​Recently, young women in Malawi, Africa, were given clothing from the volunteers and staff of the World of Difference. With smiles of gratitude and excitement, the girls and young women received dresses lovingly handmade in Vineyard, Utah, by Arda Molen. What the girls didn’t realize was Arda’s right hand was severely damaged from years of sewing thousands of dresses. Dresses she donated to several organizations to distribute in locations around the world.
 
The damage caused by the repetitive motions of sewing required surgery to correct Arda’s hand earlier this month. To her, the difficulties of her hand are worth the joy she feels knowing girls are benefiting from her efforts. Girls who, in many cases, are receiving their very first dress.
 
“Arda’s work is the fulfillment of her dream to serve young people she doesn’t even know,” said Dr. Richard P. Nielsen, co-founder and president of World of Difference, and founding president of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) and the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (proposed). “Each year, we are in a blessed position to serve the people of Africa. We have the opportunity of witnessing the joy and happiness expressed by young girls receiving the dresses Arda has sewn by hand.”
 
Nielsen estimates they have given nearly 1,000 of Arda’s dresses over the past few years. He and a group of volunteers comprised of students, faculty, and staff from RMUoHP and other local participants travel to Africa each year. This year they were in Malawi, Africa where they spent a few weeks working alongside local chiefs, leaders, and others serving children by renovating dilapidated existing schools and building a primary school and library stocked with items, helping the kids in local orphanages, drilling a bore-hole water well in the local village where they worked, working on permaculture initiatives, and other service oriented activities to help provide new opportunities for the people there.
 
They also provided clinical experiences for RMUoHP students, faculty and other healthcare professionals. In addition to Arda’s dresses, Nielsen and his wife, Jodi, and the World of Difference team took 6,000 pounds of educational supplies and materials, tools, athletic equipment, and partnering with Days for Girls International, provided feminine hygiene kits to use in the orphanages.
 
Arda, an experienced seamstress, began sewing in earnest all of the dresses she could about four years ago after sustaining substantial injuries from a car accident. Since she faced a long-term recovery following the crash, she made a decision to do something to help others during and following her recuperation.
 
“I decided instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, I would do something for somebody who was worse off than me,” she said. “And that’s when I started [making the dresses]. I just did it.”
 
For four years since then, that’s about all she has done. She sews dresses six to eight hours per day and estimates she has made about 5,000 dresses.
 
Arda, the seamstress, and Nielsen, the university president, and humanitarian make a unique team that serves underprivileged children, orphans or victims of sex crimes in different parts of the world.
 
“We work with a few different orphanages in Malawi, where we distribute Arda’s dresses to young girls,” said Nielsen. “There’s just no money over there that is available to support those kids. They usually wear clothing they’ve been wearing for many months and even years. They get holes in them, they are too big or too small, and often unclean.
 
“Arda takes t-shirts and then makes skirts that attach to the shirts and turns them into dresses,” said Nielsen. “I’ve raised five kids and seen the excitement on Christmas morning in their eyes, but nothing compares to the excitement among these girls as they receive Arda’s dresses. It’s one of the best things they’ve ever received in their young lives. It truly makes a difference.”
 
Nielsen is quick to point out Arda has literally given her hands and soul to helping these young girls throughout the world. “The work she does is so important and helps so many people who are so less fortunate than all of us,” he said.
 
In addition to distributing the dresses, Nielsen and the World of Difference volunteers distribute additional clothing and items to both girls and boys in the orphanages they visit in Malawi. They receive the clothing from various people and organizations to distribute to kids from ages four to 20 who benefit from these clothing donations.
 
Sewing 5,000 dresses over the years has taken a toll on Arda. She has gone through three sewing machines and currently uses her “faithful Bernina.” The repetitive motions of sewing, cutting material, and other actions using mostly her right hand created a situation where she was in great pain. Pain caused by the rubbing of bone-on-bone, worn-out cartilage, and strained ligaments resulted in two different surgeries in her hand to correct the issues.
 
“The constant repetition just wore my hand out,” she said. “It ached clear up past my elbow, and the pain never stopped. I could only sleep about an hour at a time due to the pain.”
 
Arda reports the surgeries were a success. Following a time of recuperation, she looks forward to getting back to work on making more dresses. In the meantime, other people she knows are working to help her keep the dressmaking going.
 
The partnership between Arda and Nielsen and the World of Difference volunteers brings joy and happiness to many young people in different parts of the world. The question has to be asked, though, what drives them to do it?
 
According to Nielsen, it’s a culture and attitude of service to others that comes from within. “Honestly, you don’t have to go around the world or across the oceans to do the type of service we do. You can do it around your neighborhood corners or across the back fence. There are people we can serve all around us. You don’t have to go out of your way to serve someone – you can simply do it on your way.”
 
Nielsen points out about 609,000 people are living in Utah County, Utah, and about 72,000 of them live below the poverty line.
 
“That’s why our Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Foundation started free clinics to help the indigent, under-served, non-insured and those without the means to receive the healthcare they need,” he said. “These people are in poverty, they’re under-resourced and have no means to pay for these services, just as the people in Africa are. We need to reach out to them to help give them opportunities they wouldn’t typically have.
 
“There is a peaceful feeling that just comes over you in helping others. We have all experienced it. We all have the opportunity to serve and help others here in our communities as well as in other parts of the world,” said Nielsen.
 
For Arda, who has no intention of slowing down her dressmaking, the story is similar, but also different. She has seen and heard the stories of horrific conditions young girls have gone through and has a strong desire to help them and bring them happiness. She keeps a folder of pictures of all the dresses she has made. Among them are photos sent to her of girls wearing her dresses. One shows four girls rescued from sex trafficking.
 
“When I get tired, and when my hand hurts really bad, I look at that picture,” said Arda. “Their smiles remind me [my discomforts] are nothing compared to what they have gone through. So, I just keep going. I kept going for four years. The swelling, the ripped ligaments, and the pain are all worth it when I see those smiling faces. I know they and many other girls are receiving help and happiness with some of the work I do.” 

I’ve treasured providing many public relations programs for great organizations over the years. Several of those experiences rise to the top as the most enjoyable. Trying to understand why some were more gratifying than others, I made a discovery while reflecting on the words found in Greg McKeown’s excellent book, essentialism: A Disciplined Pursuit of Less[i].
 
A small section about mission statements in his chapter about eliminating the trivial jumped out at me. After showing three mission statements that leave readers scratching their heads, McKeown pointed out, “The largely indistinguishable statements make the task almost impossible. Such vague, inflated mission statements may still be considered “’best practice’” in some quarters, but in many cases they do not achieve what they were intended to achieve: to inspire their employees with a clear sense of purpose.” (emphasis added)
 
I realized at that moment, the most enjoyable and successful PR programs over the years were for organizations who had a clear purpose – not necessarily a clear mission statement, but a clear mission.
 
I’ve found what McKeown found; when there is a sense of purpose or mission permeating the organization, everyone understands and does all they can to accomplish the mission—and they enjoy it. In McKeown’s words, “motivation and cooperation deteriorate when there is a lack of purpose. You can train leaders on communication and teamwork and conduct 360 feedback reports until you are blue in the face, but if a team does not have clarity of goals and roles, problems will fester and multiply.”
 
This is why, after more than 20 years providing successful public relations services for some of the best PR firms and organizations in the country, I’m proud to open Maloy PR, LLC, a full-service public relations firm located in the heart of Silicon Slopes offering high-value public relations programs to serve purpose-driven organizations. Some of the most successful PR programs are for organizations driven by a purpose to help the world become a better place – a clear mission. Maloy PR's mission is to assist organizations in achieving their mission through public relations.
 
Maloy PR looks at the mission as much more than a statement but as a determined understanding of how an organization wants to help people live better lives – a belief permeating their culture and driving every decision they make.
 
There is much satisfaction in helping organizations help other people. We’re not talking just nonprofit organizations either; there are plenty of profit-driven causes doing much for the world.
 
We’re opening Maloy PR in Lehi City the fast-growing economic engine in Utah. We get to live and work in the heart of one of the fastest growing business locations in the country – Silicon Slopes. There isn’t an organization anywhere that isn’t looking at Lehi individually and Utah overall to locate primary operations or businesses. Utah is where business is happening, and we’re excited to be a part of it.
 
Maloy PR offers high-value public relations programs at reasonable prices. We have no expensive operating costs or overhead, which allows us to provide higher service at better rates.
 
If you believe your organization is on a mission, let us know. We’ll sit down with you and develop a customized public relations program specifically designed to help you accomplish your mission.
__________________________
[i] Greg McKeown, essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, New York, Crown Business, 2014, Vol. I, 120 – 121.

Nearly a year ago, ​Shauna Lake, a longtime news anchor for the Salt Lake City CBS affiliate, experienced the effects of a high-profile mistake after a Utah State Highway Patrol officer pulled her over for suspicion of driving under the influence and arrested her after she failed a field sobriety test.

She later plead guilty to a reduced charge of "impaired driving, a class B misdemeanor, in place of the class B misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence she originally faced."

The incident should stand as a reminder of a few key points for communicators. First, we are all susceptible to making mistakes and facing the consequences. Second, the higher your public stature in your community or among your key publics, the greater your consequences seem to be.

Business leaders and other high-profile people can learn best practices on handling personal mistakes by looking at how Lake managed her own mistake.
​
After the media fallout of her arrest and after a week of being off air, Lake returned to her anchor post and began the newscast with a two-minute apology. As a result, she has been widely accepted back by her colleagues and the public following the embarrassing incident.

​Her experience, and how she handled it, can be summed up in four key areas worth remembering:

• Accept Responsibility – The public is often willing to forgive mistakes if the person is prepared to take responsibility for their actions. Case in point, during Lake’s on-air apology she said, “I made a serious lapse in judgment. I drank alcohol after I got off work and then I chose to get behind the wheel of my car.”

• Express humility wrapped in courage – Lake expressed deep regret during her emotionally charged apology. And while it might not be evident to viewers, she exercised great courage in making her sincere apology during a prime time newscast to her entire audience. “It was selfish. I could have hurt someone else or myself,” she said.

• Offer a real and sincere apology with no conditions – Your audience can’t and won’t accept your apology unless it is sincere – genuinely authentic. “You have invited me into your home night-after-night for 23 years,” said Lake. “You have trusted me, and considered me your friend and for that, I am so sorry.”

• Accept the consequences – It’s tough to provide a sincere apology if you are unwilling to accept the consequences. Lake hopes she can regain the trust of her audience. Many have already given back their trust, but she is willing to face the fact that many might not. “I also know that some of you are very angry and disappointed with me, and you have every right to be. What I did was wrong,” she said. “I just hope over time, night-by-night, you can learn to trust me again.”

We have seen the public time and time again refuse to accept the apology of business leaders or other high-profile people. Sometimes this is due to grievous actions or crimes that have a detrimental effect. For example, it may have been an entirely different story for Lake if her mistake had caused an accident that hurt people.

It is not a guarantee of success, but communicators facing these situations would be wise to advise their clients on the side of honesty, sincerity, and courage – following the four steps Lake expressed with her apology. Doing so increases the possibility they may experience what Lake expressed, “this has been the most painful and challenging experience of my life. However, I believe it might possibly turn out to be the most defining experience of my life as well.”

An early version of this article appears on the blog of Snapp Conner PR.

Apiary's Shawn Lucas examines the hype around the weakening U.S. dollar and points out it is a long way from losing its global prominence. Read more.

Wasatch Educational updated its proposal to the Provo Municipal Council to build and open a proposed medical education campus that will include the proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine and later the home of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions on the North Wedge (northwestern) part of the East Bay Golf Course.
 
Following a December 5 public meeting regarding the topic, Mayor Michelle Kaufusi encouraged all parties to work together to find a potential solution, which they did. Wasatch Educational, Provo Parks and Recreation, Provo Economic Development, and East Bay Golf course refined the proposal to ensure a better balance between the development and the existing uses of the site.
 
“As a group, we collaborated to develop consensus and agreement on the proposed medical school location,” said Dr. Richard Nielsen, vice president of Wasatch Educational and founding president of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. “We feel great about this updated proposal for the Provo Municipal Council’s consideration. For us, it has always been about working in good faith through the details, listening to the people of Provo, and working to create a solution where everyone benefits. We plan to be great neighbors with the East Bay Golf Course and all who play there including loyal golfers, local high school teams, parents, children and teens, and tournament participants.”
 
“After listening to all sides regarding this proposal, I encouraged all the parties to work together on creating a solution that would be good for all involved that the Municipal Council could review and hopefully approve,” said Mayor Kaufusi. “I’m glad to see they have done just that. This proposal that will go before the Municipal Council for their consideration has the potential to be a wonderful outcome for our city, for future potential medical students, and for golfers who love and play at East Bay.”
 
Under the proposal, Wasatch Educational will locate its proposed medical education campus, on approximately 21 acres of the northwestern portion of the East Bay Golf Course and a privately owned 7.8 acre parcel of land currently under contract.
 
Additionally, the updated proposal includes the following items, all collaboratively agreed upon by Wasatch Educational, the Provo City Administration, the East Bay Golf Course, and Provo City Parks and Recreation:

• Scale back the SC-3 Regional Shopping Center Zone to be equal to the North Wedge only, that portion to be developed.
• The balance of the golf course that will remain as a golf course be rezoned to PF Public Facility Zone, which includes rezoning the southeast area (former Kuhni Property) from PIC Planned Industrial Commercial Zone to PF.
• Request that the Council make a strong statement that they have no intent or desire to expand or make available for development beyond the North Wedge.
• Wasatch Educational will make a strong statement of support for the recommend changes to the zoning outlined in this proposal.
• That a text amendment be approved by Provo City to allow educational uses in the SC-3 Zone.
• If Provo City determines to surplus the property, that Wasatch Educational would have the right of first offer.

 
“We voice our strongest possible support to these zoning recommendations,” said Nielsen. “We are grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to listen to the community and each of these city partners to make these recommendations to the Municipal Council and to the people of Provo.”
 
The developers of the proposed medical education campus will pay for the relocation of the three current holes to the southeastern portion of the golf course. The new holes will be designed, relocated and playable before construction on the proposed medical education campus begins.
 
“We feel this revised collaborative proposal provides the opportunity for a proposed medical education campus while giving the current users of the golf course assurances that their activities will not be adversely impacted,” said Scott Henderson, director, Provo City Parks and Recreation.
 
It should be noted, all information related to this updated proposal is subject to approval by the Provo Municipal Council who contributed to the recommendations during the Dec. 5 public and Municipal Council meeting. A public open house is planned for Jan. 4, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Provo Recreation Center and a public meeting is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2018 during the Municipal Council meeting.
 
About Wasatch Educational
 
Founded and located in Provo, Utah in 1998, Wasatch Educational is the holding company of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Its mission is to promote and develop healthcare education institutions. Wasatch Educational will manage the development of the proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine. www.wasatcheducational.com
 
The proposed Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine would be an independent and freestanding institution overseen by a Governing Board located in Provo, Utah.
 
Founded and located in Provo, Utah in 1998, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP), is a regionally accredited institution under the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. This accreditation is the highest achievable in the United States. RMUoHP is nationally recognized for evidence-based, outcomes-oriented healthcare education. RMUoHP is an exclusive graduate healthcare education institution with a reputation for high-quality, rigorous healthcare education programs (currently 12 doctoral programs or doctoral tracks and four master’s degree programs in different healthcare specialties) and has a diverse student body and faculty with alumni from Utah and all 50 states. www.rmuohp.edu
 
###

Apiary Fund released a new service called Fast Track to Funding, which provides new and current traders with one-on-one instruction with one of the company’s head traders to help them get to their funded accounts faster.
 
The Apiary Fund is a proprietary trading fund. Members receive access to trading training and coaching. They learn by trading unfunded practice accounts. When they reach a certain level of trading skill, they receive an actual account and trade using Apiary's money. As they succeed, the fund shares a significant part of the profits they earn with them.
 
The Fast Track to Funding helps traders get to their funded account quicker.
 
“When we first started the Apiary Fund, there was just two of us managing the fund and our new customers,” said Shawn Lucas, head trader and founder of Apiary Fund. “We were able to provide a lot of one-on-one help and support. As we grew, it became much more difficult to provide that level of service. But realizing the value in it, we decided it was time to offer that level of service again to help you get funded – to help you get to the point where you’re successful at the Apiary Fund.”
 
Apiary Fund currently has over 500 funded traders and a few thousand people in the development stages. The goal of Fast Track to Funding is to help those in the development stages get to their funded accounts quicker and more successfully.
 
“You know, trading is hard,” said Lucas. “The skill development that is required to become good is not easy, but with this new process, we hope to guide our traders and make it a bit easier for them.”
 
Fast Track to Funding is available now for current and new customers for a small fee. Participants will join Apiary Fund head traders in small groups to map out exactly how to get through the development and beeline process directly to funding.
 
About Apiary Fund
 
Located in Orem, Utah, Apiary Fund is a private company that develops traders and gives people the opportunity to seek the freedom of flexible income by trading with our money. Through technology and education, we empower our traders to work toward their path to success.  http://www.apiaryfund.com/
​

Here is a statement from Wasatch Educational providing accurate information about the upcoming medical school in Provo:
​Considering current discussions in the community and on social media related to a new medical school coming to Provo and its proposed location, those managing the medical school development wish to provide accurate information about the relationship of the medical school with Provo’s East Bay golf course prior to the official forthcoming medical school announcement.
 
The founders of Provo’s Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) are the visionaries managing the development of the new freestanding medical school under the direction of Wasatch Educational, the holding company of RMUoHP. Wasatch Educational is currently working with the City of Provo to finalize a proposal, subject to approval by the Provo City Council, to build the medical school on 24 acres of the northwestern portion of the East Bay Golf Course (approximately 11 percent of the total golf course acreage).
 
The development and construction of the medical school includes professionally relocating three current holes to the southeast corner of the existing course at the expense of the developers. This will enhance the existing 18-hole Championship Course with no change to the existing 7-hole executive Short Course, Driving Range, and all other buildings and property currently on the course. The East Bay Golf Course will remain a viable community jewel for years to come.  
 
Wasatch Educational will integrate extensive green space in and around the medical school campus, creating a park-like atmosphere that both protects and preserves the environment, nature, wildlife, and bird life.
 
The economic impact of the proposed education facilities to the City of Provo and Utah County during the next ten years includes 1,588 jobs, $83.1 million in construction business, and approximately $100 million annual business infusion. It is anticipated that the medical school will be a magnet for many more health, medical, biomedical, biotechnology, and related spin-off businesses, which may add hundreds of well-paying jobs and property tax monies to the community. Additionally, this proposed initiative should result in more than $8 million directed to the Provo School District in the first 15 years.
 
The new medical school will join other Utah medical schools in developing physicians desperately needed to stem the tide of a national physician shortage. In fact, in Utah approximately 375 new physicians are needed each year to meet the growing medical needs. More than 400 students per year leave Utah to attend medical schools out of state and most do not return. Utah presently ranks near the bottom nationally at 43 out of 50 in overall physicians to population ratios and 49 out of 50 in primary care physicians to population ratios.
 
Creating a new medical school in Provo provides great opportunities to bring better access to healthcare for Utah residents and provides huge economic benefit.  Additionally, opportunities for internship programs will be made available to Utah County junior and high school students interested in pursuing a medical/healthcare career.
 
Wasatch Educational
www.wasatcheducational.com
[email protected]

Apiary Fund's Shawn Lucas penned an OpEd, which appeared in the Deseret News. He points out the strong history of 'firsts' Utah experienced since statehood within the financial industry that lead to the strong financial technology industry we have today in Silicon Slopes. Here's the link to read the OpEd: A rich Utah financial history fuels growth in Silicon Slopes.

Customers buy and sell gold, silver and other metals alongside their Apiary trading activitie

Apiary Fund announced today it is officially a dealer in metal bullion and offers its traders the opportunity to use the company's purchasing power to buy and sell precious metals – silver, gold, palladium, platinum, and others – to hedge their portfolios.
 
People interested in investing in metals should contact Apiary Fund directly. Each investor decides the volume of metal they want to buy and Apiary sells the physical asset to them at a slight premium over the spot market price.
 
"We encourage investors and our traders to consider buying hard assets such as metals to hedge against the volatility of paper assets found in many investment portfolios," said Shawn Lucas, CEO, and founder of Apiary Fund. "Our ability to purchase bullion in bulk allows us to offer metals at a better price than may be available at other locations."
 
Apiary Fund will also buy metals for its own inventory from its traders.
 
"As we deal more and more in metals, we foresee a day when we are buying and selling metals a majority of the time among our thousands of traders," said Lucas. "This provides a strong hedge for our traders as well as the Apiary Fund."
 
For more than a year, Apiary traders traded metal contracts. Today they can buy and sell physical metals. The transaction adds shipping costs of the metal to the buyer’s location.
 
Apiary Fund points out three key reasons to consider investing in metals:

• Leverage: They can tap into the purchasing power of the Apiary Fund to buy gold and silver at lower rates than other bullion dealers.
• Hedging: Traders often have volatile portfolios that continually go up or down based on market conditions. Physical assets such as gold and silver protect their portfolios against this volatility.
• Speculative purposes:  Apiary doesn't recommend buying and selling gold for speculative purposes, but it is available for those purposes if investors want to speculate about the increase in the value of their purchase.

 
Apiary Fund buys and sells in the spot market. As an institutional fund managed by thousands of traders around the world, Apiary employs the same hedging strategies and techniques it teaches its traders. Apiary traders use the purchasing power of the Apiary fund to get better pricing.
 
About Apiary Fund
 
Located in Orem, Utah, Apiary Fund is a private company that develops traders and gives people the opportunity to seek the freedom of flexible income by trading with our money. Through technology and education, we empower our traders to work toward their path to success.  http://www.apiaryfund.com/