Thrive & Inspire: Alchemy’s Arquella Hargrove ‘Inspired by People Making an Impact in the World’
Mar. 6, 2023
WHAT IS THE secret to running a successful business? The secret to a successful business is a rockstar team. With a rockstar team, clients experience the transformation within their culture. This also is connected to other success factors — a commitment to relentless change, communicating courageously, and collaborating to win. The ultimate goal is to be the change for our clients and to create a culture where team members thrive and grow exponentially.
What’s unique about your approach or your mission? We call ourselves a “partner” for our clients. We work to transform one culture — one organization at a time. In doing this, we meet clients in their cultural-shift journey, however long it may take to accomplish the end goal or implementation. We use a team of collaborative partners to dive deep into the company’s culture and provide expertise in each area we serve — from diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, learning and development, strategic HR development, executive leadership coaching and more. Bottom line: Our client’s success is our success.
What’s special about your team/colleagues? They are magic, amazing, creative problem solvers, and I thoroughly enjoy the work they do, creating lasting impact for our clients for an organizational culture change. Each has different skill sets strategically placed with clients to provide risk assessment, strategic business development, and change solutions leaning into their curiosity, best practices, empathy, respect and authenticity.
Who or what inspires you as you seek to reach greater heights of success? I am constantly inspired by people making an impact in the world, and I love being an agent of change with, behind and beside them. Our mission is to build up corporations and individuals so that they can perform at peak levels and enjoy their work life and culture.
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With First-Pitch Opp and Playoff Tickets Up for Grabs, HelpCureHD Gala Knocks It Out of the Park
Sep. 10, 2024
FORMER ASTROS PITCHER and current coach Joe Smith, along with his sportscaster wife Allie LaForce, hosted a gala at Minute Maid Park's Union Station in an effort to raise funds and awareness of Huntington’s Disease, which took the life of Smith’s mother in 2020.
Smith and LaForce established their nonprofit HelpCureHD, which provides support for those suffering from the progressive brain disease. Huntington’s Disease hereditary, and there’s a 50 percent chance of passing the gene along to offspring. However, going through IVF and screening embryos before implantation is one way to eliminate the risk, and HelpCureHD has committed to help couples cover the cost of that process. More than 60 babies have been brought into the world HD-free thanks to the nonprofit’s grant program, and there are many more on the way!
As has become tradition at this annual event, the raffle and live auction touted truly covetable prizes: Presenting sponsor Shaftel Diamonds donated a stunning diamond necklace created in collaboration with LaForce, and there was Astros swag aplenty — autographed items, an opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a home game (and sit in Jim Crane's personal seats!), and tickets to all of the playoff games at Minute Maid Park.
Among those raising a glass for the cause were Adrienne and Jared Crane, Kat Pressly, Sue Rogers, Reagan Bregman, Sam Tucker and Jordan Seff.
Sydnee Hilburn Davis and Jared Davis
Alexander Kelly and Kristin Foteh Kelly
Bobby Dees, Hallie Vanderhider, Fady Armanious and Bill Baldwin
Sue Rogers, Kat Pressly, Tory Graveman, Kim Seitler
Carrie and Austin Stanton
Danny and Iris Shaftel, Allie LaForce and Joe Smith
Reggie Jackson and Johnny Bravo
Kevin and Brooke Lee
Emily Carruth and Ashton Bremer
Michael and Ileana Trevino
Jo Furr, Erin Furr Stimming, Erin Goldman
Maxx Chewning and Taylor Kessler
Joan Purcell, Dorothy Roach, Darcy Morgan, Jennifer Browining
Matthew and Katherine Kardesch and Erin and Brian Goldman
Jody Merritt, Angela Hernandez
Emily Carruth and Ashton Bremer
Jamie and Chris Garner
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MORTGAGE RATES ARE high. So is the cost of living. Life milestones are coming later. The reasons that millennials are, according to society, "behind" previous generations when it comes to home ownership are finally crystal clear (and they have nothing to do with avocado toast, thankyouverymuch). But what do the statistics say about home-buying in Houston?
The millennial generation, defined as individuals born between 1981 and 1996, has reached a point in life in which buying a home is cited as a top priority. Thanks to the brutal combination of high interest rates and low inventory, though, it's become a daunting task. But a recently released report details this generation's level of participation in real estate markets across the country.
Construction Coverage, which covers building, insurance and real estate news, says that millennials accounted for the majority of home purchase loans in Houston last year — 61.5 percent, compared to 56.9 percent nationally. States with the highest percentage of millennial homebuyers were California, Texas, and a majority of the midwest and northeast. States at the bottom of the list included, in a post-Covid plot twist, Arizona and Florida.
The median loan amount for mortgages taken out by applicants ages 25-34 in the Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land metro was $315K, and shot up to $365K for those ages 35-44 — higher than any other age group. The median interest rate for the nearly 30,000 combined transactions was 6.5 percent.
The loan-to-value ratio, defined as the amount of the mortgage compared to the sale price of the home, was a whopping 87 percent for the 25-to-34-year-olds, and 80 percent for 35-to-44-year-olds. A contributing factor may be that many are first-time homebuyers, and have less equity to apply to new mortgages; in addition, many already have young and growing families, and need more space than previous generations' "starter homes" would have.
So what does this mean? In order to cope with rising home prices, millennials are taking out larger home loans than ever before, nationwide and here in Houston.
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