Earlier in 2010, local builder Today’s Homes announced a mini revolution, an attempt to re-brand and re-invigorate the company by streamlining their building process, creating new floor plans with quality standard features, and committing to a higher level of customer service. After a few months working under the new mission statement, sales manager Scott Vaughan says surprised and satisfied customers are really noticing the changes.

“We’ve seen stronger sales out there since the unveiling of the new models. The traffic numbers have increased at least 50 percent at all of our locations with the overall excitement of the new floor plans we’ve unveiled,” says Vaughan, who wants “to create the best possible new home buying experience out there. I feel confident that we’re doing that, and we’re making some great improvements in our customer satisfaction rating, as well.”

Today’s Homes builds in several communities throughout the Pikes Peak region, including The Residence at Stratmoor near Interstate 25 and Academy Boulevard, in Banning Lewis Ranch near Woodmen and Marksheffel roads, and in Forest Meadows near Woodmen and Black Forest roads.

But Vaughan believes the luxury town home community of Dublin Terrace, located at Powers and Dublin boulevards.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 20, 2010 Home & Style.

Having starred in many Parade of Homes, earned many prestigious awards and passed from person to person through satisfied customers, the name Claude Comito carries weight in the Colorado Springs real estate community. Along with partner Larry Nichols, their company Nichols & Comito Custom Homes stands for quality in the high-end market.

But through a separate venture, Comito Building and Design, founded in September 2009 Comito wants to share the top-notch quality, impeccable taste and thoughtful design he’s know for with a wider audience.

“A lot of people like what we have done and what we have to offer, but what we hear a lot is, ‘We would love to use you guys and have you build our home, but we don’t know if we can afford you,’” says builder Claude Comito. With this new company, “We want to bring out that we’re as competitive as anyone. We’re offering great value — and have been along — but now we are smaller, leaner and meaner. We’re able to offer some great products at a lower cost.”

Comito Building and Design is a fully custom builder who can create any client’s dream home starting in the $600,000s, hopes to build 10 to 12 homes a year, and offers some remodeling and renovation work, as well.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 13, 2010 Home & Style.

A Hollywood Western couldn’t have crafted the scene better: a dry lake bed, cottonwood trees, a bonfire, and a wooden bandstand and dance floor, lit only by stars and chandeliers crafted from clear Mason jars. While certainly unusual, the outdoor space is an ideal venue for the first pubic concert at Chico Basin Ranch, whose mission is to reintroduce visitors to our state’s rich ranching history.

“We run a cow/cattle operation, which is how we make our living,” says ranch manager Duke Phillips, whose family has a 25-year lease on the 87,000-acre working ranch, owned by the Colorado State Land Board. “But in addition to the cattle, have a very large education program that sees between 1,500 to 2,500 kids out to the ranch annually. One of the problems we’ve encountered is, how do we pay for it?” he asks. “That’s how the (concert) idea was born, as a fundraiser to support education on the ranch.”

Headlining the band stand will be Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans, who play a toe-tapping blend of country and Western and rock and roll, and are on tour for their recent “Losin’ Lately Gambler” album.

“Corb Lund, he’s from a ranching community in Canada and his songs are about living and working on ranches,” says Phillips, who explains that creating a conversation about the importance of the land and the people working on it with urbanites is the concert’s goal.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 10, 2010 Gazette.

The commitment to a job done right doesn’t change with market conditions, but that strong commitment does demand that successful business professionals change their strategy, update their skills and roll with the punches. Such is the evolution of The Becky Gloriod Team, where they’re using their expertise to continue to sell high-end homes as well as expanding their skills to aid the growing number of distressed homeowners.

“We have always specialized in the high-end. In fact, we have sold the highest sales price, the most expensive home, in Colorado Springs this year,” says broker owner Becky Gloriod, referring to an Old North End home that recently sold for $1.594 million. “In 2009, we sold 14 percent of all the homes sold for more than $1 million in El Paso county.”

Such a portion out of thousands of local agents certainly distinguishes The Becky Gloriod Team at seven figures and above, but co-broker owner Jack Gloriod explains their skills aren’t that narrow.

“In the last decade, we’ve sold more houses than anyone else in town … We’ve had the total highest volume throughout El Paso county in the last 10 years cumulatively,” he says.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the June 6, 2010 Home & Style.

Being one of the most desirable areas in town with its great views, great schools and great outdoors you might think it hard to find a great home in Southwestern Colorado Springs, let alone a great new-construction home. But tucked into a hillside behind Bear Creek Regional Park, developers are building Broadview Terraces, a gated community that offers the best of the Southwest at an affordable price.

“The property is roughly 16 acres in total, and it goes all the way down the hill,says Jon Schlichting, one of the community’s managing partners. 典he topography going down the hill allows the majority of our homes to take advantage of views of Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, views that even our competitors down the street can’t offer and that definitely distinguish us from other developments.”

Broadview Terraces will eventually offer 85 home sites, 26 of which are available in the Phase 1, currently in progress. With their semi-custom single-family patio homes, the developers’ focus is on creating a low-maintenance lifestyle without sacrificing an ounce of quality or livability.

“We’re looking at the move down buyer, someone maybe moving from Broadmoor or Skyway,says RE/MAX Advantage Realty broker Darrell Wass, who is exclusively marketing the community. Those owners who had a nice home and they want something low maintenance so they can travel, but that’s still big enough for their lifestyle.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 23, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

Have you heard the one about the guy who leaves the corporate world to buy a comedy club?

No joke. It happened to Pat Hawkinson, who took over Loonees Comedy Corner in December, after more than 25 years working in corporate training.

“We wanted to try to turn it into a family business, albeit a strange one,” says Hawkinson, whose son had worked at the club for several years. “It’s a place where everyone who comes here wants to be here. Most people are happy when they come in and happier when they go.”

Hawkinson follows in the footsteps of Larry Lee, who had 25 years working for Pearl Vision before taking charge of Loonees, which he owned for 15 years.
“It’s really a change,” Lee says. “You have a day job and suddenly you start getting home at 2 in the morning, after being used to going to bed after the news was over.”

Before Lee, the club belonged to comedian (and one-time mayoral candidate) Jeff Valdez. In fact, when it opened in 1984 on Union Boulevard, it was called Jeff Valdez Comedy Corner. Five years later, the club moved to its current location at 1305 N. Academy Boulevard and was later rechristened Laff’s Comedy Corner by Lee.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this story, which published in The Gazette on May 11, 2010.

In many careers, emotions and personal thoughts are pushed out of the equation in the quest for professionalism and neutrality. But the University of the Rockies, a graduate-level institution focusing on various branches of psychology, knows that the most rewarding careers are instead those that tackle emotions and personal issues head on, jobs whose purpose is to improve another person’s quality of life.

The professionals helping others face-to-face in the field are those in clinical psychology, says Dr. David Solly, dean of the University of the Rockies School of Professional Psychology.

“That branch of psychology is the area that works with individuals who have fairly severe adjustment or emotional issues, who need someone to do some personal counseling or therapy to learn how to copy with the stressors in life,he explains. 鏑ife is not easy, and we like to believe that clinical psychology can help make life a little easier by helping people cope with it… (and) it’s rewarding emotionally and personally to know you’re had an impact in someone’s life in that way.”

Students drawn toward a career in clinical psychology are people who are genuinely interested in the welfare and happiness of others, and students are drawn toward the University of the Rockies to pursue their studies because of the school’s specialization in the field and also because of their academic philosophy.

“One of the great advantages of our program in clinical psychology is that instead of being PhD program, its’a PsyD, a doctorate of psychology,says Solly, who adds that while the former is a more academic or research-oriented degree, the PsyD is focused on in-the-field practice. In other words, the university focused on creating scholar-practitioners rather than scholar-scientists.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 9, 2010 Springs Jobs.

The 20-something crowd that pours into the Rum Bay complex on weekend evenings has made it the hottest night spot in town.

The business model clearly works.

But, of course, there’s a rowdy, messy downside to a business built on alcohol and younger clients. The popular downtown nightclub has scuffled with the city liquor board for various violations, and the number of police calls to the club is among the highest in the city.
But recent remodeling and improvement efforts show Rum Bay marketing toward a more mature, upscale and mellow crowd.

“We have 25 types of wine, 60 types of vodka, 12 scotches,” says general manager Chuck Schafer, who owns Rum Bay and its adjacent series of clubs with partners Kathy and Sam Guadagnoli, hosting a tour of the recently remodeled and reopened The Red Martini. “We’re going after that sophisticated crowd.”

Although situated near Rum Bay and partner clubs Blondie’s Ultra Lounge and Gasoline Alley on North Tejon Street, The Red Martini, at 20 N. Tejon St., is physically unconnected to Schafer and the Guadagnolis’ other clubs.

The more-upscale establishment cultivates a piano bar atmosphere, with plush chairs, low lounge tables and an imposing wood bar. Accessories such as mirrors, paintings and bookshelves add vintage charm, while sleek leather benches, a giant red-and-black lamp and a fire pit sit on the new outdoor patio area.

Schafer calls the style of The Red Martini classy, elegant and laid back and thinks the club’s live pianists will be a big draw.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this story, which published in The Gazette on May 8, 2010.

If necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, savvy and dedicated professionals often rise to the occasion in tough times, revolutionizing the way an industry does business. Such was the motivation of passionate agents at five RE/MAX offices all over the state, who banded together to introduce Colorado to way of connecting buyers and sellers, via auction.

“It’s been working across the country and the numbers are staggering, how many homes in 2009 sold through auction, but it hasn’t yet been in this area,” says Joe Clement, broker/owner of RE/MAX Properties, Inc., the auction’s Pikes Peak area participating office. “You see foreclosure auctions every now and then, but nothing like this, with a large variety of quality properties. Other RE/MAX offices around the country have had success with it, so we thought it was a great time to introduce the idea here, too.”

Clement stresses that, certainly, auctions for distressed properties have become more common, but this event is a completely different affair. It’s a reserve auction – meaning that properties have a minimum price – of highly motivated buyers who simply want to sell, quick and simply.

“We had a nominating committee that each property had to go through at each office before they were accepted into the auction, and we had certain criteria of quality,” he explains. “We wanted good properties and we wanted properties where the reserve price was attractive, better than what you might get on the house in a regular transaction scenario.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the April 4, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

In 1957, starting with 30 members and $602 in deposits, Ent Federal Credit Union may have had humble beginnings. But with its humble, conservative and dependable attitude, the credit union has grown into one’s of the Pikes Peak region’s greatest assets, a cooperative owned by the community, here to serve the community.

“Ent is the largest locally based financial institution in Colorado Springs,” says vice president of mortgage lending Jon Paukovich, who notes that in 2010, Ent now has 27 service centers, 197,000 members and more than $3 billion in assets.

“We have been engaged in mortgage lending for about 25 years, and we service almost 9,000 first mortgages with a value exceeding $1.2 billion,” Paukovich continues. “As a credit union, we are owned by our members and we’re a non profit cooperative. Any one member of the credit union has an equal share in the ownership of the credit union, and since the majority of our members are here in El Paso County, our owners are all around us.”

It’s a feeling of being in business together, employees with members, and that culture of community is directly reflected in the credit union’s business model: Instead of investment-driven shareholders reaping the profits of the operation, all profits are funneled back into the cooperative, directly benefiting member owners.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March 28, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

Phenomenal down-market success paints even brighter future
By Kate Jonuska

The real estate market has struggled under a cloud the last few years, and yet with the right combination of quality product, ideal price and customer service, Aspen View Homes has proven that a bad economy can’t keep a good builder down – or from continuing upwards with incredible success, for that matter.

“From 2008 to 2009, we grew 35 percent, and then we’re projecting to grow between 80 and 100 percent from 2009 to 2010,” says Aspen View’s division manager Bruce Martin. “The first six months of 2010, we’re probably going to triple our closings from last year to this year.”

Currently active in three communities, Aspen View is more than 90 percent sold in Country Side North and 60 percent sold in Freedom Heights, both near Fort Carson. Near the Black Forest in their Forest Meadows neighborhood, building is entering its third phase of development, offering 60-foot spacious frontages, mountain views, park-adjacent lots and walking trails.

“Our success has really improved our ability to offer great customer service. We’ve been able to hire more people to stay on top of the building process and follow our customers through the process of signing the contract all the way to handing them their keys,” says Martin. With more resources to devote to buyers, he knows their impressive customer satisfaction figures in the 90th percentile and the 30 percent of customers who are personal referrals will only increase.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March 7, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

In 1984, one woman with a passion for helping people find work took out a loan to start a locally owned and operated staffing agency. Twenty five years later, ADD STAFF founder and president Cari Shaffer is rightfully proud of and excited by the independent company’s success.

“We’ve employed more than 38,500 individuals since 1984,” says Shaffer, who started with mainly accounting and administrative staffing, and then expanded into technical, executive and direct hire arenas – recently introducing allied medical staffing, as well. “When we made it to five years, we were elated of course, but I was sure not to rest on those laurels … Turning 25 made me think it’s been such a quick 25 years. It’s a fast ride, but it’s been so much fun.”

Along with a team of dedicated, mostly long-term employees, Shaffer has built ADD STAFF into the best locally based, independent staffing agency in Colorado Springs by focusing on creating relationships and serving the needs of both hiring companies and job seekers, considering both to be clients deserving of top notch treatment.

“We effect a huge piece of a person’s life, because you spend so much time at work,” she explains. “On the other side of the coin, companies also spend a lot of time with their employees, who can be truly negative or positive to their business. So if you can place an employee with an organization where they fit happily, they bring so much to the table.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this story, which published in the Feb. 28, 2010 Spring Jobs.

Career dissatisfaction often stems from a feeling that something is missing, whether that’s time, self expression, financial reward or personal fulfillment. The beauty of pursuing a continuing education in a helping field such as counseling is that you might not only find and fix the source of your own unhappiness, you’re also equipped to try to improve the lives of others, which might ultimately be the larger reward.

“I’ve never done anything as fulfilling as counseling in my life,” says JoLynne Reynolds, assistant dean of the School of Education and Counseling, a division of Regis University’s School of Professional Studies. “There’s a sense that you’re honoring the humaness in all of us, meeting people where they are and not judging them, but helping them examine their lives and find ways to be more happy and fulfilled.”

Offering masters of arts degrees in counseling (which leads to becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor) as well as marriage and family therapy (designed for aspiring Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists), Regis finds that many students are drawn toward counseling’s physical benefits. The median salary is $45,000 to $50,000, for instance, and the Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts employment of mental health counselors will grow by 30 percent through 2016.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Feb. 21, 2010 Springs Jobs.

After three albums underneath Christian music giant Sparrow records, followed by three albums with Columbia Records/Sony BMG, alternative rock band Switchfoot abandoned solid corporate ground to found their own label, lowercase people records. Judging from the burst of creativity that followed, the gutsy move was exactly the catalyst Switchfoot needed to move forward.

“It feels like a new chapter for us. It’s like starting the band over again,” says Tim Foreman, bass guitar and vocals, noting that the band produced four albums worth of material during that period of inspiration. “It really led to a prolific time of exploring what is possible for Switchfoot to do, of exploring our boundaries.”

The first fruits of this inspired new material emerged in November 2009 with the release of “Hello Hurricane,” with others sure to follow. Foreman says the title speaks to the individual and collective storms Switchfoot has weathered over the years, “that we can’t predict when these storms will occur or what they will destroy, but we can decide how we respond to them. We want to be singing into the storm and not running away.”

It’s a positive message that no matter how the group evolves, Switchfoot fans will recognize: The band has a long history with the Christian music scene and doesn’t shy away from speaking of their personal Christian faith.

“For us, it feels very natural to include faith in our music. Our songs aren’t afraid to tackle big issues or say we don’t have it all figured out,” says Foreman, who believes that faith and art are inseparable. “You can go places in a song you can’t go in a conversation. In a song, everything is fair game.”

Even so, the band eschews the label of “Christian rock,” explaining that Christianity is a faith rather than a genre.

“That label is a marketing question of where people rack the CDs. Our music belongs in bigger pond than that,” says Foreman. “As a band we’ve tried to stay outside a specific scene and make music that appeals to everyone, that doesn’t isolate people in boxes.”

Instead of singing only to one group or type of people, instead Switchfoot instead focuses on singing their hearts out, putting all their passion into making each live show unique, a strategy for which “Hello Hurricane” is ideally suited.

“This is an album where we were really focused on how it would translate live, and therefore it’s probably our favorite album to play live,” says Foreman. “Right now we have a renewed excitement for making music. It’s a great time to be a band, and we’re really thankful that we get to do this every night.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the GO! section of The Gazette on Feb. 19, 2010.

Apparently, the people over at Guinness World Records take the playing of imaginary instruments quite seriously, or so found the Air Force Academy Athletics department as they planned their most recent and rather wacky promotion: Rock for the Cure, an attempt to break the world record for largest air guitar ensemble during half time of the Air Force Women’s Basketball game against New Mexico on Feb. 20.

“The record is 1,436 held by a university in Canada,” says athletic marketing assistant and event organizer Matt Swearingen, who says the Falcon Athletic Center’s capacity exceeds 5,000. “We’d love to pack the place, just blow the roof off the building and crush the record, so we can be sure we’ll hold it for a long time. We’ve got to get (the record) back to the United States.”

The world-record attempt was conceived as a way of boosting attendance at the Feb. 20 game, which the AFA has dedicated to breast cancer awareness, providing information about early detection and cancer support organizations and offering free admission to all comers clothed in pink. The female-friendly theme seems fitting seeing that Feb. 20 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and AFA coaches are hosting a free clinic for female athletes in eighth grade and younger before the game.

“There’s so much going on in people’s lives that’s serious, so you need to take some time to be a little goofy and get out there with your friends,” says Swearingen. “We thought anybody could lay down a riff on the air guitar.”

Turns out that everybody can play, but not just anyone can take home the record. Guinness World Records has strict guidelines for hopeful air guitar ensembles, including that each participant must sign a ledger – witnessed by two people – and the group must be led by an air guitar expert, someone with experience in recognized air guitar competitions.

In addition, the group must play their invisible guitars in unison for at least three official air guitar moves. Yes, there are official moves, such as The Who’s windmill and AC/DC’s Angus Young duck walk.

“There’s all kinds of documentation, 15 pages of guidelines we need to follow,” says Swearingen. “It’s kind of a big deal if you’re going to be in the record book next to the woman with 8-foot-long fingernails or the world’s the tallest guy. You have to earn it.”

Anyone interesting in participating can log on to Air Force Athletic’s Facebook page (search “Go Air Force Falcons”) to choose the perfect song to pretend to play to. Wear pink for free admission, or log on to www.goairforcefalcons.com to purchase tickets. As for potential expert leaders, the choice is still up in the air and Air Force athletics would love to hear from any experienced air guitarists in the Pikes Peak Region ready to help bring the record home.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in The Gazette on Feb. 19, 2010.

Reorganizing your resume, practicing your interview skills and polishing your professional appearance are all vital ways of marketing yourself for a new position or new promotion, but those with true ambition and drive realize that often education and only education can get your foot in the door of your dream office.

“In an intellectual society like ours and a service economy like ours, education becomes a huge benefit to those that have it and a detriment to those that don’t,” says Dr. Ernest Price, provost of the University of the Rockies, a psychology-focused graduate school based in Colorado Springs. “Less than 30 percent of Americans have any degree at all – and that’s a big number – but that means 70 percent don’t. Once you get down to masters and doctoral numbers, which are the programs we offer, it becomes less than 2 percent.”

Among that 2 percent of graduate degrees, Price believes one of the most valuable across many fields is the study of organizational leadership, which is a great extension of the university’s specialization in psychology.

“It’s a great adjunct to the clinical (psychology) program, which is concerned with the ways individuals act and think,” he explains. “But organizational leadership lends itself to those that want to focus within organizations, looking into the minds and behavior of people as a group. It’s analyzes why people and therefore why organizations behave as they do, and then gives you the ability to guide that organization toward its goals.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Feb. 14, 2010 Springs Jobs.

When it becomes clear that you want to build your next home, the first choice you’re forced to make is between national and custom builders, as if they’re two diametrically opposed sides of a scale. On one side lies choice and personalization, while cost and convenience weigh heavily on the opposite. But with a unique method of operation, honed over decades of building experience,

G.J. Gardner Homes had found a way to bridge the gap, offering completely customizable homes in an efficient and cost-effective manner – astonishingly cost effective, starting in the high $100,000s.

“We bring all the good things about an international builder to the table, things like proven systems, scheduling, buying power,” says Brook Swientisky, who directs G.J. Gardner’s Colorado operations, explaining that each office of the international company is a local franchise. “There are a lot of efficiencies builders like us have, but then we partner up with local builders, growing locally owned and operated businesses, too.”

When the Colorado Springs G.J. Gardner opened almost two years ago, it was 25-year veteran of custom building in El Paso County Dennis Wheets who took the helm, along with his wife and family.

“In the last two years, I still haven’t built the same house twice, not even close,” says Wheets, who teamed up with the company because “they built their reputation on custom building, and that is what I was doing in my work, so it’s a really good partnership. The G.J. Gardner systems that they have in place have helped me tremendously with things like scheduling, supervising, advertising, but I don’t have to change anything about the quality of service I offer.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the the Feb. 7, 2010 Home & Style.

Many of the properties that grace the cover of Springs Houses are lavish, upscale homes because, honestly, they’re pretty fun to read and dream about, but in addition to luxurious amenities, such homes come attached to high-end price tags. Therefore, this week’s featured property is a breath of fresh air, an adorable and attainable 1950s rancher in Skyway that’s sure to awaken the real estate dreams of families with limited resources but big plans.

“Skyway is one of my favorite neighborhoods. Many young families are discovering the area, moving into the classic ranchers and revamping them,” says Eric Scott of the Stuart Scott Limited Group at ERA Shields, who lists the three-bedroom, three-bath rancher for $273,500. “To get into (School) District 12 and the Skyway neighborhood at this price point – especially in a single-family home in a mature neighborhood – is a great opportunity. District 12 has won numerous awards and it’s had the highest CSAP scores in the state since 2006.”

With its brick exterior and bright white shutters, the home charms from the outset. Surprisingly open plan for a home built in 1956, the original hardwood floors lead through a living room with a bay window and a refinished natural stone fireplace into the dining area. Completing the circle is the kitchen, which offers black and stainless steel appliances, including a flat-top range.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Feb. 6, 2010 Springs Houses.

In real estate, you usually begin describing a home at the front, because obviously that’s where you begin to experience it. This week’s featured property, however, is best done in reverse, starting just past the backyard fence with the lovely mountain view.

“The best feature, of course, is the the view. Pikes Peak, Mount Herman, the Air Force Academy, it’s all there, and the air shows looks fabulous from here,” says Kathryn Newman of The Platinum Group Realtors, who lists the six-bedroom, four-bath home for $454,670. “The home was really built around the views,” she continues. “I often tell clients to come here in the evening to watch the sunset from here. It’s pretty stunning.”

Such thoughtful planning is certainly why the view is best enjoyed from the heart of the home, a great room with a combined bayed informal eating area, the kitchen and a soaring two-story living room. The latter includes a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows, a gas fireplace, built-ins, and several art niches and shelves. The kitchen appliances have been recently upgraded to stainless steel, adding to features such as a five-burner flat-top range, cherry cabinets and custom tile counter tops with a leather-like finish.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 30, 2010 Springs Houses.

Every career requires you to become an expert in something, whether that specialty is working with people, sales, research, design or predicting the stock market. But the trained and talented professionals at career-management firm GCM Lincolnshire Arbora specialize in careers themselves, other peoples’ careers and how to improve them.

“Most people have never been taught what to do to maximize their careers to where they want to be. They basically let the company take care of it or let chance take care of it,” says GCM CEO Mark Renn. “What we do is empower people to move in the direction they want. That can mean getting a certain position, but it can also mean getting to another level or moving laterally. We do everything from career transitioning to maximizing their position in the industry they’re already in.”

GCM’s certified career counselors are more than head hunters, more than human resource professionals. Instead, much like actors and athletes have agents, a career manager is the person in your corner, representing your best interests. By charting your career path, they’re able to pin down your passions and talents, maximize your marketability, find the best opportunities and even negotiate terms to your best advantage.

“In today’s world, we find everyone is doing a job search incorrectly in different ways, in some way. We have a very strong, quality process that makes things happen for our clients,” explains Renn, who says GCM’s clients are getting jobs very quickly despite a slower job market. “People should really check into our services to see if it’s right fit for them, because frankly, if we can shorten that job search even one month or two – and they will with us – that’s a tremendous amount of money to recoup.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 24, 2010 Springs Jobs.

They chose the neighborhood. They chose the site on the Kings Deer Golf Course. Along with their builder, they made careful choices about every detail, from the counter tops and baseboard to the flow of the floor plan and the landscaping materials. In other words, the sellers of this week’s featured property spent time and resources to create the perfect permanent home after a lifetime of travel, and now that they’ve found they cannot stay, another family is sure to find their own dream home there, turn-key ready and beautiful.

“Of homes at a comparable price point, this home has hands-down the best floor-to-ceiling quality because everything was upgraded,” says Dean Weissman of The Platinum Group, Realtors, who lists the four-bedroom, four-bath home for $849,000. “It’s a house that is very well designed to be functional and stylish, elegant and comfortable. You don’t have to dress up in order to come home.”

Located off Roller Coaster Road near Monument, homes in this area of Kings Deer perch atop rolling hills, each with their several-acre estates, this one surrounded by lovely yet low-maintenance rock beds, pines and grass. The stucco-and-stone exterior offers an oversized front door with stone columns, which opens to a massive great room that makes up most of the main level.

“Because we are elevated, we have a commanding view. That’s one of the reasons we selected this lot,” says the seller, walking the wide-plank hardwood floors up to the wall of windows. Sure enough, the mountains and golf course sit front and center. Not a small segment of the golf course either, but a swath that at this time of year resembles part of a ski slope meandering past. “We have privacy without the feeling of isolation,” he adds.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 23, 2010 Springs Houses.

In any circumstances, this week’s featured home would be a crowd pleaser: a remodeled four-bedroom, four-bath rancher located on the 16th hole of the Country Club of Colorado’s scenic golf course. But when economic forces align just right and the deal is sweetened with membership to the country club with purchase, homeowners are sure to be awed by the level of luxury that lies within their reach.

“It’s fabulous in that it includes many of the features that we usually see in multi million dollar houses,” says Stuart Scott of Stuart Scott Limited and ERA Shields, who lists the home for $680,000. He cites the throughly modern and stylish gourmet kitchen, three wet bars, a theater room with equipment included and, he says, “added to the purchase is the inclusion of a membership to the Country Club of Colorado. It’s a really astounding facility, the best in Colorado Springs, I think, because of its beautiful lake.”

It’s difficult not to notice the lush greens and lake from the first step into the 4,810-square-foot home, which opens into an expansive great room with a peaked ceiling, ending in a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows. An elegant chandelier, the first wet bar and a toasty fireplace invite you in, and the hardwood continues into the open kitchen and dining room.

“If you’re lucky enough to have a view, you should try to walk right into it from the beginning. So few achieve that goal, but this one just strikes you with it,” says Scott. Stepping onto the partially covered deck, which stretches the length of the home, he observes that golfers are teeing away from the home, allowing all of the beauty of golf course living with none of the danger or damage.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 16, 2010 Springs Houses.

There are homeowners who are content to leave all the decisions in someone else’s hands, choosing a prebuilt product off the rack then molding their lives to fit into that box. But then there are UBuildIt clients, owners who settle for nothing, actively grabbing the wheel of choice to drive themselves toward the home of their dreams – and keep their wallets fatter in the process.

“In my years of building custom homes, I’ve come across a lot of people that I felt could have built their own home, people who take an intense and direct interest in what we were doing as builders and contractors,” says Claude Comito, who owns UBuildIt Colorado Springs along with daughter Lauren  Perrault. For 27 years, he’s been a part of Nichols and Comito Custom Homes, and he also heads Comito Building and Design and dabbles in land development. While he’s giving up none of those passions, Comito feels this unique build-it-yourself enterprise fills a necessary real estate niche.

“There was a need where people could with support and guidance get the same results a high quality custom builder could, and yet have total control over the process and save quite a bit of money,” he explains. “UBuildIt is not for everybody, but on the other hand, we’ve found that anybody who expresses an interest in and desire to build their own home, and there are a lot of them, find this very appealing.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 10, 2010 Springs Home & Style.

Visiting the Broadmoor area feels like entering a slice of the Old World, with its roundabouts, manicured grounds and striking architecture, including the signature silhouette of the hotel itself. While the Broadmoor and its environs often seem to be reserved for the resort’s guests, the ambiance and amenities of the area are available right from the doorstep of this week’s featured property, a charming yet chic townhome built in the East Coast brownstone style.

“It has the Old World charm of the classic Northeast brownstone combined with the finest of modern day amenities,” says Keith Hayes of the Becky Gloriod Team at Prudential Realtors, who lists the two-bedroom, four-bath home for $1.65 million. “The most unique thing is the location. To have new construction in flatlands Old Broadmoor is a good find and then there’s the proximity to the hotel itself,” which is only a block away.

The melding of the classic and contemporary is visible as you cross the threshold, moving from the imposing concrete steps and tall, narrow stucco-and-stone exterior into a sweeping great room with 12-foot ceilings. Wide plank Hickory floors spill into the elegant space, which offers a bay window balcony, a stone fireplace and elegant architectural columns, part of the high-end woodwork and molding throughout the 4.455-square-foot floor plan.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 9, 2010 Springs Houses.

The 2.18-acre lot once boasted a tennis court and a swimming pool. The dining room has played host to generations of notables who built this city. And yet today, it’s walls could be the perfect cozy nest for a family used to every luxury. This week’s featured Broadmoor area gem, listed at $2 million by Stuart Scott of Stuart Scott Limited and ERA Shields, strikes an ideal balance between esteemed history and modern amenities to create a home that both fascinates and functions.

Scott has become an expert in the history of the home, built in 1949 by Phillip G. Cole. “ I’ve never seen architecture quite like this before,” he says, noting that it was designed with the the owner’s art collection in mind with ample light and display walls. “It’s rather gallery-like, with very high ceilings for the time.”

The home later hosted the commanding generals of NORAD who, as members of the elite social milieu of the day, entertained regularly. Subsequent owners – including at least one artist – left creative marks and improved.

Many original touches shine in the formal living room, a vaulted space with a massive wood-beamed ceiling, wide-panel wood floors and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace of natural stone. A wall of doors peek out at the sweeping yard, while another wall of windows stream with sunshine. An adorable and functional butler’s pantry/miniature kitchen is accessed by an almost hidden panel door.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 2, 2010 Springs Houses.

With bell ringers outside every market and charity drives in full swing, this holiday season turns the mind toward giving and helping the less fortunate. However, broker associate Courtney Gilmore of Avalar Real Estate Solutions, having dedicated herself to giving back to the community that supports her success, has devised a unique way to contribute to charitable causes year round, by making giving a part of any real estate transaction.

“As long as I’ve done this, the real estate community is close knit and so many people that I know are paying it forward in their own ways. They’re a pretty giving community,” says Gilmore, who has worked in real estate for more than 12 years. “(But) I don’t know any real estate broker that is giving back to the community straight from their commission, a concerted effort like that.”

Gilmore’s giving campaign, which began rolling this year and she hopes will only grow in 2010, comes to fruition at the closing table, where a check gets cut from her commission to one of three organizations about which she feels passionately. A client, whether buyer or seller, simply needs to state that they, too, are associated with or were referred by one of the organizations she supports.

The groups are what Gilmore calls a “tripod of causes: my college, UCCS, which was a huge part of my life; my son’s school, and contributing toward the people who provide his education; and the third one was my always my passion, sports and volleyball, which I played my whole life,” she says. In other words, she’s giving back to the three things she sees as improving her life: education, parenthood and sport. “Usually when you contribute, you contribute to what you’re passion about, and those three things really define me.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Dec. 27, 2009 Springs Home & Style.

It’s not enough to be a good employer, according to PRC: Global Contact Management Solutions, though they certainly have proven themselves to be that over the course of the Colorado Springs strategic outlet’s three-year existence. In honor of that important anniversary, therefore, the location has taken on new site leadership and unveiled an ambitious new plan of community outreach, both in an effort to continue their success and improve the community that allows that success.

“It’s good business sense to be a good community citizen,” says PRC general manager Paul deBerjeois, part of PRC’s fresh new leadership team. “The stronger Colorado Springs and El Paso County are, it comes back to help all of us, and a stronger community means that we’re in a better position to serve our customers.”

PRC is one of the largest outsourcers of customer service and sales in the U.S. and boasts several Fortune 500 clients, explains Michael Replogle, vice president of operations, who joined the PRC team because of that diverse client base and the 25-year-plus history of the national company. But his driving goal – one of his specialties – is corporate and employee volunteerism.

“We want to show in 2010  that we’re not just committed to the community in terms of providing jobs, but also want to be involved with community outreach, involved with red-flag causes like at-risk youth, homelessness, supporting the military and their concerns,” he says. To meet that goal, PRC is dedicating each month of the next year to a different cause or organization.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Dec. 27, 2009 Springs Jobs.

‘Tis the season for peace on earth and goodwill toward men, but that attitude isn’t seasonal at Goodwill Staffing, a division of Goodwill Industries that provides professional staffing services to local businesses, furthering Goodwill’s mission of spreading self-sufficiency.

“We can say that nobody is in the staffing industry for the same reasons we are. We’re the only non-profit in the area,” says Steve Tooke, assistant director of Goodwill staffing. Tooke has been with Goodwill Industries for 20 years and with Goodwill Staffing since its inception 11 years ago. “That’s not to say that we provide services for free – our fees are competitive – but that’s not the reason we’re in business, to make money.”

Certainly, Goodwill Staffing provides all the quality services of any for-profit staffing agency, including recruitment of employees, background checks, drug screening, skill testing and more. But the heart of the business is to help the economically disadvantaged become self-sufficient by connecting them with work, the surest way to improve their quality of life. Once employees and overhead are paid, all profits funnel back into other Goodwill programs right here in the Pikes Peak region.

“We really run this as a business. It’s not a program that’s just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do,” says Tooke, explaining that many clients are surprised that the agency works with able-bodied job candidates with a wide range of backgrounds, education and experience. “Once they realize the professionalism of the office is comparable to the best out there, it’s an added value that we’re also benefiting the community with what we’re doing.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Dec. 20, 2009 Springs Jobs.

Kia fans who were keeping an eye out for the 2010 Sorento SUV might have been disappointed when a version of the popular five-passenger SUV failed to appear. But when the new 2011 models roll out in January, the extra time and attention Kia took when they skipped a Sorento model year are sure to impress and excite.

“We skipped the 2010 model completely, so it’s been completely redesigned,” says Greg Horton, sales manager at Dave Solon Kia of Chapel Hills, 1560 Auto Mall Loop. “It’s completely different. It’s more of a sleek design, more aerodynamic and really clean good look.”

Certainly, the exterior with its striking front fascia and bold lines will turn heads, but the real change is a rather a shift in concept: from same-ole five-passenger SUV into five- to seven-passenger SUV/crossover. Kia increased the interior volume of the Sorento by about 15 percent, allowing for a third row of passenger seats to seat seven and also a massive 72.5 feet of cargo space with both passenger rows folded flat.

“The third row is good room for kids or even a full size adult, or with the last seats down, there’s such great storage,” says Horton. “It competes really well with the Honda Veracruz. We still have the Borrego, which is a seven-passenger (that’s) larger than this, but you’re looking at a price jump there. Now we can target that customer that doesn’t want to spend Borrego money but wants Borrego luxury.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Dec. 19, 2009 Springs Wheels.

Tickle Me Elmos, video games, gift cards, batteries not included: The holiday season of today is hardly recognizable to generations before. We reminisced with visitors at the Colorado Springs Senior Center about Christmases past, what has changed, what will never change and their favorite childhood memories.

Maynard “Bud” Gallentine, age 90, five generations give him great-great-grandchildren

What kind of activities did you do when off school for the holidays?
Especially on the farm, because in the morning and in the afternoon you’d have chores, you’d only have a small window in the middle of the day … We used to find places where the snow melted and then froze and go skating. Then it would melt again and the kids would get soaking wet. We played basketball in the winter time. The cold didn’t stop activities on the farm, or anybody for that matter. We just piled on clothes. We didn’t think we had to be fashionable.

Did your family have a tree at home?
My grandfather had some evergreens, and you cut your own. It might only have been the top of the tree or even a limb. Nobody bought trees in those days. You had to know someone who had them. In those days, we never had electricity. We strung popcorn at school and then made garlands. That’s what you decorated your tree with.

Do you remember any of your favorite presents?
When I was 12, I got a shot gun. Of course, we lived on the farm. I got an erector set, too. It came with an electric motor by we didn’t have electricity, so we got a little crank to make it work.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the December 2009 Pikes Peak Parent magazine.

Anyone who loved ListenUp in downtown Colorado Springs for its quality, value and excellent customer service will rejoice at the news that as of this weekend, there’s even more to love: The shop known for providing the best sight and sound technology in the area has doubled in size by moving into it’s new location on Woodmen Road, one block east of Interstate 25.

“It is our largest store now,” says branch manager David Huddleston, who explains that ListenUp has been in business in Colorado for 38 years and in the Springs for more than 20. “It’s very exciting. Being able to expose everybody in Colorado Springs to the best in technology, now with even more services to offer, we feel privileged to be able to do that.”

Instead of buying electronics from a cold showroom floor, where they’re hard sold by an inexperienced salesperson, ListenUp is committed to offering selection, value, expertise and incredible hands-on experiences, allowing people to see, hear and compare almost any product in the store. Customers can test run more than 20 sets of headphones, gawk at walls of dozens of flat-screen televisions or visit the store’s six demonstration rooms.

“You can look at technology in a real world, home-like environment,” says Huddleston of the demo rooms, which include fully furnished rooms focused on hi-fi audio experiences, high definition video comparisons and even video game play.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published Nov. 22, 2009 in Springs Home & Style.

After owning and operating as a Metro Brokers office for almost 30 years, Marlenna Davidson and her partners didn’t disappear into the sunset when they parted ways with the franchise two years ago. Instead, they’re proud to stand behind independent, family-owned and -operated Davidson Properties.

“After being in the business for 28 years at that point, a lot of people thought I retired, but we’re still here,” says Marlenna Davidson, who operates the company along with husband Ivan Davidson and vice president Mary Biga.  “And we’ve really expanded to become a one-stop shop.”

“We have three distinctive operations now,” Ivan adds. “Buying and selling of homes, then we have the property management company, then we have the mortgage business. They all just mesh so well together.”

That three-pronged approach means Davidson Properties can find your first rental, help you buy your first home, sell that home to buy a second, and then even take care of renting your first home as an investment property to another family just beginning the cycle ― not to mention connecting you with the right financing and mortgages along the way.

“We can go where anybody need us to right now. We’re a team that can handle any real estate need,” says Marlenna, explaining that these complementary skill sets allow the company to be flexible and  thrive ― and help their homeowners thrive ― in any market.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Nov. 15, 2009 Home & Style.

Earlier this week, the 2009 Homeland Defense, Homeland Security Symposium met at the Broadmoor, where more than 600 security experts communicated about the safety of our country. According to a survey of almost 200 professionals in the industry released at the event, they’re truly concerned about what the future may hold.

“Seventy five percent think it’s likely the US will face a terrorist attack of 9/11’s magnitude in the next five years,” says Dr. Luis Velez, vice president of education at Colorado Technical University, the symposium’s gold sponsor. “One of the biggest points was that 72 percent of people surveyed felt that more education in the topic would be beneficial, straight across the board. The more we’re educated about homeland security, the better off we’ll all be.”

Looking into what lies ahead for our country, Colorado Technical University agrees that the path to safety for everyone lies in training qualified professionals to fill positions in the new and expanding realm of homeland security. To that end, they introduced both masters and graduate degrees in the field in July and currently have students enrolled in classes such as Dynamics of Terrorism, Vulnerability Analysis and Protection and Psychology of Fear Management.

“There is a sense of uneasiness, a sense of wanting to be prepared. Homeland security really means protection of ourselves, our children, our way of life,” says Velez, who notes how much the world has changed since September 11. “It’s a field that you feel you’re accomplishing something, something for the benefit of your fellow neighbors, your family, your community.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Nov. 15, 2009 Springs Jobs.

The kids had earned a moment to sit on the bench. But most seemed more content to dance around it and show it off. This, after all is their masterpiece, the ArtBench, a mosaic bench of concrete and tile that Manitou Elementary School fifth graders spent about six weeks to build.

The kids and artists at Concrete Couch, a non-profit passionate about engaging the community to create public art, unveiled the bench at a party Thursday afternoon.

“We don’t really work with concrete or drills in our normal art class. We just draw and work with clay, so this is really fun,” says Brooke West, 10, who received a T-shirt award for attending every work session. “I just loved doing it.”

At the unveiling, the kids jammed out with the Concrete Couch Jam Band, composed mostly of high school musicians, and then explained to the crowd the process of making the bench: creating the tiles, maneuvering concrete-filled wheelbarrows, mortaring and grouting and smoothing.

“Kids get so excited to do this,” says Steve Wood, director of Concrete Couch. “There is this element of education for everyone when people see what kids can do with only imagination and opportunity.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which ran in the Nov. 7, 2009 Gazette.

Buy low, sell high. Builder Pulte Homes agrees with this wise old adage about investments, particularly in today’s rebounding real estate market.

“The combination of low property prices and low interest rates mean that you can get into real estate for a much smaller investment than you could a few years ago,” says Randy Carpenter, vice president of sales and marketing for Pulte in Colorado.

“And if the economy is returning as a lot of the prognosticators say it is, those prices are heading right back up, meaning your investment is certain to pay off in the long run.”

401k funds, stocks and bonds: Such financial tools may be what the average person thinks of as an “investment,” but real estate is what often makes up the majority of a person’s wealth, even at retirement.

“You can’t live in your 401k, but you can live in your house,” says Carpenter, pointing out that low prices aren’t the only reason to make a real estate investment right now. “With interest rates being low, you really can buy for the same you’re paying in rent, but also realize tax advantages with the mortgage interest tax deduction and the first-time buyer tax credit,” the latter which runs through the end of November, though there’s talk of an extension.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Nov. 8, 2009 Springs Home & Style.

Throw out the script and forget what you’ve been told about call centers, says Joy Zuckerman, Freedom Communications call center manager. Often called the “special forces” department of Freedom advertising, this vibrant call center headquartered in Colorado Springs handles the special advertising needs of seven Freedom Communications properties including operations in Colorado, California, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and the Rio Grande Valley.

“It’s never boring. We move where the money moves, and the newspaper business is always exciting. There is always something new on the table,” says Zuckerman. The call center was created in November of 2008 to handle the ever-changing and miscellaneous needs of its newspapers. Now celebrating its first anniversary, the call center’s success has created a need for talented new agents.

“We’re in a state of constant, consistent and immediate growth,” Zuckerman explains. “We started with 11 call center agents and myself. Now we’re hiring up to 44 call center agents and we have team leads and managers, and we’ll have more management positions opening next year.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Nov. 8, 2009 Springs Jobs.

After selling thousands of homes in the Pikes Peak region through his independent office of Stuart Scott Limited, often finding dream homes for several generations of families, broker Stuart Scott is ready to move into a new home himself: by merging his office with ERA Shields Real Estate.

“There is no retirement in me. I work every day,” assures Scott, who enjoyed picking out his new office and looks forward to his new role. Because ERA Shields and its team of professionals can take care of the back-end business of real estate, Stuart can “reduce the amount of management we have to do so we can focus on our own customer service … I’ve had my name on the door for so many years, and now I get to do the fun part of the job.”

“When Stuart made the decision that he really wanted to focus his energies on selling and listing and wanted to merge his company, that he called me I took as a huge compliment,” says ERA Shields broker/owner Bill Hurt. “It was gratifying to be that highly respected by him, especially because I hold him in such high esteem, as well. It’s certainly an advantage for ERA Shields to gain that additional stature of bringing a company and an individual with such a strong reputation in.”

“I can’t wait to get unpacked,” says Marla Twardowski, chief operating officer of Stuart Scott Limited. “Stuart and I have been doing this together for 33 years, and we absolutely love what we do. We were really looking for a company with the same culture and the same feeling of family,” she explains. “We looked at Bill Hurt’s corporate culture, and it’s very similar to ours, but he has the tools of a franchise that really help in a challenging market and particularly in our high-end properties. It’s just a great fit.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this story, which published in the Nov. 1, 2009 Home & Style section.

Perched atop a hill of scrub oak, pine and prairie grasses ― a roost a peregrine falcon might choose ― sits a custom home overlooking the city, the foothills rolling away at its feet into the plains and on to the horizon. And it’s worth the short jaunt into Peregrine in Northwest Colorado Springs just to take in that view, whether from the wrap-around covered porch or framed in the main level’s oversized windows.

“That’s certainly one of the strengths of this house. The house itself is gorgeous, but the location can’t be rivaled,” says Frank Fanelli of The Platinum Group Realtors, who along with partner Melissa Fanelli lists the four-bedroom, five-bath home for $850,000. “You don’t see a hilltop property like this that often, and you can tell every room is designed to take advantage of the views with the placement of walls and windows.”

Built in 2003, the home’s stucco exterior is punctuated with pillars and a dramatic turret, and the entrance great room is just as striking. A tile entryway leads into a large living room with peaked ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling, stacked-stone fireplace. Wide-open arches supported by pillars reveal, straight ahead, a dining room with coffered ceilings and hardwood floors and, to the right, a wet bar with glass cabinetry.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Oct. 31, 2009 Springs Houses.

Sometimes a lyric isn’t just words. Sometimes a video isn’t just people dancing. In the opinion of filmmaker, writer and activist Byron Hurt, what we consume from media and pop culture are actually messages about who we are, how to behave and our place in society, and he dissects that idea in regard to hip-hop culture in the film “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” screening Tuesday at Colorado College.

“This film challenges everyone: consumers, artists, black, white, people who have issues with gays. It’s the kind of film that strikes a chord in many different demographic backgrounds,” says Hurt of his documentary, which aired at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 and on national television in 2007. “Since that time, I’ve been on the road constantly showing the film and talking about the film. It’s amazing that it still has as much traction as it does.”

Perhaps its continued popularity stems from Hurt’s ability to cut away the veneer of hip-hop to expose the complex and often negative narratives underneath about masculinity, femininity, homosexuality, class and race ― narratives many don’t look deep enough to see.

“The process was to create a film that would be intelligent and entertaining, to borrow some of the aesthetic and look and feel of MTV and BET, but to flip that aesthetic so there’s a critique embedded there, too,” says Byron, who emphasizes that he’s in no way outside hip-hop culture even as he critiques it, calling hip-hop “the soundtrack of my life.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Oct. 26, 2009 Gazette.

“Great leaders are born, not made,” goes the oft-heard idiom, but J. Stephen Kirkpatrick begs to disagree. As the dean of the School of Organizational Leadership at the University of the Rockies, it’s his job to sculpt students into successful leaders every day.

“The idea that leaders are born? No. Leadership behavior is something you can observe, get feedback on and learn to do better,” Kirkpatrick says, explaining that the University of the Rockies ― a graduate-level institution specializing in the various fields of psychology ― founded the School of Organizational Leadership in 2007 in order to train professionals in the psychology of groups and how to make those groups successful.

“When we say organizational leadership, we’re talking about leading any type of organization, whether that’s in the military, in the private sector in a corporation, or in a non profit or a religious group,” he explains. “We distinguish leadership from management because we believe management is about scheduling, budgets, resources. Leadership is about influencing other people to help you accomplish the organization’s goal, objectives and strategies.”

Using psychology and social science, organizational leadership graduates learn to understand others, find what motivates them, bond teams and develop strategies for success in any industry, because every industry involves people. And with 11 specializations within the School of Organizational Leadership ― including executive coaching, mediation and conflict resolution, business psychology, non-profit management and more ― the University of the Rockies can prepare students to take any career to the next level.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published on Oct. 25, 2009 in Springs Jobs.

Once you have the keys to your new home and the front door is firmly shut behind you, like many homeowners, you probably don’t spend much time thinking about your home builder. But Jim Stiltner, co-owner of MasterBilt Homes, wants his homeowners to know that their builder is still deeply committed to every single one of their customers.

“Seventy five percent of our sales are referrals. It’s absolutely incredible for a builder to be able to say that,” says Stiltner. “I just want to say thank you for your continued support and your referrals and we really look forward to doing business with you again in the future.”

Perhaps sooner in the future than you think.

Take an interest in interest rates

Declining home prices and plummeting interest rates certainly make for an interesting time in real estate. “There is just so much buying power right now. We have homes that are available now, and interest rates are very low so you get more for your money. I can get the interest rate to 4.25 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage,” says Stiltner, remembering the time not too long ago with a rate in the 7 percent range was pretty standard. “This is huge difference, three percentage points difference.”

How huge? Using an example from his own inventory ― a home in Monument’s Greenland Preserve neighborhood that would have sold for $690,000, now reduced to $580,000 ― a homeowner could land a monthly payment of about $2,500 at 4.25 percent. At 7 percent, that would have been $3,600 per month.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published on Oct. 25, 2009 in Home & Style.

In 2008, 4,179 people in 10 countries costumed themselves as the undead and simultaneously performed the choreography from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video as part of the Guinness World Record-winning Thrill the World campaign. This year, Colorado Springs is adding a few more zombies to that total with a Thrill the World event on Saturday hosted by burlesque dance troupe Peaks and Pasties.

“It’s so fun to be able to teach people who are as nervous as I was when I first started dancing,” says Peak and Pasties dancer Kami Sutra, who helped lead a rehearsal attended by about 20 people earlier this week. She says that participants enjoy mimicking the Michael Jackson crotch grab the most out of all the dance moves, which also include the zombie march and menacing claw hands. “Everyone gets a huge kick out of it. No one in the group is judgmental. Everyone is really supportive of each other.”

Released in 1983, the 14-minute “Thriller” production is arguably the most popular music video of all time, a horror film homage in which a zombified Jackson dances with the undead, and “Thriller” has recently surged back to the surface of popular consciousness. Thrill the World began in 2006, for instance, videos of convicts dancing “Thriller” have been viral on the Internet, and Michael Jackson’s death earlier this year caused many media organizations to rebroadcast the video.

“It’s really funny. When you start teaching the dance to people, we find that they already know a couple eight counts without consciously knowing they did. People know those moves,” says Spitfire, who believes Michael Jackson and his dancing are woven into our culture. “I think people are drawn to Michael Jackson by his crazy sense of style, his dance moves and choreography, and just the way he entertained.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in The Gazette on Oct. 22, 2009.

Customers know not to trust every word pitched to them by a company representative about how great a product is. But when passionate statements pour in from other consumers, interest is peaked and ears will perk up, because positive word-of-mouth advertising speaks louder than any marketing material.

“I really believe our testimonials speak for themselves. When someone tells a story about how much they love their Campbell home, that says a whole lot,” says Randy Deming, CEO of Campbell Homes, who shared a stack of recent testimonials from Campbell Homes customers in all parts of the city. “We’ve been saying for years to not let us tell you how good Campbell Homes are. Knock on the door of any of our homeowners. We’re that confident in the product we put out and the level of service we provide.”

Word for word, Deming shares what some Campbell Homes’ clients are saying.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in Springs Home & Style on Oct. 18, 2009

Stocks may rise and stocks may fall, but there are certain careers that are guaranteed to always be in demand, according to IntelliTec Medical Institute, a fully accredited healthcare training facility since 1966. After all, the human body will always need care and trained professionals to provide it, and one field that’s especially promising in healthcare is dental assisting.

“Everyone has to go to the dentist,” says Alexxia Wood, dental assistant program supervisor at IntelliTec. “Dental assistants, believe it or not, are very highly paid and are ranked as one of Top 10 professions via the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the real beauty is that if you graduate from an ADA (American Dental Association) program, you’re eligible to go to any of the 50 states and get a job and be very marketable immediately.”

The ADA has accredited 232 institutions in the United States and only four in Colorado, of which IntelliTec is one. Their 11-month, 19-day certificate program in dental assisting offers a 12- to 15-to-1 teacher-to-student ratio and a heavy emphasis on clinics as well as courses covering professionalism, communication and even psychology. It’s a curriculum sculpted by IntelliTec’s advisory board of industry professionals, who make sure graduates become assistants they want to hire.

“Dental assisting today is not just about the glorified spit sucker. We’re actually the right arm of the dentist and a vital part of the office team,” says Wood, who explains that assistants are not only technically trained to care for their patients’ mouths. They also work in financing and billing, compose treatment plans, juggle scheduling and more.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in Springs Jobs on Oct. 18, 2009.

There are not many perfect things in this world, mostly because of our inability to objectively  measure perfection, but there is no arguing with the perfection of 36 out of a possible 36. That’s the score Liberty High School senior Joshua Burns received on his ACT exam, one of only eight perfect scores in the state of Colorado.

“I really don’t try to make a big deal out of my academic ability,” says 17-year-old Joshua. “I spend a lot of time doing other things than school: drumming, playing sports recreationally, hanging out with friends, working.”

“He’s pretty humble about it all. He’s just naturally that way,” says mother Tamara Burns, who thinks she was more emotional than Joshua about it. “I was very excited when I opened up that envelope … Both my husband and were really proud of him and know that this could open so many doors for him.”

A perfect score on a standardized test is a difficult feat. In fact, many students take practice exams, attend study sessions or hire tutors in order to get a good score on either the ACT or SAT, the two exams colleges utilize in their application process. But for Joshua, simply paying attention in the course of his normal school day was the only preparation he needed.

“It’s just a test over basically everything people learn in school regularly,” he explains, admitting that he finds a lot of the busywork in his regular classes unchallenging. “I definitely like some classes, like the physics and calculus classes that I’m in right now. I don’t care for a lot classes where it seems my time is wasted. I feel I could teach myself a lot more stuff on my own sometimes.”

It’s likely that attitude ― learning how to think critically for one’s self rather than focusing on memorization ― that allowed Joshua to test so well, lack of preparation notwithstanding.

“I’m very analytical and think of why things are the way they are. Instead of memorizing, I look at how things work and that can apply in any situation, so that probably is a big bonus,” he says. Joshua is eagerly anticipating college, where he plans on studying engineering, likely electrical engineering.

“I’m looking forward to a new environment, different than high school. I think (college) will play to my strengths,” he says.

And with a perfect ACT score under his belt, it’s likely college admission boards everywhere will be looking forward to him, too.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Woodmen Edition on Oct. 16, 2009.

After outfitting three Parade of Homes entries this year, including Kenton Pass’ The Rowan, which won four awards in its price range, La Z Boy Furniture Galleries is excited the public has seen the full scope of the La Z Boy brand. They do make quality recliners ― the best in the business, in fact ― but La Z Boy Galleries can also outfit every room in your home and provide in-house interior design experts to make your house look like a Parade entry.

“We had a lot of people come from the Parade to our store specifically because they saw our work in those homes,” says Jim Hendron, who has owned the store with wife Chris Hendron since 2005. “We’re not just recliners. We can provide furnishings for every room in the house and have a tremendous selection of accessories.”

“My favorite terminology is that we’re not just overstuffed and ugly anymore,” says sales consultant and licensed interior designer Kathy Bauer. “People still associate us with the Archie Bunker chair that holds up forever, and that’s great because they know the quality we represent, but many people don’t know how upscale we’ve gotten. Customers are really amazed.”

After all, La-Z-Boy companies include Kincaid, American Drew, Hammary and Lea, and all of their pieces are fully customizable in terms of upholstery, which allows for boundless creativity. Bauer is proud of the quality, range and versatility of the furniture she has to work with, especially their unexpected variety of wood furniture, which she calls “heirloom pieces, certainly.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published on Oct. 11, 2009 in Home & Style.

Perhaps it happens when you’re trapped in your car during rush hour traffic. Maybe the urge arrives when you can hear your neighbors through the walls or when you see stars murky with city light pollution and smog. But for people who crave a slice of land with trees, views and the symphony of crickets, the urge to escape city life can often be overwhelming.

“You have the people on the Front Range who want a nice little place to go to that’s out of town, not too far, but far enough so you have a big area of open space around you, the type of person who needs a larger piece of land than normal with a beautiful view and sunsets and quiet,” says Joe O’Brien, managing partner of Red Creek Land Company. Red Creek owns a slice of paradise called Twin Butte Estates about 15 minutes west of Pueblo, near the small hamlet of Beulah, a wooded expanse of land ideal for retreating from urban sprawl.

“It’s just a beautiful area that’s kind of a hidden jewel of Southern Colorado,” O’Brien continues. “It’s drop dead staring at the Greenhorn Mountains and the rest of the Wet Mountains and obviously Pikes Peak to the north. The property also has a beautiful canyon running through parts of the property, what we call the St. Charles River Canyon.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Oct. 4, 2009 Home & Style section.

Remembering her childhood, Paula Poundstone reminisces about her family’s regular dinners at the neighbor’s house, or more specifically, she remembers what happened after dinner at the neighbor’s: The adults would retire for coffee and conversation, and the kids were “forced” downstairs.

“But we would just have the best time down there,” says Poundstone. “I want (my performances) to feel like the being in that basement, where all the adults are upstairs somewhere and we’re dodging them.”

While she’s certainly moved on to larger venues than that basement ― Paula Poundstone plays the Pike Peak Center on Thursday, Oct. 8 ― she’s still improvising her fun as she goes along, never taking herself too seriously. Famous for her stand up as well as her role as a panelist on NPR’s weekly news quiz show, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” the comedian is known for her vibrant spontaneity and audience interaction, as if she and her audience together are weaving an evening of laughs.

“Generally speaking, there is just a magic that emanates from a group of people that come out to laugh for the evening,” says Poundstone. “My favorite part of the night is just talking to the audience. I find really great stuff unfolds. I can almost predict that it will anymore.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the GO! section on Oct. 2, 2009.

For the first time in a long time, there won’t be a sign outside the Lon Chaney Theatre advertising the Star Bar Players’ next performance. But Lon Chaney or no, for the first time in a long time, there will be a show by the Star Bar Players, the recently revived theater troupe that went dark for a year after cash-flow and venue problems. The season opener is “The Weir,” a small-cast, Irish play rife with ghost stories running Oct. 8-24 at Five Star Decor.

“Being able to bring something like this back to the surface, I’m really excited about that,” says “The Weir” director Tammy Smith, who felt the absence of Star Bar keenly. “Everyone involved in it is really excited. We’ve had some difficulties. Finding a rehearsal place was rough, and some of the first rehearsals took place in my living room.”

But Alysabeth Clements Mosley, who sits on the Star Bar board and will play the character Valerie, prefers to reframe their lack of permanent theater space as a gypsy-like adventure. “Star Bar started out in weird venues,” before they landed the Lon Chaney, she says. “They did things in lofts above stores, they were in a church for a while, so I think part of the theatrical experience is the conversion of whatever space you’re in.”

Their space at Five Star Decor, a special events planning and decorating company with a large warehouse, is a black box theater with room enough for the one set of “The Weir,” the bar where the play’s characters spend much of their free time. Rather than dwell on size or shape, most of the players embrace the bright side of the unconventional venue.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published on Oct. 2, 2009 in the GO! section.

Writing is usually a solitary endeavor, requiring just a person and a pen ― or, more likely today, a computer. But in order to nurture literature and help the aspiring become published, Author Fest of the Rockies pries writers away from their desks and gathers them in Manitou for a two-day event with more than 50 published authors, editors, illustrators, poets and publishers from throughout Colorado.

“One part of the mission of Manitou Springs as a city is to nurture the arts, and in those arts, we talk about not just the visual or performing arts, but the literary arts, too,” says Laura Ettinger, chair of the event and vice president of the Friends of the Manitou Springs Library, the organization now hosting Author Fest for its fourth and largest year Oct. 2-3 at The Cliff House.

“For aspiring writers and poets and illustrators, anyone interested in the written and spoken word, it’s great to see there are other people out there doing what they are doing, for one,” she says. “It’s extremely useful in helping them take their work to the next level and providing information they might not have access to, showing them where the resources are to further their work.”

More than 40 workshops cover a variety of topics of interest to aspiring writers including creative nonfiction, attracting publishers, memoirs, freelance writing, manuscript editing and character development. But Author Fest has broadened their scope with interesting courses on promotion through social networking, how to read aloud for the public, reading critically, how to start a book club and more.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in The Gazette on Oct. 2, 2009.