Ladies Who Launch

Goodbye, So Long, Ciao

Hey there! This is Nichelle Stephens. I started this blog for Ladies Who Launch two years ago, and there has been a great response from the community.  However,  Ladies Who Launch has created a social network where members can created their blogs, so this blog is shutting down.  Thanks to all who contributed links and posts here. Thanks to all the commenters as well. Check out Ladies Who Launch!

How To Register A Trademark

In the Wall Street Journal's Small Business section, I found good information about trademark registration.

First, consider your company/product name. Names that are too generic "Farm" or too descriptive "We Make Robots" are hard to protect. Also think about what you are trying to trademark. Ideas cannot be trademarked. If you have created a unique process, then it may qualify for a patent.

Second, do some research. Check the  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, http://www.uspto.gov/ to see someone else has already trademarked the name.

 

clipped from online.wsj.com

Online trademark registration costs between $275 and $325 and asks for information such as the categories of goods and services for which the mark will be used, date of the mark's first use in commerce and whether there's a design component to the mark you're seeking. Internet businesses registering their names should generally refrain from registering their Web extension, such as .com or .net, with their name, unless they're planning to register the mark both with and without. Getting a trademark without the domain extension will help prevent other businesses from registering the same name by just adding a different extension, Mr. Stim says. He also recommends not designating a specific design of your trademark in order to get the broadest protection.

Webinar:Entrepreneurship as an Encore for Women

On July 17, there will be a valuable and informative online seminar for women who aspire to be successful entrepreneurs.  The New York Time's Shifting Careers Columnist Marci Alboher will be one of the panelists as well as Mark Freedman and  Rebecca White.

Webcast Details
Live Interactive Webcast
July 17, 2008
6:30 - 8:00 PM Eastern Time
Price: $59

Register
Click here to register

Event: Make Yourself Mortgageable

In this time of economic uncertainty, it is necessary to arm women with the knowledge and tools to make themselves "mortgageable".

If you live in the New York City area, Please join us fellow Ladies Who Launcher Nichelle Stephens and her friend MaryBeth O'Hara, real estate broker with Maison Intl and property owner on July 15.  This is for a fun, FREE and informative event that will start you on your journey to financial prowess. Meet other women with similar goals and enjoy sangria, margaritas and light appetizers courtesy of La Palapa.

Make Yourself Mortgageable  is a project founded by MaryBeth O’Hara and Nichelle Stephens.  Olga Savelov is a mortgage broker and she will be a featured speaker.

What I Think About The Youth of America

By Coach Joelle Prochera, professional life coach, fellow launcher and creator of the MAKE YOUR LIFE PROGRAM where you get to experience the magic of your life lived on purpose!  To hear more from Coach Joelle subscribe to the Livloud! Newsletter or read the coach joelle blog.   

Wanna Know What I Think About The Youth of America?

Personally, I think they rock.

And no, not like the guitar-wailing, classic rock of their parents’ generation. I mean, they R.O.C. K. (They are Refreshingly Organized Conscientious Kids!(Ok, technically they are “young adults” but then it would spell ROCYA – which kinda works too ;-))

It all started several months ago when I got clear on something, and that was that I was tired of trying to be a one-woman show—a coach, marketing expert,  graphic designer,  editor, and web designer. I had big dreams and a big vision but I was worn-out from wearing all the hats. I wanted to just be me and bring my own skills, talents and passions to the table while surrounding myself with energetic people, each working in their own area of excellence.  Basically, I just wanted to coach and not be bogged down with all the technical details.

Now this all sounded great in theory, but I was not in a financial position to hire $250,000 worth of skilled professionals. Then, much to my delight, a friend shared with me a little website called ClevelandIntern.net, a website created for the purpose of matching employers with local college students.  I said to myself, “What the heck, Joelle?” and I signed up.  I began thinking about who I would want supporting me, if I could have anyone on my team, what skills would they bring?  So I wrote out my wish list of the characteristics and abilities I wanted my team to possess.

Within days, much to my delight, the resumes started pouring in.

Less than two months later, my business is thriving thanks to the incredible support of five amazing student interns.

May I Introduce…:

• Megan and Jessica - both graphic design interns who are currently making PowerPoint presentations for various speaking events and designing logos for programs I’m developing.

• LaShawn and Theresa - both digital video interns who advised me on equipment needed to produce in-house videos and created opportunity and motivation for me to get both a brand new computer and a video camera. We are currently in production on the “Things That I’ve Learned from My Cats” coaching video (watch for it!)

• Monica - my writer/editor intern supporting the ever long-winded, spelling challenged Coach Joelle, cleaning up my writing and paying close attention to detail. She will be assisting me in writing my first book this summer and with a little direction, wrote the article you are reading right now ( so cool! ;-).)

For those of you who are intrigued by the idea, I strongly encourage you to investigate this option for yourself.  When properly orchestrated the intern-employer relationship is a true win-win. The business person gets to forward their business and increase productivity with individuals skilled in a variety of areas, and the interns get valuable real-life experience in their fields along with letters of reference and professional work for their portfolio.

Did I happen to mention that less than half my group is doing this for school credit? The others are doing it simply to volunteer their time to develop their craft.  Wow! I know.

Oh, and did I mention that I have seen nothing but commitment, timeliness, adherence to deadlines, ability to accept feedback, willingness to learn and openness to trying to new things?

It has been nothing but an honor and a delight to have these people in my life!

This is a call to action for all you entrepreneurs out there, with businesses of all shapes and sizes. The youth of America are waiting to better themselves and contribute to the work you’re doing.

After all, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”

So…what are you waiting for?  Help build the future.  Hire an intern today!

“This all sounds great, Joelle. But how do I go about hiring an intern for my business?”

How to Hire an Intern in 5 Easy Steps:

1. Find your intern source. Approach local colleges or universities about job/internship fairs or Google search for websites where you can post your listing. There are people out there waiting to support your business!

2. Clearly state the job description and your expectations. The clearer you are up front, the easier it will be to ensure the job is a match for both you and the student.

3. Interview. Conduct a thorough interview as though you are hiring a fulltime person for your business. Clear expectations are the surest way to create a win-win for both you and the student.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate. This is perhaps the most important part of the whole process.  Discuss your expectations, develop timelines, and set time aside for weekly or biweekly feedback sessions.

5. Have fun! Bringing the youth, the skill, and the energy of students into your business can be an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience. Enjoy!

Oh…and did I mention that the youth of America rocks? ;-)

Smiles and Success to You!

Coach 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 [email protected].

Escape From Corporate America

At the BlogHer Business in April, I finally met Pamela Skillings who is a fellow blogger and member of Ladies Who Launch. She has blogging and consulting about how people can leave their jobs and become entrepreneurs. Las night I attended the book party at the Soho House for her book, Escape From Corporate America.  It was fun! Pamela wrote a great piece last Sunday in the New York Times in which she talks about her decision to leave corporate america. Below is a clip.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Once I did the math and saw my finances in black and white, however, I realized that the budget cuts wouldn’t be nearly as painful as I’d feared. I was more than willing to cut back on indulgences like foamy lattes, shiny highlights and overpriced designer handbags for a while if it meant that I could escape from corporate America and strike out on my own. Suddenly, my impossible dream seemed within reach. The last step in letting go of my financial fears was facing the fact that my salary had never truly been a reliable safety net after all. Over the years, I’d seen some of my most qualified and highly paid co-workers learn the hard way that the big money and the fancy title can disappear in a flash. On the other hand, no one can ever take away your talents, your experience and your skills — the assets that constitute the only safety net you can ever really depend upon.

 

Why I Chose To Study Ayurveda

Earlier this year, I earned my Diploma in Ayurvedic Sciences. Wait, before you roll your eyes and click away dismissing this as another health fanatic blog, I'd like to tell you how Ayurveda is changing my life and assure you that this is not just another "New Age" or "yoga-nazi" voice.

I first experienced the benefits of Ayurveda when I traveled to India and stayed at an Ayurvedic Resort. I chose that type of vacation at the time because I was in dire need of a fresh start in my life - my job, personal life and physical body all needed some TLC. Physically, I suffered from chronic back pain, which, I typically treated with a cocktail or glass of wine at the end of the day. Yes, I exercised and went to yoga (good yoga studios on LA's Westside) and no, it never completely eradicated the pain.

After two weeks of eating freshly prepared Ayurvedic food and receiving medicated oil massages on my knee injury (chondromalacia patella) and aching back, I felt revived. The chondromalacia patella cleared up after 5 months of constant nagging pain that worsened over time and had been locking up at night. My back pain was markedly better. You might be thinking that anyone would feel great after two solid weeks of pampering and may be right. In any case, this turn around in how I felt caused me to be curious about what was in those massage oils and what was it about that "vata balancing" food that helped me. I took up the formal study of Ayurveda so that I could learn to make myself feel that good all of the time, not just while on vacation.

Two years and one diploma later, I am still learning and still implementing changes to my life. I'm not one for diving into to the ice cold sea. I put a half of a pinky toe in, then sit under the sun umbrella and think about why I should bother to put my foot in. I'd say I'm about hip deep at the moment. I want to share with you what my feet are experiencing down below the water's surface. Maybe you'll want to put a toe in, too.

Health and Wellness—A Smart Investment

Have you seen the cover article for the June issue of Smart Money magazine? Live Longer… and Healthier: Yes! $100,000 Can Add 10 Years To Your Life? It certainly caught my eye. Asa health writer and wellness coach, I was thrilled to see that people are investing in their health. I guess it’s a “pay now or pay later” approach. But, I must say, $100,000 is a lot of money. Is that a smart investment?  I’m certain that people can improve their health and wellness and maybe even prolong their lives with a much smaller financial investment.

The article begins by profiling a 55-year-old man who lives his life like it it’s an Iron Man event: biking, swimming and working out in his home gym. He watches his cholesterol carefully, making dietary changes to keep it under control. These are great lifestyle changes (on the zealous end of the spectrum, I admit), but he also has a $3000 executive physical once a year at the Cooper Clinic. 

Others profiled in this article exchange thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars for genetic tests that might reveal their risk of not-entirely preventable diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, memberships at high-end health resorts, truly personal trainers and chefs, and treatments such as Vitamin C infusions.

I think the majority of us want to live longer, especially if we can stay physically and mentally fit. Who wouldn’t want the added time to fit in what we don’t have time in our busy lives to do now? Vacations, travel, finally pursuing interests set aside, spending time with friends and family. But do we need to spend our life’s earning to do so?  I was cheered to see that one woman profiles, a farm wife, is making some easy, basic, inexpensive lifestyle changes that could add years to her life, following the advice of Drs Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, in their book, You: Staying Young, The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty. ($26.00)  By making simple changes like eating less, adding flax seeds to her diet and taking omega-3 capsules, exercising with handheld weights, and using her treadmill, this former champion oreo-eater has lost 120 pounds and now has great optimism that she will live well past 100 years.

Recent scientific articles tout the growing evidence for the value of lifestyle changes for preventing or delaying disease and increasing longevity. These changes can be made by through a variety of investments, including, time, energy, emotional commitment, strategic planning to actually make the healthy changes you set out to make actually happen, and yes, some reasonable financial investments for the rest of us who can’t afford the $100,000 Smart Money says it might take to add another ten years to our lives. Put on your $100 walking shoes and start walking to your 100^th birthday party. Pick out some beautiful produce at the farmer’s market; create your own home gym on a budget.

What are you willing and eager to spend on improving your health and wellness? There’s an investment plan for every budget. You just have to make the decision on how much you want to budget for your health.

I wish you well!

Beth

Beth Tansey Peller, RN, BS is a health writer and wellness coach certified by Wellcoaches Corporation. Beth focuses on helping women dealing with the multiple responsibilities of midlife amid the hormonal shifts of perimenopause to achieve long-desired positive changes in fitness, nutrition, stress management and overall wellness.

Beth offers affordable coaching services and e-booklets in her series, Make It Happen in Midlife!, as well as a range of individual and group coaching services for all budgets. You can find out more about Beth by visiting www.bewellwithbeth.com. Register to receive your free e-booklet, This Change Will Do You Good.

Juggling With Finesse: Ten Tips to Balance Family And Career

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent new blog, The Juggle, which focuses on women juggling careers, family and their dreams. Sara Moss, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Estée Lauder  gave ten great tips on how to make it work.

10. It’s a Juggle, Not a Balance: “Different things take precedence at different times, as they should. If you have a sick child, that’s what’s important. If you have a trial, that’s what important. . this way you can achieve some balance over time. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

9. Take Care of Yourself First: “You’re going to need energy for this juggle.”

8. Stay Focused on What is Important to You and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

7. Don’t Apologize for Your Choices: “To your children or anyone else. Many of us are fortunate enough to have interesting work that is challenging and rewarding. We shouldn’t feel guilty about it . . . Now, I did not do this, for many years. I spent a lot of time feeling guilty.”

6. Don’t Demonize Other Women’s Choices: “I do have a confession — any time that a child got into real trouble at one of my kid’s schools, the first things I wanted to know was whether the mother worked, and if their mother didn’t work, I said, ‘oh I‘m glad!’ That was bad of me. Don’t do that! Every woman is. . .trying to figure it out the best way she can.”

5. Establish Routines that Reinforce Time for the Relationship or Passion: She mentioned making time for exercise or reading to kids every night.

4. It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: “Look to your family and good friends to create a community and support for your children.”

3. Create Quality Time Whenever You Can: Ms. Moss said that when her children were old enough, she took them on business trips. She also created the “eighth grade trip,” taking one child alone on a trip at that point to wherever they wanted to go, including Egypt and different parts of Europe. On the trips, she said, she could spend time with that one child, which was “different from the zone defense I was used to.”

2.  Be There When You Are There: “You can actually go to the park without your BlackBerry.”

1. Enjoy the Ride: “I feel that doing this juggle . . that I have a wonderful, rich, interesting life.”

Well?

Well, I was going to write about weather and its impact on wellness because we’ve had some beautiful days lately, but when I read the New York Times last night, I had to make a shift in my plan. In addition to my favorite part of the newspaper, The Science Times, which is published on Tuesdays, I discovered a special section, Well, a collection of articles on what we might need to know about staying well as we age. As a wellness coach, I am always interested in what we can do to take better care of ourselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there is a place for medications, used appropriately. After working as a nurse in pediatric oncology and as a medical advertising copywriter and creative director, I’ve seen the benefits of pharmaceuticals. But, lifestyle changes are a huge part of the equation when seeking better health and wellness. An integrated approach is best, but not one where you think taking cholesterol-lowering medications is a license to eat with abandon, let’s say. Several articles in Well address the magical effects of positive, healthy lifestyle changes on different structures and organs of the body. I won’t review all of them, but the one about having a healthier heart speaks volumes.

In the Well piece on the heart, Eating Your Way to a Sturdy Heart, Tara Parker-Pope writes that “simple and even pleasurable changes in the foods you eat can rival medication in terms of the benefit to your heart”—an organ you’ll need for the rest of your life. She mentions that there is a lot of data to show that just a few small changes, including eating more fish, nuts, vegetables, and fiber, can make a huge difference in heart health. So, why aren’t people making those changes? Are you eating more of these foods lately?  If not, what steps could you take to move closer to that way of eating? When will you start? Speaking of steps, Gina Kolata’s Well article on exercise, More Than An Exercise In Vanity” focused on functional fitness, endurance and strength as key to aging well. If you happen to fall when you’re older, you do want to be able to get up. If exercise isn’t a regular part of your routine, how could you make that happen? What would happen if you don’t exercise?

Do you want to change your diet? A diet rich in fish-derived omega fatty acids can lower the risk of death by almost 25%. Send the grilled salmon right over here, please. She went on to mention that some studies show that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids from fish, nuts and other sources can lower cardiovascular risk by 60%. Adding a salad to your day isn’t difficult these days, with the wide variety of bagged greens and produce available. I don’t know about you, but I want my heart to hold out for as long as possible.

Another enormous contributor to heart disease is smoking. The good news is that fewer people are smoking these days, helping to reduce the rate of cardiovascular disease.  Interestingly, as I finished reading Well and The Science Times section, I reached for the first section of the paper, and right on the top left was the headline, Cigarette Bill Treats Menthol With Leniency.  What’s that about, I wondered? It turns out that Congress wants to give the FDA the right to regulate tobacco for the first time, but menthol would be exempt from regulation. Lobbyists for the tobacco industry are protecting mentholated brands, which make up 25% of the $70 billion dollar industry, probably because these brands seem to help new smokers tolerate the taste of tobacco and likely encourage addiction. It seems that they are heavily marketed to African-Americans; about 75% of African Americans smoke mentholated brands, a fact I didn’t know before reading this article. But, because of the way our legislative system works, the exemption for menthol must be tolerated in order to pass the larger issue of tobacco regulation. This is very unfortunate, as African-Americans, who are generally under served medically in this country are often diagnosed late when they develop lung cancer, which places them at a distinct treatment disadvantage.

I’m not sure that regulating tobacco is the answer, as it seems there is infighting within the industry, with some, such as Philip Morris, supporting regulation and others not. This may give cigarette makers the ability to say that the FDA has approved their brands as less harmful. Is that a benefit?  I guess that’s in line with how the FDA operates, approving certain drugs that are less harmful than others…  My personal preference would be to engage tobacco industry executives and workers in purposeful work other than making cigarettes, which would eliminate a major source of many medical conditions (not just lung cancer) and out-of-control health care costs.

Let’s turn the page to Tuesday’s obituaries, where I came upon the life of Murray Jarvik, uncle of Dr. Robert Jarvik, who developed the first artificial heart implanted into a human. Murray Jarvik was a psychopharmacologist who contributed to development of the first nicotine patch.  The quote chosen to close his obituary, words he wrote in 1977, is telling:  “It is strange that people should go to such lengths to burn and then inhale some vegetable matter. We must find out what is rewarding about it."

So, eating our vegetables is better for us than smoking them, but grilling and eating fish is good, too. And, it’s better to never start smoking.  What healthy lifestyle changes will you make—or think about making—today? You can find more ideas on www.nytimes.com/wellguide. I wish you well.

Beth Tansey Peller, RN, BS is a health writer and wellness coach certified by Wellcoaches Corporation. Beth focuses on helping women dealing with the multiple responsibilities of midlife amid the hormonal shifts of perimenopause to achieve long-desired positive changes in fitness, nutrition, stress management and overall wellness.Beth offers affordable e-booklets in her series, Make It Happen in Midlife!, as well as a range of individual and group coaching services. You can find out more about Beth by visiting www.bewellwithbeth.com. Register to receive your free e-booklet, This Change Will Do You Good.