We Interrupt This Blog To Bring You a Male Entrepreneur: Jeff Brown

Why Jeff Brown? You probably don't know him but when you read this post you'll understand why I decided to feature his work.

He tells a great story -- nonfiction -- and one that we can all learn from. Here's a snippet:

Lots of people think about leaving the mother ship and striking out on their own. Many never do, and spend their lives wondering what might have happened if they had. Some do, and fail. Others think jumping ship was the best thing they ever did. I'm in that group.

What does it take? After three years of full-time freelancing - or, as I prefer to think of it, running my own business (with a profit margin putting all newspapers to shame) - I think there are three key issues: psychological, financial and professional.

Resonate with you? Then read on here. This is thoughtful piece. When it comes to jumping ship or escaping from corporate America, you can tell he's lived it, breathed it, survived it and is now on to the thriving part of his life.

Best wishes to Jeff for continued success!

Relax, Serve Yourself a Yogurt Martini

Considered the best little self-serve frozen yogurt ever, Tempe-Arizona based Yogurtini offers up to 16 rotating healthy and fat-free frozen yogurt flavors and over 65 toppings.

"I am ecstatic to announce our frozen yogurt franchise offering," said Natasha Nelson, co-founder and President of Yogurtini(TM). "Along with amazing frozen yogurt, I believe we have created a fun and exciting experience, and that is why our customers come back day after day. ~ Press release here

Backstory here:

In 2007, Natasha and Chelsey Nelson were living in California and in the early stages of planning a self-serve frozen yogurt shop. But, then the phone rang and they learned their 56-year-old mother had just been diagnosed with a rare form of Parkinson's disease, a degenerative and terminal illness.

"When it hit us, it hit hard, but we already had one foot in the business," said Natasha Nelson. "We knew we had a great idea and our mom was our biggest supporter, but could we all emotionally handle it?" The sisters moved back to Tempe, Ariz., to join their dad in taking care of their mother, and that's when they decided the answer was: "Yes."

"But there were a lot of times we wanted to back out. We were even tossing a coin, at one point," Nelson said.

Be inspired. Read more about their success here.

Photo credit: FoxSmallBusinessCenter.com, (L-R) Chelsey and Natasha Nelson of Yogurtini

Different Spokes for Different Folks: Women

A very special ladies bike shop opens in New York. Graphic designer Julie Hirschfeld had a simple idea for Adeline Adeline: "No spandex!" In other words, no Lycra bike shorts just because you are on two wheels!

A little about Julie:

Adeline Adeline founder, Julie Hirschfeld started her career far away from bikes, first as a graphic designer for the television channel, VH1, and then as partner in the New York design firm, Stiletto NYC, where she worked on fashion branding and motion graphics projects with such diverse clients as New York Magazine, Conde Nast, MTV and Nike.

The store sells bikes (e.g., the Poppy shown above can be found in their Tribeca store) and other beautiful things such as polka-dot helmets and an oversize organic linen bag from Japan that crosses over the chest for easy riding.

Where did the name come from? Why Ms. Hirschfeld's grandmothers, of course, who had the same name.

Mosey on over at AdelineAdeline.com, 147 Reade Street (between Greenwich & Hudson Street), New York, NY, 10001, 212-227-1150.

From O.Y.O.B. to M.B.A.

I opened my business in 1985 and then realized early on that to do a really good job running it, I needed a higher level of education (process is everything). So into about year two, I began an M.B.A. program at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

What I remember most back then is not so much the course content or professors but the confidence and discipline I gained from the experience. After all, I was one of three women in a program of 30 students. What a ride it was but a good one indeed. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it exactly the same.

Fast forward to here and now. Forbes claims that an increasing number of women are heading to business school due to a weakened economy.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, women received 44% of M.B.A.s in 2007, up from 39% a decade earlier, which translates to a 75% increase in the last 10 years.

Why?

It's the flexibility of the degree that's appealing, says Deirdre Leopold, managing director of Harvard M.B.A. Admissions. "Women are using it not only for finance but also to work in nonprofits or open their own businesses."

You can O.Y.O.B. (open your own business) and then get an M.B.A. I'm living proof!

Read more here:

Why More Women Are Heading to Business School

Photo credit: Cafe Press

How to Bring a Lot of Attention to Yourself and Your Business

Apparently, and according to a good number of people, give bad advice.

You have to read this to experience a healthy eye-roll ... many readers were pretty perturbed:

The Terrible Career Advice Women Give Each Other
by Penelope Trunk (pictured).

All the more reason to create your own destiny. Follow your path. Go do it.

[Added 4/14/10 at 2:52 p.m. CDT: "The Great Career Advice I've Gotten From Women" by one of our favorite female entrepreneurs: Margaret Heffernan]

10 Ways to Transform Your Website

Through your website, are you serving your own interests or your customer's?

I've put together 10 ways to transform your web site into a dynamic two-way communication tool. Here's a snippet of the points:

1. Keep content current, accurate and relevant.

2. Express yourself but don’t give your life story on your Web site.

3. Spruce up your Web site so it looks beautiful and works beautifully, too.

4. See that every Web site page has a unique keyword message.

5. Focus on the needs of your visitors first, even if it’s before meeting the needs of your own organization.

6. Care about your customer in a way that is evident on your site!

7. Start a blog to share knowledge and reflect your personality.

8. Cater to a global audience.

9. Make your “contact” area so BIG that it hits visitors on the head like a hammer on a nail.

10. Breed visitor participation.

Read the entire article here.

One Woman's Career Revival After Two Decades Out of Pocket

Here's one of the world's longest running pieces about stay-at-home moms returning to work but there is one remark (you have to look carefully) touching on what this blog covers ... starting your own business:

If you do look at the costs against your project income alone, you may have a couple of break even years at the beginning, but those are an investment for the profitable years to come. Over time, your income will grow, either through raises and promotions, you do consulting work and then take a conventional full time job with one of your clients, or make money through an entrepreneurial venture.

Nice to see that someone thought of this idea in the course of a rigorous discussion about one woman's career revival and that it is a serious option for talented women who don't think it's worth returning to work as it was but rather as they want it to be for their new lifestyle.

Why just look at the face of this woman, Amy Beckett, riding the elevator (pictured above) to a job interview. Does she look happy? I should say not. But it appears she ended up taking a job at Passman & Kaplan.

Read the entire discussion related to the article here. Oooops, read the original article here.

Women Presidents' Organization

During these tough economic times, there are no better mentors than your peers. And one of my favorite global peer-to-peer advisory groups is the Women Presidents' Organization (full disclosure: I serve as the Chapter Chair for the WPO Chicago market).

The WPO is the elite global peer advisory organization connecting top women entrepreneurs who own multi-million dollar companies.

In monthly meetings across North America, Peru, the UK and South Africa, chapters composed of 20 accomplished women presidents, from diverse industries and backgrounds, invest their time and energy in themselves and their businesses to drive them to the next level.

Local WPO chapters are coordinated by a professional facilitator and meet monthly to share business expertise and experience in a confidential and collaborative setting. It's an ideal way to grow your operation and develop solutions to your most fundamental business challenges.

To inquire about membership and to find out if there is a chapter in your neighborhood, give WPO a ring at 212-688-4114 or visit their site at: www.womenpresidentsorg.com.

Task for the day? Drive a business breakthrough.

A Boatload of Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

Ever hear of the expression, "no excuses, just results?" Let's put it into play. SCORE has assembled a comprehensive list of useful websites to help women entrepreneurs succeed.

A snapshot of a few:

Alliance of Business Women International
ABWI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 to encourage and support businesswomen involved or interested in international trade opportunities.

American Business Women’s Association
ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)
AEO provide entrepreneurs with training and technical assistance, micro-loans, access to market services and training, and/or economic literacy and asset development services.

Association of Women's Business Centers (AWBC)
The AWBC supports entrepreneurship among women as a way to achieve economic self-sufficiency, create wealth and participate in economic development through education, training, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities.

Athena Foundation
The Athena Foundation pairs woman-owned businesses with a group of local mentors who serve as a panel of advisors. Advisors work with business owners for one year, free of charge.

Discover the other 37 here.

Photo credit

Do Women Start Businesses to Compliment a Lifestyle?

Although the following reference is posted at the Swazi Observer, there may be some truth to it as it relates to women business owners in America.

A study on what holds back women revealed that there is a false perception that banks have closed financing taps for small firms. In contrast, banks have come out to state that they see women as a really good credit risk, because very often they are starting businesses for survival and are careful about how they manage their finances.

A comment that was made anonymously to Mthunzi Maziya, the author of the post, said this:

“I think some women are simply not ambitious enough and don’t want to sacrifice family and children for financial independence. No wonder we are financially worse off than men.”

Read it and see if you agree or disagree. And if you feel strongly about it one way or the other, let us know! Find the entire post here.

Learn more about the Kingdom of Swaziland (women pictured are from Swaziland) here.

How to Make a Date to Innovate

As busy as we are running our companies, we still have to set aside time for our personal lives to ensure we nurture and cultivate the relationships that matter. But let me ask you this: Do you set aside time from your business to innovate?

Well this article I authored for the American Express OPEN Forum may help you with that. It begins with ...

Turn off your smart phone. Shut down your e-mail (or at least turn off the ping noise that sounds when you get a message). Put on something comfy. Squirrel yourself away with your laptop in tow where nobody, I mean nobody, can disturb you, because this is your time to make a date to innovate. This is my fourth installment on innovation.

Read the entire article: Make a Date to Innovate

What do you do to inspire innovation at your firm?

Flower Power Collage by Preschoolers for Auction

It's never too early to show your creativity and these young people from Mrs. Nicholson's TBPK Class, Room 006, "Flower Power," are doing an amazing job with just that.

"Flower Power" Description

Materials/ Description of Process: tempera paints and craypas. Ms. Nicholson's preschoolers at Audubon Elementary school created a stunning 20" x 20" flower collage (shown above).

Each preschooler (shown above) first painted a flower petal. After the petal dried, the children colored on top with the craypas. Beautiful and vibrant flower petals resulted. The flower's seeded center is filled with small photos of each child's smiling face!

Parent Volunteers: Laura and Jonathan Fairman

So, my fellow creative artists, aspiring women entrepreneurs and business owners, take a pause, check it out and make a bid. You'll do your good deed for the day.

Ms. Nicholson's TBPK Class, Room 006 FLOWER POWER

Note: Flower Power is available for viewing in person at Starbucks on Roscoe (and Seeley) Chicago, Illinois until March 31. Bid binders are located on the fireplace. The show is also a fundraiser for Audubon Elementary School.

Photo credit: here.

Is the Economy Improving?

According to a whole lot of women business owners, the slumping economy will begin to turn around soon.

One report, released late last month by the National Association of Women Business Owners, said 61 percent of the women business owners surveyed said the economy is improving, and will be better at the end of 2010 than at the year’s start. That is up from 54 percent in 2009 and 26 percent in 2008.

Another poll, late last year by the Center for Women’s Business Research, said 54 percent of women business owners surveyed think the economy is improving.

In Aurora — where the percentage of women-owned businesses outpaces the national average — women business owners say they, too, think the economy will improve steadily in 2010.

What's your gut feeling? What are you experiencing? Is the economy prohibiting you from starting a business? Read more here.

We're Not Looking for a Handout; We're Looking for a Helping Hand

What's the difference between looking for charity (handout) and a business loan (legitimate helping hand)?

Veronica James (pictured) stood on a cold street in downtown Nashville, begging for money. But it’s not quite what you might think.

With a sign hanging from her neck that reads "Will Work for Business Loan," and flurries of snow blowing through the air, the 40-year-old Nashville designer hoped this morning to secure a business loan, or at least raise awareness about the difficulties of getting money in the poor economy.

“I figure I can get my story told out here,” she said, standing at the corner of Fifth Avenue North and Church Street.

Find out where this goes here.

Photo credit: Brian Reisinger, Nashville Business Journal

Significant Workplace Inequality Still Exists

And guess what that means? More women will be starting businesses than ever before, especially when encouraged to become an entrepreneur at an earlier age.

According to breaking news over at New Brunswick, Canada:

From the public school system to municipal, provincial and federal politics, steps must be taken to create the equality of access to which women are entitled. It may be "a free country," as far as the law is concerned, but people tend not to choose professions in which they see few role models, or where the prevailing culture feels unwelcome. This is where intervention can make a big difference.

The drive to encourage women to become business owners and corporate managers should be part of a general move to teach children entrepreneurial skills (as pictured) and financial literacy. By high school ...

Read more here.

What Do The Snooty Fox and Conductive Learning Center Have In Common?

They are both run by Donna Speigel (pictured), a talented and compassionate entrepreneur. Background coverage here.

The Snooty Fox, a chain of upscale consignment shops in the greater Cincinnati area.

The Conductive Learning Center, benefits children with Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida and other motor challenges. Donna is founder and Executive Director of the center which opened three years ago.

Catch her interview March 1, 2010 on the World News with Diane Sawyer here and learn how her love, entrepreneurial drive and dedication has led to all this amazing work.

Congratulations Donna. We are very proud of you and your accomplishments!

Motivation for Starting a Business? No Job Search Callbacks

Inspiration is overflowing in this article. Cinde Dolphin (pictured) was a marketing manager for Coors for 24 years and took a buyout. She relaxed on the beaches of New Zealand, went whitewater rafting on the Yampa River in Colorado and saw friends and Broadway shows in New York.

But ... after a few months ... guess what? Cinde got a little bored.

So at age 55, she began applying for marketing jobs, confident she would be quickly hired because of her Coors pedigree. “About four months into my job search, I realized I wasn’t getting many callbacks,” she said.

So she started a public relations firm that helps winemakers like Story Winery in California.

You must read the full story here.

Photo credit: Jim Wilson, The New York Times

Women Entrepreneurs Know How to Lead

Collaboration, team-building, leading by example and inclusiveness are becoming increasingly important as companies break down silos and remove layers of management.

There's still a huge gap that most organizations still face when it comes to putting women in senior leadership roles. Women head up fewer than 3% of the Fortune 1,000 companies. This has caused a lot of women to leave corporate America to start their own businesses.

Read more here at:

Women Leaders: The Hard Truth About Soft Skills

Snippet from the article:

"The outstanding women," Fontaine notes, "used a better blend of what we think of as traditional masculine styles—being directive, authoritative, and leading by example and as well as feminine ones. They also knew when to be more nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative."

More, More, More

"How you like it, how you like it!" More.com is currently featuring information that might be helpful to you and your existing or soon-to-be business during these tough economic times.

Whether you have a business, want to start a business, need help updating your job hunting skills, or want recommendations for job hunting websites, you will find all of this and More(.com) here.

Check out this creative sample piece here:

“I Launched My Business from the Ladies Room."

Shhhhhh ... I'm not sure if I caught this correctly but when I visited site I saw one year for $0! And, the "More, more, more" reference above comes from Andrea True Connection.

Eva Longoria Parker: Hardly Just An Actress

What do you think of when you see the name Eva Logoria Parker (pictured)? I immediately think of Gabrielle Solis on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, one of the craziest and sauciest characters in a show full of them.

But did you know?

Using Housewives as her foundation, Longoria Parker, 34, has leveraged her notoriety and growing wealth in areas well outside the acting realm, becoming a legitimate businesswoman and philanthropist and positioning herself to become the equivalent of the CEO of a multi-industry conglomerate. She’s started a production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, to develop projects. She co-owns Beso, a 150-seat Hollywood restaurant that includes some of her own recipes on the menu (try the tortilla soup), and just opened a second lo-cation in Las Vegas along with a nightclub called Eve.

She is also part of The GreenVille Project, a real estate development initiative dedicated to building environ-mentally neutral retail spaces. She’s working on a fragrance. She’s a spokesperson for L’Oreal, Pepsi and Heineken Light. She has also founded Eva’s Heroes, a charity that provides an after-school program for children with developmental disabilities and support for their families. Longoria Parker is also national spokes-person for PADRES Contra El Cáncer, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of Latino children with cancer.

Enough said about her entrepreneurial drive. Read more here.