Monthly Archive for November, 2010

Stepping Up with Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx

Published on November 18, 2010 in Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Last night I attended Stepping Up in the City, Step Up Women’s Network’s annual member event in New York City.   The event featured Spanx, Inc. founder Sara Blakely who provided the requisite words of inspiration and the voice of experience to a crowd of up-and-coming movers-and-shakers.

Her tips:

“What you don’t know can be your greatest asset.”

Once Blakely had a successful product prototype she believed in, she faced the challenge of finding retailers to carry it.  So she looked up the buyer for Neiman Marcus in the phone book and called to ask for 15 minutes of her time.  Traditionally, new vendors present their wares at massive trade shows that buyers attend, but Blakely didn’t know that.  She got her 15 minutes and the interest of a buyer from a major upscale department store.

“Differentiate yourself…Why you?”

Ideas are a dime a dozen.   What is it about you that can take an idea to fruition better than the next guy? You can have a genius business plan, but what makes you the secret sauce?

“Don’t be afraid to fail.”

Growing up, Blakely’s dad regularly asked his kids, “What did you fail at this week?”  And if she didn’t have a good tale of failure, her father was disappointed.  As an adult she recognizes the genius reverse psychology of it all.  Her father made failure an expected part of the journey of life and the  process through which you find success.  She notes that “failure is not the outcome; failure is not trying.”

“Prayer is you speaking to God; Intuition is God speaking to you.”

Blakely referenced this insight from a friend because time and again following her gut led her to greater success.  You need to take your cues from the world around you and not second guess your instincts.

The advice is not necessarily new, but the her unique experiences gave her conclusions more credence.   All and all, a great networking event with some new contacts and food-for-thought.

QOD: I believe that everything happens for a reason

Published on November 13, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

photo by nerdegutt

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

- Marilyn Monroe

Voters unlikely to get the compromise they want to see in DC

Published on November 4, 2010 in Politics. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader McConnell insisted the American people voted Republican because they stand behind the party of “no”.

“I get the impression that [the Democratic Party's] view is that we haven’t cooperated enough. I think what the American people were saying yesterday is they appreciated us saying ‘no’ to things that the American people indicated that they were not in agreement with.”

To the contrary, according to a series of polls inquiring about partisan behavior post election, voters hoped for collaboration and compromise after the election,  In a Bloomberg poll, 80 percent of respondents wanted both parties to “work together even if it means compromising.” Seventy-eight percent of respondents thought Republicans in Congress should “compromise some of their positions in order to get things done” and 69 percent say the same about Obama per a CBS/NYT poll.

Doesn’t look like the GOP got the message:

In an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley, RNC Chairman Michael Steele made clear that compromise is not on the table:

Well, I think that, to be very clear here, when we talk about not compromising, not compromising away on the principles that our party have run on and have stood for, for a long time. For example, we’re not going to compromise on creating more debt. We’re not going to compromise on raising the debt ceiling. We’re not going to compromise on increasing the burdens on the backs of small-business owners and families.

Shortly before the election, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana also shot down any hope of compromise:

Look, the time to go along and get along is over. . .there will be no compromise on stopping runaway spending, deficits and debt. There will be no compromise on repealing Obamacare. There will be no compromise on stopping Democrats from growing government and raising taxes. And if I haven’t been clear enough yet, let me say again: No compromise.

At a Heritage Foundation talk today, McConnell reiterated his goal of making Obama a one-term President because his agenda does not fall in line with that of the in-coming Republican majority in the House.

But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won’t veto any of these things.

At least voters are more aware of the reality than they’re given credit for.  In that same CBS/NYT poll, “72 percent thought that Obama would try to work with Republicans—but only 46 percent thought that the Republicans would try to work with Obama.”

It’s going to be a rocky road to 2012.