Inspiration
CINspirational People: Sherry Hopkins
CINspirational People is a new feature of Good Things Going Around profiling diverse people of Greater Cincinnati, what inspires them, and what is inspiring about them. Know someone for us to consider? Please submit your idea.
Sherry Hopkins
GTGA: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Sherry: Overcoming my fear of public speaking!
GTGA: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Sherry: My Grandfather, William Symons, who lived to be 100 years old, embodied the spirit of living life to the fullest, and believed that five words applied to 
anything worth doing: knowledge, education, curiosity, imagination, and perseverance. His strong work ethics began as a 10-year-old boy working 20-hour days for a grocery store, during the summer. With a boy scout’s handbook, he made his first ham-radio receiver using a “coherer” and 2 electric doorbells. After taking violin lessons, he played in the high school orchestra, and went on to become a Concert Master for Symphonies in Indiana, Illinois, California, Florida, and Cincinnati. Working as a Radio Engineer for WLW in Cincinnati, he witnessed the Flood of 1937. He held a variety of engineering positions for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, in Munich, Berlin, and other Cities across Germany. He designed and built the first portable sound projector and portable public address system. We have so much to learn from this generation of individuals!
GTGA: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impacted you?
Sherry: I have quite a few…here are two of them: “In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take” and “Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching.” These resonate with me, because too often people make fear based choices, and if you follow your passions, you’ll be successful!
GTGA: What is your biggest motivator?
Sherry: The passing of time.
GTGA: Tell us about an act of kindness you have done, witnessed or been the recipient of and how that made you feel.
Sherry: A few years ago, I made “care bags” for homeless people, filled with deodorant, toothpaste, razor, crackers, fruit snacks, pudding, etc., and gave some of them to friends and family to keep in their cars for the opportunity to give to the needy.
GTGA: Tell us about what you do and what are some of the reasons why you enjoy it.
Sherry: Having served in the U.S. Army following High School to take advantage of the G.I. Bill for college, and working in the corporate world for 30 years, I’ve been fortunate to follow my passions and have my own company, “Sherry Lachelle Photography”, and am a freelance photographer for Local 12’s online magazine, “Cincinnati Refined”. I also take people on trips around the world as a Tour Director through my “Travel Spirit Meetup”, and help elderly people organize their homes. These are all things I love to do and did them for free before they turned into money-making ventures. If you haven’t heard, Scientists have identified a “travel” gene and I’m sure I was born with it!
CINspirational People: Amy Scalia
We are eager to share our first CINspirational People feature focusing on Amy Scalia, publisher of Cincy Chic. CINspirational People will spotlight a broad range of people in Greater Cincinnati and some of what inspires them. Please read what Amy shared with us.
GTGA: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Amy: Being a mom is hands-down my greatest accomplishment. Not just because bringing a child into the world is a miracle (which it is and it’s amazing!), but we experienced many issues getting pregnant. I wrote more about that here — but in short, after years of thinking I might not ever be a mom, I was able to and she’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.
Second to that achievement is starting my business, being the proud owner for eight years, and the impact we have on the community. We provide weekly content to 25,000 subscribers, help hundreds of local businesses grow through our services, and we donate nearly $20,000 annually to local charities through our events.
Mabel Storer
GTGA: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Amy: My grandma, Mabel Storer, was one of the first female newspaper reporters in Ohio. She had so many amazing stories, and it sparked a life-long fascination with media. She had such a giving heart, too, and that inspired me to add the philanthropy arm of our business where all our event proceeds are donated to select local charities.
GTGA: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impact you?
Amy: “Go to sleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose.” This is my motto because I think it’s important to not just dream, but also figure out a way to bring those dreams into reality.
GTGA: What is your biggest motivator?
Amy: Life is short. What more motivation do you need?
GTGA: Tell us about an act of kindness you have done, witnessed or been the recipient of and how that made you feel.
Amy: My husband has a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis and it’s gotten much worse over the past few years. In fact, he got double hip replacements last year and double knee replacements a few months ago. All of this while I was pregnant and then with a newborn. I’d be writing this from the looney bin if it wasn’t for the kindness of others. They came out of the woodwork for us. Bringing us food, helping us bring in and put together baby furniture, do yard work, you name it. Even just recently, we were at a restaurant after Pete got his new knees and we had the baby with us. The restaurant had a 45 minute wait and someone who already had a seat gave us theirs so we didn’t need to wait and they sat there and waited again for a table. I couldn’t believe it. These past few years have been my most challenging by far, but I’m humbled by and so thankful for all the acts of kindness that got us through it.
GTGA: Tell us about what you do and what are some of the reasons why you enjoy it.
Oh gosh. What don’t I do?! haha! My main responsibility is running Cincy Chic, an online publication in Greater Cincinnati. I also oversee its sister publication in Columbus, which is called Cbus Chic, and its “brother” publication called Cincinnati Profile. In addition to that, I blog for Cincinnati.com and am on-air talent for Star64. What I love is that every day is different, but what remains constant is that everything I do tells the stories of local business owners and helps them grow.
A Life Lesson: See Closed Doors As Opportunities
Oklahoma Restaurateur’s Note Of Kindness Teaches Us A Lesson
By now, you may have already seen this photo as it has gone viral since being displayed outside P.B. Jams, an Oklahoma restaurant, and on Facebook.
The restaurant’s owner, Ashley Jiron, posted it after realizing an anonymous person had been sifting through her garbage. She told ABC News of how her heart sank when she noticed bags and containers in her dumpster that once held disposed food, were emptied. “I knew I needed to do something right away,” she said.
Perhaps that person’s plight struck her so deeply because Ashley understood better than most.
“I am a mother of two little girls and I’ve struggled like a lot of single parents out there, and I’ve had to ask for state assistance food stamps and such,” she told Good Morning America. “Sometimes at the end of the month there wasn’t enough to feed me and my family. Something as simple as even just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is very comforting to somebody and maybe even offer them a few words.”
It got me thinking, of the times in my own life when I have faltered. I will never forget the people who were there for me with support and encouragement, even when I didn’t ask for it. They were just there. They grounded me and kept me focused in a positive direction. Those acts of love and kindness embed in our souls.
They strengthen us. They nurture us. They give us wings.
There is something so powerful about our human connection. Often we don’t even know of the impact we are having on those whose lives we touch. But make no mistake; kindness has huge potential for affecting change in individuals, families, workplaces, classrooms, and the community.
And the giver can be just as much the receiver as its effects boomerang. Helping someone else has a way of lifting ourselves up as well, even more so sometimes when we are dealing with our own challenge.
Yet, how often is it that we know someone may be going through difficult circumstances but in our busy and already cluttered lives, we don’t reach out. Not because we are not generous people. We just don’t get around to it for any number of reasons.
Ashley and her compassionate sign that has been seen around the country, maybe even the world, make me question – if the tables were turned, if I had seen that someone had been rummaging through my garbage, would I have posted a sign like hers.
The truth is, in my life, I have been a shoulder for so many people. I have mentored youth. I have given of my time and resources to help people when they needed it. I have encouraged others to see their own strengths when they were focused on their weaknesses. I have volunteered for causes when I can.
But…I may not have thought to put that sign on my restaurant door if I noticed someone had gone through my trash.
I am so inspired by Ashley’s gesture. Whether or not that anonymous person comes forward, Ashley has reminded me of the power we each have to impact those around us.
Let’s make a point to not forget.
TAGteaching Brings Out The Best In People
A few weeks ago, I was among the more than 500 dog trainers who convened on Dearborn, Michigan for three full days of non-stop learning about teaching animals in the most positive way. It was the Karen Pryor Academy ClickerExpo and it was phenomenal.
If you are unfamiliar, in its most simplified description, clicker training is a positive reinforcement based training strategy that involves ‘marking’ the very specific ‘wanted’ behavior with a click (or can be a word or other signal), that is immediately followed by a reinforcing consequence. Initially the animal learns to associate positive outcomes by 
associating treats, tug time, or whatever other behavior strengthener you use with the sound of the clicker (classical conditioning), and then the animal learns to intentionally repeat a behavior in order to get that positive outcome (operant conditioning). I have information on in So Much PETential blog on clicker training basics.
So, why am I writing about that here? Well, clicker training and operant teaching is not just about bringing out the best in our non-human companions. When thoughtfully used, it brings out the best in people too.
At the ClickerExpo, we were each given tickets and told to TAG someone when we saw them doing something good. When we TAGged someone, we entered his/her name and our own name in a bowl; and each day there were drawings for prizes. It was neat to see how that bowl filled during the weekend event. The more we practiced focusing on finding those reinforceable moments, the more of those moments we found.
Among the behaviors I was TAGged for were asking a woman if her dog would be okay with me walking past it (in the row of seats), helping a woman in a training exercise, and asking questions of one of the instructors.
I’ve got to say, each time that I was TAGged and each time I TAGged someone, it brought a smile to my face. Did TAGteaching make me learn more that weekend? Make me more open to meeting new people? Make everyone more positive with feedback and more welcoming as a whole?
Well, I can tell you that it was most definitely an environment where I strengthened my skills and added to my knowledge and I always knew I could walk into a room of people I did not know and feel welcome.
When it comes to animal training, I have written this reminder in my pet blog numerous times:
Remember, to teach in the most positive way, we need to empower our students
by allowing them to make their own choices – just making the choices we want them
to make the most valuable for them; we need to teach with clarity; we need to set
the learning environment up so that our student will be motivated to want to learn; and we need
to be willing to be patient, teaching those foundation skills and building difficulty only
as our student can continue to succeed.
But this does not just apply to training non-human animals. All of us perform better when we have clarity in purpose, are empowered and reinforced for good choices and good behavior.
My thought to leave you with is this: What are people around you doing that you would like to see more of? How will you let them know they did something great?
