What principles do you live by?

“If you stand for nothing, you fall for everything”
We asked the community to tell us about the values and principles that guide their lives and businesses.
Joel Ripmaster and Orly Ripmaster are a father / daughter duo entrepreneur team. Starting in 1977, before I (Orly) was even born, my dad (Joel) founded Colorado Landmark, Realtors, Boulder’s leading luxury boutique brokerage and has led the brokerage for 45 years independently until recently, when I came home! After a career as a top executive in Private Equity, coming home to work with my dad was an incredible opportunity to honor both family and community (being a Boulder native myself I wanted to raise my family (my dad’s grandson’s in Boulder) and embrace local, small business after a corporate career. Read more>>
Compassion and authenticity are what my business is built on.
I wanted my company to be different than other dog companies. My compassion and belief that all animals are sentient beings is the reason I decided to produce vegan dog treats. I am sure a few people were scared away but that’s okay. I have a growing following of pet parents that are happy with my dog treats and what my business is all about. I learned that being my authentic self, loving myself, is the only way to be and it can rub off on others! Read More>>
To be honest, it took me awhile to understand what upholding a “value” really meant, much less see how it can become a way of life. Sure, I came equipped with the golden rule as a kid like anyone else, but I really learned some hard lessons as an adult surrounding integrity, so that value became the core of how I operate in the world. From having bosses with poor leadership or dealing with chains of mismanagement, I quickly recognized that honesty was something pretty hard to come by in the workplace. Read more>>
Not to get too heavy here, but the most important value to me is keeping the spirituality and soul in my artwork. I started this art journey after a serious illness over 20 years ago and art was something I did to rekindle my spirit and heal. I began taking art classes and got really hooked and it has been such a blessing to have art in my life on so many levels. Now that I am actually working at the business side of art, marketing and selling my work, I still try to keep the sense of joy and light in the forefront. That is my goal, to share this light with others. Read more>>