Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle We live in a noisy world; one that is often overwhelming for even the toughest of us. For many introverts, the noise of life and the incessant social situations in which we find ourselves can be mind-numbing and exhausting. I’ve been studying the ‘quieter’ folks of the world for years. I grew up in a family of introverts, married a couple, and am raising an introverted son. I’ve also worked with hundreds of introverted clients who have struggled to stretch into a larger world, to connect with others who could help them attain their next opportunity. So when a former client contacted me to see if I’d be interested in offering a class for people like her – someone who has achieved a lot, but who finds the social demands of her work daunting – I happily said “yes”. All of… Read More
Career
Career – Waking up to What’s Important
Daisy Swan, now a contributor to Find Bliss Magazine! Read her article in the June 2013 issue, here… Believe in yourself to light the spark of excitement “There is no scientific answer for success. You can’t define it. You’ve simply got to live it and do it.” Anita Roddick, Founder, The Body Shop Lately, when I first open my eyes in the morning, I remember what day it is, and do a quick mental scan of what I have planned. Then, as I’m enjoying those final moments with my pillow and quilt, I feel the simultaneous pull of excitement to enter my day. by Daisy Swan Taking that action to step into the day isn’t always easy; it doesn’t always seem so inviting that we leap into it with a burning desire to make something of it. I’ve had mornings when, lacking in energy, I didn’t believe… Read More
Stretching That Creativity Muscle
Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle Angelenos are a creative bunch, on the whole. We tend to be people who are a little daring — hard workers who like to play hard, too. And yet, I hear from clients all the time that they would like to have more creativity in their lives. Many of these people are suffering from an abundance of familiarity. Stretching ourselves to experience something new, creative, and visually beautiful…now that can really expand our being. I recently stretched myself by attending my first glass blowing class at Revolution Glass in El Segundo. I love the medium of glass and have a large collection of glass paperweights, so I was thrilled when I was given this class as a gift. Josh Gelfand, who owns, teaches, and creates at Revolution Glass, offers classes in glass blowing as well as studio time for… Read More
Keeping Up With The World, Personally
Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle With so much buzzing around us all the time, it’s easy to think we can keep on top of the important stuff by staying plugged in to our phone, laptop or device of choice. But sometimes, we need to inject an extra dose of energy and inspiration, via simple human interaction. In L.A. we have traffic, right? So if we’re going to head out of our neighborhood it better be worth it, yes? I’ve come to feel that one of my most favorite, and worthwhile, treks in L.A. is when I get up early and head downtown to the beautiful and inspiring Gensler building, to see and hear a fantastic speaker hosted by Ted Habte-Gabr and Live Talks LA Business Forum. Ted has been producing these speaker events for a while now, and he’s doing a great job of hosting people… Read More
What We Want
Guest Contributor for My L.A. Lifestyle Recent studies show that more than half of all employees are looking forward to leaving their jobs once the economy gets better. But, what would they be leaving for? What would you be leaving for? Overall, what most people want is a way to make meaningful progress in their work. They want to feel like their work matters. Given that we want these changes, and that the better employment picture we’d hoped for may still be limping along for a while longer, what can we do to keep our own happiness, satisfaction and spirit up, in the face of this often WAY frustrating scenario? As a career coach, I see how anxiety is ratcheting up, and how learning various techniques and practices that help with all of this anxiety can truly positively affect my clients. Mindfulness, and the stress-managing principles of this approach,… Read More
Poll Findings Reveal Which Sex Works Harder
On Monday, April 16, during the 11 PM airing of Los Angeles’ CBS 2 News, Daisy appeared in a segment about women and their careers versus men and their careers. If you missed the broadcast, take a look at Daisy’s interview on the subject…you might be surprised at the findings in this feature! Watch Now… Read More
Getting In On the Ground Floor to Grow a Business and Grow New Grad Skills
What a great opportunity to get your hands dirty in an entrepreneurial venture. During this time of change in our economy this is a life changing opportunity.
Ivy League senior Ethan Carlson recently turned down a job with a global-energy consulting practice and instead pledged to spend two years working for an entrepreneur, perhaps with a focus on renewable energy, in a struggling U.S. city.
“I want to make an impact not only on myself, my career and my finances, but also society around me, and my local community,” the 21-year-old mechanical-engineering major at Yale University says.
The project he plans to join, Venture for America, was founded by Andrew Yang, the former chief executive of Manhattan GMAT, a test-preparation company acquired in 2009 by Kaplan, a Washington Post Co.
Venture for America says it was inspired by Teach for America, which places recent college graduates at schools in low-income communities for two years. This summer its first crop of about 50 “fellows” will be placed at small businesses such as Drop the Chalk, an education-software firm in New Orleans, and Andera Inc., an online-account-opening firm in Providence, R.I.
The companies will pay participants $32,000 to $38,000 a year, plus health benefits. The program includes a five-week program at Brown University that mimics training for consulting and investment banking.
Interview with author, Vanessa Van Pettan
Years ago I met a young woman at a networking event and we exchanged phone numbers; she was just starting her new business and was interested in talking about what I was doing in my work, and what she was developing. We became fast friends and exchanged plenty of information about how our businesses were developing on and off line. Her name is Vanessa Van Petten and she has grown her new little business into an amazing online resource of services, teachings and now several books for parents all about what it’s like being a teenager from a teen perspective. I recently spoke to Vanessa when she launched the sale of her new book Do I get My Allowance Before or After I’m Grounded?, about the growth of her business and her experiences publishing three books – one self-published with a self-publishing company, one entirely on her own, and most recently with a big name New York publisher. Have a listen to this candid conversation about growing a business, and the changing challenges and demands of book publishing.
Listen to the audio interview here:
Women For Hire on Fire in LA
On Tuesday morning, I had a great time meeting and conducting a workshop called Living in Transition with Aliveness and Courage at the Women For Hire Expo in Los Angeles. The women I met were so motivated and on top of their game. Paying attention to their strengths, they are leveraging what they’ve got to get out and start their own entrepreneurial ventures, while in the meantime are prepared to meet employers who need sharp and willing people who will get the job done. No whiners in this bunch. I was really impressed with their humor and persistence, two attributes we can all use when the going gets slow. … Read More
What Kind of Optimist Are You?
I always encourage lifelong learning, but now is absolutely the time to stretch out of our comfort zone to embrace the possibilities that this time of change presents. Stepping into change stems from hope….
When you see spontaneous social protests erupting from Tunisia to Tel Aviv to Wall Street, it’s clear that something is happening globally that needs defining. There are two unified theories out there that intrigue me. One says this is the start of “The Great Disruption.” The other says that this is all part of “The Big Shift.” You decide.
Paul Gilding, the Australian environmentalist and author of the book “The Great Disruption,” argues that these demonstrations are a sign that the current growth-obsessed capitalist system is reaching its financial and ecological limits. “I look at the world as an integrated system, so I don’t see these protests, or the debt crisis, or inequality, or the economy, or the climate going weird, in isolation — I see our system in the painful process of breaking down,” which is what he means by the Great Disruption, said Gilding. “Our system of economic growth, of ineffective democracy, of overloading planet earth — our system — is eating itself alive. Occupy Wall Street is like the kid in the fairy story saying what everyone knows but is afraid to say: the emperor has no clothes. The system is broken. Think about the promise of global market capitalism. If we let the system work, if we let the rich get richer, if we let corporations focus on profit, if we let pollution go unpriced and unchecked, then we will all be better off. It may not be equally distributed, but the poor will get less poor, those who work hard will get jobs, those who study hard will get better jobs and we’ll have enough wealth to fix the environment.
