Genuine Insights

What do you do when your immune system doesn’t keep up with your “To Do List”?

Last Sunday I was heading to NYC for an over booked week of both personal and professional activities and as I headed to the airport, I ended up in the emergency room instead. I was experiencing a severe sharp pain in my right side and feared I was having an Appendicitis. After being immediately admitted, I remember lying on my cot, in a hallway (all rooms were occupied) hooked up to an IV thinking “_thank God, now I can finally get some rest_”. I was alone, without laptop, no two year old , little to no mobile service, thinking finally I can pause. Two Percocets later, I was visualizing stop signs, pause and mute buttons and hearing my body say to me: “_hold please, we are having complications and can not move forward._”

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Posted Mar 4, 2008 Tagged under: reflection, self-awareness

About this blog

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This is my provocative blog for global modernists in search of authenticity, marketing advice, personal branding tips and insights on all things authentic and real. To learn a little more about me, look here.

Posted Feb 23, 2008 Tagged under:

3 Days of Genius Insights from THE Conference on Marketing, Feb 4-6th 2008

Throughout the year, professionals all over the world travel to conferences in search of that perfect conference experience. For me this usually means: a mix of inspiration combined with cocktail receptions, a dash of new genius, interesting attendees, a hotel room with a water view and lots of free good eats. Although most conferences miss the mark with this perfect balance, last week’s conference on Marketing hosted by the Institute for International Research achieved that magical recipe for conference success.

In the spirit of sharing the insights gained I have decided to pass it forward and have listed below my top 10 “take aways” from the conference.

Enjoy the Lessons!

• “Behave Boldly! Unleash Innovation through Inspiration and create a personal manifesto” – Andy Stefanovich http://www.lookatmorestuff.com
• Green tip: Visit http://www.freecycle.org/: It’s a grassroots site which allows people to give and get stuff for free in their own towns. – Meg Garlinghouse, Director for Good, Yahoo!
• When creating communities through online technologies be sure to remember users want to: show off, share, debate, learn and mobilize – Chris Barry, Sundance Channel http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen
• Best networking tip: “Go up to someone you do not know and ask “what is your passion?” Networking is about building personal relationships. Share your story – great stories transport emotions. – Keith Ferrazzi, author of never eat alone http://ferrazzigreenlight.com/
• Recommended reading tip : Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert recommended by Futurist, Andrew Zolli http://www.poptech.com
• Patience is key to achieve true greatness. Embrace the cezzanian perspective. – Malcolm Gladwell author of Blink http://gladwell.typepad.com
• Create and maintain a portfolio of ideas and create the space for ideas to grow and breed over time and not over night. – Malcolm Gladwell,
• It’s no longer about the branding. It’s more about design, innovation and creating new stories worth talking about. – Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com
• Sleep is powerful! Being refreshed is key to achieving genius. – Arianna Huffington
• Instead of viewing politics from the left or the right it should be viewed from the right and wrong. – Arianna Huffington http://huffingtonpost.com

Some of you may think some of these insights are common sense but as my mother used to say “ common sense is an uncommon gift.

Posted Feb 19, 2008 Tagged under: ideas and innovation, reflection

“What are your Passions?” The power of asking this question to a stranger

Friday night, my husband Stephen and I ventured to meet a group of Latina lesbians (now I bet I have your attention) for a birthday celebration and in typical Latin fashion, they were running late and we were stuck waiting at a bar we had never been to. The place was called Magnum’s Lounge – a great old New York style piano bar vibe restaurant meshed with an eclectic clientele and great desserts.

Upon searching for a seat at the very chilled vibe bar, Stephen noticed a member of the choir from our church, Unity on the Bay. Don’t freak out…Unity is not your every day kind of church. http://www.unityonthebay.org/.)

This distinguished gentleman whose name we later learned is Maurizio Martinoli was sitting alone at the bar having a piece of pie and I decided to sit next to him and introduce myself. While Stephen ordered me a glass of Merlot and his usual Grey Goose martini with three olives I began to talk with Maurizio. After breaking the ice which was all of five minutes, I decided toask him my new favorite question: “What are your passions?” response, he paused, grabbed his iphone and began to share with me a gallery of the most amazingly colorful, vibrant, unique portraits I have ever seen. http://www.mamoart.com

For at least 1 hour we experienced a private tour of mixed media photography and portraits while learning of his inspiration, childhood and experiences. It just doesn’t get better than this I thought to myself. Authenticity at its best and all with the help of the iphone. It was an amazing experience and again proves that connecting with someone’s authentic self is so much powerful than asking the typical, “so, do you come here often? Type of boring flat questions. Next time you are forced to kill time while waiting for a group of Latina Lesbians at a new spot remember to use your time well and ask folks sitting around you what there passions are. You never know, you may get lucky and sit next to an amazing artist who will be willing to take you on a digital tour of his world.

Posted Feb 19, 2008 Tagged under: art and music, motivation, relationships, spirituality and beliefs