What Questions Do Customers Ask You?

Sitting down with a friend of mine who decided to join the ranks of entrepreneurs, he was puzzled by how to compete with the Goliath’s of his industry. It wasn’t service, products, or even price he was confused about; it was search.

To make it simple: what answers do you have that the web doesn’t? Can you position yourself as best-in-show when it comes to expertise?

By taking commonly asked questions to your blog and using the content for social networks you are in a prime position to win over ready-to-buy-leads.

Here is an example:

So Fido needs to be watched for a couple days and my first search is casual. I have a few weeks until I need to make a decision and my neighbor next door might be able to watch the furry beast. However, getting closer to the vacation date, I still need to choose a sitter. This time I have a dollar figure in mind so I search for:

Once again, I get three ads. Yet, what is different about this search? Some of you search savvy folks might jump up and say, “OH OH! Long tail, long tail, pick me! LONG TAIL!”. Yes, you would be right, but my conversion optimization folks would probably say this kind of search is a step beyond research: I am a user that is closer to being interesting in buying. So, dog sitters and dog sitting websites, I am a person in need of your services; I am your prey. Yet, when I was vulnerable at the watering hole only one lion was there with a result that was close to relevant. Take this as an opportunity to go back to your writing desks with a strategy to provide valuable information that will attract visitors looking to convert to customers.

Publish Both Questions AND the Answers

Writing content, good content, is going to take time. Yet, if you can imagine yourself behind the counter and a customer walks up to you asking the most common questions, how do you respond? If it helps, record yourself and type out your responses to be used in blog posts, pages and on your social media channels.

Content Dipped in Gold

Make a template: Add to your blog post or page content by making sure you answer these three questions -

1. Understand Needs: What are my customer’s needs and am I communicating that I understand what they are?
2. Meeting Needs: Am I clearly communicating and demonstrating that I can meet the customer’s needs?
3. Qualified to Meet Needs: Is it clear that I have expertise in this matter and that I am qualified to meet my customer’s needs?

Last but Not Least …

While you might think a simple FAQ page will cover your bases, it won’t. Not only does it give a poor experience to your user of having to hunt through a giant page for information, but you will also only have one page of content. Feel free to create a FAQ page that links to all your fantastic blog posts and pages to help both your users and search engines better understand what your site has to offer.Similar Posts:

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While traditionally Lyndit.com has walked the professional business focused line, this post is a little different. I want to share with you a snapshot into my first year of being a new Mom and still being LyndiT.

I am going to take the simple route, so let me know if you are interested in more than bullet points possibly followed by a generous sentence.

What Do You Want to Bring With You?

Looking back on the last twelve months, this question is really looking for the best of the best. What worked well, what was enjoyable, a lesson learned, an obstacle overcome, and epiphanies.

Adventure! Everyday seek out even a small adventure that expands the world a smidgen.

Having a hard time, not giving me a hard time – Wobbly, unstable mobility, primitive ability to verbally communicate, short battery of energy that needs to be refueled and recharged regularly. This is only the first two pages in the novel of things this kid is going through and it’s tough.

Acknowledging the cheerleaders – those who have become our family pillars are heroes. Whether we have been friends since before puberty or met recently, I have been impressed at those who pause their personal and professional lives to cheer my little growing family on. Keeping the “Thank you,” “That meant a lot,” and “I am grateful you are in my life” phases handy and accessible.

What Do You Want to Leave Behind?

Rush here, rush there – The theme of Holidays is now officially “delicious” and with that new tradition also comes the tradition of not rushing here and there. Stay awhile, enjoy, and strike up a conversation!

Saying “Yes” too often – One lesson that I am looking forward to passing down is being able to say, “No, but thank you!” Unless I am excited about it, I am not taking on anything extra. For those things that really make me feel energized I am happy to say, “yes!” with clear expectations.

Overall the first year of being a new mom can only be classified as an amazing, epic adventure (epic is being appropriately used here). I have learned to get to know myself in a whole new light. As a professional, the lessons this tiny person has taught me more than apply, they were needed.Similar Posts:

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During the summer I summon folks from all over the area to our little farm. I lure them with the promise of smores, pony rides and the best part – great company! From Seattle to Olympia and beyond, people make the drive to spend the evening around a toasty campfire sharing, laughing and connecting.

We Need Communities Now More Than Ever

And connecting people creates communities. From sea to shining sea, we need each other to tip the scales making our conversations, efforts and energy invested in constructive directions.

Why Was LT Connect Created?

I love connecting people. While I haven’t had any success as a romantic match maker, I have had success connecting great people that over time have evolved to become impressive communities.

What is LT Connect?

In my tiny neck of the woods technology is what bridges the lakes, oceans and miles. Right now, LT Connect is an email newsletter delivered to inboxes around the world! Inside this newsletter are short highlights of people and their companies looking to hire new talent appropriately labeled Opportunities, folks looking for a new job labeled Talent, and, last but not least, events happening that will foster the goal of supporting and connecting people.

Why Should You Subscribe to LT Connect?

1. You want to connect to people!
2. You are looking for a new job: The newsletter will deliver opportunities to your email including a person you can directly contact or you can submit your profile to be included and showcased in the newsletter.
3. Hunting for talent is hard: LT Connect delivers two things to people looking for talent: profiles of job seekers and a targeted, highly engaged audience to spread the word about your job opening.
4. High Value Events to Attend: It would be easy to go to an event every evening; LT Connect filters upcoming events to those that have a mission of supporting and connecting people.
5. Help Others & Support the Community: Here is your chance to connect job seekers to new opportunities. Introduce these talented individuals to contacts you believe would have some natural chemistry. Don’t hesitate to share opportunities or an event that someone you know would appreciate or benefit from.

View the March 2013 Newsletter

What To Expect in LT Connect

There is no mystery meat in this newsletter. All content is approved by the people and companies featured. Currently, LT Connect is gravitating to the greater Seattle area, as you participate it will evolve to serve communities outside the greater NW area.

How Can I Add My Info?

It’s easy, email me. Send me a short description, a photo and appropriate links to be reviewed. You will feel my beaming smile when I receive your email and we will coordinate when your post will be sent out to the masses.

Last but not least, signup to receive LT Connect: http://eepurl.com/biy1b

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Mt. Si View

There was a time when I used to hang out with a couple of Iron Man athletes. They pitched and sold me on the idea that hiking up Mt. Si (a 4 mile, steep, repetitive scenery and deceivingly difficult hike) was an easy morning thing to squeeze in. I trusted them, and I trusted my abilities as during those days I was actively suffering at Crossfit, hiking regularly and could even splurge at Dairy Queen without a budge on the scale. There was no easy button, and if there had been one I would have stomped on it with every last bit of energy I had. Like Marketing, it’s miles, the sweat and the feet on the ground that go the distance and get the results.

Pushing the Limits, Enjoy the PB&J

While I may have oversold myself as an athlete or my Ironman friends overestimated my abilities I found myself hiking up the mountain pretty unprepared for success. I clearly remember asking my two super-human friends if I should bring something, like water. “Naw, you will be fine” they incorrectly reassured me. At the top of the mountain, I realized two things: keeping up with people that can run 5 minute miles for 26+ miles is almost impossible without contemplating jumping off the trail and, hiding in the bushes, I also learned that after you suffer for 3+ hours and finally get a chance to sink your teeth into a donated PB&J sandwich it will be the most delicious thing you have ever eaten.

“Anyone who wants success in their business better be prepared to work hard on marketing.  It is part of the day-to-day work that will fuel your business. BUT if you want to sustain for the long-haul and not frizzle-fry, then figure out how to work SMART vs. working HARD on your marketing.” Lorrie Thomas, Web Marketing Therapy

Become Scrappy

If I hadn’t made it to the top of Mt. Si, I would have never known what it would take to do it. I have worked with a lot of underdogs and a few champions; some of those businesses rose from the bowels of Google to be first in every highly qualified search and converted visitors beautifully into users. Emails were sent out announcing to the whole company that our team successfully brought another customer on board which was the baton for other teams to take it from there.

In other roles, I called upon the team and my marketing MacGyver skills. As a team, we massaged leads, sometimes for more than 6 months, before we got a nibble back. The idea of gently poking leads on a regular basis paid off. Leads converted or unsubscribed and the grueling customer lifecycle became less a stretch of patience and more of  a work of art. Those tougher campaigns and goals made me, as one investor labeled me, “scrappy.”

While my previous experience and training helped get me to that opportunity, it was there on the ground, answering calls from customers and managing all aspects of customer facing marketing that, like hiking up that mountain, is what put theory to the test.

Listen, Learn, Engage

Make your climb up marketing Mt. Si more enjoyable by listening to and learning from customers, befriending analytics and engaging with your community on and offline. Run with my experience and use these tried and tested ways of keeping community management focused and most importantly fun! Taking feedback and blending it with analytic data makes perfect content strategy smoothies.

“Content marketing gives us back the one thing us digital marketers so desperately crave: control of our own destiny.” – Ben Holbrook, State of Search

Working with your marketing team doesn’t need to leave you creatively drained. Free your team, and most importantly you, from looking for viral, catchy, non-relevant content that leeches your creative fuel tank. Gather ideas from the group, your team, customers, even partners and validate it with data. Ta da! Now you have a boat load of valuable content for your audience, marketing team, sales and investors.

If Marketing Feels like Climbing a Mountain

Keep going, climb that mountain! Draw from your experience, your education and those around you to make it a successful trip. Invest the time putting one foot in front of the other, gather data, reach out, get feedback and create a scrappy strategy to reach your goals. Oh, and don’t forget to enjoy the PB&J sandwich at the top.

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Stepping away from the debate about women in tech, moms returning to work, girls taking science classes and focusing on something a bit trickier to quantify: value and idea diversity.

Old companies struggle with this already; their workforce is becoming more homogenized. Those who don’t believe in the leadership, can’t fit into the culture or couldn’t make paychecks justify all the disadvantages of working there leave. While I haven’t done enough research to submit a thesis, I am getting closer. I believe the term “people vote with their feet” is a diversity problem.

“Simply saying that you value diversity internally isn’t enough – there’s just no reason for an outside observer to believe you …” - Brett Berson, VP of Platform at First Round Capital

When Culture Fit Trumps Everything Else

Remember back in the day when you would be thrown into a team of kids that you would rather not share your grade? While that seems like a good representation of life, it’s actually more like the culture of the middle school lunch room.  People naturally gravitate towards others who are similar. The nerds hide out in the library or computer lab, the popular kids take up the best spots, the jocks, and artists all fill in and that’s the way we seem to like it.

Then we grew up.

Darn, now we have to play nice with everyone, or do we?

The idea that people vote with their feet isn’t a new thought but I like it. It gives a clear picture of someone being able to cross over a line to communicate and identify with that side. What happens when too many people get the “I don’t want to play anymore, I am going to take my ball and go home” syndrome? A lack of diversity or ideas is a deficit that will bite employers and employees in the behind.

Companies want a good culture fit. I have heard from several of my recruiter contacts that they have seen talented individuals passed up based on discrimination of age, race, physical fitness, and other silly reasons for a candidate who was otherwise fantastically qualified.  Talent is hungry for the right opportunity; they too want a job that is a good “fit” for their lifestyle, goals personality, and abilities.

Are you rocking superman abs, running marathons, looking fit and have Gaston’s charisma? Then you should apply for this budding hot tech startup on the Eastside of Lake Washington.  This company has adopted the jock table. Their values are emphasized to candidates as being “important to who we choose to put in the role”. In other words, basement dwelling, Cheetos loving geek can go ahead and take a gamble but good luck. That is an assumption, however I am sure I am not too far off.

They speak of “living the values” and emphasize how the values are important to their decision on who they want to place in the role. While I know a few excellent candidates who aren’t total couch potatoes they don’t run marathons in their spare hours, swing kettlebells or steer clear of fast food 100% of the time.

That company, like many, is very concerned about a culture fit – which is fair. However, what if one of my friends is perfect for the company’s stage and role? One person who instantly comes to mind could turn their measly 6% conversion rate to 15% while asleep, another could take their failing lead management system and make it automated, friendly and increase conversions within the leads they have already captured. They are all upbeat, friendly, get along with everyone, detail oriented, can create solid executable plans, speak up with new ideas and could easily step into a leadership position.

Here is how that example ends up. My friends will look at the culture, look down at their gut and decide whether or not they want to apply at all. Technical interviews are tough as it is and knowing you are already a pudgy, marked target is another confidence hit.  The company continues on working with recruiters to find the perfect “fit” individual; I would recommend looking at Crossfit boxes.

Attracting Diversity: An Investment in the Future

A number of years ago, I felt incredibly called to work with kids. After a little research I found Puget Sound Interfaith Camp. I joined the board, assisted with planning and participated at the camp as a camp counselor.

After watching that video and reflecting on my experience, I feel it might be the time to look at our middle school attitudes and choose to work together despite our differences. Beyond the sake of venture success, we ultimately need to encourage diversity to stay instead of pick up and take its talent, ideas and experience else where.Similar Posts:

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It dawned on my that my dislike for sales melted away when I got determined to get the big green light for funding my for my barn “startup.”

“We value quality of life above all” - Paul DeJoe, Co-Founder and CEO at Ecquire, To What Extent Can A Startup Work Without An Office?

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The question of “Who am I” or even “Who are you?” can be a daunting one to answer.

A few years ago I attended a conference hosted by Frank Kenney, called Bigfoot. An afternoon of educational sessions led by various experts in our area was great, however, the lunch keynote was ultimately what I needed to hear. Through  story, Rabbi Daniel Lapin shared how important it was to tell people who you are. He shared that it used to be that merchants would give themselves a descriptive last name to help promote their skills hence Goldsmith. The idea was to introduce yourself and immediately share how you could be of service and provide value.

Explore the Question: Who are you?

Everyone has a complex and evolving identify  Personally, I struggle with the idea that I could bottle up “me” into a clear cut vanilla flavored description. A few sentences? That doesn’t seem to cover even half of it. The challenge: create a straight forward, to the point and clear statement. I struggled with the thought that I needed to squeeze the essence out of my previous job titles in order to get the purest version of my skill set. Which wouldn’t be true as I am not my job title. I began writing down a list of prompts in hopes of guiding myself to the answer of “who am I?”

1. Is there a common theme at the core of the majority of my jobs?
2. What skills have risen to the surface and become my “cream” abilities?
3. What are my job weaknesses?
4. Where do I want to be working?
5. What is my big picture goal of working?
6. If I could do any job right now with the skills and resources I have what would it be?
7. What do I truly dislike doing?
8. What problems can I solve?
9. What are my boundaries and requirements?
10. Where do I want to be in one, three and five years?

Where to Tell People Who You Are

It’s time to do a little cleaning, dusting off of old profiles, and refocusing my pitch to those looking in from the outside. Places I am looking at updating:

Twitter: To say that Twitter is JUST a microblogging tool is a bit like saying the ocean is where fish live. Sort of… but there is SO much more. Things on my list to change are the bio, profile image, background, and header. This is where my friendly summary bio will go, one that explains me as a professional, a person and where to find out more. The background should reflect my personality, be professional, yet still genuine. I am not going to put granite in the background, that is so not me. Might go with me working outside with horses grazing in the background.

Facebook: As of this moment, Facebook is unfocused as a personal branding tool as family, friends, acquaintances, business partners and more are intermingled. My personal profile has not been a channel for leads for me, however I have it set to public so the bio, links, information and images do play a part in how I present myself. My list of things to update on this channel include the about section, links, and quotes. I may even begin to schedule out messages that will blend well with my eclectic mix of friends.

Foursquare: While I don’t see Foursquare coming up in top search results for “Lyndit” or “Lyndi Thompson,” it is still technically a landing page with my face on it. Things to update here: profile picture and bio. I also need to leave a few more tips at places beyond Costco. A brief scan over my tips and check-ins makes me look like I only grocery shop and buy horse food, which doesn’t tell the whole story. (I go to cool stuff too!)

Instagram: With the recent profiles, Instagram has bumped itself up as one of my absolute favorite new channels. I love the ease in which to engage with content, the simplicity of the interface and, if I so choose, the rich amount of content I can search. Things to update on this channel: bio, link and profile image. I also made a note to start adding images that are beyond the farm like more professional snapshots of my marketing life. Print work, events, and other things to position myself on this channel beyond baby and animal photos.

LinkedIn: Updating and cleaning up this channel is a bit like a trip to the dentist, it needs to be done a few times a year – at very least! LinkedIn showcases my skills, work history, testimonials, links, bio and more. This is my professional landing page, a page I have seen convert into many leads, clients and contracts. Tackling LinkedIn is becoming a very important area for presenting the answer to “who I am” online.

My website: Looking back at older pieces I have written, I see where I was and smile at where I am now. Traffic has significantly increased, visitors check in with my latest ramblings and I have found my approach and philosophy to online marketing, branding and tips to be good but not consistent.

The question, “Who am I?” took me on a journey. I got to jog down familiar trails that need a little sprucing up and explored new areas that have lots of potential. Holding on to the idea that an identity is always evolving provides a great deal of freedom to explore and refine how I message who I am.Similar Posts:

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Once upon a time in a far off land there was a belief that working hard at a job for as many years as you could stand then retiring = happiness. Yes, there are cases where this is still true. However, the curse of that assumption was broken by entrepreneurs. Their ambition, big ideas and action taking attitudes is the kind of magic I believe in. That magic is what many startups, small business and self employed people have found gives them a satisfying job and allows them to have a life full of twists and turns keeping them on their toes.

For those poor souls who have adopted the poor man’s mochas, find themselves in meetings preparing for the next meeting, and are begining to resemble a zombie clocking in then groaning they are suffering from burnout.

This is not a rare condition, and from my research 90% of people say they at one time or another suffered from burnout. The other 10% – they are liars.

Draining yourself to the point of burnout is avoidable.

Feeling stuck in a soon-to-be-burnout inducing situation isn’t mandatory. Whether you are working a 9 to 5 job, living the startup life, or juggling a mix of family pat yourself on the back and breath. You are doing a great job! However, it is time to refresh

1. Get away and review
2. Schedule regular and small breaks
3. Hang out with Family
4. Lock down a vacation
5. Do something outrageous

5 ways to avoid burnout at work by CNN Money

Curiosity and a pinch of change are the secret ingredients to cure burnout

Ever notice how an oddly irregular day that shakes up the routine  snaps you out of a rut? A little whirlwind can put things into perspective and spark what I call the cure to burnout: curiosity.

It might be time to signup for an REI Adventure, read The Art of Non-Conformity or do some deep cleaning of randomness. While the saying “light a fire in your heart” sounds fancy, it’s really more like light a fire in your head. What gets you thinking? You might be surprised to find your curiosity leads to doors opening in more directions than you thought possible. It starts with a inquisitive positive thought which leads to bright eyes, a refreshed perspective and attitude.

“To make it to the top, you will have to put in long hours. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer used to put in 130-hour workweeks at Google, including regular all-nighters in which she slept under her desk. She managed to avoid burnout by being invested in — and keeping a positive attitude toward — her work. As she told Joseph Walker, “I don’t really believe in burnout. A lot of people work really hard for decades and decades, like Winston Churchill and Einstein . . . Burnout is about resentment. It’s about knowing what matters to you so much that if you don’t get it that you’re resentful.” –  3 Ways Successful Women Entrepreneurs Apply Work Ethic, Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

When burnout has consumed you, time for an action plan:

“If you are feeling stressed out or exhausted, this means it’s time to pull back, recharge, and consolidate your energy. Scattering your energy all over the place is unproductive and will cause you more harm than good.” ~ Tonya Sheridan, Life Coach

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While it may sound awkward, I want you to Google yourself. Add ego-surfing to your buzzword flashcards. What do you find? Oh! Don’t forget to look and see what comes up for images too. You may or may not be surprised what you find.

Tackling Personal Branding

Step one: don’t panic.

Step two: Personal Branding is for You. Whether you are happy at your current job or not, flush the myth that personal branding is only for job seekers and politicians.You can build a brand anywhere and anytime. I know some amazing engineers that have a legendary personal brands beyond their 9-5 job.

“Gone are the days where you’re either an employee or an entrepreneur. We now have a culture that supports being a mixture of both” – Christina Smith, Your Membership.com

Step 3: No excuses. I get it, it’s easy to ignore home improvement projects. Heck, I am still working on cleaning up from last winter’s savage rampage on my trees. If you have let your personal brand get a little dusty and rusty it is worth the effort to shape it up.

“If we don’t carve the time to learn about the things we want to learn, we will never do them.” – Frances Advincula, Femgineer.com

Step 4: Choose You. This may just be one your most challenging efforts thus far – pick out your photo. If it’s been 5+ years since your last “me” photo, it’s time to update it. Skip the professional headshot taken at work, the glamour shot you did with your buddies and any photos you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the newspaper. Go for natural, smiling and personality filled photos.

 ”Realtors are notorious for using crummy, outdated photos. I rejected a realtor once because her photo was so… fake.  She had done some good branding work, but when I met her in person I was literally taken aback. She was at least 25 years older than she appeared in her photo. I didn’t discriminate because she’s old, I rejected her because she wasn’t honest with me. She purposely — knowingly — misrepresented herself. And for me, that’s a deal breaker.” – John Furgurson, Brandinsightblog.com

Step 5: Sales is not a dirty word. I have come to understand that sales is a very broad term that for many years left a icky taste in my mouth. Today, it describes the process in which someone goes from a place of unknown or little information to a place of “OK, I can work with this.” The idea “I’m sold” can apply to you too. Sell yourself how you want your story told or someone else will.

“From landing a promotion at work to convincing your Wife to go see the new action film in theaters, we’re always trying to convince other people that we’re capable, smart or any other number of factors. Personal branding is just an extension of this basic concept – it’s how we market our skills to others.” – Bill Faeth, Inboundmarketingagents.com

The breakdown:

• Personal branding is for everyone, not just for job seekers.
• Sell who you are.
• Personal branding is an on going effort, don’t let old stale photos or information represent you.

To Make it Easy: Your Mini Personal Branding Checklist

1) Facebook: Whether your Facebook profile is public or locked with with privacy settings, Facebook has made it fairly easy to see what non-friends can see. Are you projecting the kind of persona you want? Go to Facebook > Account Settings (upper right hand corner dropdown) > Subscribers > Click the link “Want to know what subscribers can see? View your public timeline.”

2) Linkedin: Don’t judge this site on its resume cover feel. Linkedin has a lot of value to offer, it’s worth taking a look at. If you haven’t already, create an account and review your information at least every three months.

3) Personalized domain: If you are still trying to rock the AOL.com email address, consider this your intervention. At the VERY least get a Gmail account. If you are feeling fancy, pick out a web address and setup your own custom email address like mine: Lyndi@Lyndit.com

4) Personal and/or business cards: While the digital age is pretty fancy, getting a tangible card is still the way to go. You can get slick cards from places like Moo.com, Overnightprints and even free cards from Vistaprint.

5)  Shake hands: In Seattle you could easily go to two networking events a day. I recommend at least two a month. Check out sites like Meetup, Eventbrite and Plancast to find events in your area. Shake hands, pass out your cards and share a few dozen conversations. Steer clear of the liquid courage and save those drinks for other events with less prime photo opportunities. What goes on the internet, stays on the internet.Similar Posts:

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Our culture is in puberty. It seems to have gotten stuck in the forgot-deodorant-for-PE stage for awhile now. There are parts that just plain stink. The most recent growling, hissing and feather ruffling around the waterhole came from the idea that women can’t have it all.

Let me wet my whistle and step up onto this here soap box. As I type this post, I have a ten week old baby peacefully slumbering on my lap. I am coming up on three months of attempting to balance life that can only be described as juggling cats trying to avoid a bath.

Entrepreneurs take on washing reluctant cats every day. The ones I would label as successful struggle to balance their personal resources between directing their idea’s life and riding along with the waves of life. Opportunities come up that would be marketing gold for a future self-cloning company like having to choose between hopping on a plane to pitch to a potential investor or going to their daughter’s high school graduation.

I get it – the pressure is on.

“The decision to step down from a position of power—to value family over professional advancement, even for a time—is directly at odds with the prevailing social pressures on career professionals in the United States.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter, The Atlantic

Going it alone gives impossible a permanent residence.

“When you work together with your teammates, you can do remarkable things. If you work alone, you leave a lot of victories on the table.” – John C. Maxwell, The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player

Both chapters of starting a business and having a baby bring out your true fans. These are people that are willing to help you vacuum up the impossible and set it out with the trash. Our culture in the haze of “I’ll just do it myself” takes on more weight than was ever meant to be carried by one person. Too often I see people quick to point out faults while they are slow to acknowledge and celebrate progress. We build cheap bridges, expect them to hold up without maintenance and are disappointed when they fall when we most need them. Reality is photoshopped, glued onto billboards and marketed as “You can have it all!” with an asterisk at the bottom, results not typical.

I want to bake my future, decorate it with experience and then share it in celebration with my friends and family. If anyone says the sole reason I am craving a slice of life cake is because of my maternal instincts, they must also firmly believe that money grows on trees. At the present moment, there is only one real thing I should be and that is thankful. While I don’t identify with the Silicon Valley executives, I do however fall into the extremely blessed group of working moms that can work from home.

You won’t find people literally or figuratively more flexible than yogis. I have been getting to know this unique breed for over a year now, directly serving under BizeeBee‘s CEO and Founder Poornima Vijayashanker, as well as mat loving entrepreneurs around the country. I find telling Poornima’s story is an honor. Her story of being the second employee at Mint.com intrigued me during a conference she was speaking at in Seattle. That was the first of many stories I would get to hear. I have first hand seen her values of encouraging those around her to beat the odds and challenge assumptions of the impossible.

So, do I expect to have my life dipped in chrome and sporting giant Coach Cs? No. I do expect that our culture, in and out of the office, will mature and maybe even listen to its Grandma by supporting anyone who wants to have a family and a career. Anyone who wants to grow their business as well as make it to their daughter’s track meet is not crazy or asking for the world. I am not talking unreasonable and certainly not asking for the impossible.

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