​We are pleased to feature Merley Greenidge, owner of Celebrate Sweetly, as our January 20th Spotlight Sponsor! As we head into the new year, Celebrate Sweetly has a few new and exciting things on the horizon. Greenidge reflects, “The pandemic provided an opportunity for us to take stock and essentially rebrand our gift presentations.  We will be launching a new line of subscription boxes and launching our World Unboxed this month. We’re also introducing our exclusive and very limited 3-tiered gifting concierge membership service that will elevate our clients gifting experiences!”

My name is Tracy Labat, I work for MainStreet Mortgage, and we are here to help you with any of your real estate lending needs. MainStreet Mortgage is located in Westlake Village, CA. As a lender’s concierge we pride ourselves on helping clients’ establish strategies and provide direction when purchasing or refinancing a home. John Mallett is the owner of MainStreet Mortgage. His number one priority is to insure the best rate, superior service and an overall great experience for every client.

Business Computer Associates has been resolving technical issues for companies for the past 16 years. We strive to help businesses run more efficiently and help their employees be more productive. Our help desk services give employees a better understanding of what they can done with existing infrastructure, and we recommend solutions to simplify daily tasks. We have a proactive approach to IT support and look for potential issues before they become a problem and cause unnecessary downtime. Some of our services include ensuring company data is backed up and protected, setting up email and secure communications, implementing systems and procedures to better protect their network, and resolving employee technical issues quickly so they can continue with their work. We take care of the technical aspects of businesses so business owners can focus on growing their business and revenue.

Our November 18th Synergy meeting will feature a presentation from speakers Rondi Guthrie and Matt Trouts of Athens Services. Athens Services is a local, family-owned waste collection and recycling company that has been a fixture in the greater Los Angeles community for the past 60 years. Rondi Guthrie has been named Vice President of Government Affairs and will assume a newly created role responsible for managing Athens’ government, community, and civic outreach activities in Ventura County. Guthrie comes to Athens from Southern California Edison (SCE), where she held leadership roles in government relations. The company will begin exclusive waste collection and recycling service for Thousand Oaks on Jan. 1, 202

​Our October 21st Synergy meeting featured a presentation from speaker Jill Lublin. Lublin is an international speaker on the topics of Radical Influence, Publicity, Networking, Kindness and Referrals.  She is the author of 4 Best Selling books including Get Noticed...Get Referrals (McGraw Hill) and co-author of Guerrilla Publicity and Networking Magic.  Her latest book, Profit of Kindness went #1 in four categories. Jill is a master strategist on how to position your business for more profitability and more visibility in the marketplace.  She is CEO of a strategic consulting firm and has over 25 years experience working with over 100,000 people plus national and international media.  Jill teaches a virtual Publicity Crash Course and consults and speaks all over the world. She has spoken on many stages with luminaries such as Tony Robbins.

Our Sept 16th Synergy meeting featured a presentation with speaker Monica Tautkus from Ageless Life Design. Monica's presentation covered "Stem Cells Made Simple". Tautkus relays, "One great part of my job here at Ageless Life Design is the opportunity to educate on the healing power of stem cell therapy.  I know Stem Cells sound kinda like a "Star Wars, futuristic, out of reach except to the rich and famous" idea ~ but they're here, they're now and they're for everyone."

Jeannie Oertli, Director of Catering and Events with Tastes & Tales Hospitality, was spotlight sponsor Sept 2nd. Jeannie possesses twenty-five plus years of experience in sales, events, and catering, including eight of those years directing within The Marriott Hotels. Jeannie joined the Tastes & Tales Hospitality group in early 2020 and has gleaned a deep operational understanding of roles as director of catering and events. Her dedication to customer satisfaction and delivering genuine hospitality is experienced daily by guests seeking an ideal place to socialize, talk business, celebrate, and indulge.

If you have a lot of business cards and referrals, they are all useless if you do not follow up on them. By learning how to properly follow up with your referrals, you utilize your resources and are able to get future customers for your business. How do you learn correct and productive follow up strategies? On August 19th, Wanda Allen presentated “Follow Up Strategies That Will Get More Clients and Close More Sales".

Dien T. Le is driven by success. Even when the COVID pandemic started affecting businesses everywhere, he managed to help his team stay afloat and they ended up being one of the businesses that did not have to close down. They grew by adding 10 attorneys and more staff. They were able to “sustain three months working from home and then decided to come back into the office at their own comfort level". The Alvarez Firm is also expanding locations.

One issue that most businesses struggle with is how to stand out from their competitors. It is important to first be aware of who you are competing directly with. By understanding your competition, it makes it easier to come up with solutions as to how you will stand out. Our next presentation will be by Harriet Cohen from Training Solutions. She will teach you the simple techniques for being able to maneuver through the competition and be sustainable. This will be helpful for anyone who has a business and who wants to learn how to compete with the “big guys”.