Working Commuters

Sometimes I just want to zone in and do work in a zone out kinda way. I mean for example when I’m riding the GoTrain and I have exactly 23 minutes to myself and I have my brand new, handy dandy iPad with me, we’ll that’s the perfect time to get things done. I never realized how productive commuting time could be until I stopped driving and started doing it. It’s one of those great untapped resources that to this day I’m still surprised when I look back at certain projects and realize that they were mostly completed while moving through space.

Just some guidelines though.

1) Always be sitting in the direction of the trains/subway/bus’s movement and preferably beside a window. This way you rule out motion sickness and if you need a break, hey there’s a window.

2) Make sure you have things with you to work on or draw inspiration from. I only get passing free wifi when I’m on the train for example so that’s not really a reliable source. So instead I make sure I have my iPad fully charged, my book of the week for reading breaks or random page inspiration, or my business bible to get me back on track.

3) Try to get some privacy. I like doing work on the go but I don’t like the feeling of being watched while I do it or judgmental stares at my use of technology. Also, from time to time, there can be really sketchy individuals on mass transit and its best not to encourage odd situations.

4) And finally, make sure not to miss your stop. Don’t zone in so totally to your work that you forget where you are or where your going. The last thing you want is to inadvertently give yourself more work time when your actually supposed to be at work.

That’s all for now, but I hope it amuses you to know that this blog, and most of my blogs actually come to you while I’m on some form of mass transit. I hope my tips help and let me know which apply for you!

Day 154: Phase 1 Meeting

So right now I’m riding the TTC after having just finished a wonderful meeting with my new designer, Sarah Paul. Can I just tell you how happy and excited I am?

FREAKIN’ SOOO EXCITED!

Ok now that that’s out, let me explain.

I feel as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, as though I finally have a block removed and man oh man is that a great feeling. I feel like I am finally working with someone who is just as passionate as I am and going forward things are going to work out very, very well.

This is a classic example of the Universe operating in mysterious ways. I now understand why certain things had to happen the way they did because without those happenings I never would have demanded of the ether a working relationship this elevated. I wouldn’t have realized how important organization and professional drive was or seen how much I valued them. Now I can happily report that not only do I get to work with an amazing person but also it feels very professional. And that right there is blowing my mind.

We were both early to the meeting, which for starters is always a good sign, and we sat down at Depanneur, a little café at College and Dufferin for a really yummy, homestyle brunch.

We began by talking about the brand and what my story is as far as background goes and my reasons for starting up Urban Minerals. That was a really cool experience because Sarah was jotting down keywords as I talked. Then we went over some keywords that she had asked me to jot down to generate the mood. She’d originally asked me to write down 5 keywords that I felt really represented the brand and being the keener that I am, I had just under 25 words because once I got going, it was easy for me to keep generating high energy words that I connected with. Not a bad thing though because while she didn’t write down everything I said, she listened to what I said and wrote down the words that she intuitively felt that I connected to more, or emphasized more. Very, very cool!

And then I read her my first version, rough mission statement. I’d had a bit of a tough time putting it down on paper because as I told you yesterday, my ability to write by hand has changed a lot. I know now that thats because my thoughts come much faster than my hand can write with a pen. But regardless, the mission statement still served its purpose. It also helped to set the tone because a number of the words I had listed were there in my mission statement too. We ended up speaking more about where I wanted to see the brand go which led to a final discussion of the pricing strategy as far as Phase 1 goes - branding, logo and business cards.

All I can say so far about everything is that I am both satisfied and delighted. I don’t know what I was expecting before I went in but feeling this wow’d is a very nice feeling. The best part of all is Sarah’s confidence that everything can and will be completed by my due date of June 21st, 2013. Very, very, very cool!

So as for the final words on today’s post I just have to say thank you to Sarah, for being awesome and thank you to the Universe for delivering in a timely manner. I couldn’t be more grateful!!

As always let me know if you liked today’s post and by all means please share any of your stories with me. Do you have anything going on in your life that at one time felt kind of impossible and then all of a sudden got a total reversal? Let me know!

Day 152: The Geminids & A Festival of Lights for your Eyes

Today I am going to prepare for my upcoming meeting on Sunday with ms. Sarah Paul, an awesome person AND designer. I want to take the day to think clearly about how I want all of my visual presentations to look and feel, and then string them together with the visual display I will see tonight during the Geminid Meteor Shower. If you have never heard of the Geminids shower, have a look here for the 10 Top Tips for watching the shower, to get the full impact of just how beautiful the display will be!

I am beyond excited for the physical as well as mental and emotional implications because I always feel better and more expansive on a grandiose scale after I witness Mother Nature and the Universe at work. It never ceases to remind me that we live in the most beautiful place, Earth, and that we all have the potential to witness true Majesty if we just stop for a second and look!

All of my print collateral is coming out in 2013, and so right now is the perfect time to be working and visualizing, conceptualizing and forging new designs. As the year, 2012, comes to a close, there is far too much great energy in the air to not make use of it. I also just want to capitalize on the remainder of this creative new energy that has somehow been ushered in this year.

So take a moment tonight if you can get up, around midnight, or sometime there after, go outside, enjoy the new moon tonight and the insuing theatrical display put on by yours truly, the sky! It’s a great time to kick start a creative venture and welcome in some amazing and awesome otherworld inspiration!

(via you-can-fly)

Day 150: Marching to the Beat of my Own Drum

So today I have the day off which means the march to finish all of my research continues.  I am moving back and forth between a few topics.  As you may know if you’ve been following along, I am working to write my business plan, research grant opportunities and ingredients so I can launch my business, Urban Minerals by the Summer Solstice of 2013.  So right now, its crucial that I stay in the right head space and just keep working.  

Today the way I’m doing that is by taking some vitamin D and B12 to keep my energy and mood up and then lighting some organic soy and beeswax candles to light up my work space.  I figure if I feel happy, not only is that good for me as an individual, but it will also translate into my work, which let’s face it, is always a plus.

I’m also happy to report that I went out on Saturday night for my girl Beau’s birthday up in Collingwood, and Urban Minerals current beta formula worked fabulously.  I felt like my foundation was well matched to my skin tone, and upon asking a girlfriend how she liked it, she couldn’t even tell that I was wearing anything.  UH…score!  So now I continue down that particular path by buying ingredients that will hopefully make it into my final alpha product.  Trial and error baby, here I come!

I will continue for the rest of the day and the next 7 months to march to the beat of my own drum.  Wherever I feel guided to go I will go and I will as always let you know how it goes. 

If ever you have any questions as to how my startup process is going, I highly encourage you to ask!  I loving hearing all kinds of constructive criticism and feedback and just talking to you makes my day! Hit me up either here on the blog or via @Urban_Minerals on twitter. :) 

Day 149: Progress Report from The Universe

At times I find it almost repetitively difficult to view Sunday as the beginning of the week because its always been associated with relaxation for me. I’m sure you can relate. So being as it is the first official day of every week I want to take today to measure some progress for the month so far.

While research continues on in my world, what with ingredients, business planning, mixing and grant proposals coming up I still feel a continuation of various interests abounding. It’s so far been quite good for me because this month I’ve really started reaching out to more of my friends for help and that has proved quite successful.

Beginning December, I put out my intention to work with a top notch designer. It was the first time Ive ever put it out there “publicly” that I wanted help too via facebook, email and talking to friends to see if anyone knew someone or had an awesome friend of a friend. When I made the specific request of the Universe I made sure to mention that I wanted to work with someone talented, organized, intuitive and commited which I do believe has a lot to do with the awesome outcome I’ve gotten. Being really sure of what you want and asking for only that will inevitably bring you just that, no exceptions. But I digress.

So when I checked my Facebook back on the 3rd I was happily surprised to find an amazing inbox message from a friend of mine who as it happens I lived down the hall from in first year residence. The message was an affirmation for all the things I was looking and asking for and just filled me with so much joy because she also included a link to her personal website portfolio. Needless to say I spoke to her on the phone on Friday and I meet with her this coming Sunday hopefully to begin the task of doing a total design overhaul. The best part is that she is totally confident that all of the things I want to do and accomplish by my launch date, June 21st 2013, will get done. I am overjoyed!

So for the next week I endeavour to continue all of my projects, make some real headway on my mixes, and prepare for my upcoming meeting!

So just keep in mind if you put it out there, ask for what you really want, are specific and believe that it will happen, it will! Take this first day of the week to make it happen.

Boooyah!

Day 148: Stumbling Into Greatness

So last night, as I conducted some research on my business plan, I stumbled upon this term, Social Purpose Business. 

According to the CYBF, The Canadian Youth Business Foundation, a social purpose business is “the utilization of entrepreneurial principles to organize, mobilize and manage a for-profit business that has a social mission at its core and the goals of creating both economic and social value.” 

Cool, right?

I believe that this is the perfect way to describe Urban Minerals.  No matter how you want to slice it, the fact remains that Urban Minerals is a company dedicated to offering mineral makeup.  But, as the definition above would imply, its also a business with a twist.  If you scroll down right now, you’ll see a picture I found on the CYBF website that shows exactly where a social purpose business falls on the sliding scale of businesses, a scale that has a more political way of viewing them.  Social purpose businesses fall in the middle, a wonderful indicator of just how each kind is motivated.

While as an entrepreneur I am motivated by the thought of bringing in income, what motivates me more is the idea of helping women, people really.  Urban Minerals will be offering a wide range of colours that are specifically catered to women of ALL colours, who want to wear organic makeup that goes a long way to help heal their skin.  This I believe is an awesome platform to raise all sorts of questions about beauty practices and race, empowerment of women and environmental activism.  I’m not just trying to make a quick buck.  I want to connect with women on a personal level and help to achieve a better view of our skin, our bodies, our environment and our society. 

And, because I stumbled upon this information on the CYBF website, I think I will most likely be using their business plan model, while using their business plan writing tool, a free interactive online tool that helps you to include everything you need, while maintaining a customized feel.  I have a REALLY GOOD feeling about it.  I don’t know how to stress that more in type, so just take my word for it.

Which brings me to today’s question.  What tools, research or cool ideas have you stumbled upon during your startup process?  And if you’re not in the same position as me, then what’s the best resource you’ve ever had fall into your lap while you were doing research for school lets say?  Sometimes the easiest solutions are also the most effective.  Let me know, I love hearing your comments here on the blog, on twitter @Urban_Minerals, or in the interwebs at beautiful@urbanminerals.ca. 

Day 146: Core Values that Get you Moving

My, my.  What a busy day.  

Today I had my New Member Orientation at Whole Foods, and throughout, I felt so inspired.  It dawned on me not long ago that there are so many new ideals for business that are slowly but surely becoming the norm, and I am happily looking to follow that trend.  

Those ideals have a lot to do with best practices regarding sustainability, conscious sourcing or rather fair trade, and equitable treatment from production to consumption.  It`s those ideas and also so much more.  Not to be too much of a WFM fan, I have to say that they`ve done a very good job with their core values.  

They are:

- Selling the highest quality natural and organic products available

- Satisfying and delighting our customers

- Supporting team member happiness and excellence

- Creating wealth through profits & growth

- Caring about our communities & our environment

- Creating ongoing Win-Win partnerships with our suppliers

- Promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education

It is these ideals that I would like to work through because I know that they have a long history of success.  Some of the most successful companies are modeled after other successful companies, and in my situation, I do believe I would benefit by taking a leaf out of their book.

The ideas that most interest me are for obvious reasons satisfying and delighting my eventual customers, caring about our communities and environment, selling the highest quality organic product available, creating wealth through profits & growth, supporting team member happiness & excellence (just me right now, but I do support myself!) and creating ongoing win-win partnerships with suppliers.  I believe that these strongly reflect who I am as a person and the kind of world that I want to see flourish.  I believe that using these ideas as starting points can only lead me to a place where I want to go.  

So let me ask.  Is there any company that you love simply because you love what the stand for? That you feel inspired by?  Let me know in the comments!

Day 144: Business Planning Baby Steps

Today is a day to settle down and send out some roots.  I want to think strategically therefore on this day and really think about what my business plan should look like, how it should feel and what it should entail.  At this point I need to think of the point where I am right now, with my current assets and experience, and how I want different aspects of Urban Minerals to look over the course of the next 3 to 5 years (all at once it seems like a long and a short period of time.)

I will be mapping out my core value propositions, meaning what value I will be offering to my customers; my marketing assumptions, how I view my target markets and audience, who I want to buy my product and how I believe they will act; my operations plan, ie how I am going to manufacture and distribute my product and through what channels; my financial plan meaning my forecasting for when the business launches and how it will grow past launch and over the next 1825 days, as well as my cash flow, and month to month statements of intent; and finally staffing plan.  These are the basics and yet even writing them out here gives me a ton of insight and ideas for each aspect.

I want to write a coherent plan and one that I can feel proud to show others.  My grander intent is to be able to take this document and apply to grant funding programs which I’m concurrently researching on the side.  Being that this is my first business plan, and I want it to be the best one that I can produce, I will most likely be sitting down with a few of my girlfriends who graduated from various business schools throughout Ontario.  I want their advice because I know that they have current knowledge that I don’t necessarily have yet.  It’s just a matter of using that knowledge as best as possible and maximising for the purpose of real world success. 

I’m so thankful that early on I got introduced to entrepreneur.com, an awesome resource for current, up to date business analytics and support for entrepreneurs of all kinds.  It has so far not lead me astray and so as always I endeavour to work it out and use this free knowledge to my benefit.  And then when everything has distilled in my mind, I also intend to write my environmental politic and love of sustainability into this rhetoric.  It can be done and it should be done that way.  That’s why through this all, I don’t feel afraid to take new steps, to falter, to feel afraid.  I know that I am truly working towards something I can be proud of.  As Les Brown says, “life has no limitations, except the ones you make.”And I don’t intend to limit myself in any way.

So the final words for today?  Business planning - so much to do.  Thinking, dreaming, dancing, all to the beat of my own drum.  You can’t see it yet, but soon come!

Day 143: Why You Should Never Regret Working Retail

And, like I’ve said before, passion + commitment = success.  It just takes a hot minute to take what you’ve learned, from whatever crappy avenue you took to get there, to realize it.  So, entrepreneur’s, don’t hate what you’re doing now.  Just know that in the future you will look back on this moment in time and realize how much you got out of it.  Hindsight is 20/20 after all.

Day 142: Snow Falling, Mixing it Up & Business Mapping

Happy December Everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the light snowfall that happened overnight right here in Toronto.  It’s so beautiful out and it just lends itself perfectly to today’s post about December.  As much as I distinctly dislike being cold, there is just something about snow and snowfall that puts me into the best mood.  Like last night, as I was walking to the subway with my groceries, and the snow was falling, and things were so quiet in Yorkville, I felt really peaceful and as though I had stepped out of Whole Foods and into a winter wonderland.  Amazing!

And so when I woke up today, my mind was set.  I want to take all of the knowledge that I gathered so meticulously in November, and move forward this December with my plan to mix things up.  

Since I did my year long meditation back on 11/11, I have been thinking forwards to December and how I would like to feel during this month.  For me, the biggest things that came up were mixing, moving forward with my planning and feeling a sense of accomplishment.  So, as now is always the best time to get started, I’m going to put it out there that I’m going to mix my perfect foundation formula this month and also begin the task of writing a full fledged business plan with the end result of applying to various grant programs in mind.

The formulation and re-formulation process have already begun and it’s now just a matter of buying and mixing with all of the wonderful ingredients that I would like to incorporate.  A simple task and yet a big one too.  I can’t wait.  

And the business plan, well that’s a whole other beast.  If you can tell, I enjoy writing, a lot.  Everyday I find it easy to put my thoughts out there to you, because I have a natural sense of flow that happens when my blog ideas come to me.  A business plan however, is a bit different.  It’s a bit more structured and a lot less for the sake of creativity.  

Back in April and May I attended an 8 week business seminar, and enjoyed learning about all different aspects of building a successful business.  One of those ideas surrounded the idea of writing a business plan.  What my teacher had actually said was that instead of writing a full-out business plan, one might benefit more from a Busines Model Canvas, which in effect is a far more fluid approach to a business plan.  One simply maps out the Key Partners, Key Activities, Value Propositions, Customer Relationships, Customer Segments, Key Resources, Channels, Cost Structures and Revenue Streams in a manner that is complementary to an evolving business.  While this is a worthwhile endeavour, I believe that at this point, I can grow and distill the points that I mapped out months ago, to a clean presentation of how I envision my business.  Here’s a picture of that map now.

If you are at the point in your business where you’re managing many things all at once, what are your keys to successfully doing so without losing your cool.  For me right now, I’m balancing my working on different fronts with some Sisters time this afternoon, as I’m going over to my big sister Leah’s house to have a crafting day and do some baking.  I just know it will be another opportunity to talk about my business and gain some good perspective from the 3 most important women in my life.  Cheerio!

If you have any questions for me, any comments or just want to like what I say here, head on up to the <3 and click it, shoot me a tweet at @Urban_Minerals, or just comment right here on the blog.  I love hearing your feedback forever and always.

Day 141: Dwelling on the Small things in Life

In the name of keeping today’s post short, I just want to let you all know that I am just feeling super grateful to be alive. 

There are so many moments that we take for granted, like the moment you turn on the radio song and your favourite song is playing, or you wake up early only to realize that you can actually sleep in, because you have the day off.  Those things really do count.  Taking them for what they are, is a step in the right direction to feeling fulfillled and happy. 

It’s especially important for entrepreneurs because I often feel so caught up in whatever I’m trying to accomplish that I do let those moments slide by.  Well today, I just take this moment to remember that when I get freebies, or feel good for even a small reason, that those moments are special and just for me and I have so many to look forward to.  Enough said.

Now normally in stressful situations such as this, and truthfully there haven’t been too many of them, I go into survival mode.  I realized that I needed to either try to wait for my car to cool down or get myself to a mechanic ASAP.  So I waited a few minutes, while cars zoomed past me and then tentatively turned my engine back on.  I believe that I got about 500 meters before my temperature gauge was back up where it had been, right along with my nerves.  So I got off the highway and onto Keele street, sent out a plea to the Universe for the most benevolent outcome yet (cuz lord knows I needed one!) and made my way as far as I could, to the nearest gas station and called Midas.  Long story short, I had a guy from the shop head down my way (very kind), add some coolant to my engine (extremely nice) and I finally was able to drive up the street to the shop from there with a lot less tension.  

After a once over, the verdict was in: my car is a goner.  Being that The Beast (which I lovingly dubbed it) is an older car and was bought at a public auction, which means that it came with its own set of “special needs”, it’s about time that it threw in the towel.  There were far too many issues with the car to warrant repairing it, and at this point in my life I really don’t need a car, it’s more of a luxury.  This just means that it’s back to the longer but far more environmentally friendly mass transit system for me.  Kind of a godsend in disguise (I’m hoping.)  I got extra lucky, because I’ve been to this particular Midas before, and the guy who owns it also just so happens to be one of the nicest people on the face of the planet, and only charged me $20 for topping off the fluids on my car, and urged me not to drive the Beast too far.

Most benevolent outcome indeed.

So, as this was all happening, I had to make a phone call to work and let them know that I would be late, something I hate to do, for obvious reasons.  I like to work and I especially like working at WFM, so I really tried to move things along.  So when I finally got onto the floor, only a half hour late thankfully, I received the first of two pieces of good news.  The first being a minor one, but very nice regardless.  One of my repeat customers, an elderly gentleman who consistently likes to come in and chat with me, had come by earlier hoping to see me, and upon not finding me, had bought and left me a bottle of water.  Just a simple gesture, but very sweet and unexpected in the random, but makes you feel good, kind of way.  

About an hour later my store team leader came over to me and handed me a little box.  Inside it was the cutest little iPod Shuffle you ever did see.  I was shocked to find out that I was one of 3 people to win one at our Holiday Christmas party and hadn’t heard when they’d announced it!  Instead of just giving it away to someone else, it was held specially for me, which I gotta say, makes a sista feel good!  What a nice little jolt of joy. 

All I can say about all of these occurrences is that today was a very odd sort of day.  But one that I’m glad for.  Obviously receiving a discounted price on scary car trouble, a free bottle of water and an iPod shuffle are nice, but what’s really nice is in someway, even in the midst of feeling awful about my car, I was still able to see the silver lining peeking through.  All of these weird instances have me thinking more broadly about the ideas of rampant Universal energy and how at times, they can all kind of run amok, and then all of a sudden align and smack you right in the forehead with a cosmic payout.  Big or small, I’ll take what I get.  And hope for an even better but just as awesome day tomorrow.  You never know what can happen.  

Like Forrest Gump says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”