Cork Brigade helps Wind Foundation for Women
July 19, 2010
Cork Brigade helps Wind Foundation for Women provide scholarships for older women studying for non-traditional jobs
Partnering with TerraCycle, goal is a million corks in a year
Linda Wind was looking for unique ways to fund Wind Foundation for Women, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization she recently founded to provide academic scholarships and mentoring for women in non-traditional job fields. The dynamic founder of Wind Enterprises and the annual Possible Woman Conferences wanted to combine doing good with going green.
“I learned that collecting ‘waste’ materials can raise funds and help the environment,” says Wind. “Why not try to collect a million corks in a year? That would make a statement and help fund our scholarships and mentoring!”
Wind is partnering with TerraCycle, a manufacturer of some 50 eco-friendly products sold at major retailers like Walmart and Target. TerraCycle also runs national collection programs that pay non-profits to collect used packaging. In Dallas, Wind Foundation advisor Cheryl Jensen, a leadership consultant and executive coach, has recruited 50+ restaurants and wine bars to participate in the Cork Brigade.
Anyone can participate – call Linda Wind to find out how to sign up to ‘get paid for trash.’ It’s really easy and takes about two minutes to get registered. Restaurants and other establishments should contact Linda at 972-724-3646, 770-856-4767 or Linda@WindEnterprises.com.
Scholarships funded by the Cork Brigade will be presented at the next Possible Woman Conference, scheduled for April 12, 2011 in Atlanta.
VisionQuest™ Weekend at Serenbe
May 4, 2010
Join us July 9-11, 2010 as we embark upon this most amazing weekend of a lifetime for women. Experience a weekend of courageous conversation, deep reflection, shared information and noble inspiration. This VisionQuest™ Weekend will help you define your roles as a woman, and integrate your inner and outer self as you explore the many facets of the feminine psyche. You will learn about the Greek goddesses Artemis, Athena, Hera, Demeter and Persephone, listen to their stories, and experience firsthand how their lives will guide you in your quest to answer the questions Who are You and What Could You Be?
Highlights of the program include: interactive, in-depth workshops; an evening of mystery, festive celebration and fun; lasting transformation, celebration and change; private time to spend as you choose; personal solitude, a labyrinth experience and connections with other women leaders.
Download the VisionQuest™ Weekend event flyer NOW! (549 KB .pdf)
To view or print .pdf files, use Adobe® Reader®. Select the image to the left to download a free copy.
Political Strategist Donna Brazile to Keynote Luncheon at Possible Woman Conference in April
February 15, 2010
Political Strategist and Commentator Donna Brazile to Keynote Luncheon at Possible Woman Conference April 20
Presented by Wind Enterprises, Possible Woman Leadership Conference 2010 – POWER CONNECTIONS — Women Linked for Strategy, Significance and Success!
Other keynote speakers are Gail Evans and Lisa Earle McLeod
Veteran Democratic strategist and political commentator Donna Brazile will speak over lunch at the 2010 Possible Woman Leadership Conference. POWER CONNECTIONS — Women Linked for Strategy, Significance and Success! is the perfect theme for the 14th Annual Possible Woman Conference, which meets this year at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Tuesday, April 20.
Brazile is an on-air contributor on CNN, NPR and ABC where she regularly appears on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” The first African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign, Brazile worked on every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000. She has been named one of “20 Remarkable Visionaries” (The Oprah Magazine), “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington” (Washingtonian) and “50 Most Powerful Women in America” (Essence).
“Donna is such a presence!” says Linda Wind, president and CEO of Wind Enterprises, presenter of the conference. “She offers incredible insight and has been very well-received as a speaker.”
In addition to her television work, Brazile is a syndicated columnist, adjunct professor, vice chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee and founder of Brazile and Associates LLC, a general consulting, advocacy and training firm in Washington, DC.
She authored the best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics. She is passionate about encouraging political involvement for women and young people and about recovery efforts for her beloved native city of New Orleans.
Time to Invest in YOURSELF and Your FUTURE!
February 12, 2010
Launch of the Wind Enterprises Membership Program & Speaker Series
2010 brings the official launch of the Wind Enterprises Membership Program & Speaker Series, featuring two major components: the Wind Enterprises Speaker Series and exciting discounted offers from our speakers, sponsors and strategic partners valued at over $10,000 retail. Our WE Speaker Series features accomplished speakers who are experts in their individual fields, talking about leadership development, health and wellness, social media, gardening and landscaping, marketing, raising venture capital, resume writing, cross cultural communications….and the list goes on! A complete list of speakers and topics is available, and we are adding speakers every month, thanks to a collaboration with Ruth King, CEO of Ribbon, The Internet Broadcasting Network and a Silver Sponsor of Wind Enterprises. We have worked on taping speakers and sessions for more than a year now and have over 100 wonderful speakers to present to our valued Members!
There are three choices of Membership; Monthly for $9.95, Annual for $75.00 (47% off monthly rate) and Lifetime. After selecting which category you want, simply sign up. Then every month you will receive alerts giving you access to additional 30 minute video-cast presentations from our comprehensive library of Speakers. Members receive access to discounts and monthly downloads from our speakers and partners. Where else can you get all of this for only $9.95 a month? After April 30, 2010 the Membership Fee will be go up, so be sure to sign up NOW!
Six Simple Ways to Harness the Power of AND
December 16, 2009
Lisa Earle McLeod is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, business consultant and inspirational thought-leader. She is the author of several books, her latest The Triangle of Truth, as well as Forget Perfect and Finding Grace When You Can’t Even Find Clean Underwear.
Wind Enterprises is happy to have Lisa as our guest blogger for the month of December.
“Instead of thinking in terms of either/or, we’ll get better results if we think in terms of AND.”
Either/or thinking is the bane of human existence.
Whether it’s business, politics or relationships, either/or thinking dumbs down pretty much everything. Be it an interdepartmental turf war or an argument with your spouse about the best way to load a dishwasher, the moment we descend into an either/or, I’m-right-so-you-must-be-wrong mindset, is the very moment we lose the opportunity to create anything better than what we’ve already got.
Either/or thinking is easy to spot in others. Who hasn’t been frustrated by a black/white thinker who refuses to see any perspective except his own?
Yet many of us fall into the either/or trap ourselves, without even realizing it. Like when we assume that the boss can either side with us or our hopelessly misguided coworker. Or that we have to choose between being a good parent or a good provider, or that life is a quest for either love or money.
However, instead of thinking in terms of either/or, we’ll get better results if we think in terms of AND. As in, perhaps the boss can implement your ideas AND those of your coworkers. Maybe there’s a creative way to be a great parent AND a great provider, and have a life that includes lots of love AND money.
Here are six suggestions for harnessing the power of AND in your own life:
1. Make peace with ambiguity – AND takes longer than either/or because the solutions aren’t always readily apparent. But wading through a little uncertainty is how you make things better.
2. Withhold judgment – Passing judgment too quickly shuts down the creative process. When you immediately decide that something, or someone, is wrong, it prevents you from seeing the positive kernels buried inside. The idea might be half-baked, AND some elements of it might be great.
3. Question with curiosity – Jumping to all the reasons why something won’t work – my spouse won’t go for it or I can’t afford it – takes potential solutions off the table before you’ve even explored them. Instead, try asking, “What element of this might work?”
4. Lose the labels – Labels are helpful when it comes to file folders, but they don’t serve us well when it comes to people and ideas. People are both good AND bad, and their ideas are both right AND wrong. If you find yourself saying the words bad AND wrong a lot, stop. Chances are, you’re missing about half of what the world has to offer.
5. Eliminate should – Just because someone once told you that good parents, or nice people, or hard workers “should” act a certain way, doesn’t mean that model still holds. Trying to adhere to a one-dimensional version of the way you think you should be diminishes your own potential. However, if you can open your mind to the possibility that you can be this AND that, you’ll tap into more of your own internal power.
6. Take a breath – Either/or thinking is a reactionary, fear-based thought pattern. But if you can take a minute, take a breath, and remind yourself that everything doesn’t have to be settled right now, and that life doesn’t always have to go exactly the way you scripted it, you’ll open yourself up to a whole host of new options.
AND – It’s a simple word, with the power to change everything.
Time to Give Thanks
November 20, 2009
We’re proud to have Tricia Molloy as our guest blogger for the Thanksgiving Holiday. You can find more from Tricia on her website at www.triciamolloy.com
As Thanksgiving approaches, thoughts turn to gratitude. For some, it’s the once-a-year holiday ritual around the dinner table as each person proclaims what they’re most thankful for. Family. Health. My job. This meal.
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude throughout the year, however, is nothing short of transformative. That’s because of the universal law that states: What you focus on expands. In other words, what you appreciate appreciates. And, where attention goes, energy flows.
Here are three ways to demonstrate the power of gratitude.
- Feeling fearful? Who isn’t these days? The good news is that fear and gratitude cannot coexist. The next time you’re worrying about money, your business or your children, stop and take a moment to count your blessings. One of the best ways to get a good night’s sleep is to write in a gratitude journal before bedtime.
- Dealing with challenging relationships? It might be your boss, client, spouse or teenager. Refrain from criticism (what you think, as well as what you say) for one week. Instead, focus on the qualities you most appreciate about that person–even if it’s just that they teach you to be more patient. You’ll begin to notice that the energy will shift and the relationship will be more positive and productive.
- Turbocharge your goals. As you begin to plan for the New Year and list your resolutions, be thankful for what is and what will be in anticipation of your success.
For more inspiration, check out my friend Vanessa Lowry’s “Days of Gratitude” blog.
Trust in the Workplace
October 23, 2009
We are pleased to have the Chic Entrepreneur herself, Elizabeth Gordon, as our Guest Blogger talking about Trust in the Workplace.
As a successful, professional woman you have an optimistic attitude and probably like think that everyone is a good, honest, capable and hardworking person – However you are also smart enough to know that is not always the case. A savvy business lady is never so naive as to forgo her due diligence.
Choosing who you do business with is just as important as what kind of business you do. Avoid getting burned by those not worthy of your time or talents – not to mention your business – with these Chic Tips:
- Make sure you meet all the parties involved. If you are hiring a company – ask to meet the person who will be doing the actual work. For a strategic alliance with another firm, you want to meet all the key players on their end.
- Ask for references – it may seem a bit old hat in the socially networked world of today, but not everyone has a public persona online, if you’d like more information about someone you are thinking of doing business with, ask to speak to some of their other business associates. Have specific questions in mind to ask when you call such as did they meet deadlines, di they have strong work ethic, be specific about what you want to know.
- Know your own ethical boundaries and be firmly rooted in them in all your business dealings.
- Make ethics part of the conversation – don’t assume everyone agrees on what is right and what is wrong.
- Notice your first impression. If you don’t feel comfortable with someone, you are never really going to be able to trust them 100%.
- The eyes don’t lie. Are they comfortable with eye contact or do they get shifty. Body language reveals many clues if someone is trying to deceive you.
- Ask your intuition. Your intuition acts as a natural guidance system. The more comfortable you are in your own body, the better able you will be to hear the wisdom it is trying to share with you.
- Recognize when you’ve trusted the wrong person and get out. Things changes and sometimes so do people. Be aware enough of what’s going out to remove yourself from a bad situation as soon as you recognize it as such.
Trusted relationships are the fabric of society and the fabric of your successful business. You’re too smart to get burned by those whose integrity is not inline with yours. Learn to make good decisions about who you choose to trust, and see more people start to extend their trust to you.
Chic Entrepreneur Elizabeth Gordon is an advisor to entrepreneurs and business leaders. A pioneer in the feminine approach to business, she is the founder of Flourishing Business, an advisory firm for entrepreneurs and the author of 23-week Amazon bestseller, The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels. She is the co-creator of Your 48 Hour Day: The World’s Simplest Time Solution and on the Board of Directors of Pink Payments, merchant services solutions for women. Elizabeth is a 2008 recipient of The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 Up & Comer Award for Atlanta’s best and brightest professionals for her business achievements, civic involvement and impact.
Leading the Organization that Survives
September 22, 2009
We are pleased to have guest blogger Rick Meekins, CEO Aepiphanni Business Solutions, talking about Leading the Organization that Survives. Enjoy!
How do you know you’re a leader? “Well, if you look behind you, you will find people following you!” says author and Dean at Regent University, Bruce Winston, PhD in his CD “Table talk”. He goes on to say, ” if nobody is following you, then you aren’t a leader. It’s as simple as that.”
Anyone can get into business – or so they say. Staying in business, however, is the challenge. The Small Business Administration provides figures that suggest that roughly 20% of business last more than 10 years. Of course, some of these businesses merge with or acquired by other firms. Others, still, might be franchises that are assumed by other companies. Natural, economic and personal events impact even more. None the less, most businesses that start never thrive as functional profitable businesses, and a functional, profitable business is often the product of its leadership.
If you want people to follow you, they need to know that you can make GREAT DECISIONS! Does that mean that all of them will be right? No! Must they all make sense? Yes! Does this apply to every leader? Yes! Running a business, no matter the size, requires a great number of decisions to be made, every day, such as:
- Do we start a new marketing campaign
- Has this product reached the end of its life cycle?
- Should we consider offering this customer a discount?
- Should we spin off this business unit?
As a business leader, you are the one who must make those decisions. To be successful as a leader, you need to be able to make a lot of decisions, effectively – which means that while every single decision may not be the right one, you’ve got plausible tools to be able to make that decision. Four tools that we believe will have the greatest impact on decision-making are:
- A passion for what is possible
- A commitment to managing priorities
- Reliable information or a reliable information source
- Courage to assume risk
Having these tools in the right perspective will increase your ability to make good decisions for your company. You will look behind you and see that people are not only following you; they are committed to the same goals and vision you have! The ability to drive your company’s vision is what it takes to lead the organization that survives.
CEO, Aepiphanni Business Solutions is a Strategy Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of business leaders and executives. We specialize in helping people get into business, and stay there. We welcome clients in the personal and professional services industries, including restaurants, catering and event planning. As always, we welcome your comments, thoughts, questions and suggestions. If you are seeking a business assessment, or have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give Rick Meekins a call at 678-265-3908, or email us at info@aepiphanni.com.
The Art of Intuition
August 3, 2009
We are pleased to have guest blogger Cheryl Jensen, CEO, C and S Knowledge. Great thoughts on intuition guided decision making. Enjoy!
Last week I saw the picture of a U. S. soldier overseas in a war zone on the front page of the New York Times. That, in itself is not unusual. What was unusual was the caption underneath it explaining how the young man had pulled his unit back while on patrol, just before a blast took place on the path they were taking. Call it what you will, luck, good timing or training, I like to think of it as the wonderful tool of Intuition. I frequently hear men say women have intuition but they don’t. I disagree. It is a talent and skill both possess. Our gender stereotypes have reinforced the acceptance of the idea women are better at it than men, but I don’t buy that and neither should you. The difference is women don’t mind claiming it. In fact, most women I know are proud of it. Intuition is a wonderful gift. It’s the mind’s way of taking in information and processing more than the logical brain can put into words. And with practice, intuition can become a powerful tool, especially for leaders. It’s the urge, nudge, or gut feeling that comes to all of us. So, for anyone interested in making better decisions, listen to the message of your intuition. The worst mistakes I’ve ever made, were the times I didn’t!
Resume 101 – How to Land that Job and Keep it Too!
June 4, 2009
We are pleased to have guest blogger Beverly Molander, President, Next Step Network. LLC, who will share with us how to write that DREAM resume that will help you land that job and keep it too! Enjoy! Linda
Most of my clients come to me after they have spent hours trying to make themselves look good on their résumé and then realize that their product is blah, boring or unbelievable. Some feel uncomfortable because they have time gaps or painful job experiences that might hinder them from being hired. In their minds, they have already lost the job they want so badly, and it all goes downhill from there.
That is why I say that a résumé is a psychological tool. By writing a résumé that works for you, your confidence increases dramatically; and that helps you through the résumé submission process as well as the interview. By writing the right résumé, you are putting yourself in motion…already moving towards your Next Step.
As a résumé expert, working with clients on taking that Next Step, I remind them, “Focus, not on where you have been, but more importantly, where you want to go.”
Your résumé is not about your past as much as it is your future. When it comes to writing about your past experience, you can quickly build an “information logjam” – a whole pile of details that keeps you stuck and doesn’t allow you to flow freely on to your next job.
It’s time to highlight the experiences you’ve had that will move your forward, and slough off the things that are no longer necessary.
Lots of factors enter into creating a résumé that works for you, and finding your focus is just the first step in clearing the clutter.
Now you are ready to develop your Summary of Qualifications, where you can bring out general attributes that will catch the reader’s eye. The Summary takes the place of an Objective, which is usually either too specific (“senior management position in a mid-sized accounting firm”) or too broad (“to work for a company where I can use my best abilities to further company growth” – YAWN!).
In a Summary of Qualifications, you can highlight the generalized knowledge, skills, and abilities that they want and that you can bring to the table. If there are specific attributes, like exceptional training, foreign language, international experience, or experience with Fortune 100 companies, short mention of these can call positive attention to you. That encourages the reader to look more closely at you as a job candidate. Phrases like background in, professional experience in, skilled in, ability to, proven abilities in, will help you come up with a great paragraph with approximately five sentences or bullets.
As you move into the Professional Experience category, make sure that, when you list your jobs in reverse chronological order (most recent first), you look back at the Summary so you can justify what you said with cold, hard, honest facts.
There are many more variables to consider in résumé writing; however, these ideas can get you started on the right foot, so you can get ready to take your Next Step!
Our guest blogger, Beverly Molander is a resume and Next Step expert. She owned The Résumé Company for 15 years before shifting her focus to Next Step Network, inspiring people to take that Next Step in their personal or professional lives. She can be reached at (404) 931-7333 or molander@nextstepnetwork.net.
