success - Justice Fergie Lifestyle Media

Do As I Say, Not As I Do: On Blogging Consistently

April 30, 2013 By Justice Fergie 1 Comment

This is typically my disclaimer when I’m giving presentations on best practices for social media: “Do as I say, not as I do!” But after my recent talk at The Takeaway this past Friday, I’m wondering why I don’t just take my own advice?

Clearly my plate has changed since I started blogging 7 years ago. These days, I’m managing multiple businesses along with with navigating being the parent of a 3rd grader (Lord help me), a 1st grader and a pre-schooler. So why is it that I expect that I can post to my personal blog multiple times a week? I’ve been struggling with this – as you know.

Whenever a new blogger asks me ‘how often should I blog?’ I always give the same answer: whatever it is that you decide, be consistent. That is the single most important piece of advice I can think of when it comes to blogging frequency. Starting out thinking you can blog 7x/week, is unrealistic. But maybe you have the bandwidth to do so more than 1x. Come up with a reasonable schedule and then, stick to it. Blogging consistently is the secret to many a blogger’s success.

But, um, don’t look at my blog as an example.

I go through fits and starts of blogging regularly, and then falling off the map. I think it’s high time that I implemented my own guidance. It makes me sick that I can’t post as often as I’d like, but it is what it is.

I’m thinking, as crazy as life is right now, committing to posting on Wednesdays works for me.

In fact, I have an idea.

See you on Wednesday.

Image credit: peerlessgolf.ca

Filed Under: life, success Tagged With: blogging best practices

Late to the Party :: On Discovering C. Wonder

April 24, 2013 By Justice Fergie 1 Comment

Ok wow. This was going to be a simple ‘That’s My Style’ post about the cute tote bag that I bought last month while on vacation. But, after spending the last 10 minutes on their website, it’s turning into a full-on entrepreneurial crush.

They call themselves “a shopping destination that transports women into a world of luxury and surprises.”

I’d have to agree.

While in the Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego over Spring Break, I popped into a colorful store that looked right up my alley: clothing, accessories and home decor. Thirty minutes (and 1 very antsy husband) later, I emerged from C. Wonder with a striped tote, a gold letter chain, and a lime green cuff with my initial in gold. Not to be overlooked was the great customer service by the staff, the fly spiked shoes that the male clerk was wearing, and fabulous shopping bag it all came in. I mean, my heart was broken that I couldn’t find a way to travel back to Maryland with that bag.

I realize that I might sound like a lunatic – ranting about a store in a freakin’ mall. But it was truly delightful. Everything was bright and fun and preppy and pretty much everything could be monogrammed if it wasn’t already. As if that weren’t enough, you don’t actually buy the items on the floor, like in any other store in the mall. They take the item from you and bring you out an untouched one from the back, making you feel special and like you’re at a high-end store.These people were in my head. I asked the clerk if there were any of the stores on the East Coast and – ding, ding, ding! – it turns out that there’s one about 25 minutes away from my house.

So I made a note to write a quick post when I got back home. And then I read the brand story (like I always do) and found the creator’s video of his upbringing and his mission for the store. Love.

Apparently there is some hateration floating around about the store because the founder is Tory Burch’s ex-husband and some say he’s imitating her style for at a more affordable price point (which is maybe why I was drawn to the store in the first place, since I love me some TB). Still, I’m a fan. And I’ll be back.

It just screams Life Is the Party.

*for the record: this is SO not a sponsored post!

Filed Under: Style, success, thats my style Tagged With: Branding, C. Wonder, retail, shopping

#GoMighty Life List Check-In: On Navigating An Entire ASL Conversation

April 22, 2013 By Justice Fergie Leave a Comment

I’m about 4 classes into my ASL course, sponsored by Olay and Go Mighty, and while I am still stumbling along in the communication department, I’m proud to say that during the last class, I managed to follow a 2-hour conversation entirely in ASL!

Or ‘mostly’ follow anyway.

One of the great things about ASL is that it’s based on concepts rather than specific words, so you can get by picking up the gist of an idea rather than having to understand every single word in a sentence, like in English, for example. Last class we started off by reviewing Unit 13: More Ways to Express Yourself, and our instructor started telling us about her life story to demonstrate some of the signs. Before we knew it, it was 90 minutes later and she had shared her challenges growing up in a small town in a school where she was the only deaf student, and where her teachers and principal didn’t know “what to do with her,” to her desire to become a math teacher but getting discouraged in college when she couldn’t follow along with the lesson in class, to her ascent up the management chain at various government agencies, to her finally fulfilling her passion to teach, as an ASL instructor years later (yay!).

And she shared this entire, moving, riveting story in ASL.

Read the rest on my Go Mighty page…

Filed Under: family, life, Sponsored, success Tagged With: Go Mighty, Olay

My First Live-Streamed Google Hangout! ‘From Blogger to Business’ w. @BrothaTech and @LamarTyler

April 9, 2013 By Justice Fergie Leave a Comment

Last week, Terrance Gaines (aka Brotha Tech) invited Lamar Tyler and I to participate in an honest, no-holds-barred conversation via Google Hangout about transitioning from blogging ‘on the side’ to making it your full-time profession. I knew it was going to be fun – because those two are hysterical AND brilliant – but I had no idea it was going to be THAT much fun…and empowering. The tweets, posts and comments we received from speaking our minds and hearts was amazing. If you missed it, here it is.

And if you want even more, join us on Friday, April 26 in Atlanta, GA for ‘The Takeaway: No Fluff’ – a 1-day workshop where social media meets business.

Filed Under: success Tagged With: Google Hangout, The Takeaway

Introducing ‘Life Is the Party: Passion Profiles’ w. A Sweet Stor(e)y for @DolciGelati

April 5, 2013 By Justice Fergie 2 Comments

I admit it’s a bit weird. But I get giddy when I see others living their passion and taking an idea and bringing it to life. {Sidenote: That’s clearly why I enjoy my Rock the Party consulting biz so, so much. It’s a total win-win: not only do I help entrepreneurs create viable brands from ideas, but I also derive inexplicable joy when they succeed! Call me selfish.}

Over the Christmas holiday, I got the idea to feature business owners on my blog that I cross paths with, who are living their passion and building charming lifestyle businesses. But I needed a new project like I needed a hole in the head. And so I tucked it away at the back of my mind along with the other 399 ideas. But each time since December, when I’ve met a fabulous entrepreneur successfully taking fabulous risks, I’ve wished that I had a neat way to build them into my site.

Yesterday I got an email from a dear friend (that’s her, above) that, after six years, her gelato business, Dolci Gelati, is opening its first storefront in Takoma Park, DC, this weekend! I was grinning from ear to ear sitting at my desk. Not only is the gelato to die for (trust me) – but Anastasia is an inspiration for me because she is the definition of ‘multipassionate.’ In fact, I talked about her as part of my mini-keynote last year at Mom 2.0 Summit on that very topic. She also happens to be the Communications Director for the UN Foundation, the parent organization of the Shot@Life campaign that I’ve worked with for the past couple of years.

DolciGelati

In a perfect mashup of two of her passions, Dolci Gelati is offering a special for the month of April: for each scoop of the limited edition Shot@Life flavor ordered, 50 cents will be donated to the campaign.

Talk about a sweet deal all around.

And so last night I decided to stop fighting it. Say hello to: ‘Life Is the Party: Passion Profiles.’ There’s just too many delightful small business owners doing their thing.

About Dolci Gelati

Dolci Gelati Café to Open Storefront in Takoma Park This Weekend

For Grand Opening will Offer Buy One Get One Free from 11am-1pm

Washington, D.C. (April 3, 2013) Buy one get one free! This Saturday, April 6, more than six years after Dolci Gelati first came to DC, Chef Gianluigi Dellaccio and his business partner/wife Anastasia along with fellow Italian and local entrepreneur Marcello Minna have announced that they will openDolci Gelati Café, their first storefront, in Takoma Park. Dolci Gelati can currently be found at Nationals’ Stadium as well as in restaurants and markets throughout the Washington Metro area such as Whole Foods and Taylor Gourmet.

The first planned location will open its doors in Takoma Park just 10 minutes from the Dolci Gelato laboratorio “kitchen”, on 7000 Carroll ave., in the heart of the trendy neighborhood. As part of their opening, Dolci Gelati will offer a free gelato from 11am-1 pm to whoever buys one.

Chef Gianluigi currently has created more than 300 varieties of homemade gelato, and will bring his crowd-pleasing favorites such as salted caramel, white chocolate raspberry and bacio to the store daily.   The Chef will also experiment with fresh, new flavors including creating a health-conscious line with tantalizing treats like Green Tea, Pomegranate Powerberry and a Super Citrus Antioxidant sorbet. Dolci Gelati Café will also feature a Social Good flavor, from which the profits will go to a variety of great causes including the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, a movement to protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are most needed, and Lukes Wings, a charity that unites wounded warriors, veterans and heroes with their loved ones when they need them most.

“For years my creations have been bound by what the markets would order. I have so many new ideas that I want to try both in gelato and pastry and now I have my own place to do so,” said Chef Gianluigi. “I can’t wait to connect with our customers on a new level and offer new varieties that they have only imagined, while staying true to my family’s recipe that I learned growing up in Italy.”

Marcello Minna also explained” After almost two decades as a coffee distributor to restaurants, I will finally have the chance to see, for the first time, people’s reaction when experiencing my coffee. The best part of this adventure is going through this process with a great friend like Gianluigi in one of the best communities in the Washington, DC area.”

Before creating Dolci Gelati, Chef Gianluigi was a Pastry Chef at Galileo, as well as an Italian Water Polo Champion. The Chef plans to incorporate his background as a pastry chef to develop many new items. The menu will include “cupcake cones”- ice cream cones filled with cupcake and chocolate ganache center, gelato sundaes, pastry and several varieties of praline nuts and artisan kettle corn (chocolate covered, cotton candy, bacon, and parmesan).

Also in the works – Dolci Gelati Café will open their second location next spring at the City Market at O development on 8^th street between O and P Street.  The complex will be erected in Shaw and will also include a renovated state of the art Giant as well as a hotel, apartment complex and other retail and restaurants.

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Dolci Gelati was started in 2005 by Former Italian champion water polo player turned pastry chef Gianluigi Dellaccio. Dolci Gelati offers many great varieties of gelato with a consistent level of quality that can only be achieved with artisan precision. The process starts every morning with deliveries from local dairy farms and other handpicked fruits, fine chocolates and other fresh ingredients. Gelato offers the same great taste as ice cream with 1/3 the fat and none of the artificial ingredients. Gianluigi uses a 100% authentic Italian recipe and local fresh ingredients to bring you a little bit of Italy across the Atlantic.

Gianluigi whose experience takes him from Italy, Galileo and the Ritz Carlton also serves his gelato at The Washington National’s Stadium, The Pennsylvania Turnpike and hundreds of locations all over metro DC and further. Dolci Gelati can also be found in pints at Whole Foods, Dean and Deluca, Taylor Gourmet and many more markets. Ask about our catering packages, homemade popsicles, kettle corn, cotton candy and more!

For more information about Dolci Gelati please visit www.dolcigelati.net  follow @DolciGelati on twitter and facebook .

Filed Under: food, passion profiles, success Tagged With: Dolci Gelati, Entrepreneurship, passion profiles, Shot@Life, UN Foundation

Will YOU Be at The Takeaway? A Special Event for a Special Kind of Social Entrepreneur

March 12, 2013 By Justice Fergie Leave a Comment

I’m just coming up for breath after a whirlwind weekend in Austin at SXSW Interactive. It was my first time going and I.WAS.FLOORED. As an event planner, I was in awe at the well-oiled machine that the organizers have going – imagine managing and coordinating 25,000 people and who-knows-how-many sponsors?

Truth be told I was chomping at the bit to see the behind-the-scenes. It’s the event producer in me. And while the networking was bananas and the parties abundant, I can’t say that I returned home with concrete information that I can apply to my digital endeavors. And that’s ok. Because every single event serves a particular purpose and has its own personality. SXSW was conceived as a festival – and it’s stayed true to it’s original mission. And, in that way, it filled a need.

You might have noticed that there is a serious need for an event that gives you in-depth, relevant, and specific guidance for your social media business (or your small business that wants to leverage social media for marketing and customer-building purposes), in a clear, compact, and useful way.

Enter The Takeaway!

The Takeaway: No Fluff
Social Media Meets Business
April 26, 2013
Atlanta, GA

My friends Lamar and Ronnie Tyler (of the world-famous BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com and Tyler New Media) and I have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind Social Media + Business workshop.

The tagline is: “All Facts. No Fluff.” and for good reason. You’re going to be given only the juice. Only the dirt. Only the cream of the crop of information relating to branding, email marketing, working with brands, alternative methods for generating income and producing video for the Web.

No long-winded presentations. No speakers telling you their cutesy lifestories. No wining and dining. We’re trimming the fat to bring you the meat.

It’s The Takeaway. Come. And tell a friend. You can use the discount code: “fergie” for $50 off the registration for a limited time.

Let me know if you have questions – I hope to see you there! Learn more HERE.

Filed Under: success Tagged With: #SMTakeaway, Events, Social Media

Pinch Me: I’m Headed to #SXSW! {See you in the #BiTHouse!}

March 1, 2013 By Justice Fergie Leave a Comment

Not only am I going to be there, I’ll be speaking as part of the Blacks In Tech track at SXSW Interactive in The BiTHouse. It’s really a dream come true for this tech geek. I’ll be on a panel with the fabulous Demetria Lucas of A Belle In Brooklyn fame – our workshop is called: “More Than A Happy Hour: Events As a Strategy for Brand Building.”

Here’s what BiT is all about:

Blacks In Tech (BiT) is a coalition of targeted technology organizations and industry thought leaders. Our primary objective is to to highlight the impact the African diaspora has in shaping innovation and growing technology-related industries, products and services.

We exist wherever creative disruption is taking place. Our marquee event takes place annually in Austin, Texas during SXSW Interactive Festival (deemed “the most important interactive in the world by CNET) where we reconnect and honor individual achievements in support of our collective advancement.

Thanks so very much to BiT Committee for including me. If you’ll be in Austin, let me know! I’d love to see a friendly face.

Filed Under: success Tagged With: #SXSW, Events, Speaking Opp

#ProjectStreamline Check-In: On Finding Email Nirvana

February 25, 2013 By Justice Fergie Leave a Comment

SaneBox Email Management

I have a crush on an email management program and its name is SaneBox. {And this isn’t a paid post – it’s that good.}

I wish I could remember how I heard about it, but the day I did I signed up for the free trial and I haven’t looked back since. Here’s how it works:

It literally felt like an anvil was lifted off of my chest. For the first time in months (maybe years?) my inbox doesn’t cause me to panic or miss important messages. That very first day, SaneBox took my inbox from over 4,000 emails to 200.

200! I can’t even think of the last time I saw the 200 number in my inbox. It was like it was my birthday and Christmas at the same time.

You should totally check it out. Use this referral link from me if you do (we’ll both earn a $5 SaneBox store credit).

The only downside that I’ve run into so far is that I have never found/made the time to read all of the emails stored in my SaneLater folder. I do skim the daily digest of what’s been stored in that folder and move important items to my inbox, but I would love a free weekend to drink tea and catch up on all the interesting (but not time-sensitive) messages in that folder.

Baby steps.

Filed Under: success Tagged With: email, organization, SaneBox, streamline

#LifeList Check In

February 8, 2013 By Justice Fergie 2 Comments

The latest item to scratch off my list:

~~be a room parent~~

Because I can’t leave well-enough alone, I went a step further and decided to take on the role of PTA President at my daughters’ schools (it’s 1 PTA for both schools) at the end of last summer. What a learning experience it’s been. If not for the simple purpose of opening my eyes to just how much work your PTA leaders have to do for even the most basic programs and to simply keep the thing up and running.

Also? If your school has a PTA or PTO, please volunteer for even a teeny tiny project or activity if you can. I sound like a PSA, but seriously, do it.

We need the help.

Filed Under: life, success

5 Strategies for Transitioning From Your Day Job to Your Side Business

February 7, 2013 By Justice Fergie 1 Comment

{re-posted from MommyNoire.com}

It’s a New Year!

I’m a sucker for blank slates. Whether it be cracking open a brand new notebook or opening up WordPress to compose a new blog post, the thought of starting anew is insanely invigorating for me. The start of January evokes the same feeling. With each new year comes the prospect of new opportunity, and for so many women I talk to, rebranding clients or otherwise, that includes the chance to reinvent themselves or their businesses based on where their true passion lies.

Exactly one year ago, I found myself embarking on what was quite possibly the biggest reinvention journey of my life to date: I was officially self-employed after a decade of practicing law for a private firm and the federal government. It was both a thrill and incredibly terrifying! When it came to my spirit and my sanity, the career change was 100% necessary; I was experiencing burnout at work from juggling family with career, and it was reflecting in my attitude and performance both on the job and at home – a bad look all around! And so, with much thought and planning with my husband, I took the plunge.

That sounds so daring and sexy doesn’t it? Truth be told, a lot of preparation, discussion, strategizing, and failed attempts at all of the above resulted in me finally being able to draft my resignation letter. By far, the number one comment I heard from people was: “You’re so lucky! I wish I could do that too, but I have no idea how.”

I’m here to tell you that ‘luck’ has nothing to do with it. What’s that old saying? “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” I couldn’t agree more – laying the groundwork and then timing your reinvention thoughtfully is critical.

Twelve months later, I can point to 5 specific strategies that made my transition successful:

1. Treat Your Day Job As Your First Investor. I’m not sure where I first heard this but it made perfect sense to me! We often worry about seeking funding from family and friends for our ventures and passion projects while ignoring the solid paycheck we are currently receiving at our day jobs. Set aside a portion of your current paycheck to serve as startup capital for your future project or side business. Those savings can also come in handy for living expenses while you get your new gig off of the ground.

2. Experiment. This was a huge one for me. I launched my blogs and my businesses while working. {For a great resource, check out Tai Goodwin’s Launch While Working site.} Doing this allowed me to try a few different ventures before finding those that had viability (and that I was truly passionate about). Because I was still working my full-time job, I had the luxury of experimenting with various business models without impacting my family’s budget.

Read on for the remaining strategies HERE…

Filed Under: success

Do As I Say, Not As I Do: On Blogging Consistently

Late to the Party :: On Discovering C. Wonder