[Friday Favorites] Recap + Introducing [Tech Tuesdays]

Thank you to everyone that participated in our series Friday Favorites:

• Amanada Nelson — Amanda Nelson Photography & Design
• Dena DeBry — Buttonwillow•Six
• Erik Rowland — TimeMD
• Gudrun Enger — Good Füd Media
• J.W. Davies — Cook Martin Poulson
• Karen Kaminski — Axis 41
• Keith Denos — PRWUA
• Kira Griffin — Designer
• Laura Carrera — Carrera & Company
• Michael Carey — eBay
• Tauni Everett — Public relations and social media consultant

We got to introduce a lot of people who have helped our business succeed and we hope that we’ve made a few new connections for people. We also have a nice round up of good solid advice: mostly about being nice, or being patient, honest and positive while others to point you to Amazon Prime, social media, good food and good friends.

In case you were just reading it for the recipes, we’ve put together a recipe book. you could cook all of this into one meal (and don’t worry, if that meal is horrific you can always take Laura, Kira or J.W.’s suggestions) and chow down.

Download Friday Favorites Recipe Book

Or view the pages in the gallery:

(Let me know if you’d like a wire-O bound copy, I can make that happen!)

Introducing Tech Tuesdays

Our next series (and really, I suggest everyone create a blog series) will be Tech Tuesdays. This will allow us to explore and share with you tech we design and develop for—iPads, WordPress, Drupal, HTML5, CSS3, etc. And tech we use everyday—Evernote, Things for Mac / Things for iPad / Things for iPhone, BusyCal, Mobile.me and so on.

[Friday Favorites] One of our Favorite Financial Planners: Laura Warnock Carrera

For this post in our series Friday Favorites we want to introduce you to one of our favorite financial planners—Laura Warnock Carrera.

We met Laura when she was referred to us by our accounting firm, Cook Martin Poulson (we profiled our accountant, J.W. Davies last week). We all hit it off immediately—she is smart and funny and we love the way she tells it like it is, once that included the line “You want how much cash in reserve? Are you kidding? Are you Depression-era people? No, you are in your 30s.”  This is great reciprocal relationship—when it came time for her to rebrand her company she hired us for the branding and positioning.

The thing we liked about Laura is that she was willing to talk to us, a young couple starting a new business. We had tried other financial planners, but if you aren’t in your 50s with a huge nest egg, they weren’t interested. She knows that we’ll get there and if she can help out now, all the better.

Here is our interview with Laura:

Quick Details

Tell Us About Yourself

How long have you worked with Sawaya Consulting and what projects have you worked on with us?

Why do you do what you do?

Because I love to help people. I like to help people with their money—it’s something that everyone cares about but not everyone has the time to deal with it. Most people want to earn money and have money, but don’t want to store it under a mattress. I help them find solutions so they can get that issue off their plate and concentrate on what they do best.

What makes you better/different/the right person for the job?

I tell it like it is. If I don’t think something is working—I will say something. You won’t get my endorsement of a product or a situation if it isn’t going to work out for the person I’m talking to. I’m not about making the sale or the commission—I’m about finding the solution. I’m pretty blunt which works great for some people, others, not so much.

What general advice do you have for the world?

Geez, be nice to people. People need to take ownership and responsibility for the things they say and do—stop trying to pass the buck or lay blame.

…One More Question

Do you have a favorite recipe you want to share or if you don’t cook what is your favorite restaurant

I love sushi! Really anywhere that has good, fresh sushi. A couple of my favorite local places are Ichiban and Sakura.

Thanks Laura!

(Also to Abbie Warnock Photography for the headshot!)

[Friday Favorites] One of our Favorite Accountants: J.W. Davies

For this post in our series Friday Favorites we want to introduce you to one of our favorite accountants—J.W. Davies.

We met J.W. a few years ago when Steve and I started working at Sawaya Consulting full time. We asked my dentist (and friend of the family) who he used for his accounting and he had a glowing recommendation for J.W. We have been so absolutely thrilled with them, we’re happy to introduce J.W. to everyone who reads our blog. These guys focus on working with small businesses and they let us keep focused on what we do well and they handle everything else for us. We get papers to sign and bills to pay and that’s all the thinking we ever have to do. They have handled everything for us from our incorporation and annual taxes to sorting out all the tax-related business around companies being sold. In fact we just recommended them on to one of our clients / friends.

Here is our interview with J.W.:

Quick Details

Tell Us About Yourself

How long have you worked with Sawaya Consulting and what projects have you worked on with us?

Why do you do what you do?

For me, it’s about building a relationship with people and helping them succeed. This last month has been crazy busy talking to people about what we can do to save on taxes and other ideas. I don’t like to sit in a normal office and type — it’s more about meeting with people face-to-face and working on solutions.

What makes you better/different/the right person for the job?

We are proactive—we hear so many people complain about their accountants, about how things are always late or how it’s all about putting numbers on paper. We are about coming up with new ideas.

What general advice do you have for the world?

Amazon Prime Sign up for it — it’s the best thing ever.

…One More Question

Do you have a favorite recipe you want to share or if you don’t cook what is your favorite restaurant

The only thing I really cook is breakfast at night — french toast and pancakes and stuff. It’s not really a recipe, so I’ll also say that Market Street is my favorite place to eat.

Thanks J.W.!

Note: This article was updated on 2/15/11 when JW moved on from Cook Martin Poulson to start his new firm Davies + Allen

[Friday Favorites] One of our Favorite Bloggers: Gudrun Enger

For this post in our series Friday Favorites we want to introduce you to one of our favorite bloggers—Gudrun Enger.

Unlike a lot of the people we’ve featured we haven’t worked with or even known Gudrun very long. We met her last summer when she came out to Salt Lake City to visit our friend Dena. We immediately hit it off when Dena, Amanda and Amber went to dinner together. We share a lot of the same gardening and food interests and Gudrun ended up interviewing us for Uptake for a Local’s Perspective of Salt Lake City. We wanted to reciprocate and learn more about her.

Here is our interview with Gudrun:

Quick Details

Tell Us About Yourself

How long have you worked with Sawaya Consulting and what projects have you worked on with us?

Why do you do what you do?

It’s flexible and it offers me the opportunity to stay connected with current technology.

What makes you better/different/the right person for the job?

With years of marketing and program management experience, as well as strong communication and organization skills, I am well suited to help companies with writing and editing corporate blogs, blog research and data gathering, and social media marketing support.

What general advice do you have for the world?

Be nice to others. You never know when that may be the thing that helps you get ahead.

…One More Question

Do you have a favorite recipe you want to share or if you don’t cook what is your favorite restaurant

My family is currently in love with this Cauliflower Curry recipe, which I made with jalapenos grown in Salt Lake City:

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets, stems pieces roughly chopped
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 quarter-size slices ginger, peeled (I did not have this, so used a good 2 tsps of ground ginger. Probably better with fresh)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Serrano peppers (I did not have these, but had a green jalapeno, so I stuck that in. It was a spicy pepper, but I did not get any serious heat in the final dish. The second time I made the dish, I used only 1 serrano, and it was plenty spicy for us. 2 is for serious chili-heads!)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup yogurt (I used Fage Greek Yogurt)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp garam masala (if you don’t have it, you can make it – easy garam masala recipe)
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• small handful of cilantro, chopped

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan until almost smokin’, and saute the cauliflower florets until lightly browned. Remove to a bowl.

In a food processor, process the cauliflower stems, onion, ginger, garlic, and Serrano until finely chopped, almost a puree. Transfer to a bowl. Do the same with the tomatoes, transfer to separate bowl. Whisk yogurt, water and nutmeg together until smooth.

In the same pan you used to brown the cauliflower florets, cook the cauliflower stem/onion mixture until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir regularly. Add in tomatoes puree and cook until most of the juice has evaporated, up to 10 minutes more. Add in coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Add in yogurt-water-nutmeg liquid with 1/2 the cilantro and bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low, add the cauliflower florets, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked to your liking (I kept it a little on the al dente side).

Finish the dish with remaining cilantro and another sprinkle of garam masala. Great over rice!

Thanks Gudrun!

[Friday Favorites] One of our Favorite Clients: Keith Denos

For this post in our series Friday Favorites we want to introduce you to one of our favorite clients—Keith Denos.

We worked with Keith on the PRWUA website. Keith and his team are great to work with and always get straight down to business, but with a sense of humor. During the project and since then we’ve shared a special salsa-based bond (growing peppers, harvesting, refining) with Keith.

Provo River Water Users Association operates and maintains the Deer Creek Division of the Provo River Project—you may have no idea what that is, we didn’t—so let me put it this way—we live in a desert, if you live here you probably forget about that. You turn on your faucet and water comes out. Did you know that every day there are people working on this, negotiating who gets what and when and making sure that waterways are maintained in a way that protects this? Maybe you knew that in the abstract—so we want to introduce you to Keith, he is the General Manager of the PRWUA.

Here is our interview with Keith:

Quick Details

Tell Us About Yourself

How long have you worked with Sawaya Consulting and what projects have you worked on with us?

Why do you do what you do?

I couldn’t jump high enough to play pro basketball, and I haven’t been offered a recording contract yet.  Oh, I also like the combination of technical and human interaction I have in my work in the water resources field.

What makes you better/different/the right person for the job?

I think many people could do my job, but I have great people working for me, and that makes all the difference.

What general advice do you have for the world?

No matter how difficult or dire things seem at the moment, remember that “this, too, shall pass”.  Hang in there—you can successfully make it through whatever personal trials you’re experiencing.

…One More Question

Do you have a favorite recipe you want to share or if you don’t cook what is your favorite restaurant

I used to make a pretty good apple pie among other kitchen adventures, but I don’t cook much anymore.  My kids like my homemade waffles, though.

Flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, applesauce (instead of oil), salt, milk and eggs.

I don’t measure, so I can’t really tell you how much of each ingredient – it’s kind of a “feel” thing.  Whip the egg whites separately and fold them into the batter after mixing together everything else.  Try this once and you’ll never be able to eat a Bisquick waffle again.  We won’t even discuss Eggos.

Thanks Keith!