Introduction to SheMentor

Allow me to introduce myself – my name is Phyllis R. Neill, and I am the CEO of SheMentor, a communications portal created to support awareness of the issues faced by today's professional female business executives, and to provide advice in general to executive women on navigating tricky corporate landscapes. After 20 years of success in executive management, I decided to try my hand at professionally dispensing advice through articles I’ve written on my website. And although I’m not nearly profitable enough to “quit my day job”, running SheMentor has been the most fun and rewarding experience of my career!

Now – I’m not a complete technological ignoramus, but the idea of creating and maintaining my own website was rather daunting in the beginning. I ended up utilizing a company named Doodlekit, who essentially offers a website “in a can”, allowing lots of customization and personalization, all without having to know HTML. They are VERY affordable; in fact, you can get started with them for free to see how you like it. Doodlekit allowed me to get up and running in a really short period of time, and allowed me to really focus on growing my own business, not spending hours maintaining a web site.

Building the content for my site on an ongoing basis requires quite a bit of discipline and planning. Since I do still work a full-time job, I have to be very disciplined about setting a schedule for when I will write, when I will contribute articles, when I will respond to e-mail inquiries, etc. – or else the work “piles up” on you. The primary way I market my business is through social networking – I belong to several women’s business communities, and the process of being active and participating with comments and advice drives a lot of my target market directly to my site. Two of my favorite women’s business sites are WomenCo, and WomenEntrepreneuer.

I hope you’ll join me on SheMentor – I am constantly looking for advice and direction from other business women on the types of articles they’d like to read about, and other concrete forms, pieces of advice, or templates I could provide that would be beneficial to you in your careers. I plan to blog on this site from time to time, so I am looking forward to creating an “e-relationship” with each of you guys! For now – thanks for reading, because as one of my web site taglines says - “I have a lot to say!”

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Phyllis R. Neill is the architect of the widely publicized and fast-growing website http://www.shementor.com, a communications portal created to support awareness of the issues faced by today's professional female business executives, and to provide advice in general to executive women on navigating tricky corporate landscapes. Her 20+ years in executive management have taught her a thing or two about how to manage businesses - and how to treat people.

Throughout her distinguished career, Phyllis has served in leadership positions for a variety of different business sectors, including computer software, healthcare IT, advertising, and media ratings, just to name a few. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer of a new passive media research technology firm. She has served as Vice President, General Manager for a media research computer software company, working successfully through such issues as company-wide reorganizations, acquisitions, and the launching of several new product lines. Phyllis is the published author of a wide variety of articles on business, employment, and leadership.

Growing a Nonprofit with Mallory King

After 20 years of experience working as a nonprofit professional in youth development and arts education with organizations like the YMCA and the Big Sister Association, I was inspired to found Arts to Grow from the ground up. I witnessed the power of arts learning to change kids’ outlooks on life, to open doors to new experiences, to harness their creative power and get them excited about learning.

When I began Arts to Grow I understood the need for schools and community organizations to work with arts education organizations to deliver quality arts programming. I also knew the amazing benefits that arts learning can provide inner-city kids. I forged ahead to create a fully functional organization that engages professional teaching artists working directly with kids and leverages financial resources of donors with the contributions of pro-bono services from professionally skilled volunteers. Our growing cadre of over 30 skills-based volunteers includes marketing, media, financial, web 2.0 and nonprofit professionals making it possible to begin building a sustainable organization.

I am pleased to say that Arts to Grow is expanding at a healthy rate. Since its inception, Arts to Grow has increased from three to eleven partner schools and community organizations and now serves over 300 kids annually living in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Hoboken and Newark, New Jersey. One of the major challenges we face working in an educational area of great need is meeting the funding demand to take on new partner schools and centers. Right now, over 50 public schools and community centers have expressed an interest in Arts to Grow programming and are on a waiting list. To provide inner-city kids free quality arts classes and be priced within reach of public schools and community organizations, our fees to them are highly subsidized, at about 25% of our program costs. The cost of an average Arts to Grow program is $5,000 providing a 12-week long program serving 15-18 kids. Donations both big and small make a significant impact. Donations can be made online by visiting www.artstogrow.org and clicking donate.

One way Arts to Grow drives funding is through its annual Heart to HeART benefit to be held again in February 2009. The goal of this year’s benefit is to increase funding for scaling our program operations from serving 300 to 600 kids annually. As I watch Arts to Grow and its students blossom, I must say, I am truly proud of the progress we've made as an organization.

For more information please visit www.artstogrow.org. To find out how to volunteer for the Heart to HeART benefit or to buy a ticket please email info@artstogrow.org.

Karma Martell's Introduction & a FastCompany.com Opportunity

Greetings to all you fabulous women at NYWSE. My name is Karma Martell, and I am president of KarmaCom Inc www.karmacom.com, an interactive-focused "good karma marketing" agency I started in 1997. It is a privilege and pleasure to have been invited to post on your blog. I look forward to becoming a contributing member of both the blog and the group itself. Please feel free to ping me if I can be of assistance to you in any way.

FastCompany.com (FC) has given me the honor of serving as Group Coordinator and Forum Leader for their Social Responsibility section. They are still working out some of the usability kinks, but I invite you all to join the site and the forum. I would like to post a Social Responsibility topic on FC of particular interest to NYWSE, and then invite you all to post there. I hope that it can serve to give the group some added PR and help boost your visibility, while at the same time raising awareness of issues to the international FC readership.

One topic that interests me is women’s role as leaders in CSR initiatives. Do you think women are the key players, even if they are sometimes not given a highly visible role? Or are they too often relegated to the "fall guy" press secretary position? How have women entrepreneurs shaped the social responsibility landscape in the new millennium?

Let me know if you think this is a good direction for a Fast Company discussion -- or maybe you have a better idea.

Cheers,
Karma

Corporate Responsibility: Employees Want The Change

The 2008 Corporate Sustainability Employee Study demonstrates that employees want the change. As a corporation is just an entity, it is up to the employees inside their firms to champion ways to increase positive impacts and to influence our peers to do the same. Some of today's 'intrapreneurs' are leading their companies in positive, new directions.

A new study recently conducted among employees at today's companies (large and small) shows that nine out of ten employees see brand reputation as the most important reason to address social and environmental impacts, yet 83% of companies have not fully incorporated their corporate responsibility performance into business metrics.

Around 54% of employees remain confused over how environmental and social impacts are addressed, or feel that they are kept in silos. Most employees want more education and resources on corporate sustainability as only one in ten feels completely prepared.

Employees ranked GE, HSBC, Intel, J&J, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Patagonia, Starbucks, Timberland, Unilever, and Wal-Mart as among the most socially responsible companies in a new study, recently completed by Fresh Marketing.

So while the newspapers scream about climate change and green issues every day, ads promote energy saving habits and brands go further to comply with greener standards, how can we, as employees, really get involved?

From developing informational videos and podcasts, to writing articles for company newsletters, to hosting seminars, some employees are working to educate their peers on sustainability.

The report includes interviews with several executives who volunteered stories about how small steps led to profound changes at their organizations, altering the working environment for the better, and strengthening the bottom line.

Read the study here: 2008 Corporate Sustainability Employee Study

If you want to be interviewed, participate in ongoing research on this topic, or feel as passionate about the topic as we do, please contact us at saaron@freshmarketing.com.

Managing Career Transition

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams---Eleanor Roosevelt

For many, that dream involves a transition from one career to another—and all the associated stress and anxiety. Can I succeed outside my comfort zone? Do I have the technical and educational skill sets to find viable employment in another capacity? How will I manage my fears and expectations and those of friends and family? Take heart. There are many things you can do to prepare for a rewarding second career.

First, take stock of your career progress. What are your 5 most significant achievements and defeats? Which actions are you willing to own on your part that brought about those successes or failures? You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been, as the saying goes. Understanding what it is that brings about a successful result for you will give you the confidence to try new waters. Conversely, finding your weak spots will show you what needs work to avoid making the same mistakes in a different milieu. Do you need help identifying your strengths and weaknesses? Try eliciting feedback from those who know you well.

Second, evaluate your skills. List them according to categories such as organizational, problem-solving, managerial, and oral and written communications. Note the environments in which these skills are deployed—at home, at work, in your community, etc. Many, if not most, skills are transferable. Demonstrate a track record of success.

Third, build a transition plan. Putting thoughts into words and words into actions will help you manage your anxiety. How much do you know about your target occupation? Where can you go to learn more? Are there business or behavioral competencies you need to acquire to make it work? Think about your future and imagine what you want it to look like. How will that future look in five and ten years?

With a little introspection, you can retool your career to align with who you are or who you want to be.

Linda Tancs, J.D. is a personal, organizational and executive coach dealing in career management and transition, workplace issues, work/life balance and entrepreneurial challenges. She has a specialty practice coaching legal professionals. Learn more at www.latancs.com and www.jurismart.com.

New Venture 101 – Defining Success

When I was asked to blog for the NYWSE, I thought, what the hell do I have to say? Sure, I’ve started a few companies and one of them was acquired by a public company, but does than mean I have anything to offer? What if I can’t communicate what made those ventures successful? After all, I’m not even sure I know. So with that in mind, here I go: my first real blog post (I guess Facebook doesn’t count?). Many people say to me that they’d like to start their own company, go on their own, but they don’t have the guts to do it. What if I don’t make any money? What if nobody wants to buy what I have to sell? What if it’s a total failure? Well, first I say – all of those things could happen. In fact, you may not just “not make money” but you may lose money. So if that’s not something you can stomach, stop right here. But most entrepreneurs rarely think of failure as an option. They believe so passionately in what they are building that some level of success is almost guaranteed. It’s what you do with your initial success that brings you to the next level.

The most important thing is to know how you define success. All too often, success is defined in dollars – the more the better - even if you are too busy and too tired and too grumpy to enjoy that money. I have a different definition of success – it’s achieving the right combination of money, lifestyle, personal fulfillment, and contribution to society. Sounds pretty straightforward, no? Well I am constantly surprised by the number of people out there who give up the latter three for more and more money. Greed? Maybe. But it partly may be the inability to understand what one’s true goals are. You’ve all heard the story of the fisherman who lives on an island, decides to expand his fishing business to several boats, builds a big fishing company and can’t wait to retire so he can be a fisherman on an island? When you start off, and especially when you get to that critical point of taking the business to the next level, stop and think about how you define success. Don’t enter into the next big thing just because it is there and will make money. Be careful what you wish for.

Now, I am not saying that I haven’t worked my rear end off in my entrepreneurial life. Entrepreneurs are some of the hardest working folks I know. But it’s important to be clear about what you want. When my software company was making a few million dollars, I had a staff of employees that I adored and clients that kept me feeling useful and satisfied. I could have done that for the rest of my life. My business partner at the time had very different goals. It was all about the exit strategy. To that end, I engaged in activities that were neither satisfying nor close to my core. To his benefit, the company was acquired in a strategic acquisition, but I often wonder if we could have achieved the same outcome just plugging along and doing our thing. And if not, surely making a nice salary, loving what you do, being your own boss, and feeling good about daily decisions is not such a bad place in which to be.

Gia Machlin is the Founder of EcoPlum, Where it Pays to Buy Green™. EcoPlum is a company that provides incentives and information for the purchase of environmentally sound products. Gia’s previous ventures include Plan Data Mangement and the Machlin Consulting Group.

EcoPlum will be launching its website this summer.

Take a Moment to Look Around You

Today, I write to you as I sip my coffee and get into the office before 8am to get down to work. As a woman entrepreneur, I am, like many of you, focused, ambitious and driven. Working constantly to do all the things necessary that need to get done, including try and have a bit of a social life beyond the office hours. As I came in this morning to a day of proposals, invoicing, an event with Antonio Banderas (that can't be all that bad! LOL) an interview and more, I sat and breathed, looked around the office at the work that we've done and felt proud. Sincerely proud. So, ladies...if you have a moment to stop what you're doing, breathe and enjoy your fortunes, the moments of anxiety and stress will be demolished by a shed of light, hope and peace. Have a great day Girlfriends!!! Oh, and my company is the first marketing firm in the dance industry, www.EBandAssociates.com.

My best,

EB

Organizing for Success

Hi everyone!

My name is Jordana Jaffe, and I am the founder of live ORGANIZED, a professional organizing firm specializing in residential and home-based business services. Getting organized can be challenging for everyone at some point; but there's hope! Here are some simple tips that will ultimately save you time, money, and help you lead a calmer, more balanced life.

Please feel free to reply with feedback, questions, or a specific organizing topic that you would like me to address.

1. Clean out your wallet.

Wallets hold more than just money. Old receipts, expired credit cards and gift certificates clutter its pockets and often prevent you from finding the one credit card you actually do use. Money is such a source of angst for people, that clearing out your wallet is a great first step to breaking down those anxiety-ridden feelings.

2. Empty your sock drawer.

This one's simple: any sock that's missing its pair - throw it out. If you haven't found the other one yet, it's probably gone for good.

3. Survey the medicine cabinet.

Take five minutes and scan the shelves - toss what's expired and write a list of what needs to be replaced now.

4. Invest in an inbox.

Where do you put your mail when you walk in the front door? The kitchen counter or maybe just some surface in the front hallway? Instead, grab an empty shoebox and use it as a temporary (or permanent, if you like) container for your incoming mail. This way, you'll know exactly where to look when you're finally ready to sort through it all. Otherwise, the pile tends to mix with all the other clutter already lying around there.

5. Clear off your nightstand.

Your bedroom should be a haven, a peaceful place to relax and reconnect with yourself. Accordingly, the time before you go to sleep is time for you to decompress, let go of the day and reenergize for the next one. Having clutter right next to where you sleep prevents this from happening. Right now, take the unopened mail and scattered receipts, and move it all somewhere else. Honor the time before bed and decide to give it to you - and not your clutter.

Learning to Make the Jump with Sheena Lindahl

I met my Michael Simmons, my current business partner (and husband) in college. I had no idea what career I wanted at that point, and was exploring. I was also struggling to pay NYU’s $30,000+ per year tuition on my own. I was balancing up to five part-time jobs at a time! At the time, Michael had a web design company that he had launched in high school. After a long day of school and work, we would wind down together and he’d tell me about the $5,000 business plan award he had just won and show me the newspaper article that just came out on his business. I quickly realized that I was going about my goals in the wrong way!

I started playing around with different ideas – but none of them felt quite right. Michael was winding down with the web development company and was trying to decide his next step as well. It became extremely obvious one day that our goals and interests were very aligned, and we decided to go into business together bringing together the things we loved: education and entrepreneurship!

From the moment we started Extreme Entrepreneurship Education, I knew it was right. (Though of course it was not easy.) In the beginning, I still had to work outside of the company to keep up with finances while we were launching. But as the company grew, I had more and more work and my time was getting spread too thin. Eventually, I had to make a decision – go full-time with the company or go full-time with the venture capital firm I had been putting most of my time outside the company to. That day – June 1, 2005 – was the day I knew the idea had taken off! We were getting enough inquiries that I knew this is something that at the least I could support myself in doing and that had a very likely chance of growing!

Whether you already have launched your business or not… There’s really no better time to launch your business if you haven’t. There will always be good reasons not to, but one good reason will be replaced with another. So if this is your dream, do it! If you’re already on the path to your goals, watch what you’re resisting that has the potential to take you to the next level – and start taking some steps towards it every day. You’re never going to have enough time, so it’s better to do it while it’s fresh and get it over with than to sit on it for weeks or months or years and get frustrated because you have to keep thinking about it!

Remember, “You can have anything, as long as you want it badly enough and are willing to work for it.” And, if you're going to play, make sure to “Play to win!”

Build a Nest with Rebecca Kousky

Nest was born of my desire to combine my passions: social activism, entrepreneurship and the female artistic tradition. I’ve always had an artistic sensibility and a love of fashion and design, but during development work in rural Mexico and India, I became interested in the lives of the women there. Upon returning, I received my Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University, where I concentrated on women’s issues, international social work and the use of microcredit to encourage female entrepreneurship. I started Nest right after graduation.

I have had extensive experience working with women both internationally and in the U.S., but two experiences in particular shaped my vision for Nest. In 2002, I worked with Mayan Indian women in Chiapas, Mexico, on agricultural techniques to help them increase yields from small farms, thereby becoming more financially independent. In 2004, I traveled to Delhi, India, to volunteer at an NGO which provided education and training to children and adults afflicted with polio. Through these experiences and others, I was able to see firsthand the plight of women in developing countries who face hardships complicated by lower levels of education, lower social status and talents and abilities that do not always translate into productive employment. I observed that when women are given the opportunity to create their own businesses and earn a steady income, families are strengthened and communities are stabilized.

I knew our idea had taken off when we gave our first loan! The press we’ve had is wonderful, and certainly personally gratifying, but far more important to me is knowing the impact we have had on women. Even if we had changed just one life for the better, that would have been success enough for me. Now, though, in less than 2 years, we have given opportunity to over 100 women.

Our first loan recipient was a woman named Meral Tuncer, who lives in Izmit, Turkey. She received a Nest microfinance loan to grow her jewelry business. She needed additional capital to purchase higher quality stones and beads that could be made into higher quality jewelry of the type that would appeal to a more upscale clientele at the bazaar.

Our facilitator in Turkey is Nest designer, Rose Deniz. Rose once told me, and it made me cry, “when we told Meral how much she was going to make from the earring order, she was so happy. (C)ombine that with the loan, in one week she’s making more than she might make in a month. You can imagine her excitement! Thanks does not express it enough.”

How Being A Mom Has Helped Me In Business

For most women, becoming a mother is a turning point in their career. It’s a time in one’s life that’s rife with challenges, frustrations, and uncertainties, but it’s also when many of life’s most rewarding achievements and miraculous moments occur. What many new moms figure out rather quickly is that the skills that they use every day while taking care of children are also very applicable in succeeding in business. Nurturing a needy newborn isn’t all that different from managing a high-maintenance client, and trying to juggle chores and kids can be strikingly similar to the multi-tasking required to manage a large list of prospects. Here are just a few of the skills that are fine-tuned and mastered the minute you take that leap into motherhood.

Patience
Colicky infants, whiny toddlers, defiant teenagers – If you didn’t have patience before you had children, you quickly developed this virtue as a parent. And, the patience required for childcare definitely helps you increase your tolerance threshold in business. Difficult clients and prospects are plentiful, and patience is the key to unlocking their buying potential.

Time Management
As any new mother knows, time can be a scarce commodity and shouldn’t be wasted frivolously. Whether you need to meet a specific deadline or only have an hour before your child wakes from a nap, time management skills are essential to getting things done. Parenthood does wonders for enlightening women (and some men) on the need to budget time wisely, and this skill certainly gives moms a distinct competitive edge over their child-free colleagues.

Multi-Tasking
If you’ve ever changed a diaper while on the phone making a doctor’s appointment, while reading an email, you understand multi-tasking. Sure, we’d all love to be able to focus on one task at a time, but in this age of technology and information, the ability to multi-task is a necessity if you want to be competitive in the market. Motherhood promotes multi-tasking skills tremendously, and these skills remain with mothers long after the diaper changes cease.

Training Skills
One of the primary jobs of a parent is to teach your child what is needed to succeed in the world. This requires you to be a dedicated, skilled trainer. The same skills are required in business. Whether you’re training a classroom of seminar attendees or guiding a client through the sales process, the training abilities you’ve acquired as a mother will certainly come in handy in the business world.

Flexibility
Children are full of surprises, and staying flexible is a necessity to maintain sanity. Everyday is full of challenges and interruptions, and if there is one thing that is consistent about parenting, it’s the fact that it’s ever-changing. Inflexibility doesn’t work for parents, nor does it work in business. People can be indecisive, situations can change, and even your role can evolve. Having the flexibility to gracefully manage the unexpected is a skill that will always serve you well, whether with the kids or in the office.

Can writers be social entrepreneurs? Can social entrepreneurs be activists?

As I listened to Amy and Jennifer mention describe new age feminism as something one should strive to incorporate into their daily lives as opposed to a separate task and the idea that we women are too different to ever unite as a class, I thought about how it seems men have already mastered such association it’s as if they were bred to speak a separate language amongst men themselves. Given the open nature of the discussion, I thought to ask: Why is it that women are not similarly associated? Why do we find ourselves divided? Why have we not yet united to help one another on a societal level?

I feared my question was based on unproven assumptions and so decided not to ask, since there I was sitting in a boardroom with a group of conscious, active, and socially entrepreneurial women at a free event that was not only helpful to me in my professional pursuits but also inspirational and encouraging. I was part of a group of women that were united and helping each other, and it was beautiful.

As we are always reminded, no one gets anywhere alone. Here's a sample of wisdom that I gathered from both the speakers and the group:

• A social entrepreneur is someone conscious about his or her environment and actively working to better it in some capacity.
• When testing a new venture or idea create your own focus groups by interviewing five people to see what they think.
• Look in your own backyard to do grassroots marketing.
• Read Amy and Jen's book: Manifesta.

I look forward to learning more about the organization and its events.

Thanks NYWSE!

Samaia Hernández