by Fashionmista aka That IT Girl aka Spammy Scammers aka Katie James
Last year when I attended the LWL LIVE event on W. 18th between 6th and 7th Avenues, I had just completed a LWL Incubator and scheduled a personal day for myself to attend the 2006 LIVE event. This personal day was almost compromised by work! But it wasn't, and and my desire to quit my day job to take my design company, Katie James, full time was realized and positively accelerated with the help of new LWL friends. So this year, I attended the event on my own time as my own boss!
Before the event, I had just returned from a 30th birthday trip to Paris and was a big jetlegged, so took it easy and snuck into the event at the very end to hear Christy Turlington talk about balancing the 3 hours it takes her in the morning to get her kids ready for the day, and other pieces of advice for women seeking funding for launching businesses and such. She was very calm and inspiring, in that, she spoke of her great accomplishments with such ease, that we all felt we could do it, too. Her talk made me want to finally commit to the 10-pack of yoga classes in my neighborhood, and read her book Living Yoga to see how it has helped her gain such control, energy and vision in her mind.
Also speaking were CARE, where I learned they devoted work towards maternal health. And I heard that Mariel Hemmingway was amazing, as I knew she would be. She was talking about her new book, Mariel Hemmingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out: Every Woman's Guide to Real Beauty, Renewed Energy, and a Radiant Life. Talk about an afternoon of clean living in the brain!
Then there was the Marketplace downstairs featuring lines from LWL members, but having just been spending in Paris, I kept my pocketbook closely guarded, until I saw a soap-fish in a bag from Children's Treasures , like from the pet store! Suddenly I remembered a baby present I needed to buy, and out came the cash. OMG it was the cutest thing, in a sea of other beautiful displays like Perfect on Paper and scrunchy watch bands from Bee Loved, as well as unique pieces of jewelry that are always sure to wow at Ladies Who Launch markets.
Speaking of beautiful jewelry, keep your eye out for Marion Cage if you like smooth yet complex shaped jewelry. If you think her display is simple and classy (the straight lambskin is what caught my eye), then you should see her business card. Her earrings were displayed on iron bars that she built herself, and I'm going to start stalking her to make some for me to sell on one of my many blogs.
Then there were the MiLLies, who were experts from the LWL community and met with women on a range of issues like PR (expert: Red Branch PR), skin care (expert: MyBeautyBeat.com), podcasting (expert: Wedding Podcast Network) and a new way to wipe away wrinkles...(expert: Galvanic Spa II). And you could end the day (or start it!) with a 10-minute chair massage from State Farm just before you went and had an SEO analysis done from Network Solutions. Whew!
Those are all of the pictures I could grab! I finally remembered that I had my iPhone this time, and could easily snap everyone. The LIVE event was one big cocktail party (without the cocktails) to catch up with friends, clients, and just get renewed and learn about new things!
Congrats on being able to LWL on your own this year. It's great to become your own entrepreneur, and it's often difficult to do so as a woman. For all of you fellow women entrepreeneurs looking for some help to take your business to the next level, you should take a look at this great contest I found called “Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou.” They are awarding one aspiring business woman $50,000 plus a team of highly professional consultants to help kick start your business. Check it out here http://www.mirassou.com/women_in_business/dreams.asp for more info and to enter. It would be a great asset for you future female leaders of tomorrow. I work with them, so I have the inside scoop.
Posted by: Mandy | October 22, 2007 at 07:53 PM