Not for Sale

I've been working with my friend Allie Trowbridge on the launch of the marketing campaign for the "Not for Sale...the documentary" this week. Allie is one of the most driven people I know and also one of the sweetest! We have had so much fun!

I learned a lot about the campaign as we discussed how to maximize viral marketing potential on the web. This is alarming and heartwrenching information.

"Slavery was abolished in 1865 in the United States.
Why then are 200,000 people in this country still enslaved?"

"Slavery is currently illegal across the entire globe.
Why then are 27 million people enslaved worldwide?"

She just launched the website-- Check out the trailer!

Vision Launchers (couple Westmont guys) did the design and it looks great! These guys are so hot right now! They have some serious talent and sound like a lot of fun to work with.

I am excited to do more of this stuff!

FINISHED!

My goal was to finish the Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon in under 5 hours and today I did it! I didn't wear a watch or anything and didn't stress too much about time or how well I was doing in the larger scheme of things...I even took a bathroom break, which apparently is more than others allow themselves (crazies!). I just wanted to have a lot of fun and- let me tell you- it was FUN!


I felt really good all throughout and only started to really feel tired when I start pushing in the last few miles of the run. I finished in 4 hours 20 minutes!! It felt so amazing to finish and have a bunch of friends cheering at the finish line- I even tapped the reserve and sprinted the last 10 yards or so! I'm a sucker for the crowd! :P

I don't have any photos right now, but DJ came and shot a ton....including a video of me and Amy before the race, which was so cool of him (in spite of his mean tricks!) ;)

So...the Tri divas (was a working title- but due to lack of energy- stuck ;)- Amy, Paige and I (and Deyl too!)- are already making big plans for a Half-Ironman in Spring '08...my vote is Hawaii! I think we're addicted! :)

I have a new hero!

I have been learning a lot about social entrepreneurship and this guy has totally inspired me...in what direction?...I have no idea yet...but I am inspired! :)



Check out the video on TED!

Brotherly love :)

Brotherly love :)
Originally uploaded by vanessafelts

Thanks Stevie! ;)

Sent from my iPhone

Patience, grasshopper...

To me, patience is a buzz kill.

I love the fast-pace, passionate, adventurous approach to life and will most often surround myself with people who feel the same. That's why it's easy to love Richard Branson- (well, I think I'll buy an island today, and then a plane...)- who wouldn't love to approach life AND work that way?

I have learned recently, especially when it comes to starting a business, not to distrust the calm, prudent, decision-making approach...as much as that makes me feel like a "grown-up," which I emphatically reject! ;)

In some ways, it is important to act quickly and decisively, but for me it has been difficult to separate that from the impetuousness of youth...it is important to make sure that the thrill is not controlling you.

Most importantly, I think that it takes consciously applied patience to hear God's voice of direction. This is something I have been praying about and trying to incorporate into all areas of my life. You're welcome to challenge me on it, I love a challenge. :)

Blech

I don't get sick. I think it is a stupid mental thing. I can't even remember the last time I was sick...okay, yes I do, it was March and I had a bad experience with Nyquil b/c I had never taken it before so I didn't know that you shouldn't take it at 3am and try to work 4 hours later...I almost passed out in Paige's office. That was bad.

My mom never let us take stuff like that when I was little. If I was kinda sick, she just told me I needed to drink a lot of water....and if I was really sick, she maybe switched that prescription to orange juice...but we never took that weird stuff and hardly ever got antibiotics unless we were REALLY sick. She kinda went through a health-nut phase. I liked it though- I don't like medicine- it makes me feel funny.


But seriously, who gets sick during summer? Unheard of! I think I even have a fever. This is ridiculous. I'm mad....at least I'm not being a baby about it, right? LOL ;)

"Let me just check on that...."

I spent much of the afternoon in various banks across town...well, two actually...then on my iphone with the third. I have my personal account at Washington Mutual, my F.R. Holdings account (family real estate partnership) at Wells Fargo, and a separate savings account with HSBC. bla.bla.bla.

I think banks are so funny. They're so intent on all having the best possible customer service, which I guess they have to because if they weren't smiling and asking if you want coffee then you would simply have a conniption fit watching them run around trying to figure out their own system.

My uncle wrote me a check that I had to deposit in the F.R. Holdings account, which only has his and my older brother's name on it- finances officer and CEO, respectively- simple/easy, right? So the Wells guy just could not figure out why I wanted to deposit the check even though I told him it was for the family business.

He ran around calling the lady at my uncle's bank (who was in jury duty), working with her assistant (nada) then asking if he could call my uncle (who is in Fiji for a month)...and totally ignored me when I said it was fine b/c I'm a partner and I'm not worried that I can't withdraw and- no, it's not going to disappear forever...and 30 minutes later finally came back and said, "Wow, was that confusing! He must just have done it for tax purposes..."

I could have told him that! So of course I apologize because it must be my fault it was so confusing- but seriously- do I need to explain why I want to deposit money? craziness! (I have some thoughts on the whole run-around game with taxes- but that is another post, for another day..;)

I'm so glad I had my iphone because I could just sit their calmly and let Colbie entertain me and do my other banking online. I love efficiency! HSBC has a legit online savings account- 5.05% interest! It's like a CD, but way better! :)

just thought I'd share...

You know sometimes when you're cruising through some daily blogposts and you just keep finding one cool thing after another...so...this morning Seth really came through for me.

This guy publishes a list he calls The Personal MBA...it's a sweet tool for business education...and then his site led me to another one called Change This! It's full of manifestos that different people have contributed. How sweet would it be to write a manifesto! I'm going to have to start brainstorming that one... :)

Saturday

Deyl gave me this sweet documentary for my birthday called A Map for Saturday. It's about this guy who decided to travel around the world for a year by himself (and film it, apparently). Great footage of some of the coolest places in the world! Along the way he met others doing the same thing. They formed various little back-packer communities and created mini-realities within the whole experience. Travel can be such a funny thing...surreal and euphoric and so far from "reality," but what happens when you commit to that experience for a year? There is nothing outside of that heightened state. It was so interesting to see how that changed people. They became numb.

I know how over-played Tim Ferriss is becoming right now (you can't hate the guy for be a trend-setter/incredible self-promoter now! ;)...but I couldn't help but hear his commentary on life-deferrment and binge-traveling throughout this film. The whole theme of the film rested on the idea that "everyday was like Saturday"...meaning no one was telling them what to do, they had no structure or expectations of them- no boss. But of course, at the end of the trip they inevitably returned to "true reality." What a sad perspective, but how prevalent it is!

I have struggled between the desire to wander around the world for a while in my "youth" to live in different cultures, learn different languages, to contribute first-hand where there is great need....and the even greater desire to be creating a life right NOW- that is full of freedom to pursue all of these things, that is irrespective of my age, that gives this gift to my family one day- a lifestyle. Thankfully, the greater of the two has taken root and I feel so blessed to have been given this perspective now.

Nevertheless, as Jessica takes off the Whistler to fall in love with an Aussie mountain and run the next Winter Olympics, Layne sets out to see the vibrant colors and cultures of Latin America, and Abby runs off to Italy to drink vino, wander through street markets, flirt with danger, and teach a little English on the side...the itch of youth creeps up on me a bit. ;) It's okay...I plan to stay young forever- young and free. (queue cheesy music now...) :)

Little entrepreneurs

Paige and I have had a lot of conversations about the pitfalls of the current education system and how we would like to educate our children differently. We decided we wanted to create an Entrepreneurial School for kids that teaches them to work outside of "the system" and does not loom FAILURE over their heads. Her book is going to address a non-traditional education, informed by some of the top-achievers of today that she has been in contact with. I think that this could and should be a huge paradigm shift in the world of education!


Some educators have already moved in this direction and I love to see this happening! Paige was recommended by a local speakers bureau to speak for the staff of a non-traditional middle school for girls in NorCal. It's called The Girls' Middle School...so, the name doesn't say much, but I love what they are doing!

I also found a couple websites with programs to encourage entrepreneurship in kids. I loved this quote from a Kid's Overview section: "We have all dreamed about being a sports star, singer or movie star but once you know more about entrepreneurship, it will be the next real cool thing to be." Isn't that so true? I was telling DJ the other day that I can remember wanting to be every professional career I can think of- from architect, to doctor, to lawyer, to professor..."And entrepreneur?" he asked... "Increasingly!" I responded. :)

While I have no desire at this point to become an educator or to work toward educational reform on a massive-scale, I would love to instill the entrepreneurial spirit in my kids someday. Good thing I have at least 10 years for this idea to spread! ;)

p.s. I love that the joke is way more valuable than the lemonade- ideas are a valuable commodity- smart kid! :)

Military Intelligence

This afternoon I had the privilege of driving General Henry Mueller and his wife Kathryn to various appointments in town. They are the sweetest couple!

While Kathryn had her hair done at the beauty parlor, the General and I drove around town doing errands. He filled me in on the last 90 years of his life- most of which were spent leading infantry battalions in WWII, Korea, and during the military occupation of Japan, serving as military atache to U.S. embassies in El Salvador, Panama, and Argentina, inventing/patenting the smart cart or doing military intelligence as the assistant to the Director of the CIA. Amazing.

So...after all of this talk about the military intelligence in his day, I decided to wow him with the fine little piece of technology that some of us carry around these days. I opened Google maps and showed him the satellite image of his house- right on my iPhone! He was floored! He said, "We could have used that in Japan! We would ambush and then spend hours trying to figure out where the hell we were!" Pretty snazzy. : P