Ladies Who Launch

More Press From Incubator Members in LA and Boston

LA Incubator Tracey Vieira is a designer and the founder of Cute-ture . Cute-ture's Space Hopper is currently featured on the front of Cookie Magazine’s Gift Guide ’07 (Dec/Jan issue).   Also, Cute-ture’s baby squeakers are hailed as one of the “Best Toys of 2007: 0-12 months” in Parents Magazine (Nov issue.  Plus, their baby Minimink Booties are noted as a winter essential in Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine (Dec issue.) 

LA Incubator Alice Aspen, author and speaker wrote an article for the American Chronicle entitled, Blackberry Business is Causing a Social and Physical Attention Deficit Crisis, World-wide!   Her article highlights some salient points in regards to our society’s ever growing “need” for blackberry use ... “Are they able to give equal attention to two things at one time? Or are they building an attention deficit into their lives in their personal relationships? What or who really gets the first level of attention?”  

Boston Incubator Dani Nordin, founder and designer of the eco-friendly marketing and design firm, the zen kitchen http://tzk-design.com/index.html and Zen Kitchen blog  wrote a very insightful piece that is currently posted on Creative Latitude.  Dani writes about The Seven Deadly Sins of Email Marketing – tips that many of us can benefit from, even if we don’t have a regular email newsletter.  Each of the 7 tips are easily implemented and can help strengthen your business connections when communicating via email.  

Rocket Launchers: Ladies Who Launch In The News

SF Incubator Britt Michaelian, founder of Responsible Family Company  was interviewed on ABC’s San Francisco affiliates View From the Bay.  Britt spoke about some important and necessary information that should always be shared with a babysitter before leaving the house.  http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=viewfrombay&id=5757967.

NYC Incubator Julie Goldman is the founder of The Original Runner Company.   Her company is being featured on “Get Married” on Lifetime TV in a segment about wedding décor and is cited as an expert in the field of aisle décor. The interview focuses on ways aisle runners can make an event unique.  The segment also includes the extensive line of custom painted aisle runners Julie’s company has made for thousands of weddings. Her segment will re-air on 12/12 on Lifetime TV.

LA Incubator Alexis Neely, personal family lawyer and founder of the Family Wealth Planning Institute  , was interviewed by Pam Vetter and published in the Valleynew.com news site.  The article, Protecting Your Kids, highlights the importance of having a plan for your children in case something were to happen to you.  She’s creating a website at www.KidsProtectionPlan.com that will provide free paperwork for parents to designate guardianship for their children.  http://valleynews.com/TheValley/Stories/Family-Friends/General-Family-Friends/Story~392253.aspx

Winnipeg, Canada Incubator Janet J. BrightCorne, designer and founder of Candyware ... the sweetest jewelry designs around, was just interviewed on Radio Singapore International.  Janet was featured during the Business Ideas segment.  Click here for the MP3 audio link on the press page of her site.       

Question: How Do You Tell Your Boss About Your Side Business?

One of our incubator members posed this question:

My company does not have a policy about preventing employees from holding other jobs, so I'm not technically doing anything wrong. Obviously, starting a cake business isn't exactly how I'm going to get a corner office either.... but I feel I will need to let work know about my business as I start to get local press. I'm not really ready to quit or leave my day job, but I feel the need to be honest about what I'm doing.  I just want my manager to hear it from me, not someone else. Anyway, any connections you can send my way on this or advice you have for how I should approach this tough topic, please share!!

Jennifer Lynne of Porcelynne Design Collective

San Francisco Incubator Jennifer Lynne was featured in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about how she converted her lingerie boutique into a designer co-op. Her cooperative is Porcelynne Design Collective. A co-op is a great way to share space and expenses. Here's an excerpt from the article explaining what a co-op is.

What is a co-op?

There are several different kinds of cooperative businesses:

--  Worker cooperatives, where employees own and govern the business.

--  Producer cooperatives, where people who make a certain kind of product band together to market their goods.

--  Consumer cooperatives, which are owned by people who buy the goods or use the services of the company.

--  Purchasing cooperatives, where small businesses or government entities band together to improve their purchasing power.

Get Over Your Obsession with Your IP & Build a Community

Is intellectual property ("IP") the only "product" we create now in America?  Before I get a barrage of emails from US manufacturers, that is a rhetorical question. I ask it primarily to get your attention and because sometimes I feel the focus on IP and its value is extreme. I suspect this is because people don't truly understand it. So, they "err on the side of caution" and preclude others from using anything they think is "theirs." It may be a color, a shape, a word, or an idea. It may even be something that the alleged owner blasted via email. 

An author I know recently hit me with such a preclusion. I used to subscribe to her email newsletter because I thought she had good business insight that might be valuable to my clients. I have promoted her openly and at no charge for several months. I have even given her books as gifts at times. Needless to say, she has gotten a lot more value from me than the $15.00 or so I spent on her book. That's why I was surprised to see her request to remove my blog posts referencing her book and newsletter. I included links to her website, her book and her contact information, intending to help her drive more traffic. I mistakenly thought she, too, was a believer in the power of collaboration and connection. 

I am saddened by her attitude, but I again chalk this up to misunderstanding of IP law. I presume she believes I have plagiarized her work and worries this somehow reduces the value of her purported IP. She apparently forgot her days of writing term papers and why we use citations in our writing. Still, considering the bulk of bad information in the world, I can understand. I will follow The Four Agreements and take nothing personally. (By the way, Don Miguel Ruiz, I hope you don't mind me referencing your book and promoting you FOR FREE.) 

In short, if you're obsessing over excluding others from sharing your work with potential customers you might not otherwise reach, perhaps you should reconsider. Exclusivity excludes, and you may exclude someone who would otherwise be among your greatest fans and advertisers. I know one author who has lost me.

Ladies Who Launch Fashionably

Since the call out to members to send press links, I have received a lot in the past couple days. I will try to organized by specialty.  This post is for fashion so you bookmark this for future holiday shopping.

Beth Whiffen from Santa Monica sent a press link to where her shoe store, Il Primo Passo,  was featured in a slideshow on iVillage.

Salt Lake City Incubator, Cheryl Forester, apparel and accessories designer and co-founder of Cherella USA was just featured on ABC’s local affiliate in Salt Lake City in a segment called “Chic on a Shoestring: Winter Coats." Appropriate timing as the weather continues to get chillier! http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=76918@video.ktvx.com

Toronto Incubator, Christa Jean, Blogger/Stylist & Petite Fashion Expert, calls herself a Petite Fashionista at 5’2” and offers fashion tips to women under 5’4”. She recently did an interview on SHAW TV in Winnipeg, giving some tips for dressing the petite frame.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ijo_O_w3UU&feature=related.  She also went shopping with Stiletto Jungle at Banana Republic to select her picks for petites for the holiday season.

Lori Tel is the creator of Gigglefish. Gigglefish is a hip, eco-friendly online destination where each groovy-cool green gift gives twice - once to the recipient and again to our planet. Products are made by people who give back to their community or the planet in awesome ways, and Gigglefish gives a percentage of sales to a fund focused on saving our oceans. In a live interview on Good Day Sacramento Lori shows a few of her eco-friendly Gigglefish gifts.  Also, her company is featured in The Lohasian, which is one of the premiere green living informational sites!    

Multitasker's Downfall

New York Incubator member Ann Marie Segaric is a career coach and she gives advice to multitaskers in Monday's amNY article, "Multitaskers’ Downfall".  Here is Ann Marie's advice:  

"I never hear the word 'multitasking' until someone is overwhelmed," said Annemarie Segaric, a career coach at Segaric.com.

"Multitasking is a buzz word that no one seems to do particularly well, because going back and forth between unrelated projects just consumes more mental energy, is never an efficient use of time and just creates a chaotic mind-set."

A stray text message or phone call can be a welcome diversion. However, a continuous back-and-forth between current projects and communication devices has the potential for project mix-ups, failed deadlines and drained energy.

"It's best to carve out different times in your schedule to answer the bulk of your messages. It keeps you focused," Segaric said. "The night before or [at] the beginning of your workday ... map out your priorities, determine how long each will take and what time would be best to carry them out."

Also, make sure your multitasking isn't a mask for procrastination. Segaric advises "putting the energy you would have wasted on avoidance tactics on how good you'll feel once the project is finished."

Victoria Colligan Named Crain's Cleveland 40 Under 40

Yay! Ladies Who Launch Co-Founder Victoria Colligan was named one Crain's Cleveland "40 Under 40".

Here's an excerpt of the article, but click through to see the video of Victoria Colligan.

The woman-owned businesses, she found, were started as much to change the entrepreneur’s lifestyle as to build an empire. For example, she noted, “Women will moderate the growth of the business because (they are raising) small children.”

As a result, the women entrepreneurs were learning about being business owners differently than men.

“These women were not reading traditional business publications or joining traditional networking groups,” Ms. Colligan said. “We thought there was a need to create content and opportunities for networking for women launching businesses that had more of a lifestyle purpose.”

She started with her newsletter and eventually teamed up with Beth Schoenfeldt, Ladies Who Launch’s co-founder, who was developing an incubator concept to offer businesswomen workshops and coaching. Today, that newsletter and the workshops are key parts of Ladies Who Launch, a national organization with franchises in nearly 50 cities helping women balance their businesses with other aspects of their lives.

Last spring, Ms. Colligan and Ms. Schoenfeldt, with co-author Amy Swift, turned their business into a book, “Ladies Who Launch: Embracing Entrepreneurship & Creativity as a Lifestyle.”

While she started her business in New York, Ms. Colligan, raised in Pepper Pike, returned to Northeast Ohio in 2002 as she began thinking about where her two young

daughters would be going to school. She realized she wanted them to attend Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, where she had gone, so she and her

husband Owen, a co-founder and managing partner of Rockwood Equity Partners LLC, moved to Cleveland. Their businesses maintain offices in both cities.

Margey Lowery, who joined Ladies Who Launch as a franchisee a year ago and now owns franchises for Cleveland, Akron and Columbus, works closely with Ms. Colligan.

“I found Victoria very creative — she always has great ideas,” Ms. Lowery said. “She’s on the cutting edge in how women communicate with each other.”

Fashion Tips From Susan Sommers of Dresszing

Susan Sommers of DressZing offers fashion tips on her website and newsletter.

PEARL JAM
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. At this time of year, my thoughts turn gratefully to all of you whom I've had the privilege of being associated with. Thank you for letting me be part of your life. Because "What jewelry should I own?" is one of the questions I'm constantly asked, I decided to talk about my favorite jewels, which I think are always right for every taste, job, industry or occasion: pearls.
Here's why:    

• Pearls never go out of style
• They're available at every price point
• They don't have to be real
• Depending on how you wear or pair them, they can be sporty or dressy
• They flatter every skin tone
• They come in all sizes and lengths
• They're extremely versatile

I received my first pair of cultured pearls when I graduated college and each pearl was 8 mm, or medium-sized. Because I viewed them as special, I rarely wore them, and that was a shame because pearls become more lustrous with wear.  Many years later I began treating them less reverently. In the 80s, I would pile faux pearls on and wear my real pearls with them. I often still do that 20 years later, varying the lengths and sizes, even mixing them with gold chains or lengths of chain and other stones.

Fun, Healthy, Delicious Food – Can You Really Have it All?

by Sahar Aker, FatFighterTV.com blog - Fitness. Food. Fun.

Is there really such a thing as food that is fun, healthy, and delicious? So many people think grub that’s good for you automatically takes all the fun out of eating. After all, healthy food can’t possibly taste good, can it? Of course it can! 

I have been busy gathering some ideas for fun, healthy, delicious foods to share with you. If you have kids, these are recipes I think they’ll like too. And here’s another bonus – they are all easy to make:

•    Have you seen those “Flatout Mini” soft wraps? I love these! They are small-size wraps that are low in calories, convenient, and very versatile. Try this easy recipe – all you need are the wraps, cooking spray, Mrs. Dash, and Parmesan cheese. Cut each wrap into 16 wedges and place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little Mrs. Dash and a bit of Parmesan. Bake at 350-degrees for about ten minutes or until lightly brown and crisp.

•    Fruit kabobs – This is a fun alternative to a plain old bowl of fruit. Just pick a few of your favorites – maybe apples, pineapple, bananas - and cut them into chunks. Slide the fruit onto a skewer. Next, roll the skewer in a plate of nonfat yogurt… then roll again in a plate of shredded coconut. Voila! A fun, healthy, delicious snack!

•    Sandwich kabobs - Cut whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese, and your favorite deli meat into cubes. Slide them onto skewers along with some veggies like grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and olives. Dip into fat-free or low-fat Italian dressing.

•    For a quick mini-pizza, top an English muffin (go for the whole grain ones) with spaghetti sauce and a little shredded low-fat mozzarella. Broil until the cheese melts.

•    Pop a frozen waffle or pancake into the toaster and top it with warm applesauce and cinnamon. Too easy, huh?

•    Freeze some grapes, bananas, cherries, or maybe peaches and blend with yogurt for a fruit smoothie.

•    Yogurt pops – fill paper cups with your favorite non-fat or low-fat yogurt and put a popsicle stick in each cup. Freeze and enjoy!

•    Creamy Coolwich (from Nabisco World) - put 2 tablespoons of sugar free Cool Whip in between graham cracker squares. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for three hours or until firm. Yum!

•    Blueberry Cracker Bites (from Kraft Foods) – spread 1 teaspoon light cream cheese on a reduced-fat Ritz cracker and top with 5 frozen blueberries. Too fun!

So, you see – healthy foods can be fun and delicious. Check out more recipes here.

Now, I am a firm believer that the key to a successful, healthy lifestyle is to choose fun good-for-you foods and exercises when you can.  It’s a tough enough fight out there whether you’re trying to lose or maintain weight. But enjoying the journey is half the battle.