Author of Lunchmeat & Life Lessons; Founder of MBL Consulting

(Shawnee Mission, KS) There’s a familiar adage that says: Don’t judge a book by its cover. But if Mary Bichelmeyer Lucas is the cover for her new book, then toss this timeworn saying right out the window.

That’s because Lucas outwardly exudes the very advice she writes so lovingly of in her new book, “Lunchmeat & Life Lessons: Sharing a Butcher’s Wisdom.” Her innate ability to celebrate and inspire others – the inside pages of her book, so to speak – add up to a life well lived, and a book worth reading.

Her endearing story covers the span of 25 years, during which time she begins her career in the staffing industry and rises to senior management with a billion dollar company. As she climbs the corporate ladder, Lucas is guided by her father’s advice -- honed from his own career as a butcher in Kansas City, KS.

Bichelmeyer Meats, still in operation after 60 years, was and is the family business. The “conference room” of sorts was a butcher-block table. And there, across from each other, sat father and daughter sorting out life’s most perplexing questions for more than two decades.

It was those talks that provide the backdrop for this compelling debut, and that butcher’s wisdom that shapes who the author is today.

After losing her father to heart disease at the age of 88, Lucas sought a change of career pace. She stepped out of the big company spotlight and opened the doors to her own executive coaching, consulting and motivational speaking firm. MBL Consulting is based in Kansas City, and Lucas relies heavily on her father’s advice in working with clients around the country.

She’s not all business, however. In fact, quite the opposite. She balances a vibrant career with a fulfilling family and personal life. Lucas graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Journalism/Mass Communications. She has been married for 18 years, and is the mother of two active teenage boys. And just as she remembers from her own childhood, her life is centered around family as they gather to talk, share and sort out life’s most perplexing questions.

In her role as mom -- and as the Butcher’s Daughter -- she sees her father’s wisdom guiding her own two sons as they grow into adulthood. It is a legacy that John Bichelmeyer would have treasured. To borrow the wise words chosen for his epitaph, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”

Given that philosophy and his daughter’s new book, John Bichelmeyer will be around for a long, long time to come.