New Years: How to set goals with time and lists

We will be re-visiting the Master List for 2010.

Before vision boards are to be created you must first know how to plan for your master list (in order to accomplish your goals for 2010).

1. First, write down 12 big tasks you wish to accomplish within a year

A. Commit to Ballet with consistent disciplined practice

B. Edit Season 1 of The Lights and show 10 major networks before setting a Date for The Lights premiere

C. Write handwritten notes to decision makers within the networks.

D. Set a date for The Lights premiere and launch on @NewYorkCityPR is no network picks up show.

E

(ok, so I have 4 so far for this example)

2. Once you have your big vision goals— break down tasks into the month that you wish to accomplish tasks/projects by and then break down the month into weeks until you get it done.

3. it will bypass procrastination if 1. and 2. are followed and done correctly.

Here is what it can look like:

A. Ballet

Meet private instructor by Jan 7, 2010. Write a note and send via mail on your new personal stationary by Jan 1

B. Edit a Lights Trailer by Jan 15, 2010. Edit 3 more by Jan 20.

C.Write 10 letters on personal stationary to 10 decision makers in 10 different television networks.

D. Make sure you really pursued networks before launching on @NewYorkCityPR

Crazy how goals A-D already take up a month.

Perhaps using this strategy in monthly increments is best, but know the overall goals for the year: Get The Lights into People Magazine, Just Jared, Us Weekly, E!, JohnSimonDaily, OK!, Star etc... by the half way point in 2010. That gives me 6 months. I better be pretty far a long in ballet by then too.

Once you start to see yourself meeting your deadlines, this will make you happy. After the 1st goal is accomplished, go ahead and make a visual for that completed goal, this will keep you focused and on track-- (making you start to visualize the 2nd goal) and will bring you a lot of joy and happiness.

The key is to have your goals in sight... on the fridge, in the bathroom, at your desk etc...

Business during the holidays?

During the holidays, it is known that business people are out of town and have automatic email responses all ready prepared. The truth is, unless it's a CEO, your contact is skimming emails and probably even at the office. I think sending something in the mail during the holidays is the perfect way to get in the door- so to speak. Send a Happy New Year note on personal stationary to someone you intend to start doing business with. That way, when you follow up with a proposal in a week or two, the chances of consideration and a response is greater. The key after the proposal being sent is persistence and followup... but please know when to draw the line- there is a line between persistence and annoyance.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Ups and Downs

Damn. I skipped a day. That's strike two for me as a blogger on the quotidian.

I still haven't gotten organized. I am waiting for my best friend, Pamela, to help me move my dresser from the old house with her car. So, my stuff is everywhere and my mom is getting on my case. Looking around all my stuff ruptured from my suitcase I got a flash back of some of my so- called friends' apt pictures on facebook from Ohio State. They all got jobs and an apt to call their own. I feel like I missed out at times from not being settled into my own place. How did I get here? How did I want to take on a "tv" web show instead of just really focusing on my consumer product line? The only thing I can hold on to is that if The Lights is successful as a global show, then what better advertisement or product placement can I ask for other than that fan base and viewers? That really is the reason why I organized The Lights. I just hope I choose the right path. There's certainly no way of going back now. Writing this has made me feel a little better, because I was a bit down before. I guess there is something mystical and enchanting about unveiling the unpaved road of having my own unique premiere— inviting who I want, design/event planning how I want and just "see what happens". (Sigh).

Your Room— Organized

Rugs really make a room. I wrapped my scarfs around the pole and bringing my dresser down from the old house (that I was going to film at) tomorrow. I can't wait to film in my new room.

It was actually really cool: Last time I was in Cleveland, I jumped on CraigsList and bought items for a set design at my old house that is currently still vacant. I bought a dresser, a vintage bed frame and small end tables. I originally was going to use the set design as a pretend NY apt, but then decided to script in the show the actual truth of my entrepreneurial journey— being back and from Cleveland and NY. Turns out I can film in my parents' new house because I have my own room now that the construction is over. So, it all worked out with the filming schedule.


Being an entrepreneur for 3 years so far, I have learned that there is no way to get to the next level unless your work environment and room are in complete organization. And, I'm not talking about cleaning your room and putting your clothes away. I'm talking, if someone says, "hey, do you have a stapler or a orange scarf or a safety pin." You smile and say, "Why, of course", and within 10 seconds you retrieve the items. You know EXACTLY and PRECISELY where all your belongings are at all times. Imagine how much easier your life will be? Think about how less stressed you will be and how much time you would save. You will be so much happier if you just got into the HABBIT of always putting items back where they belong after use.

Focus on complete organization this weekend and choose something else for your New Years Resolution.

Road Less Traveled

Back in Ohio with my family. I recognized being back in Ohio right away when a baggage helper immediately approached me with a dolly. He was SO nice!

My camera man, Mike, still has one of my hard drives with The Lights footage on it in NY. I need him to capture a tape and film and capture Aimee, Sarah (Sara Claire and Esther) and Elle (Marigo's client of Otrera).

It's perfect timing because I will not be working until I empty out and organize my 3 suitcases. I have to be Feng Suied out before I can even begin to edit the trailer and the pilot.

I really am just going to respect the timing and get the work done without any stress. Im going to make a vision board with what I envision for the premiere and just stay positive and hopeful. I'm going to balance working on my body ( ballet, eating lots of fruits and vegetables), oxygen water with editing The Lights.

Once I'm settled here I'm going to meet with some potential investor sponsors here as soon as the trailer is done. In fact, one of my friends from Ohio State who owns a well known energy drink gave me the go ahead to send him over the sponsorship proposal-- so that prospectus with trailor is on my top to do list. It's all going to work!! I just believe.

What an amazing New Year it's going to be!

Thanks for reading--whoever you are. xo

Post Office

I met with the talented Zara Terez to pick up the Sunset bag in Clementine to carry FudgeHim! product in "Orange you glad you're single." The post office on 33th and 8th is so amazing. So historic. So New York. Find out which celebrities I sent FudgeHim! to in season 1.

I ended up filming with Zara. She has such a fabulous office environment that releases creativity. I am so happy to be surrounded by so many hard working femnetrepreneurs who have risked it all to go down this road less traveled and I am honored to capture the journey in The Lights. Stay Tuned.

The NY Hustle: What a Day!

Being an entrepreneur is the equivalant to the pursuit of happiness.... A thought I had as I had to start typing on my phone for a clip on camera on the subway.

The vow to blog everyday has been broken thanks to myself for taking on almost too much I can handle. So, sincere apologizes for that.

Thursday was insane. I was on such a tight time schedule.

2:30 meet Aimee and return the Sara Claire and Esther outfits they kindly styled me for The Lights Show.

2:35: Film Aimee and record her saying something exciting about her company.

3:00 walk 7 blocks and one avenue to film @MarigoPR at the magazine store in Bryant Park. The workers were kind enough to go along with everything and were amused by us with the camera and $300 microphone.

3:30 meet the owners of the top teacup breeders in the world who are wanting @newyorkcitypr to help them get more followers-- I may get a teacup baby dolled faced Yorkie out of it.

4:15 meet my cameraman, Mike, outside NBC to pick up the wireless mics.

5:00 take train to Telegraphe Cafe in Chelsea to meet Elle, owner of Otrera (hottest scarfs ever right now)

Film Elle call her social media publicist, Marigo (while Marigo was on camera at Macchiato Espresso bar being filmed by Mike.)

One last shoot this Monday and that wraps up season one filming in NY. I'm really excited to get back to me and my company. Need to start being more selfish. The only vision that keeps me going is walking the red carpet and watching The Lights premiere thinking, yes, Christina, your beyond hard work to pursue this dream was certainly all worth it.

Producing and Starring

I don't think I will truly step into who I am (my element) until I have an associate producer on board and I can actually just focus on being an entrepreneur and attend to my products- solely. The thought of not having to produce/manage/ coordinate the show and just show up for a scene seems like a dream. A dream I'm willing to work towards.

I met with @emilybrickelceo (Emily) today and it really well. We filmed at Uva on 2nd Ave and 78th.

Imagine doing what you're doing AND producing/filming/set designing an entire show!... Hectic mayhem I tell you. Even tonight, Emily said, yet again, that I should FOCUS on my company only-- all I could only think of was, "if she only knew!"--- here I am trying to make HER a star and juggle everything at the same time--Its all good tho.

It was wonderful seeing her--even if it was just catching up on camera. How is she doing with her dress line...? Find out on The Lights. Premiering early 2010.

I wore a Sara Claire and Esther burgundy skirt and never felt more confident.

Appearance

Having visited The Tory burch boutique in Nolita to meet Ivanka Trump to wearing Sara Claire and Esther for scenes, it is very important to take the extra time to dress until you feel confident. Confidence is key to being articulate and poised in business meetings and it's time to find the brands that achieve such feeling.

Today's to do list became slightly interrupted when I had to see my dermatologist. I have a scene this Wednesday and need to be camera ready. A chemical peel later, I should be good to go.

It's strange yet exciting to have to focus on my looks so much as I step into being a Lights star. I will look glamorous at times on the show but that doesn't mean that I'm not sitting at my camera man's place in sweats and glasses with no make up on right now. Remember I'm still an entrepreneur and there isn't time to always look your best to strangers.

I had my liter of water, organic juice and stretched and can't wait to start ballet.

What are your fashion and beauty secrets? First to leave a comment receives a special gift. Xoxo

Time Management

If it was any other Sunday, I would stay up and work until I couldn't work anymore. However, as
my new Monday Resolution I, have decided to wake up extra early and start my week off right.

This month is all about finishing the pilot for the premiere and in preparation for the premiere (date TBD early 2010), I need to approach key sponsors to make this happen.








I will set my alarm at 8am, Stay in my black knock off version of a black Juicy Couture sweatsuit and while I heat up water for the morning green tea, I will sit on the carpet and work on my middle splits while downing a liter of NYC tap water before my tea. Just typing this seems like a dream lifestyle way of beginning my morning.

After a warm up i will then do 50 pliés (when I go back to Ohio I am taking private ballet lessons) and then work on the following to do list:








1. Tweet what time it is
2. Research the Tory Burch foundation.
3. Identify who I want to approach as sponsors for the step and repeat
4. Design perspectus for potential sponsors
5. Take 20 min and walk to health food store to order 32 oz of organic vegetable and apple/carrot juice
6. Check Twitter and Facebook
7. Finish perspectus
8. Text Marigo and Email Sara Claire and Esther regarding scenes that need to be filmed
9. Follow up with Zara Terez
10. Call The World Bar and find out if I can film there for a drink filmed meeting with Emily
11. Take a break and finish reading The Trump Card
12. Eat
13. Drink water!
14. Go!!! To the apple store and find the right person to talk to about having the premiere there! That would be a dream!!

Wow. I am really looking forward to my day.

I have to write to do lists more often. I hope it helps my mind focus and manages my time beyond my wildest expectations.

15. Otrera and marigo
16. Write femmetrepreneurs questions to send to femmes to feature them on my blog.









Happy Monday! Xo

Monday Resolution

You probably have had great ideas to do something or plan something but never quite got around to it.

Whether it's writing a handwritten letter to someone you think is out of reach--hoping to get aquainted or drinking more water, take the rest of the weekend to think about how to enhance your lifestyle.






Today, I woke up and drank a liter of Penta, walked to the health food store and drank 32 oz of fresh organic vegetable juice with an apple and a carot), ate a pear and had wild salmon for lunch. (except it wasn't wild, I could tell- the Chinese woman totally lied). I looked in the mirror and my face was supple and plump and glowing and thought, "why the hell don't I do this on a quotidian basis?!"

Whatever is it make this Monday the start of a steller week to really get the things you've been dreaming of started- it'll be a good change in energy and you'll feel really good about yourself.

Have a Happy Monday Resolution

Trump Card— No Excuses

What a day. My back hurts from running around the city. My camera man left me the lavs (wireless mics) and I had to lug them around all day. I went to Macy's to meet with Mercedes from BeChicMag to discuss a deal— she is so sweet and talented. Then I met up with Lindsey at the Chanel counter and we did a 1920s look with red lips to match my Sara Claire & Esther styling.
I went into Louis Vuitton and of course want these $530 sunglasses. One day. One day. While I was in there one of the sales reps, Amanda, was obsessed with my coat and had to know where I got it from. Then another two Iranian? women's eyes lit up and had to know where I got my coat. I have to say that it is certainly worth putting the extra money into pieces that make you feel important and get others to notice and want to converse with you. I felt like a celebrity— better yet, I felt like an accomplished CEO just signing a big deal. Tory Burch flats are a next wish list.

I cannot wait to have a closet full of Sara Claire and Esther!



No Excuses.
I never made it to Zara Terez because I never heard back from her on Twitter. After I got home, I saw a public tweet from Zara wondering why I never showed up! I was shocked and then I realized that she had gotten back to me on the Direct Message (DM) on Twitter! I didn't even think to check that. Later on, I read another chapter of The Trump Card: and being late, stuck in traffic, Yeah Yeah Yeah, LA Ti DA is just so annoying to hear. If you want to be successful and have a edge above everyone else just get rid of the excuses. Check every communication, leave 3o min earlier than early and just be on time. I have to say excuses are becoming pet peeve for me. It's going to be interesting to overcome these habits, but we certainly can start by being aware of how often we have an excuse.

It was a great day otherwise. I went to the post office to drop off "Orange you glad you're single" to Audrina Patridge's publicist— but did something happen to prevent me from sending it?! Find out on The Lights!

Organizing

We hear it time and time again that an organized workspace opens a special portal in life that is supposed to be effortlessly flowing with positive energy and progress. It really helps with the 4 quadrants (Dr. Dyer anyone?).

After putting a load of laundry in and picking things off the chair and floor, my desk is still a mess but the most pressing tool for me is to label all the clips in my editing suite. I have to prepare all the footage for the pro editors in the other Lights dept.
See all the Untitled's to the left? I have to sort though 8 months of filming. It will be so much fun though. Sarah Austin and I have determined that December is the final production month before the real fun begins.

I also noticed on my Twitter settings reads web series... hmm, can my subconscious be telling me something that is fortuitous? I already decided that if the tv networks don't pick the show up in a certain amount of time frame then I am going to make a proposal to Twitter and @NewYorkCityPR. MTV, Lifetime, CW, Bravo, Oxygen, VH1, & We are hot ones to receive an invitation for a viewing meeting.

The Lights will be editing like a movie (short film) with a splash of The City and Sex and the City. With LA music connections this show is going to be amazing. It was quite the journey carrying tripods and lights around but I can say that I am proud that I was able to create the first mobile production company. I hired the best camera man in the city and now it's time to get organized so The Lights can launch early next year.

I am also setting up celebrity guest stars who have been successful with their minds.

Side Work

I freelance design for @newyorkcitypr and they have already published their vision as being the first virtual department store. The brand name is No Label— a store for those who are working hard to pull themselves out of the recession. The motto goes, "there is nothing insecure about paying less"—
which was inspired off of Christian Siriano's publicist's decision to do the deal with Payless. Bianco Bianconi just started her own PR firm and we are all so happy for her. She is a real sweetheart.


The next step is to build a section of No Label that houses actual designers. The vision is for each carefully selected designer to have their own unique room.

Here is an example of what I thought of for Zara Terez if she would have a room in the virtual store.
You all must know that I majored in Visual Communications at a very exclusive school. I really enjoy designing and building solid relationships. I definitely miss my close friends. It's really hard to find truly supportive friends who become your sisters. Finding them in business is a dream.

The exciting part about working with the designers who sign on will be writing their screenplay for how their brand will be portrayed in edited video. The idea is to make them their own stars in their own virtual reality show in their exclusively branded rooms on NoLabelSecret.com

I met Zara while filming Lights star Marigo Mihalos at the Zara Terez trunk show at The Shoe Box on Lex.

Secret Aps for the blogger on the go

So.... I've been thinking how to ween myself off the computer. Thoughts of blissful facials and being drivin around in a Lincoln Town car for filmed coffee meetings at Macchiato and to ballet training. A driver = lifestyle.
--
Here I am on the BlogPress app managing this post. I am going to search for a Google image AND color correct it- all from my phone.











Wow it took about a minute to do all this mobilelly:

Recap of what I designed:
1. Search an image on Google images.
2. Crop out the credit
3. Color correct and only make certain portions of the image black and white and other portions in color.

The secret aps and how to:
1. Download "Image Pro" where you can search for any google image and easily save it to your camera library.

2. Download "Photo Daily" where you can easily open an image from your camera media library. There you can effortlessly crop to different sizes and add fun filters and color correct- adjusting the contrast. You press save and it saves the new arty image to your photo library.

3. Last Download "Color Splash" where the image becomes black and white automatically and you just finger point where you want color on your image. Wow this is better than Photoshop to do this technique!

Happy Blogging.

Where is Oprah's Email?!

After watching the CNBC Oprah Effect special I suddenly had a case of deja vu. Why do I have the strange feeling that one of Oprah's producers wrote me or my old intern back something very brief about being interested in FudgeHim! And WHYYYYY did I not follow up with her? The only sense I can hold on to was that I was in disbelief and it was the time where a boutique owner told me to change the packaging by adding a lid design to the jar. I must of thought I wasn't ready not to mention the fact that I am not setttled in my own place yet from living out of suitcase.

Easy thought right—to go through my old emails—except when I tried logging into my old email I could not access it because I had canceled my hosting account with Volusion because $20 a month was added up without any online sales. OMFG! Why is this happening to me? The only sign I have is that I randomly wanted to see who Oprah was following on twitter since she only follows 17 people and @sherisalata happened to be one of them. She is an executive producer for Oprah and honestly, her name is ringing a bell. As you can see, I tweeted her and hope she at least read my tweet. Next I have to send her something everyday. I just filmed a segment for The Lights where my partner in LA, Lauren and I were texting as I was watching the Oprah Effect and I told her that I think we should send Oprah's producers a creative gift a day for a month to see what happens. Fingers crossed!

Femmetrepreneurs: this blog's for you.

So. You left everything you know or took this road less traveled from the beginning. Either way, it's against your dna to work for anyone other than yourself. Sure, it's liberating when we see people in cubicles in the movies yet it's exhausting and kinda scary. I will share with you my ideas, where I am with them and vow to blog at least once a day.

Today was Thanksgiving. CNBC had a special on The Oprah Effect. Her midas touch literally is magical on businesses. It takes one mention for sales to soar. 44 million viewers a week. That's 1/6th of Americans tuning in. 1/6th! I couldn't help but get emotional. The story of the "We make the cake" and Carol's Daughter are incredible examples of how we all should do our very best to try and get on the Oprah Show before it's too late. I have an idea and will tell you later.

Before going to bed I watched Julie and Julia for the second time and became inspired to start this blog. Again, I cried at the end. I realized my tears are of joy of witnessing the rags to riches stories. There is nothing more enchanting than to watch an entrepreneur's success story. It helps us stay on our path no matter how dreary it can be. I know the voice inside your head. Trust Me. You think: When is that going to be me? When will all this hard work pay off? Who will notice my brilliant product ideas? How will I get the attention of producers that have the midas touch? Will it ever happen? Am I wasting my time? Should I just get a job?!
(Sign) Well, I invest everything I have to being a femmetrepreneur, as you probably do too. I know one thing and one thing only— I will never stop until I become a success story. I live out of a suitcase. That is the only way I am able to executive produce and star in the show The Lights. Sarah Jessica Parker is my role model. She executive produced Sex and the City and became sought after for endorsement products.

One day we will look back and think, "wow, I did it.". I can't wait to get to know my readers and share your stories as being a femmetrepreneur. Here it goes...