Happy Friday Travelers!

This week has been filled with lots of articles and talks of names and their purpose and importance. On Sunday my pastor spoke of the importance of ones name and how it can subconsciously determine their future, there have been many twitter discussions on how blatantly ethnic names can hinder one from getting a job or moving up in their career, and lastly three fashion articles regarding Jil Sander, Yves Saint Laurent, and Doo Ri have surfaced which makes me ask the question..Comment vous appellez-vous?

It's no secret that I am a branding junkie and love to read and analyze about how  a company brands itself and its product, and there is nothing bigger in a brand than the very thing that creates the first impression. Before I started working in the fashion industry it never occurred to me that one could lose ownership of their name. In my world if say, Calvin Klein left, then the brand Calvin Klein was over, bye bye Gaultier, doors closed....so not the case. When I first realized that I was incorrect in my assumptions I got a bit angry, partially due to the fact that I am the only Mei-Li that I know (I am sure there are others, Asian, find me a black Mei-Li and I promise she is under 6yrs old), and no matter where one goes like Beyonce not one person can say her name and they go...the singer or...same with me, I'm an original and worked hard at being the authentic me and for someone to tell me they are going to carry on Mei-Li with out the Mei and the Li, well I'm not okay with that. So what's hind the scenes of all that to make a person walk away, or in Sander's case, come back to their name? What is that contract process? I recently heard a horror story about a well known and super talented designer who has an awesome fashion brand in her name that no longer belongs to her but is making millions. She was shafted by a former partner who has got to be living a serious yacht lifestyle off what her parents gave her in love...her name.

We now live in the age of sign and sue where contracts and court cases are as common as top knots and peep toes, and I don't understand any of it. I am glad that I am exposed to it in some frame though. As I await to hear if I have been accepted into graduate school for my MBA in Management Consulting I am seeing all the needs of the industry. Though I don't deal with indie brands directly I have a heart for them. There are some great brands out there with amazing product that don't get the recognition they need or close their doors too early due to lack of funding for things like decent PR or low sales. Thankfully social media helps the tech savvy work their way around that, but I would love to see more brands follow the Dries Van Noten route and not sell to larger companies no matter how much they promise autonomy.

I'll end this post there, there is so much more for me to learn and understand before I can get in a deep enough post/conversation/debate about this subject, but it was on my mind and I really am interested in how my degree in Management Consulting can help me help small companies keep their name, flourish, and run efficiently. There ends my thoughts Travelers! Until next time!!

"One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!" 

Hola, Aloha, Bonjour, and Bom Dia Travelers! The past couple of months have been such a journey, I lost my father a week before my birthday, I started my Mary Kay business, applying to USC and LMU for my MBA, and joined the MS Society's YPG group for professionals in their 20's and 30's that are affected by or just plain old advocating for multiple sclerosis. And that was just the first 6 months of the year. Whew!

Through that time I have had so much to say but just not taking the time to say it. I thought that adding an app to my blackberry (yes I still have one, TMobile is a terrorist), would keep me blogging on the regular, that didn't work. So I thought that if I voice noted my thoughts then transcribed them that would be better, nope. Lastly I started carrying a notebook with me to jot down my thoughts then type them out....you see the pattern here. There was nothing really working to keep me blogging consistently besides me well...blogging consistently.

My goal is to blog once a month, it's a simple goal that I think I can maintain. I really like the writing and appreciated the fan base that I had grown as well as some of the networking I was able to do with some of the bloggers that I admire. So let's get into this title....

As I mentioned in the intro the first 6 months have been a worldwind of emotions, change,and redirecting. Talk about pot holes and detours! I really couldn't get back on my freeway, I just kinda chilled at the rest stop of my journey trying to remap toward a new Point B. This is where I froze. I know that I have said in previous posts (idk where lol maybe I will link later) that fear can be paralyzing and will stop a traveler right in their tracks, I can't afford that anymore. The closer I get to 30 the more I am aware of how what I do, or don't do, today affects my tomorrow. So I have to keep going...but it doesn't come without caution. Fearfully fearless.

I think that many of us get to a point where more of us is required than before in order to make it to our destination. We want to remain in cruise control even though we know good and well that we aren't where we want to be or even have the potential to be. That's where I am right now. I am in a place that requires me to be more intentional of my time as well as more organized with my time and paperwork. I need to be accountable to those that I have committed to work with, which includes myself. So let's look at each of my responsibilities and what this means shall we?

Church: There is a spiritual accountability that I have to my God in the areas of character and finance, but hear I want to touch on the youth as I am a youth leader at my church. Showing up on time and engaging the youth that attend on Sundays, showing great ownership and being approachable are key and require my attitude to be intact as I know I'm being watched by a gang of middle schoolers!

Sorority: I am the co-chair of our mentoring initiative which runs like a separate organization in and of itself. For anyone in an NPHC (National Pan-Hellenic Council) organization knows that as an active member there are meetings, activities and dues that need to be tended to. As a committee leader I am required to keep my committee  up to date as well as execute the objectives of this particular initiative...read - paperwork. I don't know why I am having such an issue with paperwork but I am. Sitting down and do it and then remembering to turn it in!

YPG: I have just joined this group so for right now I am enjoying sitting back and learning, however if I say that I am going to volunteer at an event it is up to me to make sure I am there on time and in the proper attire..if needed.

MBA: 4 letters --> G M A T ! I am accountable to my score and my studies to make sure that score is competitive justifiable to get that acceptance letter. This means more time management. How long I study and how often I take a practice test is up to me.

Mary Kay - newly added as an additional source of income is literally my part time job. This is probably where I feel the most overwhelmed. There is so much to know, and for some reason I think that I have to learn it all before I move forward with it. But the fact is momma got bills and her first job just aint cutting it like she needs it to. However, in Mary Kay I earn my effort, which means that my income is a DIRECT reflection of what I am or am not doing. Which goes back to moving out of cruise control and putting myself in drive. (this will come in a second post soon)

So with all of that said welcome to the transitional portion of the second phase/season of 2012. I hope you enjoy the ride as I learn how to.

Happy Travels!

"One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!"

I can see that in 2009 there was a level of optimism that I feel like I have lost, but I also see the difference of the situations that make this post and the principle still applicable and much needed.

2009:
-I was part of a larger vision
-I was trusted with the execution of said vision
-There was partnership and open communication, even with differing opinions

2012:
-I have made best efforts to be a part of a vision that has been ripped from me at every mistake
-I did not see my own vision within the whole picture, I became lost in the need to just survive and not thrive

I don't talk about (spiritual) faith here on this blog and it is not my goal to start, but today it is relevant to this post. I am a Christian woman and in listening to a sermon about stepping out on faith and believing first and God showing us second it made me think of this scene from the movie Hook:



This was so powerful to me! In my "Imagine That" post the tone was Think-->Imagine-->Go, but here it's more like the title of this post Act as if it Were and Watch it Manifest. Dig your fork in the plate of your career and watch the meat of your success appear in your mouth. Create it while moving like it already exists. Take the risks, write the emails, make the calls, do it anyway, and don't wait to do it.

That is what I am doing, for too long I waited on someone else to create the door of opportunity for me to walk through, but I am about to take some risks that create my own doors, mostly in the area of education, I might succeed I might fail, but there is a vision and I am a part of it's execution, I am trusted with my ability to execute, and that is all that matters. (check that run on sentence)

Happy Travels (and Risks Taken)

"One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!"

Happy Thursday Travelers!

This new place in my journey has me in a very thoughtful and reflective place. So for your musical pleasure:



My current career position has propelled me into a whole new meaning of "No Fear, Just DIVA." I'm not just graduating from school with a load of prospects from recruiters and I'm not super excited about the world that is around me. I'm right in the middle of a lease, I am in that weird place in my career where I know it's time to move forward, but totally unprepared to start in some place new. I'm frustrated with the position I have been put in and I have to be accountable now more than ever concerning the movement of my career.

"We're all self-conscious I'm just the first to admit it." Explaining to my mother that I would rather be unemployed than in the position I am currently in, but the level of confidence that I need to build the career that I want. This is an unexpected pot hole on my freeway, I am totally trained that we get hired by a company we work at that company and stay at that company until retirement or the Olsen Twins hire you to be their new CEO, but that is not the case.

So what do we do when it all falls down? I have 3 ideas:

1. Occupy your time with purpose. - The only thing that is keeping me sane and from watching the computer/my emails every 5 minutes is the fact that I have other things going on in my life that allow me to feel fulfilled and knowing that even without this job I have a greater calling and who I was at work does not determine that. I now also get a chance to build my career around my purpose.
   
2. Apply for 3 jobs you would never think you are qualified for but would LOVE to do anyway if hired. - Hell, I say why not, if you get it have the confidence to rock it out!!
   
3. Don't hit the panic "Apply" button!! - We all have done it, if you haven't I hope you never do. Applying for the job that you don't want, wont lead to a career, but you know that you can get. I strongly believe that this will only lead to repeating the same cycle. Now if you are building a business and need something to fund it then I say go for it, you know it's temporary anyway.
   

So there you have it! Do not let this time get to you! I'm trying my best to not let it get to me, but I am now learning that it can all fall down, so what I am I doing to pick it back up?

Night Travelers!

"One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!"