To the Next Level..


“Good Things Come to Those Who Hustle”- unknown
In my last post I spoke about 2012 being the year like never before and brainstorming on the action that is going to have to take place for that to happen. I am determined to have my year hold true to this and build my CREATIVE EMPIRE!
So what ideas have I come up with to make this happen? Well oddly enough in my personal brainstorming discovery session, I realized I have to DO THE WORK PERIOD. Its not rocket science but when life happens and you have your hand in a lot of pots it is difficult to make sure everything you want to achieve.
So I have devised a plan of what I am going to do to take things to the next level. If you read business blogs then none of these “actions” are new but they will become active in my life as its time to step it up a notch or two or three LOL
My plan:
I’m picking 2 personal projects and working them until completion.-Thanks so much to Kesha Bruce and her master plan consulting on this one. I was able to tell her everything that I was working on and we chopped it down to small goals that will all lead up to the bigger picture. Much like what I do for the students that I work with but its totally different when its my own art, as my friend Lynn Renee once told me “its easier to tell someone things you should be doing yourself” that is so true. I need my own accountability partner.
I’m starting an emergency fund! - I have always invested my money, but it has been random, and without reason! I was like hmm I like Science and Technology so let me send some money off to invest in that. I didn’t really have a plan. Back at the beginning of winter I signed up for Dave Ramsey’s Financial PeaceUniversity at my church and it was awesome! So this year I have began to start saving for my emergency fund, and please join me in praying that once its completely funded that I don’t have to ever access it LOL
I have an unofficial advisory board- Birds of a feather stick together right? I am pretty lucky to have friends and colleagues whose grind is just as hard if not harder than mine to bounce ideas off of, but this time around and on a more consistent approach Im going to set up meeting with folks who I think are at top level (def more top level than I am) to check in with to get an outside perspective and make sure that I am staying on the right track! Basically this is a group of people that I don’t go out dancing with over the weekends, and thinking of fake names to give to the random man who has somehow managed to dance with me for about 3 songs, and now has me tied up in the corner professing his love for me. (Although everyone is invited to come!)

I think that’s a great start! What things do you have in mind to take you to the 2012 !

New Year ! New Words! My 3 Words for 2012

Happy New Year! 2012 Can you believe it! I hope you were able to bring in the New Year safely with a bang. I kept my New Year pretty low key attending church with my girlfriends Niehla and Teslyn, and watching fireworks at Navy Pier with the fella. The pastor shared that 2012 is THE YEAR OF NEVER BEFORE! That really energized me! I’m looking forward to seeing what 2012 will bring for my family, friends, and me and my business.
I spent this week doing a lot of goal setting for myself thinking about what I would like to accomplish and just like every other person that is blogging I too would like to share my goals here.
I am keeping up with my new tradition of selecting 3 words for the year, a idea I adopted from marketing/media man Chris Brogan. I still have goals and I have even stolen other goals (Heather over at Habitually Chic, has a resolution, I mean goal to wake up earlier that’s a really good one!) But the 3 words I feel throws all those goals and projects into one of the three words.. So lets get into it. Here they are and if you have 3 words for 2012 feel free to share them in the comments:

Stephanie's 3 Words for 2012:
Risk: I really want to step out of the box this year, changing up my hair, trying a new marketing plan, working on new projects and just all around make myself more vulnerable to my art and more open to sharing what I am working on. If I am feeling uncomfortable about going a certain direction that’s probably exactly what I should be doing.

Complete: This is so simple here, I just want to finish what I start. I have a lot of things on my plate and I am not complaining here. It’s crazy how the things that I want to happen in my life actually happen and being very busy, having lots going on is exactly what I want.  Thanks to artist consultant Kesha Bruce I have selected two personal projects that I am going to take on this year and complete and I am really looking forward to them. I should really blog about my experience with Kesha she is all that and a bag of chips and I would encourage all creative folks to sign up for her blog. I’m eager for movement in 2012

Discipline: From losing 50 lbs (already down 15 by the way) to saving for my emergency fund and living on a … BUDGET to returning emails in a timely matter and visiting my godson and cousins twice a month, there are  set of things that I need to complete on a daily basis and I just need to get them done. I thought that discipline and complete could be almost the same thing but I am going to keep them separate because Discipline will keep me moving forward and compete is , well completing whatever the task at hand is.

So there we have it Stephanie’s 2012 Goals in 3 Words, so just wish me luck because now I have to COMPLETE all that I have said in this goal. LOL

Share your goals or words with me in the comments.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your day


Goals, Goals, Goals!!! What's 2012 going to be about for you?

Goals, Goals, Goals!!! What's 2012 going to be about for you!
Its that time of year when everyone is thinking about and setting goals for 2012.  Everyone is blogging about goals for 2012. We have the ultimate goal setting in my office at work, where we list 3 goals for each of the following categories

Appearance, 
Spiritual Goals, 
Personal Goals, 
Work Goals, 
Health Goals, 
Family Goals, 
Social Goals,  
Finaincial Goals.

If that wasnt enough I told myself that I was going to create a 3 word theme like I did last year (see that post here) on what it is that I want to focus on for the year. 

Fast Company had a really great article on The One Resolution You Need to Make in 2012 that really stuck with me and I am going to make sure I do RIGHT NOW! So check that article out

Now is the time to brainstorm and think about wht you want 2012 to bring for you. So get to brainstorming because I certainly am about what I plan to accomplish and focus on for 2012 and post it somewhere where you can review it



Make Beautiful Things, even if nobody cares. Saul Bass: On Making Money vs. Quality

If you are not familiar with the work of Saul Bass, its all good. Saul Bass was a graphic designer and filmmaker. I'm not that familiar with his films but Saul is responsible for some of the most iconic logos in ever including one of my personal favorites, the Girl Scouts of America logo.
In the short clip Saul explains his ideals on money vs. quality.  and I love what he has to say!

Enjoy!

Let me see what apps you got...

I get asked this question all the time in social situations from other fellow iPhone-ers. Its like by swiping through each of my screens you can quickly run down my personality or something.. so weird, but I get it, afterall this is the day of "sharing information" and something that I have on my iPhone might be useful for you. With that being said I wanted to post a few of my ultimate favorite iPhone Apps that I think everyone should use.

Evernote: I have Evernote installed on my phone, my desktop, and my laptop its the ultimate note taking, bookmarking, scrapbook app out there. All in one. For sure, I use to store qucik reference shots that I need for a meeting, i jot quick thoughts when I am reading articles, or see something, I copy and paste great quotes that I see on someones Twitter feed. Its really all that. Plus its FREE and it syncs on all my devices for one big happy place.

Wunderlist: Same as Evernote I have it synced on all my devices. Its a simple task list, and you can keep notes under each task . You can share it with others if you need to , but its not all that serious for me. I still use post its and random paper but then I think, Oh yeah! I have Wunderlist and then I just transfer everything to it or Evernote. Free App def worth it!

This app (yep! another Free one! All about the frugal life over here buddy!) Is Perfect! Just plug in your original price and the sale price and BAM!! You are a savvy shopper on the go and no more feeling stupid counting on your fingers in the middle of Urban Outfitters. You just look like your texting while you are trying to figure out if the 30% off Frye Boots get to come home with you or not.
*update*- this app now costs 99 cents but if you are numbers challenge which I can def be sometimes, its still worth it, and this app can also calculate buy one get one too! YES!!
My Fitness Pal: Forever on the road to the healthy kingdom I really like tracking my food and physiocal activity with the My Fitness Pal app, I have used a few others (Spark People and Lose It!) but MFP (My Fitness Pal) has a clean design, and the barcode scanner works perfectly each and every time for quick tracking!! Oh.. and you know its free!!

So I will stop there! Maybe add more at another time, and of course I would love to hear what your favorite iPhone apps are so chime in the comments section!

Im off to the APA/ASMP Bar Night!
Enjoy your evening and thank for reading






 


and now we wait.....

I recently submitted a grant proposal to the Annual CAAAP Grant, from the group Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers. I never applied for a grant before so I figured this would be good practice and also a great opportunity for me to work on a new body of work. Thankfully the executive board gave us some tips for writing grant proposals, but I also found a wonderful resource here that helped me complete my proposal. You can check it out here 

so now that I have my proposal in, I am sitting back praying and waiting.
Wish me luck!

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish"- Steve Jobs


“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”- Steve Jobs
RIP Steve Jobs 1955-2011

I posted some thoughts on Steve Jobs on my Tumblr page. You can check it out here 

I was happy to hear that when Steve made his transistion he was surrounded by his family. This made me happy because as much as Apple products have been apart of my life, I never thought of his personal life. God Bless Steve and his family.