Essential News

Today is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is an internationally recognized holiday that has been observed since the early 1900s, bringing light to women’s issues across the globe. The global day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Gender parity is about reducing discrimination, bias, and stereotypes against women, promoting equality between men and women. This

By Mandi Joyner, Director of Marketing and Communications, VGM & Associates A good public relations strategy should not just complement your marketing efforts but should be an integral part of them. As I write that sentence, I will admit, I am at fault for doing this—letting public relations get lost in the shuffle of marketing plans and efforts, even though it should be at the top of the list. Marketing focuses on selling and promoting, while public relations is not only a way for your

We are super excited for Focus Conference 2022! Each year, we try to offer something new to our attendees. This year, we are incredibly excited for two new workshops and our speakers. Whether you’re a business owner, office manager, mastectomy fitter, or lymphedema specialist, we have education that will help you professionally and personally. View the Education Schedule CEUs from ABC and BOC are available for the conference. Be sure to check session descriptions in the Education Schedule

Want to be the CEO of Your Life? You’ll want to hear what keynote Coach Colene has to say at Focus 2022.  Essentially Women is excited to introduce Colene Elridge, aka Coach Colene, as the keynote speaker for Focus Conference 2022. Colene Elridge will bring her decade-plus of HR experience to Focus Conference attendees. Known as “the fixer,” she helps organizations and leaders create better workplaces, productive teams, and aligned results.  “Each year, our

The Power of Plan B: Developing a Good Contingency Plan By Megan Matijevich, Manager Marketing Communications American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the COVID-19 curveball that hit businesses worldwide was that everyone needs a plan B…or even a plan C or D. Fires, floods, and tornados are some of the events that often come to mind when discussing contingency plans, certainly not year-long

Originally featured in “VGM Playbook: Growing Your Business in Today's Environment" by VGM & Associates, Lindy Tentinger, President of VGM Forbin, explains the opportunity that asking your customers for feedback can have on business development and growth.  I don’t know about any of you, but I could write a book filled with all the one-liners I’ve heard from my parents over the years. Sometimes it was advice I didn’t want to take

Customers are your livelihood. You know this! And yes, seems like a very basic statement, but often we forget just how important ONE customer can be. Especially in today’s environment where one bad review online can easily impact your business’ reputation in a matter of minutes, much more so than a positive comment, unfortunately. This means that taking care of each and every one of your customers is of utmost importance and much like it is easier to keep an employee versus train one,

Time is a precious commodity that you cannot buy or get back. Sometimes it’s time to act and sometimes it’s time to be patient. Renee Firato’s cancer journey is all about time, taking your time, the timing of surgeries, and the timing of life events. As she was just about to graduate from high school, Renee had her wisdom teeth removed and did not recover well, which ended up leading to the discovery of acute myelogenous leukemia. Within one week of getting her port placed on

Originally featured in “VGM Playbook: Growing Your Business in Today's Environment," Mike Isaacson, Senior VP of Business Development of VGM & Associates, discusses what five questions to ask yourself before you spend your personal, professional, or business capital on pursuing the “next big thing” to ensure you’re on the right path. As business owners and/or leaders, you are pulled in many different directions and wear multiple hats on a daily

May 11, 2021 WASHINGTON — U.S. Representatives Judy Chu (CA-27) and Jackie Walorski (IN-2) today re-introduced legislation to ensure breast cancer patients and survivors who have experienced a mastectomy are able to access custom breast prosthetics under Medicare. The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act would provide coverage for custom fabricated breast prostheses, the only human body part not currently covered by Medicare, to the more than 144,000 women who undergo mastectomies annually. “Breast