Carie Shapiro's Blog

Leo Buscaglia was one of my all-time, favorite, motivational speakers.  Before his death, he was an accomplished author, USC professor, and dynamic lecturer whose televised programs were frequently seen on PBS.  One time, I heard him tell a story that really illustrated the personal choices we ma...

Whenever you let someone know you’re a real estate agent, what type of response do you get?  Almost always, the first response I get is “Residential or Commercial?”  Then, after the initial ice breaker, I frequently get this follow-up question:  “Do you know of any great deals out there?”  Now, c...

While watching the evening news last night, I listened to a report about a local, elderly woman who was scammed.  Big time.  Seriously scammed to the tune of a $15,000-kind-of-scam.  And, while I never like to hear about anyone getting scammed – I especially dislike hearing about it when the targ...

What’s the standing record for the most time it takes to reach 100,000 points on ActiveRain?  I’m not exactly sure.  Certainly, if I'm not in the running for top rank – at least I'm deserving of an honorable mention.  Back when I joined ActiveRain in October 2011, I felt quite confident it would ...

For what seemed like the gazzilionth time, I watched and listened to the pre-flight, safety briefing as I settled in aboard a flight recently.  We've all heard and seen these briefings before:  At some point, a flight attendant stands in the aisle and demonstrates the proper way to open and close...

Is this a phone call you dread getting from your parent?  Especially if you have an elderly parent, you’ve probably received at least one of these phone calls in your lifetime.  You know the one – it goes something like this: Mom:  Carie? Carie:  Hi Mom!  What’s going on? Mom:  Something terrible...

When I wrote my very first blog post back in October 2011, I had much to learn about the big, wide, wonderful world of blogging.  Well, I've come a long way since then and in fact, I just surpassed my 100th blog post milestone.  Recently, while glancing over my 100+ titles, I discovered a plethor...

Work can be slow at times.  When business starts feeling a bit lackluster, I discover innovative ways to improve and reinvent myself.  Attempt to potentially define unexplored, professional opportunities.  Perhaps even venture off into unchartered territories.  It shouldn't be too difficult to f...