Small Business Today Magazine AUG 2014 SIVER STONE EVENTS | Page 5

PUBLISHER SCOLUMN SBT Houston Staff AUGUST 2014 Chairman John Cruise From the Publisher President/Executive Publisher Steve Levine Steve Levine Vice President /Associate Publisher/ Creative Director/Editor Barbara Davis-Levine Business Development/PR Bill Huff Aaron Kaplan Paul Poloe Intern Jesus Gonzalez Graphic Designer Lavinia Menchaca Photographers Gwen Juarez Contributing Writers Don Brown Barbara Davis Dr. John Demartini Mila Golovine Lorraine Grubbs Dawn Haynes Bruce Hurta Jeff Jones Aaron Kaplan Craig Klein Hank Moore Mike Muhney Mayor Annise Parker Howard Partridge Christi Ruiz Rita Santamaria Gail Stolzenburg Holly Uverity Aimee Woodall Chief Advisor Hank Moore Publisher’s Advisory Board Helen Callier Dr. John Demartini Ruben Gonzalez Mila Golovine Tony Harris Bruce Hurta Aaron Kaplan Craig Klein Hank Moore Mayor Annise Parker Howard Partridge Rita Santamaria Gail Stolenberg Christy Ruiz Holly Uverity Jack Warkenthien Aime Woodall Phone: [phone] E-Mail: [email protected] Or Write: Small Business Today 5380 West 34th Street, Ste 230 Houston,TX 77092 See us on the web at www.SBTMagazine.net Free APP for Android & iPhone go to your APP Store and type in Small Business Today Magazine SMALL BUSINESS Today MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. 5380 WEST 34TH ST., STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER - STEVE LEVINE: 832-419-2814 CHAIRMAN - JOHN CRUISE: 832-460-2020 www.SBTMagazine.net ADVERTISING RATES ON REQUEST. BULK THIRD CLASS MAIL PAID IN TUCSON, AZ. POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND NOTICES ON FORM 3579 TO 5380 WEST 34TH ST., STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092. ALTHOUGH EVERY PRECAUTION IS TAKEN TO ENSURE ACCURACY OF PUBLISHED MATERIALS, SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINIONS EXPRESSED OR FACTS SUPPLIED BY ITS AUTHORS. COPYRIGHT 2012, LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. Give Up, Give In, or Give It All You Got! August greetings everyone! A s Executive Publisher of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE and Co-host of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE TALK SHOW, I have the opportunity to go one-onone with some of Houston’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multimillion dollar and sometimes multibillion dollar businesses despite the odds against them doing so. They also share their thoughts on creating wealth, starting and growing a successful business, and achieving happiness. All of these amazing business leaders have offered up the same piece of advice: “Don’t quit at halftime!” If starting and growing a successful business was easy then anyone could do it. It takes passion, purpose, and perseverance. I am not ashamed to share with you that almost every endeavor that I have succeeded at, which includes apartment leasing, residential real estate sales, professional speaking, sales trainer, advertising sales, and publishing (which I am now in my 36th year of that pursuit), I was convinced early on that each was not for me and I wanted to quit each one. Luckily, there was always someone there to talk me out of quitting. My very dear friend and columnist, Ruben Gonzalez, shared with me that when he decided to take up the sport of luge and train for the Olympics four years away, he knew he had two major obstacles to overcome. First, he had to learn how to luge and second, he had to be ranked in the top 50 lugers in the world to qualify to compete in the Olympics. He only had only two seasons to learn how to slide because the last two seasons he needed to work on his world ranking. Most people would have looked at those obstacles and quit before they even got started but he didn’t! In his column this month, “The Price of Success”, Ruben explains that in order to succeed in life, you have to be willing to do the things average people are not willing to do. It’s about having the attitude that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. This month’s cover honoree, Elizabeth Stone, is one of those exceptional individuals willing to do whatever it takes to succeed and not let adversity hold her down. She experienced a chain of unfortunate events that would have put others with less fortitude out of business. First Tropical Storm Allison flooded her newly leased facility. After she drained all of her cash to build it back, the economy tanked due to “9/11” and Enron crash which then caused her business sales to drop off by 40%. Elizabeth had more than enough reason to close her doors. Instead, over the next three years, Elizabeth “begged and borrowed” to keep herself and her company alive and her doors open. Becoming really behind in paying her vendors, Elizabeth went to each of them in person and said, “I can’t pay you what I owe you right now but I need to keep doing business. I promise that I will pay you back every single penny. If you let me pay C.O.D. on every new order, I will pay you an extra $50 each time until I have paid [