I put the “B” in Beautiful

Posted on March 27, 2010 by laina

Beautiful – beau·ti·ful (byt-fl)
adj.
1. Having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight.
2. Excellent; wonderful.

We are all beautiful in many different ways. Each of us has something to give and something to share with others. If you don’t think you do then think again. Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder and we all see beauty in different ways. I wrote the other day about the beautiful music of Elijah. It moved me and hopefully some of you liked it. I can also see beauty in the form of snow on branches in the winter or of all the cute children in my daughters class.

Celebrate your beauty, your excellence, yourself!
Laina

I put the “A” in AWESOME

Posted on March 26, 2010 by laina

So yesterdays post made me decide that it would be fun to go through the alphabet and see what I could come up with. Starting with the letter “A” for AWESOME is quite appropriate. We should all celebrate our awesomeness. Because in some way we are all awesome.

Laina

I put the “H” in HR

Posted on March 25, 2010 by laina

Ok, not really. It sounded good but I couldn’t think of anything “H” could stand for that was at all relevant. Why am I even thinking about this? Well I am trying to work on some new marketing for HR in a Box, and by the way I don’t like HR in the Box as the name so if you can think of something better feel free to comment, and joking around my friend said my tagline should be “I put the “H” in HR” even though it means nothing:)

I have been working on creating a Do-It-Yourself HR kit fir small business owners so they can have a cost effective way to stay compliant and get the most out of their employees. I am in the process of doing some beta testing and thus far it has done well. But my most important project is selling the Stilettos & Scoundrels book and finishing the darn biz book and I am sooooo behind!

Off to work on it.
Have a good one!
Laina

Whew…lots to do

Posted on March 23, 2010 by laina

I hope you all enjoyed listening to Elijah’s music yesterday. Him and I are now facebook friends…I am so thrilled:) Today has flown by. I have heard many heated debates today on the whole health care issue. As a human resource professional I have had people asking my opinion and sometimes you should be careful what you ask for. To be honest I have mixed feelings but then it can be hard to make one decision that will make everyone happy.

Book sales are going pretty well for Stilettos & Scoundrels. Just placed my second order for books to take with me to the DSW book signing on Saturday and a fellow Rainmaker, Amy Woodall, gave me this great idea of having a DSW US book tour. So my Rockstar admin, Amy Bucci, is looking into using this venue for other events. I need to get the schedule up soon but in April I will hit Indy and New York City. May I will be heading to Chicago and Las Vegas and June to San Diego. If of course we make enough money selling the books. It’s kind of like living paycheck to paycheck. Though if I could ever get the business book to print (yes it is a month overdue) I would be much better off. Everyone keeps asking me what my hang up is and I just don’t like it. Not an answer anyone likes but it’s all I’ve got.

I am also back on the bandwagon of building up Chiczofrenic so if you aren’t already a member go to Chiczofrenic.com and sign up!

Have a great day!
Laina

Amazing Music – Elijah Bossenbroek

Posted on March 22, 2010 by laina

You wouldn’t think that a 3 hour time difference would be that big of a deal, and going out to Phoenix it didn’t seem to be, but wow…I couldn’t sleep last night and I am paying for it today.

I have to share something with you all. The last night I was in Phoenix I was walking around the open air mall across from my hotel to get the kids some presents and playing the piano was this amazing guy, Elijah Bossenbroek. Check out his song I Give Up

or Amazing Grace
which happens to be my all time favorite religious song and every time I have listened to his it makes me cry. I am in awe of this incredible talent.

Listening to him Saturday and just watching the intensity and passion with which he played for nothing but hopes of people enjoying his music really moved me and made me even more certain that life is way too short to not follow your heart and dreams. Even if that path might not be the most lucrative.
Please take a moment out today and listen to this beautiful music and think about what beautiful music you want to make.

Laina

WHAT? No Coffee?

Posted on March 21, 2010 by laina

I’m sitting in the Phoenix airport waiting to catch my flight to take me back to Indy and it’s EARLY, 4am,. I was in Phoenix for a Capella meeting and commencements. I also got a chance to talk to people about my book and sell some copies. However, I’m excited to come home, see the kids, and start planning for Saturday’s book signing event at DSW. Before I start into the real purpose of this post can I just complain for a second that once I got past security, where as you know you can’t take any liquids through, it is so early that no places are open for coffee. My brain can’t function without coffee.
Anyways…anyone who reads this post knows that I have been searching for, well forever, to figure out exactly what my place is in life. Who do I want to be when I grow up? I’m this college professor, HR consultant, business women, and writer. My best friend told me last week to make a list of all the pros and cons of each thing. Now he is a very methodical thinker, and I don’t quite think that way, so I am sure he felt it would help to get it all on paper. Although the thought did cross my mind that he is so sick of listening to me complain that maybe this was just busy work to get me to shut up for a while. Then I laughed at the thought. As if I ever shut up.
I really enjoy all those things. I love my job at Capella. As Faculty Chair for HR and Retail Management I get to have an impact on higher education in the two fields I am most passionate about. I enjoy consulting from the aspect of helping business owners, and I love the challenge of business. Writing has always been my dream from the time I was a little girl and I want to be famous. I mean who doesn’t? When I try to figure out how to balance all those things I can’t. I’ve tried and after about two years burnt myself out to the point of no return. When I did my pros/cons it helped me identify one commonality. That I just want to be fabulous in all I do. I like to say crazy is an art form. Well being fabulous is a skill. So why can’t that be my skill. Why can’t I make a business out of it? Hell, I should have listened to Robby Slaughter a year ago when he told me that was my talent.
Off to board the plane. More on how I will pursue my fabulousness tomorrow!
Laina

Faculty Member at Capella University, an Accredited Online University, Authors New Book on Successfully Launching and Running a Small Business (eon.businesswire.com)

Shhhh……don’t tell……

Posted on March 19, 2010 by laina

I am writing this post as I am sitting in a meeting. Yes, I am paying attention but I am great at multi-tasking:)

I just wanted to shout out to all my peeps for your great support and advice in this time of need (and oh my what a need). You are all great friends.

I am also excited as I am on a search to connect with great and interesting women and at this conference I have received some terrific intro’s. Now I just need to organize myself to get all the work done and have Chiczofrenic up and running.

Ok, back to the meeting!!!!!
Laina

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.” Drew Carey

Posted on March 16, 2010 by laina

Can you say FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!

Last week I felt I had it all figured out. I even posted yesterday about my 3 month focus and my goals. Then yesterday I was once again confronted with the reality that no one thinks I should just focus on my writing. Do I suck that bad? Even though it makes me wonder, I know it’s not really that. As my best friend said to me, it’s more about the fact that people don’t really understand why I would take my years of education and my already moderate success at consulting and trade it in for the unknown of selling fiction books and my Chiczofrenic platform. Because I want to doesn’t seem to be a satisfying response for many. Why do I even care? Probably because of my own insecurities of the writing gig. There is safety in what you know and I have a lot of student loans and a piece of paper that says I’m an expert. Why don’t I just do it all? Because I have tried that juggling act of doing a million different things and while I managed it for a while I burnt out and just don’t want to go down that road again.
Now with all that said there is some validity to what people say so maybe I should try to “figure it out”.
A blog post I re-read today by Chris Guillebeau has helped me put some of those negative thoughts about following my dream rather than my skill, back down where they belong. There is no room for doubt.
Today I will focus on building success….you do the same!
Laina

Do More Great Work (800ceoread.com)

“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” Stephen Wright

Posted on March 14, 2010 by laina

I am sure faced with that challenge I could find somewhere to put it. I mean really…couldn’t you?? This quote makes me think about this weekend when I went to Macy’s and found a pair of jeans that looked incredible on me. Yet they were $150.00 and although I wanted them badly, I couldn’t justify spending that much even if they did make me look fantastic.

However, I do want everything and why not? Shouldn’t I have all that I want? I believe that I should as should everyone. I have posted a lot on here about feeling like I have all these different paths to follow and how it has been difficult to figure out who to be and when. My dream is to be a writer (that makes money writing) and build myself as my brand through writing, speaking, and Chiczofrenic. So to focus on that direction I am taking a 3 month sabbatical from my business of business and focusing solely on selling Stilettos & Scoundrels and promoting Chiczofrenic. I can’t tell you how exciting it is and how I am a bit fearful. What if it doesn’t work? But it will. I know I can do it.

Here are my goals for the next 3 months which the defining end date is my birthday June 7th, 2010. I want to start small and focus on the month of April. By the end of April I want to have the following:

1. 100 people following my blog
2. sell 500 Stilettos & Scoundrels books
3. have 500 members on Chiczofrenic

Each week I will post and update on this blog to stay accountable and keep everyone informed. I am thrilled for finally following this direction and I look forward to reaching all my goals and having your support each step of the way.

Cheers-
Laina

SBB Small Spark Contest 2010: Flex Your Writing Muscles through Guest Blogging (smallbusinessbranding.com)
On being a writer (thiswomanswork.com)

Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week

Posted on March 8, 2010 by laina

Happy Monday everyone. Multiple Sclerosis awareness week is upon us. If you aren’t clear as to what MS really is then you can help the cause by taking a few minutes and learning. Basically, it is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Here are a few more facts:

1. Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects woman more than men.

2. MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. When this nerve covering is damaged, nerve impulses are slowed down or stopped.

3. MS is a progressive disease, meaning the nerve damage (neurodegeneration) gets worse over time.

4. The nerve damage is caused by inflammation. Inflammation occurs when the body’s own immune cells attack the nervous system.

5. Researchers are not sure what triggers the inflammation. The most common theories point to a virus or genetic defect, or a combination of both.

6. MS is more likely to occur in northern Europe, the northern United States, southern Australia, and New Zealand than in other areas. Geographic studies indicate there may be an environmental factor involved.

This week I will continue to share some small nuggets about MS and encourage you to learn and support the cause.

Go ORANGE!

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