Sarah has been working in the jewelry industry for over 10 years and has been an athlete all her life. Her passion for fitness and jewelry design merged when she created Fashletics in early 2010. Fashletics is based in Miami, FL where Sarah also works as a CrossFit coach and trains for both CrossFit and Endurance Sport competitions. Sarah is a nationally ranked endurance athlete who has competed for Team USA at the World level in the sport of Duathlon. Ultimately, Fashletics is the result of the combination of two distinct interests. Sarah is as much an athlete as she is an artist. She takes pride in the craftsmanship of her designs and works hard creating jewelry pieces that celebrate and inspire the athlete within. Currently Sarah is building her jewelry and apparel collection and will be sponsoring a series of CrossFit events across the country including the CrossFit Games at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA where male and female athletes will compete for the title “Fittest on Earth”.
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design where I studied Jewelry Design and Metalwork and Graphic Design. My experience at UofM provided me with a very wide variety of skills that are directly applicable to a career in the arts. I always knew I wanted to be a designer. I had my first experience working with metal while I was in high school and from that point on my focus was specifically on jewelry design. I also interned with and assisted a variety of jewelry designers and sculptors from the age of 16 until starting my first company at the age of 24. From these experiences I learned more about the business side of being an artist.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that idea?
Before Fashletics I was building a different type of jewelry company entirely which had nothing to do with athletics. When I moved to Miami in 2006 I became very involved in Triathlon training and eventually CrossFit. My passion for fitness and training was reignited and I began spending a lot of time training, racing, coaching, and socializing with other athletes. Like the old saying goes, art imitates life. I have always been inspired to create based on what I love, what I am passionate about. In addition, my sporty friends began requesting custom jewelry to commemorate their races and athletic accomplishments. The more I made, the more people wanted. I decided that I would create a small collection, set up a booth at a local CrossFit event just to see how it would go. The response was incredible and I knew then that I was really on to something. The positive feedback and the success of this first show inspired me to take this idea to the next level. Prior to the event I had set up a simple website which helped continue the momentum of the business.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
So much of running my business has been trial and error. While my education in art has been incredibly helpful, I have no formal training in business. I am a pretty cautious person so luckily I have avoided any horrific mistakes. That being said, I have definitely had my fair share of trips and stumbles along the way. I’ve learned that it is okay to make mistakes, and more importantly, I have learned that just because you have never been taught how to do something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Like I said, I am cautious by nature but I have learned that sometimes you have to run right at something full steam ahead without over-thinking it and without knowing exactly how it’s going to work out. I have learned that sometimes I just need trust my instincts rather than facts or logic.
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
Qualifying for, training for, and completing the ITU Duathlon World Championship race in Edinburgh Scotland (2010). I qualified for both the 2009 and the 2010 World Championships but in 2009 I got hit by a car while cycling just two weeks before the race. I was unable to compete and not to mention completely heartbroken. I had been training for almost a year for what would have been the most important race of my life. I had a CAT scan after the accident and although I didn’t have any broken bones, the Dr. did find a series of masses on my thyroid that would have to be biopsied. Luckily the masses were benign but I would still have to have surgery to remove half of my thyroid. My surgery was in January and the qualifier for the next World Championships race was in April. I would have about three months to recover and get back to training. Weeks without training felt like years but eventually I was back on my feet (and bike). The surgery left scar tissue in my throat and a partially paralyzed vocal cord compromised my breathing… something you really don’t want to be compromised during a 2 hour+ race. In spite of my shortened training season and recovery from surgery I qualified for the World Championships for the second time. It wasn’t even the actual race or the Team USA uniform that made me so proud, it was the whole journey; the good parts and the bad that made cycling and running through the hills of Edinburgh one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life.
Another big accomplishment is that this year we put on the second annual Heraean Games – an all female CrossFit competition. This was an idea I came up with last year and when I brought it up to the owners of my CrossFit box they were immediately on board. The goal is to provide an opportunity for women to compete in a different type of environment; same grueling workouts but with the spotlight on women. We wanted to celebrate strong women and do something that might encourage even more women to compete and put there strength to the ultimate test. In 2011 we had about 35 women compete in the first ever Heraean Games. In 2012 we had over 100 women! It was unreal! The Heraean Game is by far one the greatest things to come out of Fashletics. It would not have been possible without the support of my CrossFit Affiliate (South Florida CrossFit Endurance) and the amazing women that competed. We are already planning for our Third Annual Heraean games in 2013!
What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
I want Fashletics to continue to grow as a business and as a lifestyle brand. Yes, it is important to me to sell products (that is of course how my business will survive). But it is also important that what I am doing makes a difference in other people’s lives.
Describe your typical day
I get up between 5:30 am 6:30am (depending on my coaching schedule) and head to the gym (South Florida CrossFit). I coach 2 classes and then do my own workout. I head back home for breakfast, to walk the dog, answer emails, and to print packing slips and shipping labels for the previous day’s orders. After that I head to the studio where we assemble, pack, and ship all the orders. I also may be working on new design products or custom pieces while at the studio. When all of the creative work is done for the day, I head back to my home office to handle any administrative duties, answer more emails, and of course… walk the dog again and start preparing a delicious and healthy dinner. Even though I have an office at home and an endless amount of work to do, I try very hard to balance my work and personal life. Being so involved in fitness has taught me the importance of taking care of my body and mind in order to not only be more efficient at my job but to also take the time to enjoy life. I work hard and I am passionate about what I do but I have learned how to NOT be a workaholic… and it wasn’t easy!
What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and small business?
Just keep at it! If you believe in what you do and if you love what you do, don’t ever give up. It is not easy and it may not click right away but that does not mean you are failing. Fashletics has grown relatively quickly but I have 7 years of running a completely different (and much less successful business) behind me. I was often frustrated, and I often contemplated giving up and getting a “regular job” before achieving the success I have today. Each time I thought about quitting I asked myself “Is there any career or job that has the potential to make you as happy as you would be running your own jewelry company?” The answer was always 100% NO. Even in the hardest times, the prospect of success in the industry that I loved, and the allure of running my own company was always enough to inspire me to keep trying. I simply could not imagine doing anything other than running my own jewelry business. As it turned out, the type of jewelry business drastically changed from what I originally set out to do but I couldn’t be happier with where I have ended up. I think that is an important lesson too… it’s okay to change course, it’s okay to change your goal or your dream. It was hard for me to transition from one jewelry company to the next. In a way, I felt like I was quitting. But I wasn’t quitting, I was evolving. My interests had changed, my inspiration had changed, and I had to have the courage to change with it.
What skills and principles from being an athlete can you transfer to career and small business?
That “never give up attitude” is definitely something that I have the opportunity to practice every single day in my athletic training. The discipline, the goal setting, the work ethic… all of these are characteristics that apply to both athletics and business. I have also gained a tremendous amount of physical strength from athletic training which has given me more confidence in my professional life.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
Well, luckily many of the things I do for fun like designing and training are things that I get to do in my personal and business life. Outside of the obvious, I love spending time with the people I love, visiting new places, and traveling back to old familiar places like Michigan to visit my family. I am obsessed with the water and spent my entire childhood dreaming of living by the ocean (which I do now). I definitely enjoy taking advantage of the fact that I live three blocks from the ocean. I love running down the beach with my dog early in the morning and sitting seaside with my husband on the weekends. Stick me on the beach and I’m a happy camper!
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive? Include links, descriptions, reasons why you like them.
Square App – Lets you turn your iPad or iPhone into a credit card terminal. This is an amazing app/device that I use at the events where I am selling Fashletcs.
Garmin Forerunner
GPS enabled waterproof watch that tracks time, pace, distance for cycling, running, and swimming. You can also upload your training sessions to a personalized website and analyze the data in surprising detail. When I am training for a big race I keep track of all of my cycling and running workouts using this watch and the Garmin website. This is an amazing training tool. Kinda big and bulky (not cute!) but it provides great info.
Google Voice
This transcribes all my voicemails and sends them to me as a text and email. The website also holds a history of the recorder voicemails. The transcriptions are sometimes off but I can go to the website and listen to and archive all my voicemails. For some reason I prefer this to checking voicemail on my phone… which I hate!!
Contact:
Twitter: @fashletics
LinkedIn: Sarah Wilson
Website: www.fashletics.com
Facebook: Fashletics
SEE ALSO:
How to Build a Successful Yoga Studio with the Founder of RinaYoga – Rina Jakubowicz
How to Build a Successful Healthy Fast-Food Chain. Interview w/the Founder of Salad Creations – Jeff Levine
[Post Tags: how to empower and inspire people, fashletics, business and fitness, tips for personal growth, athletes]
From: http://www.moomkin.com/fashletics/
3/31/12
3/6/12
Empowering Job Seekers and Entrepreneurs with Founder of Keppie Careers - Miriam Salpeter.
Miriam Salpeter is the founder of Keppie Careers, a website that provides practical tips, useful advice, support, and empowerment to job seekers, entrepreneurs, and business owners regarding how to overcome obstacles preventing progress. Miriam is a career, social media and job search coach and author of “Social Networking for Career Success” (Learning Express, 2011) and “100 conversations for Career Success” (Learning Express, expected fall 2012). Miriam can transform your resume, teach you how to leverage social media, create or optimize an on-line profile and coach you to success with your career plans. She’s also known for her highly regarded blog and expert source for CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, and other media outlets as well as a CNN top 10 tweeter you should be following.
In addition to coaching job seekers and small business owners, Miriam is an in-demand writer and speaker regarding job search and social media, and she transforms resumes and creates online social media profiles for clients.
What makes Keppie Careers unique is that my advice comes from someone who has a very extensive background in social media and from someone who is actually using the different social media tools out there and getting hands-on experience with them and not only do I use these tools to propel my business but also I engage with my audience and share advice with my colleagues and community, which is key when building a business of any sort.
Getting Started with Keppie Careers
When I first got out of college, I worked as a VP for a Wall Street firm for a couple years but I always knew I wanted to work at a college or university in a student’s services kind of capacity. So, I worked at Wall Street for couple of years but then I left to earn my Masters in Student Personnel Administration/Career advising from Columbia University in New York focusing on career development which it was an awesome opportunity for me to blend what I like to do, which is write, edit, coach, and assist people, with my master studies. When I went back to school I choose career services because I knew I could work for a college, agency, or work for myself doing what I love to do.
I worked at Emory University as Director/Career coach at the Rollins School of Public Health where I advised students and alumni regarding career and job search, critiqued resumes, conducted mock interviews, and presented an array of career strategy workshops. After 5 years of doing this, I decided that it was a good time for me to be on my own and soon thereafter, I started learning how to blog because my former boss had suggested it and got bit by the social media bug and this is how Keppie Careers got started. I definitely have to thank John Youngblood, who was my boss at Emory University, for helping me launch my career on the social media path by suggesting me to start a blog, that’s where all started. I had all this knowledge and experience that I had accumulated over the years regarding career and job search, plus my former boss suggesting I started my own blog that I decided to take all this knowledge and experience and put it online through blogging and using the different social media tools.
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I’m a big fan of higher education and in my case having a Masters degree was absolutely important because I could have never gotten a job at Emory University without a Masters degree and having the degree and what I learned in the program certainly helped me on how to advise people and gave me a real solid foundation that makes me confident to know that I’m helping people in the best way possible. But again is relative to your particular field, in my case, I could have not gotten a job at a University without a Masters, but for some other people, I can understand being skeptical about going to school without knowing if there’s going to be a job for them by the time they’re done with the program and having invested all that time and money. Some of my clients have a vast experience in their field but because they do not have a higher education degree, they kind of like hit a glass ceiling and cannot move forward with their careers. Most companies out there still use higher education degree as a measuring stick and if you don’t have one, they just won’t hire you. In the end, it’s an individual decision and something to think very careful about depending on your personal goals.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
One of the mistakes I made when starting Keppie Careers was to say yes to everyone who needed my help and over-provide my services. I’m a person who likes to help others but there’s only 24 hours in a day that it’s essential to come up with a plan with specific goals and targets for your day and only focus on those things because it’s going to be more productive than someone who goes about the day and deals with things as they come.
Biggest job seeker mistakes:
Using the same resume to apply for every job and not personalizing it for employers’ needs. You need to spoon feed your resume to the employer. If you aren’t customizing it, you’re doing the equivalent of feeding a toothless infant a whole apple — she’ll likely use it to play a game of “drop and get.” Ideally, you’ll offer applesauce to a baby, and a resume detailing what you can do to solve the employer’s problems.
Applying for the wrong jobs. It’s tempting to apply for “just any job.” After all, YOU know you can do anything, right? It’s possible you can, but writing to an employer with a broad statement offering to be interviewed for “any” job is a recipe for disaster. The employer doesn’t know what to do with you and thinks you are desperate. In other words, you don’t hear back.
Ignoring social media resources or assuming they won’t make a difference. How many job seekers have been looking for work for over a year, but have never even tried using LinkedIn, Twitter or even Facebook to see how social media may help get them out of their job hunting rut? Too many, in my opinion. Using social media well is a big step in the right direction.
On best use of Social Media
Choose the best networks for you – the ones that highlight and show off your skills. For example, if you love to write (and you’re a good writer), a blog might be great for you. If you’re a better talker, consider creating an online radio program. I outline many different social networks in my book, Social Networking for Career Success.
Completely fill out your profiles using key words – the words people will use to find someone who does your type of work. It’s important to do this well so it’s easier for people who may want to hire someone with your skills to find you.
Find people online in your field of work. Use the various search tools in the different networks to identify potential contacts. For example, in LinkedIn, use “advanced search” to locate contacts and join groups pertaining to your interests. Use Listorious.com and WeFollow.com to find people with common interests using Twitter. See what they are saying online, respond, add to the conversation. Try to become known as a person who is “in the know,” is friendly and giving. Do not ask for job leads until you establish a relationship. You may be surprised by how generous your new online contacts are!
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
Earning the respect of my colleagues; people who when I started Keppie Careers I looked to them as advisors and guides and learned a lot from them and I’ve been very gratified to be able to become part of their community. For example, Anita Bruzzese, who is a Syndicated columnist for USA today it’s someone that I’ve always admired and looked up to. When I first started blogging, I would spend hours reading and commenting on her blog just leaving thoughtful ideas and touching base with her. When I finished my book, Social Networking for Career Succes, I asked her if she would write the foreword for the book and she was really generous in doing that and saying some lovely things about me and that really made me free proud of all the hard work I had put throughout the years.
Another accomplishment I’m proud of is publishing my book, Social Networking for Career Success and having another book on the way, which I co-authored with Laura Labovich, called 100 conversations for career success which will be out late summer 2012.
I really want to write more books. The first and second book, I really was not planning on it but the opportunity presented itself at the time and I decided to take it. I really enjoy the whole book writing process, and after having two books out, I think I want to write more books and I’m convinced that being an author is something that I really want to continue doing; the feeling of having a book that you authored in your bookshelf is very rewarding.
What advice can you offer to your readers?
Do not be skeptical about the opportunities that engaging in social media can provide. I think there’s a lot of people who think that social media is just a waste of time but when you look at the statistics, companies are turning to social media to recruit candidates and candidate themselves are crediting social media for being able to find a job. I think one of the most frustrating things for job seekers is feeling that they have done everything they possibly can to get a job, only to be unsuccessful in their search, but if you are a job seeker who is not leveraging the use of social media I highly recommend to jump in and become engaged because that could lead you to your next job opportunity.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
Whenever I get this question I always end up asking myself, hmm, maybe I should be having more fun, LOL. When you have a business and lot of other responsibilities as a mother and wife, there’s not a lot of time for hobbies but I do enjoy going out to eat, watching selected TV programs, and going out and about with this nice Atlanta weather. Inspiration for what I do cannot really come from anywhere but my main focus to help other people regarding career and small business; whenever I feel stressed out because I have not written a blog post in a while or something, I go to a networking event, go out and about or hear something on the radio and all of a sudden I think about a career message that I can deliver to my audience. I think I need to manage a bit more the work-life balance because I spent a significant amount of time in my business and blogging. I think the main message I want to transmit is that in my case inspiration can really come from anywhere; you might be sitting in front of the computer the whole day and come up with an idea, or going out and about, meeting someone, going to networking events, etc.
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
Laptop, Twitter, Twittdeck, Hootsuite.
Who would you like to see featured here and why?
Hannah Morgan from careersherpa.net
Contact:
Twitter: @Keppie_Careers
LinkedIn: Miriam Salpeter
Website: www.keppiecareers.com
SEE ALSO:
The Entrepreneurial Wing-Woman: Dana Leavy – founder of Aspyre Solutions.
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
[Post Tags: how to empower job seekers, keppie careers, tips for career success, tips for career growth]
From: http://ping.fm/fV4dX
In addition to coaching job seekers and small business owners, Miriam is an in-demand writer and speaker regarding job search and social media, and she transforms resumes and creates online social media profiles for clients.
What makes Keppie Careers unique is that my advice comes from someone who has a very extensive background in social media and from someone who is actually using the different social media tools out there and getting hands-on experience with them and not only do I use these tools to propel my business but also I engage with my audience and share advice with my colleagues and community, which is key when building a business of any sort.
Getting Started with Keppie Careers
When I first got out of college, I worked as a VP for a Wall Street firm for a couple years but I always knew I wanted to work at a college or university in a student’s services kind of capacity. So, I worked at Wall Street for couple of years but then I left to earn my Masters in Student Personnel Administration/Career advising from Columbia University in New York focusing on career development which it was an awesome opportunity for me to blend what I like to do, which is write, edit, coach, and assist people, with my master studies. When I went back to school I choose career services because I knew I could work for a college, agency, or work for myself doing what I love to do.
I worked at Emory University as Director/Career coach at the Rollins School of Public Health where I advised students and alumni regarding career and job search, critiqued resumes, conducted mock interviews, and presented an array of career strategy workshops. After 5 years of doing this, I decided that it was a good time for me to be on my own and soon thereafter, I started learning how to blog because my former boss had suggested it and got bit by the social media bug and this is how Keppie Careers got started. I definitely have to thank John Youngblood, who was my boss at Emory University, for helping me launch my career on the social media path by suggesting me to start a blog, that’s where all started. I had all this knowledge and experience that I had accumulated over the years regarding career and job search, plus my former boss suggesting I started my own blog that I decided to take all this knowledge and experience and put it online through blogging and using the different social media tools.
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I’m a big fan of higher education and in my case having a Masters degree was absolutely important because I could have never gotten a job at Emory University without a Masters degree and having the degree and what I learned in the program certainly helped me on how to advise people and gave me a real solid foundation that makes me confident to know that I’m helping people in the best way possible. But again is relative to your particular field, in my case, I could have not gotten a job at a University without a Masters, but for some other people, I can understand being skeptical about going to school without knowing if there’s going to be a job for them by the time they’re done with the program and having invested all that time and money. Some of my clients have a vast experience in their field but because they do not have a higher education degree, they kind of like hit a glass ceiling and cannot move forward with their careers. Most companies out there still use higher education degree as a measuring stick and if you don’t have one, they just won’t hire you. In the end, it’s an individual decision and something to think very careful about depending on your personal goals.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
One of the mistakes I made when starting Keppie Careers was to say yes to everyone who needed my help and over-provide my services. I’m a person who likes to help others but there’s only 24 hours in a day that it’s essential to come up with a plan with specific goals and targets for your day and only focus on those things because it’s going to be more productive than someone who goes about the day and deals with things as they come.
Biggest job seeker mistakes:
Using the same resume to apply for every job and not personalizing it for employers’ needs. You need to spoon feed your resume to the employer. If you aren’t customizing it, you’re doing the equivalent of feeding a toothless infant a whole apple — she’ll likely use it to play a game of “drop and get.” Ideally, you’ll offer applesauce to a baby, and a resume detailing what you can do to solve the employer’s problems.
Applying for the wrong jobs. It’s tempting to apply for “just any job.” After all, YOU know you can do anything, right? It’s possible you can, but writing to an employer with a broad statement offering to be interviewed for “any” job is a recipe for disaster. The employer doesn’t know what to do with you and thinks you are desperate. In other words, you don’t hear back.
Ignoring social media resources or assuming they won’t make a difference. How many job seekers have been looking for work for over a year, but have never even tried using LinkedIn, Twitter or even Facebook to see how social media may help get them out of their job hunting rut? Too many, in my opinion. Using social media well is a big step in the right direction.
On best use of Social Media
Choose the best networks for you – the ones that highlight and show off your skills. For example, if you love to write (and you’re a good writer), a blog might be great for you. If you’re a better talker, consider creating an online radio program. I outline many different social networks in my book, Social Networking for Career Success.
Completely fill out your profiles using key words – the words people will use to find someone who does your type of work. It’s important to do this well so it’s easier for people who may want to hire someone with your skills to find you.
Find people online in your field of work. Use the various search tools in the different networks to identify potential contacts. For example, in LinkedIn, use “advanced search” to locate contacts and join groups pertaining to your interests. Use Listorious.com and WeFollow.com to find people with common interests using Twitter. See what they are saying online, respond, add to the conversation. Try to become known as a person who is “in the know,” is friendly and giving. Do not ask for job leads until you establish a relationship. You may be surprised by how generous your new online contacts are!
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
Earning the respect of my colleagues; people who when I started Keppie Careers I looked to them as advisors and guides and learned a lot from them and I’ve been very gratified to be able to become part of their community. For example, Anita Bruzzese, who is a Syndicated columnist for USA today it’s someone that I’ve always admired and looked up to. When I first started blogging, I would spend hours reading and commenting on her blog just leaving thoughtful ideas and touching base with her. When I finished my book, Social Networking for Career Succes, I asked her if she would write the foreword for the book and she was really generous in doing that and saying some lovely things about me and that really made me free proud of all the hard work I had put throughout the years.
Another accomplishment I’m proud of is publishing my book, Social Networking for Career Success and having another book on the way, which I co-authored with Laura Labovich, called 100 conversations for career success which will be out late summer 2012.
I really want to write more books. The first and second book, I really was not planning on it but the opportunity presented itself at the time and I decided to take it. I really enjoy the whole book writing process, and after having two books out, I think I want to write more books and I’m convinced that being an author is something that I really want to continue doing; the feeling of having a book that you authored in your bookshelf is very rewarding.
What advice can you offer to your readers?
Do not be skeptical about the opportunities that engaging in social media can provide. I think there’s a lot of people who think that social media is just a waste of time but when you look at the statistics, companies are turning to social media to recruit candidates and candidate themselves are crediting social media for being able to find a job. I think one of the most frustrating things for job seekers is feeling that they have done everything they possibly can to get a job, only to be unsuccessful in their search, but if you are a job seeker who is not leveraging the use of social media I highly recommend to jump in and become engaged because that could lead you to your next job opportunity.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
Whenever I get this question I always end up asking myself, hmm, maybe I should be having more fun, LOL. When you have a business and lot of other responsibilities as a mother and wife, there’s not a lot of time for hobbies but I do enjoy going out to eat, watching selected TV programs, and going out and about with this nice Atlanta weather. Inspiration for what I do cannot really come from anywhere but my main focus to help other people regarding career and small business; whenever I feel stressed out because I have not written a blog post in a while or something, I go to a networking event, go out and about or hear something on the radio and all of a sudden I think about a career message that I can deliver to my audience. I think I need to manage a bit more the work-life balance because I spent a significant amount of time in my business and blogging. I think the main message I want to transmit is that in my case inspiration can really come from anywhere; you might be sitting in front of the computer the whole day and come up with an idea, or going out and about, meeting someone, going to networking events, etc.
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
Laptop, Twitter, Twittdeck, Hootsuite.
Who would you like to see featured here and why?
Hannah Morgan from careersherpa.net
Contact:
Twitter: @Keppie_Careers
LinkedIn: Miriam Salpeter
Website: www.keppiecareers.com
SEE ALSO:
The Entrepreneurial Wing-Woman: Dana Leavy – founder of Aspyre Solutions.
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
[Post Tags: how to empower job seekers, keppie careers, tips for career success, tips for career growth]
From: http://ping.fm/fV4dX
3/1/12
Tips for Success at Your New Job
When you begin a new job there is a game plan that you have better figured out for yourself. The name of the game is “Play It by Ear.” On one hand, it is always exciting to start from a clean slate – no preconceptions to beat. You are expected to fill in somebody else’s shoes, you would be lucky if those are small ones! Even then, you are there to beat those expectations and to build your own role within the team. Utilize your so-called honeymoon period productively. Nobody expects of you to be a star right off the bet. Whatever skill or knowledge you feel you are lacking, now is the time to fill that void! Knock yourself out with those questions; no one would judge you at that time. Make your share of mistakes, it’s somewhat allowed. Blame them on your learning curve.
1. Communicate.
One imperative thing that needs to happen right from the get-go, is the development of your relationships with peers, your direct report and, most importantly, your boss. All three of these tiers require some testing of waters, productive utilization of your knowledge of psychology, and impeccable communication efforts. Your initial days in this new position are crucial stepping stones towards building a foundation to your successful career with this company. This is not the time to take things lightly from the relationship building standpoint: observe, take mental notes, figure out behavior trends and chemistries, identify certain communication tactics that would make you stand out and be perceived at par from the earliest days.
2. Be aware.
Keep in mind that people talk; you never know who’s going to say what about you and to whom. Utilize the word of mouth as your own PR tool. Even a slight change of an attitude, or ignoring someone who you might think is not relevant or unimportant to your position, could trickle that perception down to someone you directly work with by way of unexpected channels within the organization. I am not suggesting being paranoid about every word that comes out of your mouth. Just be aware of your surroundings and even the subtlest of relationships in your new environment. Proactively set adjustments to your own attitude, and overall personal goodness could set a stage to all of your upcoming interactions and social acceptance. Be yourself, be your best self, and keep your ears to the ground.
3. Work on gaining trust.
As in any human relationships, trust is something you earn. Naturally, people have their guards up in all settings, except for the closest circles. When we are approached by anyone outside of that tightly established circle, we are suspicious – What does she want from me? Why is he asking me this question? What is he implying? So, until you gain that trust, expect to be treated as an outsider. On the other hand, utilize every opportunity to build your trust in the eyes of your boss (I did not say ‘brown-nose’), and your team, especially. Keep in mind: it takes months and years to build that bridge and only seconds to destroy it.
4. Learn on your feet.
There is no such thing as a stupid question! You’ve heard that statement many times. Well, even if it’s true, maybe it is not what’s going through your new co-workers’ heads. For starters, fill in the unknowns through your own research, thank God for Google search! If there are still unknowns, bundle your questions to certain individuals who you sense don’t mind helping you throughout your post-onboarding period, or specific subject matter experts. That way you don’t have to bother anyone one question at a time, very annoying to them! Finally, leave ‘good’ questions for your boss. Questions that reflect your intellect, thought-provoking, analytical, ideas-inspired, and process improving innovations are the type of questions that will show that you are the ‘right’ fit for the job. Good luck!
What are some of your tips that helped you to stand out during your first days of employment? Would love to hear!
SEE ALSO:
5 Practical Books on Improving Business Communication Skills
5 Great Ways to Stay Positive
5 Ways to Deal with Stress at Work
[Post Tags: tips for success at new job, new hire tips, best tips on new job, how to succeed at new job]
From: http://ping.fm/dnFFz
1. Communicate.
One imperative thing that needs to happen right from the get-go, is the development of your relationships with peers, your direct report and, most importantly, your boss. All three of these tiers require some testing of waters, productive utilization of your knowledge of psychology, and impeccable communication efforts. Your initial days in this new position are crucial stepping stones towards building a foundation to your successful career with this company. This is not the time to take things lightly from the relationship building standpoint: observe, take mental notes, figure out behavior trends and chemistries, identify certain communication tactics that would make you stand out and be perceived at par from the earliest days.
2. Be aware.
Keep in mind that people talk; you never know who’s going to say what about you and to whom. Utilize the word of mouth as your own PR tool. Even a slight change of an attitude, or ignoring someone who you might think is not relevant or unimportant to your position, could trickle that perception down to someone you directly work with by way of unexpected channels within the organization. I am not suggesting being paranoid about every word that comes out of your mouth. Just be aware of your surroundings and even the subtlest of relationships in your new environment. Proactively set adjustments to your own attitude, and overall personal goodness could set a stage to all of your upcoming interactions and social acceptance. Be yourself, be your best self, and keep your ears to the ground.
3. Work on gaining trust.
As in any human relationships, trust is something you earn. Naturally, people have their guards up in all settings, except for the closest circles. When we are approached by anyone outside of that tightly established circle, we are suspicious – What does she want from me? Why is he asking me this question? What is he implying? So, until you gain that trust, expect to be treated as an outsider. On the other hand, utilize every opportunity to build your trust in the eyes of your boss (I did not say ‘brown-nose’), and your team, especially. Keep in mind: it takes months and years to build that bridge and only seconds to destroy it.
4. Learn on your feet.
There is no such thing as a stupid question! You’ve heard that statement many times. Well, even if it’s true, maybe it is not what’s going through your new co-workers’ heads. For starters, fill in the unknowns through your own research, thank God for Google search! If there are still unknowns, bundle your questions to certain individuals who you sense don’t mind helping you throughout your post-onboarding period, or specific subject matter experts. That way you don’t have to bother anyone one question at a time, very annoying to them! Finally, leave ‘good’ questions for your boss. Questions that reflect your intellect, thought-provoking, analytical, ideas-inspired, and process improving innovations are the type of questions that will show that you are the ‘right’ fit for the job. Good luck!
What are some of your tips that helped you to stand out during your first days of employment? Would love to hear!
SEE ALSO:
5 Practical Books on Improving Business Communication Skills
5 Great Ways to Stay Positive
5 Ways to Deal with Stress at Work
[Post Tags: tips for success at new job, new hire tips, best tips on new job, how to succeed at new job]
From: http://ping.fm/dnFFz
2/26/12
Exploring the Best Web Apps with Founder of ProductiveWebApps - Scott Purcell.
Scott Purcell is the founder Productive Web Apps (http://ping.fm/0iA0m), an interactive directory that lets you search, sort, rate and compare hundreds of the best web applications to help you at work and play. Their customers are mainly common internet consumers/user and many tech start-ups who want to get the word out there about their web apps.
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney in Australia and majored in Finance and International Business. The skills I learned at university have definitely helped me in my analysis and my problem solving. My degree has specifically helped me with the business aspects of the site. When I came up with the idea for the website however, I didn’t envisage it would be so much work but I think, as all start-ups will tell you, the most valuable type of education you can receive when starting a business is ‘on the job’ training.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I knew there were fantastic web apps all around the internet to can help people solve all sorts of problems. But finding them was another matter and then being able to easily get your hands on what you needed was an even more difficult task. After being frustrated with this I decided to build Productive Web Apps. It was meant to be a unique one stop interactive collection of the best web applications available online. My intention was to take the hard work out of finding web apps and make it as easy as possible for people to discover the best web applications that fit their exact needs.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I wouldn’t exactly call them mistake, more-so lessons. Initially when I started out, I wanted the site to have hundreds of features, be extremely detailed and I had great ambitions to get every single thing all finished at once within one week. I quickly found that my aspirations weren’t exactly ‘realistic’ and what was more important, was making sure that I took the time needed to make every detail perfect and to limit the number of details. For something to be great, it doesn’t need hundreds of features and bells and whistles. It needs to be simple, easy to use and enjoyable.
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
We’ve recently redesigned our site to fix a lot of the issues I’ve mentioned above. I think it makes the content and web apps front and center on the site which is most important.
What advice can you offer to your readers?
For any entrepreneurs, go watch all of these videos at this site: http://ping.fm/TjBm3
It features many fantastic speakers from all walks of life. They are a lot more experienced than myself and their advice is invaluable to any butting or even established start-up.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I love watching all kinds of sport and am heavily into following both rugby and cricket. I like to get outside as it helps me refresh from a hard days work!
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
The website that probably saves me the most time and is my own personal favorite web app is Google Reader. It enables me to be across many of the sites I follow without having to
Who would you like to see featured here and why?
I’d love to see Wunderlist featured on here.
Ways to Connect with Scott:
Facebook: http://ping.fm/or2iM
Twitter: @PWApps
LinkedIn:http://ping.fm/EQSiE
Google+: http://ping.fm/Eu8wW
SEE ALSO:
Organizing Your Job Search with Founder of StartWire – Chris Forman.
Harnessing the Power of Your Facebook Friends with Founder of 3Degrees – Brian Scordato.
Creating awesome videos with Founder of Grumo Media – Miguel Hernandez.
[Post Tags: productive web apps, productivity apps, best web applications, apps for productivity, interviews with entrepreneurs]
From: http://ping.fm/tn5Ud
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney in Australia and majored in Finance and International Business. The skills I learned at university have definitely helped me in my analysis and my problem solving. My degree has specifically helped me with the business aspects of the site. When I came up with the idea for the website however, I didn’t envisage it would be so much work but I think, as all start-ups will tell you, the most valuable type of education you can receive when starting a business is ‘on the job’ training.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I knew there were fantastic web apps all around the internet to can help people solve all sorts of problems. But finding them was another matter and then being able to easily get your hands on what you needed was an even more difficult task. After being frustrated with this I decided to build Productive Web Apps. It was meant to be a unique one stop interactive collection of the best web applications available online. My intention was to take the hard work out of finding web apps and make it as easy as possible for people to discover the best web applications that fit their exact needs.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I wouldn’t exactly call them mistake, more-so lessons. Initially when I started out, I wanted the site to have hundreds of features, be extremely detailed and I had great ambitions to get every single thing all finished at once within one week. I quickly found that my aspirations weren’t exactly ‘realistic’ and what was more important, was making sure that I took the time needed to make every detail perfect and to limit the number of details. For something to be great, it doesn’t need hundreds of features and bells and whistles. It needs to be simple, easy to use and enjoyable.
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
We’ve recently redesigned our site to fix a lot of the issues I’ve mentioned above. I think it makes the content and web apps front and center on the site which is most important.
What advice can you offer to your readers?
For any entrepreneurs, go watch all of these videos at this site: http://ping.fm/TjBm3
It features many fantastic speakers from all walks of life. They are a lot more experienced than myself and their advice is invaluable to any butting or even established start-up.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I love watching all kinds of sport and am heavily into following both rugby and cricket. I like to get outside as it helps me refresh from a hard days work!
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
The website that probably saves me the most time and is my own personal favorite web app is Google Reader. It enables me to be across many of the sites I follow without having to
Who would you like to see featured here and why?
I’d love to see Wunderlist featured on here.
Ways to Connect with Scott:
Facebook: http://ping.fm/or2iM
Twitter: @PWApps
LinkedIn:http://ping.fm/EQSiE
Google+: http://ping.fm/Eu8wW
SEE ALSO:
Organizing Your Job Search with Founder of StartWire – Chris Forman.
Harnessing the Power of Your Facebook Friends with Founder of 3Degrees – Brian Scordato.
Creating awesome videos with Founder of Grumo Media – Miguel Hernandez.
[Post Tags: productive web apps, productivity apps, best web applications, apps for productivity, interviews with entrepreneurs]
From: http://ping.fm/tn5Ud
2/21/12
Organizing Your Job Search with Founder of StartWire - Chris Forman.
Chris Forman is the CEO and Founder of StartWire: free job search organizer. Our primary feature and what people really enjoy about using StartWire is that in addition to giving you some really simple and easy to use tools to track all your applications and get recommendations during your job search, we provide you with automatic updates on your job application from 5,000+ employers. If you talk to job seekers about the job application process, you’ll find out that besides not having a job, the thing that they dislike most about the job application process is not hearing back from employers and Startwire takes the pain out of that equation.
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
It’s been about 20 years since I was in school, and what I can say is that the knowledge, what was actually in the books and on the tests when I went to university has no bearing whatsoever around what I do every day, but the methodology, and the discipline and understanding how to write and how to think critically are all things I use every day and I can’t imagine being where I am today without the education that I got from a nifty little school, small school in Maine called Colby College, which by the way, just for the record, is a significantly better school than Bates and Bowdoin, which are also small schools in Maine.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I don’t think there was any AHA moment or break point. I’m sitting right next to the other founder of StartWire, his name is Tim McKegney. He and I both built a business together which we grew to 16 employees, 11-12 million dollars in revenue and we sold it, and that business was, for a lack of a better analogy, Salesforce.com for corporate recruiters, people who work at companies whose job is to recruit talent and we enjoyed building that business, we enjoyed working with the company that acquired our company to insure it was a successful acquisition but when we were done with that both of us still had a lot of gas in the tank and we wanted to go and get back into the world of startups and try build something from scratch. Good businesses are built on a distinct and measurable pain-point. You pay someone to have your garbage taken away because you don’t want to take the garbage to the dump yourself; you pay somebody to have your lawn cut because you don’t want to spent two hours on a beautiful Saturday cutting your own lawn; you pay somebody to do your taxes for you because you can’t do them or it’s painful to do them. When we were looking at building StartWire we wanted to find a pain that was strong and emotional and something that we could really build a solution around the people who identified with and from years of experience building software applications for recruiting departments at big companies we interacted with millions of job seekers because those are the folks that would be in the databases and software that we built and we got to know the problems that they had and challenges that they were looking at and this particular issue just materialized from a lot of experience.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
The key mistake we made while building a business (Startwire) was that we knew what the primary pain-point of our target market was, which is applying for jobs and never hearing back but it’s hard to build a technology that provides those types of updates and to start the business we actually ended up building a social job board because it was simple, straightforward, we could get it done and market it quickly. The reality was that we spent time, money, and energy building that and when in fact what we really needed to build, what we needed to focus on was really that big idea we had when we started the business. We didn’t use our time wisely for the first 3-4 months of the business and that lack of focus is probably the biggest mistake we made.
SEE ALSO:
Harnessing the Power of Your Facebook Friends with Founder of 3Degrees – Brian Scordato.
4 Most Frustrating Facts and Solutions on Job Seeking
Innovating Marketing Technologies with Founder of LocalResponse & Buzzd – Nihal Mehta
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
I think is the fact that we got close to a 100,000 people to use Startwire on a regular basis and it radically improves their job search process.
What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
There are 115 million people in America looking for work and we think that every single one of them should be using StartWire and our goal is to grow the business to become a broad and large job search platform.
What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and entrepreneurship?
Whether you get paid on a W2 or you own your own business it’s probably fair to say that everyone in the USA is their own boss. 30 years ago if you worked for a company, you would work for them your entire career or at least a good chunk of it and today that doesn’t happen. You need to actively manage your career and your job and take ownership of what you want to be doing, what you want to get paid, what you do every day, those are the homeworks of being an entrepreneur and I think they need to become the homeworks of everyone that works in the USA.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
My greatest inspiration is my family and I have fun spending quality time with them at the farm and playing hockey.
Ways to Connect with Chris:
Website: www.startwire.com
LinkedIn: Christian_Forman
[Post Tags: startwire.com, online job search organizer, online job search engine, how to organize your job search, online job search tools]
From: http://ping.fm/u6yjS
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
It’s been about 20 years since I was in school, and what I can say is that the knowledge, what was actually in the books and on the tests when I went to university has no bearing whatsoever around what I do every day, but the methodology, and the discipline and understanding how to write and how to think critically are all things I use every day and I can’t imagine being where I am today without the education that I got from a nifty little school, small school in Maine called Colby College, which by the way, just for the record, is a significantly better school than Bates and Bowdoin, which are also small schools in Maine.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I don’t think there was any AHA moment or break point. I’m sitting right next to the other founder of StartWire, his name is Tim McKegney. He and I both built a business together which we grew to 16 employees, 11-12 million dollars in revenue and we sold it, and that business was, for a lack of a better analogy, Salesforce.com for corporate recruiters, people who work at companies whose job is to recruit talent and we enjoyed building that business, we enjoyed working with the company that acquired our company to insure it was a successful acquisition but when we were done with that both of us still had a lot of gas in the tank and we wanted to go and get back into the world of startups and try build something from scratch. Good businesses are built on a distinct and measurable pain-point. You pay someone to have your garbage taken away because you don’t want to take the garbage to the dump yourself; you pay somebody to have your lawn cut because you don’t want to spent two hours on a beautiful Saturday cutting your own lawn; you pay somebody to do your taxes for you because you can’t do them or it’s painful to do them. When we were looking at building StartWire we wanted to find a pain that was strong and emotional and something that we could really build a solution around the people who identified with and from years of experience building software applications for recruiting departments at big companies we interacted with millions of job seekers because those are the folks that would be in the databases and software that we built and we got to know the problems that they had and challenges that they were looking at and this particular issue just materialized from a lot of experience.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
The key mistake we made while building a business (Startwire) was that we knew what the primary pain-point of our target market was, which is applying for jobs and never hearing back but it’s hard to build a technology that provides those types of updates and to start the business we actually ended up building a social job board because it was simple, straightforward, we could get it done and market it quickly. The reality was that we spent time, money, and energy building that and when in fact what we really needed to build, what we needed to focus on was really that big idea we had when we started the business. We didn’t use our time wisely for the first 3-4 months of the business and that lack of focus is probably the biggest mistake we made.
SEE ALSO:
Harnessing the Power of Your Facebook Friends with Founder of 3Degrees – Brian Scordato.
4 Most Frustrating Facts and Solutions on Job Seeking
Innovating Marketing Technologies with Founder of LocalResponse & Buzzd – Nihal Mehta
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
I think is the fact that we got close to a 100,000 people to use Startwire on a regular basis and it radically improves their job search process.
What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
There are 115 million people in America looking for work and we think that every single one of them should be using StartWire and our goal is to grow the business to become a broad and large job search platform.
What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and entrepreneurship?
Whether you get paid on a W2 or you own your own business it’s probably fair to say that everyone in the USA is their own boss. 30 years ago if you worked for a company, you would work for them your entire career or at least a good chunk of it and today that doesn’t happen. You need to actively manage your career and your job and take ownership of what you want to be doing, what you want to get paid, what you do every day, those are the homeworks of being an entrepreneur and I think they need to become the homeworks of everyone that works in the USA.
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
My greatest inspiration is my family and I have fun spending quality time with them at the farm and playing hockey.
Ways to Connect with Chris:
Website: www.startwire.com
LinkedIn: Christian_Forman
[Post Tags: startwire.com, online job search organizer, online job search engine, how to organize your job search, online job search tools]
From: http://ping.fm/u6yjS
2/6/12
Harnessing the Power of Your Facebook Friends with Founder of 3Degree - Brian Scordato.
Brian Scordato is an entrepreneur from NYC. After attending business school at UNC Chapel Hill, he built a Facebook-powered application called 3Degrees that enables users to search their friends’ friends and request introductions, creating meaningful relationships that previously occurred only through serendipity. Whether professional, romantic, or friendly, 3Degrees allows users to create trusted connections with people who share interests and friends.
2. Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
Definitely. I recently got my MBA from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, something that was integral to my development as an entrepreneur. I took a ton of e-ship and Venture Capital classes, so I’m pretty familiar with both sides of the table. Also, the network I built at UNC has put me in contact with a few early investors.
The debate of MBA vs. advanced technical degree for entrepreneurs is a good one. Technical people can start a company, and prove a concept, without much (or any) funding. This skill beats any skill you learn at business school by a mile. However, when you need to market, expand, raise money, create a business model, etc., that’s where b-school comes in handy.
Overall, I bet on people over education. If someone is smart and motivated, they’ll figure out a way to get something done regardless of their background.
3. What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I had a good friend who had recently gotten out of a long-term relationship. She went on a few dating sites and had a terrible experience, with people misrepresenting who they were and what they wanted. I thought there had to be a way to bring trust to the equation – Most relationships that I saw starting outside of school or the office were initiated by an introduction from a mutual friend. However, this relied on a lot of serendipity. I wanted to leverage our years of social network usage to allow users to access the periphery of their social networks. The key was finding interesting people that you could meet through a trusted friend.
My biggest problem was that I didn’t really want to make a dating site. As I looked closer, I realized I didn’t have to. Almost all introductions start through a mutual friend – I got my first job through a recommendation from a friend, was introduced to friends of friends in Chapel Hill when I moved down south, etc. No one knows you better than your friends, and no one is more equipped to make a meaningful introduction than a friend who knows both parties.
4. As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
Early on, I followed the crowd instead of what I was truly interested in. I’ve known deep down that I wanted to be an entrepreneur since I can remember, but I still went through the motions of getting a traditional finance background. I rationalized to myself that this was the “safe” move and that I could always start something later.
I’ve learned that the “safe” move is often wrong. I didn’t want to be in finance, and it showed. I performed poorly and essentially wasted 3 years of my life where I could have been working on 3Degrees or a different project.
5. What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
I’m proud of our current product, and I’m proud of how we got here. I know that’s not a great answer, but if you had told me 8 months ago we would have the product we have now with only a small seed round funding it, I’d be thrilled. I guess specifically, I’m proud of the team I’ve assembled to build this thing.
I outsourced my project because, as I mentioned, I have no tech experience. I figured this would be a detached experience, where I gave someone a list of work, they delivered it to me a month later, and we went from there. However I’ve been lucky and got my developers, Highgroove and The Phuse, engaged and invested in the project. They’re often as passionate about it as I am, and it makes all the difference.
6. What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
I want to build a company that has a positive impact on peoples lives. There are a lot of ways to make money, and I certainly want to do that. However, I’d like it to be through a company that is thought of in a positive light.
Also, I want to write a book about the experience. I write a blog, and my favorite entry so far was on how I survived my first 6 months of being an entrepreneur. It’s a fun topic to write about, and can be very therapeutic.
7. Describe your typical day
I try and wake up early and get a solid amount of work in each morning. I’ve been told that at this phase I should focus 90% of energy on the product, and I try to do that. However, since I’m a solo founder, I’m kind of the judge, jury and executioner. I’ll go through the product, map out new functionality, go back and forth with my dev team, and look at user feedback and analytics each morning. I answer emails when I hit a wall. I’ll usually play some hoops or squash or something in the early evening, have some dinner, then do some creative work at night. My creative juices flow early in the morning and late at night, usually when there are no distractions.
8. What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and small business?
I’ll pass along 4 pieces of advice that I’ve found to be extremely helpful throughout my life.
First – be honest with yourself. You’re probably good at most things, bad at a few, and spectacular at a few. Understand your strengths and weaknesses, exploit your strengths, and shy away from relying on the things you do about as well as everyone else. I know that sounds obvious, but adding a spectacular skill you’ve got to whatever you’re working on will make it unique, and make you irreplaceable. If you’re a terrific writer, and your producing a commodity, ingrain your writing into your commodity through a blog, or copy, or whatever. It’s no longer a commodity.
Second – maximize your productivity. If you work best in the mornings and evenings, like I do, then working a 9-5 schedule doesn’t really make sense. Going for a run or hitting golf balls is often more productive than sitting in front of the computer from 3-5. Changes in scenery often spur new ideas.
Third – this is straight from my Dad – 99% of everything is just showing up. If you’re an entrepreneur, this means pitching your product to anyone who will listen, going to conferences, meeting with people in the industry, etc. Show up, and the rest will often take care of itself.
Fourth – if you’re an entrepreneur, someone else has thought of your product. Whoever has the most energy will be able to execute and will win the space. Unless you’re Apple, there’s no need to go into “stealth mode” for 3 years then come out with a “perfect” product. I’m more a follower of the Lean Startup methodology. Get a min viable product on the market, get feedback, adapt.
9. What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I’m a sports nut. I played basketball in college and still play as often as I can. It’s a great way to blow off steam.
I get inspiration from funny places. I’m not smart enough to make anything that doesn’t already exist, so I need to tweak and adapt existing products. I focus on everyday problems, so I watch a ton of comedy. Comedy is based on people complaining about their everyday lives, so what better place to look for problems you can solve? Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I watch my 9th straight episode of Arrested Development.
10. What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
I run RescueTime to keep track of how I spend my time online, it’s an absolute life saver. I get competitive with my friends and developers, who also use it. I love my Jambox as well, it’s great in golf carts. I use all the usual suspects, DropBox, Skype, Rdio, Adium, turntable.fm, and can’t get through the day without Flow, my task master. I’m always thinking of new products and ideas, and I can send them to my Flow account through my iPhone.
My developers and I use Pivotal Tracker as project management software- it’s great once you get the hang of it. Finally, the Netflix app allows me to watch season after season of Psych and Arrested Development – it’s the kryptonite to my RescueTime score.
11. Who would you like to see featured here and why?
Justin Kan, founder of Justin.TV – I really enjoyed his article in TechCrunch, and would like to hear more from him. Additionally, I love hearing Seth Godin’s opinion on entrepreneurship from a marketing standpoint. Some others – the Fitbit guys, Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, someone from Jawbone. I think it’d be interesting to hear from people at startups who make a physical product and compete against entrenched, iconic companies – and win.
12. Ways to Connect with Brian:
Company: www.3degreesnation.com
3Degrees Twitter: @3degreesnation
Brian Scordato Twitter: @Dato22
3Degrees Facebook: http://on.fb.me/zm72Tl
Email: Brian@3degreesnation.com
You Might Also Be Interested In:
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
Recommending Gifts through Social Media with Founder of GiveEmThis – Zack Oates
Jared Shusterman – Founder of SproutLoud: leading online marketing portal.
Interview by Cesar Romero. Follow his personal blog here or via Twitter @romero866
[3degreesnation.com, how to leverage your facebook friends, ways to utilize your friends' connections on facebook, facebook app]
From: http://www.moomkin.com/3degress-brian-scordato/
2. Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
Definitely. I recently got my MBA from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, something that was integral to my development as an entrepreneur. I took a ton of e-ship and Venture Capital classes, so I’m pretty familiar with both sides of the table. Also, the network I built at UNC has put me in contact with a few early investors.
The debate of MBA vs. advanced technical degree for entrepreneurs is a good one. Technical people can start a company, and prove a concept, without much (or any) funding. This skill beats any skill you learn at business school by a mile. However, when you need to market, expand, raise money, create a business model, etc., that’s where b-school comes in handy.
Overall, I bet on people over education. If someone is smart and motivated, they’ll figure out a way to get something done regardless of their background.
3. What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I had a good friend who had recently gotten out of a long-term relationship. She went on a few dating sites and had a terrible experience, with people misrepresenting who they were and what they wanted. I thought there had to be a way to bring trust to the equation – Most relationships that I saw starting outside of school or the office were initiated by an introduction from a mutual friend. However, this relied on a lot of serendipity. I wanted to leverage our years of social network usage to allow users to access the periphery of their social networks. The key was finding interesting people that you could meet through a trusted friend.
My biggest problem was that I didn’t really want to make a dating site. As I looked closer, I realized I didn’t have to. Almost all introductions start through a mutual friend – I got my first job through a recommendation from a friend, was introduced to friends of friends in Chapel Hill when I moved down south, etc. No one knows you better than your friends, and no one is more equipped to make a meaningful introduction than a friend who knows both parties.
4. As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
Early on, I followed the crowd instead of what I was truly interested in. I’ve known deep down that I wanted to be an entrepreneur since I can remember, but I still went through the motions of getting a traditional finance background. I rationalized to myself that this was the “safe” move and that I could always start something later.
I’ve learned that the “safe” move is often wrong. I didn’t want to be in finance, and it showed. I performed poorly and essentially wasted 3 years of my life where I could have been working on 3Degrees or a different project.
5. What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
I’m proud of our current product, and I’m proud of how we got here. I know that’s not a great answer, but if you had told me 8 months ago we would have the product we have now with only a small seed round funding it, I’d be thrilled. I guess specifically, I’m proud of the team I’ve assembled to build this thing.
I outsourced my project because, as I mentioned, I have no tech experience. I figured this would be a detached experience, where I gave someone a list of work, they delivered it to me a month later, and we went from there. However I’ve been lucky and got my developers, Highgroove and The Phuse, engaged and invested in the project. They’re often as passionate about it as I am, and it makes all the difference.
6. What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
I want to build a company that has a positive impact on peoples lives. There are a lot of ways to make money, and I certainly want to do that. However, I’d like it to be through a company that is thought of in a positive light.
Also, I want to write a book about the experience. I write a blog, and my favorite entry so far was on how I survived my first 6 months of being an entrepreneur. It’s a fun topic to write about, and can be very therapeutic.
7. Describe your typical day
I try and wake up early and get a solid amount of work in each morning. I’ve been told that at this phase I should focus 90% of energy on the product, and I try to do that. However, since I’m a solo founder, I’m kind of the judge, jury and executioner. I’ll go through the product, map out new functionality, go back and forth with my dev team, and look at user feedback and analytics each morning. I answer emails when I hit a wall. I’ll usually play some hoops or squash or something in the early evening, have some dinner, then do some creative work at night. My creative juices flow early in the morning and late at night, usually when there are no distractions.
8. What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and small business?
I’ll pass along 4 pieces of advice that I’ve found to be extremely helpful throughout my life.
First – be honest with yourself. You’re probably good at most things, bad at a few, and spectacular at a few. Understand your strengths and weaknesses, exploit your strengths, and shy away from relying on the things you do about as well as everyone else. I know that sounds obvious, but adding a spectacular skill you’ve got to whatever you’re working on will make it unique, and make you irreplaceable. If you’re a terrific writer, and your producing a commodity, ingrain your writing into your commodity through a blog, or copy, or whatever. It’s no longer a commodity.
Second – maximize your productivity. If you work best in the mornings and evenings, like I do, then working a 9-5 schedule doesn’t really make sense. Going for a run or hitting golf balls is often more productive than sitting in front of the computer from 3-5. Changes in scenery often spur new ideas.
Third – this is straight from my Dad – 99% of everything is just showing up. If you’re an entrepreneur, this means pitching your product to anyone who will listen, going to conferences, meeting with people in the industry, etc. Show up, and the rest will often take care of itself.
Fourth – if you’re an entrepreneur, someone else has thought of your product. Whoever has the most energy will be able to execute and will win the space. Unless you’re Apple, there’s no need to go into “stealth mode” for 3 years then come out with a “perfect” product. I’m more a follower of the Lean Startup methodology. Get a min viable product on the market, get feedback, adapt.
9. What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I’m a sports nut. I played basketball in college and still play as often as I can. It’s a great way to blow off steam.
I get inspiration from funny places. I’m not smart enough to make anything that doesn’t already exist, so I need to tweak and adapt existing products. I focus on everyday problems, so I watch a ton of comedy. Comedy is based on people complaining about their everyday lives, so what better place to look for problems you can solve? Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I watch my 9th straight episode of Arrested Development.
10. What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
I run RescueTime to keep track of how I spend my time online, it’s an absolute life saver. I get competitive with my friends and developers, who also use it. I love my Jambox as well, it’s great in golf carts. I use all the usual suspects, DropBox, Skype, Rdio, Adium, turntable.fm, and can’t get through the day without Flow, my task master. I’m always thinking of new products and ideas, and I can send them to my Flow account through my iPhone.
My developers and I use Pivotal Tracker as project management software- it’s great once you get the hang of it. Finally, the Netflix app allows me to watch season after season of Psych and Arrested Development – it’s the kryptonite to my RescueTime score.
11. Who would you like to see featured here and why?
Justin Kan, founder of Justin.TV – I really enjoyed his article in TechCrunch, and would like to hear more from him. Additionally, I love hearing Seth Godin’s opinion on entrepreneurship from a marketing standpoint. Some others – the Fitbit guys, Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, someone from Jawbone. I think it’d be interesting to hear from people at startups who make a physical product and compete against entrenched, iconic companies – and win.
12. Ways to Connect with Brian:
Company: www.3degreesnation.com
3Degrees Twitter: @3degreesnation
Brian Scordato Twitter: @Dato22
3Degrees Facebook: http://on.fb.me/zm72Tl
Email: Brian@3degreesnation.com
You Might Also Be Interested In:
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
Recommending Gifts through Social Media with Founder of GiveEmThis – Zack Oates
Jared Shusterman – Founder of SproutLoud: leading online marketing portal.
Interview by Cesar Romero. Follow his personal blog here or via Twitter @romero866
[3degreesnation.com, how to leverage your facebook friends, ways to utilize your friends' connections on facebook, facebook app]
From: http://www.moomkin.com/3degress-brian-scordato/
1/31/12
The Entrepreneurial Wing-Woman: Dana Leavy - founder of Aspyre Solutions.
“You have to be open and willing to evolve” – Dana Leavy.
Creative Businesses. Creative Careers.
Dana Leavy is the founder of Aspyre Solutions, and a self-proclaimed “Entrepreneurial Wingwoman”, helping aspiring entrepreneurs & creative freelancers start, build & grow sustainable small businesses, through career transition and business consulting. As a career advisor and small business entrepreneur, Dana has helped hundreds of professionals in advertising, marketing, design, multimedia and other industries in creating and executing effective career plans to find and DO the work they are passionate about. She has presented seminars on navigating careers, transition and work-life balance to several colleges and universities, and her advice has been featured on MSN Careers, Fox Business News, NewsDay, CareerBuilder.com, GlassDoor and About.com.
2. Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success? Highlight the type of education you received, from which school and what part did it play as an integral part of your success
I have a bachelors degree in Communication and Visual Arts, as well as a professional coaching certification from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. My career is based on two components – being an entrepreneur and an artist – and while my education helped me expand in both those areas and learn valuable skills, ultimately it was through pure doing that really pushed me to create the career and the company that I’ve built. While I’m not a traditional “coach”, I do utilize a lot of the skills I learned in my program, but most of all, the connections I built with my peers have been the most valuable asset, along with the confidence I built to create a business on my own. You have to have confidence that there is potential in your ideas, and the best way to reinforce that is to surround yourself with positive people who identify with and encourage what you do.
3. What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea? Try to be specific whether a particular person helped you to the next level, an idea or some event etc)
I moved back to New York City from Boston in 2009; I was managing a creative recruiting agency in Boston at the time, and wanted desperately to get out of recruiting and move to New York. So I took on a job that utilized my account management and client services skills with an IT research company. Shortly after, they began going through round of layoffs, cutting salaries, jobs, and for a good year or so I just sat there doing my job and watching the company crumble. It was depressing, seeing people hired, and fired all within months. Having run my own company, I had some ideas about what we could have been doing better, and areas where I disagreed with how the company was being run. It was probably after surviving the 2nd or 3rd round of layoffs that it hit me that I never, ever wanted to worry about my job security or work for someone else again. The moment I could afford to make an exit, I would.
4. As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
Like most 20-somethings, I made a number of mistakes earlier on when it came to properly budgeting my money. I didn’t save well, I was oblivious to credit card debt, assuming I had the rest of my life to pay it off. And while I consider them mistakes in their own right, I more so consider them lessons that I had to go through. Because had I not struggled financially for awhile, I wouldn’t have learned to be better with my money by the time I hit 30, and now I’m in a much better situation where I’m clearing debt, instead of acquiring it. Even with owning a business!
5. What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
Once I make the decision to jump, I don’t look back, and I’ve always been proud of myself for that. I was at my last full time job for about 2 years, and hardly a year in, I knew I wanted to work for myself. There were probably a million reasons not to at the time – financially, peer pressure, family pressure, lack of knowledge about what I was doing – but I had already made up my mind. And I think that’s what differentiates entrepreneurs in general. Despite our reputation for working insane hours, having no personal life or work-life balance, and facing the constant threat of failure and financial ruin, when you truly believe in your ideas enough, you simply refuse to fail, and you’ll do whatever it takes to keep that vision alive. People argue that passion isn’t enough to propel and sustain your career, and it’s not, but it’s definitely a core ingredient in being a successful business owner.
6. What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
I’ve learned that my artistic side can’t exist separately from my work – there always has to be some element of creativity in what I do. So one of my goals is to grow my consulting business by continuing to help aspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers through the startup process and become sustainable, while also maintaining my freelance illustration business on the side. People tell me I’m a “Freelancer, for freelancers,” and they’re kind of right. I don’t think you have to hyper-focus on one thing anymore. In fact, I believe the smartest thing you can do these days is diversify your income streams. That’s the new look of career stability in my opinion, and what I’m trying to achieve by balancing being a business consultant, and being an artist.
7. Describe your typical day
I’m completely Type-A when it comes to organization and multi-tasking. There are very few components of my business that you won’t find mapped out in some Excel spreadsheet, calendar or Text document. I try to separate my daily tasks out in hourly chunks to keep them manageable and flexible. I start the day at about 9:30, take care of all my emails, follow ups and social media correspondences. I dedicate a solid hour to that, so I can focus. The next hour or two is typically dedicated to whatever task is time-sensitive for that day – things like writing my weekly blog posts, sending out my newsletter, or other marketing functions. I tend to have my best creative energy at the beginning and middle of the day, so that’s when I schedule all of my marketing outreach, and work on any outstanding client projects. I try to break for lunch and go take a walk outside for at least a half hour (though I’ve been terrible at that lately). End of the day I reserve for follow ups, scheduling any social media tasks for the following day, and any smaller, outstanding tasks that don’t require 90% of my brain. Having a calendar is key, but creating a workflow and scheduling system that works for you is critical.
8. What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and small business?
You have to be open and willing to evolve, whether that’s in your business or your career. Your business will not be the same business 6 months or a year later that it was at the inception. Neither will your career. We put too much pressure on ourselves these days to have it all figured out, to create an infallible career and life plan for ourselves, with the hopes that if we do all the planning and strategizing upfront, all we’ll have to do is sit back and follow it to success. But there will always be roadblocks, challenges, and unforeseen opportunities that make us second guess, or change the plans we had in place. It’s critical that you see this as part of the process, and not as deviating from your plan. The best way to really put this into action is to take things one step at a time and see where it leads you. If something’s not working for you, whether it’s a new job or a marketing plan… you can always change it.
You Might Also Be Interested In:
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
Get coached on Marketing, Social Networking and Business with Tim Tyrell-Smith
9. What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I get an energetic high just being around people. My inspiration largely comes from other artists, creative people, entrepreneurs, and generally just people I enjoy talking to and having a good conversation with. I make terrible jokes, and somehow people enjoy it enough to tolerate my presence. You’ll typically find me hanging out at the park or my favorite dive bar sketching things in my notebook, talking to other people about their business and creative ideas. I love hearing people’s stories, and everyone has one. They may think it’s dull, but I love hearing who they are, what they’ve done in their lives, what they’ve learned, and what they’re trying to make happen next. Because we all have that in common as human beings – we’re somebody, we’ve done something, and we’re trying to do something else. Sounds ridiculously simple, but it’s true. Brooklyn is so creative and full of amazing characters, so you’ll usually find me hiding out in my borough.
10. What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
I like Pandora.com for workday tunes, Freckle.com for simple, user-friendly project management software. I live by QuickBooks for organizing my financials, and PayPal for my invoices. Non work-related, I’m a big fan of Apartment Therapy (apartment therapy.com) – they have such amazing design ideas for home and life. I sell my artwork on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/Aspyre) so naturally I’m on there a lot, but they also have a great blog with all kinds of small business advice for improving your shop, and marketing and design ideas. I try to minimize my Facebook usage during the workday, but naturally I cave in when I’m craving a little gossip.
11. Who would you like to see featured here and why? Include their names and ways to connect & we will definitely reach out to them.
Any blog can feature people who have made it big. I want to hear from the people who are starting businesses and still struggling – what keeps them going, what do they need from others like us in the community, and what is their ultimate vision for their business? That’s the good stuff!
12. Ways to Connect with you: Include links to your social media profiles, your company url, email etc.
Email: dana@aspyresolutions.com
Website: www.aspyresolutions.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/aspyresolutions
On Twitter: @aspyrebusiness
On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danaleavy
From: http://www.moomkin.com/dana-leavy/
Creative Businesses. Creative Careers.
Dana Leavy is the founder of Aspyre Solutions, and a self-proclaimed “Entrepreneurial Wingwoman”, helping aspiring entrepreneurs & creative freelancers start, build & grow sustainable small businesses, through career transition and business consulting. As a career advisor and small business entrepreneur, Dana has helped hundreds of professionals in advertising, marketing, design, multimedia and other industries in creating and executing effective career plans to find and DO the work they are passionate about. She has presented seminars on navigating careers, transition and work-life balance to several colleges and universities, and her advice has been featured on MSN Careers, Fox Business News, NewsDay, CareerBuilder.com, GlassDoor and About.com.
2. Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success? Highlight the type of education you received, from which school and what part did it play as an integral part of your success
I have a bachelors degree in Communication and Visual Arts, as well as a professional coaching certification from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. My career is based on two components – being an entrepreneur and an artist – and while my education helped me expand in both those areas and learn valuable skills, ultimately it was through pure doing that really pushed me to create the career and the company that I’ve built. While I’m not a traditional “coach”, I do utilize a lot of the skills I learned in my program, but most of all, the connections I built with my peers have been the most valuable asset, along with the confidence I built to create a business on my own. You have to have confidence that there is potential in your ideas, and the best way to reinforce that is to surround yourself with positive people who identify with and encourage what you do.
3. What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea? Try to be specific whether a particular person helped you to the next level, an idea or some event etc)
I moved back to New York City from Boston in 2009; I was managing a creative recruiting agency in Boston at the time, and wanted desperately to get out of recruiting and move to New York. So I took on a job that utilized my account management and client services skills with an IT research company. Shortly after, they began going through round of layoffs, cutting salaries, jobs, and for a good year or so I just sat there doing my job and watching the company crumble. It was depressing, seeing people hired, and fired all within months. Having run my own company, I had some ideas about what we could have been doing better, and areas where I disagreed with how the company was being run. It was probably after surviving the 2nd or 3rd round of layoffs that it hit me that I never, ever wanted to worry about my job security or work for someone else again. The moment I could afford to make an exit, I would.
4. As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
Like most 20-somethings, I made a number of mistakes earlier on when it came to properly budgeting my money. I didn’t save well, I was oblivious to credit card debt, assuming I had the rest of my life to pay it off. And while I consider them mistakes in their own right, I more so consider them lessons that I had to go through. Because had I not struggled financially for awhile, I wouldn’t have learned to be better with my money by the time I hit 30, and now I’m in a much better situation where I’m clearing debt, instead of acquiring it. Even with owning a business!
5. What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
Once I make the decision to jump, I don’t look back, and I’ve always been proud of myself for that. I was at my last full time job for about 2 years, and hardly a year in, I knew I wanted to work for myself. There were probably a million reasons not to at the time – financially, peer pressure, family pressure, lack of knowledge about what I was doing – but I had already made up my mind. And I think that’s what differentiates entrepreneurs in general. Despite our reputation for working insane hours, having no personal life or work-life balance, and facing the constant threat of failure and financial ruin, when you truly believe in your ideas enough, you simply refuse to fail, and you’ll do whatever it takes to keep that vision alive. People argue that passion isn’t enough to propel and sustain your career, and it’s not, but it’s definitely a core ingredient in being a successful business owner.
6. What is your overall career goal? What do you want to accomplish that you haven’t already?
I’ve learned that my artistic side can’t exist separately from my work – there always has to be some element of creativity in what I do. So one of my goals is to grow my consulting business by continuing to help aspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers through the startup process and become sustainable, while also maintaining my freelance illustration business on the side. People tell me I’m a “Freelancer, for freelancers,” and they’re kind of right. I don’t think you have to hyper-focus on one thing anymore. In fact, I believe the smartest thing you can do these days is diversify your income streams. That’s the new look of career stability in my opinion, and what I’m trying to achieve by balancing being a business consultant, and being an artist.
7. Describe your typical day
I’m completely Type-A when it comes to organization and multi-tasking. There are very few components of my business that you won’t find mapped out in some Excel spreadsheet, calendar or Text document. I try to separate my daily tasks out in hourly chunks to keep them manageable and flexible. I start the day at about 9:30, take care of all my emails, follow ups and social media correspondences. I dedicate a solid hour to that, so I can focus. The next hour or two is typically dedicated to whatever task is time-sensitive for that day – things like writing my weekly blog posts, sending out my newsletter, or other marketing functions. I tend to have my best creative energy at the beginning and middle of the day, so that’s when I schedule all of my marketing outreach, and work on any outstanding client projects. I try to break for lunch and go take a walk outside for at least a half hour (though I’ve been terrible at that lately). End of the day I reserve for follow ups, scheduling any social media tasks for the following day, and any smaller, outstanding tasks that don’t require 90% of my brain. Having a calendar is key, but creating a workflow and scheduling system that works for you is critical.
8. What advice can you offer to your readers regarding career and small business?
You have to be open and willing to evolve, whether that’s in your business or your career. Your business will not be the same business 6 months or a year later that it was at the inception. Neither will your career. We put too much pressure on ourselves these days to have it all figured out, to create an infallible career and life plan for ourselves, with the hopes that if we do all the planning and strategizing upfront, all we’ll have to do is sit back and follow it to success. But there will always be roadblocks, challenges, and unforeseen opportunities that make us second guess, or change the plans we had in place. It’s critical that you see this as part of the process, and not as deviating from your plan. The best way to really put this into action is to take things one step at a time and see where it leads you. If something’s not working for you, whether it’s a new job or a marketing plan… you can always change it.
You Might Also Be Interested In:
Interview with the Best-Selling author of The Zen of Social Marketing – Shama Kabani
Get coached on Marketing, Social Networking and Business with Tim Tyrell-Smith
9. What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
I get an energetic high just being around people. My inspiration largely comes from other artists, creative people, entrepreneurs, and generally just people I enjoy talking to and having a good conversation with. I make terrible jokes, and somehow people enjoy it enough to tolerate my presence. You’ll typically find me hanging out at the park or my favorite dive bar sketching things in my notebook, talking to other people about their business and creative ideas. I love hearing people’s stories, and everyone has one. They may think it’s dull, but I love hearing who they are, what they’ve done in their lives, what they’ve learned, and what they’re trying to make happen next. Because we all have that in common as human beings – we’re somebody, we’ve done something, and we’re trying to do something else. Sounds ridiculously simple, but it’s true. Brooklyn is so creative and full of amazing characters, so you’ll usually find me hiding out in my borough.
10. What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
I like Pandora.com for workday tunes, Freckle.com for simple, user-friendly project management software. I live by QuickBooks for organizing my financials, and PayPal for my invoices. Non work-related, I’m a big fan of Apartment Therapy (apartment therapy.com) – they have such amazing design ideas for home and life. I sell my artwork on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/Aspyre) so naturally I’m on there a lot, but they also have a great blog with all kinds of small business advice for improving your shop, and marketing and design ideas. I try to minimize my Facebook usage during the workday, but naturally I cave in when I’m craving a little gossip.
11. Who would you like to see featured here and why? Include their names and ways to connect & we will definitely reach out to them.
Any blog can feature people who have made it big. I want to hear from the people who are starting businesses and still struggling – what keeps them going, what do they need from others like us in the community, and what is their ultimate vision for their business? That’s the good stuff!
12. Ways to Connect with you: Include links to your social media profiles, your company url, email etc.
Email: dana@aspyresolutions.com
Website: www.aspyresolutions.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/aspyresolutions
On Twitter: @aspyrebusiness
On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danaleavy
From: http://www.moomkin.com/dana-leavy/
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