We are celebrating the 19th year of helping our grads to REALLY connect!

Connext Nation is nationally certified to provide CPEs credits for CPAs. For the mini class CPAs get 2 credits and for the ten week class they get 24.  Our next Toledo 10 week series starts this fall on September 4, from 11am - 1pm EST or our virtual class begins Sept 9 from 11am-1pm EST. 

 

Member Spotlight – Jeff LaCourse
by Chris Kapelski, chris@idstoledo.com

If having a career that is meaningful and helping people sound interesting to you, allow me to introduce you to Jeff LaCourse. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Jeff, talking about the times, and learning more about him. The conversation that was had taught me things I will take with me the rest of my life. 

 

Throughout Jeff’s life he was constantly searching for a career where he could make a difference and help people. “I’ve always wanted to do something meaningful,” he said.  In pursuit of this dream he decided to go to medical school for college.  However, like many of us, Jeff lost interest in the vast amounts of schooling and decided to change majors. At 23 he returned home where one of his long-time friends was selling insurance and investments. Working with people 70-75 Jeff learned one of his first big life lessons. “It was sad. These people had worked so hard in life and they were just barely surviving on social security.” While he quickly picked up the skillset he found himself in the entrepreneur trap, lacking the motivation to work for himself. Knowing he had to do something, Jeff decided to hop into the workforce and get a regular job. This is when he was introduced to Connext Nation. 

 

CN was a requirement at his place of employment. Reluctantly and somewhat angry, Jeff signed up for the course to fulfill his duties. “I was really not excited about taking the course. I couldn’t see what it could possibly teach me.” However, by the end of the course Jeff’s tune changed and he realized the course contained amazing information. In finding so much value, he knew he had to help take the information to others. He returned as a graduate assistant twice and even currently sits on the CN board. 

 

Back to his life path, not far down the line life had a nasty surprise in store. His daughter, Mandy, became ill and further investigation led to a diagnosis of Lymphoma. With his priorities firmly in place Jeff sprang into action and began taking his daughter to treatments and appointments, anything he could do to help with the diagnosis. After a bit of time Jeff returned to work for some bit of normalcy, only to find himself fired from his job. “I learned a valuable life lesson. It was a pointless sales job.”

 

Searching for a new job and still looking for a career where he could make a difference, Jeff moved into a position with the Red Cross. Settling into his new position things were starting to go well. However, life quickly turned again as his daughter grew more ill. Unfortunately, this time, Jeff’s daughter lost her battle with Lymphoma and passed away. Once again Jeff returned to work only again to find himself fired from his job. It was at this time he made a promise to himself. “I’ll never work for someone else ever again.” This lesson resonated with me as I had a similar realization while working a job early on in my career. 

 

On the hunt once again, determined this time to find that meaningful career path, Jeff decided to renew his license and return to the world of insurance and investments. Afterall, helping those in need live better longer lives with their money motivated him. This time, Jeff found success. To this day he helps people, especially those close to or thinking about retirement make the most of their money. “People and businesses looking to re examine their retirement plans are the perfect clients for me.” 

 

If you are thinking about retirement, or just want to sit down for some great life lessons, I strongly suggest sitting down with Jeff. You never know what you might learn, and it may just change your life.

 

What is normal? Normality is a behavior that is consistent with the most common behavior for that person. Structure and consistencies are essential constructs, for many individuals and are often the key to their success. I personally know this to be true. I thrive in my daily routines and flounder when I break these routines. I am not saying that I never change or break into new routines, but I am saying the first meal of my day is almost always scrambled eggs and potatoes. As a self-proclaimed creature of habit, I find peace of mind in my predetermined daily rituals.

March 11th, 2020 was the last fully staffed day at our offices. As COVID19 crept into our lives a little more every day, my business partner and I decided to close our office and send everyone home to work remotely starting on March 12th. Fortunately for us, we made a few minor adjustments to our day- to-day, and we were back to running on all cylinders. IT guys are kind of like cockroaches; we can work from just about anywhere.

After working from home for about five weeks, I started noticing some drastic changes in my life. I was dragging ass during the workday, losing clarity and focus, my blood pressure was high, and I started gaining weight. WTF! I assumed that this is how life is now, I mean, after all, we are in the midst of a global pandemic…

A couple of weeks passed, and I found myself once again shirking my responsibilities by chatting with my good friend Eric. We were on Google hangouts sharing war stories and one-upping each other on who had fallen off the wagon the hardest. At the end of the conversation, Eric said something to me that hit home. He said, “We can’t sit around and wait for the wheels to fall off the bus hoping things will go back to normal because they won’t. We have to create a new normal and adjust to this new way of life”.  
 
After digesting this mic drop moment that my friend Eric had laid at my feet, I started to evaluate my day-to-day more closely. I noticed that I had fallen out of my vital daily rituals, both personally and professionally. The essential disciplines that helped guide me Pre-COVID19 were all but gone.  Although I still manage to eat my eggs and potatoes every day, I have started the crucial process of forging new routines both personally and professionally to help keep me on track. 

If you find yourself falling into this self-loathing cycle of unproductivity,  remember that normal is relative to each individual and it’s up to you to create your new normal amidst this not so normal world we live in. 

 

Message from our CEO 
Elizabeth Herness Peters, ehpeters@ gmail.com
 

Networking with Humility, Authenticity, Curiosity and Courage in the Work Towards Racial Equity and Social Justice

In the aftermath of the sickening actions and indefensible killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, I raise my voice because silence can only be taken as approval. 

What is even more disturbing is that bias, discrimination, institutionalized racism, and violence have existed for generations, and is not anything new in our country. Growing up the daughter of a Japanese mom and a Polish dad, some of my earliest memories were of my mom saying, “The world may not be kind to a mixed child. You must have hope”.
 

Hope has two lovely daughters –
Anger, so that what should not be will not be; and
Courage, so that what should be will be.
~St. Augustine

I am a child of mixed ethnicity who has benefited from white privilege. I have not experienced first-hand the fear of not feeling safe that so many of my colleagues, friends, and loved ones have had to face. Reflecting on my parents’ upbringing to always have hope provides me with resolve that I have a responsibility to advance peace, justice, and understanding because the effects from the evil of racism and social injustice cannot be ignored.

Empty words are meaningless without action.  Our family-based business resolves to do better – showing up in our networking practices with humility, authenticity, curiosity, and courage in the work towards racial equity and social justice. It’s time that we learn, speak out, and take action.

Here are some of our first steps:

In this newsletter, we have asked CN Community members, Kelly Webb, Lionel Brock, and Latasha Jones to write about the issue of racial bias.

For the July 20th CN lunch, we will have a panel of CN graduates who will chat about their experiences of racial discrimination and what they would recommend we do to begin making the change.

When we make purchases, we will seek out suppliers who represent diverse voices. 

In the courses and presentations that we create, we will strive to create learning that develops diverse leaders who will drive behavioral change in their organizations. 
We will cast a wider and more purposeful net in our business development efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that virtual training and speaking events allows us to reach more participants from locations all over the world. 

Our team will be learning together about anti-racism and unconscious bias. You are welcome to reach out to us to hear more about the articles, resources, and courses that we are using. 

We acknowledge that we are going to stumble and not get it right, and we may be uncomfortable as we learn things about ourselves and systemic racism. Yet, we are encouraged and hopeful as we carry forward because we have a community that will help us learn from one another. 

What Our Grads Have to Say 
By Debby Peters, debby@connextnation.com
 

Kelley Webb, Director of Social Justice for the YMCA

In order to make positive strides away from racial bias, I believe that we first need the community to educate themselves and learn about what racism and anti-blackness looks like and how racism does show up in their space. There are several resources floating around social media and the internet as well as organizations creating booklists and movie lists, i.e. Amazon, Netflix, libraries. 

Second, I believe that dialogue needs to happen and there are spaces to have this dialogue in programs like Dialogue to Change through the YWCA of Northwest Ohio  There have been several town hall programs, panels, and events that have created a space to be brave and to ask questions.  Attend those events and listen to stories of experienced racism so that it can be called out in the future. Racism is a system and it is ingrained in society. It takes all of us to dismantle it, but we first have to be able to see it in ourselves and how it presents in society. 

Lionel Brock

Picture this.  It is a beautiful Sunday morning and you and your children are on your way home from church.  All of a sudden you see lights flashing in your rear view mirror.  When the policeman comes to your window, he tells you that you failed to make a complete stop at the stop sign. Annoyance right?  You know you stopped.  What a way to ruin your weekend. This happened to Lionel Brock, Marketing Director at Transamerica in Maumee.   But he had to add another emotion to the mix, that of fear.
  
This incident happened in Perrysburg when he and his family lived there, right in their own neighborhood.  During the stop, Lionel feared for his and his children’s lives if he didn’t act just right.  He exhibited behavior that he hoped would neutralize any reprisal from the officer. He kept very calm, didn’t make eye contact, kept his hands on the wheel.  He answered the policeman’s questions with one word answers. When asked if he had his registration, he again answered with just a, “yes.”  “Please produce it,” the officer replied.  Before moving Lionel took an extra step of asking for permission to reach for the registration.  

While that happened several years ago, Lionel says, “I wanted to come out of that situation alive AND I wanted to demonstrate to my three children the behavior they must use when stopped by an officer of the law.  Notice that he said, “when” not “if.”  He knows that they are always suspect because of they are a person of color.  

Lionel was born in the projects, inner city Toledo, and then all of a sudden they moved to Point Place when he was about 5 or 6.  He didn’t know then, but became aware later that the move happened after their home encountered a robbery.  It was in this new location that he experienced discrimination for the first time.  He heard the N-word directed at him.  He got in a lot of fights over all this and became known as the problem child.  During this time he also had challenges in learning to read.  The teachers just pushed him aside.  “I felt dumb,” he says.  “My parents just thought that perhaps the classes were more difficult at the new school, so I was not pressed by them.  Then we moved to South Toledo and I went to an almost all black junior high school.  That is where I got the help I needed and I started getting A’s and B’s. I also gained more self-confidence.  Before long I was in the honors class.”  This “problem” student got an academic scholarship to University of Toledo.  One area that Lionel thinks needs to change is the education system. It is a second behind the judicial system, but a close second.  There are still black boys out there that get pushed aside and don’t get the help they need, especially if they are viewed as problem children.

Lionel is a runner, but is a more fearful runner now.  When Armaud Arbery was killed while jogging, Lionel said that changed his mind set.  “Previously, I just used to head out my door and run wherever.  Now I limit myself to the park. Just because of my skin color.”

After a family trip overseas, he began to understand the statement that a friend of his had made which is, “The only place you feel black is in America.”  Lionel said that when they were in Paris, they were just Americans on vacation.   It was the same in Spain.  But it hit him when he came home, that he no longer blended in.

He has highs hopes for his three children, who are in their late teens and early 20’s.  They are connecting to what is going on and are activists in gaining their position of equality.  They research to find and then support companies that support equal justice.  

Lionel says, “The way we can all help with this volatile issue is, once you know, don’t be silent.” In this author’s words when we see a wrong, we must not accept it as “the way things are.”  We must be active in our own ways of bringing justice to each person in our community. We must mirror this servant leader in molding our community, our state, our regional and our country to be accepting and supportive of all people. In that manner, you or others will never have to be fearful for your life.


Latasha Jones

When asked if she had experienced discrimination as a result of her skin color, Latasha Jones, said, “Yes, and it saddens me.  The first time it happened, I literally cried, because character should shine through everything.”  She also shared that she had experienced bias just a few days before we chatted.  She was self-checking out of a store and the cashier stopped her and said that Latasha had put an extra item into her bag without running it through the scanner.  Latasha said, No, I did not do that, I have 12 items in my bag and there are 12 items on this slip.”  The cashier insisted that she had to re-ring the transaction to make sure, making the comment, “We don’t get many minorities in here.”  Never one to back down, Latasha asked to speak to the manager. This person apologized profusely, but Latasha pointed out that everyone else with a lighter skin color was going about their business without being delayed.  She told him that he needed to address the issue with this staff. Welcome to being a Person of Color in 2020 in the good ole’ USA.

Latasha has also found that with her name beginning with the letter “L” that she is denied what others receive automatically. She said, “If my name were Natasha, I wouldn’t experience this.  I know this because my wife, Natalie, gets better service and more offers than I do.”  For example both she and Natalie have called utility companies and banks for their business, J Dog Hauling and Junk Removal.  Six out of 10 times, Natalie would get the call back when Latasha would hear nothing.  Or Natalie would get additional information about credit opportunites that was never mentioned to Latasha.

Having spent many years in the military, she said that there is nowhere near the amount of bias there.  Really she said, “The most prejudice would come in the form of inappropriate questions, such as wondering about my hair.  I realized that while the questions were invasive, they were usually coming from a point of curiosity.”  

Latasha shares that we can all work on this issue by being better educated about it.  She mentioned that there are wonderful documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime.  She also said that Amazon is a company that is showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Here is a woman who has served our country and now is a successful business owner contributing to our society. I am saddened to hear that she is not accepted for who she is, instead of what she looks or sounds like.  Perhaps this weekend we can view one of those documentaries that Latasha mentioned to begin to eliminate this scourge from our country.