Life for Lee Keil seemed ideal as the youngest of three and the only daughter of Frank and Theresa Keil of Plainfield New Jersey. Summer vacations always included a week or more stay in "Happy Valley" the family's Putnum County, NY log cabin built by her father and grandfather. Graced with a pleasant voice Keil remembers her first stage "performance" singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to a family holiday gathering that was captured on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder and replayed year after year. Her love of music and theater continued through High School and College as she performed in the Glee Club, Concert Choir and numerous theatrical productions. But even as a child Keil demonstrated entrepreneurial tendencies. Not content with the typical lemonade stand, among the many "businesses" she ran were: a library where a fee was charged for overdue book returns, a fashion enterprise where friend would pay to have their doll clothing dyed indigo blue (courtesy of the contents of a brothers chemistry set), and a neighborhood "fair" with games. Later in life she had the opportunity to combine her interests in the arts with those of business while working as a Corporate Trainer in the telecommunications field, a job she referred to as "Corporate Theater."

From her earliest days however the fondest of family memories seemed overshadowed by a recurrent illness that left her mother hospitalized or bedridden for months at a time. "I spent a lot of time ministering to my mother when she was sick" Keil says but it is also her mother whom she credits with her life long interest in metaphysics and the paranormal. "My mother read quite a bit when she was feeling strong enough. I particularly remember her reading 'The Lively Ghosts of Ireland' by Hans Holzer because when she was finished with the book, I picked it up and read it cover to cover." Perhaps in search of some insight or assistance into diagnosing her own illness Keil says her mother was an avid reader of the works of Edgar Cayce-a medium specializing in difficult medical cases. "I am sure that had Cayce still been alive at the time of my mother's illness, that she would have sought out his expertise." She goes on to explain "I never knew it at the time, but my older brother tells me that our mother was quite psychic. Apparently she could tell when someone was close to death." Her brother relayed that the mother was somewhat frightened by her abilities. That, coupled with the fact that her father probably would not have been supportive of the talents, "probably kept her from further developing the abilities." It certainly goes a long way however in explaining, her mothers interest in the paranormal.

After losing both parents during her high school years, Keil set aside any dreams of a career on stage as "financially unstable" and decided that a college education offered her a better chance to support herself without a parental "safety net". "I started my business education by auditing a class in International Marketing. I wasn't even sure what marketing was at that time but I knew as long as the world produced products and services, there would be a need for people who knew how to make them appealing to potential customers."

After almost 20 years in the business world, where she held a variety of sales, marketing, training, and management positions Keil left the corporate business world to start out on her own. "Though I did very well both financially and career-wise but I never felt at ease in the environment. It bothered me that simply doing a good job wasn't enough and it irked me to see mediocre or even poor performers rise in the company ranks." While taking advantage of numerous company sponsored education programs, Keil waited for the right opportunity to leave the corporate world and start her own business. In 1994 an unexpected downsizing and pregnancy gave the necessary impetus to leave and open her own company. Excel Marketing Services was formed to provide affordable marketing services to professionals, small businesses and Entrepreneurs. Excel still offers these services to "mainstream business" but at the same time the seeds were being sewn to pioneer a "niche market" on Long Island which operates under the name of THird Millennium Resources. Though always interested in alternative health and metaphysics Keil, like many others, was always skeptical of the majority of practices or practitioners. When she realized her skepticism was based not on fact but merely perception, the reason for her disbelief became clear. Like many professionals and businesses, "new age practitioners" (for lack of a better term) were simply unskilled at appearing professional. "Many are not only unaccustomed to but also uncomfortable with the idea of self promotion." Keil trys to stress to her clients that there is nothing immoral or dishonest about marketing themselves and their work. She contends that every day we are all marketing ourselves in one way or another.

When we dress up for a job interview, or a date, or carefully craft a new resume we are not being manipulative or dishonest but simply putting our best foot forward. "Everyone should feel comfortable with showing themselves and their work in the most positive light possible whether that be through personal appearance, professional looking informative materials about themselves such as a brochure or flyer or something as simple as a business card." Keil believed education was the first step towards encouraging practitioners, businesses or other product and service providers to market themselves. In 1995 she published the first issue of the Third Millennium Calendar of Events to provide a professionally produced medium through which individuals and businesses could promote their work. After two years of publishing she has spent countless hours prodding, encouraging and offering free marketing advice while working one-on-one with hundreds of providers in addition to running marketing workshops and seminars. Keil also develops brochures, flyers, newsletters, booklets and the like for individual clients and provides individualized marketing consulting.

"Since I began the Third Millennium Calendar in 1995, several old and some new print publications have stepped up their coverage of metaphysical, holistic and spiritual subjects and businesses, many being read by the same audience, so I no longer see a need for our print publication. On the other hand, we are reaching a whole new audience comprised of thousands of new readers and enthusiasts with our internet based publication." Keil also points out that event listing are time sensitive information. The long lead times associated with a bi-monthly print publication, often requiring planning three months in advance, are simply too long for many practitioners. In addition tight deadlines for printing and timely mailing can be a nightmare. "On the internet, we can upload a new article, interview or event listing in a matter of minutes which gives us and the advertiser much more flexibility." In 1998 the publication will no longer exist in its current print format having been completely migrated to an exclusively on-line issue. For current subscribers, Keil will mail a print version of the internet pages until subscriptions expire. If a subscriber has an email account they can request an email edition even if they don't have access to the internet. Shortly copies of the internet based information will also be available via a fax-on-demand service for those without email.

While she has mixed feeling about discontinuing the print edition of the Third Millennium Resources Calendar, she is very excited about the new focus and direction of the internet site which will shortly be christened "thirdmill.com-The Body, Mind and Spirit of Long Island…on the Net." In addition to event listings and all the directory listings from the Resource Guide for Enhanced Living the site will be adding practitioner web pages, a marketplace where people can buy products and gift items, a chat room to discuss a variety of subjects and a travel section. "I've seen many practitioners and businesses investing in websites without doing enough homework. Many are out on their own in cyberspace struggling to be discovered and visited. We already have thousands of visitors reading our event listings monthly and can see thirdmill.com being an invaluable resource acting as an umbrella under which these disparate individuals and groups can come together in a regional electronic community." As a charter member of the Long Island Webmasters Guild, Keil is also involved in promoting Long Island as a regional business hub.

As if the internet project were not enough, Keil plans to launch a practitioner/provider referral and speakers bureau service in 1998. "We've already provided many names of individuals to the likes of Lifetime Television, several local radio stations and non-profit groups seeking body/mind/spirit personnel. It just seemed to make sense to formalize the process a bit more and to be sure our information regarding practitioner areas of expertise is accurate."

While Keil sure appears to be an Entrepreneur to everyone else, her most important job in life is being "Mommy" to children Kyle age 3 and Kathryn age 5. Both children agree they will be happier when she stops doing her "paper" and spending so much time on the "puter." "I know the kids are going to grow up too fast and I don't want to look back thinking I didn't spend enough time with them. That's one of the beauties of the internet. There are no deadlines and it's open 24 hours a day so I can work when the kids are asleep. Now if only I could figure out when I'm going to sleep . . ."