In Business and in Health: Running a Business with Your Spouse
Published by The Story Exchange, Huffington Post Small Business on April 5, 2013, and NAWBO Focus
Going into business with the person that you married may seem like a great idea but it doesn’t always end up in happily ever after. Some recent high profile divorces and business splits may make you think twice before you tie the co-working knot.
Take the nasty break up between fashion mogul Tory Burch and her ex-husband Chris Burch, which resulted in a series of lawsuits and counterclaims only to be settled in January, years after their 2007 divorce. Chris helped launch her fashion label and co-founded the company, Tory Burch LLC, in 2003.
After their split, Chris launched his own clothing line, C. Wonder. He sued the Tory Burch company, claiming they were hindering the sale of some of his stake. The company countersued calling C. Wonder a “knockoff brand” with “lower-quality, mass-market versions of the Tory Burch brand.”
What Do Your Clothes Say About You
Posted on The Story Exchange and Huffington Post Style
Every entrepreneur knows the importance of looking presentable and professional, but do you know how to ‘wear your business on your sleeve?’
According to Sheila P. Coates, founder of BYOB (Be Your Own Brand), clothes speak volumes without saying a word. It’s that subconscious message they send to your audience that can make or break the 30 seconds it takes for someone to form an opinion of you. They are the first visible part of your branding statement and can be particularly powerful in the business world.
Read Coates’ three-step process to defining and becoming your own brand.
To understand their language, The Story Exchange visited Coates during a recent presentation she gave to young professionals in New York City. Continue Reading and Watch video…
Women in Business: How to Dress to Impress
Posted on The Story Exchange and Huffington Post
First impressions are crucial, especially when you’re trying to get potential investors on your side. And when you walk into that all important pitch meeting, the first thing everyone sees, before you even open your mouth, is the way you’re dressed.
Sheila P. Coates, head of Be Your Own Brand (BYOB), says entrepreneurs need to understand that they are the brand they are trying to project.
“As a company founder, you have to ask yourself: ‘What is your brand? What are the top three things that you want people to get within that first 30 seconds of meeting you?’”
Alex Robinson at Alcott Studio
Clothes are clearly an important part of your personal brand and women seem to be willing to invest time in dressing for success. According to a study by the market research company OnePoll Co., women spend about 100 hours shopping for clothes each year.
For men the process is often much easier. This is exemplified by President Obama’s decision to eliminate all of his work attire besides blue and gray suits. He minimized having to think about the mundane, so he could focus on the nation’s pressing issues.
What can women in business learn from Obama’s approach to clothing? Designer Alex Robinson thinks quite a lot. Last year she created her own company and clothing line, Alcott Clothier, to make dressing up and looking professional easier for women.
Continue reading…
An Entrepreneur you AUTO Know
Posted on The Huffington Post and The Story Exchange
Audra Fordin, Founder of Women AUTO Know
Everyone who’s owned a car remembers their very first one — the pride, the happiness, the sense of owning something big. No matter how old or rundown it is — it’s yours! It’s your vehicle to freedom. At least that’s how I felt when I got my first car in a state where everyone depended on their vehicles to get around. I will never forget it — a grayish, rundown 1984 Volvo 760 GLE. It was almost as old as I was but I loved it and drove it with pride.
I had many adventures with it, mainly involving going to the mechanic. After my car nearly exploded because I had no idea it was overheating, I quickly learned where to put antifreeze every few miles in the summer, or how to check my tires’ air-pressure and pump them up every other day in the winter. If I wanted to keep my ‘baby’ running, I had to overcome the fear of looking (and digging) under the hood.
I remembered all this when I interviewed Audra Fordin for The Story Exchange last week and we discussed the complicated relationship many of us (unfortunately, especially women) have with our cars. Continue reading…
Entrepreneur Helps Indigenous Women Stitch Up Their Daughters’ Future
Posted on The Story Exchange and The Huffington Post
Ruth DeGolia, Executive Director at Mercado Global
In 2004 Ruth DeGolia, traveled to Guatemala to conduct research for her Yale thesis on the effects of globalization in a country torn apart by civil war. While DeGolia had traveled to Guatemala in the past, this time, she met women whose stories of courage and determination changed her life in a direction she never imagined.
“I met these amazing indigenous women who were so inspirational to me,” DeGolia told The Story Exchange.
During the brutal 36-year-long civil war, which ended in 1996, many women saw their brothers, fathers and husbands killed before their eyes (over 200,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed or disappeared during the war).
But despite the pain of the past, those women were determined to rebuild their lives and ensure a better future for their children, particularly their daughters. “Their worst fear was that like them, their daughters wouldn’t be able to go to school,” DeGolia says. Continue Reading…
Posted on The Story Exchange
Young Entrepreneur: Tara Haughton
Posted on The Story Exchange
Tara Haughton dreamt of becoming a nurse, but a couple of years ago, she discovered a new passion and everything changed.
At a family wedding in Spain, Haughton had just taken off the price tags from the bottom of her high-heeled shoes when red and white confetti started flying in the air. Some of it stuck to the adhesive left from the tags. Haughton didn’t notice until a wedding guest asked if she was wearing designer shoes – the red on the heel gave the impression that they were Christian Louboutin shoes. Continue reading …
Young Entrepreneur: Ooshma Garg
Posted on The Story Exchange on April 3, 2012
At only 24, Ooshma Garg already has started two successful businesses – one that she recently sold and another that has attracted over one million dollars in venture capital. How did this Stanford graduate – who started her first company as a junior studying bio-chemical engineering — become such an avid entrepreneur?
Read more and watch a video of how Garg convinced LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman to invest.
Animal Sacrifice in Inwood
Article and slideshow about a parks employee from the Dominican Republic who frequently has to deal with discarded remains of Santeria sacrifice left in Inwood Hill Park. Picked up by the Gothamist.
Regine Zamor Gives All For Haiti
Featured on the GlobalPost.
With three giant suitcases, an overstuffed backpack and a tent in her hands, Regine Zamor arrived at LaGuardia Airport in early March, rushing to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Miami where she would transfer to another plane bound for the earthquake ruins of Haiti. Continue reading …
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