November 2020 Issue

Be Challenged

Publisher’s Letter From Your Fearless Leader “Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat.” Prince Philip of England What a wild ride we have taken on the rollercoaster of life in the last few months. In August, we were getting “Back To” life. September was our “Change” issue, which rolled into October with our “Creativity” issue. We decided to get creative with our branding and we revamped our focus to #bebetterbebella, to start where we are and to find our voices. We are telling our truth. We are honoring the process by accepting where we are at and identifying what

Golf is a Family Tradition | Our Favorite Golf Course is the Palmetto

The first time I saw my boyfriend wearing loud plaid pants with a white belt and a clashing shirt, my thoughts were something akin to, “What a dork.” He is now my husband and his golf attire has evolved to become more sedate. We have been married 40 years. I decided 35 years ago that I would not become a “golf widow” who wonders where her husband is after five (or more) hours. My mother and sisters-in-law knew how to play, so I decided I had better learn or else be left babysitting all of the children on weekends. At the time, we lived across the street from a golf

Buying Your First New Car

So I got a new car! Yay! It was much harder than I expected. There were many things I didn’t know I would have to know. So I figured that I would give some advice on the things that I didn’t know so that anyone who is thinking about buying his or her first car could get some insight. The Dealership Finding the place to buy the car was a lot harder than I originally expected. I was pretty much under the impression that I could go to a dealership and they would have exactly what I wanted in the exact color and with all the features I wanted. Wrong!

Employee Engagement in a Pandemic

It seems like an oxymoron. While our teams worry about keeping safe, learn from home, work from home, and alternate schedules, how do we ensure that they remained engaged with their work? Employee engagement has many definitions, but my favorite comes from Wikipedia: An engaged employee has a positive attitude toward an organization and its values. You may want to read that again. More and more employees are placing higher emphasis on organizational values. Employee engagement is infused into every part of the employee life cycle. Whether you’re an employee or an employer, it’s important to ensure that your values are on display, beginning with the hiring process. Keep in

Overcoming Adversity | An Interview with Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon

It has been a privilege to hold the position as Mayor of Aiken for five years now. Has it been challenging? Absolutely, especially due to COVID-19 affecting our world, our country, our state, and our city. But through adversity come self-evaluation and reflection, which lead to innovation, new ideas, efficiencies, productivity, and opportunities to achieve success. Whether a small business, a large manufacturer, or a city, I want you to know — you will be better, stronger, more profitable, and able to reach and help more people because of the challenges we are currently facing. When Team Bella recently asked me about why I love what I do, I immediately

Traditions!

“But it’s a tradition … because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof Traditions are funny things. They occur one moment at a time over a lifetime, and often we don’t even realize they are happening. I remember our granddaughter’s face crumbling into tears one Thanksgiving Day when I mentioned that I had prepared a different sweet potato casserole than our usual. The 4-year-old sobbed, “But Mimi! We always have the one with marshmallows on top!” Guess whose Mimi beat a path to the kitchen to make a real sweet potato casserole! Traditions are nothing to

What are Telomeres?

Have you ever wondered why some 60-year-olds look and feel like 40-year-olds and why some 40-year-olds look and feel like 60-year-olds? Thousands of studies have been done on aging, and many are beginning to point to an inescapable conclusion: our lifestyle choices, what we eat, and what we don’t eat may actually affect our aging process. The aging process begins at birth. Lifestyle choices made throughout childhood affect our aging process either positively or negatively. What exactly are telomeres and what role do they play in aging? Telomeres are tiny pieces of DNA that are critical to our ability to stay young as we get older. Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, University

Whose Market Is It?

Selling real estate during COVID-19 is difficult enough, but the increase in finicky buyers falling prey to buyer’s remorse has made this a most challenging year. A lot of buyers don’t understand the full process of purchasing a home in 2020. They think that they have power because they think it’s a buyers’ market. But it’s not a buyers’ market. It’s really a sellers’ market. Interest rates as low as 2.5 –2.9% give sellers confidence that a buyer will soon be knocking. Currently houses sometimes go under contract before potential buyers can even schedule a showing. To add to the challenge, mortgage companies this year are requiring additional documentation to

The Nutcracker | An Iconic Christmas Tradition

For many, Peter Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition that kicks off the holiday season. When the music starts, you can close your eyes and allow visions of sugarplums, snowflakes, flowers, and an enchanted place enter your imagination. The Nutcracker is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s popular 1816 story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” The idea to use the story as the basis for a ballet came from the impresario and director of the Russian Imperial Theaters, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, who had conceived of The Sleeping Beauty. Vsevolozhsky and the ballet master Marius Petipa, who had choreographed The Sleeping Beauty, wrote the libretto, or story line, for The Nutcracker and