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SalesNexus Founder Helps Launch First "National Hug Your Kids Day"

NEWS RELEASE: Two Houston Bosses Help Launch First "National Hug Your Kids Day" on July 21

Houston businessman Craig Klein, founder of SalesNexus, and businesswoman Susan Clark, of Cornerstone Solutions, each contributed to a new book that helped launch a national holiday. The holiday is National Hug Your Kids Day, which will be held on July 21 with events in 17 states.

In the book, Hug Your Kids Today! 5 Key Lessons for Every Working Parent, author Michelle Nichols shares five lessons she learned on her journey back “from Hell to happiness.” After each lesson, Nichols asked six professional working parents for a nugget of parenting wisdom. “They’re like my back-up choir, so I’m not just singing a solo,” she explains.

Links - Buy the book - Video

After Lesson #5, Hug Your Kids Every Day, Klein, abusiness owner of a software company and father of two young children wrote: I show my love to my kids on a regular basis by teaching them to make good choices. I respect them when we’re discussing their responsibilities.  I try to communicate why something is important in a way they can understand.  I explain the trade-offs and consequences. Then I ask them if they understand. (From my sales training, I’ve learned to confirm my “customer” heard what I said.) Finally, I give them the responsibility to choose.  They feel powerful when they get to choose and when undesired consequences occur, they understand and learn from them.”

“It would be easier to just tell my kids what to do but I feel it’s important to teach them how to choose well. They have a lifetime of choices ahead of them and I want them to learn to make good choices. After all, they may be choosing my old folks’ home someday!”

After Lesson #4, Develop Your Family’s Faith Life, Clark, a business owner and author on software and mother of two college-aged sons wrote, in part: Here is an example of our faith helping one of my children. When my son was in the first grade, I found him crying one night because he couldn't visualize how to create a pop-up book for a class project. It was uncharacteristic for him to be so emotional about anything. I sat beside him on the bed and began to encourage him, telling him how smart he was and that I knew he would figure it out. However, nothing seemed to calm his near-hysterical crying.”

“Finally in desperation, I suggested that we pray about it. (Why is it that so often we only remember to ask for God’s help as a last resort?) As we each silently prayed, I asked God to give me the words I needed to better explain the concepts he was trying to grasp. Suddenly my son’s whimpering ceased and he sweetly announced that he knew just what he needed to do the next day. Then he promptly fell asleep.” The book is available at www.Amazon.com and www.HugYourKidsToday.com

“Hugging your kids is a privilege,” says Nichols, now a full-time author and speaker on work-life balance. Nichols was the BusinessWeek sales columnist for six years but she stopped writing for the major publication to create National Hug Your Kids Day in memory of her son, Mark. He died suddenly a decade ago from brain cancer at age eight and a half years old.

To launch National Hug Your Kids Day, Clear Channel Outdoor has donated excess space on their digital billboards that read “Hug Your Kids Today” in 14 major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Orlando. There will also be announcements on six Major League Baseball Jumbotrons, the handbook, and special events in several U.S. cities.

For more information, to order the book or hire Nichols to speak: http://www.HugYourKidsToday.com or hugs@HugYourKidsToday.com. Toll-free (877) 352-9684.

Photos

Book cover and photo of Michelle Nichols

http://www.hugyourkidstoday.com/Hugs-photos.asp

Videos

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IuBjdc21Yhw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b2VnAXwFG7c