Ladies Who Launch

Show Love By Being Green and Shopping Local

From Aja Tahari Marsh, Natural Foods Chef. Check out her lifestyle blog, Stem and Leaf.

In the wake of the the much beleaguered Valentine’s Day, I would like to take a moment to talk about how we can translate and incorporate the love we have for ourselves and those closest to us, into a love for our bodies, communities, and earth. To me, living a healthy and loving lifestyle is more than just about what I eat—it’s about thinking critically about what I choose to put into and around my body, and how those choices affect the world around me—as well as nourishing me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

ON BEING A MORE LOVING CONSUMER...

- Supporting Local Businesses

Unfortunately it is getting more and more difficult to support locally owned small businesses in suburban areas, especially grocery stores, and increasingly in urban areas. However, by shopping and dining at local establishments you are supporting your community’s economy, as well as encouraging entrepreneurial enterprises where you can interact with owners who are passionate about their business, versus having impersonal experiences at large chain stores. By nurturing your community in this way, your neighborhood becomes richer with your investment economically and socially and you can build relationships with the people you live and work among.

- Buying Local Produce

There are farmer’s markets in most cities across the country, as well as seasonal u-pick or farm stands on city outskirts, which could make for a fun weekend activity with your friends or family. You could also participate in a C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) which offers you weekly allotments of food currently being harvested by the farm, usually in exchange of light farm work and a reasonable fee for the season. By getting produce from your area, you will be eating only what is in season and in harmony with the earth, as well as getting food that allows the farmers a living wage and isn’t shipped thousands of miles—therefore also reducing its environmental impact.

FarmersMarket.com - has a searchable database of markets across the U.S.

- Shopping Green [see the blog I just posted about it!]

It’s easy to start. Bring your own bags. Don’t bag your produce unless absolutely necessary. Buy in bulk. Reduce your overall packaging usage. Carpool to the grocery store with a friend or neighbor.

- Living Compassionately for You, Your Family, and The Earth

Instead of spraying all kinds of chemicals around your house to make it smell or look good, look into non-toxic and natural cleaning products. This is especially important if you have children, pets, allergies, or sensitive skin. Why wash the dishes you eat off of with chemicals? Baking soda and vinegar, for example, make a great all purpose abrasive cleanser and disinfectant. Buy cruelty-free products that haven’t been tested on animals. Drink Fair-Trade and Organic coffees and teas. Dry your clothes outside, and use the power of the sun to bleach your clothes. Purchase recycled toilet paper and paper towels. Recycle everything you can. Reuse containers. Compost.

Care2 has pretty comprehensive information and tips on their GreenLiving page: as does TreeHugger

FINANCIAL SPRING CLEANING

I was recently interviewed for an article for Glamour magazine about “Cleaning Out Your Wallet” and for another magazine for “Financial Spring Cleaning”.  I had put together some notes that I wanted to share with you.

1) Consolidate investment accounts.  Many people have old 401(k)s, more than one IRA and more than one bank account.  Consolidate them to as few places as possible.  Your paperwork, filing and stress level will be reduced tremendously.  Plus, it will be much easier to do a financial checkup on an ongoing basis.  It might take a bit of time to do so, but in the long run, it will actually save you quite a bit of time.  You will also find you are saving money on fees you may be paying.

2) You don’t need to keep every investment statement you get in the mail.  You should keep all “buy and sell” statements, year end statements and any statement where there is a change or consolidation.

3) If you have had a life event (marriage, new child, divorce, death in family), it is essential you update your will, living will, power of attorney, trustee on accounts, beneficiaries for investment accounts, and children’s college savings plan.  It should be part of your annual financial checkup as well.

4) Get in the habit of cleaning out your wallet every week.  It gives you an opportunity to file your receipts, keep track of your ATM receipts and monitor your cash spending.  Plus, an organized wallet leads to more control over your daily money which leads to more financial abundance.

5) I have mentioned this before, but I worked with a client that had a beautiful wallet and organized!  I realized there and then that that was one of the first things you can do to start looking at your money in a more positive manner.  I’m not telling you to go out and spend a lot on a new wallet, but take pride in how you deal with your money on a daily basis.

Check out "MY MONEY MATTERS" kit.
Boxed Set of Affirmation Cards, Instant Money Tips and Workbooklets
Tools to Build Peace of Mind and Long-Term Wealth
www.mymoneykit.com.

If you are not already a subscriber, I invite you to subscribe to my FREE weekly e-mail newsletter at DownToEarthFinance-On@zines.webvalence.com for smart tips to save more money and independent advice about mutual funds and retirement or or visit www.downtoearthfinance.com.

Incubator Moment from Calie Anderson

Calie Anderson is an interior designer and a new Incubator member from San Francisco. She wrote her blog about experience in the Incubator.

clipped from nohealookbook.blogspot.com

If you need a push to get that business started or to take the next step in an existing business, the Incubator is the place for you.

Ok, so why did I do it? I needed to take my business to the next level and focus on advertising and marketing. But what I didn’t realize was that by doing this four week Incubator, I found out things about my business and myself that I didn’t think were possible. It’s amazing how our fears or lack of confidence paralyze our ability to move forward. Once, I lifted those fears with the help of the women in my incubator, I felt like I could finally see. That gift of sight has allowed for me to get really clear on who I am, who my business is…thus giving me power to communicate the voice of my brand.

Positively eBay from Robyn Volker

From New York Incubator Member and eBay seller Robyn Volker of Chiquelife.

I am a long-time, full-time eBay merchant with more than 25,000 transactions completed. For anyone that is a newer or small-time seller, you should also know that the fees are generally irrelevant to most serious business owners -- eBay is a pretty good bargain even with the new fee structure! It's a retail venue with an unimaginable amount of traffic.

While I am not a fan of anything that eats into my already slim eBay margins, the fee bite only affects a portion of sales. A smart business owner adapts selling strategy and pricing accordingly.

The REAL issue is a major change to the eBay community structure -- Feedback. Effective on 2/20, sellers can only leave POSITIVE feedback for buyers, no matter how the transaction goes.

It seems to be a part of a new CEO's efforts to put his own mark on the company, and I can tell you that small to medium volume sellers are in an uproar. The big ones -- not so much right now, but they
should also be concerned.  Myself -- I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude, adjusting my business
plan, and exploring additional venues. And that is actually what I should have been doing anyway!

So if you are on eBay already, or are thinking about it -- it's still a good place to do business but there are also other options. You can check out the Seller Central message board for lots of info (and
plenty of emotion...)

Editor's Note:  There are alternatives to eBay, namely eCrater and Etsy .

Avoid Valentine’s Day disappointment – Treat Yourself!

By Coach Joelle Prochera, professional life coach and fellow launcher!  To hear more from Coach Joelle subscribe to the Livloud! Newsletter or read the coach joelle blog.   

Hello Ladies,

The big day is approaching and married, dating or single, most of us have experienced a Valentine’s Day in silent anticipation of a grand display that never happened.

On this day for love I have a special invitation for you…

Instead of waiting for grand expressions,

Instead of waiting for the perfect day to be delivered,

Instead of waiting for love,

How about you create a little love in your own life with a day designed just for you!

Imagine….

A day off….reading in bed…bubble baths…. a 2 hour massage….

Not for any reason but because you say so and because you are worth it!

In a recent LIVLOUD! Article I shared the concept of creating a day just for you - a mental health day.  As you are gearing up for your day of hearts, lace and chocolate, consider showering yourself with love and sharing that love with the important people in your life.

Read the article: A Day for You: The Mental Health Day Challenge.

Happy Valentine’s Day Ladies! Enjoy treating yourself!

SMOOCH!

Joelle

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR COACH JOELLE?:  I am looking for the opportunity to fully serve each of you on your personal adventure.  If you have a life or business challenge that you would like a coaching perspective on, please share your comments below or email me at Joelle@coachjoelle.com.

Make your life a work of art a joyful dance a grand adventure

Incubator Moment From Raven Kauffman

From Raven Kaufman of the Los Angeles Incubator. She designs handbags and her debut collection can be found at Raven Kauffman Couture.

I would like to invite you all to view my premiere collection of couture handbags Raven Kauffman Couture.   Thanks to the amazing support of the Ladies who Launch femme fatales I was able to make my dream of starting a handbag collection a reality. And a very ,very special thank you to the lovely and inspiring Sarah Shaw for giving me the courage, confidence and tools that I needed to realize this dream! Just knowing that there was this brilliant group of intelligent, strong and driven women out there pursuing their dreams the same way I was gave me this unstoppable energy to follow through. Failure was never an option- the invisible force field of Ladies Who Launch kept me going!

Send a LWL blogger to Martinique

Wish you were here?

So do I!

Maybe we both can get there. Let me explain.

I'm a LWL member from the Twin Cities area. I keep a blog about my life as a freelance writer. It's called The 'er' Files.

A couple years ago, however, my husband and I ditched our jobs to go on an around the world trip. As I've got a creative streak in me, I designed a special name, logo and blog for our trip. I called it all Kelly and Quang's Global Roam.

With a little bit of lucky synchronicity, I managed to get a well-known travel web site (GoNomad) to feature my travel blog as a regular column. My hubby and I took off for our trip, GoNomad posted my writings, and suddenly, I was a legitimate travel blogger.

But our Global Roam ended some time ago. Actually, so did the Global Roam blog (hence my current new blog). But those past travel postings are still floating around in cyber space and last week I got an email from France's Tourism Board inviting me to participate in a blogging contest.

Twenty-five bloggers submitted travel postings. The stories are up for a month (until the end of February). The blogger who gets the most votes wins a free trip to Martinique.

The unspoken catch, of course, is that the winner will blog all about how great a place Martinique is to travel, thus enticing thousands of people who had previously never heard of Martinique to suddenly sit up and decide that they too would like to go there on their next Spring Break (cool marketing trick if you ask me). 

Anyway ... I signed up. I selected a past travel blog entry from Thailand and sent it in. Wa-la! It's in the contest.

It's called Tricky Tricky Tuk Tuk and it's about how my husband Quang and I got taken for a ride in Bangkok.

If you vote for my story, two things will happen. 1) I get a vote, boosting my story up the list. 2) Your email goes into the master pot and at the end of the tallying period, one voter name will win a free trip to Martinique.

So come on! Vote For Me! From all your different email addresses! And I know you LWLers all have more than one address. Take me, for example, I count -- um -- this is almost embarrassing to admit -- seven different email addresses.

If the force is with us, perhaps we'll be sitting on the beach together.

 

Incubator Moment From Gabriele Agustini

From Los Angeles Incubator Member, Gabriele Agustini who designs beautiful silk and velvet wraps.

I've always been a little on the shy side, especially in a room full of people! Being an artist, most of my time was spent working with only - me, myself and I.  After taking an Incubator with the wonderful Sarah Shaw, and an Advanced Incubator with the awesome Amy Swift - that all changed! I feel more comfortable showing and talking about my hand-painted silk accessories, and I learned to mingle amongst others, without feeling shy and awkward.

Now when the "itty bitty sh*tty committee" in my head says "YOU can't do that!" I say "Watch me!!".
My new-found confidence has even allowed me to mingle with celebrities, and I'm proud to say that Elizabeth Taylor, Stephanie Powers, Kathy Hilton (Paris' mom) several of the "Deal Or No Deal" girls, "Mr. Blackwell", Barry Manilow, Clint Eastwood, Roger Moore, and many others - now own my
accessories! The ideas, encouragement and confidence I received from Ladies Who Launch is priceless!  I thank you all! I couldn't have done it without you!

Rocket Launchers: Ladies Who Launch In The News

New York Incubator members Lisa Blau and Amanda Freeman, co-founders of Vital Juice Daily.com, were featured on "Rachael Ray" during Lara Spencer's segment, "The Dish." After the airing of the show and posting of the segment on the show's Web site, the number of subscribers to their daily e-mail skyrocketed.

New York Incubator member Emily Rubin Persons of J. Fleet Designs is part of a featured story, "Tray Chic," in the February/March issue of From House to Home.

San Francisco Incubator member Pat Walker, founder of the Cultural Explorer, a philanthropic tour company specializing in Southern Africa, was just featured on the South African tourism site for her tours. http://www.southafrica.info/women/mothers&daughters.htm

 

New York City Incubator member Sarah Endline's sweetriot products  were featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Among those seen devouring the tasty morsels were Paris Hilton, Dennis Hopper, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Drew Barrymore. Sarah points out that the yummy dark chocolate treats contain only 140 calories, so you can nibble without remorse.

Philadelphia Incubator member Tara Frey of Bella Pink Designs  was recently named one of the Top Ten Most Romantic and Inspiring Women in the country by Romantic Homes magazine.   

San Francisco Incubator member Britt Michaelian, founder of Responsible Family Company , was on "The View From the Bay" discussing parenting.  http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/parenting_babies&id=5915117

L.A. Incubator member Christine Elia, Web entrepreneur and founder of ClosetCouture.net, is featured in The New York Observer for the fashion social-networking site she designed, which has a wardrobe management system attached to it. She describes the site as being higher-end than Facebook or MySpace.

Atlanta Incubator member Tisha DeShields, founder of Original Belly Works, was featured on DarynKagan.com on January 14. An Original Belly Works sculpture is a beautiful, lasting impression of the pregnant woman's torso. 

L.A. Incubator member Julie Jones completed her Incubator in June and has since launched EncoreBridal.com, a couture resale and consignment bridal e-Boutique. She was recently featured on Karma Air's Fashion 411 radio show with host Barbra Horowitz (L.A. Incubator member) talking about selling and purchasing gently used wedding dresses and bridal accessories. Click here to listen: 

Lansing Incubator member Barbara Hranilovich, co-founder of All Dogged Up , is highlighted in Michigan's Capital Gains e-magazine. Her clothing line is geared toward dog lovers with a sense of humor and style.