ladies who launch

It never seems to end!...the business building stage [is] an unraveling story, so thank goodness it isn't ending. ~ Ladies Who Launch, page 186

Even your bills are cause for celebration because they are evidence of [&] receipts from a life well lived. ~ Ladies Who Launch, page 205

I hardly slept last night. Too much to think about and do. Too many papers to sort. Too many projects to dream and execute. No time to eat properly, exercise, sleep. Later, the word “unraveling” really resonated with me. On the way to see the chiropractor, I had a cry. Couldn’t hold it in. Those emotions are no good held inside, so I let them out.

Conversation: Called my friend Sherry for a pep talk. She listened, prayed, & helped me figure out just ONE key goal for today. Whew.

Conversation: Sometimes you just need cheer & an ear. I also talked to Lisa & received some cheer. Gave her chords to a song.

Chiro helped, too.

Conversation: When Dr. Melrose walked into the room he could tell I was tired. “It looks like your brain is working overtime,” he commented. He was right. I was honest with him and his assistant that today didn’t feel like a good day. Healing can be like that. His assistant Bev recommended a walk along the Glenmore Reservoir. I did—just 10 minutes, but it was so refreshing. Would have walked longer but couldn’t find my keys! Rushed back to the car to find them hanging in the lock. Oops! At least I didn’t have to coat hanger the door!

The day got better from there.

Went to a coffeeshop to finish reading Ladies Who Launch. This has been a very important book for my entrepreneurial journey and I have savoured it, digesting slowly, and texting nuggets to Twitter and Facebook.

Realized for sure that I need to go to Breakforth. Posted about that ephiphany on www.siretona.blogspot.com: “say yes to change.”

Conversation: Speaking of tweets, Kathleen announced good news: Once Upon a Huckleberry Bush (children’s books) in Vancouver wants to feature us at book fair Monday and they need more books. Kathleen send three batches! (I have no idea how many are in a batch, but it’s certainly more than one!)

Conversation: Called Shelley L about my Breakforth ticket. Learned that she watched Dara & I on SCN’s 15 Minutes of Fame last night & liked it. Can't wait to see it myself! Dara doesn’t get SCN either.

Conversation: Dara emailed about the documentary (among other things).

I have had a number of people tell me how wonderful the premier of our doc was last night and am anxiously waiting for my dad to come up on the weekend to show me it.

He and Charlotte, along with Ray and a few others watched it with a supper night and celebration last night in Yorkton - yay!

Conversation: Kevin and I got together for the first time since Sunday. I served supper to him and my landlady/roommate and her 3-year-old granddaughter who adored Kevin. I love watching him with kids. After supper we went to his place where we had a good talk then harmonized our calendars. So simple and important to make sure we’re connected in these ways.

 

What a day. It started out overwhelming and precarious. It ended peaceful, fulfilling.

The others, the ones who go to the edges, who reach for the remarkable and do work that feels risky—these are the entrepreneurs who thrive. …

I was on the brink of bankruptcy for more than five years. No cash flow, living week to week, paychecks on the verge of bouncing. Sticking that out, not looking for shortcuts or quick hits or panicking… that was the most difficult challenge I’ve ever overcome in business. …

You say, “Art is about intent and communication, not substance.” In your opinion, what is the best way to create and distribute (market) art that is effective?
Change people. Connect with them and deliver something that transforms their day or their week or their life. You do art when you free a housekeeper to get paid fairly, or a mom to have an hour to herself. Not with standardized business practice, but by being honest and human.

~ Seth Godin in Ladies Who Launch Magazine

a simpler day, but no less important

Conversation: Calvin Plum of Leading Edge Printing Services. Calvin & I grew up going to camp together at Arlington Beach. He printed the inserts for my first CD, Good Storyline, in 2000 when he still owned Optima printing company. Now, instead of operating scanners and printers, he offers printing services in the form of consulting and project management. We had a good chat about some of my potential printing needs, including a project I need to quote on.

Conversation: Melanie, a very creative lady who started attending Okotoks Alliance Church around the same time I did. Melanie is already a very talented visual artist, working in mixed media and jewelery. She’s got a lot of raw talent for songwriting. One of these days I hope to unveil a website of her work. For now we encourage, support and cheer each other through our personal and vocational transitions. I’ve been procrastinating another conversation, which I’m to initiate by email. She’s waiting for me to report that I’ve done it…

Conversation: Kathleen, of course. Email. Business names—registration options; voice over studio; another paid booking came through. Recalling serendipitous events from the summer buoys our confidence.

Conversation: Kevin. Surprisingly we haven’t seen each other since Sunday and haven’t really had a conversation since Saturday. We chatted for a few minutes this evening and he asked about my successes. I reported on the above. I also sorted a lot of papers today… and have a lot more to go.

One success that’s not business related: Kevin’s looking for new steel-toed work boots, but he needs some special features. Turns out it’s hard to satisfy his needs, but I discovered a shoe store today and had an excellent, informative conversation with a certified pedorthist (see also this). Who knew there was such a thing? Certainly not my spell checker!

 P.S. There’s a new post on the Siretona blog about Rebekah Joy Plett and how we knew she was “the one” to illustrate BlueBeary’s series.

catching up … on sleep!

I’m several days behind. Oops. No excuses for slipping this far, though there was a birthday party for a recently-turned 11-year-old, with 16 guests, an intensive bear-stuffing-and-decorating craft, a movie (Kit Kitteridge), and a sleepover where hardly anyone slept. One guest proclaimed to me, “Steph always has the best birthday parties of the whole year!” and “This [bear] is the best craft ever!” Kudos to Steph’s dad for establishing such a strong birthday-party-throwing reputation. Then there was about 12 hours of novel contract homework with said 11-year-old on Sunday, where she worked on the related tasks while her dad and I took turns reading the novel aloud to her. Dad had a meeting in the evening so I stayed to feed and read to the sweet, busy girl. 

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And on top of this, I’ve been having LOTS of conversations about books and music, but mostly books. So here’s a review of the key conversations:

FRIDAY

Conversation: email, Peggy, Vice Principal of Harry Sayers School in Abbotsford, booked Kathleen for a full day of presentations in May at our full asking price. A very good moment!

Conversation: email, Lynette of PicPocket Books. I sent her all of the files for BlueBeary.

Conversationsssssssss: Kathleen was on fire catching up on her emails! I received about 20 messages from her in one day!

MONDAY

Conversation: my massage therapist declared that I’m doing very well with recovering from December’s car accident and that she believes I’ll come out of this healing process stronger than I was before this whiplash. We talked about how I’ll need to learn to hold the guitar differently and that it will be better than ever.

Conversation: Kathleen Busch in Victoria. This was a simple conversation via email:

ME: Still want me [to sing] for the weekend of Palm Sunday? I made a decision on the weekend that frees up most of my weekends from now until Easter.

HER: Yup!

Conversation: A timely email led to a very late Skype call with my friend Crystal in China. We talked about goals for personal growth and business. And as it was a video call, I was able to see her two younger children dance and prance around where the camera could see them. :)

TUESDAY

Conversation: Mike Michalowiz: my contribution to the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog was posted today: http://bit.ly/BizIdeas. Scroll down looking for the icon of BlueBeary. 

Conversation: Kathleen by phone, trying to figure out Twitter’s relationship to her Facebook accounts, generally catching up.

Conversation: Roy Salmond of Whitewater Studios in BC, by phone, about the possibility of doing the iPhone app voiceover in his studio. What is a voiceover? It’s the narration of the story—the reading soundtrack to go with the pictures. We’re planning that Kathleen will do her own voiceovers.

Interestingly, Roy & his wife know our illustrator Rebekah’s family quite well. Another potentially amazing connection: Roy’s wife Gayle is a children’s writer, working primarily with Wind and Tide, apparently the largest preschool company in Canada. She has written some curriculum and children’s books for them, and has done four albums of songs & vignettes. Hmmm … Roy & I talked about other possible formats and applications for the voiceover. Whether we end up recording in Roy’s studio or now, this was like a valuable 1/2 hour free consultation!

You know there were more, but technically it’s Wednesday already and I’m yawning, so it’s time for me to sleep in order to get up and have more conversations tomorrow!

video+, PubStock, contract

Conversation: Kathleen McMillan, email & phone.

The emails have been flying today! You might say, “Of course,” but there was quite a gap before, during, and after Christmas when Kathleen and I hardly talked or emailed at all. But we’re into production mode for the iPhone app, booking mode for schools and fairs, and we’re constantly updating the website and promo tools. Here’s a new video we just posted on YouTube:

Conversation: Carley at BookManager, phone & email.

I have placed books in several stores, some of which have an online catalogue.  Every so often I browse the catalogue to look for our books, but they never show up. Today I looked at Monkeyshines and Owl’s Nest Books in Calgary, and Book & Brier Patch in Regina, but none of them listed the book(s) I placed there.

Suddenly it dawned on me that they all had something in common: a BookManager link! Hmmm. So I clicked on the link, browsed the site a bit, then picked up the phone. Carley was most helpful. TitleLink is a free service. PubStock is a comprehensive service requiring a yearly fee, but considering that some of the bookstores we’re in are either on this list or use BookManager for most of their ordering (i.e. McNally Robinson in Saskatoon), and that there are lots more stores to approach on BookManager’s list, this service will be MORE than worthwhile. A gold mine, perhaps? I hope so. Certainly BookManager blends the best of all worlds: the local bookstore and online ordering. Love it. Eager to get listed!

Conversation: Lynette Mattke of PicPocket Books. We now have a personalized agreement, ready for Kathleen to sign.

the click and the connection

Conversation: Heidi Clay, email. I like to call Heidi “my personal dragon,” because she once prefaced some great advice with, “Well, if we were on Dragons’ Den I would tell you…”

     We met in Strasbourg. Early on she bought a BlueBeary book for her little girl, who loved it because her name is Samantha just like the main character in the book. In our emails today, Heidi and I talked about what businesses catch on and which ones.

Me to Heidi: “So excited about how your Kindermusik business is growing! It's interesting, isn't it, how we can be in one business [like the same network marketing biz we were both in] and know that other people are making a living or even a killing with it but we can't seem to get enough traction, no matter how much we believe in the product. Then along comes something that seems to have a magical click for us—like Kindermusik for you and BlueBeary for me. Suddenly motivation is less of an issue and it feels so much more natural to think of and pursue leads and do the work involved.”

Heidi to me: “I really know what you mean about struggling with one business and then something else just clicking and taking off. My Kindermusik program has its own life and energy, I just have to keep up with it! And its not hard to keep going, and find opportunities, I LOVE IT!”

Conversation: Lynette Mattke of PicPocket Books, email. Ironing out contract details for converting BlueBeary to an iPhone application for sale on iTunes. “I think we should schedule another phone conversation to smooth out these next set of details,” wrote Lynette. “I do really look forward to working with you. I feel a nice connection growing. :)”

I feel exactly the same way.

arts and iPhones

Conversation: Lori Youngman—more hashing through ideas for her Breakforth workshops on prophetic painting. We also talked at length about some of my dreams for helping women in the arts with community & mentoring. Oh such big dreams! God-given dreams …

Conversation: Kathleen McMillan called while I was on the phone with Lori. We haven’t had a voice-to-voice talk in far too long! We revisited our goals, and prioritized our upcoming activities:

1. Sign the agreement with PicPocket Books to convert BlueBeary into an iPhone/iPod Touch application and sell on iTunes!!! Kathleen will do the voice over.
2. Book presentations in schools, primarily for Kathleen (Lower Mainland BC), secondarily for me. 
3. Get books in stores to be available after school readings.
4. Arrange book signings for Kathleen in stores, esp. in BC.

 

 

 

Promote Your Page Too

serendipity and support

“Writing on one’s own blog is the easy route in so many ways. Deadlines and topics are self-imposed.”

~ Seth Daire, http://www.christianimagination.com/2010/01/03/writing-in-2010/

It’s Monday and I suppose I should write a new post. Not that I have nothing to write about, but sometimes a commitment to reporting is a burden rather than an anticipation.

Officially, I give myself one or two days off from seeking conversations. But sometimes the less you look for or engineer something, the more serendipitously it comes to you.

Conversation: Yesterday, as part of my Sabbath intention, I didn’t turn on the computer, but I did not take the business cards out of my purse.

Business cards are helpful little shortcuts for explaining what I do. Sometimes I will hold back, especially at church: I don’t want to turn ‘fellowship’ into opportunistic ‘networking’. However, over lunch with Roger & Holly and their daughter, I couldn’t resist passing a card to this fascinating grade 12 student who is already excelling in creative writing and wants also to be a marine biologist. I recommended some Madeleine L’Engle books to feed both interests, such as The Arm of the Starfish. She has already read A Wrinkle in Time and Many Waters. It was fun to feel that this conversation might help to “empower a [young] woman in the arts.”

Conversations: On Sunday morning I woke up with sharp, constant pain in my mid-back. Fortunately, today I had both chiropractic and massage appointments, back to back. After a very bad sleep, I was exhausted. During a very gentle chiropractic movement where Dr. Melrose pressed on a cushion on my chest, I started to cry, as if he was squeezing out sadness. He consulted with Alexandria, the massage therapist, advising her on how to proceed with my poor body, then advised me “behave yourself” and “no lifting.”

Face down in Alexandria’s room I confessed, “I’m feeling emotional.” She responded, “That’s alright. You just have a good cry if you need to. Those emotions aren’t doing you any good held inside. And you can talk about it if you want to.” So I wept, and I talked, and ended up having a bit of a counseling session along with the physical ministrations. Really, our bodies are so interconnected, whose idea was it to separate the body from the spirit? Gnostics? Fellow Regent College grad, Kirsten Jeffrey, struggles with some serious health issues and, as only a person with chronic illness can do, has some profound reflections on the importance of body:

“I nonetheless think that neither a faith-shaped worldview (ie me) nor a non-faith worldview (many of my dear friends) cohesively allows for a “well, our bodies don’t *really* matter” perspective. Not if your belief system – Christian, atheist, or otherwise -- is thought through logically. Our bodies do matter. They are more than simply the vehicles that carry us through the day – yet even in that role as vehicles, how they do or do not function has great impact on our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual engagement with the world.”

Alexandria also asked, “If you were at home [i.e. Saskatchewan], who would you be talking to and turning to for support?” I told her “my girl friends.” She suggested that I need some conversations with girlfriends. Which leads to my next serendipity:

Conversation: Sue called me today. She is my favourite poet and knitting machine, Sue, aka the Accidental Poet/Housewife. She is also one of those kindred spirits with whom I have experienced instant connection. She was calling to invite me to present a one-hour session on creativity at Inscribe’s Spring Wordshop (not a typo) on March 20th at First Alliance Church in Calgary. Most gladly, I accepted the invitation. Also gladly, I welcomed the opportunity for a visit with Sue. Her voice and her perspective were balm for my soul. Thank you, Sue. And thank you, God, for ‘sending’ Sue today.

Oh, and an online conversation: I’m looking for ideas on how to promote and sell Notes from Over the Hill (www.marthamorgan.ca). Thanks in advance!

books and bears and a car

Multiple conversations: Yesterday was packed with a lot of practical considerations, especially relating to getting a car. There were calls to the dealer/garage, Worth Unlimited, about the car itself; calls to & from Toole-Peet about insurance (personal or commercial classification?); calls to & from the auto auction place that will be picking up my written-off Crown Victoria.

Conversation: Kevin has been urging me for a couple of weeks to call Chapters/Indigo. So I called a couple of locations about getting BlueBeary and/or Notes from Over the Hill in Calgary stores. Unfortunately—though reasonably—they only consign books if the author is around to do a booksigning and help drive sales. That’s out of the question for Martha, who is 88 years young. It’s a possibility down the road for Kathleen.

I already knew that Chapters/Indigo is not the right place to start. A few weeks ago I attended a presentation by Paula McGarrigle of A Baby Guide to Calgary. Her book is into its 3rd printing, with nearly 10,000 copies sold (5000 = bestseller). Chapters/Indigo came later in their marketing strategy. So it will be with us.

Really, what I need to do is get books into BC stores and get Kathleen doing booksignings there as well as speaking in Lower Mainland elementary schools. That alone would keep us all busy.

Conversation: I had a final sewing session with Kevin’s mom, prepping bears for Stephanie’s birthday party. It went quite smoothly and we finished ahead of our estimated finishing time. This was a crazy idea. But I believe it will be worth it in the end.

old friends and new

Conversation: Lori Youngman, by phone. Lori and I met at Briercrest. She is an artist, ordained minister, educator, and business woman. Her husband, Dale, owns Page Master Publication Services.

Lori is one of this year’s presenters at Breakforth in Edmonton. Her topic: Prophetic Painting. She called me to bounce some ideas around. I’ve posted some thoughts from our conversation on my other blog.

It was good to be reconnected with an old friend.

Conversation: Doug Waugh, by phone. Goal: Find a replacement car. Doug is the head mechanic at Worth Unlimited, a non-profit ministry of Youth for Christ Calgary. Earlier today I received an email that someone is coming for my written-off Crown Victoria “in a few days.” Yikes! I wrote back that (a) I haven’t found a replacement car yet and (b) I don’t have the insurance money in hand yet, so could they wait? Apparently not.

So I got on Kijiji and looked at car after car after car in my price range. For some reason I had in my head that I want a station wagon, so I especially looked for those. And I found one!

The price is right. And two of the best things about it: (a) it’s through Youth for Christ! (b) I know the head mechanic. Doug used to be at Caronport, we remembered each other, and we had the nicest talk.

I expect Kevin and I will pick up the car this weekend.

Conversation: Juliane, Jimmy and Kevin, in person. Kevin & I went out with my friend, Juliane, and her boyfriend tonight. It was great to catch up and to share about our lives and work. I talked about my need to get established, to gain traction and get rolling with my products!

Other conversations: Lots of emails with authors and illustrators, present and future. So many possibilities. Where will it all go?

p.s.

I also introduced myself to a preschool director in Cranston, gave her a copy of BlueBeary, and talked to her about:

(a) the possibility of doing a presentation at her school;

(b) whether I could put a flyer in the children’s mail boxes (she said yes, if I do a presentation;

(c) the upcoming Open Eyes series of books.

This visit was an afterthought and was very encouraging.

arts, technology, business, and tribe

Conversation: Pastor Tim Korthius, Okotoks Alliance Church, in person. Goal: Training for media services—sound, lights, PowerPoint. I’ve always wanted to get some training and experience in running sound, so this is a fun opportunity! Apparently I ask good questions.

Conversation: Melanie, in person. Goal: give her vocal coaching for better support and to help her learn her alto lines for the choir songs. We started with lunch (we each brought something to share), then moved to the piano and worked on breathing, diaphragm support, and the harmony line for one song. We also talked about relationships, parenting, art, and illustrating children’s books.

Conversation: Dale, by phone. She’s going for it! She has officially announced (via Facebook) that she’s making a career change from counselor to writer, with several publishing opportunities presenting themselves. And … she has announced Siretona as her publisher for one series! I’m so excited about this.  We’ve known each other for years, since she was my student at Briercrest. She is one of those students who went on to become a dear friend, and now colleague.

Conversation: Kevin, in person. He has been urging me to call Chapters/Indigo and more Coles locations about my books. I’ve been a little overwhelmed by the thought! But he’s right. I need to get OUT THERE with my products!!!

Conversation: Courtney, in person. We went for coffee while Kevin & Stephanie were at Club DJ at the church. She is another Briercrest alumna, but she never took any of my classes. We talked about Courtney’s life overseas and about business/work opportunities, esp. what’s happening with Siretona Creative.

kids books, chiropractor

Conversation: Sandi, by phone. Goal: To talk about the 7 children’s books Sandi has written and determine whether we might be a good fit to work together. It was a most delightful and encouraging conversation. Sandi is in Manitoba. Her sister in BC got a copy of BlueBeary and loved it, so gave my name to Sandi, who contacted me several weeks ago, hence our conversation today. Her stories are fun, yet they are laced with references to things that Sandi finds meaningful and valuable, like church and family and community. I love it! There are questions of timing and money on both sides. We would very much like to work together, but Sandi will do a bit more research before either of us commits. She read one of her stories aloud, and the fun names alone make it appealing! Whatever happens, Sandi said our meeting felt like a divine appointment, and she kept speaking words of blessing over me. I am so honoured.

Conversation: Dale, in person. Goal: Dale & I are old friends, so we just wanted to get together and hang out, but we also wanted to talk about what’s important in our lives. I especially wanted to discuss Dale’s idea for a children’s book and her other writing ideas. She’s a gifted lady with much to impart. I’m excited to see what she does. For the moment, she’s being a great mom to her two little guys.

Conversation: my chiropractor, in person. Goal: Talk about my readiness to do a concert on Saturday. He told me, “Play for 20 minutes tonight. If it hurts, you won’t make it for an hour on Saturday. If it doesn’t, you’re good to go.” Well, I played for 20 minutes, and it was not good. I am going to postpone this concert. We could use a bit more time to plan it anyhow.

in camera

A question came to me today: What is the line between name dropping and reporting? There must be something qualitative: it doesn’t feel right, maybe it’s downright distasteful, yet it’s hard to put a finger on.

I do not intend to be a name dropper in this blog. I do intend to report on my activities in attempting to promote this business of Siretona Creative. I also intend to do appropriate cross-promotion. But if I ever stoop to name-dropping, please somebody call me on it!!!

On with today’s conversations:

• Conversation: My chiropractor, Dr. Scott Melrose. Goals: (1) to rehabilitate me from whiplash sustained on December 6th, and (2) to determine whether I’m ready to play a full concert on Saturday. I played guitar for quite awhile at Christmas and was fine, but the locus of pain has shifted from upper back to neck and on Friday I tried to play but could hardly get through one song without extreme discomfort and numbness. He told me, “You’re 50/50 right now for being ready to play. Come back tomorrow. In the meantime, ice it 3 times, do these stretches, and take this natural anti-inflammatory this much and this often.” Seems better already.
• Conversation: George, Bernice & Olga, 3 senior citizens, in person, Glenmore Landing Starbucks. Goal: Talk about Martha Morgan’s book. I was enjoying my coffee and doing some personal business, when suddenly it occurred tome to offer book marks to the seniors behind me. They seemed interested in Martha. Turns out they are Starbucks crawlers and could tell me exactly how many shops there are in Vancouver! As we chatted, we discovered a Caronport connection: George was a Saskatchewan boy from Swift Current and had attended Caronport High School back in the day—the 1940s. So we talked about Saskatchewan and Caronport, and people we knew in common, several decades apart. We talked about how George & Bernice have been married for 57 years. We talked about Olga’s Ukranian background and Ukranian Christmas traditions. It was delightful. Who knows if they buy books or book a concert. I certainly suggested it more than once, but didn’t push it, as we had such a delightfully human conversation.
• Conversation: Carol W., in person, Glenmore Landing Good Earth. Goal: Get to know each other and find out how we might fit into one another’s worlds. A mutual friend had introduced us via email, so we took his recommendation seriously and had a lunch date. I showed her my products (BlueBeary, Notes from Over the Hill, and Minus 40 Tour CD). She said, “I know some people you need to meet,” and proceeded to dictate names, short bios, and contact info. Talked about art, friends, family, Bible study, Regent College, business mentorship, funding possibilities, and getting together again sooner than later! She urged me to get a membership at the Calgary Public Library, which was on my list of things to do, but is now higher up. She also urged me to finish writing a business plan (it’s kind of drafted). She’s going to Vancouver and Regent tomorrow, so took a sample of each product for the Regent Bookstore manager.
  • Follow-up: Called and/or emailed several of the people Carol recommended.
• Conversation: Kevin’s mom, in person. Goal: refine our pattern for stuffed BlueBearys and increase production. She cut out nearly 20 brown bottoms while I designed the face (fiddly work) and sewed two by hand, then sewed up one bear. I haven’t sewn in nearly 20 years, so I’m on a learning curve. It has to get better! We’ll have another go at it tomorrow. Had the Flames vs. Avalanche game on in the background. Bonding time in every way. :)
• Conversations: There were the usual slate of emails, but it felt so good to have so many face-to-face conversations!

paving the road

“You can think all day, all week, or all year about a hobby, dream, goal, or business you’d like to delve into, but until you talk about it, you’re much less accountable. By projecting and communicating a clear vision and message, you pave the road for further action and bring others (the listener) into your community, whether they become a part of its actualization or not. Once words escape your lips into the receptive ears of another human being, what was once a lonely voice in your head is now a formulated, debatable, accepted, rejected, or more literal aspiration.”

Ladies Who Launch, p. 170

Conversation: Grant McMillan, via email. Goal: Find means to facilitate project communication. Google Wave anyone. Grant sent a link for this Wave praise. Need to look more closely, but it has tremendous collaborative potential.

Conversation: Kathleen McMillan, via email. Goal: develop more ideas for BlueBeary.

Conversations: Voters on IndieHeaven, via Facebook and email. Goals: (1) raise the song through the Fan Faves chart [#17 today], and (2) invite other people to share memories of their own grandmothers. Here are two lovely notes.

• I remember her laugh, her sideways look at people who were being funny, her love for God. I remember the fudge she made every year for Christmas. She just passed away in 2007 at the age of 103 ... she lost her mother at age 6 and was a widow for 51 years. She experienced much loss but always kept her sense of humor... when she got macular degeneration (limited her eye sight)... she said it was better because now she couldn't see the dust and someone else would have to look after it :)
• I remember the first time I saw my Mennonite Grandma take her long hair out of a bun:) I was just a little girl and fascinated by how long her hair actually was! Then, she got down on her knees and began praying in German! I pretended to be asleep but I'm sure she knew I was awake! She was SO sincere and earnest and I knew she had a wonderful talk with Jesus that night! I wanted to be just like her when I grew up:) Thanks again, Grandma:) (She died years ago and I still think of her amazing love for God:)

Conversation: Raymond Lacusta, via email. Subject: his documentary about the Minus 40 Tour will air on SCN (Saskatchewan Community Network) 15 Minutes of Fame on Jan 27 and 31, and will be available afterwards on the internet!

Conversations: Shopping trip with Mama and 3 young girls, in person. Goal: Buy for fabric and notions to make the birthday bears. Successful! 3 different kinds of fuzzy blue for the top, 2 kinds of brown for the bottom, sequined ribbon for the belt, and felt for the faces. Later I started cutting some bodies while the girls designed faces and cut the belts.

Conversation: myself, via reading Ladies Who Launch. Goal: personal and business development. See quote at beginning of post.

that was better

Today was much clearer in many ways. I’m going to put the last conversation first, just because it was so much fun.

• Conversation: Stephanie & her grandma, in person. Goal: Test run a project. Stephanie’s having a birthday party soon and we decided that the main event should be a craft. We’ll be making bears based on BlueBeary.
  

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• Stephanie and I got together with her grandma to make a trial bear. First we had to find material in the closet (corduroy), then recreate the pattern that Kathleen had scanned & emailed with some difficulty. As this was a trial, we made lots of errors, like sewing the face on AFTER we sewed the back and front together, so we had to work through a small gap in the bear’s side where the stuffing should go in. Oops! Even though it took us 2.5 hours to complete this crazy project (it will go faster for the next 17 or so bears!), we had a good time together and Steph was thrilled with her wonky bear-of-little-neck and looking forward to more. We’re going material shopping on Saturday.
• My favourite thing about this evening and the birthday project in general has been realizing how perfectly it fits with Siretona Creative’s goal of empowering women in the arts in order to build community that strengthens intergenerational bonds. (Not sure how this might facilitate international reach, but that might not matter right now.)

• Conversation: Audrey in Red Deer by phone. Goal: talk about my vision and mission for equipping women in the arts to build community among generations and nations.
  • Audrey and her husband hosted one of my first house concerts in 2007. It was a lovely evening then and we’ve wanted to do it again. We’re working on something soon.
  • As I shared my vision, Audrey mentioned her sister-in-law, a watercolour artist, whose mother before her is a watercolour artist. (I love those kinds of legacies.) We wondered together about possibilities for this sister-in-law’s art. I mused about the question of what is enough.
• Conversation: Audrey’s husband Pete, by phone. Goal: talk about finding me a replacement car with my insurance money. It just occurred to me this morning to talk to him.
• Conversation: Kathleen McMillan, by phone & email. Goal: Ponder business direction. Equip me with a pattern & instructions. to make bears.
• Conversation: Lana of Keys to Music studio, via Facebook messages. Goal: Ride the scheduling roller coaster together. She’s dialoguing with a family about music lessons for their children and it’s a tricky process. We also talked about co-writing songs with a specific project in mind, and about getting me a house concert or two.
• Conversation: Susan, the Accidental Poet/Housewife, via Facebook messages. Goal: Talk details about house concerts, among other things.
• Conversation with many people on Facebook & email about my song “My Grandmother’s House” which has gone from #43 to #20 in 2 days on IndieHeaven’s Fan Faves chart!

There are always more, but those are some that stand out at the end of the day. Good night!

clarity of vision

Today I realized that my approach to conversations needs more focus. Is my goal just to have 2 conversations? What will we talk about? This pondering was confirmed by an email from Today’s TQ:

How Do You Know If Your Vision Is Clear Or Not?

A good reality check on your vision is to explain it to others. If they can't visualize it as well as you can, fill in the necessary details.

The details of your vision supply the needed specifications for its implementation.

Today's Quest...

Answer Honestly:

Have you shared your vision with anyone lately?

___This is the point of the 2 Conversations blog: keeping me on track with connecting about my business/ministry/art._____

What details need to be added to your vision to make it clearer?

___I need to know why I’m approaching certain conversations. Some will be serendipitous, but others must be intentional. I don’t want to manipulate EVERY conversation to make it fit this blog. I just need to have 2 such conversations. Anything more is bonus. _________

Who could share your vision with you today? When?

___Below are some people with whom my interactions related to my vision and goals. ____________

• Email & phone: S., who is learning about the value of brokenness. We also talked about the invitation I’ve received to speak at a spiritual emphasis retreat for her school; there’s a meeting at the end of this week, so I should know soon if I’m officially invited and when to make plans.
• Email/Facebook interactions with several people about my song, “My Grandmother’s House.” The song rose from #43 to #26 in one day on IndieHeaven’s Fan Faves chart through the votes of so many friends. It will be on the chart for a couple more weeks, so please listen and vote. 
• Email with Kathleen & Grant McMillan about publishing and the direction of Open Eyes Books.
• Heard from a former student, Laura, who’s developing a line of baby carriers. Was able to pass along info about a baby store from my research related Open Eyes Books.
• Twitter direct messages:
• @gvmcmillan: Shorty Awards nominations.
• @Power_of_M: Shorty Awards nomination and my song

More than I realized

Coming to this post I thought I had failed at my goal, but it quickly became clear that I had exceeded it. A couple of points are a bit of a stretch, but I can afford to throw them in on an conversation-rich day. (The funny thing is, I spend most of the day alone!)

By phone:

• Lisa Cornish. Lisa is married to my cousin.

• I remember a conversation with her in the summer of 2006 where she was so encouraging about my decision to pursue a creative career. This conversation was memorable because I didn’t even know I was on her radar, but we were Facebook friends and she had been following me enough to comment on and care about my life.
• In the past couple of years we both lived in the Last Mountain area in southern Saskatchewan (Arlington Beach, Duval, Strasbourg), and I wish I had capitalized on the proximity to get to know her better sooner. I’m so grateful for the time we did have: Lisa, her husband Don, and their two adorable children Adin & Van.
• Just over a year ago Lisa and I collaborated on the song “Child of My Heart” and sang it together at the Options Pregnancy Centre fundraising banquet in Regina.
• Lisa has done a couple of photo shoots for me. One with Dara Hallett for our Minus 40 Tour CD promo, the other for book promo, especially BlueBeary.
• Today we talked about all kinds of things—relationships, kids, the house they recently bought—and we talked about business, something we often talk about and/or collaborate on. Lisa has reserved a table at a Strasbourg event and is going to set up a display and look for photography bookings. I love her initiative and ingenuity.

 

• A lady in another province whose sister has written a book. The lady wants to help her sister get motivated, but realizes that it doesn’t matter what a person is given, they have to want to do things themselves before anything can happen. For what it was worth we talked about my creative services and possible ways I could work with her sister.

 

In person:

• New tutoring students. I met two new students tonight, a brother & sister. by way of getting to know each other I gave them each a business card and we talked about the pictures and links on the back of it. They suspected that my websites would be designed “to help people learn stuff.” That’s certainly one thing I hope for through Siretona Creative!

Via email:

• Kathleen McMillan. After a Christmas reprieve, Kathleen and I are getting our communication flowing again. There’s a lot to think about as we work on the Open Eyes Books series and consider alternate formats and spin-off products, along with the printed versions. We are asking God for wisdom in our business decisions and trying not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

With tweets

• Yesterday I learned about the @weinerfamily and their important, attractive, and downright delightful iPhone app called “A Family Matters.” Lynette Mattke described it as “an app that takes you out of the app.” I started following the Weiner Family on Twitter, they followed me back, and we’ve exchanged a few messages.

 

• Kim Page Gluckie, @Power_of_M. Kim and I didn’t really talk vision and goals today. We exchanged a couple of tweets, she complimented my new Twitter picture. Kim deserves a mention here for ‘historical’ reasons. When I decided to move to Calgary, I looked for ways to network with other self-employed business women. M-powered Marketing really stood out as something immediately accessible and in my area of the city. So I registered for the November 18th workshop (Time & Money Are Limited Resources: Make marketing choices that save) and was so inspired that I took the next one on December 16th (Exit Strategies). The second one was even more ‘m-power-ing’, but more about that on another day.

Monday, January 4th

• Set up new Twitter hashmark: #2conversations.
• Was retweeted by @gvmcmillan: “Great idea! RT @siretona: Anyone can play! #2conversations is based on new http://bit.ly/6u688b. Try for a week, month, all year!”
• Inviting anyone who’s on Twitter to send #2conversations tweets.
• Chatted with Lynette @picpocketbooks this afternoon to explore some possibilities. www.picpocketbooks.com
• Learned about a fantastic new app called “A Family Matters.” Makes me wish I had an iPhone or iPod touch!
• Checked in with Lana of Keys to Music Studio about music teaching & BlueBeary ideas (www.openeyes.ca).

some 2009 conversations

It is amazing how one thing often leads to something else, starting with a conversation:

• “Why don’t we ___?”
• “Would you be interested in ___?”
• “You should talk to ___”
• “I’ll introduce you to ___”
• Etc.

This past year has been such an amazing progression of conversations the connections and decisions that arose from them. Here’s a brief (and not comprehensive) outline of the year:

January

• Minus 40 Tour with Dara Hallett. This was the result of a conversation in September about the possibility of touring together. So we made posters & tickets, made some calls and booked some places, and hit the road for 3 weeks, singing in churches and coffeehouses. Eric Lafrance of Jawbone Studios recorded our final concert in Moose Jaw.

February

• Lots of conversations result in a full team for Martha Morgan’s book Notes from Over the Hill.

March

• Progress continues on Martha Morgan’s book.
• Had been contacted ‘out of the blue’ by Otto Guggemos, a fellow alumnus from Regent College. He had digitally remastered the cassette of my thesis project, and the CD arrives in the mail this month: a nice birthday present.

April

• Excellent visit and prayer times with Judith Oldridge and Tammy Evans in Carnduff, SK where they had me sing in their coffeehouse.
• My sister Jaime turns 40: wonderful party in Carlyle, SK.
• Meet the Jost family when they give a concert at Strasbourg Alliance Church. Beautiful mutual blessings.
• First date and conversation with Kevin McCubbin in Calgary.

May

• Release Notes from Over the Hill before Mother’s Day.
• Conduct songwriting workshop at Write! conference in Saskatoon.
• Rich, artful trip to BC.
• Kevin visits me at the Calgary airport during my layover to BC.
• Writing retreat with Kathleen McMillan. Conceive the BlueBeary children’s book project.

June

• Hire illustrator for BlueBeary; edit, design, layout, conversations with our printer—Friesens in Altona, MB.
• Host art retreat for Andria Wiehle.
• Martha Morgan receives good feedback for the font.
• 4-day tour with Martha Morgan.
• Receive Award of Merit from Canadian Christian Writing Awards for “Child of My Heart,” co-written with Dara Hallett, Lisa Cornish and Betty Taylor for Options Pregnancy Centre.
• Kevin takes a day off work and visits for Father’s Day weekend. We have lots of conversations and start dating.

July

• Start pre-selling Colleen & Dara’s live CD from the Minus 40 Tour
• Digital version of the Minus 40 Tour music available online.
• Participate in gospel jambouree in Spiritwood, SK
• Colleen & Dara coffeehouse at Arlington Beach family camp.
• Visit Kevin in Calgary for long weekend, meet his daughter
• Kevin & Steph vacation in SK for 9 days.

August

• Official release of BlueBeary on August 1st. Kathleen becomes VERY busy with farmer’s markets, trade shows, and bookstores.
• Open a Twitter account: www.twitter.com/siretona.
• Kevin attends a wedding in Spiritwood and meets most of the family on my mother’s side. But don’t expect him to remember any names.
• I start talking about moving to Calgary by Christmastime.
• We start work on the second book in the Open Eyes series of books for children.
• We launch Open Eyes fan page on Facebook.
• I speak for a week at Manitou Lake Bible Camp.

September

• Visit Kevin & Stephanie in Calgary.
• Give tribute at funeral for Jean (nee Whittaker) Rohde Mahn.
• Jeffrey & I host Bryan Moyer Suderman concert.
• Sent away the artwork and music files for Minus 40 Tour CD.

October

• Minus 40 Tour CDs arrive in Saskatoon!
• Thanksgiving in Calgary. Realized that I need to move on November 13th.

November

• Drive to North Battleford for a meeting with two other women about a potential creative collaboration.
• Sing at a ladies’ night in Saskatoon.
• Say tearful good-byes to the wonderful people in Strasbourg & area.
• Drive all night to arrive in Calgary in time for Calgary Children’s Book Fair & Conference. My niece Emma helps out.
• Attend an Mpowered Marketing workshop for women and come away “so inspired”!
• Friend Susan invites me to an author reading and again I come away “so inspired”!
• Live with my brother & sister-in-law for a couple of weeks.
• Design new business card.
• Launch Siretona fan page on Facebook
• Visit Kathleen in BC for some strategic planning and to help with trade show.

December

• Moved into my new place.
• Returned with Kevin, pulling a trailer, to Duval, SK to retrieve the rest of my belongings. Sadly (though serendipitously), the trip corresponded with the funeral for my friend Alanna.
• Attended another Mpowered Marketing workshop. Inspired again.
• Got Martha into a Calgary bookstore (Owl’s Nest) and BlueBeary into two bookstores (Owl’s Nest and Monkey Shines).
• Start using my dormant LinkedIn account.
• Set up this blog.