I refuse to do what I love most

“I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and say to myself "well, that's not going to happen”
― Rita Rudner

I'm huge on telling people to do what they love as their career.  I'm constantly coaching and trying to find opportunities for people to follow their dreams.  I advise jaded workers to find a passion project that they can put time toward, because it will bring them a balanced happiness and can transfer positivity and opportunity into their every-day career.  

But here's a secret: I do not do what I love most as a career.

Am I a hypocrite?  

Or am I on to something?

My second year living away from home while attending college, I received a phone call from my mom.  She told me that I should just move home and she'd help me start a catering company.  There you have it: I LOVE to cook.  I quickly shot that idea down and kept working toward my degree, which at that point was probably pre-law, or entomology, or communications.  The truth was, I wasn't interested in giving up my future as a lawyer who wrote press releases about her newest insect discovery, or whatever I was working to be.  I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew what I didn't want to be.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1751577/redesigning-food-trucks

Catering might have been a good fit for me as a career.  I've "catered" many a dinner party, large event, and even wedding for family and friends.  But to cook for strangers, to have to take classes on the proper use of the proper utensil and how to properly julienne and chop and dice... that didn't interest me.  I don't follow recipes, so most things I make aren't able to be reproduced.  My understanding of cooking comes from an innate understanding of portions and proportions.  I know what ratios to make whatever bread or pasta or soup or anything.  But as a career?  It didn't work in my mind, unless I could operate a food truck.  And then only maybe.

I enjoy cooking.  I make, mostly from scratch, about 10 meals a week.  I don't buy pre-packaged foods; I buy produce and meat and staple items and combine them to make whatever I want.  I get inspiration from cookbooks, but use the recipe as a guideline, barely.  I recreate foods I have in restaurants.  I make most of my creations by looking at a picture of pleasant-looking food and guessing. 

That is not how you operate a business.

I have a feeling that being a chef or caterer or anything relating to food would make me hate cooking.  I spent time as a teen working in fast food, and helped open a restaurant early in my career, but to actually devote my life's work to cooking just feels wrong.  It feels suffocating.  It feels uninspired.  I flirt with the line between cooking being a passion and work with one of my developing companies, but it's less cooking and more recipe development.  That's not cooking to me.

I do what I love every day.  I help businesses succeed.  I teach people how to operate their business and turn their dreams into profit.  And in doing that, I achieve my dreams and have success.  

I save my top passion for me. 

 I keep cooking as what I do for my family, or for my creativity, or for my relaxation.  And everyone should have something that they do, aside from work, that is just for that purpose.

So no, I'm not a hypocrite.  I truly believe that each of us need something that we love more than our job.  Something different from our families and relationships.  Something that is just ours.  And sure, we can share it with others, but they don't have to like it.  They won't always.   And that's okay, because it's just for you.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

The effects of a violent city on business

The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it.

--Bill Cosby

On May 30th, I got to sit in on a Google Hangout with Search for the Common Good and Cure Violence about "A Cure for Urban Violence."

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I moved to Saginaw over four years ago.  Before I moved here, my boyfriend laid out a map of where I was allowed to go and where I could go between 9am and 3pm, and where I could never go.  Let's go back a little further, to the early/mid 1980s where I grew up: South Bend, Indiana.  Coming to Saginaw in 2010 was much like being in South Bend in the 1980's - gang and general violence run rampant.  My tiny 500 square foot house where I spent a good chunk of my childhood was smack dab in the middle of one of the most violent neighborhoods.  Gangs traveled by rail lines from Chicago and Detroit to South Bend, right by my house.  Shootings, robberies, arson, and stabbings were an every-day occurrence where I grew up.  Fast forward almost 30 years to present-day Saginaw.  Last year, Saginaw was ranked 3rd most violent city per capita in the US.

Up until early this year, I didn't think of how the violence that exists here affected me.  Yes, I was told certain places and neighborhoods were off-limits, but honestly, my neighborhood in Saginaw doesn't see the level of violence that exists in others.  I had become blissfully unaware and disconnected to the violence that was happening in nearby neighborhoods and to our community members.  It wasn't until I saw Gary Slutkin's TED talk about treating it like a contagious disease that I gave my ability to impact the violence a thought.

http://www.myspeakupspeakout.com/saginaw-residents-plead-for-end-to-gun-violence/

Since seeing that talk earlier this year, I have reached out local decision-makers and influential residents to see how I could become involved.  With my history in public health and my person interest in the spread of contagious disease, the Cure Violence plan made sense, and I saw how it could positively impact my new home - the place that I have learned to love.  I see so much positive potential in Saginaw, and knew that I needed to reach out to more people.

The cost to business owners operating in a violent city is huge.  

Robberies, shootings, stabbings, police brutality and mismanagement of situations can ruin a business owner's livelihood.  Let me rephrase: something completely unrelated to your business operations can shut your business down immediately.  I don't know about you, but I haven't planned for that in my business.  I don't have a storefront or an office besides my home that I operate out of, but I know plenty of locals who do.

Realistically speaking, you can't plan for that.  You can't prevent violence from shutting your doors.  

So what can you, a business owner do? 

Advocate.  Be active in your community violence plan.  Support models like Cure Violence.  Maybe it wouldn't work for Saginaw, but SOMETHING WILL.  And that is how we plan for it.  That's how we prevent it from happening to us, or our neighbor, or our favorite business; we work together, in the community, with the community, to develop a way to minimize it.

Gangs are a form of community.  If you take the crime and violence out of the equation, gangs are not a bad thing.  They're not scary; they are a way for those who feel like outsiders to fit in.  To have a family.  Gangs are not the problem.  Crime and violence is the problem. 

So what would happen if we built better communities?  

What would happen if we pitched in and took care of each other and our interests?  

What if we stopped having "self interests" and had "community-focused interests?"  

Do you think that would help to cure violence?
Leave me your thoughts below!

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

For liberty - the rights of businesses

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

--Benjamin Franklin

A few weeks ago, I was driving through a nearby neighborhood with my 8 year old, when he asked:

"Mom, what does 'give us back our America' mean?  Don't we already have our America?"  

It took me just a second to find his reference - a garage door painted like the flag with the wording written across it.  At this moment, I had a few options: try to explain politics as simply as possible to someone who is too young to understand and probably isn't interested, breeze over it as quickly as possible, or use it to teach a lesson.  Of course, I chose the latter...after I gave a brief political and historical lesson.

As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I see the effects of a lack of liberty and a change in laws that deeply affect our opportunities because they take rights away.  I'm not going to get into a big political conversation on here, but I want to point out a few things that business owners should be more aware of.

http://www.todaysgardencenter.com/sales-floor/displays-merchandising/small-business-saturday-use-these-resources-to-promote-your-business/

The lesson that I explained was about the benefits of shopping local or using local contractors.  

This is a real story of something happening locally: 

There is a stone wall that is in need of repair.  Company A, a local company, approached the wall owner a few years ago to offer their services in repairing the wall, but at that time there was no budget for the repair.  Last year, the funds were available and the job was put out to bid.  Company A was the only bidder in a public bid.  The wall owner decided not to move forward at that time.  In April, the wall owner decided to proceed and Company A once again bid the same amount.  Company B, a contractor from 2-1/2 hours away, underbid Company A since the bad last fall was public.  Company A is likely to lose the opportunity to do the work for the wall owner.

I explained this to my son and asked him how he felt.  His initial response was that since Company B bid the lowest that they should get the contract.  I took this opportunity to explain supporting local business.  I asked him where he thought the money earned by Company B would go.  He said that it would go wherever Company B was located.  I asked him where the money would go if Company A received the contract.  He understand that it would stay locally.  I then took it a step further.

One of our favorite restaurants is Olive Garden.  We patronize chain restaurants often, because sadly we don't have as many mom-and-pop type restaurants in our area.  I explained that when we eat at Olive Garden, they keep money locally to pay their employees, and to pay their taxes and overhead, then the profits go to the corporate office.  The food that they buy comes from a national company with greenhouses and farms outside of the area. "Well, where does the money go?" he asked.  After a quick search, I told him "Florida."  He didn't think that was fair.  He didn't like that his (my) money wasn't working locally.  It wasn't going to support local efforts and growth; instead, it went across the country to work in some other community.

I then took the chance to explain about a local farm-to-table restaurant that's opening this summer.  They will buy their in-season foods from local farms and companies.  They will employ all local people instead of bringing in upper-level leadership from out of the area.  They will funnel the money they have into the local economy.  Patronizing a restaurant like this helps our region more than eating at Olive Garden.

So what does this have to do with the rights of business? 

 Well, obviously the local decision makers are okay and supportive of franchise and out-of-the-area businesses coming in and pulling monies out of the region.  And the local businesses owners should be more vocal about this.  We should support each other, and patronize our local businesses.  And not just on "Small Business Saturday," but as often as possible.  Yes, I'll still eat at Olive Garden and shop at Kroger, but whenever it is feasible, I'm going to go to Bradley's and shop at the farmer's market and local butcher shop.  We should also make sure that we're aware of the laws that our elected officials are supporting on our behalf.  We need to speak up and let them know how we feel about policy.  We need to advocate for our beliefs, because believe it or not, most politicians don't understand small business.

How do you contribute to local companies?  

Do you actively seek them out over national companies and franchises?  

Is this an important issue to you?

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Why does mental health matter to businesses

“Stigma's power lies in silence. The silence that persists when discussion and action should be taking place. The silence one imposes on another for speaking up on a taboo subject, branding them with a label until they are rendered mute or preferably unheard.”
― M.B. Dallocchio

Here are a few facts about me:  

I lost my brother to suicide nearly 10 years ago.  I have volunteered in suicide prevention and mental health for the past 7 years.  I have been a psychology and public health student for 12 years now.  I suffer from social anxiety, PTSD, and bouts of depression.  In short, I know a thing or two about mental health and mental illness.

Mental illness is important in business.  

Employers are slowly realizing this as fact, and are slowly trying to incorporate policies and plans to support employees.  Health insurance plans, thanks to the Mental Health Parity Act, are starting to treat mental health coverage similar to coverage for other chronic conditions.  Locally, one of my health care partners, Family and Children's Services of Mid-Michigan, recently wrapped up a "Stomp out the Stigma" campaign for May's Mental Health Awareness Month.  The campaign brought business professionals throughout Midland County together to campaign for better mental health in our region.

http://dialog.studentassociation.ca/index.php/mental-illness-the-power-of-stigma/

There are fairly disgusting statistics in our country based on mental health problems in various industries.  I, having worked with small and large companies throughout the country, have seen the causes and effects of mental health issues and how they are handled.  I see plenty of room for improvement, but starting that conversation with businesses and individuals is not an easy one.  There's still stigma attached; people feel that the PC way to approach mental illness is to not approach it at all.

Treating mental health and mental illness as a taboo topic is not helping.  Treating the brain separate from the body causes and perpetuates stigma.  Companies can help to support their employees by receiving training on how to help them with mental illnesses.  There are screening programs that can help companies with assessing potential problems so that plans can be established.  There are ways to involve community health programs to bring services directly to employees who need it.  Mental health awareness events should be the norm throughout the year for businesses.  And employees should be comfortable talking about their issues with trusted people.

This ideas really feeds into my ideas and plans for building community.  

One of the statistics that stands out to me is the amount of time people spend at work to other countries, especially tribal communities where mental illness mostly a non-issue.  If people are expected to spend 1/3 of their waking hours for at least 5 days out of the week, there needs to be more opportunities for a supportive community.  Mental health awareness should be a part of corporate culture.  If it doesn't, we can't fix the problems associated with mental illness.  If it doesn't, we can't sufficiently have a supportive system to help with mental illness.  If it doesn't, we run the risk of our friends and family members not having the support they need in an environment where they spend nearly 95,000 hours of their lifetime.  And that shouldn't be acceptable anymore.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Another one bites the dust

Founder's Syndrome: a difficulty faced by many organizations where one or more founders maintain disproportionate power and influence following the effective initial establishment of the project, leading to a wide range of problems for both the organization and those involved in it.  - Wikipedia

Earlier this year, I was tasked with helping a start-up nonprofit gain some ground so that they could meet their goals.  They had been meeting as a board for nearly a year and hadn't had much progress.  No fundraising had been done.  No press releases were sent out.  Few locals knew about the organization.  It sounded like a great opportunity to be a part of something big, and I jumped at the chance to turn things around.  I knew I was the right person for the job.  And then, I found out why there was a lack of progress:  the founder was calling all the shots, and the blind was leading the blind.

Step 1: 

 I found out quickly after my contract was signed that there was no funding, no bylaws, and no business or marketing plan.  I found out after that that while the Articles of Incorporation were approved, they hadn't submitted said bylaws or a list of board members to the state, which may have been problematic.  Then I found out that the board of directors were not big players from the community, rather they were a hodge podge of friends of the founder's with varying levels of prior board experience, from none to minimally involved.  Oh, and on top of this, the founder and blind board decided that they were going to throw a gala-level event in 6 weeks as their first fundraiser and had spread that information to the few people in the community that knew about the organization.  Add that all up together, and you have a recipe for disaster.

http://shirahime.ch/2011/08/the-founder-syndrome-or-for-some-ethical-fashion-businesses-surviving-means-failing/

Step 2:  

I made a game plan.  Within 2 weeks, I had established a business plan, marketing plan, bylaws, policies and procedures, and had selected my first staff member.  I had secured 3 television interviews, a newspaper article, and several major meetings in the community.  I planned sponsorship and donor levels, ticket prices, and a budget for the over-the-top event.  I attempted to teach the board members about how to raise funds and gain support.  And then I did the most important, and telling, step of all, I informed the board chair that her involvement with the organization might be a conflict of interest and she had two options: step down as chair or run the organization as a for-profit business.

Step 3:  

Within the next month, I realized how little control I had over where the organization was going.  The founder stepped down, but still believe she was owed credit and notoriety, and treated the board of directors as puppets.  When I received several emails and phone calls about developing a "management plan" for the founder, I knew that the organization was going down the toilet.  Just two weeks prior to the gala event, the board voted to cancel.  And then shit hit the fan.  The founder erupted into a crazy mess, shooting off angry emails, phone calls, text messages, and Facebook messages.  The option of having the business run like a business went out the window.  She tried to rescind her resignation as board chair, she tried to get her boyfriend on the board of directors, she bullied and harassed those who were her friends, and me, about her slighted feelings.

Step 4:  

After the true colors were shown and the board realized that the founder would always want absolute control, they decided that it was not ethical for the organization to continue as a nonprofit, and left the option to continue as a for-profit to the founder.  The board were (mostly) innocent bystanders - friends who truly wanted to do good for the community.  Friends who blindly followed a misled leader.  People who saw their time squandered away for months upon months by meetings that didn't amount to a hill of beans.  Most of them saw the big picture; how huge the organization could be for the community.  And so they did the only thing that they felt was right: dissolved the nonprofit.  Pissed away all of their efforts.  After just three months of a roller coaster with what could have been an amazing organization, I was left with nothing: no pay, no work, and no business, all because of founder's syndrome.

What did I learn from this experience?  

Most of all - know who you are going to be working with.  Had I done more research, I would have known that no amount of work could have fixed the issues that existed with the board and founder.  I would have found out that when someone is so blissfully ignorant about realistic business ideas and goals, that you can't convince them that they won't work.  I would have known that even the best business or nonprofit coach in the world couldn't turn around the nonprofit of someone who was doing it for all of the wrong reasons; selfish reasons at that.  


Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Just a soliloquy

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
― Jack Kerouac

Once upon a time -

I decided to write down my thoughts, ideas, and plans.  I decided to change my inner monologue, soliloquy, into a conversation.  Maybe I'm the only one who reads it.  Maybe it is just a conversation with myself, or maybe I have the potential to reach a larger audience.  When a person first starts putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys, they don't know how wide their potential reach is.  Who knows what will become of my journal writings and stories?

For at least 15 minutes every day, I make it a point to write.  Some of those writings go here, others get hidden away for my eyes only, and some of those writings are being cataloged for a book I'm working on.  Most days, the words come easily.  I write what I know.  Sometimes, though, I decide to do something I typically dread: creative writing.  I like to think of myself as a thorough technical writer, so creative writing is foreign and uncomfortable.

http://garima82.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/writing/

This summer, I plan to punch out 1000 word chapters.  This summer, I plan to publish an ebook and work toward a larger print book.  This summer, I hope to get enough of a manuscript to submit to a publisher.  This summer, I plan to find a magazine, blog, or other periodical to get published in.  This summer, my goal is to make writing a larger focus of my life, and business.

For me, writing is a release.  Writing is empowering.  The written word is impressive and finite and clear.   Spoken words can be censored and grey.  They can be wishy-washy and undefined.  Maybe it's the introvert in me that prefers the written word over the spoken, but maybe that's why I can effectively communicate through text.  Yes, I communicate just fine with the spoken word, but things become clear with written word.  Even better when I am given the opportunity to combine the two.

How often do you write?  

Does it come easily, or is it a chore?

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur

Looking forward, looking back

“Study the past if you would define the future.”
― Confucius

June is a fun time for my business: a time of reflection and planning.  I run my fiscal year the same as a calendar year, but June kicks off the planning process for the next year.  I start off the month by looking at progress markers so far in the year, compare year-to-date from the prior year, adjust the remaining goals of the year, and start to lay down my plans for the next year.  This isn't a quick process, and my next-year planning normally takes most of the summer.

With my hands in so many projects, reflection and planning are absolutely necessary for my success and sanity.  I just wrapped up a long-term contract and am feeling out a few opportunities for another.  I have a handful for short-term projects and need to keep feeding that pipeline.  

Sound familiar?

I don't feel that any of this is unique.  On top of the typical day-to-day, I maintain sufficient time for my passion projects - my nonprofits and in-development business projects.  I'm at a point, here in June 2014, to make big leaps and moves in 2015.  I have a business that is in the market sample/research stage, and could likely reach production and distribution early in 2015.  I have a nonprofit that will officially come to fruition after four years of work.  I have another nonprofit that may or may not move forward in this calendar year, and may or may not need a change of venue.  If I didn't revisit my plans, I couldn't stay on top of all of these projects.

Starting in September, I bring an intern into the mix.  This is exciting and both wonderful and horrible timing.  They get dropped into one of the biggest campaign seasons for the first nonprofit, right when I kick off no fewer than 4 major regional events in a week.  Right now, I'm trying to fit the intern into the workflow for the following 30 weeks.  If I didn't take time now to revisit my plans, I would shortchange their learning experience.

http://pixelenemy.com/ask-the-community-what-games-are-you-most-looking-forward-to/

Looking forward, I see opportunity. 

For my consulting business, I'm rebooting a series of classes, workshops, and seminars, as well as integrating webinars and podcasting.  I see new ways to reach new markets, and ways to integrate what I do for the benefit of my region.  I have opportunities to influence more young entrepreneurial minds with a large keynote speaking opportunity, as well as speaking opportunities at more colleges and universities.  I have more opportunities to reach and inspire more start-ups and new innovative industry in the area.  Realistically, I'm planning for failure and seeing success.

Looking back, I see where I've come from.  

For my consulting business, I am failure-proofing my client relations after some tough lessons from the first half of this year.  I see where I took some big risks and saw too-little return.  I took every opportunity that I could, but didn't seek out as many opportunities as I should have.  I reached out to more people and tried to be more influential, and now I can say that I am a major influencer in my region.  That all happened so far in 2014.

I'm not one to spend a lot of time looking back, especially not with negativity.  I did enough of that in my 20s and learned several major lessons.  The biggest lesson I have learned and can teach others is: Do not ask what went wrong; ask what you can do differently.  This has changed the way I think about the past and the future.  Instead of focusing on negative experiences, I focus on learning experiences.  I work to failure-proof my business.  I share my victories with others through what I've learned by missing goals.  Oftentimes, I meet and exceed those goals instead.

Change your way of thinking; change your life.  Spend more time looking forward than backward; but know where you came from and learn from the past.  Share your experiences and learn from the experiences of others.   And most of all - take risks.

Nicole
The Restless Entrepreneur