31 Flavors of Me

{Today’s post was inspired by Marie’s Q&A Tuesday video.}

Everyone around me knows that I struggled with having a zillion, seemingly unrelated, interests and was clueless about which to pursue and which to abandon or table for later.  The thing is, when I pursue something, I give it my all and so it’s very difficult for me to attack more than one project at once.  I’m also a Type A personality and very transactional-minded (hence the lawyer in me), so tend to think in an extremely linear fashion when it comes to executing ideas.

Here is just a snapshot of where my varied interests have taken me in the last few years:

Event Planning

• In 2003, I started Plush Events, Inc., an event planning company, with 4 partners.
• Then, in 2005 I branched out on my own with Stacey P. Ferguson Special Events

Lifestyle Product Design

• In 2007, I launched Mommies In Mind Brands and debuted The Mommy Apron as my first product (ahem – someone else has since bought my domain).  I have a slew of other product ideas in mind that I’d love to develop and put on shelves.

Social Media

• Mamalaw was launched in 2006 and, from then, a social media monster was born!
• Blogalicious was launched in 2009
• Justice Fergie was launched in 2010

Food

• I’ve always had a passion for food but social media truly caused that passion to blossom.  In 2009, I launched FOODe
• In 2010 I competed in Top Chef Silver Spring
• In 2011 I became an ambassador for ConAgra Foods and member of the Ready Set Eat Shared Tastes Panel where I review recipes monthly
• All the while, I’ve been entertaining friends and family at home and loving it

Traditional Media & Speaking

• I started writing a novel in 2009 and then a self-help guide in 2010
• My Mamalaw partners and I shot a talk show pilot in 2010
• I served as a Buick media correspondent for the Essence Fierce & Fabulous awards in 2010
• I’ve also found a calling as a public speaker and have presented at a number of events in the past two years
• In addition to multiple radio appearances promoting Mamalaw and Blogalicious, I recently was featured in a 2-part NPR series on childcare – which I love doing

And let’s not forget that I went to law school after college (where I studied Television & Radio Production), and have been practicing law for the past 9 years.

Holy Cannoli! Doesn’t it look like I’ve been all over the place? I know that my husband feels like I have!

The good news is that I wholeheartedly execute.  Remember earlier this year when I started my LaunchPad services? That was largely a result of me hearing from people all around me how much they admire my ability to take an idea from concept to fruition.  Once I get an idea in my head, it’s very clear to me how to make it happen so I decided to put this quality of mine to good use and to help others launch their businesses.

Then, the multipassionate me took over and once again, I decided to tweak my brand.  I redesigned Justice Fergie to focus on celebrating life which allows me to write about all of the topics that interest me: Family, Food, Success, Style, and Life.

Here’s the thing that I learned about myself – I’m a Leo, and need to pursue all of these multiple interests.  According to this site: “lack of fulfillment in life, professionally or personally, can destroy these bright and shining people [Leos] and cloud their personalities.”  I totally feel that.  In fact, I’ve said it on more than one occasion – there is an entire media and lifestyle empire inside of me just waiting to be uncovered. And the fact that I know it and can’t devote my all to it because of my day job is stifling.

A couple of months ago, with the help of the wonderful Monique Eddelton of Golden Parachutes, I was able to figure out a way to (hopefully) combine all of my passions (events, social media, product design, food, and media) into one umbrella lifestyle brand and channel all of my creative and entrepreneurial energies into it.  And I simply can’t wait.

I just need to make it through October first.