Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Stay tuned. Recipes to follow.
CraftGossip.comis an entertaining crafting blog and network that covers all crafts under the sun. I love this blog because there are several posts a day on my favorite subjects like quilting, bath & body, edible crafts, scrapbooking, knitting, stamping, jewelry, and MUCH more. The catchy thing about the site is that each crafting subject has its very own editor. So thanks to the bath and body editor, Jessica Neaves, for posting our Secret Message Soap Tutorial!Read the full tutorial here.
One of the reasons I went to the Womens’ Presidents’ Organization Annual Conference was the great line up of speakers, including Meg Whitman, most famous for running E-Bay and now, for running for Governor of California.
Meg Whitman was very funny, witty and talented at speaking off the cuff. Her candor and quick thought process was interesting to watch and listen to.
She graduated from Harvard Business School and worked at Proctor & Gamble right out of school. Business has always been her passion.
She said:
“No company changed my life like E-Bay. I joined because I was so impressed by the then-29 year old founder who had written the code in one weekend.” He [Pierre Omidyar] told her, “Meg, what I need is adult supervision.”
“I stepped down after 10 years. I thought it was time to turn it over to someone with a new set of eyes and a new set of vision. Two individuals encouraged me to think beyond business and think about public service – Mitt Romney and John McCain.” Meg Whitman is now running for governor of California. Her web site for this campaign is here.
How has being a woman contributed to being a leadership success?
“From the earliest days at P & G, I decided the only thing I could really do was try my hardest to deliver the results. I like to work in teams. I am better when I am surrounded by very good people. I don’t know if that is male or female but that [working hard], plus being focused on results, has made all the difference.”
Tell us about how you went about building your team at E-Bay?
“I hired ahead of the curve. When I joined E-Bay, it was growing at 70% compound monthly growth rate. I knew I had to hire someone to whom the company would grow, not who the company would outgrow. An example of this is that I hired the CMO of Pepsi at a time when we were not larger than a $40million company. Right person. Right job. Right time. Hire ahead of the curve. ”
On Family
“I’ll be honest with you. It was a challenge. It was always a challenge.
I’m a perfectionist and I finally gave way to the notion that I could not be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect entertainer and the perfect hostess and my house could simply not look as though Martha Stewart had just left. In the end, there are only 2 priorities, my family and my job. ”
Focus. Focus. Focus.
“We only did things socially when we could take the children. When I came to E-Bay, my boys were 10 and 13 and a [I had a] neurosurgeon husband. I had to take E-Bay from teenager to a grown up. [It is key to] Choose the right partner. My husband took over the family finances and managing the house. He and I split those jobs but when I would travel overseas for 10 days, he would be on the job. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for being on the plate and being on the job.”
Who helps you? Who helped you?
“Close female friends and their families. When push comes to shove and the child is home sick with a meeting that needs to be attended, the ability to call up one of your friends to help out is a huge difference. My sister also helped out a lot. Anne deserves a huge amount of credit for coming out to help me. On the business side, the most influential person I worked for was the President of Disney, Frank Wells. He took a real interest. Disney is a tough place. You have to stand up for yourself. You have to be tough as nails. He helped along the way. “
How did you deal with the toughness in business?
“What I learned at Disney is a great deal about executive communication and how to stand up for yourself; how to engage in give and take and how to stand your ground in a firm way. I had to learn how to state my point of view, and argue persuasively for what I thought would be important. I just did it by doing it. Everyone has their own personal style and I would encourage everyone to know themselves and know what their personal style is. What I’ve learned over the years is that you can only be your authentic self. You cannot pretend and try to be someone that you are not. Being better prepared than anyone else was essential. It’s hard to argue a point when you don’t have the data so that gave me the confidence, because I had done the extra work, to stand by what I thought.”
What are you proudest of?
“I feel best about my husband and two boys. They are really nice young men and we have a great family. My husband is a prince of a guy and a huge supporter. In the end, that has been the most important. I am also incredibly proud of what we did with E-Bay. We started on a great idea. A brilliant idea. I am proud of the fact that we made many of the right decisions and when we made a mistake, we acknowledged it. We fixed it fast and we moved on. What really excited everyone at E-Bay is that we were helping people start their businesses, change lives and do things they never thought were possible. That ability to help change the world on a small scale is something I am really proud of.”
On the lack of integrity in today’s business economy.
“It’s a tragedy in many ways. There have always been people in business who have done the wrong thing but it seems like there are more than ever before. I am very sorry about it because you can have 100 people that behave beautifully and there can be 1 person that spoils it for everyone. I worry that what has happened has given business people a bad name. 99.9% of people are doing the right thing. But if you’d read the magazines, you’d never believe that was the case so I think we have a lot of work to do to regain our good name as business leaders. You can only control what you can control and model the right behavior for your family and your employees. If your family is sitting in the room and is watching you, would they be proud?”
On the economy, right now.
“We are seeing a paradigm changes. Things are fundamentally different. I do not think that we are at the bottom here. We are in the eye of the storm and it’s going to get really bad again. This has turned into a consumer led recession. 72% of our economy is consumer led. Consumer behavior has fundamentally changed. I think those shifts may well be permanent. There’s also a silver lining though – people are focusing on what is really important. You have not seen the full default on consumer credit card debt, commercial real estate is just starting to crack. We do need to spend money. The government has a role to try to have the economy regain strength fast. We need to focus on employment. There is one most important metric – it is unemployment. The federal stimulus package must focus on jobs, jobs and jobs. It must be targeted, timely and temporary. Small business is the engine of the United States economy. It has always been and will always be. 72% of jobs in the US are created by small business. We need to put the spotlight on ‘How do we make small business successful?’ The role of government is to create the conditions for small businesses to grow and thrive.”
How to thrive in this economy
“If you’re running your business better than your competitor, you have the ability to gain market share. Make sure you are taking advantage of this downturn. When we come out, if you’ve been doing the hard work, you’ll be in a better position than today.”
Check back in the next few days for Meg’s essential lessons for success in business.
“You should never edit one dream. Never edit. Just go for it!”
Judi Sheppard Missett
Judi Sheppard Missett, the founder of Jazzercise, spoke to the Women Presidents’ Organization on its last day. In fact, she was the last speaker of the entire conference and she brought the event to a fitting, high-note, close. Wearing an adorable silver skirty leggings outfit thing (the photo doesn’t do it justice), she dominated the stage, at times leading us in group exercise to bring points to life.
Her premise is that life and success is analogous to music. First, there is the building block of the bass line. For Judi, this is passion. She exhorts that you must have a passion for what you’re doing. You should get up every morning with that kind of fluttery exciting feeling that happens when you’re anticipating something great. She says that’s this is what passion does for you – it gives you that opportunity to feel the butterflies of excitement every day. I was lucky enough to take a Jazzercise class from her at the conference and can attest first hand that she loves what she does.
During her talk, she went on to explain that when you are passionate about what you are doing, you can dream great big fabulous dreams – and orchestrate them because passion helps you to work really hard and helps you crank up the proverbial volume. When you need to be able to put in an extraordinary effort, if you’re passionate about what you do, it doesn’t seem like work. Passion helps you listen to your gut, your voice of truth. Just like the base beat keeps the music on target and tuned in, that’s what passion does for you. It helps to keep you excited, motivated and on target.
The next building block in music is its cadence and tempo. Cadence gives you cues, messages, signs and signals. You need to be aware of life’s cues and opportunities and be aware for changing messaging and signals. When you get results that don’t match what you were expecting, the clues (the cadence) help you to modify. You have to do things differently if you want different results. You have to want to change.
Finally, the melody helps to bring everything along in a smooth and predictable pattern. You get the melody in your life by maintaining your mind-body-spirit connection.
According to Judy, the keys to maintaining this melody in your life are: surround yourself with people that lift you up. Kick out the negative and don’t allow anyone to bring you down. Create a family culture in your work so that you enjoy and care for those that work with and around you. Improve your mind by challenging yourself. And of course, the rockin’ healthy, 60ish year old grandmother strongly advocated fitness as part of a healthy life. She said, “Strengthen the body – practice well being through exercise and nutrition. Get enough sleep. Eat things in their natural state. ”
Finally, to keep your melody going, make room in your life for spontaneity. Leave room in your life for serendipitous happenings. (Random aside: I totally took her advice yesterday and spur of the moment, went to go see the Mt. Vernon Tulip Fields by bike. Expect pictures later this week) Don’t become so rigid that you have no fun doing what you do. You won’t even be aware when things pass you buy if you are too rigid. In addition, practice gratitude. Every day Judi makes a gratitude list from A to Z. This outpouring of gratitude makes Judi want to share and give back. She strongly believes in the power of ‘giving back’ and suggests that you try to make a difference in someone’s life every single day. Proving that she walks the walk, she has raised $26million for charity (WOW!)
She closed with the exhortation: “Be brilliant and absolutely humble.”
Success is a combination of three things:
Idealism
Realism
Plain old hard work
Learn more about Jazzercise at their site here or read more about the background of Jazzercise and Judi’s rise in building a $93million/year business here.
Girls Apron with Ice Cream Sundae- $32.00
Onesie with Pink Ice Cream Cone- $13.00
Ice Cream Cone Cookies- $39.95 (dozen)
If you haven’t seen the photography of Poras Chaudhary, head to his site to see it right now. There are 28 amazing photos that will thrill and delight you (especially if you make soap. The pigment splashing across the crowd is amazing).
“Start being informed about energy. Read everything. You need to assume responsibility for energy. We all do.” T Boone Pickens
Greetings from Day Three of the Women Presidents’ Organization. T. Boone Pickens is here talking about energy Independence and his rise in business. His manner is chatty and personable. It’s clear he feels very comfortable with a microphone and is good at playing to crowds.
My take-aways:
Never discount luck for your successPickens spoke passionately about luck – a factor that he credits to his very existence after he was delivered via emergency c-section by a surgeon that had only seen photos of it in a book. He also mentioned how imperative having a strong father was in his life.
Pickens quickly moved into what he is truly passionate about – reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil. He told many anecdotal stories (including one that was “off the record”). One that was on the record was his story about meeting with both presidential candidates to talk to them about our energy situation. Both candidates met with him and both listened thoughtfully. One thing that stood out about both meetings was that after meeting with Obama, Obama asked T.Boone “Do I say things about energy that make you feel uncomfortable?” T. Boone told him that his reliance on the idea of car battery cars wasn’t enough. New energy plans coming out of Washington DC have more wind, solar and natural gas in them and do not just rely on plug in cars as a fix-all. HR1835 is now in the House which includes Natural Gas in the bill and there is another plan working its way through the Senate.
You can find out more about the Pickens Plan, energy issues and educate yourself on his site here. Or just watch his videos at YouTube here.
“Pamper Mom with a gift you made yourself! These all-in-one soap kits give you everything you need to create a custom set of soaps. Use their Mother’s Day heart molds and gift tags to give this batch a special touch.” Get your Mothers Day Kit here (Mickey Mouse not included)
Greetings from Day Two of the Women Presidents’ Organization conference on sustainability in San Diego.
Some tidbits from the morning sessions on Sustainability in Business:
I have more notes to share – on capturing opportunity out of chaos and notes from Meg Whitman’s talk – but they will have to wait for another day. Tonight, we’re headed out on a cruise around the bay to network and take in the amazing sights of San Diego at night.
I’m in overcast San Diego at a series of business conferences put on by the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). The first session today is on “The Seven Costliest Employment Mistakes: What YOU Must Do to Protect and Sustain Your Business!” Our speaker are part of a boutique law firm, Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, that specialize in Employment Law.
For those of you that have employees (and some of these apply mostly to companies over 50 employees), here are the Seven Costliest Mistakes according to our expert speakers:
1. Not properly understanding Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state laws.
Audits are on the rise as this becomes an income generating area for cash strapped states. These issues cover overtime exemptions, employees versus independent contractors and the biggie, a class action lawsuit.
2. Have an employee handbook to create and enforce company standards. These are used to communicate expectations and establish consistent practices, have the mandatory policies (anti-harrassment, whistleblower). Another key is that you must have employees sign that they read the handbook.
3. Avoid and defend litigation through effective anti-harassment training. You want to make sure that your managers know what their responsibilities are. The laws have changed and it’s important that everyone be updated.
4. Use restrictive covenants. These are things like confidentiality agreements, non-competes and non-solicitation agreements. If you would be hurt by having someone leave your employ, open up a competing firm and start soliciting your customers or employees, then this is something you need to have.
5. Reduce risks of wrongful termination claims with carefully structured workforce reductions. It’s important to keep in mind that there are “good” ways to terminate and “bad” ways to terminate. You need to analyze applicable laws, analyze and document business reasons for letting people go, establish selection criteria and determine entitlement to severance.
6. Ensure compliance with the new COBRA subsidy program enacted in February. Subsidizes 65% of COBRA premium, applies to employees terminated from 9/1/08 to 12/31/2009, new notice requirements and reimbursement issues.
7. Be aware of new lawssuch as the illy Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, new FMLA regulations, Employee Free Choice Act, Paycheck Fairness Act, Aribration Act etc…
Melissa McCreery, PhD is the founder of Enduring Change Coaching (http://www.enduringchange.com) and creator of the online Weight Loss Winner’s Circle (http://www.weightlosswinnerscircle.com) where she helps members stay on track with their eating and weight loss goals, stay out of overwhelm, and thrive.
A lifelong vegetarian, I recently read the book “Real Food” by Nina Plank. In this book, she talks about the importance of fish oils and makes a strong case for eating fish, stating that the combination of oils and nutrients in fish are imperative for proper brain function. Not wanting to underutilize any aspect of my brain, I’ve started to add fish into my diet. My goal is to eat fish 2 times per week.
But, that whole lifelong vegetarian thing really puts a crimp on actually cooking fish. I do not know how to do it. I have no idea where to start. So, the fish habit is getting expensive. I have to eat out for each of those fish meals.
Determined to end my ignorance of all things fish and ocean, I attended a Fish Cooking Class at Ciao Thyme. I’ve taken a knife skills class with the talented and funny Mataio Gillis before so I knew it would be an entertaining evening. Thankfully, I had a good friend along to help. This is Heather and she did a much better crimp job on her “en papillote” than I did. More on that later.
The key things to take away from the class according to our instructor are:
1. Fish should be fresh and cold.
2. Fish should smell like the sea – not the sea shore.
My take-aways were:
1. Who knew fish could taste good with nothing but salt and olive oil?
2. Really? You can take the skin off a fish with a big, huge knife and one strategically placed pull?
3. I can do this! I really can do this!
4. The perfect grill marks *do* add to flavor.
5. En Papillote is easy to do and is your friend.
6. Sauteeing a fish is not only possible, but I can and will do it.
Mataio started by demonstrating the proper way to debone a fish. I am very proud of the large fish bone I’m holding in this photo; unreasonably proud given the relative ease of the task.
Then he proceeded to hand-on wow us with different techniques. We grilled salmon. We smoked salmon (Oh my goodness! The board caught on fire. There was smoke involved. It was quite exciting.). We brined salmon (this is key to adding flavor and slow the release of fat during cooking – genius!). We learned how to salt crust rock fish with a salt/water solution and a salt/meringue solution. Though Mataio predicted a “crimping failure” (I’m not adept at following many simple instructions; mostly because I started before I was supposed to), this is my perfect (eyes downcast modestly) en papillote fish. I will be doing this method again at home.
And then, we ate all of our creations. It was a little odd to have fish and fish alone for dinner but on the plus side, I feel much smarter today.
If you’re in the Bellingham area, you should mark your calender to attend a class. With classes like Cinco de Mayo, No Bake Desserts and Sushi 101 coming up, you can’t go wrong.
P.S. Making salmon skin chips (which look suspiciously like a leather belt) is simple. You coat the salmon skin with olive oil, put a little salt on the skin and then put the entire thing on a cookie sheet and bake until crisp. It tastes … okay. Sort of like dried seaweed.
I am so buoyed by the sunshine in Washington state that all I can see is cherry trees in bloom and dream of fresh garden vegetables. Along with the myriad of plant life comes bug life too. My favorite insect is the beautiful, flying little rotund ladybug. Since these red little balls of happiness don’t fly unless it’s 55 degrees or warmer, seeing any of them around town is a good sign that warmer weather is hopefully here to stay. Check out all the goodies I found with ladybugs as the star. Spring is here and so are the ladybugs.
Ladybug Felted Balls $20
Ladybug Coasters $12.50
Ladybug Paperweight $15
Ladybug Apron $20
Ladybug Cupcake Toppers $6
Ladybug Stationary $5
Ladybug Premie Baby Bootie $4.99
Ladybug Glass Pendant $7.50
Ladybug Kobi Clutch $30
