Pink Elephant Style Shop is open for business! Come on over to our online shop and check out our fun & motivational T Shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, greeting cards and more. We are adding 1 - 5 items per week, so stay tuned. Most items can be customized with YOUR OWN WORDING and using Lillian Darnell’s artwork or images!!

More importantly, support our cause and join us in changing people’s view of children with special needs or afflictions and help free them from limitations! We believe that everyone should be encouraged to pursue their passion or strength in life, no matter what their perceived obstacles. See Our Mission page to learn more.

Don’t see anything that suits your fancy? Please share our site with at least 10 of your family and friends to help us gain momentum for our project.

A portion of the proceeds from every Pink Elephant Style sale is donated to help children with special needs. Visit our Giving Back page to learn more.

Thank you all in advance for your continued support!

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Hi everyone! Those close to me know that I am making some major life changes. Along with several other changes I have decided to sell this site. This site is turnkey for someone passionate about this subject and who would like to put the time into creating an income stream with ads, sponsorships and affiliate programs.

Contact me if you’d like to make an offer. Page Rank is 3 and I will get anyone who is interested the subscriber count and analytics information (all pretty poor as I’ve not been working on marketing this site). Thanks everyone for your support over this past year and we’ll see what happens!

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Blue Water Style - Kimberly Phipps-Nichol

Barbara Hranilovich - Barbco

Thanks everyone for your support and votes. These 2 women have shown me great kindness so pass the word and get voting!

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(©Picture by Lillian Darnell - All Right Reserved)

G is for Gut

Trust it. It’s your smartest adviser.

Nobody knows better what is good for you than your body. If you ignore it, it will just get louder till you listen. It has its own language, but it’s easy to learn. Shhhhhh. I’m not kidding…shhhhhhh!

Our bodies are designed to react to very subtle signals. Danger? No. Ok, proceed. That’s a gut reaction. We made tons of decisions all day long based on little shots of adrenaline. Adrenaline is great, but like most things it’ll do us in if we get too much.

Gut, intuition, instinct…we are loaded with the stuff. But it often gets overridden by shoulds and guilt and have-tos. If we would just listen to ourselves we could still get it all done, but bypass much of the agony of having to undo things we’ve taken on which are not good for us.

This week someone asked me to do something. It sounded interesting, so I asked for more information. As she was talking I felt my body gradually tighten up and told her so. I wasn’t sure if it was fear of the task or the commitment, or what. I just knew something was amiss. I asked her for time to think about it, but what I needed was time to FEEL about it. I discussed it all with my husband. I kept thinking about how great an opportunity it was. My ego was stoked. I was excited about the possibilities for networking and learning…but. That nagging something would not let go. I’ve been spread in a lot of directions lately. I thought that maybe this offer was just too much to take on. This was a teaching opportunity and I love to teach, but I take it very seriously and it takes up a lot of my brain.

My HEAD made the decision that I should turn down the offer. I wrote to the person and explained. It was not till I typed the following words that knew why I was saying no: “If I did this it would be for you and not for me”. With that the tension I was feeling evaporated. I’d made the right decision. I felt really great…no guilt. No rationalization. Just my truth. Ahhhhhhh!

If I hadn’t come to this point I’d still be running over the pros and cons and wondering, no matter what I’d decided, whether I’d made the wrong choice. But once my gut chimed up it was over…the final word…the gods had spoken.

This experience validation to trust…training for listening better and more quickly the next time. It’s easier to do now than it was a few years ago…only took a couple of days this time and at least I knew to check in with my gut at all instead of take an antacid. I’m still feeling rather giddy by how freeing this little experience was…how easy to come to the right place.

On a gut level, I’d say life is good.

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H, letter Y, letter S, letter O, letter N, letter C and the letter T also.

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(©Photo by Camilla Downs - All Rights Reserved)

T is for Trade-offs

You know those self-employed people. They get to take time off any time they want.

They just won’t be paid for it…or for vacation, or holidays, or health insurance or sick days.
There won’t be anyone there to do their job while they are ill or away, either.
Their paycheck will not come every two weeks, but only after the person they have billed gets paid by the person they have billed, no matter what the terms of the invoice state.

So, why would anyone do this to herself? I still wonder, and yet I know. It’s not rational. It’s not a negative response to the “system”. Its a need for independence and creative freedom. It’s knowing that if things are bad, I can work a little harder or smarter or longer to make things better. I can switch gears entirely the minute I feel the need without having to run it by my boss or coworkers. It’s the rush of living a little (sometimes a lot) on the edge.

Not all people can do it. I know a woman who says she just wants to be a sheep and be told what to do. I know lots of people who go to work and do it well, but want to leave it behind them at the end of the day. They’re in it for the benefits - retirement and health insurance. They like their job just fine.

I have often considered looking for a “real” job. As health insurance costs have risen an average of 11+% each of the last 12 years I’ve reached a point where those payments alone equal an income I could live on. But, the thought of even walking into a place for an application fills me with dread. Not apprehension or fear, just a sense that I’d lose myself. My SELF. My cost-benefit analysis tells me there’s no compensation or benefit package big enough to reimburse me for me.

This is not pie-in-the-sky. It’s not casual longing for some bohemian lifestyle. I work very hard. I work every day. I dream work and walk work and shower work and I love it. I’m not driven, I’m passionate and the two are vastly different. I am not alone among entrepreneurs, here. If you are reading this you know what I mean.

We don’t have it made, we make it. We aren’t living the dream, we are dreaming the life. We don’t have the life, we create it.

There are costs to every life-style choice. The self-employed have simply chosen a certain set of costs and that concept of choice is powerful. So yes, I will take time off. I may work till midnight, too, or put in an 80-hour week. I will go to lunch for two-hours, but that will give me the energy and emotional stimulus to work twice as hard. I may go for a walk in the afternoon where I might work out a problem or get some fresh idea instead of sitting at desk waiting till 5:30 and eating a candy bar to get me through that nappy time of day.

I’m not complaining. I’m not recommending. If the shoe fits, you might be Cinderella.

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H, letter Y, letter S, letter O, letter N and the letter C also.

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(©Artwork by Lillian - All Rights Reserved)

C is for Collaboration

Self-employed, entrepreneurial or not, we all work within the context of other people. Even if I could do it all alone I wouldn’t want to.

There’s my husband who trusts even my wildest dreams. And the friend with whom I’ve had almost-annual goal-planning meetings for over twenty years. There’s the agency who gave me a great break on developing my web-site and the countless friends who have had to listen to me and who’ve tried to take me seriously over the years. These kind people who constantly come up with ideas and suggestions which help things move forward or keep me from losing my faith or my mind. There’s the manufacturer, who has not made a dime on me (yet), but has worked with me for almost three years on the faith that my product will pay off eventually. There are clients and customers, too, many of whom have grown into dear friends over the years. There’s the woman I’ve never met in person, but who asked me to write these essays for her blog. What a gift!

This week I had a trigger for thinking about all the people without whom I would not have been able or willing to take on the challenges I’ve set before me. The list is huge. You couldn’t hire this much talent and heart at once. I would love to have them all in one place at one time and simply feel the energy. The thought makes me feel wealthy.

These are smart, funny, dear people. They have been kind enough to be honest with me. They have shared their expertise and their time. They haven’t laughed at me (though I know they sometimes wonder just what the heck I’m doing). There is never a point when I can’t call someone and touch base or ask for encouragement or help, a reference or resource. The help always comes. Always.

Getting help means asking for it. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable opens the door. Involving people in the creative aspects of your venture gets their creative juices flowing, too, and puts their oars in the water with yours. You would do the same for them if they asked, wouldn’t you?

What I have learned is that people enjoy being part of an adventure. They can come along for the ride without actually having to be at risk. If they help you they will go out of their way to find a reasonable way for you to return their favor, just so they can hear about what’s happening and possibly see their ideas come to life. People who understand your needs best are often on their own business or personal adventure. You’ll probably get to help them at some point, or hear their stories. This can give you ideas or solace or a sense for the greater picture. It’s collaboration.

Asking for help does not mean giving up your vision. Hearing opinions is a way of gauging the strength of your convictions. Are you willing to fight for your idea, or does some part of you resonate with someone’s concerns? Has someone asked a question you can’t answer, but should be able to? Are you open to totally uninvited feedback? This is the rarest, but possibly the most honest form. You don’t have to act on people’s advice, but it helps to be genuinely open to it. If you start to hear similar things from multiple sources pay attention. Trust the sources who’ve come into your circle.

Courage is contagious. Creativity is addictive. Ideas breed ideas. It’s all more fun than…well…pretty much anything.

If you’re feeling stressed, by all means call a friend. Admit your fears and they will lose much of their power. Share even your small triumphs and you’ll realize how happy your friends and colleagues are to see you succeed. This all takes some practice. Know anybody you could call for lunch?

Camilla’s 2 cents: Wow! What a great article. This article really resonates with me to my very core. Barb, you had me on the verge of tears for something I’ve done being considered a gift. I have reached a point with the company I’m working on with my daughter, Lillian, at which I need some collaboration, sharing of ideas and hearing opinions. Our speaker last night at the monthly eWomen dinner is the first person I am choosing to share all of my muddled plans with to see if she has ideas and opinions to share. I will be writing an article about her soon; but in the meantime please visit her site and learn about this tremendously important movement. And, Barb, I will be calling you for lunch one day when I make it to your neck of the woods!

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H, letter Y, letter S, letter O and the letter N also.

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(©Artwork by Lillian - All Rights Reserved)

N is for numbers…

which reside on the left side of the brain…that no-man’s land where creative people often dare not tread. It literally hurts to spend too much time there. I’m not saying there aren’t wonderfully creative souls who thrive in numberland. I’m just not one of them. Neither are either of my business partners. Three for three. Tag, I’m it.

Numbers matter if you are running a business. It’s pretty much what separates a business from a hobby.

• Money is all about numbers and in a thriving business more of it comes in than goes out.
• Inventory might be racks of fabulous must-haves, but for tax purposes it’s numbers of units. As many as come in should go out. It’s good to know if you have the quantity someone wants to buy.
• Cost is based on expenses and time. Time is money and money brings us back to numbers.

How long did it take you to do that job? Don’t know? Then how will you know how much to charge.
Did you factor in shipping or import taxes on your product before you decided on a selling price? If not, you may not be left with any profit at all. What would you be willing to spend on your product or service if you weren’t the one selling it? The answer is some number.

For many of us, working with numbers may not provide the adrenaline and joy of “you know what would be cool?”, but not paying attention to the numbers could provide an adrenaline rush of its own. Just the thought of an IRS audit makes me keep my finances in order!

Numbers are signposts along the creative road. It’s good to check in with them sometimes. Looking honestly at numbers gives us clues about where we’ve been and what we might consider before stepping forward. They provide a way to track efficiency and growth. They can let us know that we have made progress, so we can pat ourselves on the back. They can tell us if an ad has brought new customers. They can help us set our goals. Do you want to accomplish something by a certain date? That’s a number. Reach a sales goal, or get out of debt…numbers. Hire employees? - a whole new set of numbers. My numbers tell me that I’m over the peak of the initial expenditures for my latest venture and am now working at paying back my debt to myself. This may not sound all that rosy, but to me it’s a major milestone. I knew this would take awhile. I’m three years into my five-year plan. Sounds like numbers to me.

Dealing with business numbers may seem daunting at first, but every arena comes with a finite set of numerical scenarios. Once you’ve walked yourself through yours a time or two it will feel less like it’s about numbers and more like you are just doing the housekeeping of your business. The regular and occasional odd expenses will get filed together. Income sources will probably be similar and fall into patterns. After that first meeting with the accountant for taxes you’ll know what needs to go where, how to record it and, unless your business changes in nature, the system will probably hold for a very long time.

The day I did my first spreadsheets I felt like I’d gone over to the dark side. I’m not kidding. I was scared to death and felt a bit like I was betraying the right side of my brain. I’m still not fond of doing spreadsheets, but I’m not afraid any more. They sure can be handy. If my cost/unit goes up I can, in no time, see how that affects my prices, my markup, my profitability. I’m learning to appreciate the order of it all. It’s a bit like having a really organized secretary. I’m still on my own for coffee.

Give the left side of your brain a chance. She may be nicer - and smarter - than you think. Once you do you’ll have made a new friend in yourself, which is truly gratifying!

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H, letter Y, letter S and the letter O also.

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(©Artwork by Lillian - All Rights Reserved)

O is for Om

It’s in the news. Yogis have known it for years. Holistic medical practitioners recommend it. But unless you do it you won’t believe how changed you can be by just a few minutes of meditation a day.

There are myriad ways to approach meditation. You can sit or lie down. You can repeat words like om, or just listen to the air move in and out of your lungs. Artists and runners experience the zone…that state where they and their surroundings are one. It’s active meditation. It’s addictive.

No matter how you choose to approach it, taking a few moments a day to quiet your mind is a gift to yourself. It opens your whole being to the subtler energy surrounding you, enhancing your intuition, reducing your stress.

Inspiration = breathing in.

It’s so simple when you think of it that way. How does one get inspired to do or create anything? Breathe. Is that all? Try it and see for yourself.

Yellow was my favorite color when I was 5. For me it’s a happy color. I liked it best next to red (what a wardrobe THAT would make!). A friend of mine was in a crisis recently. I suggested she look for yellow things. As a consequence I also started to notice yellow things. Yellow-moments are like micro-meditations. When I look at yellow - a dandelion or a street sign - that’s what I’m thinking of. It’s all about the yellow, and in that brief instant I can’t be thinking about work or what I ate for breakfast. Yellow has started to show up everywhere. Of course it’s been there all along, but now I really see it. I’m one with the yellow…breathing it in, if only for a few seconds. Om.

So, mediation does not have to be a chore or some major commitment. And, while it may be ideal to get away to a quiet room for 15 minutes, a little meditational instant here and there may be all you can get some days. With a little practice it becomes second-nature. Instead of getting cranky when something goes awry, breathe. When you can’t find your keys (trust me, there’s a reason I’ve used this example), breathe. If you’re late to work, find something in your office that’s yellow. Look at it’s yellowness and breathe. Once. S-l-o-w-l-y. Get inspired to start your day.

Camilla’s 2 cents: Barb’s completely right on with this point. Breathing is just so darn easy we forget about it sometimes. Being a single mom entrepreneur I can’t squeeze in lengthy breathing and connecting sessions. After I get the kids to bed, I head to the backyard where I take in the beautiful view of Mt Rose, close my eyes and just breathe and listen to the evening sounds and feel the light breeze across my face (if there is one). It is amazing and really hard to describe. Go ahead - give it a try - B-R-E-A-T-H-E!

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H, letter Y and the letter S also.

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(Congratulations Kymberlee - our very own Reno Managing Director)

Networking -Yuck! Most networking events are about as fun as going to the dentist or watching a really boring movie. I’m sure that most of you will agree with this statement. That is, except those of us who are members of an amazing, gives you goose bumps and a lighter than air feeling, organization called eWomen Network.

The eWomen national conference was just recently held in Dallas from July 10 - 13th and there are not even the proper words in the English language to describe this event. The only phrase I can come up with is that this was an out-of-this-world experience. Not to mention the blast we all had at the Nordstrom’s VIP event and the Chocolate Decadence dance party. I do have to preface this with adding that it is my belief that unless you attended this event with the right thoughts and feelings in your mind and heart and set your intentions before going you most likely did not experience the same euphoria as I and most attendees. Another way I have taken to describing this is that if you could bottle what was in the air and sell it you would make billions!

I made the most amazing connection at this event and I know that others experienced this as well. The connection I made does not even have to do with my main business endeavors through Corner Your Market Reno. Those endeavors are authoring the Blogging for More Business book and teaching/assisting business owners the power of and how to market their business online with email marketing, blogs and social media/online networking. My connection was a step forward with the company I am getting off the ground with my daughter, Lillian. The company is Pink Elephant Books, named by Lillian, and you can expect some great growth with Pink Elephant Books as 2008 comes to a close and we begin 2009.

eWomen Network is not your typical networking organization. Don’t expect to attend these events, have 50 - 70 people giving you their card (unasked for) and telling you what they can do for you or sell you and why you should buy from them. How many of us keep those cards? (Oh, except to add them to our email newsletter!) eWomen is about building relationships, trusting one another and supporting one another. The eWomen motto is “What can I do to help you?”.

Now, it does take a commitment of time and energy. You can’t expect to go to one or two of these events and build relationships that are going to increase your sales by 50%. I have been a member for 1 year now and have not missed one eWomen event to date. The benefit is that I have developed some very sound and trustworthy relationships with many of these women. I have established strategic partnerships with some of them as well.

It’s not only about increasing sales for me. I just finished teaching the Build a Blog Workshop through University of Nevada’s Business Development Center. Halfway through the workshop I needed and wanted some emotional support (that self talk kind of beats you up sometimes - you know what I mean?). I did something I have never done before. I reached out to a few of the eWomen members I have connected with and asked for words of wisdom and guidance. The response I got brought me to tears (good ones!) and helped me put the foundation back under my feet to continue on with my endeavor full of confidence and knowing that just taking on the task of teaching this “never been done before” class was a success.

So, what’s the networking secret? Find your local eWomen organization and attend some of their events to experience this unbelievable group of women and learn the secret for yourself! It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it can be and has been life changing for some of us!

(I’ll add pictures from the conference as soon as I get them!)

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(©Artwork by Lillian - All Rights Reserved)

S is for Smiley Faces

It would not have occurred to me to write about this, but a friend told me I should.

As commercial illustrator I have hired sales representatives, but in the end have always come back to working directly with my clients. The more people who get involved in hearing, then passing on messages, the greater the likelihood of a misunderstanding, no matter how well-meaning they are. People interpret and condense. They mishear. They don’t write things down. Much of communication happens subtly, between the words, with gestures, inflection and tone of voice. You have to have all of your senses open to really hear someone. It’s great that so much business can happen through overnight-mail and the internet, but those limit the nuances of communication.

So, add a language barrier to the mix and see what happens.

I’ve developed a product which is being manufactured in China. Working with people overseas is an issue many of us have to confront, on personal and business levels. I’m talking today purely about communication.

There are a whopping three components to my product. One gets printed and cut out, then gets assembled with the other two. I made a prototype exactly as I wanted it to work and look. Then it got complicated.

The first batch from the manufacturer came in too small. The second was trimmed outside the bleed area of the art and I had to hand trim thousands of pieces. The next batch came back with knots tied too loosely, so I had to hand tie (four knots for each item). Each batch seemed to come with a different kind of strap material. Working on these for hours gave me a lot of time to think about how to communicate more effectively with my manufacturer. My production contact speaks English. He’s from Atlanta, so it’s a different kind of English, but it’s technically the same language. He deals with the manufacturer. But, each area of expertise comes with a unique vocabulary. Engineers and artists can refer to the same thing by very different names because they are looking at it from different conceptual angles. So, how could I expect my English-speaking connection to express what I couldn’t make totally clear to him? Bleed? Doesn’t that involve band-aids?

I scanned things and sent photos. I drew arrows. I sent back samples. But, I was never sure how my words or symbols would be comprehended. How could I explain that the cords, all of which seemed to be made of the same material and the same weaving configuration, were actually different? I’m not sure I could do that in English.

This is where the smiley faces finally come in. I made a manual. I glued down samples of a poorly-trimmed piece and put a frowny face next to it. I also glued down a perfectly-trimmed piece and it got the smiley face. I glued one-each of the several cords they’d used, but only the one I liked got the smiley face. Loose and open knots…frowny. Tight knots…smiley. I tried to make it fun and hoped it wasn’t insulting. We’re all trying, here. The good news is that it worked. I’ve had only smiley batches since then, which gives me a smiley face.

What it comes down to is: you have to work at communication from every possible angle. It’s like a puzzle. Be aware that others may simply have a different way of thinking from yours. Give yourself opportunities for varied types of encounters and, if possible, meet or speak with anyone you’re working with at least once. And put on a happy face. Actively trying to help make communication better and keeping a positive attitude will bring out the best in everyone.

Barb Hranilovich is a guest writer for StartUp Ladies. She is writing an alphabet series of articles pertaining to women entrepreneurs and business owners. Make sure to read her articles on the letter D, letter P, letter R, letter M, letter B, letter V , letter F, letter H and letter Y also.

Overcoming the Obstacles - Chromosome 18 Registry & Research Society

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