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Beginning to Meditate by @LUCYrk78

May 26, 2016 by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan Leave a Comment

by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan | Featured Contributor

How do you feel about meditation? I’ll start: for me, it was very hard to get into. Things are generally harder the more you think about them, as opposed to just jumping in and starting them, and that’s how it was for me with meditation. I thought, “I can’t sit quietly for that long,” “I am not sure I want to get that deep into my head,” and “I’m a little scared of it, honestly.” And while it’s easy to begin something once you decide to, sticking with it is another story. They say it takes 30 days of doing something for it to become more natural, almost a habit.

So how do you start? I have found that meditation is more than simply signing up at your local studio. That is one way, certainly, to keep accountability – if you are like me, you are more likely to do something day after day if you know you’ve spent money to attend a class, but what if you don’t have time to get a studio each day? Or what if there just isn’t one you’ve “clicked with” nearby?

Here are some of the steps that have worked for me, bringing me from a meditation skeptic, to someone that craves that time in each day.

Live For Today
- Don’t look 30 days out. Take it day by day. Just for today tell yourself, “I am going to meditate today.” Telling yourself “just for today” you are going to do something, relieves a bit of the pressure. I chose 9 pm, so on day 1 I told myself, “Today at 9 pm, I am going to meditate.” I set the alarm on my phone to go off at 8:55pm, because I felt that was a bit of accountability – when the alarm goes off, that was my reminder.

Start Small
- On your first day of meditation, you don’t have to sit there for 15 minutes. I told myself that I would set my alarm again on my phone for 9:05pm. Honestly, you can do almost anything you can think of for “just five minutes.” I knew that I would see how I felt after those five minutes, and adjust my time goal for Day 2. If those first five minutes felt more like 30, I would aim for 3 minutes the second night. If those five minutes flew by, I would aim for 7 minutes on day 2.

Find a Comfortable Spot
- Find somewhere you feel calm that you can sit quietly with no distractions. You might want to light a candle near you that has a scent you find pleasing. You mainly want to find somewhere that you feel safe and at peace, and where you can just be. This place will be somewhere you go every day for your meditation time, so you want it to be a stable environment.

Don’t Make It A Chore
- While I did put an alarm on my phone to set myself up for Day 1, I didn’t add “meditate” to my calendar or to-do list. I wanted to do this to get more in touch with myself and my feelings, and to begin to center myself with an increasing work-load and a bit of stress I had been feeling. We would advise not to start meditating because you’re reading more about it in blogs that come out each day, or because “everyone else is doing it,” or because “it’s in lately.” We think those reasons won’t keep you interested in meditation for very long, and you most likely won’t get as much out of it as you probably can. Maybe it’s not the right time for you to start a meditation practice – that’s fine. It isn’t going anywhere.

Breathe
- The easiest way that I found to begin, was to breathe in and out and focus on my breathing. I found that to be centering and a way to begin to quiet my mind. If I was focused, I wasn’t thinking about feeling uncomfortable with the idea of meditation, or worrying if I was somehow doing it wrong. There are many apps you can also use to help guide you through breathing if you find that easier. After a few days of meditating daily, I found that occasionally strong emotions would come up while I was sitting – going back to focusing on my breathing helped get through those feelings at times I wasn’t feeling ready to deal with the issues. After my first 30 days of meditating, I learned I COULD sit quietly, and I even began looking forward to the time in my day that I knew I was going to be sitting by myself with my thoughts, and not having to worry about what was next, or what work was like that day. It was my time to be with me, and enjoy my own company. I also found that during my day, I was able to let things that prior to starting to meditate would bother me much more deeply than they began to. I found times during throughout the day that I would be calming myself and becoming more centered without even thinking about it.

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Lucy Rendler-Kaplan is a marketing veteran, with close to 17 years experience in field marketing management public relations and social media marketing. Both in-house and as a consultant, Lucy has created, developed and managed marketing projects for organizations including: Red Bull North America, ONE Coconut Water, Camel and Ethos Water, to name a few.

Most recently, Lucy has left corporate America to work as a consultant, focusing on small businesses and start-ups to design effective social media and marketing strategies to jumpstart brand growth. In addition to strategic business development efforts, she directs media relations, branding, advertising and website development.

As a social media consultant, Lucy works with companies in auditing their current social media efforts and creating a comprehensive social media strategy that aligns company-wide objectives through social business practices.

With an early background in journalism, Lucy regularly contributes to a number of NFL and music blogs, as well as her own, with a diverse focus encompassing Lucy’s passion not only for networking and marketing but also for fitness. She spends her free time honing her photography skills, running and watching an excessive amount of true crime shows.

Let’s connect! Twitter & Linkedin

Lucy Rendler-Kaplan

Lucy is the founder of Arkay Marketing & PR. A writer from an early age (who could forget the 88 page “Bears” novel from an outspoken 3 year old?!) she’s excited to be writing for She Owns It and loves the feeling of camaraderie and empowerment of the group. When she’s not staying in and writing marketing plans or celebrating wins with clients, she can be found taking selfies with her 15 year old mutt, Desi.

arkaymarketing.com

Stop Chasing Balance. What Are Your Priorities? by @bytracyj

May 16, 2016 by Tracy Jensen 1 Comment

What are your key priorities for career and home?

by Tracy Jensen | Featured Contributor

When I got divorced a few years ago, going back to work, which was something I’d always wanted theoretically became a critical reality.

At the time, starting my own business was nowhere in my mind. I had enjoyed my career prior to having kids and figured with a few tweaks, I would jump back in where I had left off.

That was not quite as easy as I expected, particularly when responsible for every daycare drop-off and pick-up. After several jobs in-house, I was both overwhelmingly stressed out and unfulfilled. I stepped back to reassess what my real goals were in my new career universe – as a single mom whose decisions impacted two young kids.

I needed:

· to support our family

· to be challenged intellectually

· a positive and family-friendly environment

· be accessible to my kids

· not trade income dollars directly for child care fees

That’s a tall order, but the more I look around, the more I see women and men creating their own work lives versus having one handed to them.

I started Frizz Marketing, working from home. Frizz looks a lot different than it did fourteen months ago , as does my workday. I now split my time, spending half of my week in-house as Marketing Director for a local business group. The other half of the time, I focus on all things Frizz.

Checking in with my goals, I am on track. I have a consistent salary base in addition to being able to build my business revenue. I am learning new things every day and still get to work on a variety of projects I enjoy. My office colleagues and my Frizz clients are positive and motivating. I have set onsite office hours, but I have the flexibility to do Frizz work around the rest of my schedule, reducing the need for childcare.

I am accomplishing exactly what I need to. I can promise you: It is hard. Right now as the busiest part of the school year wraps up, it means I generally work at night from 8:30 as long as I can keep my eyes open. This morning, I was up at 4 a.m. to get some work and cleaning done. I worked my way through most of Mother’s Day and my workouts, for the time being, are nonexistent.

It can be daunting, but that passes. It means that I get to be there for my kids every day, at the school drop-off and pick-up. Every once in a while, I can pull off a function during the school day. I help with homework, go to their sports practices, eat with them and sometimes even manage a few games of Uno.

Nothing is what I initially expected. My business has evolved, as have my expectations. Things will continue to change. This summer, I’ll get to work earlier to make sure we can still do late afternoon bike rides. In the fall, when my kids are both at the same school for the first time, I will adjust my schedule some more.

For those of you who are trying to find your own way of blending life alongside building a business, with or without kids, here is what I’ve learned:

· Most importantly, don’t feel bound by prescribed goals. Consider your own priorities.

· Be open to letting your business evolve and adjust your expectations.

· Remember it may not look how you expect – and that’s okay.

I would love to hear from you: What is your business story? How did you start, and what has changed?

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Tracy Jensen is Founder and CEO of Frizz Marketing, a Chicago-based marketing firm. Tracy has over 15 years of experience in communications, branding and community outreach. Through Frizz, her focus is helping small businesses and nonprofits extract their central identity and voice, cultivating compelling and authentic content. Her specialties are strategy, email marketing and content creation.

Equally content in front of a group as she is typing from her home office, Tracy has spoken on a variety of topics from social media to fundraising tactics. As a writer, she has contributed to a range of platforms, including BlogHer, EverydayFamily, Mamalode, Scary Mommy, and BonBon Break.

A single mother to two, Tracy believes the only limitations to success are the voices within our own heads. When in doubt, fresh air, a good cup of coffee and a book can cure just about anything.

Tracy loves talking with other entrepreneurs. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tracy Jensen

10 Tips for Silencing Your Inner Critic by @LUCYrk78

April 21, 2016 by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan Leave a Comment

by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan | Featured Contributor

We all have it. That little inner voice that creeps up in the most inopportune times. The one that tells us not to ask for the promotion, that we aren’t good enough, that we shouldn’t accept that date….the list can go on and on. Sometimes it speaks to us loudly and sometimes it is simply a quiet nag throughout our day. It can last for a minute, an hour or a week. Maybe even longer. At times, we didn’t even want to get out of bed, what’s the point?

Then, one day we learned we can talk back. We learned weccan tell that voice that we ARE good enough to go after what we want.

Here are a few tips that I hope will help:

Start a journal: write down what you were doing each time you began to hear that voice and look for patterns. Learn to recognize that critic for what it is. Next to that list, write down something you did that day that you felt proud once you accomplished it. Look through those proud moments when your inner critic begins to creep in.
Look in the mirror: look at your reflection and tell yourself ONE good thing about what you see. If you can, keep going! Don’t stop at one. If you can only muster one positive attribute, be happy you recognized the good.
Place a post-it on your mirror: It can be anything positive, the one on mine says “I am Grateful.” Make sure it’s a mirror you will look into each day, perhaps while you’re brushing your teeth.
Add a positive to a photo: find a photo of yourself looking happy, a photo you have always liked an use an app that can place a positive self-affirmation or quote over the photo.
Make a list of your closest friends: for each person, write a couple of sentences about each person on why you are friends, why you like them so much. It is said that we are a product of our five closest friends, so the positive attributes you see in them are most likely also seen in YOU.
Think about 10 years from now: when something seems hard or I’m feeling down about something small I may have done wrong, I like to remind myself, “Will this REALLY matter 10 years from now?” Remember a test you failed miserably in high school, and thought it would ruin your life, having done so poorly on it? No? Of course you don’t.
Reframe negative thoughts: put a positive ending on each one. You made a mistake yes, but what did you learn from it?
Phone a friend: the best way to stop obsessing over your own shortcomings is to get outside yourself. Call a friend and inquire about their day, get THEM talking and truly listen.
Cut yourself some slack: are you trying to do much? Are you rushing through things because the to-do list seems overwhelming? Move some of the day’s tasks to three days from now. The earth won’t stop turning.
Put it in perspective: ok, you made a mistake. While your screw up may feel like the end of the world to you, think of how many people truly don’t care? How many don’t even know about it and never will? We are just a small part of a much larger world – teach that inner critic some perspective.

You CAN break this cycle. And you CAN start right now. Let me know in the comments some of the tips that have helped YOU when the inner critic gets too loud.

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Let’s connect! Twitter & Linkedin

Lucy Rendler-Kaplan

arkaymarketing.com

Here’s What No One Tells You About Work Life Balance by @valjonescoach

March 15, 2016 by Valerie Jones 5 Comments

by Valerie Jones | Featured Contributor

“Take care of yourself. When you don’t sleep, eat crap, don’t exercise, and are living off adrenaline for too long, your performance suffers. Your decisions suffer. Your company suffers. Love those close to you: Failure in your company is not failure in life. Failure in your relationships is.” -Ev Williams, co-founder of Medium and Twitter

Work Life Balance.

It’s a buzzword these days. A mantra. An elusive ideal that we all want to achieve. The nirvana of life, where everything magically falls into place, and we experience the ultimate bliss of having perfect balance in every area. We spend the proper amount of time at work and our business is thriving. We have quality time with our family and friends. We exercise regularly, eat healthy, and meditate daily. Everything is ticking along as it should, and we are happy!

And guess what?

It’s bullshit.

It sounds good though, right? Work Life Balance. We should all want that. It’s the holy grail of modern life. What’s wrong with wanting balance in our lives? Isn’t that what will bring us peace and happiness?

Nope. Here’s why.

It holds up a standard of perfection that is unrealistic. It is a subtle yet powerful message that constantly reminds us that we are not quite measuring up. We haven’t yet gotten it right. Falling short. Failing. Not good enough.

This ideal will keep you in a place of perpetual discontentment and constant frustration. It will drive you to make decisions from a place of ‘not good enough.’ And when you make decisions from that place, it doesn’t line up with your truth, and therefore isn’t going to satisfy you. Rather, it can build resentment, anger, and regret, which will keep you from being present.

Think of it this way. You have been working on a big project and busting your butt to meet a deadline. You know that your workdays are long right now, and you are feeling guilty about it. You see the messy house. Your kids are whining and grumpy because you’re not available. Your husband is whining and grumpy because he’s eating yet another frozen dinner. Your mom calls again, and again you send it to voice mail. You can feel the tension mounting, and every hour you spend at your desk, your guilt increases. The voices in your head are screaming at you:

“What are you doing? You’re neglecting your family. Your children are growing up without you. Your husband is going to leave you, and you are a terrible daughter! What kind of life is this? Slaving away at your desk, day after day? Where’s the balance? You’re a failure!”

So you listen to this voice and set aside the project. You immerse yourself in your family, driving the kids to soccer, making home cooked meals, cleaning the bathrooms. You feel great! The kids are happy, hubby is happy. You had a long lunch with Mom and she’s happy. The house is sparkling. You’re a rock star!

Then you walk by the office and glance at your desk. See the pile of papers you were supposed to have dealt with yesterday. Work is piling up. The project is still waiting, and the deadline is looming. You are flooded with guilt. Anxiety and panic sets in, and a cold sweat breaks out on your forehead. The voices start up again:

“What the hell are you doing? You can’t just ignore the work. It’s piling up, and you won’t ever catch up now! You’re such a slacker. You’re business is going to fail. Oh, but your house will be clean! You are irresponsible and lazy! Get back to work!”

Sound familiar?

This is the Work Life Balance crazy train. It’s the guilt trip of all guilt trips. It will keep you running in circles, trying to create ‘balance,’ yet always falling short and always failing. You end up stressed out, burnt out, unhappy, feeling like a failure, and every area of your life suffers. You never catch up, never relax, and never feel like you are enough.

It’s time to get off the crazy train!

What’s the truth?

The truth is, life is messy. Life is never fully in balance, because life is not perfect. You are not perfect. And so, sometimes we are out of balance in areas.

And it’s okay.

It’s okay to not have balance.

It’s okay to give more in certain areas of your life at certain times, because that’s what life is all about. Seasons. There are times when one area of life requires more attention than others. It just happens. And it’s okay.

Perhaps you just had a baby. You need to be home and focused on this new little life that requires a lot of attention. You take some time off work. It’s not the end of the world! For a little while, work might suffer. But you are spending time with your baby, because that’s what your heart wants right now. Enjoy it!

Perhaps you are launching a business. You need to focus on it, work hard, and put in the hours to get it off the ground. It requires a great deal of your time and energy. Meanwhile, the kids don’t see much of you, your husband is lonely, and your friends are wondering if you dropped off the planet. It’s okay! They will all survive, and you are doing what you need to be doing, and focusing on what your heart wants right now. Enjoy it!

Do you see what I said there? “What your heart wants.” That’s really the key to everything. Forget about balance. Listen to your heart. Your heart will tell you what’s right, every time. Those voices in your head? All lies, designed to keep you trapped in guilt and fear. Turn the volume down on the voices, and turn the volume up on your heart.

When you are feeling stressed about being out of balance, check in with your heart. What’s it saying right now? Maybe your heart is telling you to walk away from the computer and take a walk, or make some soup, or play with your kids for fifteen minutes. Do it.

Maybe your heart is telling you to get that project done, and leave the laundry, call a sitter, or ask hubby to cook dinner. Do it.

When you listen to your heart, you will feel good about your choice, whatever it is. You will be able to be present in the moment and fully engage in whatever you are doing, because you will know it’s right. You won’t be resentful, or angry, or feeling like you should be somewhere else doing something else. You can embrace the moment, knowing that it is right.

It’s okay to not have balance.

Sometimes we are a rock star in one area of our lives, and sucking in another area.

It’s okay.

Life is uneven.

Let go of needing Work Life Balance. Embrace the uneven. Accept that you can’t be all things to all people. Forgive yourself when you fail. Listen to your heart, and do what it’s calling you to do, in that moment. And when you do, show up with all your heart, and give all you have. Love fiercely, work diligently, and above all, have great compassion with yourself. You are awesome and a gift to this planet. Your uneven, messy, imperfect life is exactly what it’s designed to be, so stop fighting it and embrace it!

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Valerie Jones is a Life & Transition Coach. She is passionate about helping women create the lives they’ve always wanted – not the lives they think they ‘should’ be living, but a genuine, authentic life that is a full expression of their birthright. She brings humour, compassion and wisdom to her coaching and to her writing, and creates a safe space for others to express their truth. She is also a corporate coach, working with the United Nations and eBay. She lives in British Columbia, Canada, and has three amazing children who are bridging into adulthood, which is a whole new ball game as a parent. Valerie loves good red wine and travelling whenever and wherever the opportunity arises.

You can connect with Valerie on social media here: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Valerie Jones

The Key to Career/Motherhood Balance? by @ENAMOURstyle

October 28, 2015 by June Cruz 2 Comments

by June Cruz | Featured Contributor

This is exactly the type of article I would have clicked on a year and a half ago, while six months pregnant, trying to figure out how I was going to balance a newborn baby and a burgeoning fashion career. As I was excited to welcome our baby girl into the world, I was also realizing that as a person I still had a passion for my career and I was excited about the course it was taking and I still wanted to be actively pursuing my dream while being a new mother. I wanted to be successful in my career while still being successful as a mother. As long as I can remember and for as many women as I’ve known, before tackling this subject for myself, this question of career/motherhood balance has always been a struggle.

The struggle and questioning of: Can you have the successes in your career and the thing you are passionate about and still have the same success as a mother? After reading multiple blogs and articles on this very subject and seeing these questions and the subject of “mom guilt” addressed over and over, I decided to ask successful mothers and career women their opinions about the balance.

Each woman had their own take on the balance and how they “mastered” the conflict in their own lives.

The first woman was in Corporate America and her advice:

Hire a Nanny or Find a Great Day Care

Entrusting someone with an extensive background in childcare and with the interest in taking care of your child during the time you are away allows for a bit of ease in helping with the balance. Although this advice was helpful and the idea was one I wanted to explore in the future, childcare services are quite pricey and I couldn’t afford a nanny or day care at the time I spoke with her.

So I spoke to a professional who hadn’t used early child care next. She had recently retired from 37 years of running her own company and her advice:

Begin When Your Children are School Age

Starting a business when your children are in school allows for an automatic allotment of time for you to have free to work on growing your business. As your business grows and your children get older it allows more freedom for travel and to attend work related events. Her advice gave me something to look forward to, but the truth of my situation was, I had begun the business before my daughter was born, so waiting for her to go to school meant a five year hiatus I didn’t want to take.

I decided to ask an entrepreneurial mother who had been in business for multiple years and was about to have her first child; and her advice:

Scale Back and Delegate:

Look at the scope of your business plans for the coming year. If your business could only have your undivided attention 50-75% of the time what portions of your plans for the year would need to be eliminated or brought down to a smaller scale? Does this mean waiting 6 months for new clients/partnerships? Participating in fewer shows and events? Next figure out which areas of your business could be delegated to someone else to do. Could you hire someone part-time, look for a virtual assistant, work on a barter system, or even find a great intern? I liked this advice for myself and definitely implemented many of her ideas into my current business plans, but I was interested in hearing from the professional mother who I spoke to last.

The last mother I asked was an entrepreneur who had a nice analogy of how she viewed the motherhood/career balance because she felt she had never mastered the balance as much as it became a natural part of her life:

Prioritize and Plan:

Look at your calendar of events for the month and decide what events are most important both professionally and personally, then plan accordingly. She felt being a mother and entrepreneur was like juggling. If you juggle three balls there will always be one ball in the air and two in your hand. The ball in the air has sometime and doesn’t need your immediate attention, but the two in your hand need the attention. She felt that is how her career and personal life balanced. Sometimes she gave her children more attention and sometimes her career.

After speaking with all of the professional mothers I admired each of their solutions and how they made their career/motherhood balance work for them. What I learned most from speaking to each woman is that there is NO KEY to the balance. We all have to find the methods and services that suit our lives/businesses and our children’s needs best.

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June Cruz is a mom to an active toddler and the Founder and designer of ENAMOUR. ENAMOUR is a women’s clothing line featuring designs for the transitions of a day, creating beautifully comfortable clothing for women to feel confident at work or home.

When June isn’t in the design studio she enjoys family outings to local Cape Cod events and beaches as well as long road trips to warm destinations. She is a music and movie lover and finds inspiration in both. After becoming a mom, fitness and healthy living has become more of a focus in June’s life, so smoothies, sugar/cream-free coffee and running goals are all a part of her weekly routines.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

June Cruz

Choosing Your Path by @ArtsyShark

October 12, 2015 by Carolyn Edlund 4 Comments

by Carolyn Edlund/Featured Contributor

My husband and I recently had dinner with several retired couples that we know, and the subject of work came up. It turned out that each person at that dinner had a similar story. They put in long years working at a large company, or for the government. During those years, they built up their retirement accounts and accumulated stock. Then they each took early retirement in their mid-fifties, and got out. One or two of them were able to say that their pension paid them up to 80% of their salary for life.

For each of them, work was a means to an end. They were happy to leave their jobs, move to the beach and live as they pleased. It’s not uncommon to take this path in a working life; how many people do you know who have chosen it?

As an entrepreneur, I knew I was an entirely different animal than my dining companions. I have no plans to retire. Working is a pleasure, and each morning I wake up excited about the day ahead. There are challenges and frustrations, but an amazing amount of satisfaction too. It’s been an incredible privilege to have been self-employed for most of my adult life – a difficult path at times, but the one that I chose. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it any differently.

There are absolutely benefits to being self-employed, and trade-offs as well. I didn’t have to wait for retirement to move to the beach. As entrepreneurs, my husband and I can live anywhere, so we picked a location and a lifestyle that made us happy, and simply moved. And although I have lots of work to accomplish, each day is my own to plan.

I don’t have a pension, or company stock, though. And no one is going to pay me 80% of salary for the rest of my life. The choice to own my own business meant that I could “live as I please” during my working life, rather than putting my nose to the grindstone for someone else and waiting until later in life to take advantage.

If you are an entrepreneur, or want to become one, you will likely relate to my story. Many of my clients are self-employed too, with a strong desire to determine their own outcome during their working years, doing what they find to be creative and stimulating and rewarding. They may be on a roller coaster at times, and it isn’t always easy, but it’s also never boring.

In each these scenarios, working towards retirement or becoming self-employed, there is a common theme: to be able to live life on one’s own terms. Neither is right or wrong. They are simply different paths. Which one did you choose, and why?

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Carolyn Graham Edlund founded a production ceramic studio in the early 1980’s and sold her work at retail and wholesale through stores and galleries for more than 20 years. Subsequently, she represented art publishing companies to the trade as an outside rep. In 2009, she became an art blogger and founder of Artsy Shark, named on of the “Top Ten Art Blogs” by Art Business News. She is also the Executive Director of the Arts Business Institute, and speaks at art conferences and workshop events around the country.

She invites you to connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Carolyn Edlund

Georgia Legislators Ignore FDA and Approve Cannabis Oil by @1000Girlfriends

April 16, 2015 by Kathy Scott 1 Comment

by Kathy Scott | Featured Contributor

As a mom, I wonder sometimes about how much I need to own it on various issues affecting my teen, especially as it relates to marijuana. With the marketing of “medical” marijuana in my home state of Georgia, I’m put at a disadvantage because I know that she’s getting word that weed is harmless. Some of that information is coming directly from our own legislators.

In March, the Georgia Legislature passed HB 1, a bill titled “Haleigh’s Hope Act,” which makes it legal for “ physicians, acupuncture, physician assistants, cancer and glaucoma treatment, respiratory care, clinical perfusionists, and orthotics and prosthetics practice, so as to change certain provisions relating to the use of marijuana for treatment of cancer and glaucoma; to provide for regulated medicinal use of cannabis and derivatives thereof to treat certain conditions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.”

Did that just say “acupuncture…clinical perfusionists and orthotics?” First of all, a clinical perfusionist is a medical professional who runs the heart-lung machine during cardiac surgery. I know because my father died during heart surgery and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want the guy running the machine taking a dose of “medicinal cannabis.” I know, it’s supposed to be for the patient, but as I review the diseases covered in HB1, I don’t see anything that relates to a perfusionist. What about orthotics or acupuncture? I’m not a medical doctor, but then again, I’m pretty sure neither are all the members who drafted HB1. And here’s the weird part – our Georgia Legislature has approved a drug to be used for the treatment of the following diseases: Cancer, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Seizure disorders related to diagnosis of epilepsy or trauma related head injuries, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Mitochondrial disease; Parkinson’s disease, and Sickle cell disease, against the advice of our own FDA.

How is it that the Georgia Legislature can assign cannabis oil to treat these diseases when the FDA has not? To listen to parents who were pushing for HB1, you would think they had some scientific backing that promotes the use of the drug based on clinical trials. Nope.

Kelli Kirkley Hopkins has a child that she desperately wants to save from the pain of seizures. I get it, but as I read her blog – nomatterwhathappens-kelli.blogspot.com – I’m not reading anything that gives me any inclination that cannabis oil is the miracle drug she proposes. She posts on December 9^th that her daughter had been on the drug for seven days. Here’s day four:

Day 4 was a horrible day. She had 3 seizures lasting 50, 22 & 32 minutes. She had to have rescue meds to get them stopped. Deep breath here because I was unsure what was up. Michala typically has increased seizures with the full moon, rain and cloudy days. It was almost a full moon and a big storm was coming over the Rockies.

Then on December 24:

Yesterday was hard day for Michala. She had two bad seizures. One early in the morning and the next while we were out and about. So thankful Mike was there for them. He continues to be my rock. This morning she has already had two really bad hard seizures. It’s time for an increase in her cannabis oil. Please be in prayer with us as we increase her dose this morning.

On Jan. 9, 2015

We adjusted Michala’s cannabis oil recently to see how it would help. With the other formula she was still having wonderful cognitive improvements, better seizure control but still some break through seizures. Right now we are seeing some frustration and agitation as her body is adjusting to something new. Not at all unusual for her or with any type of medication change. We have gone back to a lower dose to see how her body responds. She still has plenty of room for adjustment if needed. We are hoping to see more and more improvement with this in the next few days as her body adjust and the medicine gets in her system.

Is cannabis oil causing the seizures to become worse? The children using it already have seizures so it’s tough to separate the results. What I do know is that 50 miles away from the Georgia State Capitol’s debate in March, an exchange student ingested a chocolate bar with THC and had a seizure. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

For its part, the FDA is adamant about its stance on the drug: “The FDA has not approved marijuana as a safe and effective drug for any indication.”

To understand what the Georgia Legislature has done, consider LiveScience.com’s reference to today’s THC, “The intoxicating chemical in marijuana is tetrahydracannabinol, or THC. According to research from the Potency Monitoring Project, the average THC content of marijuana has soared from less than 1 percent in 1972, to 3 to 4 percent in the 1990s, to nearly 13 percent today.”

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that long-term marijuana use can lead to addition, “Over time, overstimulation of the endocannabinoid system by marijuana use can cause changes in the brain that lead to addiction, a condition in which a person cannot stop using a drug even though it interferes with many aspects of his or her life,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

I will let you decide whether cannabis is harmful. It seems like public opinion is driving it anyway, but from a logical standpoint, I see it as no different as any other substance that affects the brain. I’m just trying to understand how America got to this point and what the representatives in my home state of Georgia were thinking.

You decide. Own it for your kids and when you do, ask them what they think about “medical” marijuana. I think you’ll be shocked at what you hear including the belief that it cures cancer.

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Me and My 1000 Girlfriends, That’s Who!
Women’s Party of America brand

Kathy Scott launched Me and My 1000 Girlfriends, That’s Who! in 2011 as a Facebook community of women poised to assist each other when asked to create and distribute emails, phone calls or letters. City council members, senators and governors were recipients of communication including Florida politicians interested in creating controversial 2011 Teacher Merit Pay Legislation, which planned to tie teacher salaries to students’ grades. The move would have hurt some underperforming low income areas where many teachers most wanted to teach, but would be unable to do so with the low pay rate. The legislation was hotly debated with 1000 Girlfriends doing their best to communicate to legislators. The law was later vetoed by Governor Crist.

Scott can be heard every Wednesday evening at 7pm ET at the Women on the Move Blog Talk Radio program. She recently launched her clothing and premium design – Women’s Party of America available on her Website under the Shop tab. Her success mantra is: Failure is not an option. Connect with 1000 Girlfriends on Twitter and at Facebook.

Kathy Scott

meandmy1000girlfriends.com/

Quick Guide: How To Make Life Easier With Negotiation by @DevonMSmiley

March 21, 2015 by Devon Smiley Leave a Comment

by Devon Smiley | Featured Contributor

We’re busy bees.

More and more, blending our personal and professional lives is unavoidable. And with so much to juggle, how can we optimize each of them…without sacrificing the other?

Not long ago, I was focused on keeping a solid wall between my personal and professional lives. Work Devon and Home Devon were at odds with one another.

Every decision I made seemed like a zero-sum game: If I devoted time to my work, something had to give at home. And if I made a change for the better personally, that surely meant I would be dropping the ball in my work.

It’s not a pleasant way to live, forcing the two sides of your life into competition with one another.

But here’s the thing: they don’t have to be in competition – they can be complementary.

Shifting the focus to uncovering ways that I can adjust one element in my life to support another has been key in dropping my stress levels and creating more success both at home and at work – and it’s possible for you as well. Here’s how.

1. Create flexible hours at work.

Nothing bumps up the stress levels like trying to juggle the schedules of work and life. Racing from home, to day care, to school, and to the office each morning (and then again in the afternoon) can be draining. If your clients are accustomed to booking sessions with you at any time they wish, make a move to improve your life by injecting flexibility into those schedules. For example, if you have the morning drop-off at school, request that meetings be scheduled from 10am onwards, rather than kicking off at 8am. If a client session bumps you into rush-hour traffic, negotiate to find another time that works well for both you and them.

2. Ask for help from your partner or family.

There are some weeks where, despite my best-laid plans, I end up with a handful of projects coming due all at once. It’s going to be hectic, and I know that I won’t be able to get it all done and still get dinner on the table – so I ask for help. When you have a particularly hectic week coming up, ask for help with picking the kids up, getting the groceries done, or dealing with the bedtime routine. It may happen a few times a year that you’re in major crunch mode, and that’s tough enough as it is… don’t be too stubborn, or proud, or worried that you need to be super woman – to ask for help. Your benefit? Lower guilt at home, and better results at work. A win-win.

3. Negotiate to lower your expenses.

The key here is to negotiate to lower your expenses on some items – so that you can apply the savings to other items that will make your work and home life easier. For example, you can shave $100 off of your cable, phone and insurance bills, and then put those funds towards getting a housekeeper in twice a month. If you can change the way that $100 is being spent so that it frees up time, you’ll come out ahead. How? If you can use those 4 hours a month to land a new client – that’s worth it for your professional life. If you can use those 4 hours a month to have more quality time with your family – that’s going to do wonders for your personal life.

I’d love to know: What changes can you make in your life and business to move them from competitive to complementary?

If you’re stuck on ideas on what changes can make a difference in your work and life, my free Business Boosters guide will help get the juices flowing, and encourage you to broaden the definition of what negotiation can do for you and your business.

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Devon Smiley – Negotiation Coach & Consultant

With over a decade of corporate experience, Devon has negotiated $1000 product returns, multi-million dollar procurement deals -and everything in between. Her experience is distilled into spot-on analysis and actionable advice for companies of all sizes, bringing them the benefit of her laser focus on results and strong strategy development skills.

Devon is a firm believer that no business is ever too small to negotiate, and she gets a kick out of helping entrepreneurs uncover ways to bump their results up a notch (or two!), and build the skills and confidence they need to ask for – and get – what they need to achieve their best yet results. Knowing that many entrepreneurs struggle with figuring out how negotiation can help them move their business forward, Devon created the ‘3 Must Do Business Boosters’ guide to jumpstart the process.

A proud graduate of McGill University’s undergraduate business school and Northeastern University’s MBA program, Devon is an avid student and life-long learner, with professional certificates in both operations management and French language.

Devon lives in Montreal with her dog Jack, but is a Parisienne at heart, with a great love for all of the history, culture and croissants the city has to offer. A keen admirer of fashion and art, Devon is happiest when soaking up inspiration at the Louvre, sipping espresso at her local café, or strolling down the boulevards catching glimpses of the Eiffel tower.

Website – Twitter – Instagram – LinkedIn

Devon Smiley

Stop Searching For Balance in The Wrong Places, Just Make Time For You! by @chicmompreneur

January 26, 2015 by Nancy Laws 2 Comments

by Nancy Laws | Featured Contributor

One of the reasons I revamped Afro-Chic Mompreneur, was to have an open ended discussion on the work/life balance dilemma, that every Mompreneur deals with on a regular basis.

I wanted to focus on the fact that despite our busy lives, being fabulous is something that most women love, but how often do we make time to look and feel fabulous? I have been able to connect Mompreneurs, with brands that simply life in many ways, especially when it comes to fashion, beauty, fitness, and health.

What have I learned about the ever elusive work/life balance as a Mompreneur?

The key to achieving balance is much simpler than we may realize, in my opinion, that is, stop searching and just make time for you!

Don’t misunderstand me, all the other great tips are correct, you should put a halt to mommy guilt, get organized, slow down, etc… But you have read these things a million times at this point and yet, here you are, reading again. The reason is, you have not been paying attention to the most important tip you have heard a million times over too.

Make Time For You!

The reality is this, if you are frazzled, stressed out, and completely discombobulated (Yes, I used that word!) who exactly do you plan on managing succesfully? Your clients, who pay you not to have an excuse? Your Home, Kids, and Hubby, who look to you for everything from clean laundry, financial wisdom, confidence boosts, and everything in between?

There are times when you are going to just have to say Screw it, I need to just get away, and get myself together in every way, from spirituality, to fitness, health, and mentally.

It’s Hard

If it was easy to do, we wouldn’t be seeking out tips and ways to do this. It requires logical prioritization, and logical prioritization involves making choices that some may not always agree with. I remember, reading an article about a year and a half ago that really erupted a S***storm in one of my groups.

A blogger shared a post where she said that her husband came before her children. All the alpha moms blew their gaskets, because it was completely unacceptable for anyone to put a man over their children, she was a horrible mom, and so on and so forth. I wonder if they actually read the article, or stopped after the title?

She was simply saying that sometimes as mothers, our children come before all, including our marriages. Instead, we stay in unhealthy marriages, and dote on our children, forgetting that our children see their parents as the first example of what a marriage should be. Our sex lives fizzle because instead of making time to handle our business in the bedrooms, we have the child sleeping in the bed with us night after night, even after our husbands give us all the hints and nudges that they can. At what point do you forget that having a healthy marriage is just as important for you as it is for your children and husband?

There were a lot of great examples of ways we can make our marriages a priority and still be a great mom to our children, and yet somehow everyone was missing the point! Logical Prioritization is lacking!

In applying logical prioritization, one would realize that having a healthy marriage will be the key to having a stable home and family life. Therefore, although our children are important to us, and we should put them first in most situations, we have to understand that in order to keep them safe, happy, and surrounded by 4 walls that encompass a happy home life, our marriages have to be just as important if not more!

As a working mom, we are juggling so many things, a lot of us are often left drained, and exhausted, which leads to stress, irritability, low sex drive, need I say more?

And yet our goal in all this is to be a great mom, wife (if you are married), and have a succesful career/business.

How does that work? I have tried it that way, and failed time and time again.

Prioritize in ways that will ensure that you will succeed, by making sure that you take care of yourself, and keep yourself healthy, and fabulous above all. You will then be a better mom, a wife your husband will be proud to flaunt, and a fierce professional woman!

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Nancy Laws is a virtual assistant specializing in business blog management. Through her virtual business LawsWrites, she offers business support to Start-Ups, Bloggers, and Authors. She has headed business operations, social media marketing, project, and blog management, from her home in OH.

Nancy has loved connecting with other Mompreneurs through her blog Afro-Chic Mompreneur. She launched her blog, after moving from Maryland to Ohio. She needed a way to connect with other working moms, to share tips for staying organized as a woman on the move. A blog that started as a way of reaching out and redefining herself as a business owner, mother, and wife, has turned into the go to guide for the Mompreneur. Connecting moms with brands that help to simplify business, fashion, health, beauty, and parenting, for the mom on the go. Nancy has been featured on several sites and is currently a contributor to Theindiechicks.com.

Connect with her on Twitter, and Facebook.

Nancy Laws

Do You Have Creative Regret? by @ArtistThink

September 29, 2014 by Carrie Brummer Leave a Comment

Someone I was friends with found out they were dying.

I won’t lie, while I appreciated their humor, I knew they weren’t the easiest person to get along with; many colleagues struggled to work with them at their job. I enjoyed their company but I also knew it was an acquired taste.

I was thinking about them the other day and something they said has really stuck with me:

“If I knew how short life is I would have been less of an a**hole.”

It is perhaps, one of the most heartbreakingly genuine things I’ve heard someone say about themselves. I admire them for those words.

There are so many lessons we can learn from this person. It makes me wonder: what in their life led them to have a more abrasive nature? Were they harboring other regrets while still living?

Bronnie Ware is the nurse that wrote The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying. Two impact our discussion today: (1) “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me,” and (2) “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

Countless people continue to tell me about the novel they wish to write, or about the art class they took in college and how happy it made them. They tell me these stories in wistful, sorrowful ways, looking at a distant memory. They explain it away with work, family obligations, life, etc. I’ve lost count of the number of people who tell me this because so many people have a story when I mention my mission on Artist Think, or that I’m an artist.

Do you want to build your list of last regrets?

The world of entrepreneurship comes with so much hardship, filled with all kinds of uncertainty. I just read an article that finds entrepreneurs have much higher rates of anxiety than the general population. There is a price that comes with the freedom we crave.

Would we feel that way if we allow ourselves the creative outlets we need for release?

The proverbial “life is short” is true. It is fragile and unpredictable, so as Jim Carrey said, “I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

It is such irony to me that in entrepreneurship we can take such risk and embrace it with love, but to pick up an old paint brush? “We just don’t have the time!”

Not a single person Bronnie Ware interviewed said, “I wish I worked more.”

All of this, makes me think of my friend. They realized the changes they wished in their life, and in themselves, just before they died. Because they understood the immediacy of their death. In some ways maybe it was too late, but they had a choice with the way they spent the remainder of their time on this earth. And so do we.

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Carrie Brummer – Educator, Creative Play Advocate, Arts Empowerer – living in Muscat, Oman (for now!)

Carrie Brummer is an artist educator nomad. Teaching and leading in school systems for 9 years in the USA and the Middle East helped her see the gap in education that prevents people from accessing interests they love. She has tired of the countless stories from people all over the world saying, “I’ve always wanted to learn how to draw,” or, “I wish I could write a novel someday.” It’s become her mission to share her passion for the arts and encourage everyone to take creative risks in their lives.

Carrie’s current creative baby is to encourage creative play for adults; everyone can use an opportunity to slow down from their hectic lives. Creative play is not only important for children, it makes adults happier, healthier, and more fulfilled human beings. Carrie actively exhibits her artwork worldwide and teaches courses in art history and the arts.

When Carrie isn’t painting, doing yoga or baking chocolate chip cookies, she is playing board games with her husband, looking for new learning opportunities, or planning their next trip. You can read more about her adventures in travel and the arts on Artist Think.

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Carrie Brummer