We're getting ready for our fourth-annual Hold it For the Holidays competition and, at least for me, it couldn't come at a better time! As you might have read in a recent post, Krista returned from the Best & Brightest in Wellness awards ceremony feeling inspired—and, guess what? She inspired me, too!

Have you heard of World Kindness Day? It falls on November 13th every year, and was initiated in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. This important day is also promoted by The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation —both organizations are based firmly on a passion for spreading awareness and action around being kind.

Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Do you have Veterans in your work place?  If so and you are working on 11/11, be sure to celebrate those employees! Team Shirts™  are a great way to show your patriotic pride as an organization with a patriotic message and company logo.

I've worked at more than a few places in my professional life, and every culture has been different—from terrific to toxic. Remember the place where the espresso maker won employee of the month? Yep, that happened!

Before you have a tragic event like that at your office, open your eyes and ears for these signs that you need to give your culture a makeover.

A little over a month ago, Baudville made West Michigan's 101 Best and Brightest Companies in Wellness List – what an honor! Baudville' s HR manager and I travelled to the award ceremony to receive our award and gather some great tips and best wellness practices from other companies. I have always considered myself a relatively healthy person so I never expected to leave feeling incredibly inspired to make a change in my lifestyle.

There was a keynote speaker at the ceremony named Drew Canole, who is the creator of Fitlife TV. He was truly inspiring and really said some things that hit home.  He asked everyone in the room to raise their hands if they were truly happy with their body and would change nothing about it.  Not a single person raised their hand.  He then asked how many people would feel comfortable enough to make a video documenting why you aren't happy with your body and what you are going to do to change it, and here is the real kicker – post the video on Facebook for the world to see. Again, everyone in the room was motionless and not a single hand was raised. The idea of doing something like that gave me anxiety and I couldn't believe this guy would propose such a thing!