October 31st, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — One of the challenging things about being a business owner is making the tough choices. Where will you cut costs? Where will you make sacrifices? Where will you invest your time and money?
After 13 months as co-host of Biz Chicks Rule, it’s time for me to move on to new and different things. I don’t say bigger and better things because I don’t think there’s anything small or inadequate about this blog. But that aside, my time here has come to an end, and I will be leaving you in Bridget’s very capable hands.
For those who’d like to keep in touch, I hope you’ll come visit me at my freelance writing blog, Inkthinker, and my pet blog, meow/bark/blog. I also have a general women’s interest blog slated to launch next month at www.sass-pants.com, and I would love to see you there.
Thanks for everything. Biz chicks really do rule.
All the best,
Kristen
Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King
Tags: womens business blog, kristen king, biz chicks rule, inkthinker, meow bark blog, freelance writing blog
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October 30th, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Over the summer, I had the pleasure of speaking with Allison Atsiknoudas, the 42-year-old co-founder and CEO of Investment Instruments Corporation (IIC), while she was on a carriage ride with her then-8-month-old son, Teddy, near their Boston-area home (which she and her husband share with a weimaraner, who, sadly, was not on our call). Here’s what she had to say about business and life.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: Allison, tell me about your company. How did you get started?
Allison Atsiknoudas: We started the ball rolling in 2004 and incorporated in 2006. I had formed a business incubator with a couple of other folks and that was actually how the idea for our company came about. So unlike other companies, where you really have to find the best people, we started out with the best people before we hatched the business concept. I really believe that people are either going to be the success or the barrier, and if you have the best people…
I was interested in really recruiting the best partners possible, so I asked both of my partners to start a business incubator with me and that’s how we came up with the idea to start out company. The nice thing about that is that we had three people who are equally invested in the idea.
Read More - Interview With Allison Atsiknoudas, CEO of Investment Instruments Corporation
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October 30th, 2008
This summer, I got to talk with two super-cool chicks who have launched their own clothing line, LTDChix, which stands for "Living the Dream." These ladies are near and dear to my heart because not only are they Jersey girls, but they’re based out of the town where I worked summers during college as co-manager of a now-defunct ice cream parlor: Sparta, New Jersey. Cindi Schmitzer, 44, is a former CPA and a mom of 4, and Nina Frye, 45, is a former Fortune 100 account executive and mom of 3.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: Tell me about LTDChix and your line of tees.
Cindi Schmitzer: We had the idea and we really kicked that around for a few months, and then we went to a local free seminar for start your own business held by SCORE. We started to set up meetings with them, myself and Nina and two gentlemen from SCORE. We really sort of kicked it around for another 6 months, how exactly we were going to go about launching it. And one meeting we said we really just need to kick it up and print up the shirts…
It was like, we’ve been talking about this for so long and if we’re going to do it we need to just go for it. There was a small festival coming up — Sparta Days — and we thought it would be a good way to reach our market really easily. We called the Sparta Independent and said this is what we’re doing. There was an article prior to Sparta Days and we had struck such a chord with people like chasing us down and saying like, "That is my life!" We had a booth [at the festival].
Nina Frye: We launched in June 2006.
When you were BFFs "down the shore"on vacation together with your families in 2005 and had the idea for LTDChix, did you ever dream that your business would be where it is now?
Read More - Interview With Nina Frye & Cindi Schmitzer, Co-Founders of LTDChix
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October 28th, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Patricia Handschiegel has done more at 36 than many businesswomen do in a lifetime. She sold social media company Stylediary.net in 2007 and is currently working on selling a television show. Patricia spilled the beans on her past ventures and lessons learned for her future business efforts.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: You’re a self-described serial entrepreneur. When were you bitten with the entrepreneur bug, and how did you pick a winner the first time out of the gate?
Patricia Handschiegel: I think I’ve always had it in me. I used to invent play businesses and companies as a little girl with my sister and friends, and started creating my first entrepreneurial projects very early in my life. I was lucky to have a winner out of the gate with Stylediary. I think it was because I really gave a lot of thought to what was missing in the market and tried to create it. I also had some very good people supporting me in my work.
Read More - Interview With Social Media Pioneer and Serial Entrepreneur Patricia Handschiegel
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October 27th, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Who says "environmentally friendly" and "fashionable" can’t go hand in hand? Not Marci Zaroff, founder and president of green clothing line Under the Canopy. She shares the ins and outs of being an eco-responsible fashionista in the following interview.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: Tell me about Under the Canopy and your products. When was the company founded? How long did it take you to get rolling?
Marci Zaroff, Under the Canopy: I founded lifestyle brand "Under the Canopy" in 1996 with a mission to fuse style and sustainability, while transforming the fashion industry. The goal was to design, manufacture and market apparel and home products that would offer consumers what they love and seek - modern style, quality, fit, color, hand, accessibility and affordability – while giving them a way to make a difference to human health, the environment and future generations. I coined and trademarked the term "ECOfashion®", and pioneered this market, which has taken over a decade to truly manifest. Today, Under the Canopy is the leading lifestyle brand in the rapidly growing "ECOfashion®" industry.
Read More - Interview With Under the Canopy Founder & President Marci Zaroff
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October 25th, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Lucky Me Tee is a new line of tanks, tees, and sweatshirts geared ust for moms. President and creator Marlo Moleski is both a savvy business woman and a proud mom. We sat down to get to the heart of her company, and her life.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: Tell us about your background.
Marlo Moleski, Lucky Me Tee: From when I was a young girl I always loved fashion and I would always look through fashion magazines. I graduated from High School a year early so with that extra year I took classes in New York City at F.I.T and the Arts Students League. After taking classes I decided to go to school for Art and Design. After I graduated from DuCret School of Art & Design in NJ, I started working for Arista Records in NYC. There I designed CD packaging, billboards, adds, posters, ect. After I got married I started working in NJ at Popular Club Catalogue as an Art Director. That is when you are in charge of the whole look and feel of the entire project from the photo shoot it self, to the lay out of the pages, to the overall design of the project. It is involved but it is great fun. After having my second child I decided to take a year off of work. My next job was at DePasquale Companies in Fairlawn, NJ.
Read More - Interview With Marlo Moleski, President of Lucky Me Tee
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October 23rd, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — You know how you just look at some products and say, "Why didn’t I think of that?" Well, Katie Johnson did think of that with her brilliant product to get rid of the annoying heel wedgies that plague us all. Here, she dishes on the company and her life as an inventor and entrepreneur.
Kristen, Biz Chicks Rule: Tell me about your company and your products. When was the company founded? How long did it take you to get rolling?
Katie Johnson, Kix by Katie: I started my company Katie, Inc. about a year and a half ago. I invented the innovative fashion fixer product called Kix By Katie that keeps the fabric of your pants from bunching between your heel and shoe. A common wardrobe malfunction that occurs while wearing long pants and open back heels. I’ve affectionately dubbed this fashion faux pas a ‘Heel Wedgie!’ Kix By Katie temporarily adhere to the inside back hem line of your pant leg. Acting much like a collar stay in men’s shirts, they add just a little extra weight and rigidity to the pant leg to keep them hanging nicely. Voila, no more Heel Wedgies!
Read More - Interview With Katie Johnson, President & Chief Design Officer of Kix By Katie
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October 22nd, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — When I heard about CEO Lori Evans’ work to help business owners in Africa — while running two successful companies in the US! — I had to learn more about this amazing woman. Lori was kind enough to answer a slew of questions about her life, her experience, and her contributions to improving the global economy.
Kristen King, Biz Chicks Rule: Tell me about Abrige Corp. C-Secure Systems. What do they do? When was each founded?
Lori Evans, Abrige & C-Secure: Kristen, thanks for asking. Abrige Corp. was born in 2003 as the consultancy I founded, Sagacity, grew to include our proprietary performance management software. In 2001-2 our DISCOVERY application helped many healthcare organizations, from small to the largest (PacifiCare) move through HIPAA Privacy standards faster and in a more sustainable way than their peers. We’ve added many performance-focused applications to the Abrige suite since! C-Secure, born in 2004 and launched in 2006, leverages the Abrige software and adds hardware to provide the only turn-key machine communication and information system in the "M2M" market today.
Read More - Interview With Lori Evans, CEO of Abrige Corp and C-Secure Systems, Global Volunteer
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October 21st, 2008
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, it’s the day you’ve all been awaiting, no doubt with bated breath. I’m very excited to announce the winners of the delightful Epson Workforce 600 All-in-One printer giveaway.
There were 133 comments, and I put them into the random sequence generator at Random.org. Not all of the comments were eligible (some were trackbacks and some people didn’t follow the instructions), and we just skip right over those. Here are the first six numbers of the sequence (because you really don’t want to see all 133 numbers in random order, right?)
# 128 - Eligible, and a winner!
# 125 - Not eligible, didn’t follow instructions
# 104 - Eligible, and a winner!
# 117 - Eligible, so next in line if one of the winners bails.
# 52 - Also eligible, so next in line after #117 if someone bails.
# 85 - Not eligible, didn’t follow instructions
Our two winners are…
#128 — Mike, who commented:
Looks great. I use an inkjet now and it’s about time for the upgrade.
Great blog also…keep up the good work.
#104 — Krissy, who commented:
Right now my printer isn’t working. It’s an Ink Jet. I liked it when it worked lol.
Now I could REALLY use one and this one is really cool!
I always print out pictures of my kids and they always get ruined when they get water on them.
Thanks so much for this giveaway!
Congratulations, Mike and Krissy! I’ll contact you privately to get your mailing information for your prize.
Thanks to all who entered. :) Feeling bummed that you didn’t win? Check out the October Prizepalooza at my women’s health blog and give it a go over there.
Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King
Tags: womens business blog, business advice for women, epson workforce 600, all-in-one printer, inkjet, biz chicks rule, kristen king
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October 20th, 2008
a guest post by Kathy Gruver
(www.bizchicksrule.com) — We are living in a phenomenal time when women can be the breadwinners and the dinner makers, the mothers and the CEO’s. No longer are we relegated to nurses, teachers and barefoot and pregnant. What else does this come with? Pressure, anxiety, over-work and too much responsibility. We are taking on the world and its stresses as well. In this high-powered woman world, here are some low key stress busters. It’s important to take care of business, but it’s even more important to take care of ourselves. No time? Think again!
Read More - Even Wonder Woman Needs a Day Off: Dealing With Stress
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