Getting my Spark & Hustle
Monday, February 07, 2011 By: Shannon Wilburn

Getting my Spark & Hustle

So, I have to admit, after being in business since 1997, I thought I had a pretty good idea of most things "business".  However, after attending the first of 8 nationwide Spark & Hustle Conferences in Los Angeles this past week...I found out that I wasn't all that smart.  I was overwhelmed with all the real world knowledge and tactics that I learned to take Just Between Friends to more communities and families across the nation.

I wanted to share some of my insights from last week and hope that it will encourage you to, as Tory Johnson says, "get busy DOing and ACTing, not just the planning."

First off...the line up of speakers was amazing...not sure how I got to be a part, but I am amazed at these smart women (and a couple of men) and how they have turned their passions into profit.

Secondly, kudos to Tory Johnson for putting on this amazing event.  You are one awesome woman and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for empowering women across America! 

I am hoping that our 300,000+ customers across the JBF sisterhood will be able to take some of this advice and apply it to their life somehow!  Enjoy!

Jessica Herrin, founder of Stella & Dot (StellaDot.com), is a serial entrepreneur and is currently leading a 100 million dollar company (that she hopes will be a billion dollar company). 

     Make sure that what you are doing generates sales-everything else is procrastination

     Hobbies-you spend money: Business-You make money

     Stay Curious-listen to your customers

     Listen to Critics-listening to people who compliment you does you no good

     Envision Yourself with your "Best Case Scenario"

     Word of Mouth Advertising is created by two things: Being Irresistable and Delivering Value (GO JBF)

Jess Weiner, this generation's Go to Girl for self esteem and a Dove Real Beauty Ambassador. www.jessweiner.com

     One door closes and another opens

     Rejection is "NOT NOW"-not "NEVER"

     We are all pefectly IMPERFECT-we can have grace in accepting that

Marley Majcher, (ThePartyGoddess.com) helped us learn how to Price for Profit

     Activities need to produce specific results

     Ditch the dogs (lame activities) and replace with something that generates $$

     Watch those "forget me not" expenses (shipping, mileage, lunches, cell phone, parking)

     Track your time

Jack and Julie Nadel-65 successful years in business-This guy had a lot to say and I couldn't write fast enough. www.ideasthatmeanbusiness.com

     Business today is all about the three R's.  Relationships, Results and Rewards

     Trick to Negotiating-Find a way to give it to them (No one wins when attorneys get involved)

     Stress for Success-Look for the rainbow

Stacie Krajchir-Tom, founder www.TheBungalowpr.com, worked as a TV producer for 12 years (NBC, Extra and Style Network) and now empowers small businesses to gain national exposure.

     Show me what you are selling

     Where do you WANT to be featured?

     Understand your editor and the publication-spin the topic to that editor's section

     Follow up phone calls with an email

     Go regional before you go national

Honestly, each of the 20+ speakers had awesome insight, experience and tactics to put all of this great advice to work for you.  I loved every minute of it and feel like I have lots of new friends who will help Just Between Friends be the best that it can be for our customers. 

If YOU want to attend a Spark & Hustle event, visit www.sparkandhustle.com for dates and details, along with information on how to apply now for scholarship assistance. See more photos and feedback from the Los Angeles event at Facebook.com/Tory.

I loved this amazing event and wish that all my friends could attend.  If this has you thinking..."hmmmm....sounds like something that I would like", then please take a minute to check it out.  I have the privilege of getting to be at all of the upcoming conferences and I would love, love, love to meet you!

Tulsa, New York, Dallas, Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta- I'll see YOU there!

Here's to YOUR success!

Hugs, Shannon

 

 

 

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School's Almost Over as Working Moms Tremble
Monday, May 24, 2010 By: Shannon Wilburn

School's Almost Over as Working Moms Tremble
By Autumn Lew

If you're like me, you find yourself somewhere between euphoria and utter terror when thinking of summertime. It's wonderful that the care-free (kind of) summer days promise loads of fun. Yet, when you're a working mom, you are faced with the added challenge of "What do I do about the kids this summer?" thoughts that leave you feeling a bit uneasy. I have stay-at-home mom friends who talk about hanging in there till school's out so that their chaotic schedules will come to a welcomed close. Then they share plans of sleeping in weekdays and hanging out at the pool for days on end. Ahhhh....

I, on the other hand, experience the opposite feelings about the school year wrap-up. I feel that my carefully crafted school-year routine is about to collapse in shambles around me and want to cling to my kids' teachers skirts, crying "DON'T LEAVE ME!"

Don't get me wrong. I love summer--it's my favorite season! And I love all the summer fun things, like going to the pool, cook outs with friends, working in the garden, going for bike rides. But being a working mom means finding a way to meld the summertime fun into some semblance of a functioning work schedule too. My clients still need me (thankfully!) so I need to keep summer work hours while still helping to create a safe, event-filled time for the kids. My girls are going to a summer camp this year that lasts weekdays from 9am-4pm. I sure hope they enjoy it! They'll go to parks, the zoo, the pool...

I just wish I were going too! This is one of the compromises that comes with the working mom territory. But this year, I'm trying a new thing. I'm taking off Fridays at noon to go on "adventure days" with the kids. That's my plan anyway. As a working mom, what are some of the things you do to make summer work for your family? I would love to hear some ideas!

I hope that working moms out there find a way to find time away from your jobs--just a little bit. I hope that you are able to mix in some free time with the kids, find some moments to share together and make some memories. Perhaps you'll take that weekend away to a hotel on the other side of town--just to swim in the pool and get away from it all. Or maybe you'll take an afternoon or two off from work to surprise the kids with that trip to the new summer movie in 3-D or the ice cream shop for over-the-top banana splits with all the fixings! Whatever you do, my hopes are that you enjoy the time you DO have together! Let's make the most of our summers and the most of our time! After all, we're so blessed to have our kids for this short (yet long) time.

So blow up those floaties, scoop up the sundaes and bring on the fun!

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Top 9 Clues You are a Working Mom
Monday, May 03, 2010 By: Shannon Wilburn

Top 9 Clues You are a Working Mom

All moms work hard. There's no doubt about that! Being a mom that works outside (or inside) the home presents its own special set of challenges though, right? So here are my top 9 clues that you are a working mom!

Top 9 Clues YOU are a Working Mom

1. The floor hasn't seen a mop since your youngest was born. Don't get me started on the dusting...

2. It takes 2 weeks of extra work to carve out a day to go on the class field trip to the zoo.

3. If your breakfast won't fit in a cup, it doesn't happen.

4. Snow days send you into a panic.

5. No matter how important the meeting, you ALWAYS answer your cell when the school calls.

6. Your laptop has a Strawberry Shortcake or Spiderman sticker on it.

7. You send Christmas cards to the school lunch ladies...your secret heroes!

8. Somehow there's always a pack of fruit snacks and wet wipes in your briefcase.

9. You have a "Top 9 List" instead of a top 10 because one more thing would just send you over the edge....

Rock on, working moms!

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Working Mom Chooses PBJ Sandwiches over Awards
Thursday, April 22, 2010 By: Shannon Wilburn

Working Mom Chooses PBJ Sandwiches over Awards by Autumn Lew

We won't ever see that headline, will we? If the daily choices we made were published and we somehow could see our lives in headlines, I wonder how that would look and what it would it change...

For me, I found myself in an odd place last week. I went to a gathering of folks from my profession, a set of like-minded peers...somewhat. My "real job" is graphic design/branding/marketing (I design JBF marketing materials...did I mention that?). But as a designer who works independently, I find myself silo-ed off into my own world. And since having my two girls, I REALLY feel out of touch! Wow. How much I now DON'T know about the software alone fills many books indeed. I used to have this killer instinct that drove me to stay on the front lines and go after "the big one"--whatever that means. But now, I don't feel so much "killer" as "cuddler" and my drive is more like a neutral gear than anything else. Can I admit that and still be seen as employable?

But really...

When did that happen? Could it be that perhaps the things that matter to me most no longer spin in orbit around the graphic design world? As I listened to these peers speak last week, I found myself fluttering between feeling insanely out of touch and yet oddly curious. I used to care about these things! I used to be involved. I used to live and breath this stuff. My world is no longer quite so large...or could it be that my world is actually much bigger? Now I choose to be where I can walk my kids come home from school instead of in some impressive downtown office. I care more about washing Patrick the Stuffed Dog and Flower Blankie than I do about the latest fonts to hit the scene. Does that mean I'm not longer cutting edge?

I realized, after a day or two of feeling like a lost cause and talentless geek, that in the things that really DO matter most, I am in touch. In the lives of my family, I am a rock star. And isn't that the beauty of family? To my kids, I am an Award Winner! So as I pause to wonder if I am truly good at my profession...I think "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." (I'll leave that for my clients to decide). But perhaps I am reminding myself that in the things that really mean the most to this working mom's heart, I have chosen wisely. I choose the PBJ sandwiches.

Me and the Fam in February...(Left to Right) Greg, Autumn, Ellyn and Allie. Patrick and Flower Blankie not pictured.

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Work-at-Home Mom Marvels at Piles of Laundry (and the Balance of Life)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 By: Shannon Wilburn

Work-at-Home Mom Marvels at Piles of Laundry (and the Balance of Life)

Being a mom who works full time from a home office, I think I should be able to get more done in my day. Perhaps I’m the only one, but sometimes, forgetting that I actually have a full-time job, I look around and wonder why I haven’t gotten more accomplished around the house—such as the fore-mentioned laundry piles. Truth is, I go into my office, get busy with work, and POOF! my kids are already home from school! Time has flown and there I am, still with the piles of laundry (I’m not even going to go there with the dusting, cooking or toilet cleaning!).

Perhaps these are issues we all face, whether it’s because we have a “job” or because we just simply are involved in the stuff of life—how do we find balance? And, do we really HAVE to find balance? Here’s a crazy thought: What if balance only exists in the world of gymnastics and bicycles? I mean, what happens when things ARE in balance? Has anyone ever actually had that happen? Do fireworks go off an we get a gold star somewhere? Now don’t get me wrong, we want to make sure we take care of our families and our responsibilities. But I vote that we go crazy and be unbalanced from time to time! Why not go enjoy 6 hours reading a good book with some salty snacks in hand? or have that night out with girlfriends to laugh at nothing in particular? Or blow off a day of work in favor of a trip with the kiddos to the zoo? Let’s go wild and grab for those moments where we can let ourselves off the guilt hook long enough to enjoy a fresh slice of life! In the end, aren’t we are all better for it?

So there it is. I said it. As for me, I am thankful that I have a family to love, a place to call home and clients to serve. Perhaps that IS balance—my kind of balance. All that, and I’ve got big piles of laundry, too. Who could ask for anything more?

Autumn Lew

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