Ahhh… entrepreneurship.  There is nothing like running your own company and enjoying the carefree life that comes from setting your own schedule, focusing on only the projects you love and leisurely working on your laptop while sipping iced tea on the beach.  That’s the movie version of it, at least.

Realistically, your days are more often filled with simultaneously answering the phone, responding to e-mail and text messages while marketing your products, designing web pages and getting that e-book finished before your next teleseminar. Oh, right; add in preparing for and running a teleseminar too.

The reality of entrepreneurship is that while, yes, you do get to focus on your passion and spend time doing the things you love and are really good at, there is also a lot of business to be done, and since it’s your baby, you are the one who has to handle all of that too.

Marketing, computer technical support, website design and administration, scheduling appointments, e-mailing clients, writing newsletters, Tweeting… it’s all up to you. As your business, and list of responsibilities, grow there will come a time when you need help. One option is to hire a virtual
assistant (VA).

DO YOU NEED A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
It’s important to understand that not every entrepreneur should hire a VA. Although many people can benefit from delegating tasks, if you aren’t ready to hand over responsibility or don’t understand the function and capabilities of a VA, taking on an assistant will just add to your already overloaded schedule.

WHAT IS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?
The first step in knowing whether you’re ready to hire a VA is to understand exactly what they do. A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who specializes in administrative, technical or creative support, works from a home office and communicates with clients primarily via e-mail or phone. Unlike hiring a full-time (or even part-time) employee, there is no overhead to pay in insurance, employment tax or other benefits. Another advantage is that VAs charge only for time-ontask — you’re not paying someone to warm a desk chair while waiting for an assignment.

YOU PROBABLY ARE READY TO HIRE A VA IF YOU:

• Have a clearly defined vision for your business.
• Have tasks that need to be done on a regular basis, but don’t want a full-time employee.
• Know the value you provide to your clients, tribe or fan base.
• Are comfortable with the idea of delegating and letting go.
• Can clearly communicate what you want to accomplish.
• Must get things done for which you have no technical knowledge.

One of the best things about working with a VA is that you don’t need to know how to do the things you want to accomplish, just that you want to get them done. Many people think that they have to be in a certain place in their business — financially or otherwise — but that’s not the case. You don’t have to be making a certain amount of money to delegate, and you don’t need to have everything all thought out and organized. A vision will do. From there, a good VA can help you get everything in place, so you can finally focus on your gifts and talents.

WHAT TO DELEGATE TO A VA
Here is a short list of ways a VA can lighten your load.
You can delegate to them:

• Tasks not in your area of expertise
• Things that someone else can do faster, cheaper or better
• Activities that can help you generate revenue
• Jobs that take up the most time (and aren’t in the area of your gifts or purpose)

Now, this may sound severe, but the best advice for selecting a VA is: Hire slow; fire fast. Take your time during the hiring process to make sure your VA is right for the job. If you begin a project with someone and realize it’s not going to work, don’t waste time. In the long run, if you and your VA aren’t the right fit, it’s better for both of you to end things quickly rather than dragging it out. Remember:  The point of hiring a VA is to find someone who can take duties away from you, not test your project management skills. After all, you’ve got enough on your plate as it is.

BY LAURIE CANTUS

This is the time of year when people tend to start beating themselves up about not achieving their resolutions — or as I prefer to call them — goals. A more gentle and productive approach to reviewing your progress, or lack thereof, is to practice self-care.

Most of you probably already have your own New Year’s resolutions list. And I’ll wager it contains at least one item related to getting organized. Most “top 10” resolutions lists do. Perhaps that’s because the key to achieving almost everything that lands on any resolution list — whether it’s getting a new job, balancing finances, spending more time with family and friends and more — is organization.

ORGANIZATIONAL POWER IN SMALL STEPS
It’s time to pull those goals back out and break them down into manageable steps. Review your list, figure out one item that shows up year after year. Write it down and then turn that goal into 10 actionable line items. When you focus on the small things that you can do moment by moment, the process is more obtainable — and graceful.

All of our aspirations, from fit muscles to organized finances, can become real when we repackage our big dreams into small tasks. My own example: I’ve turned my big fitness goal into small steps. Each year, my top 10 list has included exercise, but just the thought of exercising seemed so overwhelming to me. When I started practicing “love yourself and what you do,” I decided to go easy on myself and break it down into much smaller tasks. I brainstormed all of the steps it would take for me to start exercising. A few concepts crystallized for me:

• Getting in shape didn’t involve a gym membership or investing in a treadmill.
• I wanted an outfit that looked good on me so out went the old giveaway T-shirt.
• I needed an easy and convenient way to stay engaged while exercising. Music and a treat when I got home were important to me.

By brainstorming and identifying actionable steps, you can start toward achieving your goals. Put on that cute new outfit and wear it around the house. Pretty soon, you’ll be walking around the block and then the next thing you know, you’ll be thinking like an athlete and make more deliberate steps toward your goal.

By visualizing what you want and taking small, graceful steps, you will progress in a way that is very supportive and loving of you.

Here are some tips for making progress and your goals work for you:

OWN IT: Make sure your goals are in line with who you are. Make sure it’s your goal and not someone else’s. Remember: Love yourself and what you do.

NAME IT: Begin by naming your targets and breaking those goals into smaller milestones. But don’t stop there: Divide and conquer repeatedly. Break each milestone into smaller and smaller steps until you have a practical map. For example, if you’re trying to organize your finances, don’t try to do it all in a single marathon session. Reframe your goals. Rather than saying, “I’m going to get out of debt,” make sure your foundation is in place. Restate your goal as, “I’m going to start with running my credit reports” or “I will balance my checkbook this month.”

FOCUS IT: Work to your strengths for success. Delegate what you don’t love; look for comfort. If your action plan requires uncomfortable stretches of time, attention or tasks, you could be setting yourself up for failure. Although your personal assistant can’t exercise for you, she can load your up-tempo walking music onto your iPod, put healthy meals in your fridge, research bookkeepers for your financial project … all the little building blocks you need to reach your goals.

Anthony Robbins, an adviser to leaders, reminds us that, “Success comes from taking the initiative and following up, persisting and eloquently expressing the depth of your love.” What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?

BY STANDOLYN ROBERTSON

Linda Tong wanted to do something special for her boyfriend, Vu. A lifelong fan of the art of letter-writing, she had an idea of writing him one letter for each day of the month, as a way to express how special he was. And yet, possessing an innate understanding of the male psyche, Linda knew that 31 days of letters might not achieve the desired eff ect. It was then that her light bulb idea hit. Why not write 31 little notes and package them together in an artful and creative way to present as one gift?  These individual messages enclosed in beautiful decorative envelopes would be read one-by-one, each bestowing the reader with a smile, a warm thought or an uplifting message.

A couple of years later, Linda and Vu, now married, decided to turn her idea into a business, sharing with the world a way to spread joy and positivity, one little note at a time. KindNotes was created based upon Linda’s values and commitment to off er the world a product that provides kindness, inspires others and helps people stay connected while bringing back the sentiment of an old-fashioned letter.

Starting a new business at age 26, Linda found herself suddenly a solo-preneur. Her husband, a computer engineer, helped when he could, but it was Linda who took on the many roles involved in launching and running a new business, from web design and shopping cart setup to customer service and marketing. Her background in communications and public relations provided a good foundation for the daily running of the business, while financial backing was obtained in the form of a new credit card.
“I learned quickly to be organized and manage my business to make sure that money-in matched moneyout,” Linda said. “It was a challenge. I had to learn everything as I went, especially about balancing time, money and energy.”

When Linda needed advice, knowledge or research for her business, she turned to the Internet as her guide, her mentor and her coach. “On my own, my resources were limited and I was able to find most of what I needed online,” she said. Turning to websites dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, business writers, blogs and online forums, Linda was able to glean what she needed, when she needed it.

The Tong family, Preston, Linda and Vu, center. Vu with a shipment of KindNotes

“I was able to find buyers online and connect with them through e-mail and letters,” Linda said. “I am currently using the Internet as I build a team of independent sales reps to help me spread my product even further.”

Linda has created in KindNotes the perfect venue for sharing her passion and encouraging others to express themselves through words and the disappearing art of letter writing. “Words are so powerful and through our products we show our gratitude and help others to express their gratitude also,” she said.

Linda has defined success on her terms, making sure she takes time away from business to spend with Vu; their toddler son, Preston, and the rest of their family and friends.

“Family is very important for me,” Linda said. “I make sure that I turn my computer off and walk away in order to focus on my family and what is important to me outside of work. To be able to do this is very valuable and important for me.”

KindNotes has expanded from its beginnings as an online-only presence to retail outlets throughout the country. The KindNotes product line has grown from a mixed set of messages of love, inspiration, friendship and gratitude to a whole series of KindNotes packages, with themes ranging from birthdays to children to getwell- soon.

“What’s important about the product is that it is bringing back the lost art of letter writing,” Linda said. In fact, KindNotes are also available with blank cards in envelopes, encouraging gift-givers to use their own words in their own hand to more powerfully convey their message.

“It’s rewarding to know that people out there are beginning each day with a smile as they open a KindNotes envelope to read what’s inside,” she said.

BY DAWM MENA

Sometimes when an idea is conceived, it takes a little work and a lot of finesse before it’s ready for the world — or the world is ready for it. This describes the journey of KIND, a brand launched in 2003 by Daniel Lubetzky, a social entrepreneur whom TIME Magazine recognized in 2009 among “25 Responsibility Pioneers” and Businessweek named among “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.”

In 1994, Daniel founded PeaceWorks Foods©, a company with a mission to foster economic cooperation among neighbors striving to coexist in regions of conflict worldwide. PeaceWorks launched several award-winning healthy food products, but Daniel was still searching for that elusive snack that was wholesome and convenient, tasty and healthy at the same time.

Nine years later, after many years of work, Daniel launched the KIND brand of economically sustainable snacks with a purpose. The all-natural whole-nut and fruit bars made without the typical five-syllable chemicals and preservatives we too often see, are the face of a movement promoting holistic kindness — kind to the body, to the taste buds and to the world.

“WE ARE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE to be OK with being kind with one another, not question the ulterior motives of the other person,” said Daniel. Concerned that fewer and fewer people practice true kindness, he wants people to think of kindness as not just a product but a way of life.

To that end, his team developed KIND cards — small cards explaining the movement that people can pass on anonymously as they perform acts of kindness. “The way we hope for this to work is in sort of a ‘pay-itforward’ way,” Daniel said.

“For instance, if you pay the toll fee for a car behind you, you would leave it with the toll booth and ask them to give the people in the car the KIND card. Later that night, that person in the car might send a glass of wine to a young couple in a restaurant anonymously, asking the waiter to just give them the KIND card.”

“TRYING TO MAKE MONEY I SNOT ENOUGH to give me meaning [as an entrepreneur]; it has to connect to trying to make it a better world,” Daniel said. “That may not be for everybody. But if you are trying to work in that path, you have to be sincere. Consumers can tell when you are just trying to sell corporate responsibility as a gimmick.”

“KIND and PeaceWorks are examples of a business model I’ve been able to set up where financial interests and social interests align. They are not in tension with one another.”

While KIND promotes a message and a movement, Daniel hasn’t forgotten that there still needs to be a quality product inside the packaging. No matter how great the cause, he says, the consumer still wants a product that fulfills a desire for value and quality and stands on its own merit.

“People want something that they feel good about; but when it comes down to it, they want something that fits their lifestyle also,” Daniel said. “The social mission is an important part of the product, but no less important is the quality, the price and the features of the product. If people never hear about the social side of it, they should still choose the products for the taste, their value and their quality.”

A TRUE PIONEER AMONG SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS and a devoted father and husband, Daniel has lately channeled his passion with the success of PeaceWorks and KIND to start the KIND Movement, an open and online platform that maps, tracks and inspires acts of kindness. The KIND Movement promotes unexpected acts of kindness throughout its movement, rewarding and acknowledging the power of both purposeful and
unexpected acts of kindness.

PARTICIPANTS IN THE KIND MOVEMENT go online to sign up and receive KIND cards. They then choose a charity or cause they want to support and log in acts of kindness they perform or “kindings” that are done to them. Those charities or causes that inspire the greatest number of kind acts are rewarded with funds to support their endeavors.

“I don’t think or pretend that through the work that I do that will solve the world’s problems,” Daniel said. “But by doing these things a little bit at the time, anyone can change the world a little piece at a time and that’s the message that I want to share.”

BY DAWN MENA

What can you possibly write about the topic of “love” that hasn’t already been written? Did you know that the bestselling genre of writing is the romance novel? It is a multibillion-dollar industry. Movie and theater plots are often centered on the theme of love: young love, old love, unrequited love, love lost, love found, love reunited.  The blockbuster movie “Titanic,” one of the highest-grossing money films of all time, was a modern day twist on the love story “Romeo and Juliet” — forbidden love gone awry.

Our obsession with love, if you will, begs the question: “Why do we love ‘love’ so much?”  The answer is really quite simple. Love is and always will be a universal need and desire for every person on this planet. We are all in search of love because it possesses a timeless universal quality that gives meaning to our lives. Without love in our lives, we have, quite simply, nothing — absolutely nothing. Unlike the search for the Holy Grail, love is not elusive. It surrounds everything and everyone around us; we just need to be open to receiving it.

THE DESIRE FOR LOVE speaks to us from our very soul. We have been given the capacity to search and experience love in many ways, perhaps because there are so many ways to experience it.  There is the love of a parent, the love of a child, the love of a friend and intimate love, to name only a few. We can experience love with all our five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It is my fervent, personal belief that this is why we have been given these senses.

WE CAN WITNESS THE LOVE of others and the love we feel for others through our eyes. We can see love as we watch the sunset on the ocean.  e words “I love you” are arguably the three most powerful words one can say to another person. We know when we have been touched by love in both our body and soul. It leaves us with a fast-beating heart and racing pulse. Once we have been touched by love we feel so alive.

For all the ways we can seek and gain life’s meaning, the ability to love is most readily found in our relationships. Carl Jung wrote: “ The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”  This transformation, I believe, is a wonderful manifestation of the love that is created when relationships are forged. We have all felt this. We have a connection with someone and we are never the same again.

Sigmund Freud was often asked the question, “What is the purpose of life”? To paraphrase his response: “to work and to love.”  This answer has been grossly misinterpreted. When Freud said the purpose of life is to work, he was referring to living productively by making a positive contribution to society. Freud was not equating work with money. He merely used the concept of work as an analogy for contributing to society. When Freud spoke about love in answer to the question it had nothing to do with sexual activity. Again, Freud used the word love to represent his belief that life was all about relationships and connecting with each other. In this regard, Freud hit the nail right on the head.

LOVE CAN ONLY BE MANIFESTED if we are willing to make ourselves vulnerable to others. We need to be willing to take a chance and reveal our true vulnerable selves by sharing our feelings, thoughts and experiences with others who will accept us for who we are — not who we think we should be.  Therefore, the experience of finding love with others must begin where all connections begin — with ourselves. Give yourself permission to be just who you are and lovingly embrace this person. Allow yourself to be free to be yourself and then share this freed self with the world.  en you will find love because love will radiate from you. Whatever we put out into the universe always comes back to us. Love yourself and love will come to you and you will have found purpose and meaning to your life. It is really that simple.

BY DR. PATTY ANN TUBLIN

How does your brand give gratitude? I would like for you to stop, take a breath and think about how gratitude is manifested in your business. Showing gratitude in the context of your service or products can become the special spice for success that brings joy to you and appreciation from your customers and clients.

Have you ever been struck by the impulse to just give? Now is the time, then, to heed that call and incorporate this impulse into your business. Work on including giving as a foundational element of your business model. After all, giving is a form of gratitude. Exercise your gratitude muscles by keeping service in mind as you develop and off er products and services, and you will gain strength in your business and your joy.

Whether you are self-employed, a corporate professional or a creative entrepreneur, you must remain true to what you love and are passionate about by using and expressing gratitude in your marketing, your message and your service.  e language and actions of gratitude will support your business in a sure-fi re way by attracting like-minded clients and partners your way.

I practice gratitude and invest my positive energy into thinking of a grateful viewpoint for every situation. When I encounter people who use gratitude in their marketing language or as they express their brand, my eyes and ears perk up and take notice.  ere are many brands out there today providing similar services. By incorporating giving as a foundational element of your business, you may very well have found the key to setting yourself apart from the rest.

A great example of this is TOMS Shoes. Sure, there are unlimited options when you decide to buy a new pair of shoes, but when you want to give back through your purchase what company comes to mind? TOMS Shoes does — because they donate a pair of shoes to those in need for every pair purchased.

We have so much support from technology when it comes to sharing our marketing with the world. Because of this, the transparency of our actions in relation to our words is revealed in real time. So be the brand you wish to show the world. Do this by being, doing and giving authentically at all times.

HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN GIVE GRATITUDE:

1. Share with your favorite customers the gratitude you have for them.
2. Send a handwritten note saying thanks for something that moved you, that you appreciate or that got you thinking.
3. Be abundant and authentic in your compliments that are from the heart and true for you.
4. Look for the positive in people and situations, and express your gratitude.
5. Build a giving element into your business that resonates with you and is cohesive with your brand, message and intentions.
6. Be a vessel for change. No matter how small the act of gratitude, it is guaranteed to spread joy and love.

BY STAR LADIN

One of the most beautiful things in life is freedom of choice. We have the opportunity to choose what we believe, what we do and how we do it. We choose where we live and what we really want to do with our lives. It is a great blessing that we have this freedom — and a tragedy to see many people not exercising their freedom of choice.

Business success is also a choice. Anyone who has started a business or followed her heart and entrepreneurial dreams knows there is work involved. It takes a clear vision, strategic planning, marketing and more to be successful.

Beyond all this, the most important element to true success is love.  There are so many things to love about being an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur makes her own rules and knows it’s OK to embrace her femininity and infuse it into her work. By understanding that we don’t have to separate our life from our work, we can live our purpose and share our gifts with the world to help more people.

TO TRULY CHOOSE SUCCESS, you must be in tune with what brings you joy. Although good business sense is a must for entrepreneurs, success requires even more — heart and love. Beyond and even before that it takes gratitude and an open mind.

Living with the spirit of gratitude for all our experiences, good and bad, and absorbing the lessons from our experiences are the foundation for success in business and life.

Gratitude allows you to appreciate what is, so that you can attract more of what you want. When you embrace what is, you honor the natural order of things and this allows more abundance into your life. It’s much like the age-old pendulum of the optimist and pessimist. If your glass is half full you’re likely to attract more. If your glass is half empty you’ll probably attract less.

Equally as important, keeping your mind open to possibilities will greatly improve your chances of personal success and growth. When you throw love into this potent mix, combined with the power of gratitude and an open mind, anything is possible.

AN OPEN MIND is your window into what is beyond your perceptions. Knowing we’re not always right and that there is another, sometimes better, way to approach situations and achieve goals allows us to be open to all possibilities.  e infi nite beauty of gratitude and open-mindedness segues nicely into love.

LOVE IS THE PASSION, INTEGRITY AND DRIVE it takes to make decisions from the heart, decisions that move your business forward, cement the relationships you build with communication and give you a consistent inner compass to guide your success. Better yet, acting and serving in love will get you noticed for being real and uniquely you.

CONSISTENCY IS IMPORTANT because it creates staying power. When you create a strong brand and platform, and continue to be true to that, you’ll gain trust as well as brand recognition and people will know you are serious about your business.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY because it builds relationships. Relationships are essential to business success because without them you don’t have customers. It’s important to communicate with clients and potential customers to let them know how you can serve them.

However, I’ve discovered that consistency and communication alone cannot sustain business success. Successful businesses move beyond consistency and communication to incorporate gratitude, openmindedness and love in all facets. It may seem foreign or inappropriate to do business with love, but I’ve found it’s the vital ingredient to the most successful businesses that really are making a diff erence. It also tends to be second-nature for female entrepreneurs — and that’s why it’s becoming more and more prevalent. When you love what you do, your life improves in all areas and your opportunities will grow.

By incorporating gratitude, an open mind, love, consistency and communication into your life and your business you will be well on your way to success on your own terms.

BY LISA MANYON

For centuries, the only respectable work women were allowed to do was largely limited to teaching, nursing, factory work, sales or serving as a nanny. Over the past century women’s opportunities have expanded to include a variety of diverse occupations. But it’s only in the past few decades that the idea of the entrepreneurial woman has taken root, and along with it the concept that work can provide both money and meaning.

So if it’s possible to do what you love and make a great income, then why aren’t more women happy and successful? What stops them from following their heart and enjoying a healthy bank account? Here are three tips to help you create this magical combination for yourself, no matter what your early “imprinting” about work, love and money was.

Tip #1: Surround Yourself With Positive Proof
Seek out positive role models, people who are passionate about their work and know how to create a great living doing what they love. For example, you can read articles, attend inspiring workshops and conferences or listen to motivational leaders. The people you spend time with are the ones you end up listening to and modeling yourself after, so be sure to choose people who are taking positive action and who are challenging themselves to integrate their passion with exciting opportunities that combine love, work and money. This way, you’re likely to end up following their footsteps on the path of success, money and meaning.

Tip #2: Be Flexible
Sometimes doing what you love looks different than what you originally intended. For example, one woman entrepreneur transformed her childhood experience helping her parents run a busy deli and her background in catering into a successful, six-figure event-planning business. Another used her love for fashion and design to create a successful personal color and style consulting business.

It’s rare that the path to success is a direct one. Rather than thinking there is only one job or business that will best integrate your skills and passion, the key to finding the perfect career fit is to explore a variety of opportunities. Think of your career path as more of a winding road than a straight highway.

Tip #3: Insight From Those Who Know You Best
Often, the secret to discovering that mystical combination of passion and profit is so close to us we can’t see it. Fortunately, you can typically rely on the people who know you best to help you see the obvious. Think about what people often compliment you on. What qualities or skills are you frequently acknowledged for contributing to a project or a situation? For example, one entrepreneur had a knack for being the “peacekeeper” even during difficult situations. Over her career path she held jobs first as a manager, specializing in management by consensus, then as a broker who negotiated raising funds for people in need. At one point she even considered becoming an arbitrator. Finally, she discovered the field of business coaching, which perfectly combined all of her skills, experience and heartfelt desire to help others achieve what they want.

No matter what messages you received about work, love and money when you were growing up, you have the power to transform your life — and your livelihood — into the perfect combination of doing what you love and making a great income. Then, when someone asks you if you work for love or money, you can authentically answer, “Both!”

By Kendall Summerhawk

Taking a leap of faith is something most entrepreneurs are familiar with as they grow their business. Gina Alexander did just that after she was let go from a major retail company in the midst of adopting a baby. Her reaction, and the personal strength she was able to draw upon during this trying time, lifted her to heights she couldn’t have imagined. Her business, featuring unique photo handbags and accessories, has allowed her to enjoy life with her family while also finding success on her terms.

STAR LADIN: Can you tell us about how you started your handbag business and what your inspiration was?

GINA ALEXANDER: We started our company 10 years ago. I’ve been working in the fashion industry out of high school. I feel like I’ve assisted every president in the fashion industry. I finally landed in accessories working at a large company. I was let go, absolutely devastated, and I thought to myself, “I can do this.” So I told my husband that I wanted to open a store on Hollywood and Highland, right next to the Kodak Theatre. He looked at me like I was crazy and asked “Where are you going to get the money to do this?”A good friend loaned me $10,000 and I started the business. A year later we were doing well enough, financially, to be able to finalize the adoption of our daughter.

Gina Alexander and her fans show off their handbags, far left. Gina, left, has gained a following among celebrities such as actress Emily Proctor, below.

The idea of putting photos on a handbag started out as a joke. I had a funny picture of my friends and me, plastered it on a handbag and put it up in our store. Many people were asking how I was able to do that. Some of the celebrities that would come by would tell me they wanted their pet’s or baby’s pictures on it. Elizabeth Taylor came by, wanted a picture of her dog on a handbag, and the rest is history!

SL: It’s amazing you went from being let go and wondering what you were going to do to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Have you always had an entrepreneurial spirit about yourself?

GA: My father was an entrepreneur, owning hotels and restaurants, so I grew up around that. He had an aspiration to never work for someone else, which he taught me growing up. I’ve incorporated the skills I learned from my father and the skills I learned working in the fashion business into my business model. There are so many more women entrepreneurs now who want to be the queen of their own domain and I found that to be exactly where I was.

Singer Ashanti, with her Gina Alexander bag. Gina right.

SL: While working for presidents in the fashion industry, did you ever have someone who became like a mentor to you?

GA: Absolutely.  ey were all mentors without me knowing that they were my mentors. Trust was a major influence in the learning process with these presidents. I also had the attitude that I could do anything to help them, and they taught me how to run their business. I learned as I went; I got to sit in on meetings, and I was connected to all of their key people.

SL: It’s fascinating because it sounds like you had done well prior to opening your business, and had been set up perfectly to make the transition, but you also had to take a huge leap of faith. Tell us about your mindset when you were going through all of this and explain how it helped propel you.

GA: My passion and drive to doing it all stemmed from me wanting to be a mom. I wanted to have a baby; I couldn’t get pregnant, and adoption costs money.  at was the biggest drive I had. When you are desperate, you will do anything; but it’s a matter of doing the right thing.

We had to be interviewed to be in the location we were opening at. It was almost like a casting call. Everyone who was there interviewing had a product to show. I had a piece of paper with a sketch on it: a handbag with a photo on it.  ey thought my drawing was unique and sent me a package that said, “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted.”

Gina, Richard and their eldest daughter, Katie, with Makena on her adoption day. Below, singer Gladys Knight shows off her Gina Alexander bag.

I had a lot of opposition from people in my life who did not want me to move forward with this business. For me, when I get a lot of opposition, I know what I am doing is right. In life there are 98 percent of people who will follow the crowd, and then you have that other 2 percent who will take a risk. I’m in the 2 percent. I feel like you have to be there as an owner of a business. You are going to have so many challenges. You have to have drive, be competitive, have an edge and be aggressive; otherwise someone else will come along and step over you.

SL: I absolutely agree with you about the 2 percent. I see that being a mom-preneur has brought clarity to having success on your terms. You defined what success looked like to you and then created it. What does success look like to you?

GA: Success to me is having money coming in; success is also gaining the skills I need by learning from my mentors. I’ve learned that the best thing that I can invest in is my skills. By investing in my skills I am able to bring in the revenue that I want to achieve.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to connect with women who have infertility issues. Not being able to have children was a very rough experience to have to go through and I really tried, successfully, to turn it in to a positive. I’ve had women come up to me after a speaking event telling me how deeply I’ve affected them.  is ties back to what success looks like to me. The money is nice, but to touch someone’s life is true success to me.

SL: As a mother and entrepreneur running a business, how do you balance it all? How do you fuel yourself?

GA: I love to travel and go to the spa, but I’m realizing I really need to make more time for me. I also spend a lot of time with my girls, going to Disneyland, enjoying the beach. Spending time with my family is one of the most important things to me.

BY ALLYSON BECKERLE

You’re sitting in a room full of people, relaxing, listening to a comedic story of how one person has manifested gratitude in their life. Then a colorful show starts; there are drummers, singers, angel healers and a children’s choir. Four hours later, you are reeling from this experience — unlike anything you’ve felt before. What just happened? A Gratitude Festival. Jo Englesson, founder of The Gratitude Festival and Tokens of Appreciation (TOFA), is on a mission to provide this experience for all of us.

Jo’s personal journey began as many do, at that enlightened moment of overcoming a problem. At the end of a difficult divorce, Jo began attending personal development workshops. These workshops made a huge impression on her. They helped her realize that she wanted to be doing more with her life, and doing something that she was passionate about. They gave Jo the tools to accept her authentic self.

THE CREATION OF A TANGIBLE OBJECT TO SAY “THANKS”
Later, in 2007, Jo was traveling to Sweden, her hometown. In the hustle and chaos that travel often brings, Jo wasn’t paying attention while walking through the airport and literally ran into an older gentleman, about 80. Jo feared that this man was going to be angry with her for not watching where she was going. Instead, the man turned to her and said, “No worries” and gave her a hug. His sincerity and understanding caught Jo’s attention, causing her to reflect on it for the next several hours.

Jo sat in her seat on the plane and couldn’t stop thinking about the man she ran into and the kindness he had showed her. She felt that saying “thank you” wasn’t enough; she wanted to show her thanks in a way other than verbal. “I was thinking to myself, what if we had a tangible object that we could thank people with, to have that extra moment, that extra connection?” It was in this moment that the concept of TOFA was born.

For the next year, Jo feverishly produced custom tokens on which was stamped, “Thank you for making a difference in my day.” While producing these, Jo came up with the idea of tracking gratitude. What if you could track the coins so that you could actually see the gratitude being spread throughout our world? Her vision caught on quickly, and there are currently nearly 5,000 coins in circulation worldwide. Whom did the first coin go to? The gentleman in the airport.

THE GIVING YEAR
Seeing the joy the token brought to this man, Jo vowed to give away one token a day for an entire year. This commitment wasn’t an easy one. “Believe me, some days I didn’t even want to get up in the morning, much less go and hand someone a token for making a difference in my day. That was the point; the commitment was larger than my racquet.”

At the end of the 365 days, Jo started to recognize the gratitude manifesting in her life. She felt that finally things were working for her. She also realized the value of sticking to a commitment, especially a commitment that had a positive effect on others.

THE RESULTS OF MANIFESTING GRATITUDE
Jo’s life has changed drastically since that day in the airport. With a background in working with computers, Jo started to move her left-brain thinking to her right brain. She brainstormed on ways to become more creative in expressing gratitude and formed The Gratitude Festival. Jo also put on the first gratitude training workshop this past August in Florida. A nine day intensive program, the workshop was designed to help attendees move out of their belief systems that aren’t working. The goal was to establish a clean base on which members could build gratitude.

Another benefit that came from TOFA and The Gratitude Festival for Jo is the courage and ability she gained that allowed her to push through rough times. One struggle Jo endured on her journey to become an entrepreneur was leaving the computer industry, where she had a stable income. She knew that you don’t always start making money immediately, especially when you are out there trying to make a difference in the world. But she remained true to her values and her commitment to what she had started. “I stay up late at night developing websites for people so I can continue paying my rent so TOFA can continue.”

MOVING FORWARD
Jo has accomplished much in a short time and has set even more goals for spreading gratitude. With hope for future gratitude centers and more workshops, Jo will be traveling the United States putting on festivals and workshops in different cities while having local performers join in on the fun.

The gratitude movement Jo has created has produced a stir throughout the world. Jo strives to help people get out of their automatic lives and start being in the state of gratitude. The effects of living a joyful, gracious life are profoundly positive. What change will you make to start living in gratitude?

By Allyson Beckerle