Costco Connection - September 2006

member connection

COURTESY OF JANICE TAYLOR

Waisting away COSTCO MEMBER Janice Taylor rolled out of bed one morning, pulled on her biggest pair of stretch pants and found even those to be too tight. Aside from not wanting to buy XXXL pants, Taylor faced health issues.

“My back hurt a good deal of the time, my cholesterol was over 250 and I had to wear orthotics in my shoes,” says Taylor from her home in New York City.

That night at a weight-loss meeting, as Taylor thought to herself that she’d never reach her weight-loss goal, she heard an inner voice say, “If you think you’re never going to make it, you never will.” Taylor attributes the voice to Our Lady of Weight Loss, who then encouraged Taylor to make weight loss an art project. Over the course of the next year, Taylor dropped 50 pounds and came up with 50 pieces of collage art.

Taylor even left her job in an investor-relations firm and
began finding work in her new call-
ing—as a weight-loss artist.

Taylor started a newsletter, which was followed by her Web site, www.ourladyofweightloss.com. She fills her time by giving workshops and talks. She’s also written Our Lady of Weight Loss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal

(Viking Studio, 2006), which is filled with tips and Taylor’s colorful and inspirational artwork.—Stephanie E. Ponder

We want to hear from you

IF YOU HAVE a note, photo or story to share (it should be about Costco or Costco members in some way), you can send it to “The Member Connection,” The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124- 1088, or e-mail to connection@costco.com with “The Member Connection” in the subject line. Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned.

Adam@Home by Brian Basset 72 The Costco Connection SEPTEMBER 2006

SPECIAL TO THE CONNECTION. ADAM IS © B Y BRIAN BASSET, UNIVERSAL PRESS S YNDICATE

Fiesta con Costco

WHILE WE WERE on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, our cab driver gave us a nice tour on the way to our time-share. One of his main points of interest was Costco. Since we had never been to Cabo before, I thought that I was hearing things, so I asked him to please repeat. He meant Costco alright! He asked us if we wanted to stop

DANA SULLIVAN

there before he took us to our destination. So, off to Costco we went. It was great! Even better than at home. We stocked up on all the essentials—cerveza (beer) and tequila. Who would have thought?

—Heather and Ron Husted Santa Barbara, California

Margit Novack (left) helps Robert Sigmond unpack his belongings in a retirement community.

ANDREA ARTZ

A helping hand

“TAKING CARE OF aging parents can be a burden,” explains Costco member Margit Novack, of Philadelphia, whose parents had both died by the time she was 25. “But not having parents to look after is a burden of a different kind.”

Novack began looking for ways she could help seniors because she believed that doing so would heal the void she felt from having lost her parents. Her search led her to establish Moving Solutions ( www.moving solutions.com), a company that specializes in helping aging adults who need to relocate. Her company also helps people in health crises and those of any age who have a disability.

Moving Solutions helps clients in all aspects of relocating, from planning their moves to settling—including the onerous task of sorting through a lifetime of accumulated belongings. Clients make all the decisions, but through an extensive network of Realtors, movers and other services, Moving Solutions does all the hands-on work.

Novack started Moving Solutions in 1996. In 1999 it was named “Business of the Year” by the American Society on Aging ( www.asa.org), which resulted in media coverage. Would-be entrepreneurs began asking Novack for help in starting similar businesses. She began a licensing program through which she assisted 20 new businesses. Then, last year, she began franchising. Currently, there are six Moving Solutions locations: one in Connecticut, one in New York, two in Florida, one in South Carolina and the company home office in metro Philadelphia.