Business – Page 2 – Life Unfolds Blog

Celebrating ’08 and Clearing the Way for ’09

With 2009 just around the corner, I consciously cleared the clutter in my office to make room for wonderful things to come in the new year. (I also donated five bags to Goodwill last week!)

For the past few weeks, I’d been feeling burdened by lots of administrative obstacles in both my personal and professional life. And boy did the mess on my desk show that. I couldn’t even work there!

Ah, it feels so good to have a functioning and inspiring workspace again! I’m more focused and energized, which is a great way to kick off 2009.

Before jumping into the new year, though, I like to reflect on the past year. I already did a visual year in review. Taking the time to also write about 2008 helped me remember accomplishments both big and small that I want to celebrate as well.

As I reflect on the year, I come up with a title to capture the essence of what unfolded. Last year was “My year of integration: When it all came together.” This year was “My year of stepping out and being seen, speaking up and being heard,” which is based on my first happiness commandment. For someone who is usually behind the scenes, this was definitely a stretch for me. I challenged myself AND I had fun doing it!

My 2008 accomplishments:

Career/Calling

Expanded my business and worked with awesome clients
Featured in two books – “The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear” and “The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life“
Created two products – the Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit
Appeared on two TV shows
Led Oakland Ladies Who Launch Incubators and helped fabulous women launch their businesses
Contributed to the emerging field of Expressive Arts Coaching through leading calls on the Creative Artists community and presenting at SF Coaches
Was a CTI Circle Coach for Quest in D.C. and Toronto
Worked regularly with my book coach and wrote 20,000 words for my draft
Led multiple dream box workshops and a Right-Brain Business Plan workshop
Did various radio shows and podcasts and wrote a column
Led a group coaching circle
Had a booth with Kate at the LWL Be Your Own Boss event where I launched the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit
Had my first paid speaking engagement

Personal Growth

Took workshops to honor my value of personal growth: Inside Team Training to continue to deepen my coaching skills, a presentation skills class, Kimberly Wilson’s Yoga and Creativity workshop, The Intuitive Entrepreneur and an InterPlay class
Participated in the Art Every Day Month Challenge and the 29 Gifts Challenge
Volunteered through C.E.O. Women
Served on the board of SF Coaches

Health and Well-being

Found local yoga classes that I like and started to go regularly
Went for hikes in nature
Rediscovered my handstand in yoga
Went for swims on hot, sunny days
Ate lunch outside during the summer

Relationships

Spent quality time with Brian, including a nice date to see the Frida exhibit
Relished in laughs and great food with my book club
Visited my family in LA three times
Spent time with friends and made new friends in real life and online

Wealth and Abundance

Participated in a money circle and created my ideal budget
Reached my financial goals for the year
Made passive income and created multiple revenue streams

Fun and Recreation

Took a spontaneous trip to London to visit dear friends
Began a collaborative, creative project Kiss the Paper with Kate and Molly
Had play dates with my creative playground friends to explore expressive arts
Did yoga in the park and in my backyard

What did you celebrate in 2008? What is the title of your year?

Wishing you all the best in 2009!

AEDM Day 30: Right-Brain Business Plan ’09 Part I

Today is the last day of the Art Everyday Month challenge! What an awesome month of creativity, exploration and play. I also love the community and new connections this challenge fosters!

During the final two days of AEDM 2007, I invented my Right-Brain Business Plan, so it was only befitting that I use the last day of AEDM 2008 to start my new Right-Brain Business Plan for next year!

Part of what I envision is making a broader impact on the creative entrepreneur community and women in business. While I’m putting myself out there, I want to honor my values of fun/play, authenticity/trusting myself, peace/harmony, and beauty/creativity/expression.

One of my big accomplishments this year was hiring a Virtual Assistant. I’ve really enjoyed the extra support so that I can focus on the more strategic and profit-oriented aspects of my business. In 2009, I want to continue that process and develop more streamlined systems so I can work smarter and expand my business in new and exciting ways.

Also, I’ve had a blast this year with creating The Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit. Next year, my goal is to finish my first book and get started on the other two that have also been percolating! I also want to develop new innovative products and services to offer.

Plus, I want to continue increasing my media exposure. Would love to be back on The View From The Bay and to get on The Martha Stewart Show to demonstrate an Unfolding Your Life Vision collage book, along with other TV, print and online venues!!

Last year, when I set my financial goals, I didn’t realize this, but I focused just on the actual amount rather than also including what the money would actually get me. While I’ve come pretty darn close to my goal, I know I can dream bigger for next year and beyond! Since money is not what drives me in running my own business, I brought into my vision more aspects of the lifestyle I want to be living. I think that’s something that really came home for me when I participated in a money circle earlier this year.

I look forward to fleshing out the details of my plan like I did last year. That’s really where the rubber starts meeting the road and the vision can come to life! I also just ordered a book that just came out earlier this month called The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real by Lisa Sonora Beam. It looks right up my alley and I bet it’ll give me more ideas for detailing out my 2009 Right-Brain Business plan.

All of this creating and art visioning during AEDM has inspired me to revisit the new letter from the future I started writing a few weeks ago. That will give me additional insights into my plan and I’m sure I’ll now have more things to add to my letter!

The end of the year is a great time to start thinking about what you want the next year to be like, so I hope you’ll do some visioning and planning, too! Please let me know, I’d love to see!!

AEDM Day 29: An Explosive Year in Review

Most of today was spent completing my “year in review” project on my exploding box. It ended up taking a lot longer than I anticipated, but it was great to spend time reflecting on all the exciting events and accomplishments that have transpired so far in 2008.

My moo cards were the perfect size to decorate the pages.

I even made a miniature brochure that unfolds just like the real one!

Wow, 2008 has really been an amazing year! So many of the things that I had envisioned in my Right-Brain Business Plan last year have manifested. I look forward to finishing up my year in review next month and to envisioning more for 2009!

Lady Launchers Shine!

Another Oakland Incubator group graduated this week! We had an amazing group of nine extremely resourceful women. I was blown away by the level of support in the circle and the actions they took for themselves and each other. My favorite part of the Incubator is when the women light up as they claim their visions more powerfully each week. How fitting that these bright women gathered in Dr. Liz Dobbin’s beautiful space called Shine Chiropractic because boy did these ladies shine!

In the Spotlight on Pink Heels

Jennifer Moore of Pink Heels has created an awesome resource for professional and entrepreneurial women. Check out her Follow Your Passions workbook and her blog.

Every month she features a couple of women entrepreneurs and also Pink Heels Goddesses (women who’ve used one of the Pink Heels services – ranging from business coaching to yoga – see Jennifer is my kinda gal!) Today, Jennifer featured me In the Spotlight.

Podcast with Kimberly Wilson

Earlier this week my podcast with Hip Tranquil Chick Kimberly Wilson aired. She interviewed me about my Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and about being a creative entrepreneur. What a treat to chat with her! I really admire how she’s created so many cool aspects to her business – from a yoga studio, to an eco-clothing line (the skirt pants are yummy!) to a foundation and more! She’s definitely an inspiration.

I bumped into Kimberly at Cafe Gratitude a couple months back and also took her Yoga and Creativity workshop, which was a blast!

I love connecting with fellow creative souls!

Blogging Brilliance

Thanks to social media expert Britt Bravo for coming to our Oakland Ladies Who Launch meeting last night to speak about blogging. Britt shared with us some cool tools and tips for starting and enhancing our blogs. Based on her presentation, I finally added an RSS feed link and e-mail subscription link to my blog! Thanks, Britt! Please check out Britt’s inspiring and informative blog Have fun. Do good.

Speaking of blogging, via twitter this morning, I heard of this exciting contest on Martha Stewart’s blog. Comment on her post and Martha may feature you on her blog! Way cool! And today’s Martha show was all about blogging and the studio audience was filled with bloggers blogging away on their laptops. Just brilliant! I loved seeing the creator of cute overload, too.

If you’re wanting to learn more about blogging and social media, I’ve included some great resources below.

The Ladies Who Launch site has several articles on social media and blogging:

The Pink Heel’s blog has a great overview of social media.

And here is some great information about twitter (a way of “micro-blogging”):

Ladies Who Launch article about twitter
Twitter tips from Problogger
Here’s a link to a very informative twitter video tutorial made by professional photographers/videographers for photographers, however I think it can relate to any entrepreneur. It’s very well done and has a ton of excellent instruction and tips. Good for the visual learner!! I didn’t get what the big deal was about twitter until I saw this video and then jumped right on! Follow me on twitter.

I’d love to hear what helpful resources or tips you’ve found on blogging or social networking. Please share them in the comments!

Happy blogging!

Be Your Own Boss Recap

Last Saturday was the annual Bay Area Ladies Who Launch Be Your Own Boss event. Imagine a full day of inspiring and informative speakers, a gorgeous, sunny space filled to the brim with 350 vibrant, creative women and a buzz of entrepreneurial energy. It took me several days to recuperate from all the excitement (hence not getting this post up until a week later!).

Kate and I shared a table to showcase our work (her design portfolio, my coaching business and the products she designed for me – The Right-Brain Business Plan e-book and my new Unfolding Your Life Vision kit). Thanks to lady launcher photographer Monica Michelle for the beautiful photo of us above!

Had lots of late nights getting ready! Above is a peek at the assembly line I had going for my new Unfolding Your Life Vision kit. (BTW, kits will be available for sale online soon!).

We were amazed at how elegantly our table came together. It helps that we have similar tastes!

Our lovely friend Hannah lent us a hand. How awesome to have extra support that day! Hannah and Kate incubated with me back in March. It’s fun when friendships blossom out of the incubator in addition to all the other launching goodness!

Some highlights from the day were seeing so many familiar smiling faces, meeting many new launching ladies and getting such great response to my kits! I enjoyed the panel about social media which basically reinforced my facebook and twitter habit. The Real Good Project fed us a delicious, organic gourmet lunch. My salmon salad sandwich was out of this world! Oh, and my 10-minute chair massage was heaven-sent after being on my feet all day.

What I appreciated most at the event was experiencing how jazzed everyone gets about being their own boss. How entrepreneurial women thrive on connections, community and creativity. How together we are changing the way business is done.

Kate, Hannah and I topped off the night with a celebratory dinner at A Cote in Rockridge. We were exhausted, famished and delirious from the record heat but that meal was incredible! Great food and great company. Cheers to being your own boss!

Be Your Own Boss!

I’ve been a busy bee the past couple of weeks gearing up for our big annual Ladies Who Launch Be Your Own Boss event this Saturday. It’s going to be an exciting and inspiring day. I look forward to hearing all the speakers including Kathy Freston author of Quantum Wellness and Gina Bianchini founder of ning.com. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from these amazing women entrepreneurs.

I’m thrilled that at the event I’ll be unveiling my new Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit! It includes inspiration, instructions and supplies to create your own pocket-sized vision board. I’ve had this idea for five years, so it’s cool to see it finally coming to fruition! Lots more prep to do on this, so back to work! If you’re in the Bay Area, hope to see you at the event on Saturday.

It’s in the Bag

I am a Butler Bag fan! I just got mine the other week and am loving it.

And I love when everyday things come with important lessons.

First off, though, let’s talk about this awesome bag! With it’s seven compartments, I’m able to store and (most importantly) retrieve all my necessities when I’m on the go. There’s a spot for my keys, my pens and little notebook that I carry around with me for when inspiration strikes, my business cards, my phone, my camera, a book and my water bottle. My odd-size brochures even fit perfectly in the side pocket!

I discovered that despite having a great organizing tool, if I still carry too much crap with me, I won’t be able to find what I’m looking for. What a wonderful metaphor for life. I went to a workshop last weekend and loaded my bag with lots of additional goodies. I was overwhelmed by all my stuff and found myself doing the old diggin’ in the purse thing again literally and figuratively.

In the workshop, I found myself getting antsy, feeling like I had more to-do’s to take care of but couldn’t while I was there. I had piled on just one too many things on my already full life. I thought about the Yamas and Niyamas. I thought about saucha (cleanliness) and staya (truthfulness). I thought about the Four-Fold Way (which we just covered in the class):

Show up
Pay attention to what has heart and meaning
Tell your truth without blame or judgment
Be open to the outcome

So, to honor having order and purity in my life and to practice speaking my truth, I made the difficult choice to not continue with this class. I was almost going to just not go the second day, and then I was reminded of the first step in the Four-Fold Way. Show up. Once there, I let the other steps guide me. I noticed what had heart and meaning for me – the delight in knowing that I’m on my way with developing my creative products, meaningful connections with like-minded people and the plethora of opportunities that seem possible on a beautiful, clear day. The hardest step for me was to speak my truth and to do so without blame or judgment. And yet, by simply naming where I was at, I was met with understanding and total support. What a relief to know that by staying true to myself, I was still able to maintain valuable relationships and take away valuable learning. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome!

My big lessons in this are to honor what is true to me, to focus on those key things and to be willing to eliminate distractions.

What can you do to lighten your load? And how can you practice the Four-Fold way in your life right now?