Be Inkandescent Magazine
Is Your Business Struggling? You may be suffering from the "Trifecta of Small-Business Failure." Learn to overcome it
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and President, InkandescentPR.com
Why do so many small businesses fail?
Because the very characteristics that make entrepreneurs want to start a business are the ones that cause them to stumble.
That isn’t news. Business experts have been shouting about this fact for decades—including many we have interviewed for Be Inkandescent magazine, such as life coach Martha Beck, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” guru Richard Carlson, “E-Myth” author Michael Gerber, business tycoon Ted Leonsis, and Fast Company magazine founder Alan Webber.
How do the fireworks created by PR work their way into the mix?
From our publicist’s perch at Inkandescent Public Relations, we have been privileged to work inside dozens of companies—from start-ups to multimillion-dollar corporations. We’ve helped them make fireworks, and equally importantly, catch the embers so they continue to shine.
We have also witnessed their challenges. From these, we culled the “Trifecta“—three trends that that can trip up even the most energetic entrepreneur, with even the most carefully crafted business plan. Do any of these monikers describe you?
The Science of Winning and Losing [Be Inkandescent magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent
Illustrations by Michael Gibbs MichaelGibbs.com
For a decade, it’s been a constant drumbeat, issued by leaders of our nation and corporations, to employees and even to our youngest students: we must all be more competitive. At last there is a primer on the science of winning and losing.
In Top Dog, authors Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson reveal the hidden factors behind every sort of win and loss—from bringing home an Olympic gold medal in swimming to bombing the SAT. The two award-winning science journalists also dive deep into the psychology of rankings, the neuroscience of mistakes, and the DNA of fearlessness.
Best of all, they unveil cutting-edge science through interesting stories ranging from pilot flight training, NASCAR brawls, political try-outs, ballroom dancing, CIA spies, and Wall Street.
Packed with fascinating insights, research, and “aha” moments, the book makes it tough to pick out just a few ideas to share. That said, here are our three favorite bits from “Top Dog.”
Are You Ready to Lean In? [TrulyAmazingWomen.com]
JUNE 2013: THE ART OF LEANING IN
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent
“Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry—which means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives,” explains Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in her bestseller, “Lean In.”
An extension of her wildly popular December 2010 TedTalk, Sandberg has turned her initial 15-minute-and-28-second snapshot of the issue into a 187-page showstopper that not only examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled—it has galvanized us in ways perhaps more profound than the Atlantic Monthly article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” by Anne-Marie Slaughter.
Why has it struck such a chord with so many of us? Because the woman who is ranked on Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, and is one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, admits she sometimes feels like a fraud. She perseveres anyway.
And that’s the beauty of her book, which takes less than two hours to gobble up, for Sandberg’s story is all of our stories. In it she recounts her decisions, mistakes, and her daily struggles to balance work and career that most women can relate to. Best of all, she provides specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment—and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace, and at home.
How are you standing up, raising your voice, and leaning in? Scroll down for some of the highlights from Sandberg’s 10 Tips for Leaning In. You’ll also hear from some female entrepreneurs, futurists, and authors on the Inkandescent Speakers Bureau, who share their insights and ideas on what it means to lean in. We know you’ll be inspired by how these powerful women are rising to the occasion—because you can, too!
Here’s to pushing past our fears—and standing up! Illustrations by Michael Gibbs.
Do You Want to Have a Wild Company? Mel and Patricia Zeigler Show You How [Be Inkandescent]
MAY 2013: BANANA REPUBLIC FOUNDERS MEL & PATRICIA ZIEGLER
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent
With $1,500 to their names, and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Re-imagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist together created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone.
Their book is one of the best business tomes I have read. It’s honest, funny, charming—and it reads so much like a novel that you don’t want to put it down. The reason is simple: These two successful entrepreneurs embody what it means to stay true to yourself and your passion—even when the promise of millions, if not billions, of dollars is dangled in front of you.
Click here for our Q&A with the Zieglers and learn how they upended business conventions and survived on their wits and imagination. Listen to our interview as a podcast on the Inkandescent Radio Network.
Whole Foods John Mackey Fights for Conscious Capitalism [Be Inkandescent]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent
“Despite enabling widespread prosperity, free-enterprise capitalism has earned little respect from intellectuals and almost no affection from the masses,” observed Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey when he spoke recently at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
“Rather than being seen for what they really are—the heroes of the story—capitalism and business are all too frequently vilified as the bad guys and blamed for virtually everything our postmodern critics dislike about the world,” he said, quoting from his 2013 book, “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business.”
Before we leap into a discussion about Mackey’s big ideas, here are the four tenets of what he and co-author Raj Sisodia see as the basic elements of Conscious Capitalism.
Shoshana Grove: The Powerhouse Behind Executive Women in Government
COVER STORY MARCH 2013: EXECUTIVE WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher, Be Inkandescent
What does it take to rise to the top ranks in government? That’s the question we asked Executive Women in Government VP Shoshana Grove.
The federal executive began her career as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service in Washington, DC, and worked her way up through the ranks to her current position as head of the Office of Secretary & Administration for the Postal Regulatory Commission.
She is responsible for maintaining the records of the Commission, preserving Commission documents, managing the Commission’s library and docket room, and managing HR, among other responsibilities. She also represents the Commission on the Federal CIO Council and Small Agency Council.
For our Tips column this month, we also looped in the organization’s president, Reta Jo Lewis. Click here for her insights into rising to the top.
But first, we sat down with Grove to discuss her career, her perspective on where women have come from—and where they are going—and what role Executive Women in Government will be playing in the years to come.
Scroll down for our Q&A, below.
Click here to listen to our podcast interview on the Inkandescent Radio Network.
Love Rules: 14 Power Couples Take Us Inside Their Lives
LOVE RULES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
By Hope Katz Gibbs
publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
Illustrations by Hope’s better half, Michael Gibbs
Be honest. What do you think it takes to balance two powerful, time-consuming, stressful, successful careers? Add in a couple of kids, the mortgage and bills, and the other stresses of modern life—and if you are like me, there are days when it just seems like too much to juggle.
And just when I think something has to give before our proverbial cookie crumbles, I’ll meet a stranger who offers a fresh perspective. He or she will look at what we’ve built, and politely ask, “How do you do it?”
Quite frankly, the question makes me grimace. There’s no magic trick that enables me to run a PR and publishing company with my husband as the VP, while he’s managing his own busy illustration business. Add in caring for our two teenagers, helping out as much as we can with our aging parents, and trying to squeeze in time to celebrate our 18th anniversary (on Feb. 1, when this issue went live) … well, there’s no magic to it. It’s downright exhausting.
More likely, this stranger is wondering why anyone in his or her right mind would want to take on so much responsibility.
Recently, though, I have come to interpret the question as a compliment. Whether intended or not, I now believe that this kind stranger is looking at the beautiful life that my husband and I have built. He knows it’s easier said than done. And yet, we do it anyway.
So do all of the Power Couples we polled—and the countless more who read our magazine. My response is similar to theirs when asked how we manage marriage and business: We do it together.
And what we all have in common is that when we kiss each other goodnight, we know the person on the other side of the bed is there to lend the love and support we need to make our way through whatever tomorrow brings. The 18 fresh red roses that Mike gave me to celebrate the life we’ve created (which we lovingly refer to as Gibbco) are sitting on my desk as a sweet reminder that he not only has my back, he has my heart.
How do you manage business and love in the 24-hour/7 days-a-week race that is your life? Scroll down for an honest, thoughtful glimpse into the balancing act from 14 Power Couples who are at the top of their game.
These “Fabulous 14” couples don’t work in the same company—as do our Lucky Seven Power Couples featured as our February Entrepreneurs of the Month. But these folks are working side-by-side in countless other ways.
We hope their thoughts on collaboration will inspire you to kiss your spouse a couple of extra times today. A bouquet of red roses is always a nice touch, too.
Note: We couldn’t fit all of their incredible wisdom on one page. To read a more complete compilation, click here.
How Barefoot Wine Went From the Beach to the Big Time [Be Inkandescent]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
When Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey started Barefoot Wine in their laundry room in 1986, the lifelong domestic partners dreamt that someday their wine would be a national bestseller. In 2005, that dream became a reality when they sold to E. & J. Gallo.
Since then, the couple has helped dozens of other entrepreneurs find ways to expand their brand—often with little money and no industry experience. How?
“We were pioneers in what we termed ‘worthy cause marketing’ and performance-based compensation,” Houlihan explained when I reached him by phone at his California estate. “We held a comprehensive view of customer service, resulting in the National Hot Brand Award for outstanding sales growth in 2003 and 2004.”
Click here to learn how Houlihan’s experience and innovative approach to business have made their company an international success.
Seth Goldman Takes Us Inside Honest Tea [December 2012, Be Inkandescent magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
There’s a Chinese Proverb painted across the entry wall of Seth Goldman’s Bethesda, MD-based company, Honest Tea: “Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the people doing it.”
Indeed, that belief has been part of the mission of the beverage firm that Goldman started in his house in 1998, with his grad school professor, Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management. It was slowgoing at first, but Honest Tea has thrived for the last decade, with a 66 percent annual compound growth rate—a statistic Goldman attributes to the fact that consumers increasingly prefer healthier food and drink options.
That fact helped Honest Tea land a cash infusion from The Coca-Cola Company in 2008. It owned a 40 percent interest in the company until March 2011, when it acquired the boutique brand for an undisclosed price, a month after its option to buy came due.
“This is a recognition that, especially with early-stage brands, the entrepreneurs continue to be relevant and important,” Goldman told The Washington Post. “We have an amazing opportunity to take our mission to a much broader level.”
Be Inkandescent magazine had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with the graduate of Harvard College (1987) and the Yale School of Management (1995), who also holds an honorary doctorate of laws from American University. Scroll down for our Q&A, and click here to hear our podcast interview with Seth Goldman.
The Importance of Having Empathy: Insights From Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka [Be Inkandescent]
By Hope Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
Bill Drayton has been a social entrepreneur since he was a New York City elementary school student. He was born to a mother who emigrated from Australia as a young cellist and an American father who, also unafraid to step into the unknown, became an explorer at an equally young age.
Public service and strong values run through the stories of both parents’ families, including several of the earliest anti-slavery abolitionist and women’s leaders in the United States. These family influences, the rich diversity and openness of life in Manhattan—as well as America’s deep cultural concern with equity, which flourished during the Civil Rights years—all interacted with one another and with Drayton’s temperament to plant Ashoka’s earliest roots.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Drayton to talk about the powerful international organization that he founded in 1980—which today is focused on creating a world where every child masters empathy. Scroll down for our Q&A.
We also interviewed Danielle Goldstone, the Change Leader in charge of Ashoka’s Start Empathy Initiative. Click here for her three-part strategy on how to ensure that your child, and your company, are empathetic, in our Tips for Entrepreneurs. To learn even more, stay tuned for our upcoming podcast with both Drayton and Goldstone on Inkandescent Radio.
Can Women Have It All? [Be Inkandescent]
Can women have it all? That’s the question that has been hotly debated since Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote her controversial essay, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” in the July/August issue of Atlantic magazine.
In addition to serving as the director of policy planning at the State Department from 2009 to 2011, she is mom to two teenage boys. To keep all the balls in the air, she lived in DC during the week, returning home only on weekends to be with her supportive husband and kids. And therein lay the rub.
“Eighteen months into my job as the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department, a foreign-policy dream job that traces its origins back to George Kennan, I found myself in New York, at the United Nations’ annual assemblage of every foreign minister and head of state in the world,” she writes.
The Future of Education [Be Inkandescent]
By Hope Gibbs, publisher
Be Inkandescent
Photos by Steve Barrett
When it comes to forecasting the future of education, it’s no surprise that online learning is taking the lead.
Similar to the dot.com boom of the 1990s, venture capitalists are eager to invest in education-technology start-ups.
According to the National Venture Capital Association, investments in ed-tech shot up to $429 million last year, from $146 million in 2002.
In April 2012, the Chronicle of Higher Education hosted a panel of education entrepreneurs on the cutting edge. The lively discussion focused on the following industry changes:
• Technology isn’t just about generating data. It’s about transforming the education experience.
• The proliferation of available data might necessitate a new organizing mechanism, specifically with regard to decision-making when it comes to the vast number of education opportunities.
• There is new momentum for partnerships between the private sector and existing institutions.
Click inside to meet the folks leading us into the future.
Pamela Hartigan On "The Power of Unreasonable People" [Be Inkandescent magazine, August 2012]
What does it take to become a company that is more focused on societal change than financial reward?
That is but one of the questions we asked Pamela Hartigan, the director of Oxford’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, which is named for eBay billionaire Jeff Skoll—one of the world’s best known “philanthroactivists.”
Married to an Australian for 40 years, Hartigan was recently featured in an article published in Australia’s Dumbo Feather.com that describes her as talking with rage and energy.
“She also talks no bullshit,” insists reporter Patrick Pittman, adding that Hartigan has “spent a career working to disrupt and change systems from within and from without. She builds bridges.”
Michael Gerber Takes Us Inside "The Dreaming Room" [Be Inkandescent magazine, July 2012]
JULY 2012: BEYOND THE E-MYTH
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent
When Michael Gerber’s “E-Myth” was published in 1986, he had an inkling that entrepreneurs would take note.
After all, he was offering a solution for the millions of people struggling to understand why their small businesses don’t work and what to do about it.
What is the E-Myth? Gerber defines it like this: “The Entrepreneurial Myth says that technicians suffering from an entrepreneurial seizure believe that because they understand how to do the work of the business they intend to start, they are automatically gifted with an understanding about how to build and grow a business that does work.”
Dr. Esther Sternberg on "The Science of Healing" [Be Inkandescent magazine, June 2012]
JUNE 2012: FINDING THE BALANCE WITHIN
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent magazine
Photo by Steve Barrett
“There is a turning point in the course of healing when you go from the dark side to the light, when your interest in the world revives, and despair gives way to hope,” writes Dr. Esther Sternberg in “Healing Spaces,” the 2009 book that led her to create the PBS Special “The Science of Healing,” which airs this month.
Internationally recognized for her discoveries of the science of the mind-body interaction in illness and healing, Dr. Esther Sternberg has become a force in collaborative initiatives on mind-body-stress-wellness and environment inter-relationships.
Her books, Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, and The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions, are informative and scientifically based inspirations to doctors and laymen alike in dealing with the complexities and 21st century frontiers of stress, healing, and wellness.
Richard Carlson Suggests Six Ways to Create Abundance—And More Fun—In Your Life [Be Inkandescent magazine, May 2012]
MAY 2012: DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF—AND IT’S ALL SMALL STUFF
When Richard Carlson passed away in December 2006, he left behind a legacy of 30 books that have helped millions learn not to let the small things in life get the best of them.
Carlson was considered one of the foremost experts on happiness and stress reduction, and his Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series made publishing history as USA Today’s #1 bestselling book for two consecutive years. The title spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and is considered one of the fastest selling books of all time.
To inspire—and calm yourself—click inside for six excerpts from Carlson’s 100 practical tips.* Illustrations by Michael Gibbs
Insights Into How to Live the Life of Your Dreams from Life Coach Martha Beck [Be Inkandescent, April 2012]
By Hope Katz Gibbs, Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
“How the hell did you get here? What the hell are you going to do now?” These are the questions that Life Coach Martha Beck asks—and helps readers answer—in Finding Your Way in a Wild New World, which is her newest book.
A sociologist with three degrees from Harvard, Beck is the author of several bestselling books that help readers map their way to a more joyful life: Finding Your Own North Star (2002), Steering by Starlight (2008), and her latest, Finding Your Way in A Wild New World.
Beck was named one of the country’s first life coaches in 2002, thanks to an article by USA TODAY. It explained that life coaching guides “give clients the confidence to get unstuck—to change careers, repair relationships, or simply get their act together.” In the last several decades, her national and international workshops, and sophisticated coaching training program, have helped millions bridge the gap.
Mara Bartiromo Helps Us Find the Secret to Success [Be Inkandescent, March 2012]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher/Founder
Be Inkandescent magazine
When it comes to the challenge of finding success, financial reporter Maria Bartiromo admits she had two things going against her.
“I was a reporter with a camera, and I was a woman,” she shares, noting she persevered through the early days reporting live from the testosterone-fueled boys club on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. “Then one day, I was standing by the General Electric post and there were maybe 25 guys within earshot when one of them who was about three times my age said, ‘Run along, little girl, and don’t come here again.’ I had knots in my stomach. I looked at him and said, ‘Don’t talk to me that way’—and I ran along! But I came back! And I kept coming back. And 20 years later, I’m still here.”
Indeed. And so are many other female financial reporters, thanks to Bartiromo’s fearless determination. Not only is she the anchor of CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo,” and the host and managing editor of the nationally syndicated “Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo,” she is the author of three books, including the one we are focusing on this month, The 10 Laws of Enduring Success.
Bestselling Author Ridley Pearson Tell Us How To Write A Book [Be Inkandescent magazine, February 2012]
By Hope Katz Gibbs, Publisher/Founder
Be Inkandescent and
Inkandescent PR
What child hasn’t wanted to fly to the “second star to the right, and straight on till morning,” to find themselves on the island of Neverland?
“Certainly no one I’ve ever met,” says bestselling author Ridley Pearson, whose novels cover a lot of ground, from the paranormal to the Peter Pan prequels, which he co-authored with humorist Dave Barry. Pearson is perhaps best known for his crime fiction novels, which have been translated into 22 languages and sell in 70 countries: ridleypearson.com.
What makes Pearson’s novels so engaging, critics agree, is his ability to pull in readers in the first paragraph—and keep them hanging on until the last page.
Reebok's President Uli Becker Jumpstarts the Shaping Up of America [Be Inkandescent Magazine, January 2012]
JANUARY 2012 CEO OF THE MONTH: REEBOK’S ULI BECKER
By Hope Katz Gibbs Publisher
Be Inkandescent magazine
“I do and say what I believe in,” Uli Becker told me when we met in his office at Reebok’s corporate headquarters in Canton, Mass., in December.
That attitude undoubtedly has helped the current president of Reebok International chart new territory for the firm that he says was in the hospital, on life-support, when the new parent company, the Adidas Group, bought it in 2006.
The German-born Becker, who has worked for the Adidas Group since 1990, explains: “We found that Reebok was not in its best shape based on lowering of price points, and distribution channel dilution. The brand itself also wasn’t a high flier, because it was at the border of being a branded but unbranded business, in terms of how the public perceived it.”
Alan Webber's Rules of Thumb [Be Inkandescent Magazine, December 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
While Alan Webber’s name may not be familiar to you, odds are good that you have read the publication he founded in November 1995 with Bill Taylor — Fast Company magazine.
Both men were former Harvard Business Review editors, and their new publication was founded on a single premise: A global revolution was changing business, and business was changing the world. “Discarding the old rules of business, Fast Company set out to chronicle how changing companies create and compete, to highlight new business practices, and to showcase the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business,” Webber explains, sharing that they were both proud to have been named Adweek’s Editor of the Year in 1999.
Prior to his successful foray into publishing, Webber was a political speechwriter focusing on innovative policy initiatives. Today, he continues exploring reinvention, and considers himself a “global detective“—one who travels the world speaking at innovation and foresight conferences and investigating how things work. To that end, in 2009 he published a bestselling business book, Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self.
Tom Brokaw on "The Time of Our Lives" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, November 2011]
By Hope Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent
“What happened to the America I thought I knew?” asks respected broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw in his new book, The Time of Our Lives.
With this sixth title he has penned since leaving the anchor seat of NBC Nightly News in 2004, Brokaw says he is determined to have a conversation about America with the people who can make a difference in setting her course. The author describes this tome as a discussion about “who we are, where we’ve been, and where we need to go now, to recapture the American dream.”
And Brokaw, whose previous bestsellers include, “The Greatest Generation,” “A Long Way From Home,” and “Boom!” insists that he is not the only one who is worried about the future of America.
“Wherever I go I am asked, ‘What has happened to us? Have we lost our way?’ Will our children and grandchildren have better lives than we do? Is that essential part of the American dream disappearing? I believe it is time for an American conversation about legacy and destiny.”
Picking the Brain of the Head Motley Fool [Be Inkandescent Magazine, October 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
How do you master the art and science of investing? That’s one of the many questions we asked Tom Gardner, CEO and co-founder of The Motley Fool, a multimedia financial-services company based in Alexandria, VA, which provides financial solutions for investors through various stock, investing, and personal-finance products.
“Use your brain, your emotions, and your personality,” says the leader of the 265-person firm that he and his brother, David, founded in 1993. “If you harness these ideals, your investment returns will lead you to financial freedom in the Foolish fields of opportunity. But if they harness you, close your eyes because the chili won’t stop hitting the fan.”
What he means, as eloquently expressed in the foreword to LouAnn Lofton’s 2011 book, Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl—And You Should, Too, is this: “Don’t sell when you should be buying. Don’t believe what you should have doubted. Don’t shout while you should be learning. And don’t trade when you should be investing.”
Spreading Good Vibes: Bert Jacobs on the Power of Optimism [Be Inkandescent Magazine, September 2011]
For my 8th birthday, my grandparents bought me my first Life is good T-shirt. It was really soft, the color of the night sky, and featured a superhero named Jake—playing basketball, my favorite sport. I wanted to wear it to school every day that week. After day three, my dad just laughed as he put me into the car and took me to the nearest Life is good shop in Old Town, Alexandria, VA, to buy more.
I’m 12 now, and haven’t worn anything but a Life is good shirt ever since (I even wear them under my Boy Scout uniform). I recently checked, and I have 24 of these Ts in my dresser—including a few that I outgrew, plus two that I turned into pillows for my bed.
Guy Kawasaki's "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, August 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
August 2011
In addition to being one of the people who helped make Apple Computer into the mega success that it is today, entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an online magazine rack of popular topics on the Web.
He is also the founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures, a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital fund that seeks to invest in extraordinary entrepreneurs who have the ability to build great teams and great companies.
His nine previous books include the bestselling title, The Art of the Start, as well as “Reality Check” and “The Macintosh Way.” A native of Hawaii, Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California.
Think Big! [Be Inkandescent Magazine, July 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
July 2011
The head coach and general manager of the Washington Mystics women’s basketball team has no time, or patience, for small-mindedness. Dressed in a tan pantsuit and black heels, Trudi Lacey watched intently from the sidelines on June 16, as the women of her team, the Washington Mystics, battled the players of the Connecticut Sun.
The Mystics were eager to bring home a win for the 7,000-plus fans who gathered on the hot, rainy night at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC.
The Mystics had lost 89-73 to the Sun on June 4, their first loss of the season. And by the end of the first period, the Sun was ahead, 23-11. Lacey was undaunted. She knows that her team, which has suffered a handful of injuries since the season’s start, is lacking when it comes to playing defense.
“First and foremost, we need to play defense,” Lacey had told the sports reporter from The Washington Times prior to the game. “I have been preaching it, and they just need to shift their mindset and play defense for the entire game.”
Funny Rules [Be Inkandescent Magazine, June 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Founder and Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
June 2011
We’ve heard it before: Laughter is the best medicine. Funny brothers Dave and Sam Barry share some thoughts on why humor is mission-critical in their lives.
Odds are good that if you have been awake for some of the past 20 years, you know Dave Barry. The humor columnist (pictured right) has been syndicated in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, and his book, “Dave Barry Turns 40,” became the basis for a TV show that ran for four seasons on CBS.
Dave has also written dozens of fiction and nonfiction books, two of which were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom “Dave’s World,” in which Harry Anderson played Dave. He also plays in a band with other famous authors — including Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom — called The Rock Bottom Remainders. For more information, visit Dave’s blog.
Howard Schultz Moves Us 'Onward' [Be Inkandescent Magazine, May 2011]
Undoubtedly, Starbucks is one of the great 21st century American success stories. The specialty coffee retailer has grown from a single store in Seattle in 1971 to 17,009 stores in 54 countries, as of January 2011. Last month, it officially became the third-largest U.S. restaurant chain, according to industry tracker Technomic Inc., with more sales than Burger King Holdings Inc., but less than Subway, thanks to a 20 percent increase in second-quarter profits.
More than 60 million customers, called “guests” by Starbucks, sipped its coffee last year. They were served by 200,000 employees, aka: “partners,” who are referred to by their first names. Schultz, in fact, is known internally as Howard, and like all execs in the firm, his title is not capitalized. He is, modestly, the ceo.
That simple, but powerful, wordplay is part of Howard Schultz’s approach to building a coffee empire that exploded by serving up a great cup of joe, and sticking to its core philosophy. Given that, it’s not surprising that Schultz’s 2011 book, “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul,” is such a forthright account. It not only details the experiences of his youth that laid the foundation for the company he has built, it provides case studies and details of meetings and conversations, making it a primer for how to do business with heart and conscience.
The Business of Rock: Insights from Roger & Camilla McGuinn [Be Inkandescent Magazine, April 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
April 2011
At 68, legendary rock star Roger McGuinn is going strong. On April 1, he performed at the popular DC music venue The Barns at Wolf Trap, where his one-man show wowed the packed house. McGuinn strolled out onto the stage singing “My Back Pages,” which was penned by his long-time friend Bob Dylan.
For the next hour and a half, the minstrel in the Stetson sat before a beautifully lit ruby backdrop surrounded by his favorite three guitars and a banjo. As he eloquently shared the history of folk music and told the story of his career, he sang and strummed dozens of the songs that he and The Byrds have made famous.
For the finale, he sang “May the Road Rise,” an old Irish blessing he turned into a ballad with his wife of more than three decades and official roadie, Camilla McGuinn. April 1, in fact, was their 33rd anniversary, and the inspiration for the name of their music label, April First Productions.
Lee Woodruff on Being "Perfectly Imperfect" [Be Inkandescent Magazine, March 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Editor & Publisher
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Lee Woodruff is no stranger to the limelight. The wife of well-known ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff — the reporter who in 2006 suffered a traumatic brain injury while covering the War in Iraq — is a contributor to “Good Morning America,” a former senior vice president of the PR firm Porter Novelli, a contributor to Health, Redbook, Country Living and Prevention magazines, and a spokesperson for “Family Fun” on TV and radio, where she discusses parenting and family life.
When Bob began recovering from his injury, they penned “In An Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing,” an eloquent, candid description of what happened in Iraq, and the struggles the couple and their children faced as Bob recovered.
In 2009, the mother of four published her second book, “Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress,” where she shares deeply personal and uproariously funny stories highlighting topics such as family, marriage, friends, and how life never seems to go as planned.
Why We Love: Insights From Dr. Helen Fisher [Be Inkandescent Magazine, February 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
February 2011
What is love? Why do we pick the people we choose to love, hire, befriend? Is there really love at first sight? How did love evolve?
To answer these eternal questions, Rutgers University professor and anthropologist, Dr. Helen Fisher, has traveled from the the desert outback of East Africa, to Tokyo, to Iran, and back to her home in New York City, to determine if one culture perceives love differently than another. She then used fMRI technology to look inside the brains of 50 men and women who said they were madly in love.
Her perspectives on love, sexuality, women, and gender differences have been featured in Time magazine, National Public Radio, NBC, the BBC, and CNN. She has also authored five books: “The Sex Contract,” “Anatomy of Love,” “The First Sex,” “Why We Love,” and her 2010 book, “Why Him? Why Her?” Fisher is currently working on a new title about why we choose one partner over another.
How Will Nonprofits Face the Challenges of 2011? [Be Inkandescent Magazine, January 2011]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
January 2011
What does the future look like at three of America’s largest nonprofit organizations? Below you’ll read remarks from Mark Tercek, CEO, The Nature Conservancy; Terri Lee Freeman, president, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region; and Wayne Pacelle, CEO, The Humane Society of the U.S.
The nonprofit execs were panelists at the 2011 Nonprofit CEO Outlook forum hosted by Bisnow on December 16 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in DC. The moderator was Richard Newman from the law firm Arent Fox, which sponsored the event.
Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams Gives Us a Glimpse Into the Future of the Workforce
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
December 2010
Do you speak a foreign language? How about your employees? Have many, or any of them, mastered a second language or lived in a foreign country?
If not, you may be behind the curve in terms of the future of the workforce, believes Tom Adams, president and CEO of Rosetta Stone, Inc.
“Speaking more than one language is no longer just an asset in today’s job market; it is a requirement,” insists Adams, whose company provides interactive solutions that are acclaimed for the power to unlock the natural language-learning ability in everyone. “The United States risks falling behind in the global economy if we do not strive to be a multilingual society.”
Why is nonprofit guru Robert Egger is "Begging for Change?"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Be Inkandescent Magazine
November 2010
“Hello, my name is Robert and I’m a recovering hypocrite,” writes nonprofit advocate Robert Egger in the beginning of his book, “Begging for Change: The dollars and sense of making non-profits responsive, efficient, and rewarding for all.”
The founder of the DC Central Kitchen, who among other leadership roles was tapped to clean up the beleaguered United Way National Capital Area as interim director back in 2002, is on a mission.
“I discovered soon after I started the DC Central Kitchen that winning my war — the war against hunger — wasn’t just about feeding more people or building more efficient kitchens,” Egger explains in his book. “Even if I spent the rest of my life raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the ‘cause,’ I realized that all the money would never end hunger. Hunger is tied to other battles. It’s about education, child care, job training, AIDS work, drug counseling, affordable housing, and health care.”
Steven Schussler explains why "It's a Jungle in There," and what entrepreneurs can do to tame the beasts
By Hope Katz Gibbs
October 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
When Steven Schussler was 18, he got a job in Miami climbing phone poles for the Southern Bell Telephone Company. But the young man, who as a teen figured out a way to make thousands of dollars each summer selling playing cards and soda and running errands to poker-playing rich guys at the beach, had his sights set on something bigger.
“It was hard work for little pay and offered limited opportunities for advancement,” he writes in his new book, It’s a Jungle in There. “When I learned I could make more money selling airtime for radio and television stations and build a future career for myself, I knew it was time for me to make a move.”
Michael Chasen teaches us the benefits of connecting education and technology
By Hope Katz Gibbs
September 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
At 38, Blackboard Inc. CEO Michael Chasen has already achieved more than he ever dreamed was possible.
His company, which develops and licenses software applications and related services to more than 7,500 colleges, universities, K-12 school districts, corporations, and government agencies in more than 60 countries, projects revenues of $445.4 million in 2010.
Total revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2010, was $107.7 million, an increase of 17 percent over the second quarter of 2009. The company went public on Nasdaq in 2004 and by the summer of 2006 was making headlines in The New York Times.
“Chasen [pictured below left with his co-founder Matthew Pittinsky] will never be confused with the brash upstarts that defined the Internet boom of the 1990s, or Silicon Valley’s ever-growing crop of disruption-crazed entrepreneurs,” wrote Times reporter William Taylor. “”[Blackboard] may be disruptive, but they conduct themselves like diplomats.”
Dr. Ben Carson's tells us when to take a risk
By Hope Katz Gibbs
August 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
How risky is it to separate conjoined twins? Dr. Ben Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, says he doesn’t think about his work in those terms.
“You don’t go into a field that requires cracking people’s heads open or operating on something as delicate as the spinal cord unless you are comfortable with taking risks,” explains Carson in his latest book, “Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk.”
Previous books include “Think Big,” and “Gifted Hands,” which became a made-for-TV movie for TNT starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. Directed by Thomas Carter (Coach Carter). The film reveals Carson’s inspiring life story as a poor, inner-city youth who overcame great odds to become one of the world’s best surgeons, thanks to the love of his determined single mother (played by Kimberly Elise) and an unswerving faith.
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter on President Obama's first year in power
By Hope Katz Gibbs
July 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
The word “promise” was repeated 19 times during Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on August 28, 2008 — the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, explains Jonathan Alter in the prologue of his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One.
The President said: “I told you my story of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. It is that promise that’s always set this country apart.
The promise of America, [is] the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper. That’s the promise we need to keep. That’s the change we need right now.”
Alter writes that less than three weeks later, “the economy nearly vaporized, and some of the promises he mentioned would soon recede from public view. But many of his words would resonate — or clang — through the first year of his presidency.”
Here’s why.
Meet the CEO of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence
By Hope Katz Gibbs
June 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Even before Nell Merlino founded Take Our Daughters to Work Day for the Ms. Foundation in 1992, she was considered “a professional rabble-rouser with a very active imagination.”
In 1990, she helped produce the 20th Century Anniversary Earth Day Concert in Central Park (www.earthday.net). That year, she also did advance work on Nelson Mandela’s first trip to New York after he was released from prison.
Nell helped organize the distribution of 100,000 condoms around New York City through the Gay Men’s Health Crisis organization (www.gmhc.org), was the communications director for the NGO Forum on Women in Beijing (www.ngocsw.org), and with her brother, Joe, helped organized the YWCA Week Without Violence (www.weekwithoutviolence), which ran for more than five years around the U.S.
Social entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus offers new insight into microfinance in his third book, "Building Social Business"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
May 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
A native of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. In 1972, he became head of the economics department at Chittagong University.
He then served as chairman of the economics department at Chittagong University before dedicating his life to providing financial and social services to the poorest of the poor.
Former President Jimmy Carter says of Dr. Yunus’ work: “By giving poor people the power to help themselves, Dr. Yunus has offered them something far more valuable than a plate of food — security in the most fundamental form.”
Ted Leonsis, one of AOL's entrepreneur extraordinaires and owner of the Washington Caps, has a new book out: "The Business of Happiness"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
April 2, 2010
Be Inkandendescent Magazine
“The happiest and most successful people I know have in common with one another not just an ability to function with multiple communities, but a real desire to do so,” writes Ted Leonsis in his new book, “The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work.”
Surely, any entrepreneur would love to know the secrets to Leonsis’ success — much as they did a decade ago when Jack Welch’s GE ideas seemed like the best path to follow for many business owners.
But this book, co-written by John Buckley who was Leonsis’ friend and PR director when he was an executive at AOL, focuses on self-actualization — the top of the pyramid in what Abraham Maslow termed the Hierarchy of Needs.
“What a man can be, he must be,” Maslow explained. “This forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person’s full potential is, and to realizing that potential.”
Gina Schaefer, owner of seven ACE Hardware stores in Washington, DC, is on the cusp of a trend: the return of the mom and pop shop
By Hope Katz Gibbs
March 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Owning a string of hardware stores in downtown Washington, D.C., isn’t what you’d expect Gina Schaefer to say she does for a living when you meet the perky, petite 39-year-old. But she and husband Marc proudly stand at the helm of an $11 million company that is opening its seventh store this spring — a 7,500-square-foot space at 7001 Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park.
Why did a girl who graduated with a degree in political science, and worked for a few years at the Children’s Defense Fund, get into the hardware business? “We were young and dumb,” Schaefer says with a grin. But the real answer seems to be equal parts necessity, opportunity, humility — and true grit.
Jim Bognet and Jeff Kaiser, owners of the $50 million firm, Bognet Construction, are relentless about delivering high quality, on-time, on-budget solutions for our customers
By Hope Katz Gibbs
February 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Photos by Steve Barrett
Little did Bognet Construction founders Jim Bognet and Jeff Kaiser know when they leased their first office in 1998 for $500 per month in the basement of a Starbucks on MacArthur Boulevard that 12 years later they would be manning a $50 million firm that employs 45 people.
“We love construction, and are relentless about delivering high quality, on-time, on-budget solutions for our customers,” the owners say. “Our goal is to continue to build this firm into a $150 million company in the next five years.”
Dubbed the "queen of putting people's lives in order" by USA Today, organizational and time management expert Julie Morgenstern teaches us to clear the clutter
By Hope Katz Gibbs
January 1, 2010
Be Inkandescent Magazine
Dubbed the “queen of putting people’s lives in order” by USA Today, Julie Morgenstern is an organizational and time management expert, business productivity consultant, and nationally renowned speaker. She’s also a New York Times bestselling author, having published five books that are reference guides featuring techniques and observations culled from her 20 years of experience as a consultant to individuals and companies.
She founded Julie Morgenstern Enterprises in 1989, and her common-sense approach to getting, and staying, organized has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey. In fact, in the last decade she appeared as a guest on Oprah nine times.
She has also appeared on CNN, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and Good Morning America, and has been quoted in The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Julie was also a monthly contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. Her new monthly column premiered in the March 2009 issue of Redbook.