Books published by Blackstone Publishing

Brad Ketch's The Flourishing Community is a story of defying the odds, fighting for change, and bringing hope to the poorest community in the state of Oregon. An early-morning knock on the door changed everything for Brad Ketch, who was insulated from the struggles of his neighboring community outside of Portland, Oregon. When Brad’s eyes were opened to the poverty in Rockwood, he knew he had to find out why. Whereas many organizations focus on relief for distressed communities, Brad learned that what Rockwood needed was a holistic approach, encompassing both relief and development from within. He founded a backbone organization that would act as a support for the work that his Rockwood neighbors were already doing. The result is a place that is now flourishing. In what amounted to a one step forward, two steps back journey, with resistance from officials and property owners, Brad and those he partnered with took on the task of serving his neighbors, ridding the community of bad players, and providing ways to sustain a thriving community. Along the way, unbelievable events and fascinating people entered the story and drove it to its exhilarating conclusion. In The Flourishing Community, you'll see that it is possible to create this kind of change. It is never easy, but it is always worth it. Every city in America has a Rockwood, and this book provides a guide for those who want to get to work. After reading this book, you will be like Brad after answering the knock on his door: never the same.

Faith . . . family . . . integrity . . . generosity . . . gratitude. These types of values were once the bedrock of most families and our culture. A quick look through today's headlines, however, shows these values and many others are vanishing right before our eyes. In a time of unprecedented progress, we as a people are losing our values. How do we reclaim the values that allow our families-and future generations-to flourish? With intentionality and with a plan. Author Trudy Cathy White, daughter of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, knows a thing or two about family values. Throughout her life, her parents modeled what it meant to be a servant-hearted, values-driven leader and ambassador for Christ in whatever role she was in. And, after spending decades as a missionary, camp director, mother to four, and grandmother to sixteen, Trudy has recognized that our attitudes, faith systems, and habits are tied to the values we are taught as children. Every family has values, regardless of whether they're intentional about identifying and communicating them. In A Legacy that Lasts, Trudy unpacks her guidebook for: Getting clarity on your identity by answering life's three big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I belong? Identifying your family values with a fun, easy-to-implement exercise for both adults and children. Learning how to use "value experiences" and other strategies to transfer your family values to the next generation. As a parent, grandparent, teacher, or person of impact to the next generation, you have the power to help shape young people into the men and women God designed them to be. It's never too late to get started, and this book will equip and inspire you for the exciting adventure of for identifying, preserving, and transferring your family values for the next generation!

A hilarious view of life after divorce; you’ll never look at properties again without thinking of your dating life.Back on the Market is a Realtor’s guide to life, love, and dating and the multitude of challenges that come with it all. Holly Parker has sold 8 billion dollars of luxury real estate throughout her career as one of Manhattan’s most successful brokers. Through her humor and quick wit, she connects common real estate terms to everyday life, making Back on the Market a fun and unforgettable read.  After seven years of marriage, Holly found herself “falling out of contract,” as a newly divorced woman reluctantly facing the prospect of being “back on the market.” She understands that life is transactional, whether it’s a business decision or those we spend our time with, so she took her skills as a master real estate agent and applied everything she knew to getting her life back.  Cleverly told through the eyes of a Realtor, Holly depicts the perils of life, love, and dating—whether it’s dealing with first-time buyers (those who have a romanticized version of what they think they want and what they can actually have), the value of curb appeal, fixing the foundation of a damaged home, not listing before you’re ready to sell, staging, and so much more.    Hilarious and emotional, Holly shares her dating experiences with “fixer uppers,” the guys with “good bones,” and the “forever renters.” Back on the Market is a story of hope and the pursuit of happiness. Full of memorable takeaways, lessons, and anecdotes, Holly will help you find your perfect “home” and fall in love with life all over again.

In Please Don't Say You're Sorry, marriage-loving divorce attorney, Nicole Sodoma shows up with empowering advice to help you sustain a real and happy marriage, recognize when that's just not possible, and know what to expect and do from there. What's more, she does it with a generous dose of humor to remind you that you can and will laugh again.When marriage-loving divorce attorney Nicole Sodoma ended her thirteen-year marriage, she found herself seated in a symphony of sympathies and quickly began to question why people say "congratulations" when we marry and "I'm sorry" when we divorce. There's no denying that divorce sucks. You've invested years in a relationship. Then it what feels like the blink of an eye, everything has changed and you are faced with more resolution options than New Year's Eve. The journey can be wholly overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be the worst thing that's ever happened to you. Choice will be your ally. As the child of a blended family of divorced parents, a now "unmarried" woman, and a veteran family law attorney, Nicole Sodoma knows divorce. In Please Don't Say You're Sorry, she serves up both humorous and decidedly unfunny realities of marriage and divorce alongside empowering insights for finding your way through either. From hard truths about the unintended consequences of ending a marriage to relatable tales from divorces past, Nicole's communication style will help you feel deeply understood as you try to render those seemingly impossible decisions. Whether you are looking for advice on how to better your marriage, are considering separation, or find yourself knee-deep in divorce, this book has something for you. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and now you've got a badass no-holds-barred divorce attorney by your side.

Andrew DeJoy's Behind the Swap examines the risks involved in post-trade processing in swaps and derivative markets, and provides solutions to better control those risks. While Andrew doesn't claim to have all the answers, he does believe there is a way to create a safer, stronger, and better financial system for all stakeholders. In August of 2020, Citibank made one of the worst mistakes in banking history: it accidently sent out almost $900 million of its own funds. Many of the recipients didn't give back the money. Citibank sued. And a federal court ruled that the recipients could keep the funds. Citibank's error is not surprising. The underlying contributors that led to the mistaken payment permeate the global financial services industry. Manual data entry, decades old technological infrastructure, inadequate training, and systems that can't interact with one another are just a few of the problems that face post-trade processing-the machinery behind financial markets. Unfortunately, years of neglect by regulators and financial institutions themselves has left this infrastructure needlessly complex, astoundingly inefficient, frequently inaccurate, and woefully inadequate for modern financial markets. Behind the Swap helps explain what's driving the recent series of banking blunders like Barclay's $678 million clerical error, and Citibank's fat-finger Flash Crash that caused an 8% decline in the Swedish stock market. The book also touches on concepts that readily connect to Credit Suisse's $5.5 billion loss on its trades with Archegos. The problems are easy to see but difficult to admit. For financial institutions, the current system costs billions of dollars each year in labor, systems maintenance, and lost funds. For regulators, the current system precludes the ability to track systemic risk. It also artificially inflates the stability of the global financial system. For lawyers and prosecutors, the current system allows ample opportunity for unlawful misconduct such as rogue trading and fraud.

Do you see the inequality in the world around you? Do you want to be part of a movement to change things for the better? Do you want to solve one of the world’s biggest problems?The world’s wealth is trapped, but maybe not in the places you imagine. All too often, the conversation about wealth inequality focuses on the ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs of the world when the real problem is much bigger. Money is siphoned out of the real economy every, single day. It becomes trapped in complex financial investment products, where it grows without ever contributing to the real world; the world where the people are. This isn’t a problem that can be solved with a Robin Hood tax or by murdering the rich and redistributing their wealth to the poor. That is a drop in the ocean. If that isn’t the solution, then what is? You’ll find the answers in this book. Jeremy Harbour believes there is a way to work within our existing economic systems to tap into that vast ocean of wealth that is currently trapped. He believes small businesses and entrepreneurs hold the key to increasing the wealth of everyone, wherever they are in the world. He believes that there is a better way to redress the balance and make more people and communities wealthy. Join him to learn where the real issues with wealth inequality lie, why past attempts to tackle this problem have failed, and why he believes he has a solution that can help. He is part of the 1% and makes no apologies for that, having built his career from the ground up, as an entrepreneur and within small businesses. This is why he knows the power we have to attract wealth into communities, and why this is at the center of his strategy for democratizing wealth. In this book, he explains how we can make small business an investable asset class using agglomeration and how, in doing so, we can unleash a tsunami of money into our communities, make more people wealthy, and tackle the huge issue of wealth inequality. We can build a better future and democratize wealth. There’s no need to murder the rich.