Sponsor a Teacher Revived!!!

I cannot express how excited I am. As most of you know I had made the decision four or five months ago to let go of the non-profit I started in 1998 as I could not get enough 'umph' behind it to really make it successful and I was running out of steam myself.

Well .... inspiration hit me last night and I am totally rejuvenated and over the moon at the possibilities for it. The best part is I don't have to worry about the change of focus affecting my designation as the focus is still the same ... supporting public school classrooms to improve the educational experience of the students ... but now it is embracing a 'green' perspective.

Sponsor a Teacher will be working with those classrooms who want to embrace a 'green' approach to their educational experience thus ensuring their students embrace an environmentally friendly learning experience and lifestyle.

I am not 100% sure how this is going to happen or unfold over the next few months but stayed tuned also ...

We are reviving our board of directors and need to find six amazing individuals who are a variety of backgrounds that would like to spend 2 - 3 hours a month at a meeting lending their time, expertise and financial support.

Your time would be the 2 - 3 hours at monthly board meetings and other communication between these meetings.

Your expertise would be in either Marketing, Public Relations, Legal, Financial, Education - K-8 or 9 - 12 teaching or administrative, and IT.

Your financial support would be to bring with you potential donors and donations to help cover the costs of administrative services and overhead fees such as web hosting, website design, marketing, and public relations costs.

Please contact me if you are interested in becoming an active and participative member of the board or would like to volunteer your time/services to help get this amazing program off the ground.

Have a wonderful and abundant 4th of July!

Namaste,
Karen

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Therapy in Transition LLC & Sponsor a Teacher Program Inc.
www.therapyintransition.org & www.sponsorateacher.org

Priorities ... Hard to Discern Sometimes

This morning I am sitting here trying to drink a cup of coffee to give me an energy boost while my son is napping; living on 2 hours of sleep I feel my priorities for the day begin to shift - and shift dramatically. My husband tells me to put everything on hold and go take a nap while Caden is sleeping. This is all and well but my two dogs are requiring some attention too as well I promised an associate I would get to the work requested today. So go figure the day I really want to spend my time completing a project is the day I am more exhausted than I have been since he arrived. Strange how the universe gives us cues and clues as to what is not resonating with our true purpose in life.

I have been trying to cut ties with this organization for sometime now but finding I am sticking it out to ensure I get paid my outstanding balance. I know continuing this 'old' type of work focus is not supporting my higher purpose nor my passion for life. It drains my energy and I see this seeping into other areas as well.

I had my first client yesterday post-baby and it was terrific. It gave me energy to get a lot completed in the last few days. I now realize how much I have really put on the back burner over the last three months and it is overwhelming to think of getting caught up.

My priority for business needs to be marketing - attracting new business to me; I also need to be developing a few new products. I made the decision that I am going to expand the Tito's Touch product line by the fall and to include a few infant/baby products as well. But how do I research and develop the new products while I am pulling the rest of the marketing together. Ah ... deligate!

I made a new 'friend' through LWL and her business is in offering virtual adminstration support - Jackie Nees - Integrity Office Solutions. I feel there is definitely a match here. I need to deligate more and in one area I need to make sure I am staying compliant is with my finances - monthly, quarterly and annual reports and filings. Outsourcing this I believe will be my first priority as it ultimately can give me the largest liability exposure.

Lot's to think about and now I am off to see the wizard - about prioritizing that is.

Until next time, thanks for reading and embrace your inner wisdom.

Namaste,
Karen

Getting Back to Basics

I am sitting here nursing my son and reflecting on my first day of training yesterday. I have three more full days and I am beginning to see how I needed to begin again and get back to the basic of rebuilding my business after taking some time off to be with my son.

Earlier this week we decided to inject a base amount to cover the next six months worth of expenses as a loan to the company. My intention is to build a strong enough marketing plan to provide a full client base by October 1 and then I can begin repaying the loan back with a goal of a repayment period of a year.

This has been an interesting exercise since I am having to balance caring for my son and two dogs with the business research and planning. Not the easiest when we are stilling getting him into a sleeping schedule etc. But I will survive :)

I made the decision last night that in order to make sure I get enough practice of what I am learning this weekend to offer free craniosacral sessions to the local LWL members. This acts two fold - obviously - one to gain practice hours in and two give exposure of one skill set to potential clients. Within an hour I had four women email and request a booking. So this makes me both excited and nervous all at the same time. I have a woman who will come over and look after the baby and dogs while in these sessions but the doors have not been installed and the 'decorating' of the practicum room has been on hold due to giving birth. The benefit of these four appointments is it will act as motivation to make changes in there weekly to ensure as more members come and then discuss with each other their experiences they will be noticing the changes to the environment as well. I am confident more women will be contacting me to take advantage of the offer. I am excited as this one step/approach has me fulfilling at least three goals I have set.

Jumping on twitter https://twitter.com/kmkleinwort has forced me to really become aware of how I am spending time - thanks twitter! Please follow me by the way and I will follow you too! I have decided because of this new found awareness that my blog postings will begin to be and need to be more of what my original intentions were - focus on the building of my business - what is new and exciting while giving some of my business wisdom away and offering tidbits of guidance on how to handle change in our lives.

My goal is to keep these short as well. So until next time ... embrace your inner wisdom!

Thanks for reading.

Namaste,
Karen

Firing the Boss?

I read this biz blog on MSNBC this morning. The title certainly caught my attention and I have to agree with most of what Eve Tahmincioglu has to say. I have witnessed entrapranuers not recognizing when they have outgrown themselves in their companies. I currently consult with a company and the founder shows classic signs of not wanting to let go of the reigns. He certainly believes he is surrounding himself with the correct individuals but yet he hasn't really. They are for the most part yes men who will do his bidding and will raise their concerns but defer to him even when the topic is not his area of expertise. Frustrating to say the least.

I have this concern for myself. As I move forward with Therapy in Transition I am seeing how big this can really become. It does scare me but I believe if I keep reading stories and blogs such as these and holding the intention the right person to step into CEO position comes along that I will definitely recognize it. I just hope a part of me really is that person :)

Reading this biz blog this morning has certainly opened my eyes a little wider and my thoughts inquire how many other individuals who have started their own business in the last six months have already begun thinking about such things?

Thanks for reading. Embrace your inner wisdom.

Until next time, I am in gratitude for all you do.

Karen

Parents Arriving and Other Thoughts

Today my parents arrive from Spaniard's Bay Newfoundland Canada; they were suppose to arrive last night but they were delayed due to fog. A little dissappointed? Yes but I would rather they arrive safely than not at all.

Starting your own business can be extremely stressful. There are many decisions to make and in most cases with limited funds. I have been a management consultant for the last four years and as a result I do have an income already. These funds are obviously useful to pay ongoing bills but it is enough to allow me to have a little extra for starting this company.

We decided one of the most important elements to inject some of our hard earned savings into is the logo - you know - the icon which gets burned into consumers minds so they instantly recongize you. Through a resource directory - The NW Women's Directory - I found an amazing young woman - Kelli who is a graphic designer. We hit it off with immediately, she is extremely talented and also very reasonable on my wallet. We are excited about this new partnership and how positively it is going to support our business plan.

Why at this point might some of you ask is the importance of spending a few thousand dollars on such an item? Well it is all about setting yourself apart, making yourself instantly recognizable, establishing yourself only once, and effectively communicating who and what you are. This ladies and gentlemen is called Marketing 101. One of the biggest mistakes a new company can do is to keep changing their 'icon' or their main visual message(s); doing this keeps your consumers confused and in the mind set that your organization is not established. This lends to your target audience (the people you would like to have use your goods/services) to go somewhere else. As you know yourself the last thing you want to do is go into a partnership (the moment you exchange any goods/services with another you enter into a partnership - it is just the length of the partnership which becomes questionable) with another individual/company that is unstable. It is because of this we are choosing to invest, yes it is an investment, into our new company these funds to ensure our message to our audience is clear, concise, consistent, and effective.

Well, I am off to write and establish policies today before my parents arrive ... fun eh?

Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.
Karen

Welcome

Hey ... it is the Summer Solstice today and what a great way to celebrate by starting something new and completely different. I am new to blogging and haven't really thought of myself as a blogger but this morning I was hit with the inspiration to become one. As I was sitting drinking my morning coffee while working on the website of my new company I received this, I guess the best word to describe it is inspiration. Ironically I still have not even read any other blogs to see what people are writing about and discussing but I trust my intuition that starting this blog is something which will be good for all those which are drawn to read, comment, and share.

My intention is to post four or five times a week to share my experiences of starting my own business - Therapy in Transition. Oh I grew up in a family owned business so being in business is not new and I started a non-profit organization called Sponsor a Teacher Program which ironically and surprisingly has been a long time in the making; but this organization my husband and I are starting is really about me embracing my own personal growth experience while truly allowing my passion for helping others to shine through without allowing fear to enter into the race of finding success.

I hope by sharing my experiences of starting my own business that those individuals which read my blog will enjoy it, learn something, and be willing to share it.

Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.

Karen