Certified Life Coach and Author Jennifer Lee, PCC, CPCC, MA
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!
Sahara Damore inspires us to pay it forward with her ingenious Heart is Hot hearts. I discovered Sahara on twitter recently and totally dig what she is up to. Sahara created these beautiful recycled glass hearts as a way to help us follow our hearts, create connection and change the world.
You can purchase a heart online and then pass it on to someone in an inspired moment. Each heart has a unique number (the one I just bought is #918) that you can log and track on her site. If you receive a heart, you can re-gift it to someone else when you’re so moved. As the heart passes from person to person, you can follow the story of how this heart touches each individual’s life. There’s one heart that has been passed 10 times and there are even hearts in Australia, Spain and Brazil!
I loved learning about what sparked this heartfelt idea and how Sahara turned that moment of compassion into a brilliant entrepreneurial venture with social change at the heart of its mission. She also donates a portion of the profits to charities.
I look forward to gifting my heart to someone very soon and to seeing the heart go on its journey. Plus, I’m going to be ordering more to have on hand at home and on-the-go (in my Butler Bag, of course!) for when I’m inspired to show my appreciation to someone, to let someone know I’m thinking of them or simply to brighten someone’s day.
What are some ways that you pay it forward? How has it impacted you and the other person?
Last night I read this quote from Joel Barker to my Incubator group, “Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.” We talked about how important it is to have a clear vision of where you’re headed and how that vision makes it easier to continue moving forward with focused action even when times are challenging.
One of my dearest friends, Brighid, exemplifies how action with vision makes a positive difference. As an avid advocate for mental health, she founded the non-profit Cheryl’s Dreaming Big to shed light on mental illness. Through theatre performances, sharing personal stories and facilitating dialogue, CDB is breaking the stigma of mental illness, generating awareness and having a positive impact in schools and communities in the Chicago area.
The other day, I watched the Cheryl’s Dreaming Big video above. I was so inspired to see Brighid’s vision come to life in such a profound way. A couple of years ago, I co-designed and co-led a CDB leadership program with Brighid. I learned so much through partnering with her and being a part of CDB. I learned how mental illness can impact people when it’s not addressed openly. I learned that there’s such a spectrum of mental illness and that there are probably times when many of us, myself included, have danced at the edge. I learned to have deeper compassion for those who struggle with mental health challenges. I also learned the power of having a big dream and mobilizing people to take action and create positive change.
I can’t wait to see Brighid’s vision for mental health awareness and education spread across the country and the world. She is truly an amazing person up to amazing things!
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.
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!
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”):
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!
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!
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.
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):
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?
My second interview on the J.O.B. radio show aired tonight. Since I was a featured coach in “The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear,” Larry quizzed me on the differences between how men and women approach their careers.
Larry even asked a bit about the Right-Brain Business Plan and musepreneurs – this guy does his homework! Oh, and speaking of musepreneurs, my article 10 tips for the creative entrepreneur is on the Ladies Who Launch site, so please check it out.