I wouldn’t want to sit there. Your first words set the stage; think first, speak later.

Agony
While there’s no good place to lose your wallet, downtown Honolulu just might be the one of worst. That’s exactly what I did Thursday afternoon on my way to the gym. I cancelled my planned workout, back-tracked my steps through downtown and finally walked to the Mauna Kea Police Sub-Station across the street from the homeless cafe.

HELP!
I was already making a mental list of things in my wallet; credit cards, drivers license and Social Security card. The guy in front of me was detailing the fight he was just in when my cell phone rang. An unfamiliar voice said, “Is this Ron Martin?” I excitedly said, “Yes.” My excitement rose even further when the voice said, “This is the security desk at 1000 Bishop, and I have this wallet with your business cards in it.”

Ecstasy
My feeling of agony turned instantly into one of ecstasy when I arrived at the security desk, met Kalyn Castro, inspected the inside of my wallet and found everything in tact. I reached into my pocket to give Kalyn a reward, but he wouldn’t hear of it. I said, “How about a signed book?” and he lit up like a Christmas tree. I walked right home, got him a book and took it back to him. We talked for a long time about honesty and success. I have made a new friend. His parting comment was, “Just think Mr. Martin, if you hadn’t have lost your wallet I probably never would have met you.” Pretty Cool Ending!

1935-2011 RIP
Art Parent and I worked together creating and building a million dollar company from the early 60’s to the early 80’s.

Visionary
Art could be as ferocious as a lion and as charming as a kitten. He was the true visionary in our company, I was the mass communicator of our mission.

On A Mission
During those years we raised our families, lived together in my house, worked together in his garage, played together all over the country and laughed together in our offices.

Industry Recognition
As a home party jewelry company we were innovators and looked up to by large companies in the Direct Selling Industry. Big companies like Mary Kay Cosmetics, Encyclopedia Britannica and others sought us out and picked our brains on how we used 3/4 video tape to train and motivate our thousands of “jewelers” across the nation.

“Aloha to Empress”
In 1981 Art bought me out, allowing me to move to Hawaii to Surf, Run and Play the rest of my life. Not a day has gone by that I didn’t think of the times we spent at Empress Pearls.

“Aloha Art”

I bid farewell to a good friend and dynamic business partner. May he Rest In Peace.

Many Differences
There are no doubt many differences between those that make up the “Animal Kingdom.” Some seem to be smarter than others, some more ferocious and others quite docile. Some are easily “trained” and others more difficult. And, they come in all sorts of shapes, colors and sizes. They speak different languages and reside in different places around the globe as well as under the sea.

The Human Animal
Humans are a part of the Animal Kingdom as well, and here again there are many differences to be seen. Some are nice; some are mean. Some sensitive and others not. They have different tastes and desires.

LOVE RULES
The one thing that most all animals understand is “Love” and I love seeing examples of it. To see one of my favorites, just CLICK RIGHT HERE: It’s an Amazing Story.