Take a look at our newsletter this month.
POPALOCKKY.COM
KEYSTROKE MONTHLY THE
AUGUST 2020 THE PATH TO SUCCESS
That I Wish I Would Have Found Sooner
Regardless of how different it might look this year, at the end of this month, most kids will begin the school year again. They might actually go back to their places of learning, or continue to take classes online, but the fact remains that summer vacation is over and their education will continue. It’s at this time of year that I get a chance to reflect on the good times I had in school, from my early days in elementary school all the way through graduate school. However, even though I learned a lot, took part in a lot of fun activities, and made lifelong friends, I wish I would have normalized one aspect of my education earlier in my life: mentorship. A mentor is someone you consider an experienced and trusted advisor. When I remember my years in school, I can call to mind several teachers and coaches I might have considered mentors, if I would have known to conceptualize those relationships in that way. I think about my high school and college basketball coaches, Dick Dozier and Hank Iba, or even about experts in the field of entrepreneurship who indirectly helped me build my business, like Michael Gerber, Robert Kiyosaki, or Zig Ziglar. I probably could have considered all of them mentors, but the fact is that I didn’t learn about mentorship as a concept until I was probably in my 50s. Even though I certainly learned a lot from all my teachers and coaches over the years, I wish I would have known to formally consider them mentors, so I could have capitalized on all the benefits of doing so. Mentorship has been proven to work time and time again. Take entrepreneur Jim Rohn, whom some of you might be familiar with (if you’re not familiar with Jim Rohn, you’re most definitely familiar with one of his most famous mentees, Tony Robbins). When Rohn was 25 years old, he had no college degree and he was broke. But then, a famous entrepreneur by the name of John Earl Shoaff began to mentor him, and within six years, Jim Rohn was a millionaire. By the end of his life, he was worth something like $500 million. That’s what can happen when you allow yourself to be mentored by the right person.
mentorship relationships I’ve had for the past 20 years, and I haven’t been disappointed. Within the past few years, I’ve learned something else about mentorship that’s made a world of difference in how I view the concept: Your mentor does not have to be someone you know personally. Before Jim Rohn passed away, he mentored someone else some of you are probably familiar with, Darren Hardy. Hardy was the owner of Success magazine, in which he interviewed some of the world’s most successful people. Based on what he learned in those interviews, and from Jim Rohn, he’s written bestselling books and spoken in front of countless crowds. Every day on his website DarrenHardy.com, he posts a 5–7-minute video called the “Darren Daily,” in which he shares some of the wisdom he’s learned in a way anyone can understand. Through his books, and through the “Darren Daily,” I’ve made Darren Hardy my mentor without ever having met him — although someday I certainly hope to! The bottom line about mentorship is this: Getting a good education, whether that means going to college or something else for you, is invaluable. However, taking on a mentor can be just as valuable, despite not being as heavily emphasized as a pathway to success. So, even in the midst of our country’s crisis, I would say this to anyone looking for a way to get ahead: Figure out the goals you have for your life and find yourself a mentor who can help you achieve them. -Doug Barnes
I can’t imagine where I would be now if I had found a mentor when I was in my 20s, like Jim Rohn did, but I’ve made the most out of the
REQUEST A FREE QUOTE 1
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.thenewsletterpro.com
ARE YOUR THRIFT STORE DONATIONS BEING THROWN AWAY?
ending up in a landfill, consider the following before you donate.
secondhand clothes, have stopped buying during the economic shutdown.
Under the circumstances, this situation is understandable. Thanks to nationwide stay- at-home orders, many took advantage of their newfound spare time to spring-clean and subsequently donate unwanted items to charity. However, with the confusion about how long the COVID-19 virus can live on clothing, secondhand shoppers have been staying home, worried about the health risks of buying used goods. Famously, thrift stores still keep unsold goods out of landfills. Up to 75% of Goodwill’s merchandise, for example, isn’t sold in their stores. Instead, it’s sent to discount outlets and then into global markets. However, Mexican traders, who account for 30% of business at thrift stores close to the U.S. southern border, and Kenya, the world’s largest buyer of unsold
Meanwhile, some good-intentioned Americans are leaving their goods outside thrift stores’ front doors, not realizing that without enough space to house the excess donations, many of these thrift stores will have to pay disposal fees, costing the business potential revenue and sending your items into local landfills. However, Goodwill still wants your donations! You just might have to hold on to your items for a little bit. Check to see if your local thrift stores are open for donations. Many recommend waiting until the influx slows down, but others have expanded their inventory storage and are ready to keep up. Just make sure to follow their guidelines on acceptable items because any broken or worn items only add to their costs. Happy donating!
Are you thinking about donating your kids’ old clothes or that slow cooker you haven’t used in months? Though donating your unwanted items is a great thing to do, amid the pandemic, many people have not considered the future of secondhand shopping and charity-based thrift stores like Goodwill. In 2018, Goodwill funded nearly $5.3 billion in charitable services, like educational assistance, job training, and work placements. But now, Goodwill and similar organizations are facing a unique problem: They’re receiving too many donations. To prevent your items from
Right on the Nose
How This Fragrance Company Stands Out From Its Competitors
Creating and nurturing a successful business takes more than just prior experience as an entrepreneur and a knack for turning data into a viable marketing strategy. Luckily for Skylar founder Cat Chen, she had both of those qualities and more. Skylar is a natural fragrance company that seeks to empower women through its superior products and charitable giving. Chen was first inspired to start the company when she realized her infant daughter was allergic to all of the perfumes and fragrances she wore. After searching and searching for a fragrance that would be safe for her to wear around her daughter, and finding nothing, Chen sensed that a niche for hypoallergenic fragrances in the perfume industry had not yet been filled. Thus, the idea for Skylar was born. Chen began working with a renowned perfumer to create scents they believed women would love. They used hypoallergenic, nontoxic ingredients not only for the perfume but also for the packaging. Like so many successful businesses, Skylar started in a garage, where Chen fulfilled orders for Skylar fragrances and lotions herself, making daily trips to the post office. From their humble beginnings to now, however, Skylar has seen a 2,000% growth increase year over year and secured $8 million in funding in February of 2019.
Before starting Skylar, Chen was the vice president for Jessica Alba’s company, The Honest Company, so her success in her more recent endeavor isn’t surprising. She also holds an MBA from Wharton and a bachelor’s degree from MIT, where she studied data and analytics. She uses her skills for analyzing data to identify customer trends and apply them to her marketing strategy.
However, it wasn’t Chen’s acumen in these areas that made Skylar successful — it was her consideration for her customers and community. She frequently turns to her loyal customers for feedback on new scents and products. Plus, Skylar donates a portion of their profits to Step Up, a nonprofit that mentors girls in underserved communities. In a market saturated with scents and fragrances, Skylar certainly has found a way to stand out from the crowd.
2 WWW.POPALOCKKY.COM
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.thenewsletterpro.com
3 OF THE STRANGEST GADGETS AND GIZMOS Designed to Protect Your Home From Invasion
For some people, good, sturdy locks and security cameras just aren’t enough when it comes to protecting their homes from invasion. How else would you explain some of the weird home security defense devices on this list? Are they practical? Not always. Will they actually protect your home? Potentially. Are they some of the most creative home security measures ever conjured up? Absolutely.
make next to your ear only takes around 0.2 seconds to annoy you. That’s why “The Mosquito” is a great name for an alarm device that emits a high-frequency sound like the buzzing of mosquitoes, which the military classifies as a form of crowd control. Much like a mosquito infestation, it’s enough to make any would-be intruder run for the hills.
THE SMOKECLOAK This device might just be weird enough to get the job done. After all, how can you burglarize a home when you can’t even see the room you’re standing in? The
FAKETV BURGLAR DETERRENT No burglar in their right mind would invade a home where they believe the occupants are awake. And what better sign that someone is still awake in the dark hours of the evening than the flicker of a TV screen? At least, that’s the logic behind
SmokeCloak emits an odorless, nontoxic cloud of smoke that obscures everything a burglar might steal. The burglar would still have to get into your house for it to work, but it would certainly make for an interesting story if you ever had to use it! While these devices are certainly entertaining to read about, they’re really no match for sturdy locks and standard security measures. So, if you’re looking to protect your home from invasion, check with the experts here at Pop-A-Lock instead. Give our office a call today for more information.
Response FakeTV’s product. This little gadget is really just a set of blinking lights meant to simulate a TV screen and deter
intruders from looking too closely. Whether it would work in the wee hours of the night remains to be seen. THE MOSQUITO Mosquitoes are annoying for all sorts of reasons. They leave itchy welts where they bite, and the inane buzzing noise they
TAKE A BREAK
SPOTLIGHTING JON GERRY
Pop-A-Lock’s Employee of the Month
While some people are content to let work linger unfinished, others are restless until they’re sure the job is done right. Over his past nine months as a car door unlocking technician here at Pop-A-Lock, Jon Gerry has proven that he falls into the latter category. Jon initially became a car door unlocking technician because he was drawn to the interesting nature of the work. It was strange for him to think that he would be paid to break into people’s cars. He says the unique challenges that come with the job on a daily basis are what make the work exciting.
He actually ran his own computer repair business out of his home for 20 years, but he still enjoys working on computers in his free time today.
When Jon isn’t hard at work, he spends his time fixing and building computers.
Thank you for all your hard work, Jon!
REQUEST A FREE QUOTE 3
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.thenewsletterpro.com
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
POP-A-LOCK 739 MILLPOND ROAD LEXINGTON, KY 40514 POPALOCKKY.COM
LEXINGTON SOUTHERN IN 859-253-6736 502-895-6736 812-288-7576 LOUISVILLE
INSIDE THIS ISSUE WHY FINDING A MENTOR IS INSTRUMENTAL IN YOUR SUCCESS PAGE 1 ARE YOUR THRIFT STORE DONATIONS BEING THROWN AWAY? RIGHT ON THE NOSE: THE SKYLAR STORY PAGE 2 THE 3 STRANGEST HOME SECURITY GADGETS EVER SPOTLIGHT ON JON GERRY PAGE 3 ROB KENNEY IS A FATHER TO MANY PAGE 4
‘DAD, HOW DO I?’
How 1 Father Is Passing Along Life Lessons
Being abandoned by a parent is one of the most devastating things that can happen to a child. Rob Kenney experienced this trauma firsthand when his father said he no longer wanted any of his eight children. Kenney was only 12 years old when his father walked out of his life. In an interview with Q13 News in Seattle, Kenney explained that after that experience, he decided that when he had children of his own, he would raise them into good adults and make sure they didn’t have a fractured childhood. But he didn’t stop there. Now 50, Kenney has a 29-year-old daughter and 27-year-old son who are living successful lives thanks to that decision he made many years before. However, even with an empty nest, Kenney realized he still had life lessons to pass on. After thinking about other young people in the world who have gone through the same unfortunate experience as he did, he decided to do something about it.
the video, he gives a helpful hint for choosing a tie. Then he talks viewers through the process of how to tie a tie while demonstrating it on himself. As April progressed, Kenney uploaded a number of videos on other seemingly simple tasks, including how to unclog a sink, check the oil in a car, install a shelf, and even how to shave. As he continued uploading videos, he started to include dad jokes along the way.
“So today I’m going to show you how to use a stud finder,” Kenney begins in one video. “If you came here looking for help finding a boyfriend, that would be a different stud finder.”
Kenney hopes that, by uploading these videos, he can be there for someone who doesn’t have a parent around to teach them these things. And in the course of just two months, it looks like he is already doing just that. At the end of May, Kenney’s channel had over 2 million subscribers and thousands of people have reached out to Kenney to share their own similar experiences and express their gratitude and appreciation for everything he’s doing.
In early April 2020, Kenney created a YouTube channel called “Dad, how do I?” and uploaded his first video, titled “How to tie a tie.” In
4 WWW.POPALOCKKY.COM
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.thenewsletterpro.com
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs