I am taking a risk in sharing this with you, but oh well, here it goes.

By the end of August, having vetted dozens of callers asking for my insights as to what the future outlook was for our businesses, I reached out to a, um, well, I contacted a psychic for business consultation.

Before I introduced myself, she said, “What in the world do you do? Are you an orchestra leader or some sort of director of a bunch of celebrities?

"Oh no, wait! The celebrities are around you but…I don’t see them actually…I just see a huge group of limousines parked everywhere. So, what the heck are you involved in?”

I kid you not. She did not even get to my name! Okay, I know this sounds crazy. I have access to the brightest minds in this business and beyond in the business world. I read 28 magazines a month — including five business and leadership periodicals. Yet, the more I read over the last few months, the more I concluded that much of what is being passed along is guesswork. The talking heads were just talking. The never-ending news with its pundits has not only lost credibility with me, it’s lost my full attention. Can you say OVERKILL?

So back to my psychic. In her report (which I taped) she said September was going to catch us all off guard as business went from a standstill to fairly active. October would be better than September and November would beat October in revenues. She suggested that December appeared, “Dead.” However, after “a large meeting in January where it appears a congregation takes place, business picks up through the early part of Spring.” She stopped there because I only paid for a six-month forecast. Now that I know Ty Bobit will let me put my business psychic on my expense account, you can be sure I will be back (smile).

I am just back from our LCT EASTERN CONFERENCE that was held in Connecticut. The event, the upbeat mood, and the action on the exhibit floor took me by surprise. I made it a point to query as many operators as I could to ask about sales. Every single person I spoke to said after a slow August, September was a welcome surprise of action. I had the pleasure of dining with the Ford Motor Company team who said that sales for their Executive L came back so strong in the four weeks of September that they are now back ordered with their dealers clamoring to get product. When I spoke to Greg Maddock from Lockhart Cadillac, he agreed they too were having the same challenge. Those are good indications that life in the fast lane is resuming and we are finally through the worst of times.

Before you run out and have your Tarot Cards read, hold on. We are starting to survey the industry in the next few weeks, and with the International LCT Show around the corner, you will be given much information on how to start planning your business for, well, more business. And, um, please just leave the Crystal Ball thing to me.

Sara Eastwood-McLean sara@lctmag.com