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BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
 Hi Everyone,
Women have always been my mentors. I dedicated my book to my grandma, my mom, and my two sisters—the nicest people I know—and I will always be indebted to some of my earlier mentors, including authors Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson, and Rita Davenport. Women have taught me about kindness, forgiveness, honoring relationships, and so much more. So it only makes sense that if I have any type of influence in this world, I want to use it specifically in philanthropic efforts that benefit women. That’s why, for the second year in a row, I want to dedicate this issue of the newsletter to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer in women. The American Cancer Society expects about 180,510 new cases of breast cancer in the United States in 2007 (178,480 women, 2,030 men), and they estimate approximately 40,910 breast cancer deaths for the year (40,460 women, 450 men). Numerous studies have shown that early detection can save lives and increase treatment options. My message is simple: If you’re a woman, please follow your health care provider’s recommendations for regular mammograms and other life-saving breast evaluations. And please remind all the women you know and love to do the same.
Remember, raising money and awareness for a serious issue doesn’t have to be serious. I love the approach some people and organizations take, such as Save 2nd Base (www.save2ndbase.com).
 Founded in honor of 43-year-old Kelly Rooney who lost her life to breast cancer, Save 2nd Base sells fun T-shirts and donates half the profits to the Kelly Rooney Foundation. Their motto is, “Breast cancer is no laughing matter but we can fight it with humor.” You’ll also meet some other groups and individuals in this month’s newsletter who are bringing awareness to this important issue in fun, unique ways.
Thanks for helping me live my fantasy of spreading this BE NICE message and giving nice people a voice.
XOXO, Winn
A BE NICE Story
Do you have a BE NICE story to share? Send it to editor@BeNiceOrElse.com. If it appears in the newsletter, you’ll receive a BE NICE T-shirt and CD!
I love hearing from our readers. I am always so honored that you trust me with your stories of growth. This month’s letter came from Andréa Torres, an amazing woman filled with passion and humility.
Dear Winn,
 One of your recent newsletters was about giving up a bad habit. On June 22, 2007, I gave up smoking. Your newsletters always coincide with something in my life’s journey.
This past month has been horrible. I am feeling walked on—better yet, trampled. I don’t want to be nice anymore. My heart has been broken. I’ve watched The Godfather so many times in the past month that I wanted to start thinking on the defense.
You’ll be happy to know that just doesn’t work for me. I’m still crying, even as I type this to you, because the letter from Benny Spandy in last month’s newsletter made me feel so much better. Benny didn’t care if people thought he was crazy, and I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m crazy when I pick up garbage on the street, or buy my daughters’ friends ice cream all the time, or give a free service in my beauty salon to someone who’s having a hard time even though I’m having a hard time myself. Maybe I shouldn’t be in business, but I agree with Stella Davis who said that a business is like a church. Many people have walked though the door of my salon and have been touched. We’ve loved, hugged, cried, and most of the time laughed with our small family. Our salon loves you up!
Maybe I’ll never be rich with money. My success lies within and through my daughters. It’s pretty cool to see your single-digit-aged kids notice a sad look in someone’s eyes and want to do something about it.
This difficult time has reminded me that I will always be nice because that is who I am. Your newsletter may have given me one more breath to keep on going. If I stop believing in people, I’ll start smoking again.
Thanks for listening/reading,
Andréa Torres
West Orange, New Jersey
BE NICE News
“FREE HUGS” MOVEMENT SWEEPS THE NATION
An Internet-spread music video that originally aired in 2004 has reached millions of viewers and inspired people all over the world. In the video, “Juan Mann” (not his real name) walks through a mall holding up a “Free Hugs” sign and offering hugs to strangers. People are distrustful at first, but soon they begin to accept hugs, offer hugs to others, and even help Juan obtain 10,000 signatures for his petition after security guards and police force him to stop.
The video was released on YouTube on September 22, 2006. By December 2006, it had been viewed over 18 million times.
 Inspired by the heartwarming film, students at Paul Mitchell Schools have been giving free hugs all year long. On their first day of school, students at one school watched the Free Hugs video, made signs, and headed downtown. An Iraqi man was so impressed with the gesture that he bought coffee drinks and lunches for everyone in the group, saying, “This is a message sent from heaven telling me that I have to give back.” When another group held a Free Hugs event in their school parking lot, news crews showed up and aired the story on TV. This isn’t just a “cute” thing to do, this is so powerful that even the news channels are rushing to catch the story because they think it’s that profound.
 People often think they can only make a difference by writing out a big check, but this just goes to show that making a difference doesn’t have to cost a cent.
The students also made their own video to help inspire others. CLICK HERE to view.
A DAY OF BEAUTY FOR 7 DISPLACED WOMEN
 After Sister Bonnie Steinlage visited the Scot Lewis Paul Mitchell Partner School in Boise, Idaho, future professional Erika Kunzler was so moved that she organized a day of beauty for seven women from a local rehab center and homeless shelter. Her school and the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation donated over $1,500 for new shoes, clothes, makeup, and beauty products, and Erika and some classmates provided makeovers. When other cosmetology schools learned about the project, they contacted the shelter and offered to continue it. “I love philanthropy,” Erika says. “Once people are empowered, the world is changed!” CLICK HERE to view the video Erika created.
Monthly Audio Message
SANDRA FINESTONE
 A breast cancer diagnosis in 1983 changed Sandra Finestone’s life in ways she could never have imagined. Seeing the lack of support for the husbands of breast cancer patients prompted her to develop a program. Sandra was instrumental in the formation of the Orange County Breast Cancer Coalition and the Women’s Implant Information Network. She soon became active in many other breast cancer organizations and was asked to speak on many occasions. As a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, she sat in on discussion panels but felt that she wasn’t taken seriously because she didn’t have the right “initials” after her name. Angry and determined to make a difference, Sandra went back to school and earned her doctorate in psychology. “Now when Dr. Finestone talks, people listen,” she says.
While still maintaining her accounting practice with her husband, Sandra is now the coordinator of cancer patient services at Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach, California. She has testified before the Food and Drug Administration and participated in the Institute of Medicine hearing. She was asked to speak at the British Medical Academy and has done interviews with both British and American radio and television. She has received the American Cancer Society’s Service Volunteer of the Year, Quality of Life, and Courage awards; Nordstrom’s Spirit of Volunteerism award; J.C. Penney’s Spirit of Volunteerism award; BMW’s Local Hero award; Kellogg’s You Can Make a Difference award; the Orange County Komen Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year and the International Komen Foundation’s Lifetime Volunteer of the Year; as well as Soroptomist Woman of the year and the YWCA’s award for Outstanding Achievement in Health and Wellness.
“I would like people to know that they don’t have to do big things to make a big difference,” Sandra says.
 CLICK HERE for this month’s special MASTERS interview with Sandra Finestone. Listen in as she offers creative ways to help you become informed about breast cancer and get ready to do your part for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
If you enjoyed this month’s audio message, you’ll love our MASTERS Audio Club. CLICK HERE for more information.
People Profile
LINDA and SHERRI MARTENS
 Linda Martens began her professional career as a hairstylist in 1974. Seven years later, she became a beauty products distributor, founding Elite Salon Systems in her Miami home. The company soon moved into rented warehouse space, and eventually purchased a competitor’s warehouse for their corporate facility.
Devoted to giving back to the Miami and South Florida community, Linda kept herself and her staff involved in developing and implementing programs for charities and the environment, including the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Cerebral Palsy Organization, and the Humane Society.
 After Linda lost her battle with breast cancer in 2006, daughter Sherri Martens picked up where her mom left off. As president of Elite Salon Systems, Sherri decided to honor her mother by raising $100,000 for the Komen foundation. “I feel blessed to have had such a wonderful mother, business partner, and best friend,” Sherri says. “If through the money we raised at Elite, we can prevent one mother, one daughter, help one woman detect her cancer in its early stages and save her from the pain my mom experienced, all our hard work put into fundraising will have paid off.”
Sherri achieved her goal through a series of “Year of Care” events, including the sale of “Year of Care” gear, two huge fundraising parties, cut-a-thons with local hair salons, and a “Pose for the Cure” photo shoot. “Thanks to the dedication and help of many, we have met this goal,” Sherri says. “Hopefully with all our efforts we can help in the ‘race for the cure’ and save at least one person from going through all the pain my mom experienced by making more people aware of the importance of early detection.”
Corporate Corner
 Can you imagine a company with a motto of “BE MEAN”? Of course not. But the absence of a strong mission statement and campaign to create a BE NICE culture will, by default, create a mean one. If you’re not consciously and actively choosing and pursuing BE NICE in your organization, then you’re choosing BE MEAN. You can’t hang out somewhere in the middle. There’s not much gray area here, nor is there room for a wishy-washy, spineless resolve like, “We’re pretty nice, sometimes, when we have to be.”
I believe that all organizations, companies, businesses, stores, and families must consciously and actively adopt and promote the beliefs and practices of being nice.
One way to incorporate BE NICE into your business plan is to literally stock your shelves with copies of the book, Be Nice (Or Else!). Not only can you make money by selling the book, but making it part of your retail display will send a strong message to your staff and customers. One receptionist at Southwest Airlines had read the book and kept it visibly displayed at the front desk. She said the book created conversations with people, and they actually treated her better.
Make no mistake—your customers are attracted to you more by your enthusiasm than by your marble floors; more by your cheerful disposition and love for what you do than by your sleek business cards; more by your company standards for respecting human beings than by your multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. When you make BE NICE a daily priority, your company or business will reap the rewards.
CLICK HERE for Be Nice (Or Else!) quantity pricing.
Do Something!
SIX TIPS FOR BEING NICE
By Jessica Levine
 We ran across these six tips on an Internet blog and wanted to know more about the person who wrote them. Jessica Levine, 27, is a full-time college student in Tampa, Florida. She works full-time in the marketing services department of a national magazine publisher and part time as a fitness attendant for the YMCA. If this busy young woman can still be nice, anyone can! After seeing some nasty postings on an Internet blog, Jessica posted her Six Tips for Being Nice, based on Winn Claybaugh’s book, Be Nice (Or Else!).
I always treat others the way I want to be treated. I know the Golden Rule doesn’t always apply in certain situations, but being kind doesn’t hurt. Have a great day and enjoy these tips!
1. Smile. A smile will let people know that you are pleasant and inviting. It is up to you to set the mood of the encounter. Make it happy by being the first to smile and introduce yourself!
2. Say hello. Try to acknowledge other people’s presence with a simple “hello” or “hi” and introduction in your e-mail and voicemail messages. Ask people how they are doing. Take the time to ask someone how things are going in their lives, without being nosy or intrusive. If they don’t respond to messages, just let them know you’re always around to talk to, and that you want them to be all right.
3. Be a good listener. Listen when other people are talking to you. It isn’t nice to just ignore other people’s opinions and stories. If you find that someone is becoming rude or pushy, acknowledge their opinion, issue a compliment (“Having your own set of values and beliefs is pretty admirable”), and excuse yourself politely. Nobody is forcing you to be here.
4. Be positive. Don’t be negative or critical. Keep looking for the positive in any situation.
5. Be humble. The key to being nice is remembering that you are not better than someone else. You’re an individual, but everybody has their struggles, and being nice to one another makes life better for everyone.
6. Be sincere. Don’t be nice as a means to an end. If you just want to be nice so you can gain preferential treatment, it’s quite the opposite of being nice—it’s deceptive, shallow, and cruel. Be nice because you want to look back on your life and know that you were a nice person, no matter what.
Quotes of the Month
“The fact is that [getting a mammogram] is a good thing, and women should do it. And here I am, an example of someone who thought I was at such low risk that I bet [cancer] couldn’t happen to me.”
— Actress and survivor Lynn Redgrave
“When a woman is faced with breast cancer and has to deal with the physical and emotional changes it brings, she must remember that no matter what those changes are, she is still beautiful inside and out, and that her heart, spirit and faith will help her to fight and overcome the disease.”
— Singer, actress, and advocate Patti LaBelle
“This [diagnosis] is a reminder that this is the life you’ve got, and you’re not getting another one. Whatever has happened, you have to take this life and treasure and protect it. In a sense, having cancer takes you by the shoulders and shakes you.”
— Survivor Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Senator John Edwards
“If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell.”
— Lance Armstrong
“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.”
— Barbara Bloom
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