A Think Tank (3 Generations of Fashion and Drama continuation)

http://www.olaalaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/family-quotes.jpg

Flash forward a few weeks, and the only person still working on any of the projects is guess who…? You guessed it. I hate to even write this and breathe validation into it, but when it comes down to it I’m the Little Red Hen of the family. (This is the part that you go Google “Little Red Hen” then come back and say, Oooooooh) Selfish is a word that I reserve for those that have their own interests at heart… these folks are straight up lazy. Do I believe that they believe in me? Absolutely, which is the exact problem. Ideas get thrown out regarding everyone maximizing their talents, and the resolution continues to fall on :

“Hey, you just tell me what to do!”

How crazy does that sound to you? If someone helps you identify a talent, hands you a few ideas to build a business structure, what’s left? Doing the work. There’s a piece of me that could say, that everybody wants to be Gail, nobody wants to be Oprah, but Gail does what’s asked of her. I told you all that it would be an interesting ride.

I would love to get some insight as to what makes them even waste the time to hold the conversations. It would be interesting to follow the stream of logic, but I’m afraid of what it may reveal about some of the genes that could be laying dormant in myself.

My next approach will be to go contract for contract, as that seems to be the only way to get some action out of this crew. I’m interested to know if anyone else goes through this much getting their family behind them. Let me know.

Coffee is for Grown-Ups

http://shiragreenbergdesign.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/starbucks-for-college-students/

I’m sitting here thinking of at least twenty things that I need to do, places to go, and things that I’d like to do before I die. I can honesty say that I’ve never had a flood of accelerated thought and energy like this since I was a teenager. This sudden burst of life is brought to you by Starbucks.

As a child I would wake up to the smell of coffee in the kitchen brewed by my mother. My first sip was completely disgusting, but over time I associated the smell with waking up and my mom being in a good mood. As time went by I began to drink coffee as a teenager because I thought that it was the adult thing t do; grab a coffee, read a magazine, cross my legs at the knee. I never drank it as a means to draw from the energy giving properties all the adults in my life claimed that it possessed. It tasted like hot ice cream, or a frothy shake to me.

Now that I’m standing at the threshold of 30 I find myself needing a cup. I had taken a break from 5bucks as many have come to call it, for over two years. But this morning, I got my first cup in the morning in a while, no food on my stomach, just coffee followed by fresh cut fruit… This is the most wired that I’ve ever been in my entire life. I’d been drinking it completely wrong. My normal cups had been accompanied by carbs and too late in the day to be effective.

I stand here flying through this post, writing at just about the speed in which you are reading this as a living testimony. Coffee is for Grown-ups! Kids don’t even get to understand what the precious bean can do. So, the next time you get some, do it right. Nothing else on the stomach, ready for the world.

Thanks for reading!

I’m working on getting something hilarious cleared for posting later on this week so stay tuned.

Cut the baby in half??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Solomon

  Many of us know the story of King Solomon and the baby with two women claiming to be the other, and for those of us that don’t we’ll allow you to take a quick Google break to catch up with the rest of us. I think about this story almost every time I’m approached to join someone’s company as part owner. I know that seems like a bit far off reference but follow me.

Consider the amount of time and effort  put into creating a business. I’ve done it a few times, and I can honestly say that each new venture is like a baby. I have a hard time finding someone to babysit, let alone give joint custody. So what of these people that don’t mind cutting the baby in half?

It took a while for me to wrap my head around the thought process but I think I’ve come up with some reasoning behind their actions.  Often people call for my consulting at a point where they are not sure if the business will make it, once I give them a diagnosis that things will be alright after a series of actions, they are in shock. They deal with doubt, exhaustion, and ultimately panic. They fear that they will not be able to do everything needed to help this “baby” grow. This is when they start looking for someone to adopt and co-parent.

I’ve said this before in reference to real children, but I’ll repeat it for the sake of this discussion. Nobody will love your baby like you do, so to all of my colleagues, clients and fellow entrepreneurs, just give it your all. Considering the amount of things that are currently on my plate, I’m not likely to join any new efforts (unless there’s a cash advance), but I’m always willing to help. Just be mindful that not everyone has the same ethics when it comes to business and offering up your brain child to be cut in half just for the sake of not walking home empty handed means that you need to revisit what this thing means to you.

I don’t want to get too preachy, and I really want to get to this way crazy dream from over the weekend so that’s all for now.

#Love.

3 Generations of Fashion and Drama.. part 1

So just a bit of background, I come from a long line of entrepreneurs/ hustlers/ creative types. Much of what I learned about business, I learned from watching my family go through the motions. We have a new venture up our sleeves now, and we rarely collaborate, but this move makes sense for all parties involved. However, there’s a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that this decision will be the making or breaking of our already not so large family unit.

Fashion and hair run in our blood. Example, if my mother decided , right now that she wanted to quit her job and start a consignment shop, she could last for at least 6 seasons before she’d have to rely on what her customers bring in (she’s had epic, traffic stopping giveaways). My mother is also an expert seamstress, and if you’ve been following me for a while, she’s made some funky creations for some milestones in my life. My big cousin has been my hairdresser my entire life, I’ll be glad when she learns to cut, but other than that she’s clutch. So, now we have this mega-force forming in the form of us all moving close together and some of us in the same house.

I’ve always been creative, there’s not much that I can’t do, but I’ve always had a knack for the business side of things. I like contracts and window displays, ( I know it’s a weird combo, but it’s my thing). I, however, will be the farthest away from what I’ll now refer to as “the compound”, and I’m afraid that if I don’t have my hand on it, it won’t develop properly. This thing is working my nerves, I’d love to be able to say that I can give everyone the game plan and they execute it in my absence, but I just don’t think it will go that way.

Sometimes I wish we had a reality show and I could pull the tapes on the conversations that take place when I’m not there. Time will tell how this thing plays out, but I plan on keeping you all up to date on the developments as I have an idea that there will be lots to blog about in the months to come.

The first corporate meeting is tomorrow…and not everyone has confirmed attendance. I can only shake my head.