“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
-Winston Churchill
You can too!
Johanna
And: Thank you! to Together be Happy – “the happiness movement” on facebook for spreading the pic.
Watch me! October 1, 2011
Business Going South… or Not. September 30, 2011
Back in September two years ago, right before leaving my full time job – with a vision but without a clear strategy in mind – I signed up for the following April Mighty Ventures workshop called “CEO Freedom Formula” with Christine Comaforde. By the time the event was about to happen it had changed name to “7 Figure Business Summit”. Not quite there yet – but working on it…
In the introduction Christine played a sequence from the Underpants Business presented by South Park Studios. (You can click and play).
You know – sometimes magic can happen – and most of the time, it is really good to have a plan. These were the top level 7 steps worked through during the weekend:
1. Motivation Why – Endgame – Condition of Fulfillment
2. Model Perfect Market – Product Path- Plan
3. MVPs Most Valuable People – Internal & External – Self Assessment/Recruitment
4. Money Capital Acquisition Strategy – Pitch – Timing – 5 Revenue Streams
5. Momentum Needle Movers – Tangeable Plan – Annual and 90 Days
6. Mentor Info + Implementation help = Transformation
7. FIGURE BUSINESS
The content shared was great and put together in a neat way, including quite a few real smart tips you could implement right away. What I also got out of it was the connection with high quality entrepreneurs that I met, including my mentor since that date – a “MVP” for sure. And right now I am gathering more… fingers crossed for the Herringbone software, and the quite exciting prospective clients we are hopefully starting to work with. (You current ones, you know you are awesome!)
Do you have a plan?
Business coming from south is a much sweeter deal. To success!
Johanna
Femme Fatale September 29, 2011
Empowered…. well, we know that one size doesn’t fit all. It is always good to be multi faceted. And a little spice in your life doesn’t hurt…
The recipe for empowerment that Laura Guy spoke about in yesterday’s post can definitely bring an edge to the every day living. The edge that Stiletto Spy School brings is… quite different.
I had the pleasure of meeting Alana Winter, the founder and CEO of Stiletto Spy School at an entrepreneur event in San Francisco last year. These are the key rules provided on her business card:
The Moscow Rules
- Assume nothing.
- Never go against your gut.
- Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
- Don’t look back; you are never completely alone.
- Go with the flow, blend in.
- Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
- Lull them into a sense of complacency.
- Don’t harass the opposition.
- Pick the time and place for action.
- Keep your options open
Read her story how her business started as a whisper and turned into a roar. Her mission is to enable women to take control of their lives once and for all, now coming up on their 3 year anniversary of Stiletto Spy School.
“At Stiletto Spy School, it isn’t just the experience you’ll remember. Achieving goals at Spy School is similar to achieving goals in business and life. You will take away skills you likely would never have learned that will translate to your everyday life:
From mind-blowing defensive tactics to high-speed stunt driving; from master mixology to seductive dance, you’ll learn all the skills you need to rock a gown and take a bad guy down – and without breaking a nail.”
Special deal for the 3 year anniversary event if you sign up by tomorrow. It’s in Vegas baby 😉 – have fun! Release Your Inner Femme Fatale! Doesn’t quite fit my schedule – but I think I have found an alternative…
It’s time to shake and stir that routine!
Johanna
Empowered to Win September 28, 2011
Laura Guy
What does “EMPOWERED” mean to you?
A very good friend of mine, Laura Guy, entered The WE Conference™ Essay Contest on that topic, and has been announced the winning submission. This is her full essay:
“Thank you for the opportunity to consider what being empowered means to me. If you had asked me this question a year ago, my response would have mentioned values such as independence, education, financial freedom and physical well-being. I am a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from Panama to create a better life for themselves, me and my sister. Being independent, providing for ourselves, and bootstrapping our way from lower to middle class through hard work and rigorous education allowed my family to achieve a level of financial freedom that empowered us to live a safe, happy childhood where my sister and I felt protected and provided for. Add physical well-being to the list and I make up that one has all of the components to lead a beautiful, powerful life.
While I still think these values are important in feeling empowered, my recent year-long exploration of awakening to unconditional love offers a new definition. Today, I am more apt to choose values such as self-expression, self-acceptance and voluntary vulnerability. In learning to accept people the way they are and the way they aren’t and how to manage and accept my emotions on a daily basis, I know that true empowerment lies in being with what is.
Empowerment means I give myself space to be upset even if my bigger self feels the reason for my upset is petty. It means giving up being right, letting go of pretending and engaging in honest conversations with others about our commitments, whether they intersect or overlap or not. It means bravely announcing, “I failed! And I am still a leader.” And repeating it again and again. It means giving up independence for the adventure of partnership and playing the grander game of community.
What being empowered means to me: trading independence for vulnerability; trading financial freedom for a willingness to receive; trading knowing and being right for the unknown and negotiation. Overall, sounds like a great new way of being to me.”
I would say – those elements would not only bring empowerment but also would make life very rich and vibrant on a different level. What is empowered to you?
Congratulations Laura! Attorney at Google, entrepreneur, Co-Founder Fearless Women Entrepreneurs, awesome singer, dog owner, great friend… thanks for inpiration and food for thought.
To empowerment!
Johanna
Home, Sweet Home – Twilight Zone September 27, 2011
Back in San Francisco, back in business. It is a wonderful city to visit… if you do – be prepared to be drawn into an alternative way of living… it’s not like everywhere else. 😉
I am sure there is room for you to join, and kick butt in the play ground. I just had the first addition join the Herringbone team, Anna Sandgren – that is worth celebrating!
Let’s have fun,
Johanna
Kaleidoscope Heart September 26, 2011
All the colors
Of the rainbow
Hidden ‘neath my skinHearts have colors
Don’t we all know?
Red runs through our veinsFeel the fire burning up
Inspire me with blood
of blue and greenI have hope
Inside is not a heart
But a kaleidoscope
A prelude to the next concert with my a cappella group Keeva, November 11, 2011. Location TBD. [Update: 7-9pm, Unity SF, 2222 Bush St at Fillmore, San Francisco, CA see facebook invite for details.]
Bringing in the symbolism of colors… I wish us all a kaleidoscope heart, filled with growth, abundance, prosperity, hope and playful vibrant green life, blue ability to communicate one’s deepest truths; red physical energy, passion, courage, power, will, and desire – and of course abundant love.
That would be the kaleidoscope of my choice, for all of us.
I have hope,
Johanna
Well, actually – I have expectations. Life is too short not to have a kaleidoscope heart.
Light Will Guide You Home August 3, 2011
July 22, 2011. A day we will never forget. A day that made us all feel like Norwegians.
July 23, 2011. A day that made it even worse. When we understood the scope of it all. And couldn’t understand at all.
That day I went to Katrineholm in Sweden, for a unplugged concert with Anna Bergendahl. Sending love to Norway, she sang this song: “Fix you”. This Sunday she was in the morning news and performed the same song that I just found on Tv4 Play. Read more and play it here.
“Light will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.”
Music heals. Music moves. When you feel sad, sorrow… or happy. Music can change the world, because it can change people.
If this will impact just one of you who reads or listens in a positive way – that would make me happy.
Light will guide you home,
Johanna
http://embed.tv4play.se/tv4play/v0/tv4video.swf?vid=1838476
I am sharing this song because I think it is beautiful, and beautifully sang by an artist I think who’s journey you would enjoy to follow from the early years. The only piece I would remove is the “fix you” part. I don’t think anyone need or should be “fixed”. But that is a minor detail. It is just the name of the song…
Londoners: What are you listening to? July 10, 2011
Coming back to Sweden and being able to listen to Spotify made me ask around for friends music favorites. I can’t say that I got a whole lot of input. Sometimes it is like that. If you are really curious, and if you really are looking for inspiration or an answer to something – keep looking, keep asking. Ask people you wouldn’t normally ask. You may be surprised. You may get an answer you absolutely did not expect. You may get a very different perspective. You may get to know a different side of the person you are asking.
Listen to the answers people gave in London – would you have expected?
I am just saying: Music rock, ABBA rock, you rock. Go find whatever answer you are looking for. The one who searches he shall find…
Enjoy the process 😉
Johanna
Londoners: What are you listening to?
Coming back to Sweden and being able to listen to Spotify made me ask around for friends music favorites. I can’t say that I got a whole lot of input. Sometimes it is like that. If you are really curious, and if you really are looking for inspiration or an answer to something – keep looking, keep asking. Ask people you wouldn’t normally ask. You may be surprised. You may get an answer you absolutely did not expect. You may get a very different perspective. You may get to know a different side of the person you are asking.
Listen to the answers people gave in London – would you have expected?
I am just saying: Music rock, ABBA rock, you rock. Go find whatever answer you are looking for. The one who searches he shall find…
Enjoy the process 😉
Johanna
The World of Music June 16, 2011
YEAY! Got my Spotify back playing again. Can’t wait for it’s launch in the US.
So, in the world of music – with 13 million tracks to choose from – which one would you love to play? I.e. which one would you add to my Summer 2011 playlist?
Music is joy. Wanna give me some? 😉 I might be able to share it… I know you are supposed to be able to… The playlist that is.
My Spotify is right now playing Crazy by Seal from the album Live in Paris. Do you agree that:
“In a world full of people, only some want to fly,
Isn’t that crazy?But, we’re never gonna survive
unless we get a little crazy…”?
If so, what will you do today that is a little, just a little, unreasonable? 😉
Bring it on. Enjoy,
Johanna
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