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Interviews and case studies with nine top business leaders reveal how extraordinary customer service brings high profit, brand loyalty, and a vibrant workplace, and show how you can implement their techniques in your own business. For more than twenty years, Dan Sachs has helped established and emerging businesses use hospitality practices to strengthen employee morale, customer retention, and profits. In The Million Dollar Greeting , readers accompany Sachs as he travels across the United States and Canada, interviewing leaders from both large and small companies, including: Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s Delicatessen) Rob Siefker (Zappos) Mike McDerment (FreshBooks) Steve Hindy (Brooklyn Brewery) Richard Coraine (Union Square Hospitality Group) Mark Hoplamazian (Hyatt Hotels) Paul Speigelman (BerylHealth) Jerrod Melman (Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises) Nick Sarillo (Nick’s Pizza & Pub) Each of the companies featured is consistently profitable with its success directly tied to its exceptional customer satisfaction and employees who rank their organization in the top places to work in North America. The original words of the business owners, including their practices, are shared and analyzed by Sachs. Instructional takeaways are written for the business world as it exists today and with consideration for expected changes over the coming years. Topics covered include answering the question of what modern-day hospitality is and why it matters in the digital age; what interpersonal practices, such as the use of empathy, lead to brand loyalty, high financial rewards, and the retention of top employees; how to create a dynamic work culture and the best ways to support employees of different age groups, from baby boomers to millennials; and what practices will grow increasingly critical for businesses to implement over the coming years.

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“[A] gritty, true-crime narrative…with hard-edged prose and a total absence of cheap moralizing…[A] stark and gripping account.”— Kirkus Reviews "The historical fact that the city of Boston has seen more than its share of this breed – boxers who became intertwined with the criminal underworld – is the literary gold that author Don Stradley mines so beautifully in this book. There are moments of triumph in the ring, and some failures; Stradley is right to focus as much on the boxing careers (often misbegotten) of these men as well as their criminal associations and habits."—T.J. English, from the Foreword From the pages of Slaughter in the Streets: When Boston Became Boxing’s Murder Capital … Frankie spent the final seconds of his life the way James Cagney might’ve in an old Warner Bros crime drama: – he stumbled down the hallway and into the office of an attorney who had leased space in the building. A female stenographer who had been at her desk filling out Christmas cards looked on in horror; the sound of guns a moment earlier had shattered the holiday mood, and now she was confronted by the sight of Frankie in the doorway, blood gushing from his wounds. Without saying a word, he walked in and sat in a chair. Then he pitched forward, dead. In Slaughter in the Streets , Don Stradley masterfully unfolds the story of how Boston became «boxing's murder capital.» From the early days of Boston's Mafia, to the era of Whitey Bulger, Stradley tells the fascinating stories of men who were drawn to the dual shady worlds of boxing and the mob. Boston was once a thriving boxing city. And it was also host to an ever-expanding underworld. From the early days of Boston's Mafia, to the era of Whitey Bulger, many of the city’s boxers found themselves drawn to the criminal life. Most of them ended up dead. Slaughter in the Streets tells the violent and often tragic story of these misguided young men who thought their toughness in the ring could protect them from the most cold-blooded killers in the country. Slaughter in the Streets: When Boston Became Boxing's Murder Capital is the third in the Hamilcar Noir series. Hamilcar Noir is «Hard-Hitting True Crime» that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels.

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"If I wake up, I know I'm a success. The day I don't wake up, I know I'll be home. I have one foot on this earth and one foot has crossed over. I didn’t just die, I lived.”—Johnny Tapia…the ghost of Johnny Tapia lives on. “Mi Vida Loca” (My Crazy Life) was Johnny Tapia’s nickname and his reason for being. Haunted by the brutal murder of his beloved mother when he was a child, fighting and drugs gave him the escape he craved—and he did both with gusto. In The Ghost Of Johnny Tapia , Paul Zanon, with the help of Tapia’s widow Teresa, tells the harrowing and unforgettable story of a boxing genius who couldn’t, in the end, defeat his demons. The Ghost of Johnny Tapia is the second in the Hamilcar Noir series. Hamilcar Noir is «Hard-Hitting True Crime» that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels. From the Foreword: "Johnny had incredible heart, was such a sweet man, but was also tormented. He had two sides to him. The sweetest, nicest guy, but then the other side which could probably kill you. He was tortured with his addictions, but Johnny was always pure emotion in that ring."—Sammy ‘The Red Rocker’ Hagar, Musician

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“Stradley [has]…a clipped, hard-hitting narrative style that makes no excuses and offers no apologies. Boxing fans interested in this…tragic figure should be captivated. A gritty, absorbing account of a boxer who couldn’t defeat his own inner demons.”— Kirkus Reviews From the pages of Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero … "There’s no telling what went on during the next few hours, or where his paranoia took him, but in that room something terrible happened. At 5:30 a.m. Valero appeared in the lobby. As calmly as one might order something from room service, he told the staff that he had just killed his wife." Within the dark pages of Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero , author Don Stradley uncovers the gritty details of the undefeated (27-0, 27 KO), troubled, boxer Edwin Valero. Edwin Valero’s life was like a rocket shot into a wall. With a perfect knockout record in twenty-seven fights, the demonic Venezuelan boxer, known as “El Inca” and “El Dinamita,” seemed destined for a clash with all-time great Manny Pacquiao. But the Fates had other ideas. Fueled by cocaine and booze and paranoia, Valero blazed into a mania that derailed his career in the ring and resulted in the brutal death of his young wife Jennifer–and soon afterward, his own. In chilling detail, Don Stradley captures one of the darkest and most sensational boxing stories in recent memory, which, until now, has never been fully told. Filled with firsthand accounts from the men who trained Valero and the reporters who covered him, as well as insights from psychologists and forensic experts, Berserk is a hell-ride of a book. Berserk is the first in the Hamilcar Noir series, from Hamilcar Publications. Hamilcar Noir is «Hard-Hitting True Crime» that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels.

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"[Ron Lyle's] life was a remarkable one and the story of it worth re-telling, which makes the book’s new edition thoroughly welcome. Off The Ropes is absolutely recommended reading."—Gary Lucken, Boxing Monthly "Nobody ever hit me that hard. No question. I’ll remember that punch on my deathbed. A great puncher, a great guy."—Earnie Shavers In a life as tough as his battles in the ring, Ron Lyle had already served hard time for second-degree murder before he started his amateur boxing career at the age of twenty-nine. After he turned pro, fans knew him as the man who had Muhammad Ali beat on the scorecards for ten rounds in a fight for the heavyweight title; as the man who fought George Foreman in a legendary brawl with four knockdowns that nearly saw Foreman knocked cold; and as the man who was arrested for murder a second time. Off the Ropes: The Ron Lyle Story is not your typical boxing biography, exploring not only the greatest era of heavyweights in boxing history, but also telling an equally compelling personal tale. Ron Lyle grew up in the Denver projects, one of nineteen children in a tight-knit, religious family. At twenty, he was convicted for a disputed gang killing and served seven and a half years at the Colorado State Penitentiary at Cañon City, where at one point he was nearly shanked to death, and where he learned to box before he was paroled in 1969. After a meteoric amateur career, he turned pro in 1971, and over the next six years established an outstanding professional record, which, in addition to the near misses against Ali and Foreman, included a brutal knockout win over one of the era's most feared fighters, big-punching Earnie Shavers. Then, in 1978, Lyle was indicted for murder a second time and, even though he was acquitted, his career was effectively over. The years that followed were filled with struggle, a captivating love story, and eventual redemption. Today, a youth center in Denver that he ran still bears his name. Off the Ropes: The Ron Lyle Story is the poignant, uplifting biography of a singular man.

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When looking for advice or seeking an answer, where do you turn? Do you have a trusted ally, a respected colleague or wise relative who gives you insight? Or do you look within?
Tangible Intuition – Clarity Through Body Insights is an interactive guidebook that will help you clearly understand how intuition speaks. You will learn how to read your body's insights so that you are better able to make solid decisions, gain deeper confidence, and be more successful in all areas of your life.
Imagine what it feels like to know – in any given moment – what to do, how to do it, when to do it, or not to.
Imagine what your life looks like and how you feel with that empowered, insightful knowledge.
Imagine how much easier life is having the answers you need.
Imagine how much more fulfilling your relationships are because you trust yourself completely.
Imagine how enjoyable life is having more of what you want and less of what you don’t need.
Imagine how much more success you have because of the profound confidence with which you make your decisions.
Imagine that life is yours. It starts by following your intuition
“So many books are long on generalities and short on applicable content. This book offers fresh, exciting insights that are compelling and powerful. If you want to remove the obstacles and create the life of our dreams, read this book, apply Julie’s wisdom, and you can have it.” – Jim Britt, Author & Peak Performance Expert

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Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League is a brilliant reimagining and republication of Jonathan Odell’s debut novel, The View from Delphi.
Set in pre-Civil Rights Mississippi, and inspired by his Mississippi childhood, Odell tells the story of two young mothers, Hazel and Vida – one wealthy and white and the other poor and black – who have only two things in common: the devastating loss of their children, and a deep and abiding loathing for one another.
Embittered and distrusting, Vida is harassed by Delphi’s racist sheriff and haunted by the son she lost to the world. Hazel, too, has lost a son and can’t keep a grip on her fractured life. After drunkenly crashing her car into a manger scene while gunning for the baby Jesus, Hazel is sedated and bed-ridden. Hazel’s husband hires Vida to keep tabs on his unpredictable wife and to care for his sole surviving son. Forced to spend time together with no one else to rely on, the two women find they have more in common than they thought, and together they turn the town on its head. It is the story of a town, a people, and a culture on the verge of a great change that begins with small things, like unexpected friendship.

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When Helen Honeycutt falls in love with Emmet Justice, a charismatic television journalist who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident, their sudden marriage creates a rift between her new husband and his oldest friends, who resent Helen’s intrusion into their tightly knit circle. Hoping to mend fences, the newlyweds join the group for a summer at his late wife’s family home in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Helen soon falls under the spell not only of the little mountain town and its inhabitants, but also of Moonrise, her predecessor’s Victorian mansion, named for its unique but now sadly neglected nocturnal gardens. But the harder Helen tries to fit in, the more obvious it is that she will never measure up to the woman she replaced. Someone is clearly determined to drive her away, but who wants her gone, and why? As Emmet grows more remote, Helen reaches out to the others in the group, only to find that she can’t trust anyone. When she stumbles on the secret behind her predecessor’s untimely death, Helen must decide if she can ever trust—or love—again.

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The American Dream turned into a nightmare when the housing bubble burst, and people have been trying to figure out who to blame- Greedy bankers? Corrupt politicians? Ignorant homeowners? In American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Homeownership, Randal O'Toole explores the forces at play in the housing market and shows how we can rebuild the American dream of homeownership by eliminating federal, state, and local policies that distort the free market for housing.

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In <i>Bootleggers & Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics</i>, economists Bruce Yandle and Adam Smith explain how money and morality are often combined in politics to produce arbitrary regulations benefiting cronies, while constraining productive economic activities by the general public. Yandle’s theory asserts that regulatory “bootleggers” are parties taking political action in pursuit of economic gain. Regulatory “Baptists” are parties participating in group action driven by an avowed higher moral purpose or desire to serve the public interest.<br><br>By examining major regulatory activities including Obamacare, the recent financial crisis bailouts, climate change legislation, and rules governing “sinful” substances, <i>Bootleggers & Baptists</i> reveals that lasting regulations require moral and financial advocacy to survive the American political process. With countless regulatory initiatives on the horizon, this book is a must-read for all who are concern about over-regulation and government intrusion in our daily lives.

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