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Small Business

Fluke or Traction?

Do you ever have trouble discerning whether you've just received a lucky break or that all of your hard work is amounting to this stroke of kismet? A friend of mine used the expression, "The harder I work, the luckier I get," which answers that question for me....

Virginia Kraljevic – A Most Abundant Artist

"There's no such thing as competition. There's so much abundance out there," said Virginia Kraljevic as our most ample conversation wound down. Her attitude didn't surprise me. Her drawings reflect someone whose heart is wide open and flourishing. Virginia is my...

Stop Waiting for Permission!

I gave a talk early this morning to a group of business owners. The feedback I got was so uplifting and motivating that I decided I need to bring my message to a larger audience. "I should post videos of me sharing my experience, strength and hope to the masses -...

Know What an FFT Is?

If you're a Brené Brown fan, it's likely you do know. If not, how did you feel reading the title of this post? My typical thought pattern would be something like this: Who wants to learn ANOTHER acronym? No, and I don't really care! Well, if _______ is talking...

Why I Hate Learning

Every day this month, well since January 6th, has been unprecedented. It's hard to know what to do in light of our country's events and uncertaintly of what's ahead. I'm disturbed, anxious and tentative. That said, I also feel that my best contribution is to take...

Running on Empty?

How do YOU stay inspired, motivated, actively engaged? Never in my lifetime has that been more challenging than right now. I don't have to review for you all the reasons why. My question to you is, what can YOU do to keep your engine running and, dare I say,...

Do You Need to Know That NOW?

Years ago I was invited to address a group of out-placed executives who were considering entrepreneurship. I was the resident expert that day and was joined, in our circle, by a professor of entrepreneurship from a nearby university. One of the attendees asked how...

Baby Steps Reminder

If you're anything like me, you've got a juicy list of to-do's for 2021. And, if you're like me, you already feel behind. Aagh! Sorry about that contagious not-quite-good-enough gene. Sorry about mentioning contagion in the current environment... This is a reminder...

My Word for 2021 – Just Like Bergdorf Goodman’s

If the great city I live in is going to the trouble of providing a decorated tree, and retail stores are filling their windows with special displays for passers-by, the least I can do is be a witness. So last week, I hit the train and made a quick tour of...

Don’t Blame Me for 2020!

My choice for a Word of the Year in 2020 was TRANSITION (see last year's optimistic blog post). How prophetic was that? None of us knew in December 2019 what lay ahead. All those 20/20 metaphors for vision, the beginning of a new decade, this generation's form of...

An Invaluable Conversation with Donna Cash

I've been around long enough as a business owner to know this truth: trading money for expertise is a smart move. I hired Donna Cash last week to tell me all the secrets of the pillow industry, and did she deliver! We met by zoom, of course, as she is in Georgia,...

Discovering Saskia

What began as a way to fill an 8-hour day ended up being a rewarding, uplifting and satisfying adventure. I was at an intersection between my kitchen renovation completion and a rare day with no appointments on the calendar. My home studio is currently inoperable,...

Pillow Talk – Perfecting the Product

My Etsy shop opened a few weeks ago, and I've already quadrupled my prices. Considering the time and aesthetics that go into each design, I know that my pillows will have to be bought as art, not home dec. They bring beauty and style to any room they grace and are...

Artist, Coach Thyself!

I had a blinding flash of the obvious last week when one of my mastermind trio suggested I apply my well-seasoned coaching skills to my own new venture: creating one-of-a-kind penny rug pillows and wall-hangings. As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh!" Somehow, I had...

Scarlett’s Web(site) Suggestion

I wrote about my skepticism over an idea Scarlett, my image consultant, made when I showed her my new artist's page back in July. She said something like, "It would be very cool if you could duplicate those images with current ones of your penny rug designs and you...

A GIFT FOR YOU

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