Take (Calculated) Risks: You'll love yourself for it

It's 4:48am. I'm awake -____- (obviously since I'm writing). I'm pretty sure I'm awake because I ate pasta before bed. I'm not sure how true it is, but the woman I worked for in Milan told me you're not supposed to eat carbs before bed because you don't sleep well because it gives your body too much energy. Whether or not that is true, I am awake, soooo ...

So, before I begin with my late night thoughts ...

ANNOUNCEMENT
Several people have asked me about my MODEL26 journey, ie the steps I took to create a nonprofit organization, any tips I have, etc etc. Well, I am now a contributing writer for SocialChange.is, "a story-sharing platform for social entrepreneurs to share new ideas, diverse experiences, and lessons learned from their journeys in creating innovative forms of social impact." You can find my story there (plus those of others), as well as tips and tricks of the trade that I've learned thus far. This blog is dedicated to my random dealings and thoughts, especially the 5am ones :-P

My random thoughts for this post are dedicated to taking risks, but only calculated ones. There are a few risks I've taken/am taking that have gotten me where I am today. They were/are decisions that definitely could have left/leave me out in the cold broke and homeless ... ok, that's certainly untrue, but I'm a drama queen, so I need the 'extraness.'

In the past:
My senior year of high school I applied to 4 schools (not like 889378 like some of my peers. That seemed pointless since I really only wanted to go to 2 different schools, neither of which was the school I attended :-P). I received a scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC. I turned it down and went to THE University of Georgia

, a school I only applied to because my mom made me choose at least one in-state institution. It was a calculated risk. I had HOPE, so at least my tuition would be paid for. I had enough scholarship money to cover living for the first year, but what would I do sophomore year? At the time I didn't know, but, if you know me personally, you know that attending UGA was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The scholarship money came in. I received government grants. Full scholarships to study in Belize and Argentina and a scholarship for study/work in DC. It all worked out.

I went into college as an Emma Bowen intern. I had a paid corporate internship with Comcast Communications in Atlanta and every summer I would attend at least 2 professional development conferences, and the money I made over the summer was matched as a scholarship during the school year. I interned at Comcast for 2 summers before I had to give up the money. I hated it and the money wasn't worth being misreable. I remember telling my mom I wouldn't finish the full program and she was quick to remind me that I was financially dependent on the program. My second semester of sophomore year I put my foot down and decided to resign from the program. When I called my mom and told her she was very supportive and told me we'd figure it out ... SIKE! That's a boldfaced lie. She hung up on me when I told her. She probably won't admit it, but she did. "Ma, I'm definitely not doing Emma Bowen next summer" - "OK. I'll talk to you later." *click* ... She called back a little later though and said she would support me :) The internship committment was 8-10 weeks per summer, which was basically my entire summer. So the 2 summers I didn't intern I studied in Argentina and went to Finland as a CISV leader. It all worked out. 

My senior year of college I received plenty of scholarship money, but I started my nonprofit organization the year before, and it needed money. It was too young for grants, so I used my scholarship money for second semester to travel to do some work for my organization and took out loans to cover my school and living costs. I won't lie; I'm not sure if that will pay off, but I am certainly optimistic because my organization has got me a few thousand dollars in debt, and I hate oweing people (well, except my mom. I always owe her something... conditioner, a garage door opener, something :-P) I'll keep you updated about the progress of this risk ... but it will work out.

Current risks:
I'm not getting a job when I move to Germany. I can get a visa as a freelancer. Because I am a certified English teacher and am multilingual I can prove that I am able to find freelance positions without having a company sponsor me. As long as I pay into the system, I can get a visa for about a year or two, which is enough time before I decide if I want to go to law school in Munich or Vienna. I have 3 part-time nanny/babysitting offers, so I'll pick up some extra money there, but I can't get a job now. I've been spending 30-40 hours per week doing stuff for my nonprofit and it's paying off. Things are progressing and I can't lose momentun right now. How will I live and eat? Well I am hoping the few extra dollars I make as a babysitter will at least cover my rent and bills. Everything else is optional, but, ultimately, I don't know. Things are going so well with my organization that I have to take it as a sign to keep going and wait for everything to work out. It will all work out.

Well, the greatest risk of all right now is probably my move to Munich. For a few weeks in June I tried to convince myself that I wasn't moving to Munich for a boy (partly for me, but also partly for him because he didn't want the pressure of being the reason for my bitterness if things didn't work out), but I am. I pride myself on being able to be completely honest with myself, to recognize my mistakes and my flaws. My biggest calculated risk thus far. It will all work out. :)

Moral of the story? Follow your heart.

D

Hollis is right. You shouldn't let a 23-year-old run your social media

I recently read a post by Hollis Thomases where she lists 11 reasons why you shouldn't allow a new grad to manage your social media accounts. Of course, as a 23-year-old I was immediately drawn to the title. My initial thoughts were, "Hey now! I'm 23 and I'm good at my job!" But, honestly, Hollis makes a lot of good points. These are the ones that really stood out to me:

"They may not have the same etiquette--or experience. Your recent college grad may have experience with Facebook and Instagram, but make sure you check out the substance of his or her updates and posts..."

 Hollis is right. Knowing how to use social media doesn't mean someone really knows how to use social media. The social media norms that govern business/professional use is completely different from those that govern the personal use of social media. If you do decide to work with a 20-something you need to be sure that the person you hire has experience and has even made a few mistakes to learn from.

"No class can replace on-the-job training.  Social media for business is really so many things wrapped into one: marketing, customer service, public relations, crisis management, branding. How deep is the experience of a young person in delivering any of these things?"

Again, true. In 2010, as an intern at the Center for American Progress, I went through a Twitter training with social media guru Allen Rosenblatt. He even told me, "I know you think you probably already know all this. But you don't." However, this class/training is certainly not what made me the qualified professional I am today. 2 years of learning and doing, and even messing up is what got me here. I am literally contstantly learning. Reading new posts. Analyzing new infographics. Bookmarking new sites.

"They may not understand your business.  You are handing the keys to your social-media kingdom to a newcomer, but there's plenty that he or she needs to understand beyond the social tools themselves. What are the nuances of your products or services?..."

Social media is only an extension of what you already do with branding. In order for a person to successfully manage your social media accounts they need to understand your business, your brand. If you wouldn't trust a new grad to manage your marketing department as a whole, or even effectively contribute to new campaigns and brand management, I'd say you probably don't want them at the helm of your social media

"Communication skills are critical. Communication is critical to solid social-media execution. Before you let a young hire take over your company blog posts, take stock of his or her writing skills. Also: Many young people have not yet learned the "art" of communicating..."

Now this one is very true. I didn't realize how good my communication/writing skills were until I realized how bad everyone else's was. I received resumes for the communications/social media position that was available at my nonprofit and I was, well let's say, underwhelmed at the skill level most young people had. The bad part isn't that they had bad communication and writing skills, it's that they thought they had really good comunication and writing skills.

From my experience, most 20-somethings don't have the skills to effectively manage social media accounts the way they should be done. I have to say that Hollis's post is right. You shouldn't let a 23-year-old run your social media. Unless, of course, that 23-year-old is me. :)


If you have some extra time, I definitely suggest taking a look at the full post here.

People work for people, not companies

That might seem obvious. Yes, people work for people, and not companies. Furthermore, people donate to people, not organizations. On some level, you can even argue that people purchase products from people, not from companies.

OK. So I don't really have much evidence to support the last statement LOL, but, on a superficial level, how many people actually buy Apple products because they like Apple? Personally, I don't think Apple is such a super, amazing, awesometastic company. I, do, however, think Steve Jobs was a cool guy. And considering how many people were absolutely devastated when he died (not because he actually died, but because Apple might go under), other folks liked Steve Jobs too. And do people reealllyy like Microsoft? Or do they like Bill Gates (and maybe even Melinda)? They're humanitarians, they seem like cool people. Last time I saw Melinda in person she wasn't wearing an obnoxious look-at-me-I'm-so-rich-Kim-Kardashian wedding band. They just seem like cool, down-to-earth kinda folks. And since we're talking about Bill Gates, I'd even venture to say that people don't go to schools for education. People go to schools for people. People to go Harvard because of who else went there. Not because they truly, in their heart hearts, expect to get this extraordinary education that they can't find elsewhere.

Why is this even a topic on my mind? Why am I even thinking about people to people vs people to products/companies/organizations? Well, as the founder and Executive Director of MODEL26, I've been having this "identity crisis" with my organization. MODEL26 is always associated with Dyci Manns. I am the face of the organization. Most people probably assume that other people help out, but they aren't 100% sure because they've never actually seen them. And if they have, it was only once or twice in a photo or two. That used to really bother me. I didn't want people to think about me when they thought about the organization. I wanted them to think about the organization and the people we are helping. But I recently came to terms with the fact that that just won't happen (and that may even be a good thing). Even if, and when, I ever leave MODEL26, people will always associate my face and/or name with it.

Now how did I come to this conclusion? Well we're currently raising money for some new projects (donate here ;), and I've been doing some grassroots fundraising. Literally just sending everyone who has ever been interested in what we do an email or a Facebook message and asking for money. But people haven't been donating to MODEL26. People have been donating to ME. People donate to MODEL26 because they know me. Or they support me. Or they know that I'll do the right thing with the money. When people donate to organizations they don't donate to the organization itself. They donate to a family they saw, or a child that was in a photo. Good businesses/organizations keep things personal. Keeping it personal is muy importante.

But how is this concept applied to businesses? Well it's easy to see how this is relevant to small business owners and 'mom and pop' stores, but what about large companies? Obviously, if I want to to work at Apple I don't think I'm actually directly working for Steve Jobs. You're right. But a good manager/boss can retain and recruit good talent, and a bad one can do the opposite. I left my first corporate internship because I absolutely could not stand the woman I worked for. I met lots of nice people. Lunch was catered a lot. The office was nice. Good pay. It was a good gig for an 18 year old. But this woman really made me loathe the job. So I quit after two summers. On the other hand, my boyfriend is a consultant for Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and he works more than any single person should. I've never (not ONE time) heard him say, "Babe, I work this much because I absolutely love this company and everything it stands for. It is the best company ever and I am so honored to be here." Instead, he always talks about his boss. His boss is a great boss. He likes her. And he likes his team. They work together. They all suffer together is basically what I hear LOL. But the point is that my boyfriend is working for his boss. Not for PwC.

So the point of this post: Bosses be good to your employees. Executives, make sure your bosses are good to your employees. NPOs, keep it personal when fundraising. People want to donate to the people you help. They don't donate because of what you DO.

Even as a consultant I'm more likely to want to work with a client that is fun to talk to, easy to work with, (let's me do my job :-P), even if I don't 100% believe in their idea and/or their product is completely useless to me and most of the people I know. 

Food for thought for the week. :)

What if nobody gave a shit about Honey Boo Boo?

Yes, what if everybody in this country, and I will not "excuse my French," couldn't give two shits about Honey Boo Boo child? Or Love and Hip Hop or who Evelyn L. is sleeping with, or the siliconed, botoxed moms from Real Housewives? What if we actually watched news in this country??? What if nobody wasted 30 seconds of their time posting about Gabby Douglas' hair and actually focused on the fact that she is, essentially, now immortal at the age of 16. Seriously, what have you done lately? Maybe if you were more focused on accomplishing something in life and not on what your hair looked like, this entire country would be better off. ...

 Now, I don't mean to sound like a high and mighty elitist because I am far from it. I have wasted hours of my life watching Erica and ol' girl on Love and Hip Hop fight. Unfortunately, I know the source of the statement, "You are a non-motherf****** factor." And Nene Leakes. I mean who doesn't love that woman right? The worst part, is that, at some point I actually justified wasting hours of my life that I will never get back watching trash tv. And what was my rationale? ... Ah, ya know, I just need to unwind my brain at the end of the day ... Watching these people reminds me how absolutely blessed I am to have a brain ... These women make me feel better about myself. ... Really? Really? No, seriously? That's the best I could do? So, in reality, I had absolutely no reason for watching the garbage on television. 1. I was always told that small people talk about others. That people who spend time laughing at other people are so insecure with themselves that that is the only way they can feel better about who they are. Is that you? It sure wasn't me. 2. I could "unwind" at the end of the day with music and meditation. I could unwind with some conversation with my family. I could spend an hour watching TED talks and documentaries; all of which I currently do. And why do I do that? Because, at some point while living in Europe and not finding anything "good" on tv, I decided I should do something like, uh, well, productive. I like, started to read these things called um books again! O_O One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the library with my mom and picking out books. Boy did my mom and I read when I was little. I even remember when I started to read the books she was reading! James Patterson. That was our guy. We would read books and talk about books. Then one day she kept reading and I started watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta, or some equally pointless show whose name I don't remember. And I started becoming a less productive human being overall LOL

And don't say, "Well there's nothing else on tv. That's what the producers keep making." ... YES, DUMB ASS, BECAUSE YOU KEEP WATCHING IT! If everyone was to turn their televisions off (or simply turn to something else), stop tweeting/facebooking and talking about these shows, producers would create something else. I promise. I bet my entire existence on it. And if you don't believe me, why don't we all try it??Whether or not a series returns to television, or even gets past the first 3 episodes, is determined by these things called ratings. So the producers are only giving what you want people. Don't you think you should demand something more from your television networks??

And what if all the American people even showed the "news" media that we didn't care about the garbage they were selling us either? What if we actually cared about stuff that was happening in the world? What if we demanded that the they stop feeding us negativity all day, everyday? What if CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC didn't talk about the same 5 stories all day??? What if the one story that dominated the news for days wasn't whether or not a Christian-based company opposed gay marriage?? (BTW: WHAT A SURPRISE?!!! O_O OMG! HOW ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! ... -____-) And while we're questioning things that might make this country a better place ... What if the American people actually used their constitutional rights to tell our politicians that we aren't going to stand for anymore F***ING BULLSHIT! What if we told politicians, "Look you can either drop this birth certificate issue and start talking about REAL problems, or get your ass out of office." ....

Ok, now I'm just being an idealist ...