The EU Privacy and Communications Directive, colloquially called the EU Cookie Law, requires websites to ask their visitors for consent to use certain types of web cookies. If your business is based in the EU, this law applies to you. The law came into effect on 26 May 2011, but enforcement has been delayed for a year. That means, however, that you will be expected to come into compliance with the law in a couple of weeks’ time.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer so that it can keep track of something. What that something is depends on the website – one website may want to keep track of whether you’re logged in, for example, whereas another may want to store your font-size preference.

So, what’s the big deal?

Many cookies, like the ones mentioned above, are helpful. It certainly enhances your user experience of a site when you don’t need to keep re-entering the same information and/or preferences every time you navigate to a new page on the site, or return to the site a bit later.

But, some cookies can be considered intrusive and also raise privacy concerns. For example, Google tracks our movement between various sites and our behaviour on them to serve us ads that are better targeted to us – it can be argued, on the one hand, that this is helpful to us because we only get to see adverts about things we’re interested in, but, on the other hand, it can definitely feel a bit icky to know that some bot is keeping tabs on our movements around the Interwebz, albeit that it’s doing so anonymously (i.e. it doesn’t know our name, home address, or credit card number).

This is definitely a grey area, and one in which our personal preferences come into play. We will each have different levels of comfort with this, and should be allowed to choose whether or not to allow it.

There are three things to consider here, though (warning – a bit of a rant ahead!): The first is that many people who feel uncomfortable with cookies are often, ironically, the same people who post information about every aspect of their personal lives all over social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The words pot and kettle come to mind when I see someone getting indignant about cookies and then posting a picture of their kids, followed by a Foursquare check-in to their location. When it comes to considering whether to allow cookies, therefore, I’d suggest that a good honest look at one’s general Internet behaviour is necessary. The EU Cookie Law can be a good starting point to raise awareness regarding how you look after your information online.

The second is that Internet users already have ways in which to opt-out of or delete cookies (through browser settings, for example – see AboutCookies.org for more information), though many are not aware of this. In this respect, the discussion around the EU Cookie Law is therefore helping to increase awareness amongst the general public related to the steps that they can take to protect their privacy online. Unfortunately, the Cookie Law itself appears to place full onus on website owners to ensure the privacy of their visitors. While I agree that website owners have a responsibility towards their visitors, it upsets me that the law doesn’t promote dual responsibility for privacy much more strongly. One of my favourite soapbox rants concerns the general propensity in society to abdicate personal responsibility and to blame third parties for the consequences of personal actions, and I get even more vociferous when I see the powers-that-be, like governments, seemingly encouraging this behaviour.

The third is that many website visitors don’t understand what a web browser is, never mind much of what goes on under the hood of the sites they visit. In many cases, they don’t necessarily need to know, just like we don’t all need to be fully-fledged mechanics in order to drive our cars. Some level of knowledge is important, however; it is always a good idea to empower yourself by understanding as much as you can about the technologies you use. Just like a bit of knowledge of a car engine goes some way towards ensuring that you aren’t ripped off by a mechanic who wants to charge you an exorbitant fee to replace your car’s phelange, knowledge of the web and browsers ensures that you stay safe while having a fun time browsing your favourite websites. The EU Cookie Law is definitely helping with this education, but there has also been a large amount of scaremongering amongst website owners by unscrupulous consultants as well as undue panic caused amongst web users who do not understand the various cookie information notices popping up on the sites they visit nor whether it’s a good or bad idea to accept them.

How to comply with the law

Compliance requires that you, as a website owner, inform your visitors about the cookies that your website uses, and to ask for permission to use those that are considered non-essential to the site’s functioning and possibly intrusive.

Note that permission isn’t required for all cookies. Those that are vital for the site’s functioning do not require that you obtain consent; however, some, like Google Analytics, which are helpful to the site owner but could be considered intrusive by visitors, do require consent.

Some of the suggested ways to inform visitors and obtain consent are to pop-up an information window at the start of the visit or to change one’s design to include a banner at the top of the site. The latter is less of an interruption to the visitor’s browsing experience than the former, but neither are an ideal solution. It can be, and has been, very strongly argued that the most commonly suggested routes to compliance are the ones that will decrease user experience the most. Does anyone else see the irony in using an extremely intrusive method to inform visitors of so-called ‘intrusive’ cookies that they quite probably wouldn’t have noticed nor cared about?

What happens if you don’t comply?

It is oh so tempting not to comply with a law that has so many good intentions but which is all rather ridiculous in practice. But, unfortunately, failure to comply does mean that you have technically broken the law. I personally don’t think it’s right or fair to criminalise small business owners who have absolutely no evil intent towards their visitors and who are providing a valuable online service, but I also can’t in any good conscience tell you to ignore the law.

As Heather Burns points out so well, what I can tell you though is that you won’t receive a £500 000 fine on 26 May if your website isn’t compliant. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), responsible for the enforcement of this law, will work with any businesses whose sites come to their attention in order to assist them with becoming compliant before any fines are levied. That said, it’s also still very unclear exactly what form compliance should take or how exactly ICO will police and enforce this law. With so many unknowns, there are a large number of website owners holding back on taking any action until there is much more clarity around this.

For myself, I’ve decided to follow the example of some of my colleagues who possess a good dollop of common sense, and include information about the cookies this site sets in a statement that is linked to in the footer of the site, next to my current site Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. In this way, I don’t have to interrupt my visitors’ browsing experience by requiring them to check a box or deal with an annoying pop-up, but I do lay out the cookies (and ways to opt out of these if so preferred) in the statement. The footer is where most visitors expect to find information related to various site legalities, and this therefore seems to me like a logical and accessible place to link to this statement.

The usual disclaimers about me not being a lawyer and this not constituting legal advice apply Please do take some time to familiarise yourself with the law (some excellent resources are listed below), speak to me (or your web designer/developer) and/or a solicitor or someone who specialises in data protection issues if you need further assistance.

Suggested Resources

Heather Burns’ excellent collection of articles on the EU Cookie Law
Silktide’s comprehensive Cookie Law site
No Cookie Law, a site outlining the downside of the Cookie Law.
The Information Commissioner’s Office

The latest grievance to see the light of day after a long period of underground grumbling is the discrepancy between the high levels of WordCamp San Francisco sponsorship packages and the much smaller allowable sponsorship limits imposed on other WordCamps by WordCamp Central.

As with previous issues, accusations of hypocrisy and micro-management are being levied against the powers-that-be and various policies are being questioned. So far, things haven’t reached the level of DDoS attacks and death threats (a la what happened to Kevinjohn Gallagher when he dared express his critical opinion on some aspects of WordPress that he found unworkable for his particular client base), but the community is once again being very vocal. Much like a volcano, the indignation and outrage simmering just under the surface needs an outlet every now and then.

Earlier today, on Twitter, Heather Burns asked me what I (as an ex Organisational Psychologist) thought of the infighting in the WordPress community. Although I gave a short reply on Twitter, 140 characters is not nearly enough, so here’s a longer reply for Heather, Martin Young, and anyone else who may be interested in some psychobabble

What the WordPress community is currently experiencing – conflict, contentious confrontation, professional and personal attacks, polarisation, disillusionment – is unpleasant and painful. In short, it’s an internal shitstorm. But, it’s also a necessary one.

Every group, large and small, goes through various phases in its development. In one of the most often cited models of group development (Tuckman’s Group Development Model), this stage of infighting is referred to as Storming, and as sucky as it is, the questioning of ideas, processes, policies, structure, and leadership are vital to the group’s growth.

This is a pivotal phase, however: Whether the group survives and moves beyond this stage depends very much on the maturity of both the group’s leaders AND its followers.

For the WordPress community, those in positions of power will need to consider carefully the fact that group members often perceive them to be controlling and micro-managing. These are not signs of a healthy leadership style. It can be easy to dismiss such accusations as unfounded; the true test of leadership mettle is being painfully honest with yourself to examine whether such perceptions have any basis in reality.

Similarly, WordPress community members will need to consider what constitutes an effective adult reaction to grievances. DDoS attacks and death threats are not generally accepted as mature responses to things not going your way or someone expressing a different opinion to yours.

And finally, maybe we can all just take a deep breath, step back from the fray for a minute, and celebrate the fact that the WordPress community has obviously grown up enough to get to this phase in its development. If we can get through this, there are such good things to come as the group moves to a higher level of performance and success. WordPress can have a glorious future if we let it.

Such news often prompts people to blame WordPress for the vulnerabilities. But WordPress itself isn’t inherently vulnerable – the software is built with security in mind, and the core WordPress team is also quick to respond with security fixes to any new tricks that spammers may try.

The thing is, keeping your site secure is a partnership between you and WordPress. There’s only so much that the software can do on its own, and the rest is up to you.

Last week, I spoke about spring cleaning your WordPress site, and I’d like to highlight a couple of those tasks again, as they are especially important for keeping your site secure:

• The first is updating WordPress itself, as this not only gives you access to new features, but also ensures that your site is protected by the latest security fixes released by the core team. In addition, you should be regularly updating any active plugins and themes that you’re using, for the same reason. According to Dre Armada from Sucuri, an Internet security software and services company:
  

  One of the biggest contributors to malware attacks is running outdated software. In fact, it accounts for more than 70% of all the cases we see at Sucuri. This includes various web based software titles, not just WordPress.

• The second is removing any inactive plugins and themes from your site. Although WordPress doesn’t load inactive plugins and themes, the code is still available on your server. This means that it is potentially accessible and executable for exploitation by a hacker looking specifically for code that hasn’t been updated.

Both of these issues came into play with the latest mass compromise:

On all the cases we analysed, they either had outdated versions of WordPress, or of a plugin. We can safely rule out any new vulnerability on WordPress itself. (Securi)

If you’d like to check your website for malware, blacklisting and out-of-date software, Sucuri offer a free SiteCheck scanner.

1. Update WordPress: In addition to taking advantage of new features included in each WordPress update, having the latest WordPress version running is one of the best ways to help keep your site secure. Updating WordPress is as easy as clicking the automatic update button in the WordPress dashboard, but remember to make a backup of your site (files AND database) before you do, just in case anything goes wrong during the update process.
2. Purge your plugins: Delete any inactive plugins and review those that you’re currently using: Do you still need them? Has the plugin been kept up-to-date by its author? If not, is there a newer plugin that will do the job better? Once you’ve deleted all those plugins that you no longer need, it’s also a good idea to check if they’ve left any gubbins behind in your database, and to delete this too if they have to keep your database functioning optimally. Plugins really *should* clean up after themselves upon deletion but not all do, so any tables or settings they’ve neglected to clear away will unfortunately fall to you.
3. Update plugins: Update any plugins that have survived the purge. Again, if you haven’t already, remember to make a backup of your site before doing any work like this.
4. Update your theme: If there are any updates available for your theme, apply these. Again, take a backup of your theme files before doing this! The only possible exception to updating your theme is if you’ve made any customisations to your theme files directly, as these may be overwritten during the theme update process. If you want to go ahead and update your theme anyway, make sure you know exactly what customisations you’ve made so that you can reapply these after the update (and preferably transfer these to a child theme so that you can update easily in future!)
5. Throw out old themes: Just as you did with inactive plugins, delete any old themes you have lying around. Again, you may need to clear out any stuff left in your database by themes once they’re deleted.
6. Consider a fresh lick of paint: Is it time to give your site a makeover? Sometimes just a few tweaks to your current theme will do wonders to brighten and freshen up your site, whereas sometimes a complete theme change is required.
7. Clear sidebar clutter: The sidebar can be a handy dumping ground for all sorts of information, but too much going on in your sidebar can confuse site visitors by obscuring important information and making it difficult to navigate around your site. Take a good look at all the widgets in your sidebar and clear those that are just taking up space without really adding any value to your site.
8. Check links for dead-ends: Both the internet and your site are constantly evolving, and this means that links (to other pages on your site and to external sites) that worked once may not work any more. Use a tool like the W3C’s Link Checker or install the WP Broken Link Checker plugin to find out which links no longer lead anywhere and either remove or update these.
9. Review your site content: In addition to making sure your links still work, check the information in your site’s pages: Are things like contact details still current? Does your About page need updating with new skills and experience? Do you have new products or services to add?
10. Clean out the spam comment queue: If you haven’t been doing this regularly, empty your spam comment queue. Who wants to give database space to spammers!

WPScotland (the Scottish community group for WordPress designers, developers and users, for which I’m the East of Scotland Regional Coordinator) had an amazing first year last year, and it looks like 2012 will be even better as we welcome the UK’s WordPress community to Scotland.

The event website can be found at 2012.edinburgh.wordcamp.org – there’s not much there at the moment, but rest assured that a gorgeous site courtesy of Jonathan Harris and Jonny Allbut will soon be taking the place of the holding page.

The WPUK Core Group are now in the process of looking for event sponsors. If you’re interested in finding out more about sponsorship opportunities, there is information on sponsorship packages here, and you can contact Tony Scott if you’d like to sponsor the WordCamp. Microsponsorship will be available to individuals, and this can be purchased at the same time as you buy your ticket.

As with our WordUp events, talks at WordCamp Edinburgh UK will cover topics suitable for all levels of skill and experience with WordPress, from those aimed at a more technical audience to those geared towards helping bloggers and website owners get the most out of their usage of WordPress as a blogging tool and Content Management System. Some content ideas have already been proposed, and you also can add your own if you’d like to present.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with event announcements (including when tickets go on sale), the best is to sign up for the WPUK mailing list. We’ll also be posting news on the WPScotland site, and I’ll add pertinent info here as well over the coming months.

WPScotland and WordUp Edinburgh 2011

WPScotland is a group for anyone in Scotland interested in WordPress, from beginners and end-users to designers and developers. The group was founded by Martin Young towards the end of 2010, with small monthly meetups starting in January 2011. I joined Martin in December 2010 to set up the WPScotland site and help with organising the meetups.

Martin and I began planning for WordUp Edinburgh 2011 earlier this year. Our vision was to hold a series of one-day events during the course of each year, events that sat somewhere between our small (and mostly social) monthly meetups and the large annual WordCamp UK in terms of size and scope. WordUp Edinburgh 2011 was the first in this series, and we’ve already started some initial planning for WordUp Glasgow 2012, which will be held in either February or March next year.

What happened on the day?

WordUp Edinburgh 2011 was a day full of presentations on a wide range of WordPress topics, from using WordPress to learn CSS, to WordPress in the Enterprise, how theme review can benefit custom theme design, WordPress in the voluntary sector, ‘How did you do that?’, managing large networks of WordPress sites, responsive design and the WordPress theme marketplace.

The quality of the presentations and panel discussions was excellent and I’d like to thank all the speakers who put so much effort into creating such valuable content. Audience participation was also fantastic and enthusiastic – thank you also to everyone who attended and helped make the day so much fun!

When I attend a gathering of WordPress folk, I’m always struck by the feeling of community that permeates such events, and WordUp Edinburgh 2011 was no exception to this. As with other WordPress get-togethers, everyone was willing to share generously and to learn from each other in a collaborative and friendly environment.

Last but not least…

Thank you to all those who sponsored the event, at all levels. We were blown away by the support we received from the WordPress community (not only in Scotland, but further afield as well), from companies to individual community members, who helped us make WordUp Edinburgh 2011 a reality.

I mean, I know that the Intertubes are not exactly the place where only saints and paragons of virtue hang out. After all, it’s representative of humanity, and humanity’s a delightful mishmash of the aforementioned paragons on one side, those with more dubious morals on the other, and everyday folks who like looking at pictures of cute cats in the middle.

But, when people who should know better – because they make their living online, or sell themselves as experts in business and marketing, for example – ignore the basics of ethical behaviour on the Internet, I start getting twitchy.

I’ve often thought that we wouldn’t need any laws at all if we all followed one basic principle: be nice to others. Nevertheless, because it seems people can’t follow such a simple precept, we have legislation to regulate behaviour on- and offline. Whichever way you look at it though, certain things are not ok. Since it seems that there have been a few prominent examples lately of people forgetting this, let’s clear this up for future reference:

The Shoeperwoman Saga: It is not ok to give your business the exact same name as a site that has already been in existence for two years. Using a hyphen in the name does not make it different, despite your assertions to the contrary. This is because it is especially not ok if you will be operating in the exact same market, thereby causing confusion amongst customers and site visitors. And it is definitely not ok to register the business/site name as a trademark, thereby effectively putting an end to the existing business if successful.

The Girl Geeks Gaffe: It is not ok to pick someone’s brain about an organisation they’ve been running for years, then set up a limited company with the same name, register the trademark and complain to Twitter that the woman whose brain you picked and who has been using her Twitter handle for a good few years is now infringing your trademark, thereby getting her Twitter username summarily taken away from her overnight. No, it is not ok to stomp all over the hard work someone has put into her organisation and its branding.

While the Girl Geeks issue has been resolved in favour of Morna Simpson, the original @girlgeeks on Twitter, the issue of the real versus fake Shoeperwoman is ongoing. In both cases, however, the reaction of the large group of fans and supporters of the two businesses was swift and severe. Like the saying about the world, the Internet is a small place and news of not-nice behaviour travels fast. It’s the quickest and easiest way to ruin your reputation online.

Now, the Shoeperwoman and Girl Geeks examples are obviously quite major. But minor infractions occur daily. By calling the following minor, I don’t mean to imply that they’re somehow ok. They’re not. Stealing is stealing. Let’s take a look at these:

It is not ok to use (watermarked) pictures from someone’s photography portfolio in your YouTube video without permission. In fact, it is not ok to use someone else’s pictures, period, unless they come with explicit permission for you to do so. And no, just because the pictures were published on Flickr or available via Google image search, does not change this. Still not ok, geddit?

It is not ok to take someone’s picture of themselves and use it in a forum or on your blog as if it was a picture of you. That’s both stealing and lying. And, more than a tad creepy. (Amber, the original Sheoperwoman, has had this happen to her on numerous occasions, so much so that a friend of hers coined the term Caughty doing a McNaughty to describe the behaviour!)

It is not ok to copy someone else’s blog posts and put them up on your site, even if you link back to the original author. Unless the person who wrote the post has given you explicit permission to do this, assume that it’s wrong.

It is not ok to steal someone’s entire site design and pass it off as your own, particularly if you’re supposedly in the web design biz. Yes, this happens. Seriously… sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

So, what have we learned here? Well, I hope it’s clear by now that, unless you have explicit permission from the creator of a piece of work (whether that be a blog post or photograph or graphic design or anything else) to use it, assume that you can’t. It’s that simple.

I should hope it’s also clear that taking someone else’s business name and business model and registering the trademark is also a big no-no. Instead of copying someone else, why not invest some time in creating something unique that you can truly call your own?

And when you’ve done that… hope like heck no-one steals the stuff you’ve worked so hard to create. If they do, though? Send them directly to this post. I’ll soon set them straight about what is and isn’t ok.

As always, for security purposes, it’s highly recommended that you keep your WordPress installation up to date:

• If you’re on our VaultPress + Monthly Maintenance package, your WordPress installation has already been updated by us. No need to worry about a thing… carry on as you were
• If you’re on our VaultPress only package, you can update your WordPress installation yourself using the automatic update option in your dashboard. VaultPress is already keeping real-time backups of your site, so no need to perform a separate manual backup before updating.
• If you don’t have Vaultpress installed, please please do a manual backup of your WordPress files and database before updating WordPress via the automatic update option in the dashboard. While the auto-update usually works just fine, every so often (about 10% of the time) something will go wrong, usually as a result of a plugin incompatibility, and a backup is vital in these situations. Contact us if you need help with this process.

Today, the spotlight is on Kimberly Richey of Kimberly Richey Rolfing, a Certified Rolfer from Columbia, South Carolina. Kimberly’s journey to Rolfing via Library Science is fascinating – over to her to tell you all about it!

How long have you been running your current business?
1.5 years, really only 6 months full-time.

Have you always done this type of work or have you gone through a career change in your life? If you’ve experienced a career change, what were you doing before, and why did you choose to do something different?
I went to massage therapy school in college on a whim. I thought it would be a great part-time gig to help pay the bills while I was in school. It certainly filled that need, but about 2 years into working in a chiropractor’s office I realized I really enjoyed the work and I was pretty good at it. I decided I wanted to get more specific training and that is what led me to become a Rolfer.

During and throughout this time I was still faced with another reality. I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Prior to health care reform, I was unable to get health insurance without being employed by a major company. At the end of college I knew I was bound for grad school and ultimately decided to get a Masters degree in Library Science. I completed the program and worked as an elementary school librarian for three years. I knew in my heart, even during grad school, that I didn’t really want to be a librarian. But being a librarian helped clarify for me what I did want and need in a job, such as: working one on one with people, lots of autonomy, flexible schedule, high pay that has some “commission” component- (it motivates me!), etc.

Due to a some major luck I was able to work out the health insurance issue and I resigned from my librarian job after I completed my Rolfing training and set out to do Rolfing full-time. But striking a balance between stability and feeling flexible in a job has been the biggest challenge of the last decade for me.

Why library science?
Oh, whyyyyyy library science???!!

So I was closer than I originally thought to my core career challenge– stability and novelty when I choose library science. I had fear of being backed into a professional corner and wanted to pick a master’s degree that would allow me to do several different kinds of jobs. I thought seriously about law school and pursuing an academic track with my undergraduate studies in comparative religion. But both seemed so limiting and meant many more years of intense education.

So when a mentor suggested library science I did a bit of research and thought “Well, I love reading and books. I can do this.” Note, no real thought of passion for the work or having any experience working in a library. In hindsight, I see that my whole approach was a bit off and VERY much reflected my twenty-two year old state of mind ! I wish now that my mentor or my parents had pushed me to volunteer or work in a library to make sure it was something I enjoyed doing, i.e. fulfill the stability/novelty balance. This is the advice I’d pass on to any twenty-something who is thinking of grad school. It has been a huge learning experience for sure!!

Did you have any role models amongst your family or friends for starting your own business? If not, was there anyone else who inspired you along the way?
My mom has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and now runs a small tutoring business for special needs children. My in-laws both own their own businesses so those have been excellent examples. I also look back now and see that the jobs I have worked at the longest were small businesses. I worked in a gift shop in high school and over my years there developed a lot of ideas and opinions about how it could run more efficiently. The same was true for the chiropractic clinic I worked in after massage therapy school. These experiences and small business owners offered me examples of what worked and what did not.

What made you start your own business instead of getting a job working for someone else?
I actually have a bit of a non-traditional set-up. I technically work for my in-law’s physical therapy business, BUT in a day-to-day way it’s my own thing. I do all my own scheduling and marketing, etc. This was the way we were able to work out the health insurance!!

What do you love most about what you do?
I love that I get to help people is a very direct way. I also love that my job has a low level of monotony. Each client is different and there is always something new to learn. It really strikes the balance I crave between novelty and stability.

What would you most like to change about your current work situation?
I am still building my practice, so a full client load would be at the top of my list !

What are your big dreams for your business, both short-term (1 – 2 years) and long-term (3 – 5 years)?
Short-term dreams are to be/feel successful and work towards a full client load.

Long-term dreams would be building more awareness around alternative medicine and wellness is South Carolina. To this end I would love to be involved in evolving some of the legislative issues that would help alternative modalities flourish in my state.

What role does your website play in your business? What benefits has having a website (and specifically a WordPress-based one) had for your business?
Rolfing is new to SC. Educating people is a large part of my PR and marketing efforts. Having a top-notch website is essential. I love WordPress because of the flexibility it gives me to modify the actual website and to blog (when I finally have the time to start blogging !).

First up is Sarah Aldrich of Sarah Aldrich Pilates. I can’t claim to have designed Sarah’s website; my work with her has largely been behind-the-scenes WordPress development to make changes to her existing site – testimony to Sarah’s success over the past couple of years is that, when I started working with her, I assumed she’d been in business for much longer than she had! Sarah has some wise and inspiring things to share, so without further ado, here they are!

Describe your current work/business:
I own a Pilates studio in downtown New Haven, CT. I started my business in January 2009 with one client when it was just me and a small room the size of a bathroom. Two years later I have 4 employees and have increased revenue by 150% and have moved into my 1500 sq ft dream space. Kinda cool. Especially when acquaintances would shake their head when they learned what I was setting out to do in “such a hostile economy”.

Have you always done this type of work or have you gone through a career change in your life? If you’ve experienced a career change, what were you doing before, and why did you choose to do something different?
I spent my entire 20s feeling lost and aimless. I had a literature degree from a prestigious American university, but didn’t know how to put it into action and hopped from job to job. One day a close college friend recognized my lost-ness, and said, “Sarah, you have always been such a natural mover. Have you tried Pilates? I think you’d be a great teacher.” I was working in retail at the time (in a mind-numbing make-up selling capacity) and on a whim took a 3 pack of Pilates sessions at a local studio. I fell in love with it instantly and thought “Hey, maybe I could do this.” It took 2 years of absolute focus (no dating, no weekends, no eating out, etc) to go to Pilates school and study anatomy and get certified, and some generous family members who loaned me money to get where I am today.

What made you choose to start your current business?
Even though owning a business is terrifying at times, I always remind myself that a) I love that I am at the helm of my own proverbial ship and b) I never ever get bored as I am learning something new about myself/the industry every single day. I have so much more pride when I wake up in the morning. It feels like an adventure with no scriptbook to rely on. And I love that.

Did you have any role models amongst your family or friends for starting your own business? If not, was there anyone else who inspired you along the way?
I have a huge family (I’m the baby of 9 kids) and everyone was really supportive. But two of my brothers made the biggest impact. They taught me the most important lessons right away–that of tenacity and courage. I’ve since hired a consultant (who owns the school where I was Pilates certified). She is a fabulous mentor and advisor and I have learned a ton from her too. The thing she tells me the most is remembering the importance of not letting my desire to please people distract me from the bottom line: I am here to provide clients with a top quality experience and to profit from that endeavor. I have to re-learn this everyday as I always want to keep everyone happy.

What do you love most about what you do?
I love that some hours I’m teaching, some I’m moving, some I’m sitting and being cerebral. I’m always working on helping clients inhabit their best bodies and selves. I love that I am the interface between a service business and people in a small city. I love the variety.

What would you most like to change about your current work situation?
What would I most like to change? I guess nothing. I have a HUGE list of things to accomplish and every time I tick something off the list, I add something new. So I am just trying to bring my best self to the job everyday. I am looking forward to being better at balancing team leadership with keeping the daily nuts & bolts maintenance in check. So, more time would be great. But I know that’s not gonna happen.

What are your big dreams for your business, both short-term (1 – 2 years) and long-term (3 – 5 years)?
Short-term dreams: Maximize my current revenue stream. Fill in the gaps in my group mat classes. Build a strong team of employees. Long-term: Figure out how to balance my desire to be a mother, with my reality of owning a business. I also want my business to become more profitable so that I can do more community outreach/link up with local non-profits to make New Haven a better city to live in.

What role does your website play in your business? What benefits has having a website (and specifically a WordPress-based one) had for your business?
My website is a BIG deal. I feel that its blog format represents the youthful/playful vibe I want my clients to get from my brand. Pilates can feel so stiff and snobby. I want to offer a beautiful space where quirky people can be themselves. The blog is a part of that. It feels more dynamic than a static website. I encourage clients and my employees to provide feedback and add to it. It works in close conjunction with my biz Facebook account and my Constant Contact web marketing service. I run most of my business/client communication through email, so a good blog is KEY. And its user-friendly. If I ever need to make changes, I don’t feel like I need to know fancy coding stuff. Its more accessible to me as a green tech person.