Spectacular Seniors: Ramona Kaptyn

Today you will have the good fortune to hear from a senior who has worked in more than 6 countries and traveled to many more. On top of that she is well versed in several professions: journalism, hotel management, teaching and fund raising. She has some good advice for everyone listening, and she exemplifies the new "retired person" who is not really retired at all but just shifting to new careers. 

We are lucky that she has time for this session before she takes off again to travel. Did you hear her story about meeting the Trudeaus?

          

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Spectacular Seniors: Ralph Hahmann

Having a stroke is a serious health problem. While I don't know the stats, many people don't survive or end up physically incapacitated following a stroke. Ralph Hahmann is one of the lucky few who can continue to work, walk around and converse with me regarding his experience. He says he owes a lot of his recovery to a Life Vantage product called Protandum. While Mr. Hahmann is in good shape now, the sad part of the story is the lack of timely and appropriate care from the medical establishment that he experienced. He recovered in spite of his doctors, not because of them. 

Listen now and hear about this miraculous recovery and the good prospects of light therapy and Protandum. 

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Spectacular Seniors: Denise Thompson

Denise Thompson is well traveled with some great adventure stories. She has lived and worked in Canada and the United States at the Canadian Embassy and for the International Monetary Fund. She's traveled to the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island among other interesting places. 

Now she works as the event planner for the White Rock chapter of CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. She want everyone to come to the Christmas event happening this December 7, 2016. For other events, please visit https://facebook.com/CARPWhiteRockSurrey  You can also find their events on posters and in Zoomer Magazine.

If you enjoyed this episode of Spectacular Seniors, please do me a favor and subscribe. That way you will know when other episodes are posted.

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Spectacular Seniors: Dr. Michael Likey

Have you ever met a celebrity? Well, today I met a local celebrity. Dr. Michael Likey is an international author with numerous books published. He's also a hypnotherapist, a video podcaster, a radio station host and a producer. If that's not enough he's also an ordained metaphysical minister and a Reiki master. What does he do in his spare time? He puts on magic shows. I suppose you'd say Dr. Likey is a modern-day Merlin from King Arthur's day. 

A special thanks for this episode goes to Kim at the New Westminster, Canada shop, Harmony Gold for letting us record this episode there. Please drop by her shop at: 960 Quayside Drive and see all her esoteric goods. Just in time for Christmas presents!

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Spectacular Seniors: Opalyn Llanera

Opalyn Llanera is definitely an international lady, having come form the Philippines and then working in Saudi Arabia for several years. Now she's in Canada near her family and she's started her own business called Agape Home Health Care Services. For any elder in the Vancouver area this is a great resource to know about.

In order to contact Mr. Llanera please go to: http://agapecarebc.com 

If you like this podcast, would you please leave a rating, subscribe or contact us with your comments? Know other seniors who speak well and have amazing lives? Let us know and I will interview them as well. They don't need to be in the Vancouver area, thanks to the internet connections. Just send a message to: contact@spectaacularsenior.com 

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Spectacular Seniors: Cynthia Dunn

Cynthia Dunn had lots of personal experience with dementia through her grandmother and then her parents. She decided to specialize in this training and help other care givers. She rightly points out that the professional staff usually focuses on the patient, not the relatives who must deal with these problems, often without training. They usually have no breaks from the problems; they are on call 24/7. Her agency, Choice Dementia, offers some creative ways to provide care in conjunction with the care from doctors and counselors.

If you would like to know more about this agency, please go to: http://choicedementia.ca

If you like this podcast please leave a rating, subscribe or contact us with your comments. Know other spectacular seniors who can speak well? Let us know and I will interview then too. contact@spectacularsenior.com

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Spectacular Seniors: Wendy Foster

Wendy has a very inspiring story. Often referred as the "Energizer Bunny", Wendy infects you with her unbridled passion and enthusiasm and demonstrates the power of positive attitudes for both yourself and your team/associates. It's easy to see how Wendy reports that her clients report a decrease in stress and illness and an increase in joy and productivity.

Wendy Foster's methods for improving lives, both personally and professionally, are incredibly effective, yet also simple and easy to apply.  As a play expert, Wendy relates to the heart and soul of companies, such as Google, whose founders built the organization around the idea that work should be challenging but fun. Wendy's presentations link the art and science of play to success in life and business. 

She is also the CEO of the G.E.M. Project (Giving Empowering Moments), which is a global movement for gratitude, acknowledgement, giving, receiving and paying it forward. 

Want to see more? Go to this site:  https://www.espeakers.com/marketplace/speaker/profile/28475/Wendy-Foster?resumeSearch=0

                                 

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Spectacular Seniors: Kucki Low

Kucki Low's story is filled with adventure with amazing twists and turns. She  triumphed over adversity to become South Africa's first female airline pilot. Today she reaches audiences worldwide with her presentations as a speaker and her book, This is Kucki Low, Your Pilot Speaking. Her life is now being made into a feature film, many of the shots taken in Africa. 

Drawing on her many stories and adventures she takes her audiences on an exciting journey filled with laughter and introspection. She shows you how to use joy and laughter to make your business and your life soar to success, to triumph over adversity and to live a happy, fulfilled life. She has spoken at many conferences and been a guest on numerous TV programs.

She is still available to speaking engagements if you care to contact her through her website, http://kuckilow.com 

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Social Media Tips for 2016

With all the constant changes in social media and it’s getting to the point where only those who keep up with the changes are able to use it successfully for marketing. However, there are a few things anyone can do to create more traffic and sales using the media platforms.

1. Audit your social media – What are you and your company doing right now with social media? Hootsuite, that company that provides a way to combine all the social media platforms for every post (among other useful services), has provided us with a template to audit your company’s media. It’s a free download: https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-marketing-plan/ The form contains a spreadsheet to list all your media platforms, passwords, usernames, daily connection numbers, even the demographics of who connects (target audience). Also included should be branding consistency with cover and bio photos, logos, descriptions and accurate, up to date company information.
2. Set some goals – who is going to be attracted to each media platform, what kind of content will be posted, how often and who can we predict will see it (reach) and respond (conversion)? Probably your goals will need to change, so just predict what might happen using past history or by observing your competitors’ sites.
3. Get involved with social media influencers, people with thousands of followers. This is a bit like the old celebrity endorsement. However, with social media you can do more than asking someone to use your services or products. Just following them on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin groups or Instagram categories (hashtags) can provide traffic back to your media sites. Posting questions and replies on their sites means your name will go out to all their followers.
4. Use live streaming. This is especially useful during a large event. What is going on right now? Send it out and put a face to your posts. Live streaming – just a short video taken from your cell phone with the right lighting and sound quality – can be a great addition to other more informative or educational stuff. People want to know “the story”, the adventure. It’s the reality TV side of things.
5. Use promotions and contests – Here are some examples that have worked well. Be creative!

• Like this post to enter the contest for a free membership/product. Winner to be announced on March 30.
• Use the following coupon code to purchase a _________ for only $5. Promotion ends on Wednesday, so hurry to this site. (link to the sales page). Code: QQBVarm4C9

Using social media advertising and paid ads can be quite expensive. If you want to try advertising, my advice is to start with a small budget till you find out what is working for you. Here is the point of hiring an expert as this person could save you a lot of time creating and monitoring the ads for you. Each platform and company is different so some experimentation is vital.

Spectacular Seniors: Sandra Reams

Would you like to live in a heritage museum? My next guest does just that. Sandra Reams has lived as a caretaker of the Michaud House, the oldest house in Langley, BC for 19 years now. You'll hear her describe her unique life in the centuries old house. What a great place for an artist who appreciates antiques!

If you would be interested in visiting Michaud House, watch for the ad in the local paper in July and again in December when Sandra holds an open house for the public. Alternativley you can join her mailing list by contacting sreams@shaw.com. The house is not open to the public on an on-going basis.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please download other episodes of Spectacular Seniors. Better yet, subscribe so that you can be notified when new episodes are released. This is Vicki signing out for now.

 

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Spectacular Seniors: Andrew Barber-Starkey

My guest for this episode of Spectacular Seniors is Andrew Barber-Starkey. He started out his adult life making money on the oil rigs for 3 months of the year to support his passion for hang-gliding. After some of his friends and acquaintances died while hang-gliding, he decided to move on and joined the corporate world as a salesman for Zerox. In 1993 he changed again and became a business coach. He has become quite successful at this job, measured in both money and success of his students. His ideas about Centers of Influence will really expand your ideas of what is possible in marketing. He says he's not done yet, and you'll hear all about his future plans in this recording.

 

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Spectacular Seniors: Una Festor

Today's interview is with Una Festor, a small woman with a huge presence. Coming from Cape Town, South Africa to Vancouver, Canada in 1966 she began teaching music at an elementary school. She had a choir, guitar and recorder groups and a band. Later she taught language and math as well as music with over 300 students every week.

Now she's joined the ForEverGreen company and focuses on helping people improve their health. You can connect with her at: una@business-bc.com 

 

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Spectacular Seniors: Laurie McLean

Here's a person with so many qualifications and so much experience it's amazing a person can accomplish all this in one lifetime. Laurie has not only worked but excelled in the following fields: occupational therapy in extended care, home renovations. She has a Red Seal Trade Qualification in painting and decorating, one of the few women in BC to accomplish this. She's also worked in media productions, distance education and para-legal work.

About 6 years ago she embarked on her own business helping the elderly with home repairs. Since she used to do this same service for her won grandmother, she calls it Handy Granddaughter. The goal is to keep seniors in their home for as long as possible and to provide reasonable priced help. 

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Spectacular Seniors: Cal Lypkie

Here's an interesting man who has a wealth of both practical and course knowledge. As with the others I've interviewed he's extremely active as you'll hear. Cal Lypkie worked in the moving and storage business for over 30 years. Then he managed an apartment complex for 9 years after his wife became sick.

Now he's involved with two Toastmasters clubs called Professional Edge and Spontaneous Speakers. In addition, he's putting together his own business called Destiny Developments Unlimited. He'll tell you all about it. 

Here's his address if you want to contact him: clypkie@telus.net 

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Spectacular Seniors: Suzanne Erickson

This episode of Spectacular Seniors is about an amazing artist. She's been creative all her life, even as a child. But 20 years ago a trip to her husband's woodworking show changed her life. She purchased some engraving tools there and started to work on all kinds of objects, all custom orders. Now she has moved onto another unique art form using gourds. In fact, they are so beautiful they really should be in a museum, not the local gallery in Langley, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. There is one picture below, but the ones she showed me were elaborately painted with cut-outs in the fragile shells. There was one with something like an embroidery pattern. I was truly blown away. Listen to what she has to say about her work.

 

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Bob Munro: Helping Families Through Support Groups

Bob Munro is as senior with a wealth of life experience and wisdom. He's had many careers - everything from farming to fire fighting to telecommunications and now sales and marketing. However, his real passion is helping families stay together through retreats and support groups for men. In our world often devoid of extended family support, Bob's work is a breath of fresh air and salvation to the many people he has touched.   Did you enjoy this episode? Want to hear more? Other episodes are available on this website and also on iTunes. Please subscribe so that you will know when new episodes become available. Feel free to leave comments below.

Spectacular Seniors: Bob Munro

Bob Munro is as senior with a wealth of life experience and wisdom. He's had many careers - everything from farming to fire fighting to telecommunications and now sales and marketing. However, his real passion is helping families stay together through retreats and support groups for men. In our world often devoid of extended family support, Bob's work is a breath of fresh air and salvation to the many people he has touched.

Check out this episode!

David Simpson, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

Here's another episode of Spectacular Seniors. This time you will hear from a former engineer who has found his and also recent graduates' education lacking important skills, especially having to do with networking, team work and leadership. David's upcoming courses would be beneficial not only to students  but also new business owners or entrepreneurs. Listen now to the podcast in which he describes his ideas. Want to hear more of the Spectacular Seniors' podcasts? You can find some of them on this website or go to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/spectacular-seniors/id1046335723  Even easier is to seek it out on your mobile device under iTunes. Here's the handsome guy himself:

Spectacular Seniors: Claude Duke, World-Renown Photographer

Here is an episode about a senior who is a world-renown photographer. Originally from Chile, he moved to Miami and then Canada 40 years ago. He's recently published a book showcasing hundreds of his photos. I was amazed at the wide range of his photography - everything from shots of Vancouver to models, weddings and food dishes from well-known Vancouver restaurants. Wait till he tells you about his next adventure in Cuba to record the people, their lifestyles and of course the music. Do you like this podcast? Please download other episodes of Spectacular Seniors from iTunes or subscribe so that you can know when new episodes are available. Do you know other elders who are doing inspirational thinks in their later years/ Please contact us so that we can interview them as well. There are so many interesting stories. Don't let them go unheard.