Although I have talked about Aaron in my previous posts; I wanted to take the time to do some more talking about him…what can I say – he is one of my favorite topics of conversation and there are many good reasons why.

Aaron is without a doubt my other half, my soul mate. He is has driven, focused and dedicated to his passions and dreams as I am to mine. He has the smarts, wits, ambitions and enthusiasm to accomplish anything he wants. He is funny, caring, sweet, romantic, and quite open minded. He is loyal, confident and passionate. He has an amazing smile, kind heart and tough edge all wrapped into a currently 6’3”, 240 pounds gorgeous, sexy and muscular body.

I say currently when describing his body type because one of his dream is to become a professional body builder. One purpose of his trip back stateside – actually what was the main purpose until he got out of his car in New Orleans and laid his eyes on me again, was to network and grow his center of influence in the health and fitness/body building circle.

He did quite a good job at it. Prior to even arriving back stateside he was in contact with Erin Newman – Associate Editor, Weider Publication discussing his July TalkBack feature. His conversation with Erin escalated to her wanting to do more stories on him because of her interactions with him. Aaron is genuine, respectful and humble in his interactions with people.

Aaron is a big guy – a lot of people like to point that out to me; as if I hadn’t noticed…with one arm he can pretty much stroke my entire body which is quite nice and way too much info for this blog post. But, what I really want to get across is that what you might imagine him to be after looking at him in his posing trunk/under wear is a surface (almost full surface) look at a person who is extremely deep.

I’ve been misjudged many times. Most people have seen a pretty face and were later surprised by my depth…the very same is true of Aaron. Fortunately, I felt and recognized his depth when I laid eyes on him. Being his equal as allowed me to see a great deal more of him than what most people have seen. Having my equal now in my life had brought me so much relief and joy.

I not only get to be myself with Aaron but I also get to start stretching who I am again. I obviously love, respect and admire a great deal about Aaron, but above all, what gets me the most is his support, and encouragement for my own dreams and ambitions. He is 110% behind everything I want and desire. He is more than willing (and able) to be by my side so I can achieve all of them.

Women of my generation struggle quite a bit to find men who are not threaten, taken back, or turned off by the ambitious “go getters” that we are, so I know I am blessed to have found Aaron.

He gladly did the dishes, cooked dinner(s) (one meal for dinner doesn’t cut it for him), cleaned up the house, and took out the trash all last week and I have no doubt that will continue. Laying back on the couch watching TV or playing video games is as foreign to him as it is to me.

Aaron is in this relationship (soon to be marriage) to be an equal partner and to have an equal partner. He wants to be part of my dreams and make me part of his…granted being part of his dreams involves posing in a bathing suit for the world to see – nothing like a little added pressure.

You can find Aaron all over the web on various social networks because he jumped right in to learn the things I do and know about. He’s a quick learner too. We have different interests and many of the same. We have no problems learning from each other and teaching one another.

We want and desire the same things…things that most people in this world fear to desire. We’ve both been tested by more than what an average person can handle and no matter what happened to us; we decided it was better to have a positive outlook than a negative one. We both have faith, an open mind and strong beliefs in life being all that we want it to be.

Aaron is who I ask for from God to come into my life. I waited a long time for him and we both traveled our own journeys in our lives to be at the point where we are now ready to be together. Aaron made some extraordinary leaps in the last three weeks that have blown me away and have left me in awe of him. I love the fact that I’m in awe of him.

If you are out there looking for love – don’t give up on it. Be clear on who you are and what you are looking for. I won’t do so in this blog post, but I can trace every step of the way that has lead me to Aaron. All the changes, self-realizations, self-acceptance, and wake up calls I needed to get to who I am now, the person ready for a new chapter and growth spurt(s) professionally and personally to be lived with Aaron.

Back in May of 2007, I thought I had actually figured out how to make a partnership work and that I had found a good partner. I clearly spoke out too early. I was right on the criterion needed to have a good partnership:

Bottom line when you consider taking on business partners, make sure they bring to the partnership the skills and strengths you don’t yourself possess, make sure they are just as fully committed with their time, energy and financials; also, make sure they have the same values and work ethics. Lastly, make sure you can trust them and know that they are now part of your family.

But wrong on how long it takes to ensure you have road and time tested the validity of those criterion in each of your partners.

I’m not going to get into the details, in this blog post, of what happened with the former partnerships; rather, I’m going to discuss my current view of partnerships. (Note: I’m talking partners not investors)

It Will Be A Cold Day in Hell

Haha!! Okay, not quite that dramatic!! But the truth is, with as far as I am with things, the odds of me taking on a full partner are extremely slim to none. That’s because the odds of a partner bringing to the table real, true, must have value is doubtful. Also, at this point in the game, the odds of getting someone who is just as invested into the venture as I am is next to impossible. There are so many other ways I can get the same value elsewhere at this point.

Hire Talent

I’ll bring on hires, who will get shares as part of their compensation package, but again – those are not quite the same as partners.

It’s entirely too easy to find the duty experts, hire them, learn from them, listen to them and properly leverage their skills and knowledge.

Strategic Partners

The other option is to outsource to strategic partners. Get folks to help you without getting into sticky agreements together. They run their business – I run mine. In order for both businesses to stay in business they are required to deliver. If and when they don’t – you terminate the partnership agreement. This type of agreement can lead to some hassle but there are ways to negate that.

Advisory Board

I still don’t have one but am looking. I’m looking for the duty experts in the fields and areas I lack knowledge to help and mentor me. As well as, assist in making connections.

I know better than to think that I’m completely right about not taking on another partner again…so we’ll see what it would take to see it in another way.