Another TwentySomething

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“JUIIICCCYYYY” (bump bump budda bump bump)

“It was all a dream!…..” (Notorious B.I.G’s deep voice)

is exactly how it all started for GenJuice. Three young ladies(Arielle, Virgillia, and Danielle)  would sit down at a coffeeshop (with a group of 12) to discuss their dreams including goals, roadblocks, etc.   However, this was just the beginning! The “Sit-downs” began to grow and grow where it amounted to 50 people both in California and Singapore meeting biweekly! That’s CRAZYYYY!!! This dream has not only grown into a network but is well on its way to becoming a movement. Correction. It is a Movement!

This summer, GenJuice launched a tour that consisted of  visiting  13 cities in 40 days. I jumped at the opportunity to register for their hosted Unconference in NYC after hearing Arielle’s interview with my buddy/fellow blogger Tony Ruiz. I know what you are thinking… what the hell  is an Unconference? ( I admit, I didn’t know exactly myself oops). According to WiseGeek an unconference:

[Does not] have a specific agenda [and] attendees are expected to actively engage in the event. To date most unconference types have been held in what is called the “geek” community.

When a [unconference] begins, people write up things they’d like to discuss, or things they’d like to present. An agenda for the weekend is then decided, usually with significant break time for small group discussions

In a nutshell, this is eactly what happened at the GenJuice Unconference but too bad it didn’t occur for a whole weekend Maybe next time???

I wanted to share with you a few things from the Unconference:

I was able to meet:

1)  Coach Jennie ( a life coach): @CoachJennie is wonderful woman who wants to help people  have the AUDACITY to defy obstacles and create fabulous lives. I hope to have an interview with her very soon and of course you will see it here!

2) Ryan Stoner from The Cashflow- The Cashflow is an incubator for young urban entrepreneurs. Ryan gave us very good feedback on our pitches toward the end of the Unconference ( I love this word!).  FYI…they funded Carrie from GoodieBox Bake Shop and  they are looking to fund 100 startups with 10 G’s!!! So hop to it!

http://thecashflow.com

3) “A recovering entrepreneur”! – his exact words.

I learned:

1) About Stunt Marketing and how they can be used for win-win situations  in getting the word out for both parties involved. Check out an example here:

2) Experiences of a failed startup from a “recovering entrepreneur”:

- “Be a cheap bastard” – Cookforgood.com is an awesome site on cooking healthy food for cheap.

- Stay at your 9 to 5 as long as you can until you have a plan and gain clients. Let someone else pay for your startup.

-Get a “Job-Job” & around networking events.  Creative ideas tend to form during mindless jobs. Networking events tend to be in the evening so you don’t want to get a “Job-Job” that has you working at nights. Makes sense right?

I discussed:

As mentioned before, an unconference begins with people writing what they would like to discuss and at some point we break off to small discussion groups. We had an agreement that if you were not fully engaged, it was ok to get up and move to the next group without coming off as being rude. I decided to participate in the topic of “How to make a movement out of an Idea”.  This is where I learned about Stunt Marketing from Danielle in addition to the basics of coming up with a title of the movement (KEY) and answering the following questions (it’s good to write these down so they can become engrained in your mind):

- What do you want to see happen?

- Who do you want to associate with?

Lastly, I pitched. Stay tuned for my personal project!

Whew! I know this is an exhausting post but I felt it was necessary to share with you the JUICE I received from the GenJuice Tour! To top off the Unconference, a large group of us ended the day with some tasty Dim Sum! Mmmmmm!

Do you have any experience with attending conferences/unconferences? Have an interesting story about your entrepreneurial ventures? Please share in the comments below!

Until Next Time.

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I had the great opportunity to interview Carrie Spindler, the executive chef and owner of the GoodieBox Bakeshop; a virtual bakery specializing in cupcakes, cakes and pies. She was able to discover her passion very early which helped tremendously in her transition from a corporate environment to the entrepreneurial path. I have also had a chance to taste her products (cupcakes)and they are f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!! My favorites are the lemon meringue and red velvet! Check out the video to hear more about her story as she starts from scratch.

Carrie Spindler can be contacted via Yelp or visit her website The Goodie Box Bakeshop

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Photo Credit: The Goodie Box Bakeshop

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The word “Networking” has been around for quite some time, yet oddly enough it seems to be the latest buzz word that coincides with social media. The social applications that have been introduced and developed for the past decade has connected millions of people from places that you only dream of. Who would of thought that you would have a bunch of friends from the online world that could be added to your inner circle of offline friends? However, there is a catch (sometimes).  You may never (I don’t like to say never but I just wanted to put it out there) have the opportunity to meet your online friends or maybe you will.

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I was never a fan of Mister Rogers. But no one can forget  the infamous “Do you want to be my neighbor?” at the beginning of each episode where he hangs up his coat, puts on his red sweater and exchanges his shoes for sneakers. A new lesson was taught during each episode as Mr. Rogers talked in a montone voice and we were brought to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe (puppet characters) by a train going through a tunnel. Heh,I always got a kick out of King Friday XIII’s temper tantrums!! But lets not forget the characters in the “real world” such as,  Mr. McFeely who always delivered (I believe it’s milk) to Mr. Rogers’ house. Overall, the purpose of this television show was to present the unique interactions and  development of relationships among the various individuals (learning from one another) in a neighborhood while teaching life lessons to kids. Well, I just thought they could have shown more scenes of the Make Believe Neighborhood and block out more parts by Mr. Rogers. It’s evil , I know.

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This is my first audio interview in which I struggled to figure out the logistics for publishing but as you can see I was successful in getting it done (thanks to Srinivas & Youtube). I had the awesome opportunity to conduct Srinivas Rao’s first interview about his current lifestyle that “[we] all should be envious of” in addition to his numerous trials of blogging and finally getting it right with Blogcastfm and theskooloflife.

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 Unlearning What I Have Learned w/ Srinivas Rao [36:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 Doesn’t home made apple pie taste so much better from your mom’s or grandma’s kitchen than when you get it from the store?? You can just tell that the hands who made it took the time to make sure the final product came out perfect…. you can tell it was made out of love! Sounds cheesy doesn’t it?

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Hey Everyone! This is my first interview with the Unlearning What I Have Learned Interview Series! I am really excited to share Takeshi Nakagawa’s story (he and I go way back!)! I really hope you can learn from Read the rest of this entry →

Photo Credit: Awaytogarden.com

Is there such a thing as a stupid question?

I will let you all answer that question in the comments section below.

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OK so I have a CONFESSION to make. I was so syked and proud of myself for actually getting this blog off of the ground and so many ideas were running through my head as to what I wanted to do with it. It has now been a little over a month and I have already lost motivation. But it’s not because I am disinterested in the topic I promise! (SIGH) It’s because I am very self-conscious about what I am putting out there that the WORLD is LITERALLY reading!! I admit, my writing is not the best and one of the reasons why I started this blog was to help me become better at expressing myself. My mind drives me nuts sometimes because I come up with so many ideas (like I said on the About page, I am a dreamer) and I don’t want to come off as being all over the place! I have really big plans for this blog! It’s one of the few things I have created with the help from reaching out to others and I just don’t want to FAIL! I know I know! I should just look at my previous post and smack myself on the side of my head!

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Photo Credit: Bean Town Boogie Down

I finally decided to take the leap and converted from a PC to a Mac (Macbook Pro to be exact)!! I admit, I was kind of wary in regards to  the transition but my excitement for making the purchase definitely outweighed my uncertainty. I have had my Mac  for about two weeks now and looking back…. I can’t help but chuckle to myself (for my foolishness) and think ”what was I so worried about?!!!” There was nothing to be afraid of!!! In fact, I have fallen in love with my Mac 10 times already!!!

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