Insights and Inspiration to Unleash Your Glinda Within!

Mountains, Molehills and Moccahcinos 

Starting your own business isn’t unlike hopping onto a roller coaster, you know.

You’ve got a great idea, your shingle is up for all the world to see, and you have your oh-so- fabulous chocolate-brown and cherry colored business cards in hand…all aboard! The train is about to leave the station.

The anticipation is building, the adrenalin starts to pump through your veins, and the adventure of starting something new is like your first encounter with DuWop’s Lip Venom. Wowza! Yet an odd silence permeates the air. What the….

You check the phone lines - no messages. Check the Internet connection - it seems to be in working order. But the silence hangs in the air; it’s almost deafening. CLICK CLACK. CLICK CLACK. The sound of the car working its way up the track pierces the cloak of quiet. Ladies and Gentlemen, you have arrived; you’re now face-to-face, and toe to toe, with your first learning curve… a vertical climb that would surely scare Sir Edmund Hillary himself right back down Mt Everest.

CLICK CLACK. CLICK CLACK. Time creeps by. Your palms start to sweat and your stomach lurches. But remember: there’s no place to go but up - honest and for true -, so keep that nose to the grindstone.

Your efforts ultimately pay off, and you find yourself in a place where you can, if only for a moment, glimpse a view that can only be described as extraordinary. Your sweat equity has paid off and has boosted you to lofty new heights you might never have imagined. And then, just when you’ve adjusted to this new vantage point, caught your breath and slapped yourself a quick pat on the back…whoosh… what goes up, must come down!

And so goes the journey of a Glinda in the making.

As an entrepreneur that was still wet behind the ears, I attempted - on more than one occasion - to fire myself. Realizing that a self-served pink slip wasn’t really an option, I had yet another shazam moment. The challenges of starting a business, and all of its frustrating bits ‘n bobs - more often than not disguised as heavy boxes -, weren’t going away anytime soon. They were, in fact, part of the process. It’s nature at its most elemental; a neutron has both a positive and a negative charge. Such is life.

Having finally found something other than a Chai latte that gets my blood pumping, I thought to myself ‘Self, if I can’t appreciate and learn from both the everyday ups and downs, then what’s the point anyways? It was time for an attitude adjustment…either that, or time to don a green apron and start with the milk steaming.

I also had to do away with another propensity that my personality had a bit of an affinity for… give me a molehill and I can whip together a mountain for you in no time flat! I’m happy to say the drama queen has retired her crown… for the most part. It’s an interesting exercise in learning the difference between reacting to a situation versus responding. The latter is much easier on your biorhythms.

Like a great roller coaster ride - let’s be nostalgic and make it one at Coney Island! -, there’s really nowhere to ‘get to’. It’s important to have a business plan, sales goals,  marketing objectives and such, but it’s a mistake to believe that our happiness relies on achieving some ‘thing’ and getting to that next place.

This affliction has reached almost epidemic proportions and has been coined ‘Destination Addiction’ by Dr. Robert Holden in his book Happiness Now. The chase is on because the bottom of one mountain is always the beginning of the next. Once a goal has been achieved, there’s another one waiting in the wings. Life is forever expanding and thrusting us forward. And, disguised in that very process, is a plethora of opportunities to discover something new about our business and ourselves, seeing they tend to travel as a pair.

Tibetans don’t say we conquer a mountain, they say, the mountain lifted us up.
Smart.

At the end of the day, it’s not about conquering the mountain, but about conquering the small, nay-saying parts that, at times, take up far too much real estate inside us. Go. Fight. Win. Simple as that.

So, whether it’s riding up a lurching roller coaster, climbing a mountain or scaling a learning curve, you’re sure to be guaranteed a view that couldn’t have be seen otherwise.  It’s not always easy, but it’s most definitely worth it.

So fasten your seatbelts, and give your ‘Glinda’ the ride of her life!

‘Creators of Cool’ Reveal Their Success Secrets

Cristina Bartolucci, Co-Founder DuWop

Success at work can be short-lived if success at home is not part of the equation. Chatting with Cristina, I found that creative balance is an asset that not only comes in handy as a makeup maven, but is also a necessity as the mother of two young girls.

Seem the two go hand-in-hand!

I have been blessed with well behaved children, thank goodness, and it’s rare that I need to dole out anything disciplinary. That was challenged the other morning, though. My daughters, ages 7 and 11, were bickering and refusing to get dressed for school. Ignoring both my and my husband’s ‘cease and desist’ requests, as a consequence I told them that neither of them could have any candy that day or the next. Knowing that their favourite babysitter was coming that night with treats in hand and that kids love their candy near more than life itself, I figured I had solved the situation.

No sooner were the words out of my mouth, my seven year old burst out crying… seems I had forgotten that the next day was Easter! How could I deny them Easter Baskets from P. Cottontail? So I moved the second day of the punishment to Monday. After a little thought, she started crying even harder saying between sobs that the babysitter would be bringing special treats for Easter that night. Mommy, how could you? I told them I was sorry, but they would need to think about their actions and the outcome (i.e. a candy-free zone), the next time they misbehaved.

Parenting, like staying true to your entrepreneurial spirit, can be like walking the tightrope in the center ring at times. In this case I felt like I was being flexible and balanced, without being a pushover!

PS: Mommy and Daddy ate the candy.

glindagirls.com is tickled pink and peach to add Elixrstix to its menu of delicious DuWop products. Infusing the ancient healing traditions of Chinese medicine, DuWop has collaborated with e•lix•r Tonics & Teas to create Elixrstix, a beauty experience unlike any other. Blending the healthy elements of the e•lix•r tonic with the aesthetic beauty benefits of a gorgeous, non-sticky lip gloss, Elixrstix provides moisturizing coverage, giving a gorgeous glow of color, while delighting the palate. The Elixrstix glosses come in four colours, designed with four different effects in mind: Pink Clarity for mind-over-muddle; a sheer nude to wear for that all important exam (the ginkgo biloba and green tea leaf extracts are said to help concentration); Energy, a sheer pink that will perk both your psyche and your appearance up; Harmony calms the mind, and Serenity relaxes the senses.

Gotta love those ancient Chinese secrets!

Glinda Girl Trunk Show Temptations

Holy Moly Guacamole! 

This month’s food fare comes courtesy of Shannon Dee, one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school. Okay, she’s only a few months older than me, but our friendship goes waaaaay back! While we met under very, shall we say, ‘intoxicating’ circumstances, her soirée hosting skills have always been second to none. Shooter parties with strobe lights where dancing on the ping pong table was a common occurrence…good times.

Now that we’re all grown up, the fun hasn’t stopped, and I was thrilled when she hosted a glinda girl trunk show that was the talk of the block. The star of the show was her guacamole recipe - a humdinger of a dish that was good reason to arrive early. Bon Appétit!

To remove the meat from the avocado, cut it in half; then using a paring knife, cut just down to the peel in a crosshatch pattern on the separated halves, and slide the meat out with a spoon. Leave the seeds and ribs in the jalapeno if you like your guacamole hot, hot, hot!

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed if desired, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to taste
3 ripe avocados
1 medium tomato, seeds removed, cut into ¼ - inch dice

1. In a medium bowl combine the salt, onion, jalapeno and cilantro, using the back of a wooden spoon.
2. Cupping the avocado with the palm of your hand, split it in half lengthwise and remove the seed. Slice it lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips, then crosswise to make ½-inch dice. Scoop out with a spoon. Add the avocado to the bowl and mix thoroughly into the paste. Add the tomatoes and cilantro, if desired, and serve with corn chips. The dip can be refrigerated in an airtight container, with a piece of plastic wrap laid directly on the guacamole to prevent it from discoloring, for up to 4 hours.

Insights and Inspiration to Excavate Your Glinda Within!

Wrapping up a wild and frenzied chapter of my TV career in Toronto, the only direction I knew I was heading - cue the urbane cowboy saga - was West. All fancy-pants campfire coffee and mountain top vignettes aside, the compass didn’t afford much in the way of additional insight as to what I was actually going to do with my life once I got there. Oi vey. The car packed, my life’s possessions in tow…I had 3 days and 2,700 miles to figure it out.

No problemo, n’est pas? Ha! In this fast-paced, gotta-find-my-groove world, I felt just a wee bit under the gun to come up with a life-changing game plan. Not the most conducive vibe to inspire one’s next career incarnation, but it was what it was.

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‘Creators of Cool’ Reveal Their Success Secrets

The Breast Friends Do Some Dishing About Their Best Selling Cookbooks. Having raised over $700,000 to help individuals in their fight against Cancer - Making a Difference Has Never Tasted So Good.

Four years ago we were ten women trying to console a good friend that had lost 2 wonderful young sisters to cancer. Our initial intention was to put together and sell a small community cookbook to raise funds to make a donation. Margaret Meade once said ‘that there is no more creative force in the world than menopausal women with zest.” Let me tell you these women have zest. We cooked and ate and took pictures and ate, and laughed and typed and retyped and ate. In the end we had not only compiled a cookbook -we had done our own photo shoots, amassed tons of information about breast cancer, obtained permission from the dozens of sources to reprint it, gathered humour and quotes about women and hired a printer, a shipper, a graphic artist, a photographer, formed our own publishing company, put together the book and gained many pounds.

We got out our check books and it took us ages to muster the confidence to actually order 2500 books. At that point most of us believed that we would have books in our basements for the next 20 years. The first shipment was gone in a month - so we thought we would try one more time and we ordered again. We waited a long six weeks for those books to arrive and they lasted exactly three days.

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Breast Friends Release “Breast Wishes” The Third Serving in Their Best Selling Trilogy

They’ve done it again! Good things come in threes, and these books are definately a good thing. These are the same ten women that started this journey, a few more grey hairs, many more wrinkles, 9 more grandchildren, 4 more retirees, and certainly more wisdom about cancer. During the last four years they’ve listened to thousands of women’s stories about their fight with cancer. They’ve had the pleasure of spending time with women affected by this disease, from all across Canada. Their first book was written to help deal with grief - sisters, friends and a mom lost to breast cancer. Their second book was written again in the midst of grief - this time, a husband lost to melanoma, and special family and friends lost to other cancers. Breast Wishes was written to celebrate the thousands living in spite of this gruelling disease- Survivors, Warriors, Women of Strength.

This is a book of hope; their focus is on life and the positive steps, small but positive happenings in cancer treatment. The women they discovered on their journey have taught them so much. They are truly amazing. They are the Women of Strength this book is dedicated to and who inspire us all on our life journey and whose stories they have shared among the recipes in the book. Net profits from each book are donated to cancer agencies, equipment, research or patient needs.

Glinda Girl Trunk Show Temptations

The Breast Friends’ Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

The glindas and I took to the road last December for a trunk show in Lloydminster, AB; the home of my very first professional career move…a writing producing gig at CKSA television. And my cousin Koree was very much the hostess with the mostess! Together we spent many a summer not only working tirelessly to perfect our waterskiing techniques, but also as attentive students while her Mom, imparting her domestic knowledge, tried to teach us the fine art of perogie making. Please note that ‘tried’ is the operative word here.

While that was the first and last time I attempted to make perogies from scratch - consider yourselves safe - Koree and I both inherited this Cheese Ball recipe from her mom courtesy of the Breast Friends cookbook. Her mom is one of the infamous menopausal women with zest, aka the glindas behind the best-selling Breast Friends cookbooks. Their third book became a national best seller even before the print had dried. Now that is mmm mmm good.

Bon appetite!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

Not your garden variety cheese ball! This is sweet and can be served as a dessert or in an evening appetizer buffet.

1 - 250 g package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

An assortment of graham crackers, biscotti, thin chocolate wafers or vanilla wafers for dipping.

Beat soften cream cheese, butter and vanilla until creamy. Slowly add sugars until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. The mixture will be very soft and must be placed onto a piece of plastic wrap, formed into a ball and refrigerated for at least 1 hour. Roll ball in pecans. Serve with assorted sweet crackers.

Insights and Inspiration to Help Excavate Your ‘Glinda’ Within!

Finding Your “IT” Factor

What do I want to be when I grow up? Is this my bliss? What is IT that I am really suppose to be doing with my life?? Those are the questions that have prompted a plethora of probing conversations. Some happen over non-fat, half-caff lattes with friends, others on the phone with life coaches and many, many others appear spontaneously, self-induced, typically on Sunday nights when we’re trying to find a reason to go to work on Monday morning to a job that undeniably feels like — work. So where is “IT” hiding and how do I get me some of that?

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‘Creators of Cool’ Revealing Their Success Secrets

Michelle Shaw

Shaw Treatment ~ body care products for a better you and a better world.

In starting Shaw Treatment we spent nearly a year of planning, researching and ‘doing our homework’. And when we finally launched our first 3 products in the summer of 2006, the customer response confirmed that we were indeed on the right track! From that point on we referred to it as the “WOW Factor.”

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