No Sweat: How Levi Strauss and Reebok Cleaned Up Child Labor in the Sporting Goods Industry

By Natalie Wynne Pace, CEO, iSophia, a leading Women's Investment Network.

mericans think it all began in 1996, when a picture published by Life magazine launched a thousand words, public outcry, the formation of the FoulBall Campaign, international attention and hostile hyper-focus on the U.S. apparel companies, which were employing children in foreign factories to make clothes, sporting goods and soccer balls. Tariq, the 12-year-old who hunched over, sewing tiny soccer ball hexagons all day long for less than sixty cents, became a placard name and an international symbol of public embarrassment for Nike. It is assumed that this public attention and the subsequent boycotts of Nike products were the instrumental forces in eliminating child labor in third world companies. However, years prior, as early as 1992, socially conscious companies like Levi Strauss and, later, Reebok, were working diligently behind the scenes to create effective social reform that would become the template for responsibly relocating third world children from the factories, brick quarries and more hazardous occupations, and into apprenticeship programs and schools.

What most Americans don't realize is that boycotting child labor, without implementing the necessary social reform, MERELY MADE THE PROBLEM WORSE.
Today, child labor has almost been eliminated in the apparel industry, and companies like Levi Strauss, Nike, Reebok, Puma, Adidas, the Gap, Ralph Lauren, each have "no child labor" policies, along with the monitoring systems to ensure that the policies are actually adhered to. (Levi Strauss is recognized in the industry as taking the early lead in eliminating child labor over a decade ago.) The International Labor Organization reports that, in less than three years, 132 countries have ratified ILO Convention No. 182, which calls for immediate action to ban the worst forms of child labor. According to Caroline Lewis, an ILO spokesperson, "Since 1995, when the ILO/IPEC project was launched in Bangladesh, the number of textile factories employing children was reduced from nearly 45% to 2.5% of the total. The actual number of children employed has been reduced from nearly 10,000 in 1995 to around 1500 [currently]." Admittedly, to ensure that children are not used clandestinely, monitoring of the factories is ongoing, and factory owners are threatened with the loss of contracts, if they are discovered to be in breach of the International Labor Organization agreements.

This dramatic good news did not result overnight due to U.S. boycotts. It was a long-term commitment that began years BEFORE the Life expose, a commitment that required coordination, communication and charitable contributions between governments, private companies and international watchdog organizations. The process did not begin by immediately firing the children from their jobs, but by addressing the social issues that forced children into labor in the first place. It stands to reason (though many boycotting Americans may have not considered this), that when children are fired from soccer ball stitching factories, schools do not magically spring up for them to attend. Tragically, what occurs instead, is that the destitute families are forced to send their children off in search of another job. Oftentimes, the alternative occupation is more dangerous, with less pay, than what the child experienced in the apparel factory.

According to the International Labor Organization (www.ilo.org), 211 million children ages 5-14 are still suffering under the conditions of child labor, and this brand of child labor is not Hollywood styleÑkids singing, dancing and playacting for a living, getting personal tutoring, their own crafts table and a trust fund for college. The internationally recognized definition of child labor excludes children 12 and older, who are just working a few hours of light work each week. It focuses instead on children 15 and under whose work is hazardous, who are not given adequate education and who are, many times, forced to work under subhuman conditions. According to the ILO, 171 million children ages 5-17 are working in hazardous situations, with 8.4 million involved in the worst forms of child labor, like trafficking (1.2 million children), forced and bonded labor (5.7 million), war (300,000), prostitution and porn (1.8 million) and illicit activities (600,000). The conditions under which these children are forced to work read like a sordid headline from the Industrial Revolution--lack of light and/or ventilation, extreme heat and/or cold and backbreaking labor that can result in death, maiming and/or loss of limb, not to mention the lifelong psychological damage of war, prostitution and corruption. Some of the worst occupations and situations that these kids have been subject to include: airport runways, railway stations, dangerous animals, brick manufacturing, care for mentally disturbed individuals, carpet weaving, night clubs and bars, machinery, prisons, mining, war, asbestos, mercury, radioactive substances and corpses. (If you wish to help the International Labor Organization work on these very worthy causes, there are web links listed at the end of this article.)

While no one can justify having children stitch hexagons into soccer balls, the story behind Tariq's picture is that 60 cents a day sewing soccer balls was a actually a step up for many impoverished kids, a good deal better than the alternative--thirty cents a day making and hauling bricks, a dangerous occupation with a high rate of injury, or one of the more lethal occupations, including war, that are listed above. It was this understanding-- that simply eliminating child labor from the soccer ball factories would only WORSEN the problem--that sparked a three-year commitment from Levi Strauss and, later, Reebok, to responsibly eliminate child labor from the making of soccer balls, to set the standard for apparel production world wide and to raise human rights consciousness. The challenge wasn't just to get the kids out of the soccer ball production line. It was to truly create a social scenario that would responsibly address the situation that got the kids there in the first place, namely poverty, lack of education facilities, adult unemployment and illiteracy.

1992: Levi Strauss discovers child laborers in two factories in Bangladesh
If firing the children does not ensure that the children will get suited up and sent off to school, what is a company like Levi Strauss to do? That was the problem that the company faced back in 1992, when members of the factory monitoring team discovered that two factories in Bangladesh were using child laborers. Instead of immediately firing the children and/or switching factories--two solutions that would only have the appearance of eliminating the problem--Levi executives turned to the company's core values. According to Michael Kobori, the Director of Levi Strauss' Global Code of Conduct, the Levi Strauss credo calls for adherence to four corporate principles: empathy, originality, integrity and courage. (How many companies even have a Global Code of Conduct division?) Upon discovering the problem of child labor in Bangladesh, the Levi executives lead with empathy, which meant asking questions to try and understand the situation from the viewpoint of the various shareholdersÑthe factory owners, the local governments, the families and the children themselves.

Why weren't the kids going to school? What schools? Before you get schools, first you have to educate the teachers and then build adequate, clean, ventilated facilities. Yet, the problem was deeper than that. Even if the schools were built, the children would not be able to attend, unless their parents were educated to become the wage earners for the family, and the factories were equipped with machinery to make the soccer balls. Little fingers are perfectly designed for the pinpoint stitching required to create handmade soccer balls. Levi Strauss' handling of this situation, by finding a way to address the needs of all of the shareholders involved, formed the basis of what would become the platform of reform in the industry, which, according to both Levi Strauss and Reebok, came to be adopted by UNICEF, the U.S. Embassy and the U.N. Mr. Kobori reports, "We worked with the contractors, the government and the local industry association to send those [child] workers to school, to provide their families with stipends to cover lost income, and offer the workers employment when they completed school. This program has become a model for the industry, government, and UNICEF, which have replicated it in other locations in Bangladesh."

Reebok picks up the ball in Pakistan, 1994, two years BEFORE the Life expose on child labor, Nike and Tariq in the June,1996 issue.
According to Marilyn Tam, the former President of Reebok's Apparel and Retail Products Group and a former board member of Reebok's Human Rights Foundation , the first thing Reebok did, before initiating the manufacture of soccer balls in Pakistan, was to take a page from the labor standard handbook of Levi Strauss, the company known to have the biggest social conscience, at the time. The first stages of reform sound fairly benign and easy to implement. Find out what the living wage is in the country, and pay it. Find out which factories don't have ventilation and get the air flowing. However, convincing the factory owners that these policies would actually result in better profit margins was not an easy sell. In time, the owners did come to realize that mistakes and rejects went down, while quality went up under better working conditions, and that those combined factors increased the profitability. Getting the factory owners on board proved to be only the first giant step of larger, systemic reform, however, a commitment that took Reebok out of the factories altogether and into the business of knowledge.

Stitch soccer balls, fire bricks or starve
In order to ensure that the parents didn't just send their unemployed children down to the brick quarry, and that the kids got access to an education instead of a hazardous occupation, Reebok had to commit to a long-term quest for improved life in the region (just as Levi Strauss had done years earlier in Bangladesh). The process took THREE YEARS. According to Marilyn Tam, Reebok first went to the community leaders with the question, "If we fix our system, will you let the kids go to school?" "Sure," was the response, "If we had any schools." As Ms. Tam points out, "Here we are living in America, with conveniences that the rest of the world can only dream about. We assume others have light, school, books and they have none of these things." Reebok's task was not only to fund and build the classrooms and to train the teachers, but to justify this incredible leap off the business plan to bottom-line oriented shareholders.

Working hasn't been eliminated for all foreign children, but the conditions of the work have drastically improved and opportunities for education have emerged. In the words of 15-year-old Khalid Hussain, of Sialkot, Pakistan, "The reason I stitch footballs is because my parents cannot afford the costs of my education. I stitch one football per day after school. With that money, I pay my school fees, get extra tuition and buy uniforms, clothes and shoes, as well as paying for fixing my bike." (source: Convention on the Rights of the Child)

The great news is, thanks to the high road, holistic approach employed initially, by companies like Levi Strauss and Reebok (under the watchful eye of organizations like FoulBall and the ILO), life has improved for most children, not all, in the areas surrounding the heavily monitored sporting goods factories. Thanks to leaders like Dan McCurry (the campaign director of the FoulBall Campaign), Robert Reich (the former U.S. Secretary of Labor) and President Clinton, who signed the Sanders' Amendment to the 1930 Tariff Act in November 1997, which bans "importation into the USA of any good, ware, article or merchandise that is mined produced and/or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor," laggard companies of the labor reform movement are now on board with the new standards established by the International Labor Organization (which is based in Geneva, Switzerland). Former high profile child labor offender, Nike, now has the highest age limitation in the industry, of 16 and 18, while the other companies refuse products made by children under 14 and 15. Each of the top companies, including Adidas, Levi Strauss, Puma, Reebok, Nike, Ralph Lauren and The Gap, now have no child labor policies and active monitoring systems to ensure that their policies are adhered to. The penalty for noncompliance with the industry's NO CHILD LABOR policies is severe. Oddly enough, the missing link in this united front against unfair labor practices and the exploitation of minors may be the most vocal supporterÑthe American consumer.

Are consumers still inadvertently perpetuating the old practices by insisting on buying $3.00 t-shirts? Do American spenders have a very keen understanding of how their retail choices perpetuate poverty and injustice in third world countries?
Is it possible that you can still pick up a shoe, t-shirt or pair of shoes that are crafted in a sweatshop by a child? How is a consumer to truly know? One of the most obvious ways is to put your money where your mouth is, according to Marilyn Tam. If you're paying ten bucks for three t-shirts, do the math! Ms. Tam says, "Are you buying the $3 t-shirts? 3- for $10
t-shirts make things go back the other way. The manufacturer can only sell you what you want to buy. If you're demanding the lowest price, chances are you're not living up to the standards you say you believe in."

Certainly, the FoulBall Campaign and the International Labor Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) are great examples of what can be accomplished with the power of information aligned with the power of international attention. Shareholder pressure on Home Depot resulted in better wood preservation practices. However, the quiet reform first established by Levi Strauss and later expanded through Reebok, two companies that don't take great pains to publicize their policies and programs, is equally worthy of notice. Headlines scream daily about the corruption on Wall Street, but what about the companies that get it right FIRST? More than ever, with so many corporate criminals lining up for trial and jail time, investors are keenly interested in placing their bets on with the good guys, with the knowledge that an honest dollar makes sense on every balance sheetÑfinancial, moral and emotional.

Is the fight for labor fairness, clean air, peace and enlightened prosperity over? Certainly not, but at least there are signs that effective change is being forged. And the average consumer who is still worried about whether or not her ninety dollar shoes are being stitched by little fingers can rest a little easier at night. Watchdog organizations are now onto other labor concerns, including improving the conditions of adult laborers and taking machine guns out of the arms of young boys, but at least, for the most part in the sporting goods industry, the public discussion now centers on improving the working lives of adults, not seven-year olds.

Additional research provided by Leslie Richardson and Meri Ann Beck-Woods of Odyssey Advisors.
www.OdysseyAdvisors.com.
310.568.4711.

Additional resources:
http://www.freethechildren.com/youthinaction/child_labour.htm

http://www.ilo.org (International Labour Organization)

http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com/

Marilyn Tam is now a corporate consultant helping companies to achieve their bottom line goals in a socially responsible way. Her latest book, How to Use What You've Got to Get What You Want outlines the process for individuals. Read on in this e-zine for an excerpt from Marilyn's book, in her own words. Next week, we'll feature an exclusive one-on-one interview with Ms. Tam, where she will reveal four of the secrets to her extraordinary rise in the corporate world. Ms. Tam will also be featured in the iSophia chat room on Wednesday, November 19^th, from 8:45 - 9:30 a.m. PST.

Full disclosure: Natalie Pace does not own positions or stock in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

Surf's Up, Yao Ming or Tommy?

Retail surveys indicate that Americans, after three years of cutting back on their holiday spending, are ready to reward themselves a little. Will privately held Juicy Couture and Frankie B. be all the rage again this year, or can the giants of the industry, like Nike, the Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Reebok and Guess? buy back market share with a well-known or pretty face?

ommy has Lauren Bush (George Dubya's daughter) and Bowie wearing his new line. Reebok signed Yao Ming. The Gap has been featuring famous couples. So, why is everyone on the West coast wearing Juicy and low slung Frankie B. jeans? Will the giants of the sportswear world be knocked out by the rookies, or will Yao Ming "be like Mike" and inspire millions of youth to hound their parents into buying two hundred dollar shoes?

Now that the industry is virtually clean from child labor issues, you can plunk down your C-spot for sport shoes, jeans and board shorts with much greater glee.Yes, for some of us, spending is as sweet as chocolate, and we regret to announce that Juicy Couture is not a publicly traded company! Unfortunately for investors, neither is Levi Strauss.

Specialty retail has been through the war over the last few years, however, Quiksilver has been expanding its market share, opening stores abroad and posting notable growth. K-Swiss recently reported an 84.8% increase in 3Q 2003 net earnings over the same time last year. Nike remains a favorite with the analysts. Reebok, one of the leaders in the reform to eliminate child labor, has the lowest P/E in the industry and scored big-time with the recent signing of NBA star, Yao Ming.

Which one will light up your wallet with share gains? To help you place your bets, we've lined up the numbers and recent earnings news. The iSophia Stock Report Card features the top sportswear manufacturers, from mainstays: Nike, Reebok, the Gap and Tommy Hilfiger to former fashion faves: Guess? and Polo Ralph Lauren, to recent trendsetters (in fashion and earnings growth): K-Swiss and Quiksilver. Click here for iSophia's stock report.

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Top 11 Signs the CEO is Rolling in Your Dough.

In honor of the alleged thief who would be Prince Charming, Dennis Kozlowski, who spent two million in Sardinia, Italy (one million of Tyco $$) to celebrate his wife's 40^th birthday.

1. CEO and CFO sell millions of shares on the same day. (Moneycentral.msn, Morning Star, brokerage sites, etc. have handy little clicks to peek at insider trading activity.)
2. Two of the top threeÑCEO, CFO or COOÑare formerly investigated by the SEC. (Get out of the stock before the company puts them on paid leave!)
3. Quantum theory and the darkest caverns of your lover's brain are easier to understand than the company's Quarterly reports. (As of 2002, the SEC has strict guidelines on earnings. Loans are banned. The CEO & CFO sign off on their accuracy. Still analysts complain about the aggressive strategies of some companies.) To view the reports firsthand, go to sec.gov. Click on EDGAR. Enter in the company's name. Warning: These reports are lengthy, but contain the most candid, reliable language available on the company's current status.
4. Product prices have dropped faster than the Titanic, but earnings reflect steady growth. (Think telecommunications industry. Prior to the share price plunge, long-distance prices took a sky dive to below five cents a minute, from 13 cents per and higher.)
5. The stores are filthy and overstocked (or severely under-stocked), and employees shrug off your questions, but earnings reflect steady growth. (K-Mart, prior to the bankruptcy filing.)
6. You could swim to Antarctica in less time than it takes for credit adjustments to appear on your monthly bill or back-ordered merchandise to be delivered.
7. Executives spotted more frequently in the society pages than in the office. (Think ImClone. If your CEO is partying with rock stars, they are at least inhaling the hubris, arrogance, late nights and drugs that linger in the miasmic fog of night clubs.)
8. Board, especially compensation committee, is made up almost entirely of CEO cronies. Alternatively, the CEO manages to perform the same buddy-buddy, quid pro quo function on the boards of his/her friend's companies. (Still rampant on Wall Street. Too many companies to mention. Able to fill a book.)
9. Wife's 40^th birthday party takes place on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Jimmy Buffett plays. Price tag: $2,000,000, of which expense the company bites off half. CEO justifies the expenditure with an executive meeting. (errÉ Do we have to mention the word, Tyco, here? Shall we try to imagine some of the illicit details that were edited OUT of that now infamous video?)
10. Rival companies team up to "swap" services they can't sell (and inflate the "revenue" value on the books).
11. "Greed is Good" speech is enlarged, framed and hanging behind CEO's desk. (Greed is also seen in the actions of the company. Were they FIRST to get rid of child labor? Do they have corporate offices and one board meeting a year in Barbados, while 99.9% of the company's offices, stores and employees are located in the U.S.?)

It may be cute to see Gore dancing at the inauguration or Clinton blowing the horn on late night television, but if a CEO is caught candidly trying to get down and dirty with the common vices that the commoners engage in, beware! A drunk might take a nasty tumble down a ravine, but when executives do that, they tend to take the company down with themÑat least for the life of the headline!

Girl's Guide to P/E Ratios.

Making sense of the numbers and the nebulous "N/A." (Hint: It does NOT mean not applicable.) By Paul Woods, CEO of Odyssey Advisors. www.OdysseyAdvisors.com. 310.568.4700. pwoods@OdysseyAdvisors.com

lthough gyrations in the stock market cause many people to equate investing in equities with a wild ride to Las Vegas, keeping investors entertained is the secondary concern of Wall Street (truly, honest!). The primary job of the stock market is still to place a value on publicly traded businesses. These businesses are divided into shares, and the price of those shares rises or falls on earnings and the valuation assigned to those earnings.

How P/E ratios are calculated
Specifically, the earnings of publicly traded companies is divided by the number of shares outstanding, to produce earnings per share. Valuation is then determined by dividing the current price of a share of stock by earnings per share. The result is known as the price to earnings ratio or P/E ratio for short.

[iSophia note: If you see a negative number or N/A in the P/E spot, that means the earnings are NEGATIVE, that the company is losing money.]

Over time, a net increase in either side of this equation [earnings or valuation] will produce a higher stock price. The two warring camps in investing, value and growth, are both trying to accomplish the same thing, but in a different way. Value investors buy stocks with low P/E ratios hoping that either valuation will increase or valuations won't go any lower and earnings will increase. Growth investors focus on companies likely to increase the earnings side of the equation while hoping that valuations will at least remain steady.

Although most investment professionals spend a disproportionate amount of time obsessing over earnings, changes in P/E ratios usually have a greater impact on returns over shorter time periods. Even though it would take a book to do justice to this subject, there are a few basics to keep in mind.

Bonds and stocks are in constant competition for investor dollars. Investors know that the long-term return on common stocks is around 8-10% per year over longer time periods. Investors also know that most bonds have less risk than common stocks. As a result, when interest rates begin to approach or even exceed 10%, investors shift from stocks to bonds in order to get the same long-term return with less risk. P/E ratios decline [as more and more investors unload their shares], and historic lows in stock market valuations tend to coincide with periods of high interest rates.

The converse is also true. When bonds offer comparatively low returns, as they do at present, some investors are more willing to take the risk of owning stocks. P/E ratios in the stock market tend to be higher during such periods as a result.

The other primary factors that influence valuations are earnings stability and the expected growth in earnings. Other things being equal (which they rarely are), companies with stable earnings growth usually receive higher valuations than companies whose earnings are less predictable. [iSophia note: Investors feel more comfortable investing in the stable earnings growth.] In addition, there is usually a correlation between P/E ratios and expected growth in earnings. In most cases, higher valuations are assigned to companies with above-average growth rates. Conversely, mature companies usually receive lower P/Es.

[iSophia note: Mature companies that are in trouble, particularly in the airline sector, may go underwater, posting more expenses than earnings. Their P/Es are negative or N/A, as a result. Other young companies, like Jet Blue at its Initial Public Offering last year, have a negative P/E because earnings haven't yet caught up to the money spent to launch the company.]

To put this in context, consider the historic bull market in stocks and subsequent historic decline during the last decade. For decades before the 1990's, the U.S. economy went through continuous boom/bust cycles. The boom periods tended to coincide with Presidential election years, with the bust usually coming a year or two later. Long-term growth in the U.S. economy, adjusted for inflation, was about 2 1/2 % per year.

In the 1990's, heavy investments in technology appeared to change the equation. The world's largest economy saw real growth accelerate by over 50% to around 4% per year. Not only was economic growth accelerating, but also growth was steady. Boom/bust cycles appeared to be a thing of the past. Economic theories were turned upside down as interest rates declined steadily during this period of high growth.

The combination of lower interest rates, accelerating economic growth, and increased stability caused P/E ratios to rise to historic highs. In the aftermath, few members of the financial press are able to write about this period without using terms such as fever, mania, or bubble. In reality, however, valuations at the time were consistent with the overall environment.

In the late 1990's, the Federal Reserve became nostalgic for the old days. Although it took a while, the higher interest rates they engineered finally brought us back to the days of boom/bust cycles and slower growth. With higher interest rates, more volatility in earnings, and reduced growth, most of the damage to investor pocketbooks in 2000-2002 came from the lower P/E ratios given to stocks in response to the Federal Reserve's war on prosperity. [Investors flocked once again to the safer haven of bonds, which were experiencing strong, safer earnings.]

Expected earnings for the current calendar year are most commonly used in the earnings per share side of the equation. The problem is that some companies report their earnings on calendar years while others report earnings on a fiscal year that ends in any month except December. To make earnings and valuations comparable, some investors adjust expected earnings so that all companies are evaluated on a calendar year basis.

For example, assume a company has a fiscal year ending in June. In June 2003, earnings per share were $1.60. The consensus estimate for June 2004 is $1.90 per share. To make earnings expectations comparable with companies on a calendar year, an estimate of $1.75 per share would be used for this company. With some adjustments, this method can be used to adjust for any calendar year.

At present, the outlook for valuations is mixed. Interest rates have begun to increase again in response to an improving economy. In such an environment, earnings may play a bigger role than usual in future returns.

How to Use What You've Got to Get What You Want.

Marilyn Tam, founder and Executive Director of the Us Foundation, former President of Reebok's Apparel and Retail Products Group Photo Credit: Clint Weisman

By Marilyn Tam.

In her own words. Ms. Tam is a firm believer that once you find your mission in life, you can then fulfill your dreams, achieve whatever you desire and find life's ultimate pleasureÑinner peace.

n the excerpt below, Ms. Tam talks brass tacks of some of the pitfalls that occur when you don't apply the tools of the trade to your worthy projects. Marilyn Tam is the former President of Reebok's Apparel and Retail Products Group, the founder and Executive Director of the Us Foundation (www.usfoundation.org) and a respected corporate consultant who helps companies to achieve their bottom line goals in a socially responsible way.

Be sure to tune into the next issue of iSophia, when we interview Ms. Tam on the four essential principles of Using What You've Got to Get What You Want. The iSophia November 19^th Wednesday Worldwide Chat will feature Marilyn Tam from 8:45 - 9:30 a.m. PST. iSophia members are invited to join us online and ask individual questions!

An excerpt from Ms. Tam's book, How to Use What You've Got to Get What You Want:
You may not always have a first time out success. I can tell you from painful personal experience that sometimes things won't quite work as you envision them. I had been determined to make a positive difference in life since childhood. And yet, I failed miserably in my first attempt at creating a nonprofit foundation that would make a difference.

A mutual friend introduced me to a man we'll call Jim. Jim had big ideas. He wanted to create a global nonprofit that would build a dialogue between world leaders in order to foster peace and understanding through the creation of common goals for all nations.

Jim wanted to fund this dream through complicated stock futures and a stock trading system. I was not at all versed in the world of investments. My life had been spent creating tangible goods and services. To me, the stock market was my father and brother's domain. I knew it was a world where vast wealth was easily gained and lost, but its machinations were vague and uninteresting to me. Because this was my first opportunity to create a nonprofit and I was inexperienced, my due diligence was completely inadequate; and in my eagerness, I totally ignored all that I learned in business about set-up and organization. Looking at Jim's lifestyle, I gathered that he had been able to make the system work and I left it at that. I took Jim at face value. If I had any doubts, I quelled them, reminding myself of how strongly his words resonated with my soul and of the fact that a reputable person had referred him.

On this flimsy analysis, I joined forces with Jim to fund and create our Camelot. After several months of encouraging signs, I gave him a check for a significant amount of money to support the foundation. But as time went by, Jim gradually became less and less available. Finally, he confessed that his system was not working and that most of my investment money was gone. He continued to spin more stories about how he just needed a little more time and a bit more money to make the system work.

Jim persisted on regaling me with stories of wonderful philanthropic possibilities. It was becoming more apparent that Jim's system did not work, and that my money had probably gone to supplement his family's lifestyle. Thankfully, I woke up in time to stop funding this Quixotic dreamÉWhen I took a hard look at what had happened, I realized that by allowing the glow of my dream to blind me, I had failed to do what I had always done in businessÑask the right questions and then decide whether to proceed. It was a painful lesson, but one I never forgot.

After much reflection, I decided that the idea itself had been good. But the execution had floundered. I returned to my mission of creating more peace and harmony on the planet and formed a new nonprofit on a much more solid footing. This time, I asked the hard questions.

1. Why do I want to do this?
2. Is there a definable market niche?
3. Is it a big enough market to warrant this project?
4. Is anyone else doing it?
5. If it's such a good idea, why hasn't it been done before?
6. Are other people thinking about doing this?
7. Who are they?
8. How will I compete with them?
9. Do I have the financial backing to do this?
10. What don't I have?
11. How will I get [those things]?
12. Have I reached critical mass to have a high probability of success?

Marilyn Tam's book, How to Use What You've Got to Get What You Want, receives an average 5-star rating from Amazon.com customers. In her book, Ms. Tam talks about how to discover your own inner North Star, and how to use it to navigate your efforts to achieve maximum personal success. The hardcover is just $14.00 on Amazon.com. Check it out! Click here.

Be sure to tune into the next iSophia e-zine, when we feature an exclusive, one-on-one interview with Marilyn Tam and reveal her four core secrets of success. Ms. Tam will also be available in the iSophia chat room on Wed., 11.19.03, from 8:45 - 9:30 am .PST. Members are encouraged to join Marilyn online, where she will answer and address your personal questions, longings and desires.

Money's Not Everything: One play day with a foster child could be just the hope, the talisman that she needs.

ACT NOW & REGISTER for the International Day of the CHILD on NOVEMBER 9, 2003 in Los Angeles, CA.

International Day of the CHILD on NOVEMBER 9, 2003 takes nearly 3,000 of Los Angeles' most high risk children from foster homes, residential facilities and homeless shelters for a day of fun, games, rides and love. The children receive care packages including clothing, books, educational materials and toiletries, which are donated by generous companies and organizations. Community based organizations set-up information booths on-site. This event is designed to bring awareness and support the needs of the children who by no fault of their own are living in and out of home care. The "Day of the Child" is the community's way of letting these children know that someone cares. Mentored children are more likely to find ways of surviving within the community without turning to crime, drugs, or gangs. The Day of the Child involves countless hours and dedication from numerous volunteers and hundreds of mentors. National recording artists provide entertaining performances. This year's hosts are: Pierce and Kelly Brosnan, Jane Seymour, Sela Ward and others.

1) Call 310.271.8421 to register NOW. Visit www.childrenunitingnations.org for more information.
2) Be prepared to spend your day with a foster child. Relax and be in a flexible mood!

The details:
Sunday, November 9th
8:30 am  - 5:00 pm.
Pierce College,
6201 Winnetka Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91371

8:30 - Mentor Arrival
9:30 - Mentor Orientation
11:00 - Children Arrive
5:00 - Children and Mentors Depart

Play Money.

iSophia scouts find two very unique ways to spoil yourself with a little of that money you've been making in the market this year.

1. Varekai or any of the four Cirque du Soleil shows that are currently in production worldwide. With the price of a ticket (not cheap, but well worth it) you can leave this world, and step into a tent where sound, awe-inspiring athletic achievements, stunning visuals and slapstick French farce twist your brain into taffy, while seducing your heart, aspirations and wonder. This is a circus with no animals, just humans performing death-defying feats (without a net), with sufficient grace and beauty to make Baryshnikov teary-eyed. If you don't want to take our word for it, consider that Cirque du Soleil has won over a hundred awards and distinctions for originality in its shows and excellence in management, including five Emmys, an ACE, and much, much more. The human juggling--yes, as in juggling people--is one of the most incredible feats our group had ever seen. Varekai plays in Los Angeles, CA through November 23^rd. Call 1.800.678.5440 or book online at www.CirqueDuSoleil.com. Other shows currently in production: Quidam (Japan tour), Mystere (Treasure Island, Las Vegas, Nevada), O (Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada), La Nouba (Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL).

2. Woodstock Locations. Vacation rental in a historic setting. From the late 1940's through late 60's, the Woodstock Locations house served as a small private playhouse and dance hall for the Tapooz Country Inn, an Armenian summer resort. The house was then turned into Applehead Recording Studios when Michael Lang, executive producer for the original Woodstock festival, purchased the property. Now after a full renovation, Woodstock Locations is available as a film/photography location as well as year round vacation rental. Minimum stay is flexible and the center of Woodstock is a short 4 minutes away.

Contact: J. Robinson -- janet@woodstocklocations.com

VISION: To build a global community of investors through seminars, a world-wide web-site and, ultimately, television.
GOAL: Working change: To promote successful investing and ethics in business.
MISSION: To build a global investment community by providing easy access to important financial news, by promoting a dialogue between members and industry professionals and by promoting ethical business practices, products and services.
PHILOSOPHY: The W.I.N. philosophy centers around five principles: Ongoing Education, Monthly Commitment, Diversified Portfolio, Ethical Business Practices, Pooled Resources.
For more information on W.I.N. contact us at info@NataliePace.com

NOTICE: The NataliePace.com is NOT a stock brokerage service, and does not operate or act as one.