When people ask me how Austin has been during COVID I always answer by saying nothing changed here. I never agreed with the lack of rules and regulations… BUT Austin maintained an element of community and experiences when many other cities shut down during the worst parts of the pandemic (as they should have!)
If you’ve never been to SXSW, it’s one of the best conferences for the startup world and overall networking. Due to the pandemic, SXSW hasn’t happened in years and many people who used to frequent Austin have stayed away since COVID was bad here. This past two weeks felt like the old days, being surrounded by people from different places all in one city celebrating business and entrepreneurship. The last time I attended a SXSW was 3 or 4 years ago when I spoke on a panel about sexual wellness and rules for young people while I was at Radio Disney. This year, I moderated and spoke, starting with a panel on technology and social media and ending with two moderated panels on influencers working with brands and small businesses looking to get funding. After planning the UCONN summit for what felt like a century, being able to show up and do what I love (speak) vs. plan and work with all of the speakers was a nice break.
A few key takeaways for those looking to start a company or build on something they’re working on:
“Run this business like you’re not worried about losing my money” – quoted by the founder of ICONIC Protein, Billy Bosch
“Founders shouldn’t care about trends.”
“You don’t need to grow a brand to be acquired. You can be a successful founder without running your company with the end goal of being sold.” – VC panelist
I moderated the panel that Billy was on and left the event with so many notes. As a founder, I think constantly learning is critical. No one knows everything and the only way to keep expanding is to keep learning. Based on many of the panels and events I went to, I realized how now is a seriously good time to build a company or get funding for one. VC (venture capital) in particular is looking to invest in women and BIPOC people so if that’s you, get out of your comfort zone and proceed with your idea now.
Trends come and go just as quick as people choose new music- the time is now.
Since the UCONN summit, I’ve taken on several new mentees I’m thrilled to be working with. A few weeks ago on The New Unfiltered, I interviewed a founder who launched a mentorship program for Soho House. His story is great, but through that, I’ve taken on a new mentor who I meet with every week at Soho House to discuss her progress. During our first meeting, she acknowledged having a successful TikTok page dedicated to her dog that has amassed a huge following. In our session, I tried to gage from her what her intentions are for her future (she currently works a corporate job but wants to transition into more social media based work) and how her dogs page could help her start a personal brand.
Some questions I asked her were:
How can you utilize your exisiting audience to build a new one?
How will you go about finding sponsors? What is your sponsor pitch?
When you write emails, do you find a direct contact via LinkedIn or a press release, or do you submit via the contact form?
Her homework for the week was to send me a sample pitch starting with the existing TikTok page to a brand she wanted to have sponsor her dog. This is what she sent me along with what I sent back:
Which pitch is preferred? I say mine: hers was great however, there are simply too many words. When I receive an email longer than two paragraphs, my mind has wandered. I always say: reduce the B.S. in business – can you get right to the point in 1-2 paragraphs? Usually, you can.
This post is in partnership with Cobblestone Rentals Paris.
The last time I was in Paris was for Fashion Week some time ago. Exactly 4 years ago, to be exact. So much has changed in that period of time. Between the pandemic and the current state of the Ukraine, it’s truly so sad to see how so many cities have been impacted by world events. Here are just a few organizations to donate to or get involved with to help the dire situation in Ukraine:
UNICEF
MedShare
GlobalGiving
Good360
Water Mission
I urge you to look at many other ways to get involved if you can’t get involved financially. Social media is a strong way to highlight the state of the country but after that, how else can you get involved? There are many ways!
During my last trip to Paris, I stayed with Cobblestone Rentals Paris. My friend used to do their PR, and she had emailed me asking if I wanted to stay for Fashion Week. That stay was one of my most memorable stays to date. The apartment was situated in the most prime location in Paris (though every location is prime, Paris is Paris!) so upon my return this time around, I was curious to see what apartment we’d get put in.
This apartment was equally stunning, located next to tons of brasseries and just a few blocks away from fabulous restaurants and stores. When I’m traveling, I like to walk as much as possible, so we walked from our apartment to the tower and many other places – and going back to an apartment after a long walk vs. a hotel is quite nice because it’s so much roomier. If you’ve never been to Paris, some of my favorite places to wander around and eat at are:
Steak and fries at Le’relais
Macarons at Laduree and the Louvre
Hot chocolate at Angelina Paris
If you need a place to work from, there are several WeWork locations which I love!
There is nothing more fun than sitting in Paris reading a book at a brasserie or coffee shop: the people watching is so fun.
This outfit was sponsored by Evergreen Walk and Banana Republic.
During the process of planning the summit, many students reached out to me asking what to wear. It got me thinking…what is business casual?
With social media as prominent in our day to day lives now more than ever before, it’s hard to understand what casual dressing vs. business appropriate dressing is. How many of you stay in your PJ pants but throw a blazer on top of a button down top to hop on a Zoom call at home? Me, me me!
When I’m in Austin, I spend the majority of the time working at a coworking space on the East Side by my apartment because when I work from home, I’m not as focused as I am when I’m out and about. My lunch hour becomes a lunch afternoon when I’m anywhere near my bed or my couch!
I teamed up with Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, CT to get a summit ready outfit last week. I’ve always been a major fan of Banana Republic because that store defines business appropriate and business casual. I was thrilled to see what students wore to the summit because everyone nailed business casual on the head – and since it was a Saturday, I had no clue what to expect from attendees!
There was a massive storm heading straight to Connecticut Thursday into Friday, and UCONN and I discussed pushing the summit back even later on Saturday in case people woke up to too much ice. One of my friends who is a successful entrepreneur told me he thought that was a bad idea and when I asked why, he said because the students who are waking up at 9 AM on a Saturday to attend a conference are the students who aren’t out partying on a Friday night. They’re ready and eager to get to “work” Saturday, ice or no ice. He was right: and I am genuinely honored and inspired by the students who got up bright and early on their weekend morning to learn and listen.
If you’re a student who years to be up on their weekend mornings exploring and learning, don’t ever lose that passion and fire inside of you. You may not have found your identity yet but don’t worry: you’ll find it, and you’re already winning since you likely go to bed at a reasonable time on the weekends.
Saturday left me speechless. In light of everything going on in the world, especially the devastating events happening in Ukraine, for 7 hours on Saturday students and attendees alike got to find time to unwind and turn their phones off. The summit was the first in-person event since COVID at UCONN and even though we had to reduce capacity, the students who were able to attend truly left feeling inspired. After close to 12 months of planning, we passed the finish line. 100 students attended, networked and learned about being fearless, unfiltered and finding their identity.
My project Mentor Match was able to be implemented in the afternoon hours, matching mentors with mentees in speed dating style. So many people asked me following the summit “what’s next!” for me, and the answer is MENTOR MATCH! If a summit presents itself again I’ll certainly take on the opportunity, but I see a future in taking what I’ve learned from hosting four successful summits so far to build out a stronger mentorship platform and ultimately, an app.
Panel highlights included:
Rachel, Chrissy and Gina discussed body image and burnout
Patrina, Illana, Gina and Nan took the discussion of leaving a 9-5 job to launch a company to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
Student moderators Allison and Sudiksha moderated two panels with such vibrance!
Lataya, Sophie and, Raina and Allison discussed networking and community building, which I learned so much from.
Some photos from the day are below and on the Be Fearless Summit website.
You can also match with some of the mentors who spoke at the event on Mentor Match if you want to hear more from them.
THANK YOU, UCONN!
I’ve been alternating topics on The New Unfiltered, doing a mix between solo episodes and episodes with guests. As I get older and grow up with many of you who have followed me since the beginning, I’m constantly learning something new or being reminded of something I’ve grown from throughout the process of starting my blog and building it out into a brand.
Having patience has never come easy to me. When I was at Radio Disney, the team there was always telling me how I had to have more patience when booking guests and getting approval on video ideas. Working at a corporate company taught me SO MUCH about having patience: something I never had when I was in high school and blogging away.
At the Be Fearless Summit on Saturday, I connected with tons of students who have side hustles and company ideas but are struggling with finding the patience to pursue their ideas while in school. There’s no simple roadmap to patience: I truly believe it comes with age and experience. Looking back on how many opportunities I followed up on excessively and overthought when I should’ve slowed down and enjoyed the process inspired me to film this episode.
How do you remind yourself to slow down and practice patience during times when you’re desperate for something to come through?
Announcing 2 Mentor Match mentors to the program, Alice Turner and Patrina Dixon who are both Be Fearless Summit speakers for the 2022 UCONN summit!
About Patrina Dixon:
Patrina is a Certified Financial Educational Instructor, International Speaker and International Best Selling Author. As Founder and CEO of It’$ My Money™️, her trademark brand and a 100 Women of Color alumni, she and her team are on a mission to help people transform their lives by mastering money management skills. These skills are taught through her courses, workshops and books. Patrina’s primary focus is serving young adults, women and single moms but have served all audiences.
About Alice Turner:
Alice Margie Turner is an educator, community leader and social entrepreneur. She is the Founder of URISE Ventures, Inc., an innovative nonprofit youth empowerment organization headquartered in Hartford, CT. Originally founded in 2002, URISE takes a collaborative approach to youth, workforce and enterprise development. In 2015, Alice founded Urban Tekk, a social enterprise that engages and employs high school youth through a for-profit digital media and technology business.
A few weeks ago I was interviewed on a young founders podcast surrounding mental health, and after our interview she was asking me questions about how I deal with rejection and get used to the process of falling down and getting back up. Rejection has always been something that entices me because I don’t have one story of rejection where I regret having been rejected. Looking back, in the moments where I’ve faced most of my rejection (personal life and business life) it wasn’t always easy for me to feel confident by being told no: rejection isn’t an exciting feeling like being told yes is! BUT, over the course of my career, every no I’ve been told has led me to some type of yes that’s gotten me way closer to my end goal.
In the episode I describe a story of rejection that has stuck with me through the years. It was when one major executive rejected a show idea I had pitched him before I even moved to LA: I sat outside of the office in Burbank and cried for hours after the meeting. When I landed back in Boston, I remember feeling so frustrated for weeks that I didn’t feel inspired to work or write. After about a month, I started getting the itch to email people and start writing even more. That fire inside of me is what led me to landing Fearless Everyday on Radio Disney…which filmed in the building directly across from where the first executive told me no.
What would’ve happened if I had listened to him when he told me I wasn’t good enough to ever get a show on my own? I would have never landed my Disney show or seen everything that came after leaving Disney.
I have countless stories similar to that one AND guess what? I have moments every single week where I’m rejected and have to remind myself of that story to keep myself on track towards my end goals. Just because I got the Disney show doesn’t mean I’m not rejected now…I’m rejected just as much as I was then.
If you aren’t willing to not accept the word no, you’re not willing to allow yourself to experience the different phases of life that will lead you to the success you’re looking for. Rewire your brain each time you’re rejected towards getting a little closer to feeling inspired to keep moving forward after you get the no.
This week on The New Unfiltered, I’m talking to my friend and co-founder of A Fresh Sip, a marketplace for the sober curious, Aishwarya. Aishwarya and I met through friends in Austin last year, and since meeting her I’ve come across so many different companies and founders who are launching or investing in many beverages in the non-alcoholic space.
When I moved to Austin from LA, I was shocked at how big the drinking culture is here. It’s not a good or bad thing, it’s just something I noticed a lot of going out and hanging with friends in the city revolves around. This totally depends on who you hang out with and where you go, but exploring parts of Austin frequently include going to a fun brewery or going to one of the more popular streets to meet people on and hang out like West 6th or Rainey Street.
Aishwarya isn’t a medical expert or doctor, but it’s really interesting to see how the culture is shifting towards drinking less and living a more sober driven lifestyle than it has leaned towards in the past.
How do you feel about drinking?
COVID-19 PROTOCOL AND UPDATED INFORMATION AND SCHEDULE SURROUNDING THE 2022 BE FEARLESS SCHEDULE WITH UCONN IS BELOW.
The past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for both my team and the UCONN team, and I know many of you are equally stressed and anxious with the current state of the world. We all expected to be out of the pandemic by now and we aren’t, and for that I’m deeply sorry and especially sorry for students who are eager to get back to normal. We’ll be there soon.
Below you will find answers to all of the questions surrounding the event with UCONN that is being held in Connecticut on February 26th, 2022. We have done the best we can to make sure that you will still be able to network on campus, make new friends, and get out of your comfort zone.
WILL THERE BE A VIP EVENT?
Amanda Torchia will host her keynote on February 25th, 2022 virtually from 5:30-7:30 PM EST and this will be considered the VIP event.
COVID PROTOCOL?
Unfortunately, we’ve had to remove panels and speakers. This summit will now be a half-day summit from 10 AM EST – 1 PM EST on Saturday and there will be a max of 50 people in the Werth Institute building on campus. Anyone attending who is not a speaker must be a UCONN student and must have RSVP’ed or you will not be allowed in the building. Masks required, no vaccine mandate in Connecticut but would love if you are vaccinated.
SCHEDULE:
You will choose the panel you want to attend if there are two panels at once.
LUNCH:
You will still get lunch and a VIP bag but there will be no congregating. There will be no vendor booths.
IS BE FEARLESS SUMMIT LED BY WOMEN?
Yes, our whole team and the UCONN team who has partnered with us is all women however we encourage men and women to attend these events.
