Forbes Riley is an advertising queen. You may not recognize the name, but it's almost guaranteed that you have seen one of her many infomercials or product spotlights on QVC or the Home Shopping Network. She has been on QVC for almost 20 years, HSN for the past three years and is known for the amazing way she sells her products. Riley has even become known as the Julia Roberts of infomercials.
According to Riley, one of the most important things you can do, whether you are still in school or just out of college is brand yourself.
Riley says, "Look at yourself as a product. What do you want your image to be? Be what you want to be."
It doesn't matter what you think of yourself; however you are perceived is reality.
"Products are not born, they are created," believes Riley.
Riley went onto say that you can be branded as the reliable one, the slacker, the go-to guy/gal or whatever you want. It's easy to forget that people are constantly watching you. Because first impressions can be very difficult to shake it's important to make the first one a good one.
For Riley her goal was to have an amazing career. Along the way she found she had an uncanny ability to sell products. People bring her products when they have no idea how to sell them. Because of her background she knows how important it is to find the perfect market to sell products.
The show was taped last month in Las Vegas and features performances by Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride and more.
Garth Brooks, named artist of the decade for the 1990s, presented Strait his award. Strait joins only four other artists who have received this distinction: Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Alabama and Brooks.
Strait's career spans nearly 25 years and includes many classics, including "Amarillo by Morning," ''The Chair" and "Give It Away."
Stefanie Zaner, Iron Kid of Darnestown, is closing in on her 2,340th straight day of public school.
The 18-year-old is unlikely to get the standing ovation afforded Ripken for his streak when she arrives at Northwest High School on Friday for the last day of senior classes in Montgomery County.
But hers is a rare accomplishment. Not once in 13 years was Stefanie marked absent: not for a cold, a family vacation, a college visit or a senior skip day. She once went on a freshman trip to Shanghai with the school marching band and boarded the plane with her clarinet only after securing written assurance from the principal that the trip would not count as an absence. She has never broken a bone, thrown up or caught the flu or even a bad cough, she said.
"There were days in high school when I thought she was too tired to get up," said Debbie Zaner, Stefanie's mother. "But by high school, it was up to her. It wasn't up to me."
Perfect attendance for even one year is an elusive goal. Schools are germ factories. Kids play hooky. Families travel. Religious holidays sometimes require attendance elsewhere. Even conscientious students take the occasional personal day to prepare for a test or catch up on homework.
An informal survey of 20 local school systems turned up just one other graduating senior with perfect attendance since kindergarten (officially, 180 days a year, for 13 years, although the exact annual total hinges on snow days): Kristen Waddle, 18, of Brentsville District High School in Prince William County. A third student, Austin White of Mountain View High School in Stafford County, hasn't missed a day since first grade. There might be others.
