Inaugural Ball Jewelry Mannequin

My husband and I will be attending the Illinois State Society Inaugural Ball (Washington, D.C.). It is one of the more popular balls this inauguration: http://www.illinoisstatesociety.com/Gala2009.htm .

I found a beautiful Bill Blass dress at the Goodwill on 25th street for $40! My wonderful aunt is altering the dress. The pictures are also located at http://www.verify-ed.com/InaugDress.php . It is currently being altered, so there are a few more wrinkles than it will have the night of the ball.

Well, since I hardly wear jewelry (notice my elegant sports watch) I realized that I don't have anything that complements the dress. So I am offering myself as a Mannequin to a jewelry designer! I put a few posts on some Ladies Who Launch groups (great organization!) seeking a jewelry designer interested in loaning me jewelry to wear.

This is a great opportunity for a designer to get free publicity, and I am offering to hand out the designer's business card to anyone who asks about the pieces.

I am hoping that there is a designer out there who has pieces that will give me a chance to upstage Oprah and Michelle Obama! I look forward to telling you about what I finally wear.

Fake It 'Til You Make It

"Fake It 'Til You Make It" This is my new mantra, courtesy of Iya Karade, co-owner of Karade Gymnastics School. We often sit and muse about the life of an entrepreneur and the ways in which we get through hardships under which others would fail. I have to say that Iya and her husband are true inspirations. They continue to fight hard to keep their world-class gymnastics program flourishing, and I am proud to fight alongside them as a coach.

They recently moved to a new location. Great amount of space, but the building has some little issues that weren't apparent until it rained. That's right: the roof leaks. Well, after the horrible discovery (and they had just laid a beautiful floor for dance practice) they went into recovery mode: placing buckets on the floor and trying to patch the roof. They determined that repairing the roof would be costly and not truly enough for what really needed to be done. Rather than present a sloppy image of buckets and towels they came up with a unique solution: build a room around the leak. That's right - they used their more-than-adequate carpentry skills, two by fours, a nail gun and some Sheetrock to build an "office". So, when current and prospective parents come into the gym they don't see a mess, their eyes instead go to the spring floor full of gymnasts working on routines.

This innovative approach to solving problems is the skill that I continue to strive to achieve. I wonder that if I was in the same situation, what would I have done to resolve the problem? I worry that I would have left the buckets and when people arrived I would do a dance with flailing arms to try and distract. Much more work than investing the time and effort to "remove the image entirely".

My goal these days is to do less and invest energies where the return on investment is much more. So, I welcome when colleagues and friends point out: hey, Joelle, just build the room. Your dance is NOT working. I can still see the buckets!

OH! And did you notice? You now have the option to automatically receive updates when I post. Just click on the "Follow this blog" link in the right panel. So many people have said that they enjoy the postings, so now you can have them come straight to you. Thanks for your support!

Your Certified In What?!!

Today I realized that there is probably a certifying "agency" for ANY activity that exists. I am taking a real estate salesperson course (more on that later), and one of my classmates is a Certified Stager. That's right, she holds a certification in the "art of staging homes". For those of you unfamiliar with staging, it is when you re-design a house that is for sale in a way that makes it attractive to most buyers. This primarily means taking out anything that reflects your own personality so that others can imagine themselves living in your space.

So, I decided to do some quick research on whether there are certifications for some of the activities I completed today. I found out that there are certifications for dog walking, storytelling, and bra fitting. I am sure that I could have gone farther but I believe that my point is proven: the market for Val-ID-ate is endless!!

Business Resolutions

At this time of year, most people set personal resolutions: "I will lose 10 pounds"; "I will finish that great book"; "I will learn to meditate". I also set my personal resolutions (none of which are the aforementioned), but my focus this year is going to be on my BUSINESS RESOLUTIONS! My resolutions aren't as extensive as the Bootstrapping Blog from last year, but here they are:
1) Make more sales - sounds easy, but in order to sell you have to do legwork that I never seem to get around to do because I get caught up in the administration of our company. My goal is to reach out to prospective clients on a more consistent basis.
2) Realize a greater return on the energy I expend- My husband marvels at the amount of time Jennifer and I spend on establishing Verify-ED - for what could seem like small returns. My goal this year is to bring that equation into balance.
3) Get Val-ID-ate to the forefront as a standard part of of the hiring process. This is my lofty, but ACHIEVABLE, new years goal.
4) BLOG MORE OFTEN :-)

Are you ready?....

Sammy The Dog

A couple of weeks ago I had saved enough money to go to the hair salon (yes! I am an entrepreneur and money is tight). Next door to the hair salon is our local animal shelter. I used to pass it every day on my commute to NYC and sometimes I would notice animals abandoned on the doorstep. Like the homeless person you pass, you feel helpless - want to help - but don't know how and you keep moving. I know one of the employees at the animal shelter, and when he saw me on the way to the salon he ran in to tell me that a man was surrendering his dog and I should come take a look since he knows that I like small dogs. I should mention that, yes, I like small dogs - but my husband was the one who specifically mentioned his preference for terriers and similar dogs. I have NEVER owned a dog. Ever. Well, of course I go and meet a man who (because of personal reasons) was sadly giving up his dog. I called my husband who informed me that I could bring a dog home but that 1) he would not be taking care of the dog and 2) the dog was not allowed in the basement. So much for the man who wants a dog. The dogs' owner suggested that I take the dog home for the weekend, and if things didn't work out that he would retrieve the dog and take him to the shelter.

I am sure that you have figured out the rest. I brought the dog home, the kids like him, he seems to like us, AND he doesn't bark. So we have welcomed a new family member: Sammy, the long-haired Chihuahua.

The tie in to business: did I save Sammy or would someone have come along? At times when I am trying to find the right contact to help our business get to the next level, I do wonder if someone will "save" us because that is the feeling of hope you have. Yes, we work hard but we are realistic that hard work is only part of what is needed to succeed. We are so dependent upon our networks to move forward and people literally do save you. Without this support you flounder. As we search for funding, we ARE looking for that "savior" - someone who believes in our tools as much as we and has the ability to financially support the endeavor. I read my entrepreneurial magazines and the stories of the lucky few who have found their financial saviors do give me hope - and isn't this the season of hope and belief in angels?

From my house to yours - HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Let 2009 be prosperous for us all!!

Life's Milestones: Weddings and Births

This week started off with many "new beginnings". One of my best friends got married. She is one of my idols - the epitome of patience. She did things her way, never hurrying. She earned degrees from respected universities, holds a doctorate, bought her home, and lived life. She found the man with whom she wants to spend her life and married him. She always knew that life would give back what she put in. Even with others pushing and prodding her, she stood her ground and took her time. I think of her when I am impatient about growing this business. I am jumping from one thing to another trying to get a return on the investment of my time because I feel the urgency of "first to market" or "hitting while the iron is hot". I have to remind myself to be patient - put in the right work and the returns will come.

Right after the wedding I drove to DE to assist my cousin in delivering her first child. It is always a pleasure being able to help another woman give birth - and I so enjoy not being in the hot seat. My cousin is my hero. Her brow never broke a sweat and she delivered naturally - sans epidural. Welcome to the world Rebekah!

I have been thinking about these moments constantly. About how we all work hard for our achievements and how these two women have only hit a milestone, because in life there are no finite goals - just steps along the continuous paths.

We are working hard to make some major strides before 2008 finishes and it seems overwhelming at times. It would be great to hand off some of the worries and work, but I believe that we are poised to take our step soon. The key is to not scream (at least not too loudly - and not at the kids).

Test of Professional Friendships

OK. Here goes. I am just going to ask for help - let's see what happens.

We are trying to form partnerships with the big guys: Monster.com, The Ladders, Dice.com, etc. To do so, we have to show our value. Well, we know quite a few staffing professionals who post jobs on these sites. We are going to ask them to add this tag line to their job listings:

We appreciate candidates with Val-ID-ate profiles!

The goal is to prove the benefits to staffing professionals who have to sort through a million resumes and to obviously gain endorsement for our services.

Our Feedback Tour is proving to be quite effective in providing proof that YES recruiters would appreciate receiving proof of credentials at the start of the hiring process. ESPECIALLY with the increase in resume fraud (too many people on the market competing for the same jobs tend to make people embellish more - go figure).

My belief is that this should be straightforward (unless the staffing company has to pay per word for their job postings).

What could be the objections?...