How horrible of me-going blog awol

If anyone would have told me that starting your own business and fashion label was going to be a situation where every minute of your working day was occupied-i would have looked at the funny. I thought when I was a journalist, the memories of which are fading away so quickly, that things were busy. A complete lie. Today, I wake at 6am and will probably work until midnite...Doing what you ask-following up with stores, counting inventory, updating site--my estore opens tomorrow--whoohooo!!!! i also have to prepare shipments to store, do my accounting, etc. Yesterday -bless my husband-he helped me organize boxes of inventory while trying to not have a heart arttack. He's very tidy, being a former Marine and when he saw hundreds of tops on my office floor-he began to turn red and sweat. I had to hide my laughter at his obvious discomfort. but we organized it and now it's on shelves. A triumph of sorts!

So we just got back from Stylemax in chicago where there was plenty of interest in K&P-we got a number of buyers and great leads. Our tradeshow neighbor Juliana says that sometimes all you need is exposure and she's right. Exposure can lead to soo much! It was a week of firsts-our first time to chicago, and our first arrival to a store-Vive La Femme in the windy city! an amazing boutique with so much character and there....we saw our first 2 tops get sold at a trunk show celebrating the arrival of the K&P line there! amazing, amazing feeling!!! we took pictures, we ate, we laughed! we had a great time!

Now prepping is underway for wwin in vegas-our second and last appearance this year. and we wrapped up our spring sample making so we'll have that to show...everything is coming full circle... and I'm going to make time to blog more-it soothes my stressed nerves and helps keep me accountable!

Being the best- ATribute to Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson

It was a sad week. Losing Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson in the same day was heartbreaking. I thought Farrah was a complete beauty and her hair and smile just amazing. Her performance in "The Burning Bed" was jarring. I remember her convincing portrayal-I was just 7 when the movie came out but it made an impression. Michael Jackson changed society, left his mark everywhere. There not a performer alive who doesn't want to captivate or thrill an audience like he did. He was in a league of his own. He was the best and today his passing made me think about pushing ourselves past our limits. Bringing innovation and thrill into all aspects of our lives: New ideas, peak performance, maximizing connections, excellent customer service. Michael dared to be the best. And we should dare to be our own best. Just when we think we can't, we must. Musically, Michael kept himself to an amazing standard and so should we. As entrepreneurs, we should be bringing 100% to each job-related task. Our business is Michael's music. This week I also saw Beyonce in concert. Amazing. I told my husband during the concert, completely inspired by her giving her all to her fans, to never allow me to say I'm tired, say I give up or say I can't. Not that those words are often used in my vocabulary, but when you run your own thing, you can sometimes see things as overwhelming or limited but those are illusions. The only limits there are the ones we put on ourselves-we allow them, they are not forced. The world seems a little different without Farrah or Michael and I feel a new sense of strength to be more daring, faithful in all that I'm doing. they pushed the envelope, they pushed society. Who though a show about 3 female agents would become a pop hit? And Michael from Gary, Indiana and one of 10 kids--becoming the king of Pop was something he strived for. It wasn't given to him. He earned it. Every accolade. Every hit. Is your business at the top of its game? What can you do to move it there? Are you bring 100% to your business day in day out? What are your standards and can they be higher? Are you your own Beyonce? We all need to be. Farrah, Michael, They're were their own bosses doing their own thing. Their standards were amazing. Beyonce-I once read that Beyonce's warmup is running 4 miles.That's how she gets ready for her day-to take on the world. Now I'm not saying run 4 miles tomorrow-but what I am saying is push yourself to be the best. M&F did it and B does it. What's your warmup?

Capitalize on Strengths, Strengthen weaknesses

I have a confession--I never used to jump for joy for a speaking opp...until I owned my own business. It was always comfortable to lay low, have fun and not draw too much attention. But boy are things changing. I am in the process of joining Toastmasters, the international group dedicated to improving one's public speaking skills and boost speaking confidence. My first meeting was last week and I received my first compliment--that I didn't even seem nervous delivering my first impromptu, unrehearsed speech. I knew otherwise though :-) To own a business, you have to get out, to be just as comfortable with a group of 15 than a group of 1. I identified a weakness and am conquering it, with a strength--seeking knowledge and self-improvement. In this climate, you have to maximize your exposure and just not be good enough at something but be great! My business deserves it. To succeed in my business, I owe it to myself to ensure my oral delivery is engaging, dynamic, clear and informative as I communicate to buyers, customers and entrepreneurs alike. What's your weakness? How can you fix it with one of your strengths?

Scream loud and proud-I’m in business! People are listening

Days after arriving from beautiful St. Lucia! It’s insanely gorgeous! I rested. I relaxed. I geared up. Time to play ball.
Blogging from the fashion capital of the world –at least my NY-centric world. Attended a fab workshop this week on the coming color trends – always gotta stay a little ahead of the game and grab knowledge where you can. That’s one aspect of business ownership I love-asking questions, getting information-my past media training helps with that-I ask, ask, ask, soaking up what I can. My husband always says “If you don’t ask, then the answer is automatically no.” Today I saw proof of that-A few years ago, when I left my first media gig to pursue other opps I freelanced for a Capitol Hill newspaper. I loved it, I really got to seek out and develop stories and follow up with any developments! I got to own stories there. I was there a few months before I moved on to another political publication and ultimately to the Capitol itself working for Rep. Charles Rangel of NY. They always remembered my story of forward movement-freelancer to hill staffer and held it up as an inspiration to other interns-I learned that today when I contacted them about possible interest in running something about Kingley&Posh and how a hill staffer is now pursuing her (my) first love of passion. So to make a long story short-they’re running something in an upcoming issue! How great is that? We live in a helpful world. Don’t you on a daily basis feel the urge to help? Others feel it too. Don’t underestimate others' helpfulness. That’s the lesson for today.
Second lesson! Set deadlines and take tiny steps daily to meet them. Working to submit my business plant, took discipline and diligence and pacing myself. The plan itself had plenty of parts and I had to complete everything thoroughly. I working to amp my organization skills and giving organization a higher priority for me. Sometimes I’ve taken pride in accomplishment amid paper chaos but no longer is accomplishment an excuse to forgive not accessing/using organization tools to make life easier. It’s time to organize our lives. Our businesses will thank us!
OK I have an early bus tomorrow heading back to DC and then off to a great weekend where my two baby nieces, Marisol and Aliana get baptized. They’re the female business owners of tomorrow-I can feel it.

I know, I know...

I'm a horrible blooger...but atleast i admit my faults up front...It's not so much that I'm a horrible blogger but I need some help looking time management and balance. As a business owner, I tend to focus ALOT on the business and some other things fall by the waistside but am learning how to better balance my time so that's forward movement right? well one of the reasons I hadn't blogged in a while is...drumroll please....I was working on my business plan, or should i say, finishing it! AAAhhh i see the clouds in the sky parting...:-) but wait there's more...It was also submitted to the bank! yep yep! did you hear that! the bank has it and is reviewing it! how's that for forward movement. Thanks so much to SBA's SCORE, I was able to make it shine, add more elements and make it really strong. If you're thinking of starting your own biz and have made alot of progress in the sense you know what you want to do, have some relative experience in it and know the direction you want to go in, make an appointment to chat! They have a wealth of knowledge and are there to help. They are volunteers who ran their own businesses so they know how best to help you!

What else-wrapped up all my Spring/Summer 2010 designs and I finally did my first magazine shoot here in VA-that was a blast and the spread which might also be featured as the cover story runs next month. Hey if I was away from blogging, atleast I was productive with my time. I'm also going to participate in the first ever Full-figure fashion week in NYC next month! June is going to be a busy time so good thing....I am leaving today with hubby to an undisclosed location to spend the weekend! He won't tell me where we're going but it's going to be nice, secluded and far away!!! Will touch base when i return and I promise to do more blogging!

Score, Sales, and Fabric Oh My!

I seem to have dug myself out of insane busyness that has been the past 2 weeks. Between meeting with SCORE (phenomenal meetings I must say) , adding new stores to my roster (whoohoo) and running around the DC metro area securing fabric for the Spring/Summer 2010 collection (gotta love the rain-our local streams and rivers definitely needed it) I am finally breathing. Let’s recap!
If you’re a new business and you haven’t taken advantage of SCORE-you’re missing a great, FREE resource. SCORE is the SBA’s program that matches you with a mentor in your field to help you with your vision, business plan, accounting, etc. You name it, they can help point you in the right direction. They have a local DC office and offices all over the DMV area. Check them out. I am almost done with my plan. Just need to do my financials.
I am hoping to lock two more stores to carry my fall line-one in Chicago, another in Seattle. With the recession, some stores are hesitant to spend money. Life can’t stop because money’s a little tight. As an entrepreneur I definitely value money but and as a business owner I also understand the philosophy you have to spend money to make money. It’s one foot in front of the other ya know. And we’re all in this together. Businesses help out other businesses. As my mom says, through talking, people understand each other. So talk to your customers and clients-see what’s on their minds and see what they think you can do better.
Did you happen to see a champagne-colored SUV zip madly through the streets yesterday? That was me making the dash for fabrics for my S/S 2010 collection. It’s partly my fault. I was making decisions late in the game as to what colors I wanted and the types of fabric. I got it all so no worries. It required a lot of thought and for my husband and mom, a lot of patience as I made decisions regarding colors sound like life or death. They were incredibly helpful but sometimes we all have to remember: your emergency isn’t everyone else’s.
Mother’s Day Plans? Since my mom’s birthday is also next week, am looking into when I can get away for a few days to NYC…Enjoy your moms and every other special woman in your life.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

Remember that song we learned in grade school? You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey? Well as business owners, we can’t rely on others to be our sunshine. We are our own sunshine. Trust me sometimes I know it’s challenging to maintain not only momentum but motivation (today I thought the kitchen was going to explode and I was running late to a meeting-more on that later) but we have to do whatever it takes to bring 1000% of energy and focus to the business and get into that state. Whether it’s working out first thing (like I did this am-my arms will thank me later), approaching the day with positive energy, and budgeting time and tasks effectively, our days are what we make of them. That’s why we went into business for ourselves right? So we can do what we love and be more in charge.
Sometimes we depend on others to validate ourselves and what we do. That can be dangerous and that is what seems to be happening with the recession. Some people lose their jobs and feel themselves lost regardless of whether they liked what they did. In these cases, our identities are tied to our jobs, not our passions, and when others see fit, jobs and positions are eliminated. Our identities should be tied to what we hold sacred to our values. For me my identity is tied to my own self worth and in turn my marriage, my family, my home and my health, my passions and hobbies and friends are paramount to me. Jobs come and go but health is important. I am just reinforcing this as I continue to monitor my fitness levels ie damn cholesterol in addition to my eating habits. When we get stressed we,[I] should have never been okay with reaching for the quickest, while unhealthy thing to eat (damn Doritos). I am learning to budget my time better and make priorities and my health-it’s number 1. That’s why I am working out daily and limiting the “no” foods per my doc.
And that brings me back to my kitchen almost exploding today. Hubby swore the dish I was making would take 25 minutes. Why, given that I started at 4:15, I was scarfing it down when it was ready at 5:40 when I had to be down at old town @ 6:30 in rush hour for my Ladies who Launch meeting? Food was everywhere and hubby was due to walk in any minute and he couldn’t find a mess and I was going crazy. But it was okay. I made the mess and I had to clean it up and I did, grabbed my purse and jetted! Got there on time and met some awesome leaders. And the best part of it all-dinner was made, kitchen was clean and the business was back on my priority radar and it was me who was the mechanical engineer behind it all. I took charge and made it happen so if you need something done for your business: Do it yourself/ Find out who can do it/ Give yourself a goal for when it should be done/Work consistently at accomplishing the goal.
The highlight of my day, besides the LWL meeting (they rock by the way) I made it to my local newspaper in NYC. Check out the link to the right. Mom just called. She loved the piece, along with my dad and brothers and sister! It’s awesome making their day and knowing that tonite, those closest to me have a smile on their faces because they believe in me! Go forward movement!