Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

Networking for Entrepreneurial Women

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Happy Reading and NJOY!

The original Accidental Pren-her™

I Hate Music!

Today . . . I am thinking about I Hate Music!

Now for those of you who know my background as a classically trained musician and professional conductor, you may be scratching your head over that statement.  Wow, you maybe thinking, has she lost it?

Have no worries.  I am and always will be a classical music lover.  It's my favorite kind of music.  The kind I simply would not live without. 

What I'm thinking about is the music that Leonard Bernstein, infamous American composer and conductor, wrote in 1942.  I Hate Music:  A cycle of Five Kids Songs for Soprano and Piano is a marvelously witty piece of work.  Though playfully written about events and feelings as seen through the eyes of children, this song cycle is challenging to sing and play--I know because I've done both.  I Hate Music is third in the five-cycle set and begins, “I hate music!  But I like to sing.” 

I think that could be said about a number of things in the entrepreneurial woman’s life.  For instance:

“I hate selling, but I like to buy.”
"I hate networking, but I like to connect."
"I hate administrative tasks, but I like to create."

Perhaps, hate is too strong of a word here, though, you get my meaning.

So, if you were going to re-write Bernstein’s opening phrase to I Hate Music! what would you say?

The original Accidental Pren-her™ 

Inner Samurai Business from the Inside Out

Inner Samurai business is different from any other kind of business.

At its base is the precisely crafted two-part word, Inner Samurai. Two words--inner and samurai together, not apart. From its inception, when I first put these two words together, neither word was meant to stand-alone. There is an inner and there is a samurai.  Alone they are fine. Together? Well . . . probably the best way to describe it is to say their wow-factor is increased by a quantum factor of ten.

Generally speaking, neither one of these words are capitalized outside the context of my writing, unless you see them at the start of a sentence. Samurai is a noun. A common noun describing a class of people--the hereditary warrior class in feudal Japan. As such, samurai is not a proper noun naming a specific person, place, or thing. It’s a class of people.

Inner is an adjective. An adjective precedes and modifies a noun or a pronoun with describing, identifying, or quantifying words. In this case, inner pertains to the spiritual aspect of samurai. When combined, they form a proper noun, or proper name representing a unique entity. Inner Samurai--proper together, common alone. Uncommon business.

Have you had any experience with running your business, or even your life, from the inside out?  Tell us about it.

The original Accidental Pren-her™ 

My Accidental Pren-her 3 Year Anniversary

In June of 2004 I finally did it. I handed in my resignation as an associate professor, and began packing-up the formidable accumulation of books, music, and files from four degrees and 24 years of academic life. Distilled onto one little piece of paper that began with the words “kindly accept my resignation” and ended with “sincerely,” my life as an Accidental Pren-her™ began. Accidental because I didn’t anticipate it happening, and pren-her because I always knew I had it in me.

Becoming a pren-her seems, in retrospect, the most natural thing for me to have done. Though, the trek from resigning from a prestigious academic post to starting up my own successful small business had a lot more start up woes than start up goes. At first, I felt euphoric with the feeling of being liberated from corporate academia. Then, I was slammed by the twin emotions of panic and fear.

Jean Simon shares my perspective and feelings about leaving academia and has written a three-part article about her experience in the Chronicle for Higher Education entitled Goodbye Ivory Tower. Click here to check it out.

Since I had always been a full-time, traditionally employed woman, finding myself out of a job with no idea what I would do next was bloody overwhelming. From one day to the next, I couldn’t tell whether I was feeling exhilarated at being free to do, be, have whatever I wanted, or shocked by the aftermath of disbelief as the reality of what I had done began to sink in.

Most of the time I felt 98 % excitement and 2% scared, or was it 2% excitement and 98% scared?  I just didn’t know! This is what I think makes the whole becoming a pren-her experience so intense for us all.

One of the best things I did for myself soon after I got a grip on myself was do a life-review. For in doing so, one of the things I noticed was that at the inner core of my being there beat the Samurai heart of an entrepreneur. In so many big and small ways, from the lemonade stand outside my childhood home on Clemson Drive in Mt. Lebanon, PA., to organizing a university choir trip to Israel, I was, through-n-through, an entrepreneur.

Just recently, I wrote an article about the top 10 characteristics of highly successful entrepreneurs. Do You Have What It Takes To Become A Preneur? lists these characteristics. I have been flattered and amazed that this article bas been picked up by so many business sites like CEO Consultant and featured on the business advice area at Build Your Own Business.

Top 10 Characteristics of Preneurs

1. You have a strong desire to live life on your own terms
2. You are an independent self-starter
3. You have a powerful drive to make money
4. You are a calculated risk-taker
5. You like to be in control 
6. You are highly self-motivated
7. You had childhood experiences as a budding entrepreneur
8. You have a high level of sustainable energy
9. You are creative and innovative
10. You are a big-picture thinker

If you are an Accidental Pren-her™ and are in the midst of your own life review, click here to read more.  If you have your own becoming a pren-her story to share, click ‘post,’ now and let us read all about it.

The original Accidental Pren-her™ 

The Natural Advantages of Women

I love my publisher. She reads my material . . . I mean actually reads it, sees what I'm interested in, and then tells me about a book that I might be interested in reading by her friend, Michele Miller.

Yvonne DiVita of WME Books is a wonderful example of woman connecting women in action. She immediately connected me to Michele Miller's WonderBranding Marketing to Women blog--take a look around, Michele has something to say--and suggested I purchase Michele's book, The Natural Advantages of Women.

Skeptical, thinking this could be just another tired women's lib book beating the male verses female death drum, I hesitated. Though, Yvonne's enthusiastic recommendation kept me going. I ordered the book, which is not actually a book--it's an audio with booklet and cool CD supplemental pics--and popped it into my car CD player one day when I was out running errands.

Boy was I wrong! This is not another women's lib rant against men. This is a thoughtful, interesting look at the advantages of women based on current scientific findings of recent brain studies.  In short, this book documents proof that women are hard-wired differently from men.

It's all about the corpus callosum, ladies.  Great food for thought.  That's why I put it in the Inner Samurai reading room.

Check out this read and let me know what you think. Does Michele prove her point? Does having a thicker corpus callosum really make that much of a difference?

Weigh in. Let me know your thoughts. Yay, nay . . . they are all welcome.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Groovy Marketing Idea

Today . . . I am passing on to you one of the coolest marketing ideas I've discovered this summer--Sweepstakes Giveaways.

This is a fresh, hip-n-happenin' way to build your blog marketing community, create interest in your business during the summer slump months, and spread some cheer. As you know, I am all about giving to give, and love the deliciousness of giving just for the pure pleasure of giving.

Weeeel, get ready for some pampering, ladies. Benecia Beyer of Blue Moon Bliss is being featured at Lip-Sticking Smart Marketing to Women Online blogsite. Yvonne, being the cool woman that she is, is offering this month's sweepstake winner all of what you see here.

Just go to Lip-Sticking, fill out the entry form, and good luck!

This giveaway is perfect for the stressed Accidental Pren-her™, soul seeking Inner Samurai, and full-life entrepreneurial woman.

I've already entered my name. How about you?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

What You Intuitively Desire, That Is Possible To You

Food for thought for your Inner Samurai.

For whereas the mind works in possibilities, the intuition works in actualities, and what you intuitively desire, that is possible to you. Whereas what you mentally or "consciously" desire is nine times out of ten impossible; hitch your wagon to a star, or you will just stay where you are.

— D H Lawrence

Want to know How the Mind Works in Possibilities and Intuition Works in Actualities?  The answer will blow you away, oh students of the Law of Attraction.

What think you, my fellow Accidental Pren-hers™?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

 

Lego Art and the Accidental Preneur

Nathan Sawaya is an artist. A Lego Artist. He's also an accidental preneur, as in, he came to his profession by accident. Though, as every Accidental Pren-her™ knows, accidident is really by design.

He got his first box of Legos when he was five and the rest was history. Though he went on to be an attorney, his hobby soon became a career and an accidental preneur was born.

In January, Nathan was part of the Extreme Make Over crew building an entire sports related bedroom out of Legos.

His Art of the Brick Museum show is currently touring the US and all the exhibits are made out of, yep, you guessed it, Legos.

Take a look at this amazing video, sent to me by my client Dana Weekley. She blogged about this video at her site, too.  Lego Transformation - The Art of the Brick focus on the transformational aspect of Natan's show.  You will be inspired and impressed.

So . . . what did you think? Wasn't that fascinating and interesting?  Let us know your thoughts about Lawyer turned Lego artist.

I didn't even know pink Legos existed, and who would have guess the price!

Thanks, Dana, for sending me this clip.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

You Got To Know When To Hold Em, Know When To Fold Em

Kenny Roger's lyrics to The Gambler are perfect for summarizing Seth Godin's newest creation, The Dip.

You got to know when to hold em,
Know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.

The Dip is Seth's shortest book, yet. It is a scant 75 pages in length and took me all of an hour to read. Just about every other page has a relative bell curve graph or pithy cartoon drawn by cartoonist Hugh Macleod, so that speeds up the reading, quite a bit.

Brought to my attention by my wonderful client Dana Weekley of Bland To Bliss fame, who asked me one day, "do you think I could be in a dip or a cul-de-sac?" "I don't know. Let me find out." One hour later, I knew. Dana's in a dip. More precisely, Dana's moving out of the dip. It's not time for her to throw in the towel and she knows it. It's time for her to find another way through. And if you know Dana like I know Dana, she will--with style!

Here are some gems from the book:

• The opposite of quitting is rededication.
• The dip is flexible, it responds to the effort you put into it.
• Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment.
• The decision to quit is often made in the moment.  But that's exactly the wrong time to make such a critical decision.
• A few people will choose to do the brave thing and end up the best in the world. 

The Dip is a great book for any pren-her wondering if it is time to fold and walk away or hold em and continue play.

Anyone else read this gem of a book? Weigh in. What are your thoughts?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

How Do You Stay Focused in the Now and Still Set Goals?

Today . . . I am thinking about goal setting. Specifically, how to set goals that are, by nature, set or projected into the future, while remaining and being focused in the now--our only point of power. 

This is a particulary interesting question to ponder for the Accidental Pren-her™ and also the Inner Samurai.

Eckhart Tolle's e-Zine (author of The Power of Now) arrived in my box with just the perfect answer. Eckhart Tolle says,

There’s nothing wrong with goals and trying to fulfill them – as long as the main focal point of your attention remains the present moment. It’s like being on a journey and knowing where you want to get to, but realizing at the same time that the entire journey ultimately consists of one step – the step you’re taking at this moment. That one step is all there ever is, and so you give it your fullest attention.In other words, the step you’re taking now is primary; the destination – the goal – is secondary. If the destination becomes primary, you will become stressed and anxious and you will miss life. You will suffer, and the destination will not make you happy even when you get there, when you attain your goals.

What do you think? Weigh in.

I think that's the key--keep the step you are taking right now as your primary focus and the goal your secondary. 

The original Accidental Pren-her™

What Hiccups Tell Our Inner Samurai

Over the last month of so, I've had a lot of questions from clients and friends who are facing varying degrees of resistance in their small business start up, finances, and relationships. They have a strong desire for something, want something, very much, yet, something keeps holding them back.

In response to their seeking and searching for answers, I decided to do my own research into the cause of resistance with the hope of finding out what it is so I could offer them something tangible, something helpful along their journey. As with all things, their journey is my journey. The answers I discovered for them were answers I discovered for myself. Resistance or Fear: What's the Difference? is a practical and interesting read.

In addition, there are two other things I've read and heard, since then, that add value to the meaning of resistance.

The first is from Seth Godin.  Long-time marketing guru and author of several popular books, Seth just recently released a new book, The Dip. The main question Seth addresses is how to know when to fold or when to persist when you reach roadblocks in your small business. I call these road blocks the walls of resistance we all experience in work, relationships, and finances. Story Waters and Lee Harris call them hiccups. I think what they have to say is valuable for the Accidental Pren-her™ to keep in mind,

When hiccups occur, whenever there is a big new thing being birthed, some problem usually occurs that can feel like a knock back. You’re so excited about what’s being created, then you question it, “oh, is it not what I thought?” These hiccups that come at the birth of something are just a kind of birthing pain. And what often happens is that the birthing pain actually leads to something even better.

Don’t get caught up in the hiccup. Don’t focus on it. Know that all is well. Sit back. Feel through it, and you will find your way through it to something better.

What are your thoughts on dips, roadblocks, resistance, and hiccups?

What have you found helpful on your way to birthing something new?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

The Giraffe Test: Are You as Smart as a Four Year Old?

Just how smart are you? I'm not talking book learning smart. I'm talking about logical thinking smart.

Sure, you're an entrepreneurial woman, good at what you do. You certainly have the smarts to get a business up a running. Though, how do you stack up against a four-year-old?

Take this short four-question quiz to find out. Have fun!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
The correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant, and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend...except one. Which animal does not attend?
Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?
Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all the questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

How did you do?  I didn't do so well, though did catch on at the end, and actually started sussing it out and thinking logically.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Everyday Sacred

I'm reading Everyday Sacred:  A Woman's Journey Home by Sue Bender, on the third anniversary eve of my spiritual awakening.  It's a simple book.  An easy to read book with pen and ink drawings every couple of pages or so. 

It would be so easy for me to breeze through this book.  But I won't.  I plan to draw out and savor this book until I have drunk it in, fully.

Here are a few of the beauties that will cause me to pause and linger, long.  Refreshing and renewing my Inner Samurai.

• Within each of us there is a daring spirit that whispers to be heard.
• It takes courage to know who we are and what we want.
• How we receive a gift can be a gift to the giver.
• How we speak to ourselves can have a powerful effect on what happens in our lives.
• Having no place to hide, I had felt the fear and the fear cracked open.
• Each step is the place to learn.

What are you reading on the eve of your spiritual awakening?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Tips for Success

Today . . . I am contemplating an email from DeMarr Zimmerman, Sr. Executive with SendOutCards.com, and thinking about tips for success. In it, he talks about what has made him successful: "My success has come from learning from the best and using the best ideas that work for me."

Here are a few tips DeMarr has learned over the years that are applicable to all Accidental Pren-hers and small business owners:

• What ever you do keep it simple!
• Be a product of the product!
• Learn the things that work for you and don’t stop doing them when success starts to come your way!
• Don’t be afraid of a good idea as long as it doesn't take you out of your game!
• You may have to spend a little money to make some!
• In order to be great you need to be good first! In order to be good you may have to be bad first! In order to be bad you have to do something!
• Jim Rohn says, "Where do you start? Throw a rock up in the air and where ever it lands that is where you start!"
• Be bold! Great and mighty forces will come to your aid!
• Life begins at the end of you comfort zone!

So what do you think about these tips?

If you were going to add a tip or two of you own, what would you say?

BTW, if you are interested in SendOutCards.com and want to know more, let me know!

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Courage is Not the Absence of Fear

This is one of my favorite quotes, and one I often bring to mind when I am feeling fearful.

Ambrose Redmoon penned it from the confines of his wheelchair, after a car accident left him a paraplegic. His story and his quote inspire me.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one's fear. The timid presume it is lack of fear that allows the brave to act when the timid do not. But to take action when one is not afraid is easy. To refrain when afraid is also easy. To take action regardless of fear is brave.

Below are three very courageous women I am showcasing who have reached beyond their fear for something greater:

Jeanie Rule -- Is a divorced mother of two teenagers who has gone against the grain to build her own business as a life coach.

Jennifer Silvera -- Lost her husband eighteen months ago in the line of duty. Alone, and with two young children to raise, Jennifer has the courage to reach through her loss by writing a book for other women who have lost their husbands in the line of duty.

Valerie Rickel -- Made a very courageous change in her life by moving from the city of Los Angeles, where she had lived her entire life, to a lovely little soulful town in Southern Oregon. She simply packed up her car, drove and didn’t look back.

Do you know of other courageous women who have reached beyond their fear?

How about sending me their names so i can include them in my next profiles of courage blog.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Entrepreneurship Wave of the Future

What will small business look like in 10 years?

And just who will be starting businesses?

My friend and publisher, Yvonne DiVita of WME Books who recently wrote a great blog on innovation, sent me an email last week with "you must read this" in the subject line and "scroll down, read the interview . . . it has stuff you'll like," in the message area with a link to Rethink Pink's web site.

Well, with that kind of subject line, what's a girl to do? I clicked on at once and was immediately immersed in a ton of great stuff from this marketing to women portal. The article written by Karen E. Klein (a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues) particularly got my attention. After a quick "permission to use" email and agreeable response from Karen, I reprinted the salient parts of her interview with Brad D. Smith of Intuit.

Her comprehensive new study has some surprising predictions

Within a decade, entrepreneurs are going to be older, younger, more feminine, and more global than they are today. So says an Intuit-sponsored study from the Silicon Valley-based Institute for the Future. Brad Smith, senior vice-president and general manager of the small-business division of Intuit spoke recently to Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein about how the study was conducted and what it means for entrepreneurship. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.

Q:  Small-business owners generally fly under the legal and regulatory radar, and as such are notoriously difficult to study. What prompted you to sponsor this report, which is called The Future of Small Business?

A:  We had been in the process of working on an 18-month strategy study with the Boston Consulting Group that turned up some surprises. One was that 10 million people said they are considering starting their own businesses in the future. That's the biggest number we've seen in 25 years. The second surprise was that 6 million people actually followed through and started those businesses, and one-third of them are doing business globally. We thought those figures merited further study.

Q:  What are some of the findings from the interviews and observations that surprised you?

A:  One is the phenomenon we called "accidental entrepreneurs." There are 20 million businesses—out of the 26 million businesses total in the U.S.—that have no employees. We found that a good portion of them don't call themselves small-business owners, but freelancers or hobbyists.  There's a tremendous wealth of economic activity happening in these sole-proprietor, home-based businesses—whether the owners consider themselves entrepreneurs or hobbyists or a little more than that.

Q:  Aside from age, how will gender figure into the small-business mix in a decade?

A:  We will see the continuing and strengthening presence of women in entrepreneurship. The study puts them into two groups. There's the classical, professional woman who's networked and experienced but decides to break through the glass ceiling by creating her own empire. Kind of what we called the Oprah phenomenon.

Click this link to read the rest of Karen's article on The Face of Entrepreneurship 2017.

So what do you think accidental pren-hers? 

Sounds like there are exciting times ahead for those of us jumping ship, by choice or other, huh?

The original Accidental Pren-her™