rd.com Blog: How to Grow Your Business

Five Ways to Win a Business Competition

Nell Merlino — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:06:00 EDT

Congratulations to the winner of American Express OPEN and NBC Universal’s winner of “Shine A Light,” Sacred Wind Communications. Entrepreneur John Badal helped start Sacred Wind Communications after surveying the Navajo Reservation, where fewer than four homes out of every 10 had access to basic phone service. Sacred Wind Communications is building a state-of-the-art telecommunications network to serve the Navajo people in New Mexico, reaching current customers, and over 6,000 homes without access to telephone service of any kind. The company provides these thousands of people a way to connect to the rest of the world, as well as employment in an area of extremely high unemployment.

As the grand prize winner, John has won $50,000 in grants for his business, and $50,000 worth of marketing from American Express. The two runners-up, HAPPYBABY and Beacon Paint and Hardware, have won $10,000 each from American Express. Thousands of small businesses were nominated for Shine a Light, and I hope they realized that they won valuable marketing support from American Express and NBC Universal too. There are many, many benefits to entering a business competition beyond winning the prize. Count Me In is re-introducing the Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition by opening our applications now for our first event in February 2010. I want to offer you a few hints on how to apply and guarantee you’ll be a winner:

1. Exposure
Competitions are all about excitement, energy and publicity. Almost all business competitions, whether the winners are selected by a panel or the public, offer contestants some kind of visibility through their websites. Don’t pass up an opportunity to get your face and company out there! Shine a Light, for example, created a page for every single business who entered and attracted tens of thousands of people to the competition. Business owners who threw their hat in the ring got lots of new eyeballs on them, plus the implied credibility of being associated with huge names like AmEx and NBC.

2. Network
With the possible exception of some ugly moments on The Apprentice, participants in business competitions are there to boost themselves up, not knock each other down. Being in a pool of other business owners who are ambitiously pursuing growth, and who likely have similar vision and goals, is the ideal place to find partners, clients, vendors, and connections for mutual learning and growth. Being part of a live competition (or being in the audience for one) makes networking even easier. Losing with a lot of friends is better than winning alone.

3. Engagement
Competitions are something everyone can get excited about. Email your customers and colleagues about what you’re doing, and encourage them to get involved by voting for you, attending the competition event, or spreading the news for moral support. Giving your customers a way to get behind you will keep you at the top of their minds and engaged with your brand in the long run.

4. Experience

Most business contest applications have questions in common, and they’re answers you need to have at the ready for other situations – How are you an innovator? What’s your revenue over last year? What help do you need, and how would you use it to reach your goals? Upfront, the application process can look like a lot of work but having these answers ready and written down means you have something already written and ready to improve upon for the next contest, interview, or pitch to a client.

5. Insight

The most valuable part of entering a business contest is the insight you will gain into your business. Many women who enter the M3 Competition have never written down their goals or plans. Some have, but never shown them to someone else. A few had never even thought about growing their businesses to a million dollars in revenue until they started the application. As stated above, if you’ve done the work before, applying for M3 is a snap. If you haven’t, this is work that you must do – and involve other people in - if you want your business to grow. I have heard this confirmed by dozens, of not hundreds, of M3 applicants. Stacey Phetteplace, who was an M3 Competition finalist in 2007 who hit the million-dollar mark a year later, said it best, “I have been looking back over the last year and I realize that the big turning point for me was the application process into your program. The act of sitting down and filling out the application process forced me to consider and outline the steps that were going to be necessary for my business to grow. I truly believe that your program helped me lay down the ground work for where I am today and where I will be in the future.”

Be a winner and apply for a business competition. The application for the Make Mine a Million $ Business Award is open now.

Making More Million $ Businesses

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:21:00 EDT

I have never told you the story of the origins of Make Mine A Million $ Business. It started with a woman named

Beatriz Ramos with an animation business called Dancing Diablo in Brooklyn. She received a micro loan from Count Me In back in 2002 when we were making loans, and at the time she had a bigger business than most applicants: $250,000 in revenue and she employed about ten people. She was new to America from Venezuela. She couldn't get financing to expand as fast as she was getting business; she had won the contract to color in the animation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and needed more computer equipment fast. CMI made the largest loan we had ever made to Beatriz at the time for $25,000. We introduced her to American Express OPEN as well. They extended a line credit to help her keep up with her business growth.

We figured out there were many more women out there like Beatriz…beyond start ups, with a good business who needed help solving problems and keeping up with growth. Make Mine a Million $ Business was our response to women like her. Beatriz was on hand at the National Press Club in DC when then-Senator Clinton kicked off the Make Mine A Million $ Business program in 2006.

We have awarded Make Mine a Million $ Business Awards to over 200 women and will honor even more at our next event in February.

I was with Beatriz again last night - she was filming a conversation between me, Gina Stern, founder of d_parture Spas and Marie Cordon Rodriguez, founder of ByOEarth. The three of them were leaving on a trip for Cleveland to introduce Maria to Jamie Melvin, founder of Sansi Technologies. We had all been together the week before in Washington DC with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Pathways to Prosperity Conference to promote women's business growth in Latin, Central and North America.

Maria company is an organic red worm fertilizer business. She is traveling to Cleveland to meet with Jamie, who is a friend of Gina's who owns one of the largest worm farms in the US. Maria is meeting with Jamie to learn how she can expand her business and help make her family farm more green, efficient and productive and do the same for farms all over Guatemala. Maria is one of four sisters and by developing her worm she hopes to show her father that she will be a great choice to take over and expand the family farm.

Beatriz is filming the journey to Cleveland to show other young women entrepreneurs just how much they can do together to grow there businesses and have a lot of fun doing it. Stay tuned for video of the Maria, Gina, Beatriz road trip and the expansion of Maria's worm business in the coming weeks. Secretary Clinton, thank you for getting us all together to grow bigger, greener businesses.

Believe in you
Nell

Bring It Big!

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:20:00 EDT

Gayla Bentley’s appearance on Shark Tank last night was truly inspiring. She spoke passionately for her own business and for the millions and millions of women who wear clothing larger than a size 12. When the male Sharks suggested that women over size 12 don't care about fashion - Gayla didn't skip a beat - she disabused them of that notion immediately. Women want to look fashionable no matter what their size! For other business owners who are planning to present to potential investors/sharks Gayla did so much right.

Gayla’s pitch was some of the best television I’ve seen in a long time. She dripped personality and confidence, which wasn’t just to seem likeable – Gayla’s brand is hinged on her own sass and style, which she was selling just as much as her products. Most importantly, she knows her numbers backwards and forwards and had quantifiable evidence to answer all of the Shark’s questions. They asked how she could open a flagship in this economy, and she said that she had turned half of her showroom into retail and was up 137%! There was plenty of debate going on in what was the longest, and most revealing, segment of the show, but Gayla never lost her poise and conviction that she knew her business best. Ultimately she got the $225,000 investment she came for, and the support of Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran. I know that we are going to watch Gayla soar over the million-dollar mark very soon.

Every woman in business needs to watch this clip of Gayla and learn how to make a deal like she did.

I loved at the end of the segment Gayla turned around with her crew of plus size models and said “C’mon girls, let's go eat!”

Isisara: Changing the Tape

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:19:00 EDT

It’s probably more like changing the CD or my iPod downloads now, but whatever the medium, the analogy is that I’ve just got to change the conversation in my head. Sometimes I hear a single voice, sometimes a committee, and sometimes it’s a full blown mass choir chanting me into submission. Unfortunately, lately the tune is almost never a good one.

I’d been aware of the voices for awhile. After all, they almost never shut up. I was also aware that I conversed with them from time to time, out loud, but always when I was alone. Or so I thought.

One evening, when my daughter was home from school for the weekend, we had assumed our usual position for the hair-doing ritual. She’d just washed her medusa-like dread locks, and it was now time for me to groom them.

This is a ritual we both relish. We lay out the tools like a surgeon preparing for a major operation: warm water spray bottle, hair cream and oil, small scissors, hair clips, two towels, something to drink and perhaps a light snack. She plants herself between my knees, propped up on a couple of pillows on the carpet with one towel around her shoulders. Then I separate the locks, taking the scissors to snip the ones that have begun to spider web together near the roots. Next, I section the hair and oil her scalp; spritz the locks with warm water, and roll each one between my palms before clamping two at time to her head with a silver hair clip.

It is such a labor of love for me. Her hair is my garden that I have been tending with care and feeding with natural nutrients and affection all her life. Sometimes we watch a movie while I am doing her hair. But because we are still on our low information diet, this time the cable is turned off. So she dozed in the quiet while I teased dreams out of her head.

A day later she heard me murmuring as I was rattling around in the kitchen and asked me what I’d said. I told her I was just talking to myself. She replied that I’d done that while I was grooming her hair, and it sounded like I was having an argument with someone because I was muttering, huffing in exasperation and heatedly cussing.

Oh snap! I had no idea I was doing that out loud. I didn’t even remember what I was fussing about. But it gave me irrefutable notice that my inner dialogue is more a heated argument. What must I be saying to myself?! Probably the snappy comebacks to questions or comments I’d received but had not had the courage or presence of mind to deliver in the moment. Perhaps I was using the replay button on my mental CD to flesh out my retorts to positions and opinions voiced by others. It’s likely I was putting folk in their place that had previously annoyed me. But more probably I was talking to myself with impatience, disdain and condemnation. Ugh.

Besides being embarrassed to have been swearing like a sea witch in front of my daughter (yes, she gave me a literal replication of my discourse, thank you very much!), I was concerned that I was not even aware of it.

Scientists have already proven the power of Neuro-lingustic programming (NLP), interpersonal communication, to shape behavioral outcomes. Using the power of positive self talk and visualization has delivered the critical advantage to Olympic gold medalists and World Series, Super Bowl and NBA champs. Whatever messages we repeat over time create grooves in our brain, making it easier for future thoughts to follow the same tried and true paths, whether they are self enhancing thoughts or not.

I remember hearing the comedian and social satirist Dick Gregory talk about visiting Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight training camp once when he was preparing for his second bout with Ken Norton. He said he saw Ali’s lips moving during one of his runs, and as Greg got closer, he realized Ali was nearly inaudibly chanting, “Norton must fall, Norton must fall.” I have a photo at home of the champ inscribed with the words “I am the greatest. I said it even before I knew that I was.” We all witnessed the power of Ali’s self talk. He is arguably the greatest fighter of all time.

It’s high time I become more conscious of my self-talk, no matter to whom I am speaking. It’s high time I bath my neural pathways and brain synapses with messages of faith, confidence and strength, so that I am saturated from the inside out in a sea of support and self love. Never mind the people around me; I keep my own company all the time. There’s no let up on the internal discourse. So it’s high time I erase the negative tape, turn the record over, switch the eight-track, change the CD, and press play with respect when I talk to me.

Women Employ 8%, but 80% Don't Employ!

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:15:00 EDT

My dear friend Marcy Shinder at OPEN American Express has a wonderful blog and is always sharing interesting and useful information through Twitter, @marcyshinder. Yesterday she presented this amazing news about women’s job creation, which was just published by Count Me In and OPEN’s frequent partner, WIPP:

Women-owned firms employ 16% of US jobs - 23 million people!

3:56 PM October 7, 2009

We have never had information before that reflected the overall economic impact of women-owned firms. Today we have it and it reveals the magnitude of importance that small business plays in the overall economy.

Women-owned firms produce employment for more than 23 million people in the United states, or 16% of our 2008 workforce.*. This means that approximately 8% of the total labor force work directly for a woman-owned firm. This is astonishing news.

But what really is remarkable, is that that 80% of the women businesses are NOT employer firms.

What would this mean to our national economic recovery if we increased the number of "employer" firms to 25%? To 30%? How many more people would join the ranks of the employed?

It is time to start focusing on strategies and policies to make this happen. WIPP is asking these questions and addressing these issues directly.

This comes on the heels of research that shows that, literally any day now, the number of women in the labor force will equal men, but are still being paid less for the same work.

I heard a quotation today that’s very appropriate. Thomas Edison said, “People frequently miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” What I’m seeing today is that women who work don’t get paid enough, and women who can put people to work don’t employ enough.

But we are on the cusp of changing that.

Every woman can be a part of this movement by taking on the piece that affects their own lives, in their current job, their new job, or as the leader of their business. Women are about to hit critical mass, and make the big push that will tilt the scales until they’re balanced. We have the strength, the energy, and the confidence to make it possible.

In just two weeks, the Count Me In community is getting together at Castor and Pollux [see “Fired Up!”] in New York for an event that will be full of energy and confidence. We are celebrating our partnership with cosmetics maven and revolutionary entrepreneur, Poppy King - who has designed ‘Fired Up!’ lip gloss, with 100% of profits going straight to Count Me In and our community. She designed ‘Fired Up’ to bring back the classic 1940’s red that has been worn by confident, powerful women ever since we answered the call of ‘Rosie the Riveter’. Poppy and I will both be there, speaking, signing books, and having a great time with all of you. Poppy will also have ‘Fired Up’ for sale!

Mark your calendars, ladies.

October 21, 2009 6pm-9pm

Castor and Pollux

238 W. 10^th St NY, NY

Refreshments from Count Me In businesses will be served!

Isisara: The Queen's Quarters

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:07:00 EDT

Are you one of those people who live like a renter, whether you are one or not? I was for a long time. In fact, I was in my 30s before I graduated from the college dormitory look in furnishings – mattress on the floor, a book case made of planks of wood held up with cinderblocks, a futon sofa, crates for my records (yes, I’m that old). My apartment in Venice, California was where I elevated my taste to a real couch and an actual off- the-floor bed. When I moved to Harlem, I went ahead and painted the walls, even though I knew I’d lose my security deposit.

What changed was the realization that I was saving my décor choices for the day I actually live in something I own, or until I had a family, or until I made a certain income. It was the magical thinking of some day, a time far off in the future, where they stayed a safe distance from the here and now. Talk about abstract living! There was nothing present tense about them. Then I learned that the distance between where I am and where I envision myself to be is not separated by time, money or stature, but by my own emotional readiness.

It seems my furnishing evolution comes in waves that parallel the enhancement of my self-image from girl, to young woman, to grown-up. Now I am of an age where I can no longer pretend I’m still a kid just starting out. Young at heart is the best I can do nowadays. But I can embrace adulthood by living, really living in my home here and now. It became time to create quarters fit for a queen, for that is what I am, the queen of my personal realm.

Once I established that frame of mind, the next step was getting help fashion the warm, inviting, mature yet culturally eclectic home of my dreams. Now, I’ve got a good eye for color and texture, but I’m an amateur when it comes to the technicalities of renovating a dwelling. Why do it myself when so many people have made a profession of it? It was time to do like the big girls do, time to get a – gasp! - Interior Designer.

There are many advantages to working with a non-profit organization like Count Me In, with so many women entrepreneurs just a computerized rolodex away. So I let my fingers do the walking and landed on the name of a Make Mine a Million award winner, Robin Wilson and her eco-design firm, Robin Wilson Home.

Robin is a tall drink of café au lait, wrapped around a bundle of energy. She is effervescent about her work and ardent about helping people make the best, most artistic, most ecologically sound use of their spaces. We met at my home and we talked about what I wanted to feel in each room, what practical uses I wanted to achieve, which pieces would stay and which could go, what timeframe I had to work with and how much I had to spend.

She took pictures of every room, and free associated ideas for arrangements that would coax more room and better uses of the space. Then she filtered dimensions into her computer and came up with several layout options for my grand front living/dining room.

When it came time to decide colors, she offered bold non-toxic accent wall choices with evocative names like Golden Harvest (a vibrant hue akin to butternut squash) paired with Taos Taupe (a rich hunter greenish mahogany-like dark gray) for the living room; and in my bedroom, Lavender Lipstick bordering the magical Silver Lining, a subtle color that drifts from off-white to a whisper of blue to pale violet to rainy day gray depending on the light. And on all the other walls a, clean and dazzling white.

These colors are more than decorative. They are Nature’s planetary vibrations that register on the optic nerve, stimulate the senses and influence our emotions. I have surrounded myself with tones that evoke the warm invigorating rays of the Sun (orange), the sacredness of devotion and harmony (blue), the aspiration to spiritual nobility (violet) and the cooling purity of rest (white).

To quote the poet Auden, my home is now “my North, my South, my East and West, my working week and Sunday rest.” It is my temple, my sanctuary, fit for a queen. Long may she reign.

Isisara: What I Am Not

Nell Merlino — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:02:00 EDT

Last week, I flew down to Florida for the Count Me In Leadership Institute. It was held at Office Depot’s new, spacious and beautiful global headquarters. As Journey Agent (aka facilitator) for the event, it was my distinct honor to guide the participants through this two-day exploration into the qualities of leadership. These qualities are the tenets that direct we women entrepreneurs to balance the complimentary opposites of head and heart, will and wisdom, intellect and imagination in the nurturing of our businesses and our lives.
Of course I and the instructors had our plans for what we would cover over the course of the weekend. But, as it so happens in any dynamic organism, there were other themes that emerged, themes that spontaneously arose from the women themselves. Patterns were revealed in the questions they asked and as they delivered their two-minute oral business updates. These patterns helped us know what other deeper lessons we needed to impart.

It’s a fine line to walk as a facilitator – staying focused on the lessons I am committed to imparting while remaining open to the spontaneous lessons being revealed in the moment. Being there in the room and immersed in the work, I could not help but be touched and moved by what is unfolding. On some level, I was also a participant and a business owner. These impromptu teachings from the women and the other instructors gave me pause as I pondered the ripple effects they had on my own life. Here are some of them.

I am not my business. This was a big one, a HUGE one for many of the women at the Institute. So many of us are intimately bound to our business and see it as an expression of our very essence. We view our business as we would our children, an extension of ourselves. No sacrifice is too big, no work day too long, no expense spared if it will help the business grow. But almost all of the instructors repeated the same thing – that the business is a separate thing. It is not my identity. It is created for one thing – to make money. If not to make money, what other purpose can it serve? If it does not generate income on its own it is not a business, it is a job.

I am not selling a product. Whenever anyone asks about a business, the business owner usually describes it by what she sells, whether it is a product or service. But we learned that while money is exchanged around a commodity, what is really being sold is a feeling. My product or service evokes an emotional response in my customer. I must always remember that as the core of my business. Does it conjure up a feeling of hope, beauty, safety, an image of luxury, of social attainment, of caring? That’s what people buy. It’s that intangible, that emotional response that makes the difference between a sale and a walk by, between a repeat customer and a one-off.

I am not indispensible. At some point, the business must be strong enough and attractive enough to be sold. So I must be able to replicate my function in the business, or it won’t be able to be sold. If I am too tightly identified with the brand, if I have not created systems within the business functions that others can follow, my business will not survive without me. But if I am creating an enduring, thriving entity that can serve my family and society with its excellent product or service long after I am gone, then I must research, document and instill turn-key processes in the operation of my business. Only then can it stand on its own, enabling me to ultimately reap the rewards many times over.

I am not superwoman. Yes, it’s official. Multi-tasking does not work. Thinking that we can do several things at one time, and do them equally well is a myth. Many of us believe that working hard means making the sales, packing the boxes, sending the emails, cooking dinner and monitoring homework all in the same evening. But that is casting our self image against an unrealistic model. Superwoman had magic powers, special effects, stunt doubles, industrial strength make-up, probably some cosmetic surgery and an ultra Lycra costume squeezing it all in place. Now, that doesn’t mean the dream of work life balance can’t happen. I love what Nell Merlino (founder of Count Me In) says, “We can have it all, just not all at the same time.” We can help our businesses, help our sanity and help the nation’s economy if we get some help for the jobs we’ve taken on that someone else can do. So here’s a new Make Mine a Million mantra: Each one hire one.

I am not alone. That is the beauty of the Leadership Institute. No matter what is happening in my life and the life of my business, as my father would say, I am not making history. There is a woman who has left her footprints on the path I now walk. When I am alone at night at the computer in my den, working on a project from “can’t see in the morning ‘til can’t see at night” I can think of her. Because she stood up at a microphone or raised her hand in a workshop, with tears in her eyes and a tremor in her voice, I know what I am not, and I also what I am.

Congratulations, Mr. President

Nell Merlino — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:23:00 EDT

The news of President Obama receiving the Noble Peace Prize made me weep with joy. I happened to be in Washington on Friday, attending a historic Pathways to Prosperity Conference which has brought together women entrepreneurs from all over North and South America to grow our businesses together through trade.

I believe President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize because his efforts to calm the world down are being recognized globally. And I believe he is also being recognized for the potential of what he can do to promote lasting peace. This group of women entrepreneurs I was with were being recognized for their accomplishments growing businesses across the Americas and they were also being recognized for their potential to grow their businesses even bigger to help their families, create jobs and stabilize their communities.

Secretary Hillary Clinton is responsible for bringing all these women entrepreneurs together - we got to visit with her and she would be pleased to know that the accomplished women who she helped bring together are already doing deals together to grow their businesses like Gina Stern, M3 winner owner of d_partures spa, who has connected Maria Rodriguez Cordon of ByOEarth from Guatemala who has a red worm based organic fertilizer business with the largest maker of worm based fertilizer in the US and the conference isn't even over yet!

Congratulations Mr. President. We are so proud of you and will do our level best to live up to our potential.

Believe in you,
Nell

Watching a Friend on TV

Nell Merlino — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:23:00 EDT

Tonight you get to watch one of my M3 colleagues and friends on network TV: Gayla Bentley, owner of Gayla Bentley Designs Ltd. Gayla makes beautiful, affordable clothes for women of every size with curves like me and over half the female population. Today, I am wearing a great top that she made for me and wonderful raisin colored pants that she sells along with matching tops, skirts and jackets. You have to visit her website to see her extraordinary talent for clothing that makes you feel glamorous, and comfortable, every day. Almost everyone here at Count Me In owns at least one piece of Gayla’s collection.

Gayla is going to be on Shark Tank (ABC) 8pm EST (or check your local listings), doing the Elevator Pitch that she learned when she competed for, and won, the Make Mine a Million $ Business Award in Houston last year. Shark Tank’s producers found Gayla's business on the M3 web site and hopefully she is going to take her business to the next level with the help of some smart sharks. If you want to make sure your profile page is TV-ready, watch our webinar with Count Me In’s social media experts.

Watch Gayla tonight and imagine yourself on TV making the deal that will move you forward.

Believe in you
Nell

Scramble Your Brains

Nell Merlino — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:20:00 EDT

The fabulous Count Me In Leadership Institute and a very positive Annual Board Meeting really snapped me out of whatever last little bits of fear or doubt remained in me from the recession. Yesterday, I attended the Business Innovation Factory in Providence, Rhode Island and it snapped me totally back into myself. I got to tell a few Take Our Daughters to Work Day stories and brag about the brilliant work women are doing in the M3RACE. People loved the stories and wanted to know more about women growing micro businesses to million $ enterprises. I also got to listen to some of the most incredible thinkers and innovations around, including Sweet Rioter and M3er Sara Endline, who's obsession with sweets has created new wealth for thousands of people living in developing countries, while also turning a tidy profit for her company, sweetriot. What a fascinating privilege to listen to people like Ethan Zuckerman, who we can thank for breaking open the Internet in the early 90's for non- techno geeks to create their own web pages and publish their thoughts, creations and business ideas for a cyber audience. As a fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Zuckerman is now paid to ponder the meaning of the web and see where it leads him.

What I know is that meeting new people in different fields and businesses is the best way to scramble your brain so you can see solutions you never imagined before. So go get out there!

Believe in you
Nell

Mrs. Obama: Healthcare Reform is a Women's Issue

Nell Merlino — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:48:00 EDT

I'd like to thank Shelly Porges, Count Me In's Chair of the Board of Directors, for attending the First Lady's recent address on Health Care and representing the Count Me In community. Shelly has been kind enough to share her observations with us. -Nell

The great women's health activist, Margaret Sanger, once said, "Woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must revere that woman in her which struggles for expression."

First Lady Michelle Obama's message Friday at the White House was an echo of that sentiment. Women, she said, must recognize that healthcare reform is a women's issue and that the current system is prone to gender bias that prevents women from achieving "true equality." As women, the First Lady continued, we should be ready to do all we can to ensure that the system is reformed. All American families should have the security that they can both access and pay for medical care. But I am jumping ahead here.

When Nell called me Thursday evening, Sept. 17, from Denver asking me to represent the organization at a gathering of the White House Council for Women and Girls, I was thrilled and honored. Earlier, I had been to the White House to hear President Obama's speech on the economic stimulus a week after inauguration. And now, the president had an even bigger challenge on his hands----healthcare reform---and his wife was stepping in and stepping up in a way she had not done on other policy issues.

As we gathered in the large conference room in the Eisenhower Executive Building, I met and talked with other leading women's and community organizations such as the Girl Scouts and the National Urban League, as well as large healthcare concerns such as FHC Healthcare. We were all invited to hear the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, and the First Lady address our nation's health crisis. It was a unique opportunity to be part of what is one of the most important conversations in America today. It was also a chance to hear directly what changes are being proposed.

The buzz was palpable as the First Lady's entrance was announced and the cameras began flashing. Mine was one of them as I recognized the familiar figure entering the room. Now one of the most well-recognized faces in the country, Michelle Obama's was glowing and vibrant. Smiling broadly as she entered the room, she was greeted by our warm and enthusiastic applause. She was even more stunning in person than in the media. Accompanying her was the HHS Secretary, both tall, elegant women with great presence.

The program was opened and the Secretary was introduced by White House Director of Public Liaison, Tina Chen. We at Count Me In have come to know Tina well as she's become a real booster of the organization, recommending us to others in the Administration. She recapped the Secretary's impressive credentials: State Insurance Commissioner then Governor of Kansas and now 21st HHS Secretary. The Secretary, in turn, reminded us about the dire need to reform our healthcare system in the US. Whatever one's political views, it is clear to all that the cost of our current system, growing at double digit rates, is unsustainable---even for those insured today. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of uninsured who place huge strains on the system and, more importantly, to the well-being of the country as a whole, and there is a compelling case to act now. Secretary Sebelius then introduced Mrs. Obama.

Michelle Obama was born and raised in Chicago. After graduating Princeton University and Harvard Law School, she joined the firm of Sidley Austin where she met her future husband. He was a summer intern she was assigned to mentor. Subsequently, she worked as an administrator at the Universityof Chicago Medical Center so she has some real-life understanding of the workings of our healthcare system.

She shared with us some of the key trends the country is facing if the healthcare system is not reformed. Beyond re-inforcing points made by Sec. Sebelius, she also talked about how the system particularly discriminates against women in a number of ways. First, since women are most often the caretakers of both their families and their elders, the burden of solving these issues falls on them. Second, women are often discriminated against in pricing, with younger women paying significantly more than younger men in many states for the same coverage simply because they might get pregnant where men cannot. Finally, women are denied coverage for reasons ranging from having had a C-section to simply having been pregnant---supposed "pre-existing conditions."

But what was most striking about Michelle Obama and her talk about healthcare was how much she cares. Not only did she introduce three women, each of whom told their personal stories about how our current system had victimized them, even when they were insured, but she spoke of times in her own life when her family was impacted. Mrs. Obama's father was afflicted with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating condition that gets worse over time. He was blessed with continuous healthcare coverage and a single employer who maintained it even as his health declined. Thousands of others aren't as fortunate and she wondered what might have happened to her family under different circumstances. "There but for the grace of God....this could happen to any of us." Similarly, the Obamas' second daughter, Sasha, came down with a fever and mysterious condition when she was a baby. Without specifying what Sasha had, she contemplated what it would be like for a parent without insurance whose child was similarly impacted. Again, her conclusion was that it's impossible for any of us to imagine such a scenario nor should we or anyone else have to face such dire circumstances: i.e., being unable to seek treatment for a loved one because we couldn't afford it. In a country as rich as America, this is a disgrace that should not and will not be accepted. The time for change is now.

And with that thought, and a brief outline of the president's proposals, she implored us to reach out to our networks to contact their members of Congress to let them know that we want health care reform now. The country and the American people cannot wait. If there were members of the audience not persuaded before the event, they were clearly won over afterward. After a warm ovation, Mrs. Obama circulated, shaking hands, listening to stories and even dispensing hugs. When she came to me, I thanked her for her leadership and powerful words and she thanked me and the Count Me In community for working hard to re-energize the country's economy through the growth of women-owned businesses and the jobs they create.

All in all, it was one of the most memorable moments since becoming CMI Board Chair. Importantly, it reminded me that we each have a key role to play in this critical national movement. As women but more importantly as leaders, we can play a critical role in moving the country forward. All our input will make our government stronger and the solutions to this important set of issues better. Whatever your politics, I hope you will choose to make a difference here as you have in so many other ways.

K. Shelly Porges

Notes from the CMI Snap Out of the Recession Leadership Institute

Nell Merlino — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:37:00 EDT

If you ever had any doubt, we confirmed it again: One of the keys to growing your business is to surround yourself with excellent people who are doing what they do best.

I got to watch Isisara Bey, VP for Program at Count Me In, do what she does best over the weekend at our Leadership Institute in Boca Raton, Florida. Isisara, our Journey Agent, took 130 business leaders through 48 hours of discovery, renewal, and growth.

As she guided the group through our three day event, she created a safe space where people brought their best selves. Everybody got to talk, present, get feedback and listen. And talk we did - about everything from financial fears to great facials to unimagined successes. Surrounded by the best experts, each other and, representatives from our generous hosts Monica Luechtefeld and Tom Market Office Depot and founding partner American Express OPEN, we cried with relief, laughed at our calamities and got down to the business of riding out of the recession with a clear 2010 growth plan.

Cindy Krischer Goodman of the Miami Herald joined us on Saturday and got to see businesses grow right in front of her as 10 women got up to re-pitch their businesses incorporating what they had learned with a fresh perspective at the end of the weekend. Barriers had been broken, new alliances formed - greater confidence and clarity were obvious as M3 Racer Jane Regan talked about her new green business "Bathpacks" that will revolutionize renovating bathrooms. Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur Amy Wright of Amy Michelle Baby Bags hired their first employee, and M3 Award Winner Pamela Robinson, owner Financial Voyages reported on new government contracts and took home a $1,000 shopping spree from Dell, one of many prizes given out over the weekend.

Isisara orchestrated and carried us all through a thoughtful, transformation journey to a better business and a more relaxed authentic self. She brings us together in a brilliant calm way that generates innovation, energy and light. I am deeply grateful to Isisara Bey for her brilliance at being her best self.

Tom Markert from Office Depot said something like this in his closing acknowledgment - that he knew the American economy would recover if each business owner was as focused and resilient as the women business owners who attended the Leadership Institute. He said, “If the women in this room are representative of other businesses run by women then I feel comfortable in saying we’re good. The U.S. is good.”

My favorite quote of the Institute came from Kay Woods, founder and President of Precious Treasures Child Care who stood up and said, "Count Me In is like the Matrix. You've got to plug in.”

The electricity of the experience is being brought back to women’s businesses and spread through the community. On the Message Boards, our Facebook page, and Twitter, attendees have been raving about what they learned and sharing the wealth with friends and colleagues who couldn’t make it. This wonderful comment from Jorge Ann Samet is among the swirl of positive energy that’s carrying women towards bigger, bolder plans for 2010. “What a fabulously fruitful conference. I learned so much about the ingredients that make a successful business! I am busy re-inventing myself after 25 years. Starting all over again, but this time in the company of a great organization and so many wonderful women.......all brave, creative, accomplished women willing to put themselves out there. I don't feel so alone anymore. Thank you for a great weekend and for the marvelous opportunity!”

Thank you all for coming and bringing your best. I am inspired and grateful.

Believe in You,
Nell

Isisara: Lost and Found

Nell Merlino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:32:00 EDT

About once a month, Gustavo comes over to give me a massage. He brings his whole spa-in-a-car kit: portable massage table, heating pad, sheet, towel, cushions for the head and knees, mini music player, creams and two of the most powerful hands in the business. To say I am putty in his hands is too cute and too literal, but also too true.

So there we are, hard at work on my right shoulder, listening to a young Tony Bennett crooning his signature hit, when Gustavo asks me, “Where did you leave your heart?”
He may have been trying to be facetious, riffing off the title of the song, but the question stopped me cold.

I started thinking of love in my life, remembered by the feeling of joy like honey, sweet, smooth and warm flowing from my heart. You know those tingles of excitement when you’re around the person who is the lodestone to your magnet, the eye of your hurricane. Then there’s the heavy cloud in your chest, clamping down on your breathing, at the mere sight of them. Or what about being away from them and unable to relax or sit still until you can see them or hear their voice again. The two of you forming a communion of minds that flash and spark a perpetual conversation on art and politics and science and the play you just saw, while cooking, or driving, or reading the Sunday paper curled up on the couch with Coltrane blowing in the background. A delicious pain in your heart, almost to tears at the thought of them, then laughter rising, a babbling brook spilling over the banks of your tongue and cheek and mouth, so happy are you to be loving and loved. Then there’s your reward at the end of the day, that feeling of utter rest and safety found in each other’s arms. To be connected somewhere, with someone. A pair complete.

Once I could recall and relive the feeling, I started flipping through my life like pages in a photo album, trying to place the last time I felt all – or any – of that. I don’t know what Gustavo expected me to say - he was surprised when I said it - but my answer was, “I left my heart in 1987.”

Are the details important? Let’s just say that in 1987, I was in love with someone who loved me back just as much. Someone whom I’d thought was so out of my league, I was completely relaxed and myself around him. Turns out he had the same impression about me, and so we were happily surprised and grateful to fall in love. Oh, it had all the drama, longing and pathos of love. We got hurt some in the process, like lovers do. It didn’t end badly but sadly and bravely a year later when we realized it was time to go our separate ways. But the kicker of it all, and the reason I am writing this now is because it took an innocuous question to make me realize that I’d put a portion of my living on hold back when Bruce married Demi, Whitney Houston wanted to dance with somebody, and Gary Hart’s monkey business torpedoed his political career.

Since 1987 I’ve worked diligently on my career, then added parenting to the mix, and always making time for friends, extended family, community, travel, and evenings when a great meal was followed by a good movie. It’s been full. It’s been fun. But I essentially stopped taking risks in love when that man and I said our last goodbye in a crowded subway station.

We all know we have a chronological age. We blow those candles out each year, adding another one every time. I’m in my middle years, and there are times when parts of my body feel every second of those years. It takes some yoga, some elliptical, some acupuncture and some massage to keep things supple and pliant and feeling fresh.

We know we have a psychological age when we say someone is older than their years, or more or less mature than we expect them to be. Sometimes I find myself advising one of my younger colleagues on something that is news to them but seems second nature to me now. Those are the times I feel smooth, rich and potent as a fine aged wine.

But we have an emotional age, too. And frankly, I’m surprised to know that I dropped off the vibrant, daring, womanly part of my sensuality and affections several hundred miles and a couple of decades away. Love in all forms help shape who we are. How can I be a whole and balanced person in the here and now when I can’t remember really loving since God knows when? Now that I know where I left my heart, I think it’s high time I got it back.

First Lady's Address on Health Care

Nell Merlino — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:28:00 EDT

Today, the First Lady spoke on what health care reform means to women and families. I could not attend the speech myself, as I was already scheduled to be at the Denver Meetup held last night – which I would not have missed for anything. Fortunately, the Chair of the Count Me In Board of Directors Shelly Porges was able to take my seat and be a part of this moving call to action. Next week, she will be sharing her thoughts on the speech, and I will be reporting back on the fantastic experience I had at the Denver Meetup. Until then, I offer the First Lady’s remarks for your consideration.

Silver Lining for Square One

Nell Merlino — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:39:00 EDT

Make Mine a Million $ Business was the cover story this month in Costco Connection, the magazine with the largest circulation in the U.S. I could not be prouder of our M3ers – Theresa Daytner, Allison Evinow, Kay Woods and Nadine Vogel – who opened up to Costco Connection about the challenges they encountered while staying determined to grow their businesses this year. Read about what they faced, and you’ll learn what they had to go through to create solutions for themselves.

Allison Evanow is the creator and leader of Square One Vodka, an organic vodka that has been developing a dedicated following for several years (the CMI staff being the first among them). She wrote me last week to tell me more about how she’s growing her bottom line despite flat sales.

Dear Nell,

Last year at the last M3 competition in Florida, in your final address to the audience, you told women not to fear the meltdown, but to "find the silver lining" and turn the downturn into a positive thing for the business. I myself was able to get 4 packaging companies to get into a bidding war on my packaging, and thus save about 40% in packaging costs. This would never have happened if the economy was humming along and those companies were fat and happy, or if I hadn't thought about going to "big" companies to bid on my business, whereas before I thought I was too small for them to care. I realized that even those big companies needed to get as much volume as they could, and might finally be willing to look at my small business AND give me a great price.

I can imagine that there is a treasure trove of "silver lining" stories out there among the group and just thought it would be a great story as a follow-up to your comment last December in Florida . . . Just wanted to share my idea since it was your own words that made me realize that I had to find a silver lining in my business this year since $35/bottle vodka is not exactly on everybody's shopping list this year. Our sales this year are flat (flat is the new "up" they say!) and we will just eke to the $1 million mark again, but my COGS savings will improve so much, that the bottom line will improve greatly. That alone is a silver lining story and it made me realize that there are probably some fantastic stories out there like mine that can be shared with the group.

Cheers,
Allison

Courtesy of Alison Evanow

Isisara: Passion Play, Passionate Player

Nell Merlino — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:25:00 EDT

My good friend Ellie and I are theater buddies.   Ellie comes to New York quite frequently; she has a lovely apartment right across from the Museum of Modern Art. She loves the arts and always buys two or four theater tickets to the top plays on or off Broadway. With great anticipation, I joined Ellie to see Hamlet last Sunday. The production stars Jude Law and is now in previews for a 12-week limited engagement at the Broadhurst Theater.

Now truth be told, Shakespearean plays usually have a soporific effect on me.   Like most American students, I read many of the Bard’s greatest hits in high school and college. I fully appreciate that they are works of art, among the classics of the English language.   However, they can be tedious, especially if the actors don’t rise above the words on the page and give the antiquated Elizabethan prose some life.   I only go to see them if one of the actors is someone I’d like to see, or the director promises to give it a distinctive slant. [One unforgettable production some years back was the Public Theatre’s imaginative mounting of the Tempest, directed by George C. Wolfe and starring the indefatigable Patrick Stewart.]

It should come as no surprise that Jude Law is the major attraction in this production of Hamlet. To say that he is easy on the eyes is a gross understatement. I’ve enjoyed him in many films: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Alfie, Road to Perdition, Closer and A.I., and had little reason to suspect that he would not acquit himself admirably on stage. I was wrong. He was magnificent. From his earliest scenes he captured the audience’s attention with his passion and presence. You could hear a pin drop. He completely inhabits the role of the young Danish prince returning home from university to find his father the King dead and his mother the Queen remarried to his uncle, now the new King.   To top it off, the ghost of dear old dad roams the castle every night, tormented by the fact that he was murdered for his wife and his throne by his own brother.   It is up to son Hamlet to right the wrong.

Casting Mr. Law in the title role is an unabashed ploy to attract younger audiences, and a masterstroke of marketing. But he’s more than just a pretty face. He creates an interpretation of Hamlet that is riveting. Mr. Law articulates the script not just by his speech, but with his whole body. From his toes, to his hair, to his fingertips, he embodies the character completely, bringing refreshing wit, wrenching emotion and unexpected life to the 400-year old masterpiece.

It has not left my mind since. I can only marvel at the dedication with which Mr. Law must have prepared himself for the part, and the complete vulnerability with which he surrenders to the role each night. He courageously delivers himself to the power of the script, the richness of the set, the demands of the part, and to the legacy of the many actors who have preceded him in the role, all without giving up his actor’s control. Jude the actor is alert and aware of everything and everyone on stage, even as Hamlet the character is absorbed in the events that move him inexorably to his end.

As sentient beings, we can garner inspiration from anywhere. I’m not an actor, but I am the lead character in the play that is my life. As I strut and fret my hour upon the stage, I can’t help but wonder- How much passion, dedication, vulnerability and commitment am I bringing to my own role of a lifetime? Do I inhabit myself from toes, to hair, to fingertips with that kind of all-out passion?   Not always. I can only thank Mr. Law for demonstrating a craftsman honoring his craft with the very breath of his being, and strive in my own life to emulate the same.

Give Help. Get Help. Solve Unemployment.

Nell Merlino — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:39:00 EDT

I have a story about something wonderful that came out of Lehman Brothers, a story that I think is important to tell after a weekend of news coverage about the 1st anniversary of the collapse. The Administration reported that in the first three months of the crisis last year U.S. households lost $5 billion of wealth, the impact of which has touched every American, regardless of their relationship to Lehman or any of the other corporations that failed. But what saddens me most about Lehman specifically was reading about the people who are still looking for work. But as I said I have a good story. Kevin Ien was a former Lehman employee, who spent eight years in the Diversity Lateral Recruiting Department. Kevin is a great singer, active in his church and he leads a youth choir. After losing his position at Lehman, he came to work at Count Me In in November 2008 as my Executive Assistant. His professionalism (which I credit to his corporate experience), and incredible kindness (which is purely Kevin) has made him an invaluable asset to Count Me In. Everywhere I go people make a point of asking for Kevin. I am convinced it is because he treats everyone he meets with a calm respect. I travel thousands of miles a year - this Thursday I'll be in Denver for their first Meet Up thanks to American Express OPEN - I am more effective as I move around the country because Kevin Ien has made that an easy, more efficient process for me and the entire CMI team. Kevin is always ready to solve problems whatever they are. Count Me In is a better organization because Kevin emerged out of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Each of us knows someone who needs work, whether or not they were a part of one of the large companies that shed hundreds of thousands of employees in the last year. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the scale of unemployment right now, as we’re all asking ourselves “How can I help them?” The solution is asking, “How can they help me?” At every turn there are talented, experienced people willing to work in their previous field or ready to try out something totally new. Step back at your business, and I’m sure you’ll see where you could use someone with different talents than your own. If it’s a few hours a month doing your books, or a one-time deal helping you get out a large shipment, look around for people you can help by asking them to help you. Recovery from the unemployment crisis is up to small businesses like us.

We Did Not Come Here to Fear The Future

Nell Merlino — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:28:00 EDT

President Obama has great lessons for entrepreneurs - he is a quintessential leader and all entrepreneurs are leaders. Wednesday night during his speech to Congress and the nation on health care he said "We did not come here to fear the future". Entrepreneurs don't start their businesses out of fear. We are in business because we are creative and innovative, solving big and small problems with a product or service. Being afraid of the future is not good for your business, your family or our country. Today, on 9/11/09, let's re-commit ourselves to the hopeful reasons we started our businesses , go back to the basics, join with other business owners and shape the future with creativity and confidence.

Believe in you,
Nell

Isisara: A Country Made of Ice Cream

Nell Merlino — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:24:00 EDT

If you’re a movie buff you might recognize this title as the name of the book written by the character Hubbell Gardner in the movie The Way We Were. Robert Redford played Hubbell, all golden blond, athletic, young and privileged. He was the “gorgeous goyesha guy” to Barbra Streisand’s Katie Morosky, the outspoken, socialist, plain and poor Brooklyn Jewish girl. He was penthouse co-op to her top floor walk-up. An odd couple if ever there was one. The screenwriter Authur Laurents said, “Hubbell gave her class, and Katie gave him sex.”

But it’s Hubbell’s book title that hooks us into his world. He knows he’s had it easy and imagines his world as made of this treat for the privileged - cold, rich, sweet and creamy, with no nutritional value. It holds its form for a short while before it begins to soften. It’s delicious for the first few scoops, then sickeningly sugary after that.

My friend Terrie (not her real name) is a woman whose edges have pretty much dissolved. Her exterior is attractive, polished, well put together, with a great sense of humor. But her integrity around money, poorly defined for many years, has now led her to the precipice of a fourth arrest for misappropriating funds. She got paid for a job she did not complete and then continued using the client’s credit card number. I just called it misappropriating. How quaint. The DA called it a felony misdemeanor.

While I was talking to a couple of friends about Terrie’s situation, they both declared they could never do such a thing. But they might have used someone else’s money, or funds from a work project to float themselves a temporary loan during a rough patch, paying it back as soon as the emergency passed.

Want to know how many times you can use someone’s credit card, money, or company funds without permission? Five times: never, never, never, never, and never.   A quick “loan” of a couple hundred dollars, or a couple thousand dollars, is the first step down that proverbial slippery slope to doing it again, and doing it for more.

When we read about the government agency head who gets her house re-modeled as a “gift” from a constituent, or the executive who borrows from his expense account to cover his kids’ tuition, or the doctor who sells hospital drugs on the side, or the construction manager who cut corners with inferior materials and pockets the difference…they all begin with a teeny-weeny bending of the rules, over and over again.

It all starts so simply, going down easy like ice cream.

Are there places where your integrity has begun to melt around the edges? Is it in not quite completing the work you contracted to do, but patching it over to look like you did? Taking a few short cuts in the quality of that product you’ve been paid to deliver? How about using business car service vouchers for personal trips? Has the office supply room become your one-stop-shop?   Using the company Fedex account for shipping your personal items?   Do you take the occasional shopping spree with the funds from a seldom-used business budget line?

After all, who would know?

It’s all stealing, make no mistake. And it is smooth and sweet and small - just like a teaspoonful of ice cream - until it’s not, and you’re left facing public ridicule, the loss of a job or a business, a steep fine and a stint in jail.

Exit Strategies Equal Freedom

Nell Merlino — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:38:00 EDT

I know you are so busy building your business that every time you hear about Exit Strategies or Succession Plansyou roll your eyes with the thought that says - "Who has time to think about the end? I just started!” or “I am going to work forever!” or “I plan to die with my boots on". According to Aldonna Ambler, The Growth Strategist, "Women are 5 times more likely to dissolve their businesses than their male counterparts". That means that after years of all the blood, sweat and tears put into building their companies, more women business owners than men will have little to show for their years as an entrepreneur.

I know two women who made a different decision. Margi Booth founder of MBooth and Associates, the firm that handles PR for the Make Mine a Million $ Business program, sold her company to Next Fifteen Communications Group; and Laurie Benson, founder of Inacom in Madison, WI, a big supporter of Count Me In, sold her company to CORE BYS. Both of these pioneering women sold their businesses for $millions this summer. They worked hard over decades, hired great people, developed their products and services and had clear exit strategies. Their business will go on, employees will keep jobs and both women will have well financed retirements to do whatever strikes their fancy- Margi will continue to run her company with Next Fifteen while Laurie is off on new adventures. With a clear exit strategy you can decide what is next for you, whether it’s starting another business or a not-for-profit, to hanging out at the beach. Having an exit strategy gives you the freedom you crave as an entrepreneur to be yourself. If you want to learn more about exit strategies and selling your business plan, attend the CMI Leadership Institute and learn from experts how to plan your future. The day you start a business is the day you need to be thinking about an exit strategy.

Believe in you
Nell

Opening to the Power of Yoga

Nell Merlino — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:49:00 EDT

Jodi Delaney is the founder of Yatra Yoga International. She will be blogging on mind and body wellness with Nell.

A lot of people ask me how I do it: raise a family, manage multiple projects including my own business, and still enjoy life. I usually respond with a blithe “I’m insane.” But the truth is: discovering yoga five years ago has changed me. And while, like most women, my plate is completely full every day, I have learned how to access a part of myself that I first found on the yoga mat. And finding that has brought more clarity and joy to my life than I could have ever imagined.

I was in a class at the local community center, bored out of my skull, complaining in my head about the teacher, who I thought just talked too much. I’d been practicing for a few months, loving the asanas and feeling physically great after every class. So I was annoyed at this teacher, and impatient for the flow to begin.

The theme of that class, she explained, was opening the heart. She went on to describe the different heart-opening poses we’d learn, and warned that for some people, it could bring up emotions, for others maybe not. The New Yorker in me was thinking, “Yadda yadda… Can we move on here?”

We started moving, some simple vinyasas, and then a series of poses I’d never done, arches and backbends that lifted and exposed the heart, alternating with rest – child poses with forehead to the mat, known to still the clamor of the mind.

And then it happened.

Tears started flowing. And flowing. There was nothing particular in my thoughts, and I can’t say that I felt sadness necessarily, but something was releasing, from deep inside, and the tears were literally flying out of my eyes. Nose running, mat soaked with tears, I walked out to find a tissue, not understanding what I was feeling or why the tears would not stop. It continued through the final meditation, and I was speechless afterward.

That was the day I truly understood that yoga is bigger than me. And I committed to practicing and learning as much as I could about it.

A year or so later, I followed another teacher to a seven day yoga retreat in Costa Rica. I’d continued my practice all right, but I had a fairly stressful job and was only able to get myself to class a couple of times a week. A retreat seemed like a great opportunity to deepen my practice, and experience something new. That miraculous seven days, the first time I’d ever truly left daily stresses behind and dove into myself , gave me a newfound strength and power that I then brought home to my family, my relationships, and my work. In fact, it inspired me to start my own business, where I now have the honor and pleasure of offering yoga retreats to others.

Yatra Yoga International is now in its second season, offering retreats with some of the finest teachers in the country, to clients worldwide. We are growing, and learning, and loving the opportunity to share the power of yoga with those who are open to receiving it. And when I find myself stressing over things that I can’t control, I remember that revealing moment on the mat: a moment that helped put all things in perspective, and opened my heart to a journey of joy and fulfillment.

Isisara: A Stroke and A Slap

Nell Merlino — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EDT

In one of those supremely serendipitous moments, I walked right into my dear friend, the always impeccable and sophisticated art dealer, Noel on 8th Avenue last week. Turns out she’d just been calling my name to a friend not an hour before. To compound the synchronicity, Noel’s twin sister, the yoga & sake maven Linda emerged from the subway station while we were standing there! Girlfriend reunion, hugs all around.

Noel immediately took us in hand to visit her elder friend and mentor, the veteran award-winning stage actress, Billie Allen. It seems Ms. Billie was in the midst of turning over two racks of couture and wearable art to a consignment shop. Fortunately, Linda and I got there first.

Noel had been trying to introduce Ms. Billie and me for over a year. And now here I was, in Ms. Billie’s art-filled apartment doing the things I love most – trying on divine clothing, savoring delectable food and drink (Lillet, a French wine aperitif and my new favorite thing!) and having a delightful conversation.

Ms. Billie regaled us with stories from her life. One of them was of her childhood in Virginia. Her mother had arranged for the children to take daily swimming lessons. One morning Billie decided she didn’t want to go swimming. When her mother asked her why, she said she’d just done her hair and she was going to a party that afternoon. (Now, you probably know that a sustah’s hair is no trifling matter.) Ms. Billie’s mother leveled her with a look, and intoned, “Billie Allen, don’t tell me I am raising the kind of ignorant Black women who would rather drown than mess up her hair!” That verbal slap was all Ms. Billie needed to go put on her swimming suit.

Last week, I told you all about the deep bonding and inspiration that happens at the Count Me In Leadership Institute. I stroked you with stories of women who struggled and triumphed and how being at the Institute changed their lives. Well, now get ready for “oops upside the head.”

Are you going to be one of those women who would rather go down with her business than take a chance and invest in the Institute registration? Don’t tell me, in this age of deeply discounted fares, that a plane ride is keeping you from getting the life saving help you need.

Have you thought about bringing an employee with you, or are you the only one in your organization who’s allowed to grow?

Is there a woman you know who’s struggling in her business who could use the support of a circle of peers and experts? Invite her to join you so, like long distance runners, you can pace each other as you grow your businesses instead of continuing to go it alone.

Perhaps you’ve attended an Institute in the past and think you’ve heard it all before. If you haven’t made it to $1 million in revenues -or even half a million - seems to me you could stand to hear one or two things again. Dana Torres learned the basics of swimming a long time ago. Bet you she still does laps every doggone day. There’s no way she could be an Olympic champion if she stopped drilling and reviewing what she’d already learned.

If the economy has you paralyzed with fear about spending the money, snap out of it! One of the surefire ways of stirring up the energy is to move toward the very thing that scares you.

Courtesy of Isisara Bey

Sounds counterintuitive, I know. But think of the archer. In order to hit the mark in front of her, she has to pull the arrow back 180 degrees in the opposite direction to get the power and velocity she needs to make her arrow fly.

The Count Me In Leadership Institute
At Office Depot, Boca Raton, Fl
September 24-26, 2009

What Teddy Can Teach Us

Nell Merlino — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:54:00 EDT

I met Teddy Kennedy once with my father at a Mercer County Democratic Dinner back in the 1970's in New Jersey. Everybody knew the dinner would sell out because Teddy was speaking. He was all the things we've read he was- handsome, charming and he knew how to work a room like a champ. But seeing the totality of his life discussed and written about this past week, I realized that Teddy’s life has something very important to teach entrepreneurs and business owners: Find a niche, discover what you are best at and stick with it. Teddy found what he was best at - being a Senator, drafting and passing legislation that helped people.
He stuck with it for 47 years, never giving up on what he believed in.

And he clearly believed in all of us. Highlights of his legislative career in include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and 1965 Immigration Reform Act and he did all that when he was 30 years old. In a special commemorative issue of Newsweek, Kennedy is quoted saying, "If you look around the world today, and you think of what progress we have made on eliminating discrimination on the basis of race and religion and national origin and gender and disability and sexual orientation to some extent, the last 50 years have been a major, really major kind of revolutionary period."

Thank Senator Kennedy for finding what you are best at and helping million of us do the same.

Believe in you,
Nell

Hey Snap Out of It! Marketing Doesn't Have to Be Expensive!

Nell Merlino — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:37:00 EDT

It is just so typical - me worrying about how chubby my arms look and Isisara noticing her "peanut head" as we made marketing videos in the office conference room this week. It was surprisingly easy, once we got past our momentary “body hang-ups", using the talents and simple Cannon camera of Sara, our wonderful summer intern, a pile of books for a tripod and the inspired short scripts by Isisara Bey. Amy, Isisara and I took turns sitting in front of the camera. We made the short videos because like all small businesses we needed a fast, inexpensive, flexible and personal way to market to our community about Count Me In's upcoming fabulous Leadership Institute. It is a great way to go -you get to speak from the heart and put it up on your web site fast.

Please take at look at our results at countmein.org and be inspired to make your own marketing videos and come to The Leadership Institute.

Believe in you,
Nell

My First Employee

Nell Merlino — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:16:00 EDT

Lindsey Pollak is a bestselling author, speaker and consultant specializing in Generation Y career and workplace issues. She is also the campus spokesperson for LinkedIn. Lindsey is a participant in the Make Mine a Million $ Race.

My name is Lindsey and I am afraid of having employees.

There, I said it.

For the past seven years I’ve been building my business as a writer, speaker and consultant specializing in Generation Y career and workplace issues. Every day I counsel young people on how to get jobs and advise companies on how to acquire the best young talent. I believe deeply in the importance of training and developing the next generation of global workers. And yet, even as my business has grown significantly, I haven’t entered the fray as an employer myself.

I know I’m not alone in my stuckness in sole proprietorship. Last night I had dinner with a friend who is about to fire an employee who isn’t working out. “Managing people is by far my least favorite part of my business,” she told me. “I wish I could just do everything myself.” Another friend recently admitted that she regularly turns away business because she is so averse to hiring help.

I can’t speak for my friends, but my apprehension about employees comes from a few different issues. Number one—and again, I doubt I’m alone here—I worry that if I am not personally involved with every project at every moment, my entire business will spontaneously combust. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but only a little. Second, I’m scared to take on the responsibility of someone else’s livelihood. What if my largest client evaporates or I am hit by a bus and unable to generate revenue while I recover? And third, what if I hire someone who seems great and then turns out to be a serial killer or—worse—an annoyance to have around?

Well, despite these fears and others that pop into my head at 4am, I have finally decided that the growth of my business is more important than the potential dangers of being a boss. I have finally acknowledged that it’s not just beneficial, but essential, for me to have another person’s skills and perspective. And I have finally realized that I can hire an employee on my terms, in a way that works for me. I’m starting small—with a part-time assistant who does most of her work from home. We’re one week into the arrangement and I am happy to report that nothing has spontaneously combusted. What has happened is that I’ve freed up some much-needed space in my day for more thinking, more brainstorming, more networking and more down time.

I’ve only taken a baby step, but I’ve started. And more than fear, I’m starting to feel excited about the opportunities that will be created for me, my business and the person I’ve hired.

My name is Lindsey and I’ve felt the fear and hired an employee anyway. I hope you will, too.