Author: Zex PRwire

• Aaron Byrnes is starting a standing pickleball meetup for players in and around Newport Beach, open to anyone who wants a game.

A local game, not a private one

California, USA, Sep 05, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Aaron Byrnes has played pickleball for years, alongside sailing and travel as one of his regular pursuits. He decided this year to turn a personal habit into something local players can join.

Starting this season, Byrnes is committing to a recurring pickleball meetup for people in the Newport Beach area. The idea is simple: a regular time, a regular place, and an open invitation to players who want a match without needing an existing group of friends to show up with.

“Most people find pickleball through someone they already know,” Byrnes said. “I wanted a version of it where you don’t need the connection first. You just show up and play.”

Why he is doing this now

Byrnes spent his early career in construction, then moved into import and export work, a business built on reading people as much as reading numbers. He describes both worlds as places where relationships form on the move, not in advance.

“In my business, you meet someone once and you figure out fast whether you can work with them,” he said. “Pickleball is the same thing in miniature. You play one game with a stranger and you know.”

That instinct is part of why he is putting his name behind a meetup rather than just showing up to public courts on his own. He wants a standing group that other players can count on returning, week after week, whether or not he personally makes every session.

What the meetup will look like

The plan Byrnes has laid out is straightforward:

• A fixed weekly time slot, kept consistent so players can plan around it.

• Open sign-up, with no membership fee and no skill minimum.

• Rotating partners each session, so players are not stuck with the same matchup every week.

• A short warm-up period before games start, aimed at newer players who want to get comfortable before playing points.

Byrnes says he is keeping the format loose on purpose. “The second you add too many rules, people stop coming,” he said. “I want people showing up because it’s easy, not because they feel obligated.”

Beyond the court

Byrnes treats pickleball as one part of a broader pursuit of staying active outdoors, alongside sailing and time on the water. He has said in the past that fitness and being outside are routines he protects, not extras he fits in when there’s time.

He also plays pinochle and follows poker and other games of chance, activities he has described as close cousins to his import and export work: reading a room, weighing risk, deciding when to hold and when to fold. Pickleball fits into that same instinct, though he’s quick to say the stakes are lower.

“Nobody’s losing money on a bad serve,” he said. “That’s what makes it fun.”

What comes next

Byrnes plans to keep the meetup running as a standing commitment rather than a one-time event. He says the measure of success isn’t attendance numbers, it’s whether the same faces keep coming back and whether new players feel welcome enough to return a second time.

“I’m not trying to build a tournament circuit,” he said. “I just want a place where showing up is the whole point.”

He has not set an end date for the meetup and says he intends to keep it running as long as people keep showing up to play.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Aaron Byrnes

Aaron Byrnes built his career in import and export, following earlier work in residential and commercial construction. Byrnes is a pickleball player, sailor, and avid pinochle player, and he splits his time between Newport Beach and Phoenix, Arizona.

California, USA, Sep 05, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Karl D’Angelo has worked in plumbing since 1996 and has held a C-36 contractor license in California since 2004. For most of that time, his standard for a finished job lived in his head. He knew what “done right” looked like, but he never put it into words for anyone else to see.

That changes now. D’Angelo is formalizing the standard he has always held himself to, and publishing it as a short set of commitments that customers in Sonoma County can expect from Avante’ Plumbing on every visit.

“I like to feel good about the work I do, even if no one else is going to see it,” D’Angelo said. “The type of work I do, people don’t always understand the standard behind it. But I do, and now I want to say it out loud.”

The four commitments

D’Angelo built the standard around four ideas he says have guided his approach for years:

Listen before diagnosing. D’Angelo says most plumbing problems start with a conversation, not a wrench. He commits to asking what a homeowner actually wants and needs before recommending a fix, and to explaining the difference when the two don’t match.

Match the fix to the house. A repair that works in a newer build in Rohnert Park might be wrong for an older home near downtown Santa Rosa. D’Angelo commits to accounting for a home’s age and existing systems before proposing work, rather than defaulting to one approach.

Hold the line on quality even when it’s invisible. Some plumbing work is never seen once the wall goes back up. D’Angelo commits to doing that work to the same standard he’d use on something a customer could inspect.

Treat every mistake as information. D’Angelo says growth in the trade never stops, and that a job that goes wrong is a chance to get closer to doing it right. He commits to reviewing what didn’t work on a job rather than moving past it.

Why now

D’Angelo has spent the last several years rebuilding his business and taking his career more seriously than he has before. He describes his work and his personal life as connected rather than separate.

“There isn’t a lot of daylight between how I’m doing personally and how I show up on a job,” D’Angelo said. “Writing this down is part of taking the business as seriously as I say I do.”

He also credits the practice of tracking small, forward steps, rather than fixating on what hasn’t gone right, as part of what made him ready to put a standard on paper instead of just carrying it privately.

“I used to have a big negative bias,” D’Angelo said. “Now I try to track the small wins instead of missing them.”

What it means for customers

For homeowners in Santa Rosa and the surrounding Sonoma County area, the practical change is that the standard is no longer implicit. Customers can ask about any of the four commitments before or during a job, and D’Angelo says he expects to be held to them.

He is not attaching a certification or a guarantee program to the announcement. It is, by his own description, a personal commitment rather than a marketing claim.

“I set my own standards, and sometimes they’re too high,” D’Angelo said. “But I’d rather hold myself to something specific than just say I do good work and leave it at that.”

Avante’ Plumbing continues to serve residential customers in Santa Rosa and the surrounding Sonoma County area. More information is available through the company’s website.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Karl D’Angelo

Karl D’Angelo is the owner of Karl D’Angelo Plumbing, doing business as Avante’ Plumbing, based in Santa Rosa, California. He holds a C-36 plumbing contractor license from the State of California, earned in 2004 after an eight-year apprenticeship, along with a Certified Green Plumber designation and a CA Solar Initiative Thermal Contractor certification. D’Angelo has worked in the plumbing trade since 1996 and lives in Sonoma County.

• REI Accelerator, LLC is launching a public awareness campaign to help multifamily investors spot the warning signs of unsafe off-market sourcing before capital is committed.

Why this campaign, now

Georgia, USA, Sep 05, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — REI Accelerator works with investors who are trying to source apartment deals outside the open market. That work runs through virtual assistant teams doing cold calling and lead generation, plus capital raising support for investors building partner networks.

The company has seen a pattern across the investors it coaches. People rush toward off-market deals because they hear the phrase and assume it means a discount. It does not always mean that. It means the deal has not been tested by a broker process or public listing, and that carries its own risks if an investor does not know what to check.

“Off-market only sounds safer because fewer people have seen it,” said a company spokesperson for REI Accelerator. “The number of eyes on a deal is not the same thing as the quality of the deal. Investors need a way to tell the difference before they wire money.”

What the campaign covers

The campaign is built around three checkpoints REI Accelerator asks its coaching clients to run on any off-market apartment lead, whether it came from a VA calling campaign, a broker relationship, or a direct owner conversation.

Seller motivation. A real off-market opportunity usually has a specific reason the owner wants out: an estate situation, a partnership split, deferred maintenance the owner does not want to fund. Investors should ask why the property is not listed, and be cautious if the answer is vague.

Verified financials, not owner summaries. REI Accelerator tells investors to treat any owner-provided income statement as a starting point, not a source of truth. Rent rolls, actual bank deposits, and utility bills tell a more honest story than a one-page summary.

Independent underwriting. The company’s coaching model pushes investors to run their own numbers separate from whatever the seller or a wholesaler provides. If two independent underwriting passes land far apart, that gap is the warning sign, not the average of the two.

Who the campaign is for

The campaign targets two groups. The first is investors doing their own cold calling and direct-to-seller outreach who may not have a system for qualifying what comes back. The second is investors relying on virtual assistant teams for lead generation, where deal flow can increase quickly without a matching increase in vetting discipline.

REI Accelerator has built VA recruitment and management services specifically for this second group. The company’s position is that more leads without more structure just moves the risk earlier in the pipeline instead of removing it.

“A cold calling team can hand you ten leads a week,” the spokesperson said. “That is only useful if the investor behind those leads has a process for saying no fast to the nine that do not work.”

How the campaign will run

REI Accelerator plans to distribute the three checkpoints through its coaching program, its mastermind community, and public content aimed at investors researching multifamily strategy. The company is not charging for access to the checkpoints themselves. They are meant to function as a first filter, not a replacement for full underwriting.

The campaign also reflects a broader theme in the company’s coaching philosophy: speed without a checking system is not an advantage. REI Accelerator has built its programs around done-for-you services paired with accountability structure, on the reasoning that access to more deals only helps investors who can tell a good one from a bad one quickly.

The company plans to keep the campaign active as an ongoing part of its public education content rather than a single announcement, given how often new investors ask the same questions about off-market sourcing when they first start looking at apartment deals.

To read more, visit the website here.

About REI Accelerator, LLC

REI Accelerator, LLC is a real estate investing coaching and services company based in Columbus, Georgia. Co-founded by Jonathan Cronin and Larry Kite in 2022, the company works with investors pursuing multifamily and apartment deals through one-on-one coaching, capital raising support, off-market deal sourcing, and virtual assistant services for cold calling and lead management. REI Accelerator describes itself as a faith-based company built around accountability and execution for investors scaling their portfolios.

Texas, USA, Sep 05, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Max Mehta, a diagnostic radiologist serving hospitals across South Texas, is publishing a personal resilience framework designed to help healthcare professionals manage adversity without letting circumstances outside their control derail their well-being. The three-pillar system draws on principles from Stoic philosophy and the mental conditioning techniques used by Navy SEALs, combined with Mehta’s own experience navigating setbacks throughout his career.

The framework centers on three commitments: protect the mind, strengthen the body, and measure success by internal standards rather than external benchmarks. Mehta has refined these principles over years of practice at a number of regional hospitals in Texas, as well as during his earlier tenure with Advanced Diagnostics in Florida.

“A strong mind can overcome any obstacle,” Mehta says. “Stoicism has a fundamental tenet of not letting things beyond your control affect you. In addition, one must realize that the greatest weapon they have is their mind.”

Why Radiologists and Physicians Need a Different Yardstick

Mehta argues that many healthcare professionals burn out because they rely on metrics that fluctuate with external forces: patient volumes, reimbursement changes, administrative mandates, or peer comparisons. His framework flips that script.

“I use my own internal metric to define success,” he explains. “Success equals happiness. As long as you are happy, you are successful.”

That redefinition has practical implications. Instead of chasing promotions or accolades, Mehta’s short-term goals include continuing medical education to stay current and maintaining mental clarity. His long-term goals focus on physical health, particularly regular gym sessions. Both goals are entirely within his control, which makes them resilient to the chaos of modern healthcare delivery.

The Stoic Toolbox: Adversity as Training Ground

Mehta’s interest in Stoicism emerged during a period of significant professional adversity. Rather than let setbacks compound, he researched how ancient philosophers handled hardship and how elite military units build resilience into their training protocols.

“I have had much adversity,” Mehta says. “To overcome this, I researched Stoicism on how to handle adversity and become resilient. In addition, I researched how the Navy SEALs are trained to have a do-not-quit gene in their DNA despite facing significant hurdles.”

The resulting framework asks practitioners to separate what they can influence from what they cannot. Patient outcomes, reimbursement rates, and hospital politics often fall into the latter category. Diagnostic accuracy, continuing education, peer relationships, and personal health fall into the former. Mehta’s system directs energy exclusively toward the controllable column.

Building Community Networks for Long-Term Career Health

Mehta also emphasizes that resilience is not a solo endeavor. He credits community networking as a pillar of sustained career satisfaction, particularly in specialties like radiology where practitioners can feel isolated from the broader care team.

“Networking with people in the community is important to have a successful career,” he notes. “A balance between personal and professional success is essential to long-term satisfaction.”

His approach to networking mirrors his philosophy on success: it is grounded in availability, affability, and affordability. Those three qualities, Mehta argues, matter more than credentials or case volume when building relationships that endure through career transitions and market changes.

Growing up in Peoria, Illinois, Mehta developed an appreciation for Midwestern pragmatism that still shapes his practice. He attended Richwoods High School before earning his undergraduate and medical degrees from Boston University and Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his radiology residency at a Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, and pursued fellowship training at Baylor College of Medicine. Outside the hospital, he enjoys basketball, movies, music, dining out, walks, gym sessions, and a strong cup of coffee.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Max Mehta

Max Mehta is a diagnostic radiologist based in Austin, Texas, currently serving at a number of regional hospitals in Texas. He completed his radiology residency at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara and his fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine. A recipient of the Dale Etaugh Achievement Award, Mehta is active in the Radiological Society of North America and is known for his work in medical education and community networking.

New York City, NY, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska has worked within United Nations Sustainable Development communications since 2008. Her work involves helping large, complicated ideas about the environment and international cooperation reach ordinary readers. She has decided to turn some of that thinking into a short, practical challenge that anyone can try, using seven days as the frame.

The idea is simple. Each day points to one Sustainable Development Goal and one small action tied to it. Nothing on the list requires special equipment or money. Blazhevska says she designed it that way on purpose.

“Big goals get people excited for a week and then they quit,” she says. “I wanted something a person could actually keep doing after the challenge ends.”

The seven-day plan

Day 1, climate action. Skip one car or rideshare trip. Walk, bike, or take transit instead.

Day 2, affordable and clean energy. Unplug devices that sit idle overnight. Blazhevska points out that standby power adds up over a year, even if it feels small on any single day.

Day 3, quality education. Spend twenty minutes reading about one environmental topic you do not already understand well. She suggests picking something specific, like ocean plastic or soil health, rather than a broad subject.

Day 4, gender equality. Support or promote the work of a woman colleague or a woman-led project you respect. Blazhevska frames this as a habit of attention, not a one-time gesture.

Day 5, responsible consumption. Try one full meatless day. This is the piece of the challenge closest to her own life. She has been vegetarian since 1991, avoiding meat and fish while still eating cheese, eggs, and yogurt. “I’m not asking anyone to do what I do for thirty-five years,” she says. “I’m asking for one day, to see how it feels.”

Day 6, life below water. Cut back on single-use plastic for the day. Bring a reusable bottle or bag instead of a new one.

Day 7, peace. Have one respectful conversation with someone whose views differ from yours, without trying to change their mind. Blazhevska sees this as connected to her interest in harmony among different faiths and backgrounds. “Peace starts in small exchanges before it shows up anywhere bigger,” she says.

Why she built it around small steps

Blazhevska says her communications work has taught her that people respond to specifics, not slogans. A goal like “protect the climate” is hard to act on directly. Turning off a device or skipping a car trip is not.

She also says the challenge reflects something she has learned from her own long-standing habits. Her vegetarian diet has lasted more than three decades not because she set out to prove something, but because it became ordinary. She hopes the same happens with small climate habits: that they stop feeling like a challenge and become routine.

“None of these seven days ask for something dramatic,” she says. “They ask for something repeatable.”

How to take part

Blazhevska is encouraging people to pick any single day from the list and try it this week, rather than waiting to start all seven at once. She says starting small and staying consistent matters more than doing everything at once.

She also notes the challenge is meant to be shared informally, among coworkers, friends, or community groups, rather than tracked through any formal program. “The point isn’t a certificate,” she says. “The point is that seven habits are easier to keep than one big promise.”

To read the full interview, visit the website here.

About Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska

Karunamaya Vesna Blazhevska is a Communications Assistant with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, based in New York City. She has worked there since 2008, with a focus on communication tied to sustainable development and international cooperation. She holds a degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje, part of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in North Macedonia, and grew up in what was then Yugoslavia. She has been a vegetarian since 1991 and has a long-standing interest in spirituality, peace, and harmony among different faiths.

New SaaS platform handles keyword research, content planning, SEO writing, visuals, and CMS publishing in one automated workflow

London, United Kingdom, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE— Publishberry, an AI-powered blogging and content automation platform, has launched to help businesses research, create, optimize, and publish high-quality blog content more consistently.

Publishberry brings the entire blogging workflow into one platform. After a user enters their website address, the software analyzes the site’s niche, audience, existing content, keyword footprint, and brand voice. It then identifies promising keyword opportunities and creates a tailored editorial calendar based on search demand, competitive gaps, seasonality, and ranking potential.

The platform produces long-form articles with structured headings, metadata, internal links, citations, and relevant visuals. Content can be reviewed and edited before publication, or businesses can enable autopilot to publish approved articles directly to their website according to a chosen schedule.

“Many businesses understand the value of content marketing but struggle to publish consistently,” said Uwe Dreissigacker, co-founder of Publishberry. “Publishberry was created to remove the operational work behind blogging. Instead of coordinating separate tools for research, planning, writing, images, optimization, and publishing, businesses can manage the entire process in one place.”

Uwe Dreissigacker brings nearly two decades of experience in the SEO and link-building industry to Publishberry. He also runs Linkhandy, where he provides bespoke link-building solutions designed to help SaaS and technology companies improve their organic search visibility.

Publishberry is designed for SaaS companies, startups, small businesses, marketing teams, bloggers, and agencies that want to grow organic traffic without building a large internal content operation. The platform can also help agencies manage content production across multiple clients or websites.

Key Publishberry capabilities include:

• Automated keyword research and competitor-gap analysis

• Semantic keyword clustering and opportunity prioritization

• Rolling content calendars based on the user’s publishing frequency

• Long-form articles written to match an existing brand voice

• SEO scoring, metadata, schema, citations, and internal linking

• AI-generated hero images and supporting visuals

• Editing, rewriting, approval, and team-review workflows

• Manual or fully automated CMS publishing

• Content-performance and keyword-rank tracking

• Support for WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Shopify, HubSpot, Wix, Drupal, and custom integrations

Publishberry offers three monthly plans. Starter costs $49 per month and includes four articles, Growth costs $99 per month and includes 12 articles, and Scale costs $149 per month and includes 30 articles. A seven-day free trial is available without requiring a credit card.

About Publishberry

Publishberry is an AI-powered blogging platform that automates keyword research, content planning, article writing, SEO optimization, visual creation, and CMS publishing. The platform helps businesses maintain a consistent publishing schedule and build organic traffic without relying on a complicated collection of writers, agencies, and disconnected software tools.

Stellantis technology executive emphasizes practical innovation, integrated engineering and the importance of building technology around real customer needs.

Illinois, CA, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, As artificial intelligence, advanced computing and connected technologies become increasingly important to product development, Ned Curic believes the value of innovation should still be measured by a straightforward standard: whether it makes the product better for the person using it.

Curic, who is responsible for Product Development & Technology at Stellantis and is a member of the Stellantis Leadership Team, has spent his career working across engineering, software and automotive technology.

His approach places the customer at the center of technology decisions rather than treating new technology as an objective on its own.

“Technology only matters if it makes life better for people,” Curic has said.

The principle has become increasingly relevant as companies gain access to more powerful artificial intelligence, computing systems and development tools. The challenge is no longer simply whether a technology can be built or incorporated into a product. Companies must determine where it creates meaningful improvements for customers.

Building Technology Around the Product

For the automotive industry, that distinction is especially important.

Modern vehicles bring together mechanical engineering, electronics, computing, software, design, manufacturing and increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence. Customers, however, experience those individual technologies as one product.

Curic has publicly emphasized the importance of viewing the vehicle as a complete system rather than allowing any individual technology to become the product’s defining purpose.

That philosophy also influences how Stellantis approaches product development.

In February 2025, Stellantis integrated its software activities into the Product Development & Technology organization led by Curic. The company said the change was intended to streamline the process of bringing products and services to market across its brands and markets.

The organizational structure brings technologies that increasingly influence the customer experience closer to the broader engineering and product-development process.

Rather than separating software from the rest of vehicle development, the approach reflects the reality that customers ultimately judge how all parts of a vehicle work together.

From Technical Capability to Customer Value

The rapid development of artificial intelligence provides another example of the distinction between technical capability and practical value.

Stellantis has been exploring AI across areas including engineering, manufacturing, vehicle technology and customer interaction.

Curic has consistently framed those efforts around tangible results.

When Stellantis expanded its collaboration with Mistral AI in 2025, Curic said the companies were exploring applications of artificial intelligence that could enhance product development and the customer experience while delivering real benefits.

That focus places a higher standard on innovation than novelty alone.

A new technology may be technically impressive, but its long-term value depends on whether it can improve quality, simplify an experience, accelerate development, increase capability or address another genuine customer or business need.

The same principle applies as AI becomes a larger part of engineering and product-development workflows.

Technology can help teams analyze information, test ideas, improve development processes and create new experiences. The objective, however, remains the product rather than the technology used to create it.

Innovation Requires Integration

Curic’s perspective has been shaped by a career spanning several technology-intensive industries.

He began his career in Engineering Systems at Northrop Grumman in 1996 before joining Microsoft in 2000, where he held positions in consulting, product, security and advisory functions.

He entered the automotive industry in 2013 as Group Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Toyota Motor North America. In 2015, he became a co-founder of Toyota Connected, serving as Executive Vice President, Technical Director and Board Member.

Curic joined Amazon in 2017 as Vice President of Alexa Automotive, spearheading the company’s efforts in the automotive industry.

In August 2021, he joined Stellantis as Chief Technology Officer. His responsibilities later expanded to encompass engineering and research and development before Stellantis brought software activities into the Product Development & Technology organization in 2025.

Across those roles, Curic has worked in environments where multiple technologies, teams and disciplines must contribute to a single product or customer experience.

That experience underpins an approach to innovation based on integration rather than technology in isolation.

A Practical Standard for Emerging Technology

The number of technologies available to product-development organizations will continue to grow.

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly. Computing capability continues to increase. Development tools are becoming more sophisticated, and vehicles are incorporating increasingly complex electronics and connected functions.

For Curic, those developments do not change the fundamental purpose of technology.

The relevant questions remain practical ones: Does it improve the product? Does it make something easier for the customer? Does it solve a genuine problem? Does it enable an experience that people actually value?

Those questions can also help organizations distinguish lasting innovation from short-term technology trends.

The companies best positioned to benefit from emerging technologies may therefore be those that are most selective about how they use them—integrating technology where it improves the complete product rather than adding capability simply because it is available.

As the automotive industry continues to evolve, Curic’s approach keeps the emphasis on an outcome that is easy to understand even when the technology behind it is increasingly complex: building better products for the people who use them.

About Ned Curic

Ned Curic is responsible for Product Development & Technology at Stellantis and is a member of the Stellantis Leadership Team. He previously served as Vice President of Alexa Automotive at Amazon, Group Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Toyota Motor North America, and held roles in consulting, product, security and advisory functions at Microsoft. He began his career in Engineering Systems at Northrop Grumman.

Curic studied Informatics and Computer Science and received an MBA from Pepperdine University’s George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management in 2012.

For more information, visit NedCuric.com.

Colorado, US, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Jaideep or “JD” Mangat has published Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One, his first children’s book. The story follows Tabansi, a spirited tiger whose experiences introduce young readers to the idea that doing something independently does not necessarily mean being lonely.

The idea for the book developed from conversations Mangat had with people who felt uncomfortable doing certain activities on their own, including going to restaurants, seeing movies, or traveling. Those conversations led him to think more broadly about why being alone is sometimes viewed negatively and whether independence could be approached differently.

Rather than presenting the idea as a direct lesson, Mangat chose to explore it through a children’s story. Tabansi, whose name means “one who endures,” encounters uncertainty and learns through experience, giving readers an opportunity to engage with the idea through the character rather than through direct instruction.

“I wanted the story to be enjoyable first,” said Mangat. “The message could exist underneath the story without making the book feel like a lesson or lecture.”

Mangat’s background in education also influenced the way he approached the project. He has worked as a teacher and public servant since 2019 and has developed an interest in making ideas accessible through different forms of communication. His experience in the classroom contributed to his decision to use storytelling as a way to explore a subject that both children and adults can recognize.

Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One also represents a new creative direction for Mangat. Developing the book required him to work through unfamiliar aspects of writing and publishing while thinking about the character, story, audience, and message as separate but connected parts of the project.

The book reflects a broader interest in independence and becoming comfortable with uncertainty. Rather than suggesting that people should always prefer doing things alone, Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One presents independence as another way of experiencing the world (one that can exist alongside the relationships and shared experiences people value).

About JD Mangat

JD Mangat is a Colorado educator, former public servant, and author. He grew up in Lafayette, Colorado, and attended Centaurus High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Operations and Information Management from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017. He later earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado Denver in 2022.

Mangat’s professional experience spans education, public service, and entrepreneurship. His work has focused on learning, problem-solving, and making complex ideas more accessible. Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One, published in May 2026, is his first children’s book.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One

Tabansi The Tiger and the Joy of One is a children’s book about independence, confidence, and becoming more comfortable with unfamiliar experiences. Through the story of Tabansi, a spirited tiger learning to navigate uncertainty, the book explores the distinction between being alone and being lonely and the idea that confidence can develop through experience.

For more information:
Visit JD Mangat’s website at jdmangat.com4

Los Angeles, CA, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE— As homeowners have more choices than ever when selecting service providers, Ignacio Duron, CEO and co-founder of Most Valuable Plumber, believes that customer trust has become one of the most important competitive advantages a business can build.

While pricing and technical expertise remain essential, Duron argues that long-term business success increasingly depends on how consistently companies communicate, follow through on their commitments, and create positive customer experiences.

“Customers aren’t just hiring someone to repair a plumbing issue,” said Duron. “They’re inviting a professional into their home and trusting them to solve an important problem. That trust has to be earned through every interaction—from the first phone call to the final walkthrough.”

Duron has spent years building his leadership philosophy around the idea that trust is created through consistency rather than promises. Before becoming CEO of Most Valuable Plumber, he worked extensively in the field, where he learned that customers often remember how they were treated just as much as the quality of the repair itself.

According to Duron, businesses that prioritize clear communication, reliability, and accountability are better positioned to strengthen customer relationships and generate long-term growth through repeat business and referrals.

“Technical skills are expected,” he said. “What separates exceptional companies is how they communicate, how they handle unexpected situations, and whether customers feel respected throughout the entire experience.”

Duron believes that trust begins long before work starts. Providing realistic expectations, arriving on time, explaining recommended solutions clearly, and maintaining transparency throughout a project all contribute to building customer confidence.

He also emphasizes that trust extends beyond the customer relationship. Businesses that invest in employee development, encourage accountability, and create a culture of integrity are often better equipped to deliver consistently positive service.

“When employees understand the company’s values and feel supported by leadership, that confidence naturally carries over into the customer experience,” Duron said. “Strong cultures create stronger customer relationships.”

As competition intensifies across the home services industry, Duron encourages business owners to view trust as a long-term investment rather than a marketing strategy.

“Businesses can compete on price for a while,” he said. “But companies that earn trust consistently build something much more valuable. Customers come back, they recommend you to family and friends, and your reputation becomes one of your strongest business assets.”

Duron believes this people-first approach will continue to shape the future of service businesses, particularly as customer expectations evolve and reputation becomes increasingly influenced by online reviews and personal referrals.

“Every interaction matters,” he added. “Trust isn’t built through one great experience. It’s built through hundreds of small decisions that demonstrate professionalism, honesty, and genuine care for the customer.”

To read more, visit the website here.

About Ignacio Duron

Ignacio Duron is the CEO and co-founder of Most Valuable Plumber, a family-owned plumbing company serving communities throughout Los Angeles County. After beginning his career in the field, Duron built his leadership philosophy around practical experience, operational excellence, and customer-focused service. In addition to leading the company’s continued growth, he is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Law at Arizona State University and coaches youth football, flag football, and basketball. Duron regularly shares insights on leadership, mentorship, business strategy, and building high-performing teams through trust, accountability, and continuous learning.

Barrie, Ontario administrative professional draws on experience in administration, photography, web design, technology, and customer service to explore why varied skills can have lasting professional value.

Ontario, CA, 4th September 2026, ZEX PR WIRE, Scott Kresan Tilbe, an administrative professional with a background spanning creative and technical fields, is highlighting the value of developing skills across different disciplines as workplaces continue to require adaptability, digital knowledge, communication, and practical problem-solving.

Tilbe currently works as an Office Administrator at a gastroenterology clinic in Barrie, where he has spent the past four years supporting daily administrative operations and organized office workflows. His path to administration, however, includes education and experience in areas that range from photography and web design to computer science and visual media.

“Skills don’t always stay within the area where you first learned them,” said Tilbe. “Something you learn through design, technology, customer service, or a creative project can influence the way you approach a completely different kind of work later.”

A Background Across Creative and Technical Fields

Tilbe’s educational path began with media studies before he pursued Digital Photography and Web Design at Georgian College. He later studied Computer Science at Laurentian University and Film and Television at Canadore College.

His professional experience has been similarly varied. In addition to his current administrative work, Tilbe has experience in professional photography, independent web design, customer service, and sales.

Rather than viewing those experiences as unrelated chapters, Tilbe sees practical connections between them.

Photography, for example, strengthened his attention to visual details and taught him to consider how individual elements contribute to a finished result. Web design introduced the need to balance creativity with functionality. Customer-facing positions reinforced the importance of clear communication and adaptability.

“Different fields ask you to solve different kinds of problems,” Tilbe said. “Having experience in more than one area can help you recognize approaches you might not have considered otherwise.”

Applying Different Skills to Administrative Work

Tilbe’s current work in office administration requires a different set of daily responsibilities than his earlier creative work, but he believes several underlying skills remain relevant.

Organization, consistency, attention to detail, communication, and the ability to learn unfamiliar systems can be valuable across a wide range of professional settings. Digital skills have also become increasingly relevant as everyday office processes rely on technology to organize information and support efficient workflows.

For Tilbe, developing a broad skill set does not mean trying to become an expert in every subject. Instead, it means remaining willing to learn and recognizing when knowledge from one area can improve work in another.

“There is value in having a specialty, but there is also value in understanding different ways of working,” Tilbe said. “Learning something new gives you another perspective that you can bring to the next challenge.”

Continued Learning Beyond a Job Title

Tilbe’s interest in developing different skills extends beyond his formal education. Photography remains an important creative interest, while history, science, art, model building, cooking, travel, and fitness continue to occupy his time outside of work.

He has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. He also earned a black belt in karate and received recognition for saxophone performance during his younger years.

These experiences have reinforced his view that professional development can take many forms. Discipline can come from years of training. Patience and precision can develop through creative work. New environments can encourage adaptability, while technical education can make it easier to approach unfamiliar tools and systems.

Tilbe believes younger professionals in particular can benefit from looking at their backgrounds as a collection of transferable abilities rather than a list of unrelated experiences.

“A career can develop in ways you didn’t expect when you first started,” Tilbe said. “The important thing is to keep learning and understand what each experience can teach you.”

As Tilbe continues his administrative career in Barrie, his own path reflects that approach. His experience across creative, technical, customer-facing, and administrative work demonstrates how skills developed in different settings can continue to influence professional growth over time.

About Scott Kresan Tilbe

Scott Kresan Tilbe is an administrative professional based in Barrie, Ontario. His background includes office administration, photography, web design, customer service, computer science, and visual media. He studied Digital Photography and Web Design at Georgian College and later pursued studies in Computer Science at Laurentian University and Film and Television at Canadore College. His interests include photography, history, science, art, model building, travel, cooking, reading, and fitness.