by Donna Johnson on June 27, 2007
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the World Health Organization reported that mental disorders comprise 4 of the top 5 sources of premature death and disability in 15 – 44 year olds in the Western world. Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating forms of mental illness. Of those who suffer, only a few receive the treatment they so desperately need. Christopher Coles, my brother, is one of those few.
I am so pleased that our father, who passed away 2 days ago, lived to see Chris enjoy being gainfully employed and living a full, independent and productive life.
Chris receives counseling and medication regularly, and battles daily to maintain his wellness. He lives with the grace and dignity he inherited from our dad. You can enjoy a bit more of Chris’ story in a local newspaper that was published today.
Our father would be — no, is — proud.
If you or someone you love suffers with mental illness in shame and silence, help is available. A good place to start is NIMH’s resources page.
by Donna Johnson on June 26, 2007
Parents Of 5 Stir Up Indie Business Success
Welcome to Indie Business TV, where we empower you to enjoy your life, build your business and have your way!
Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Nikki Rodriguez of Augisa Natural & Organic Beauty. Nikki is a member of the Indie Beauty Network and she runs here business from her Charlotte, North Carolina-based home. Between them, Nikki and her soon-to-be-husband have 5 young children. I caught up with them at the Augisa booth at the Art & Soul Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina’s historic South End.
Thanks for tuning into our first episode. If you think you can’t have a successful business because you’re a busy parent with a lot of other important responsibilities, Nikki offers encouragement to just get out there and do it.
For more tips on making your business and lifestyle all it can be, choose from dozens of Indie Business Radio shows, by download or stream.
IBTV’s next episode will feature the information you need to understand and procure affordable products liability insurance for your business.
by Donna Johnson on June 23, 2007
Taken following my daughter’s pre-K graduation ceremony a few weeks ago (that’s her in the yellow dress), this photo captures the joy of life through the eyes and squeals of several 5-year old girls. Life can be difficult between this stage and adulthood. It can even have a way of stealing the kind of purity of heart that is captured in the faces of these precious little ones. There was a time when I had lost my joy, but God restored it several-fold in many ways, the most profound of which is The Indie Business Way.
The Indie Business Way
- The Indie Business Way gives you confidence. Just when you think you’ve encountered a business wall you cannot scale, or a customer returns your products in a huff, you find the strength to climb a little higher and chalk your mistake up to experience. You learn to welcome the challenges. Each success leads to another. Each mistake makes you better. Soon, there’s nothing you can’t do.
- The Indie Business Way empowers you to help others. When you build something from scratch, you learn a lot. Along the way, a lot of people help you. You may have formal investors or friends who give you the money to cover the phone bill now and then. Or maybe you have a spouse or sibling who chips in during busy times to package products or help you update your website. When you humble yourself and allow others to help you, you are empowered to in turn help others.
- The Indie Business Way makes you smile. When you start with nothing and end up with a valuable asset, it feels good. And no matter what else comes your way, you always have something smile about.
by Donna Johnson on June 22, 2007
The feds don't do much to help today's family make ends meet and find that elusive thing called work/life balance. But how much do we expect them to do?
This morning, a Good Morning America segment reported that the Workforce Protection Subcommittee today takes up the topic of work/life balance, focusing on families where one or both parents have traditional jobs. I'm all for a federal policy on the issue but in the end, how much good will it do? Time will tell. In the meantime, why are so many depending on the feds to create their balance instead of doing it for themselves?
Whatever happened to family planning? Just like a business can be planned in advance of its launch, so can a family. Before starting a business, you determine whether there's enough money to give birth to the business. If there isn't, you either don't start the business or you delay the start until you can lay an economic foundation, or at least have a plan to.
- Yes, there are layoffs, serious illnesses, foreclosures and other life occurrences that can put families in positions they could not have anticipated.
- In my family, a sudden job loss in 2005 cost us 60% of our income in one fell swoop. At the time, we had two toddlers, aged 3 years and 16 months.
- A serious family illness came next, which costed tens of thousands of dollars and nearly destroyed our family and our fledgling business.
- We might have spent time moaning about how unfair the layoff was or how the government wasn't doing enough to ensure that we had the kind of lifestyle we wanted.
- That seemed like a time waster, so we bootstrapped our business into the black, and today, we enjoy the perfect lifestyle for us.
Through the Indie Beauty Network, I personally know hundreds of men and women across the nation who launched home-based or close-to-home businesses before becoming parents or shortly thereafter so they didn't have to rely on a job or the government to create the kind of balance that suited them. There are no guaranteed subsidies, no meal tickets, no parental leave, no extra tax breaks, no sick days and no handouts.
Some say that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. That's like saying that high school is not for everyone. For today's American family, creating some kind of income stream apart from the government and a traditional job is not an option. Where entrepreneurship is concerned, there are two camps: those who wish they were entrepreneurs and those who are glad they became entrepreneurs.
Today, there is an Entrepreneurial Imperative and I'd like to see Congress hold hearings on how we can empower American families to become Indies, creating income and work/life balance on their own terms.
Entrepreneurship is for everyone, and the sooner we embrace it as a nation of parents and families, the better off we'll all be.
by Donna Johnson on June 21, 2007
I am celebrating today because my friend Jacci Thompson-Dodd’s new book, Whole: Women Healing Ourselves With Loving Energy: 12 Principles For Rebuilding Life After Breast Cancer, is finally available!
Jacci is a wife, mother and health care professional whose career has focused on implementing programs to serve the African American community. She has been working diligently over the past several months to assemble her new book, which is based on her work with cancer survivors. "Cancer survivors are released from treatment with a lot of medical information, but little instruction on how to nurture themselves holistically — mind, body and spirit," says Jacci. Along with her social marketing firm, We Speak Loudly, this book changes all of that.
While geared toward breast cancer survivors, WHOLE is a wonderful tool for any woman who has been through any type of trauma, including the challenges of life we all face. There are healthful recipes, suggestions for meditation and even some of Jacci’s original poetry. There is also a companion WHOLE "Spirit Journal" to help you chart your journey.
And much to my delight, the book includes a chapter on how to make your own body care products, and many of my favorite recipes are included. Jacci says that to Restore (Principle #7) means to "lavish loving energy on yourself," and her book includes many of my favorite recipes to help you do this: Honey Sugar Hand Scrub, Vanilla Rose Brown Sugar Body Scrub, Honey Powder and more. (Additional recipes are at MakeYourCosmetics.com)
Jacci took a few minutes from her busy schedule to share some of her story, and to share some tips for aspiring self-published authors.
Continue Reading…
by Donna Johnson on June 20, 2007
40 is the new 20, which makes me 24.
While I am The New 24, my eyes are painfully unaware of the latest sociological perspectives. So my dear friend and fellow Indie Business owner Kevin told me I needed some reading glasses. He had a pair with green frames, and they looked pretty hip so I tried them on and then picked up a copy of a nearby newspaper.
Whoa!
I was dizzy for a few seconds and then enjoyed the written word from a whole new perspective. These are the spur of the moment, unplanned pictures my husband took to memorialize the moment.
All hail the mature Indie Business owner! Age is irrelevant so long as your passion remains in tact and you have something of value to offer others.
I was so smitten that Kevin ended up giving me his glasses. My husband, who is The New 25, promptly swiped them.
Are you a mature Indie Business owner whose passion will outlive your eyes and possibly other body parts? What passion? What body partis? Tell me about it!
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the World Health Organization reported that mental disorders comprise 4 of the top 5 sources of premature death and disability in 15 – 44 year olds in the Western world. Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating forms of mental illness. Of those who suffer, only a few receive the treatment they so desperately need. Christopher Coles, my brother, is one of those few.
