Michael J. Krar

November 26, 1967 – March 27, 2021

Quote from Jeff Krar’s Eulogy

“… Before we left the office, I sat at Mike’s desk to take a look at his daily planner. More of a steno pad than a calendar. As I scanned through the pages, I noticed a recurring message. At the top of each and every page was Mike’s handwritten message to himself … Best ! 🙂 As I was unsure of its meaning, I asked Gina (Mike’s wife) about it. She explained Best ! 🙂 as follows;

Best: was Mike’s message to give your best every day and make every day the best day possible.

Smiley Face: was Mike’s reminder to be happy and treat everyone with kindness.

Such a profound message in 4 letters, a punctuation mark and an emoji. What a world it would be if we all lived this. It would be just like Michael, the Best ! :)”

Read Jeff's whole Eulogy

How joseph krar & associates employees use best! 🙂

"I always make sure to stay motivated throughout the day and leave my Best ! 🙂 sticky note hanging at the top of the computer so if there is ever a needed reminder from Mike to stay positive and push through those tough days it is always there!"
"I use Best ! 🙂 as a reminder to put my best effort into even the smallest or simplest of tasks. It also serves as a reminder to put on a smile and offer a helping hand. You never know how the smallest gesture just might make someone else’s day a little brighter."
"I always try to do my Best ! 🙂 for others and always do whatever I can to make the best of any bad situation that may come across my desk or within my day to day life outside of the office."
"I use Best ! 🙂 in as many situations as possible so I can always remind myself to keep a smile on my face while portraying a positive attitude for every day/situation no matter how difficult things may be at the time."
"I use Best ! 🙂 to provide my Best to agents and people in general no matter how hard or aggravating my day may be going. A smile and a friendly/helping persona needs to be shown to others."

we encourage you to share with us what best! 🙂 means to you or how you use best! 🙂 throughout your day!

Share your Best ! 🙂 story with us!

By now you have seen Best ! 🙂 in our email signatures, our marketing and even on shirts worn by our staff.  Maybe you thought it was a grammatical error or misspelling.  It’s not.

So what is Best ! :)?

Best ! 🙂 is the philosophy envisioned and lived by Michael Krar. It’s the wisdom that he passed on to his family and later, unknowingly, to our entire staff at Joseph Krar & Associates.

What does it mean?

Best ! 🙂 is a two-point ideology that guided Michael throughout his entire life, both personally & professionally.

First there is “Best !”. This was Mike’s message to give your best every day and make every day the best day possible. Mike thought that if you gave the very best in all that you do, your effort could never be questioned and you could look yourself in the mirror knowing that you gave it your all.

Mike also believed that you needed to make every day the best day possible. Does that mean that each day is going to be sunshine & rainbows? No. Life is hard. But you hold the key to making it better. Your actions and reactions entirely affect the day you’re going to have. Having a bad day? By making it better in the slightest way, then you’ve made it the best day possible. Find the silver lining and wrap it around yourself.

Next, there is :)…

The Smiley Face was Mike’s reminder to be happy and treat everyone with kindness. You control your happiness! You make the conscious decision to put a smile on your face or to wear a frown.

What is cool is that you can control other people’s happiness too….well, sort of. Ever wait that extra few seconds to hold the door for someone entering a store? Or decide that you are going to “pay it forward” by buying the next customer in line their coffee? By treating others with kindness, you are making them happy, if only temporarily, and filling your cup at the same time, Win-win.

At Joseph Krar & Associates, we live the Best ! 🙂 philosophy. It permeates our staff and our corporate culture. It drives us to deliver excellence and also be the best possible version of ourselves.

 

Our promise to you, our customers, is that we will give you our Best ! 🙂 each and every day, on each and every account.