Busy bee

business

This one-woman show has been in constant motion this week! I’ve joined my local Chamber of Commerce and submitted my membership application to the local BNI group I mentioned in my last post. Networking is one of those skills that just doesn’t come naturally to me - or I don’t think it does. I’ve always enjoyed performing (10 years of marching band and 12 years of ballroom dance) but nightmares of high school book reports gone awry still haunt me. I’ve always been more comfortable listening to others and opening up once I’ve gotten to know them.

Luckily my experiences this week have all been positive and I’m now feeling more confident about my ability to get up and talk about myself. And the best part: it works! I’ve gotten a few referrals and more networking opportunities to help further my growth.

What I enjoy most though is having a one-on-one conversation with people about what their passions and interests are, both professional and personal. I got to speak with a local non-profit that does amazing work rehabilitating off-the-track Thoroughbreds last night (Thoroughbred Retirement Network of Louisiana). One of my friends is very involved at the farm and mentioned that they were in need of fundraising and advertising ideas - really anything that could help raise awareness and generate donors. We had a great discussion and got some ideas rolling.

I have a full day of projects to wrap up and a set-up for another big event for one of my clients this evening. Off the clock, I have to figure out what my little part-time cat has done to anger the neighborhood birds - they fluff up and squawk non-stop as soon as she goes outside. All in a day’s work. Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend everyone!

The Question of LinkedIn

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I visited a local BNI chapter meeting this past week. I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone to network, but I have to admit, I wasn’t prepared for how many people asked me about LinkedIn.

Do I have a LinkedIn account? Yes. I’ve had one pretty much from the beginning. We discussed LinkedIn in one of my capstone advertising classes in 2009/2010 and we all naturally hopped on the site to see what it was about.

Do I use it? Sometimes. LinkedIn isn’t Facebook and it isn’t Twitter either, neither of which are slights against the site. For being a social media marketer, I really don’t use social media sites too much for personal use. I occasionally tweet random thoughts and even more occasionally will I update my personal Facebook page. I spend so much time using social media for work that I just don’t get around to it just for me.

How do I use it? I use LinkedIn for professional networking, checking out job openings and finding information about local and national businesses. I keep my profile up-to-date and I network with coworkers and colleagues. I’m somewhat selective about networking as I like to network with people I’m familiar with in the professional arena, as opposed to adding all of my Facebook friends.

I’ve had my profile reviewed by prospective employers, so I know it is an important tool. However, I don’t use all of the features available as well as I should - I don’t ask for testimonials and I’m not aggressive about finding contacts or endorsing skills for others.

The specific question posed to me regarding LinkedIn whether I thought it was worthwhile. My answer was of course, yes. I don’t use it as much as I could, but it has a purpose and its features are distinctive enough to distinguish it from other social sites. If you’re looking to network with other professionals online as well as in-person, it’s unbeatable and for businesses and corporate types I think it is a great tool. And hey, even if you aren’t completely on board with giving endorsements and recommendations, it’s another way to get your name or your business’ name out there. There’s no harm in that!

I’m grateful that the question of LinkedIn was thrown my way because now I realize that people are still uncertain about what its benefits are. I’m going to spend a little extra time this week sprucing up my LinkedIn profile and put together some of these points to share at this week’s BNI meeting.

The June Recap

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My first month in business is officially in the books. June flew by! Here’s what I’ve accomplished this month:

Check it off: I am officially official with the local government. I’ve got my permits, licenses, and sales tax IDs on file. Taking care of these three items were my biggies for the month and there were a few moments in the process of filling everything out that made me want to run for the hills. Had I known that I would be visiting the court house so many times in rapid succession, I would have paid closer attention to the tour we took in high school. The more you know!

Bills Bills Bills: I sent out my first round of invoices this month and received a few of my own. What goes around comes around. I actually find that I enjoy the invoicing process. I’m using a cloud-based accounting system that’s easy to follow and is improving my personal accounting habits as well. (In case you were wondering, it’s called Wave. Check it out!)

Tangible Creativity: I’m always designing *something* on my computer, but I took my creativity from digital to physical this month. Here are three new things I created just for me:

My first mosaic piece. Klimt and his Byzantine-like, mosaic style have long been some of my favorite works of art, long before my first art history class. Not that I’m saying this piece is up there with Klimt, but the gold Venice glass I used reminds me of one of my favorite pieces of his, The Kiss.
Painting. Blues and golds are some of my favorite colors to combine. I am working on a series of six square canvases painted in various shades of blues, aquas, greens and golds to hang on the “empty” wall in my room. Pictured is the first and I love how it came out.
Gardening. In its own way, gardening is a creative process. I love the colors and textures of the flowers: spindly lavender stalks that seem to be growing at an alarming rate (on my second round of repotting to give it more room to grow!), vivid impatiens that I saved from “death row” for plants, and big hibiscus flowers that last only one day. There are peaches, pinks, reds, purples, periwinkles and violets all growing on my porch. I’ve been banned from bringing home any others.

Phew! All in all, I think it was a successful month. Now I’m enjoying the holiday weekend and the start of one of my favorite months of the year. Enjoy your 4th everyone!

Morning Routines

The best part of my mornings lately have been working on my porch. It’s hot in Louisiana and the combination of heat and humidity makes it impossible to enjoy being outside in the afternoons. But the morning is perfect. I let my wild part-time cat out and we sit together, drinking coffee - well, *I* drink the coffee - and either reading the newspaper or working on my morning burst of creative projects.

My creativity is being spurred by cultivating my secret love for gardening. I’ve always wanted to be a green thumb. Our rose bush is growing wild and crazy in the front of the house and my roommates and I decided we wanted more. We picked out some plants this past weekend at Lowe’s. I’m tickled to have two hibiscus plants to mother hen. They are so colorful and bright - the perfect way to start off a creative morning!

Here’s a picture of my average morning setup, minus Puddin’ who has wandered off on one of her morning jaunts.

Coffee, computer, and flowers. A perfect morning.

Flying solo

…feels exactly like jumping off a cliff.

In my mind, I picture myself running toward the cliff’s edge and swan diving right off. Now I’m not afraid of heights but cliff-jumping has never been part of my regular routine.

My regular routine goes a little something like this:

Step 1. Get excited about something and say “I’m going to do this!”

Step 2. Mentally freak out and talk myself back out of whatever I wanted to do.

I run right up to the edge of the cliff only to dig my heels in at the last second and hover on the edge. I’ve missed several opportunities doing this, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson: do it or you will regret it.

When I first realized I wanted to start my own business, I felt a sense of relief. I know that sounds like the biggest cliché ever, but I was really struggling to figure out what I wanted to do. Looking back, I was fighting the idea that I really could go my own way. Accepting that this was what I really want to do made me feel so much better.

Then I got excited. (Cue me running toward the cliff’s edge.) I get to be my own boss! I can pick whatever color scheme I want for my logo! (Yes, even yellow! I love yellow!)

…And then the little doubts crept in.

Can I really do this?

What if I fail?

What if people don’t accept my hourly rates or I don’t have any clients and I’m totally poor?

What if I’m not good at this?

So many doubts. My poor brain. Realizing that everyone has these doubts helped calm my fears and kept me from putting on the brakes. But more than anything, realizing that I’ll never fly if I don’t jump has been the biggest motivator of all.

(And also my friends and family, who have listened to me and looked at countless logo designs and given me referrals and generally been awesome.)

Now I’m excited to jump. Maybe I’ll even cannon-ball into the water. Who knows?

(How perfect is this image? I was searching Pinterest for something that summarized how I feel and this is it!)

Starting a new adventure

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Today marks the start of a new chapter in my life as Emily Brinks, business owner.

I never imagined myself as business owner when I was growing up. If I’m being honest, I’ve never had a specific vision for my career. I knew I wasn’t going to be Emily Brinks, M.D. or Emily Brinks, J.D. Instead I had this hazy mental image of adult me wearing a business suit (3 button front with shoulder pads) sitting behind a desk, doing some “important things” and “stuff”.

Which if you know me, you know that is NOT me at all.

Walt Whitman wrote in his perfectly-named Song of Myself, “I am large, I contain multitudes.” If ever a quote described me, that is it. I’m both a dancing, laughing, fun-loving lefty who is ready to travel and roadtrip at the drop of a hat and a goal-oriented problem solver with a laser focus on deadlines, systems, and doing things right. I love thinking outside the box almost as much as I love coming up with solutions that work.

I realized that I had a problem that needed to be solved: my multitudes were at odds with the life I was living. I know I want to expand my potential but I wasn’t doing that, not on a grand scale. I’m wont to do when I’m feeling confused or overwhelmed, I got out a notebook and wrote out what I was thinking and feeling.

I finally wrote this sentence down: I am creative.

And it clicked: me as a person, what I can offer, what I want to do with my life. (And it doesn’t involve shoulder pads!)

From this brainstorming session came a solution to my own problem: Emily Brinks Creative. I’m excited — and I can’t lie, a little nervous too. But what business owner isn’t? I’m throwing off my guide lines and sailing away from the shore. I’m so grateful to my friends and family who have listened and supported this idea from the outset. Thank you!

And to everyone else: I’m open for business! Email me at [email protected] and let’s get started finding creative solutions. Because that’s Emily in a nutshell.

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