Go Get 'Em Girls For This Guide Is For You!

I received a magnificent pitch by email this week -- one too good to pass up -- from Debra Shigley, author of the new "The Go-Getter Girl's Guide: Get What You Want In Work and Life (and Look Great While You're at It)."

What struck me is this part:

I graduated from Harvard (undergrad) and Georgia State College of Law, and briefly practiced employment law before returning to a writing career (I guess I'm an escapee, too :). I've appeared on The View, CNN, ABC news and more. I have also been quoted by the Washington Post, AJC, Wall Street Journal, and Redbook. I will attach a quick release about the book [Laurel here ... which she did], and you can learn more on my website here.

So naturally I responded to Debra with a "WOW ... great pitch ... send me a copy of the book -- no guarantees on anything -- but go ahead!" And she did.

I read my copy quickly because I was curious as to what a Harvard grad-lawyer-turned author has to say about getting your career on track and staying stylish at the same time. Debra doesn't let us down. She, herself, is a smart go-getter and this quality shines through brightly on nearly every page of the book.

She guides us carefully on all sorts of office issues -- from the importance of networking to wardrobe building (which I could use a little help on) to how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. She does this through interviews with dozens of successful, stylish women -- many of them well- known (e.g., Soledad O'Brien; Tory Burch; Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss; Johnson Publishing COO Anne Ward; Spanx founder Sara Blakely, etc.) and many of them entrepreneurs that Debra claims: Escaped from Corporate America!

Here's what folks have already said about the book:

“A must read for savvy women everywhere. Debra's invaluable style and career secrets are sure to skyrocket you to success!”
- Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss

“So much more than a series of success stories . . . This kind of wisdom is priceless. With her keen understanding of today’s working girl, Debra explains how to put those street smarts into practice.”
- Carley Roney, Cofounder and Editor In Chief of The Knot Inc.

“Go-Getter Girls know that 50% of their credibility comes from how they look, 40% comes from how they sound, and 10% from what they say. Debra Shigley provides practical tools and tips for achieving 100% success at go-getter girl speed!”
- Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., author of Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office

“Take the work place by storm! A fun step-by-step primer for getting everything you want out of your career. If you have ambition, this book will give you the confidence and tools to go out and make your dreams happen.”
- Bonnie Fuller, former editorial director of American Media

“A fast and fun read for the busy on-the-go girl who is looking for her ‘must do’ tips for success!”
- Keri Glassman, Early Show nutrition contributor and Women’s Health columnist

"If you want a fun, energetic, step-by-step guide to achieving the career of your dreams and look smashing to boot, this book is for you."
- Laurel Delaney, founder, The Official Escape From Corporate America blog

Learn more and purchase the book here.

Do What You Enjoy: An Interview With Artist Gina Signore

Gina Signore is a magnificent artist tucked away in the beautiful and peaceful area of Cassopolis, Michigan (village population estimated at 1,740) doing what she does best: artistry (shown above).

Recently, I had the great pleasure of being re-introduced to her work and ordered a few select note cards online for my own enjoyment. After receiving them in the mail and feeling like a kid in a candy store, I decided immediately that I must share the gift of knowing Gina with all of you, especially with the holidays right around corner.

To give more details, when I received my note cards, they were carefully hand-wrapped in cellophane with a delicate ribbon-tied bow; a tiny note accompanied each set with an original signature by Gina. Needless to say the cards are so beautiful that I most likely will never let them out of my sight. Instead, I might opt to frame them -- they are that gorgeous.

Gina's art work makes an ideal holiday gift for that special someone -- a colleague who made you shine through the year, a family member who's always there for you, a best friend who sticks by your side come thick or thin, that special client who thinks you are brilliant or the vendor who saves you gobs of time. Whoever it might be that is deserving of something special this year (I'll take 'em :-)!, they are sure to enjoy receiving Gina's art.

So, before I jump to where you can find her work, here's an interview I conducted with her discussing how she decided to start and grow the Gina Signore business of art.

LJD: What made you start your artistry business and please describe what it's all about?

Gina: I have been interested in art all of my life. I can remember drawing and painting when I was five years old.

I attended Aquinas College in the seventies and graduated with a Fine Arts degree.

The pursuit of my art degree exposed me to a wide variety of artistic mediums, history and theory. I majored in printmaking and painting.

After graduating from college, I became a partner in a Framing and Art shop in Grand Rapids Michigan. The frame shop connected me directly to the art community of West Michigan.

I was able to exhibit my work in a wide range of national galleries and juried art shows.

After residing in Grand Rapids for several years, my husband and I decided that we wanted to raise our children in a smaller community. The trade off to living in a smaller town is that venues for selling my art became limited.

Over the last ten years my digital camera, I-Mac computer and my access to high-speed Internet has become a strategic key for me to grow my business. Digital photography has become a centerpiece of my current artwork and five years ago I discovered the potential of selling my art online. I now have successful on-line Galleries at three websites Art.com, Zazzle.com and Etsy.com.

This was a wonderful way to get my artwork in front of many new viewers. These on-line galleries have allowed me to live in rural southwest Michigan and ship to far away locations around the globe. I am thrilled to know that my artwork has sold to individuals living as far away as Portugal and Australia.

LJD: What advice (best kept secret) can you give others that will help them unleash their potential to start a business?

Gina: When considering your career or business be sure that you are doing what you enjoy and that your work is aligned with your personal values.

I work and think about my art everyday. My parents passed their passion for art and gardening to me at an early age.

My artwork is more than a job or career to me. It's my calling, my passion, and is an expression of who I am. When I am not actively working at my art, I spend a great deal of my time planning or working in my garden. Today, I plant my garden with the things I want to paint or photograph.

I value a degree of solitude in order to do my work and I find that my home is where I get most of my inspiration.

LJD: If we lived in a perfect world, what's the one thing you might do differently if you were 21 and starting all over with your business? In other words and in hindsight, what do you wish you would have known when you started your business that for sure, now that you do know, you would do differently to make things easier?

Gina: I think I would have benefited from taking a few basic business or computer classes.

I remember that as a young artist, the signals that I was receiving from the business world were not very positive. At that time, art and creativity were viewed as radical right-brain thinking that did not impact the bottom line.

I think I would have been more inspired if I had been exposed to the creative nature of entrepreneurial thinking at an earlier age. I am intrigued by the return of creative thinking that is now being embraced by business.

Looking back, I wish that I had embraced technology a littler earlier. Traditional art is about drawing, painting, and sculpture and was not as welcoming to computer design.

I am still working on my fear of technology; I just recently bought my first cell phone and can text my daughters but I am not sure how to make a call!

Find Gina's work at the following online places:

Etsy Site

Zazzle Site

Art.com

And kick back, relax and enjoy ...
YouTube - Gina Signore Photography

Mixed media photography credit:

© 2009 Gina Signore, Winter Twilight (top)
© 2009 Gina Signore, In the Morning (middle)
© 2009 Gina Signore, Autumn Footbridge (bottom)

Push Yourself To Grow Your Business

Here's a look at Europe's perspective (from an expert -- Paula Fitzsimons, Irish national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and director of Ireland-based Going for Growth, a business consultancy) on women, entrepreneurship, business ownership and growth.

An excerpt:

But if you want to make a significant contribution to economic growth, innovation and productivity, those [women-owned] businesses must become capable of growth. It's quite clear that Europe needs more 'gazelles' – i.e. companies capable of significant growth – and the point we're making is that we need to encourage women to not only be self-employed but to break the barrier to employing one or two people, or to move further if they're already significant employers.

In short, we should be pushing for them to have a growth aspiration at the earliest possible stage. They must have this initial strategic positioning.

Read the entire interview here.

Do you need to be pushed to grow your business? Do you think this is a trend indicative to the United States too?

Don't Sell Yourself Short: Break Out and Start a Business

Who are we kidding? If you act like an entrepreneur while employed at a large corporation, guess what happens? Your ideas are taken and the next thing you know, you're fired. Who needs that?

One of the single greatest lessons in life is to find out what makes you happy or come to life (passion) and oftentimes it starts with learning first what makes you miserable.

I agree with Janice Bryant Howroyd (pictured) at being the entrepreneur of your own career but if you are going to "be" than "do." Do the business. Start it.

Read more here. Within the article, be sure to focus on Ms. Howroyd's backstory:

Ms. Howroyd is an entrepreneur in the traditional sense. She said she left Tarboro, N.C., in 1976 to work for a brother-in-law’s talent agency in Los Angeles and two years later started her own small employment firm, ACT•1.At the beginning, she said, she played off the fact that “I was a minority-owned business in two ways, as an African-American and a woman.”

Boost Your Business

One way to boost your business is to look for organizations, such as Gateways to Entrepreneurial Tomorrows, Inc. (GET), who help minorities start, run and grow businesses.

Take Mabel Lopez of Poughkeepsie who is a successful protege of GET's program. Lopez is an event planner whose business is Lasting Impressions by Mabel.

Mabel Roman-Lopez has been planning events for nearly a decade.

Lasting Impressions by Mabel opened as the result of an inner desire to help people bring to vision a special event they want to mark in their lives.

Mabel has planned many memorable events, from baby showers to bridal showers, birthday parties, to festivals and corporate luncheons. From the spectacular to the simple. Mabel has the creativity and personal service for anyone wanting to create a magical event.

She launched her own business with help from GET.

Learn more here.

From Singer to Producer of Flavored Vodkas

Thirty years ago when Miyoko Yamakawa traveled from Japan to America, her dreams of becoming a singer were put on hold when she married a top Japanese chef in New York City, and moved to Rockland County to raise a family.

A year after the move, the family -- the Yamakawas -- opened Maiko 2, a New City restaurant where her husband Jiro cooked and Miyoko sang for customers on Friday nights.

Jiro created a drink and customers loved it which was a strawberry vodka that people asked for and wanted to buy it.

Slow forward 20 years in the restaurant business, the family sold Maiko 2 and began bottling Jiro's creation.

Guess who is figuring things out at this stage? Miyoko Yamakawa is along with her husband and she is seeking help from a Small Business Center -- a great place to get free advice on how to start, run and grow a business.

Here's a quick look at some of the areas where Miyoko is getting assistance:

START-UP HOW TO: Step 1: Think like an entrepreneur

STEP 2: What kind of entrepreneur are you?

STEP 3: Ways to raise money to start your small business

STEP 4: Refine you business concept, develop your pitch

STEP 5: Step 5: Keys to your success; choosing where to work from

STEP 6: Polishing your business plan; where to go to get advice

Read more here. Their launch site, Me Oko, appears to be here. Another iteration is here.

And as for help on your own business, you might check out whether you have a local Small Business Center in your area.

The Official Escape From Corporate America Blog Has a New Look

We are pleased to unveil our re-design to the official Escape From Corporate America blog (www.EscapeFromCorporateAmerica.com). Let us know what you think of it. We welcome your feedback! And be sure to check out all the resources featured on the right sidebar.

ESCAPE From Corporate America!