Build Regardless

#TheBuildUp Youth: Financial Futures Now Presents Inaugural Children’s Business Fair April 27

We absolutely love the work that Financial Futures Now is doing in teaching children the basics of entrepreneurship and helping them start their own mini enterprises! Check out the Children’s Business Fair on Saturday, April 27! All aspiring ‘kidpreneurs’ are encouraged to participate to showcase, sell and share their products here. Let’s BuildUP our youth. Please support and attend if you can.

Financial Futures Now Presents Inaugural Children’s Business Fair April 27, Severna Park, Maryland.

“Don’t Settle” during #TheBuildUP

Press play. This song by Green Tea (Soul) is definitely a song that should be on the soundtrack to your Build UP. We love the message.

When your interests change, should your business as well?

Hello and Good Evening,

I’m interested in knowing your thoughts about the question above, as it’s one I’ve been pondering with for over nine months now. I’ve decided to answer this question, with “Yes.”

You see, when I first started TBI in 2009, I wanted to simply help others communicate and share our clients’ work with the world. We’ve worked with hundreds of clients, be it long-term contracts or short writing assignments. From opening green community/business incubators, managing fashion designers and fashion houses, DJs, serving as project manager on large and small events or helping new entrepreneurs start their companies, I’ve been fortunate to gather tons of experience as a consultant to a variety of organizations.

I started to notice that last summer, I no longer had a desire to do business the way we were doing it before. I have always had some sort of ethos that motivated TBI to take various clients and “underdogs” with great causes, but now, it seems that ethos has won, which led to the creation of Smile NATIONWIDE/#12MonthsOfService. But also, TBI has built the foundation for becoming a social responsibility branding agency that connects clients to causes and communities.

I know this is stemming from my personal interests shifting though (I won’t elaborate)… So what are your thoughts. Should a company’s brand reflect the interests of it’s owners, or do you believe that if it isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it?

-TBI Natasha

WOMEN and #TheBuildUP: Tosh Patterson, Chief Healthinista at Be Well, Eat Well, Live Well

We are excited to publish this VERY inspirational Women’s History Month feature for the Women in #TheBuildUP series. The TBI staff had the pleasure of meeting Tosh Patterson, a healthinista, while working the Women’s Elevation Magazine launch party in February. After speaking with her briefly, we just knew we had to feature her this month so that you too can be inspired by her build up.

Tosh Patterson, Be Well, Eat Well, Live Well

From childhood to adulthood, Tosh struggled with binge eating & yo-yo dieting, but excelled in many other areas of life. Based on first-hand experience, she knows the reality of being nearly 300 pounds. A few years ago Tosh took responsibility for her health, started losing weight, and found an unknown passion for health & wellness. Based on her own journey, Tosh now knows that, for many, healthy weight loss can be overwhelming so she owns & operates Be Well, Eat Well, Live Well, offering wellness coaching & programs.

#TheBuildUP: Ironically, “The Build Up” for you was actually a breaking point. You were sitting in a professional development class and decided that enough is enough with the weight and decided that you were going to live healthier. Can you talk a little about that moment?

Patterson: My build up moment, well, I was sitting in the class realizing I had not been willing to accept responsibility for my health. Over the years I approach my health haphazardly, until that build up moment when I shifted from victim to responsible…from not caring to caring…from not knowing to wanting to know.

#TheBuildUP: How long have you been a “Healthinista,” and what services do you provide your clients?

Patterson: I’m known as the Healthinista, not because I am a size 4, but because I have lost 70 pounds in just over 7 months…and I’m not quite finished yet. But in order to lose, no release, the weight I had to detox both mentally and physically. As a coach, I help clients shift from yo-yo dieting to healthy weight management by understanding the connection between food and emotions. I work with smart & successful women who are seeking weight loss results they can see, feel, and measure.

#TheBuildUP: Amazing! Your approach to coaching is both practical and necessary. One of the goals for many organizations during Women’s History Month is empowering women and girls. What would you say to a woman or young girl who feels self-hate, pity or depression because of weight/body image?

Patterson: If you don’t love and nurture yourself, who else can? You have to love yourself as you currently are, even as you continue to strive to be the healthiest, best version of yourself. I say SPEAK LIFE. Speak to yourself the way you would speak to your girlfriend. Cheer yourself on. And if you do not feel able to cheer yourself on, listen to a motivational speaker like Lisa Nichols, Tony Robbins, TD Jakes, etc. I’m speaking positively to myself. No thinking/speaking negatively and if I catch myself being critical, my intention is to stop quickly; how? By literally posting positive things on my fridge and mirror like “Your body is your temple, Tosh”…”Today is the day to love you, Tosh”…you can use these same techniques.

#TheBuildUP: Continuous self confirmation and affirmation is extremely powerful. Now, let’s talk food.  What are some of those absolute items that people should have in their diets weekly/daily and why? 

Patterson: Increase veggies: Aim for eight to 11 servings of veggies and fruit daily. You can enjoy a large volume of whole, fresh foods and be satisfied longer. Most people do not have enough of these foods on a daily basis.

Increase water: More than 78 percent of people are dehydrated because Americans drink coffee and juice, but neglect water. According to a stud

y at the University of Wisconsin, drinking water at night killed nighttime cravings. Also if you’re not drinking enough water you’re not eliminating toxins, your body is not going to burn fat, so that’s a really important point. Drink two glasses of water when you wake up, drink a glass of water before each meal, drink a glass of water every hour after dinner until you go to sleep.

#TheBuildUP: What are food beverage items that people should stay away from? 

Patterson: Reduce/eliminate processed food: Don’t shoot the messenger! But I’m here to tell you, because I know from first-hand experience, eating boxed foods and packaged dinners causes your body to store fat…not burn it. Fast food is also processed food, which can be removed from most people’s diet. Some people can eat a little pasta while most people have a hard time with carb portion control. If this is you, and you’re like most people, begin to significantly reduce and/or eliminate processed food from your diet.

Reduce/eliminate sugar: If you are trying to lose weight, or wish to maintain your weight, you must be mindful of sugar. Even the most conscious consumer has to pay attention to the sugar content in drinks, breads, and sauces. Removing soda from your menu could help you lose 25-30 pounds quite easily. 

#TheBuildUP: Thank you very much for your insight. What’s next for you and how are you continuing to build on all of the great endeavors that you’ve started? 

Patterson: In September my book, Shut-Up & Get Skinny: A Guide to Weigh Less & Eat More will be released, which is exciting! Currently on my website, I’m offering a FREE video training series, “3 Steps Everyone Can Use to Jumpstart Healthy Living”…go to (www.toshpatterson.com) to get your free videos.
Please connect with Tosh online at the links below. We are very appreciative of this Healthinista taking the time to speak with #TheBuildUP.

Be sure to share this information with all who can use healthy empowerment. facebook.com/coachtoshpatterson

@ToshPatterson

www.toshpatterson.com

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tosh-patterson/4/6b9/18

 

 

Just Let Go.

1. 

Source: garnethill.com via ThinkBrownINK Media on Pinterest

We create plans for our lives, fueled by vision boards and to-do lists, dreams written in journals and self-motivating sticky notes left in odd spots for us to find when we need them most. We close our eyes and day dream, sometimes of past joys, sometimes of future vision — the big office with a huge glass conference table overlooking some beautiful and busy city or solace, blue beach. We create plans for our lives fueled by work and entrepreneurship, dreams of helping others or elevating ourselves, vacations in the sand, music concerts and live shows with our favorite soul-rock-rap-blues-jazz artists. We see, we envision, we expect to be happy, a happy life. And then, life happens.

Life happens, and THAT often comes with unexpected drama, relationships that go sour, business deals that don’t work out, projects you feel could have been executed better on their behalf or your own. We begin to question ourselves – the money loss, the dreams deferred, the time that we feel has been wasted, the severed things. Things that we once thought were for us. And we grow disappointed. We grow discouraged, we grow stagnant, thinking about what could have been, what we thought should have been. If only I did this better. If I only saved this money. If I never would have met her or dated him, signed that contract. If I would’ve just taken my time. If I only had patience. 

These feelings are real. No you are not alone. No, nothing is wrong with you, and yes it is okay for you to feel these things. Experience these feelings, go through the process of hurt to healing and then… let go.

Just let go.

Once you’ve evaluated your moves, both good and bad, of the past. Once you’ve realized where you went wrong and why things didn’t go as “planned,” fix yourself. Pull yourself together and just let go. You must. If you don’t, correction, if WE don’t let go of these things, we will forever be surrounded in a cloud of self-doubt and constantly stagnant, living in our past successes and failures or in day dreams that will fail at becoming reality.

Just let go.

I’ve always had this dangerously scary gift and curse of blocking things out that hurt really bad. I’ve never viewed this as a healthy thing, and deep down, I’ve felt these things that I’ve blocked out would one day return and cause some sort of mental damage. But, the great thing about having the ability to move on and block things out is that you are constantly in a state of building, verses breaking and becoming stagnant and fearful.

This post, these words when I saw them, made me realize that I too, and so many entrepreneurs and close friends, clients and consults that I deal with on an everyday basis need to simply let go of past hurts and things that have dissapointed us. We will never know why someone didn’t behave according to our own moral standards. We may never know why we, ourselves, messed up and didn’t seize certain opportunities. We will never be able to go back in time and recreate the plan and the outcome so they end up how we envisioned.

However, we can let go, move on and continue building, picking up the pieces and the ingredients of what we have to work with to build a masterful future that we will grow to love.

So don’t be afraid to let go of what happened, what hurt you, those memories and those pains and start your build up anew…. Ok?

-TBI Natasha

Encouragement from #TheBuildUP by @ReesaRenee

How far can you go?

How high can you climb?

It’s only one way to know, you gotta build up.

…if you’re imagining defeat before you touch a chance at living ties your hands you can’t uncover… – Reesa Renee

Listen to and download The Build Up below and STAY inspired. You can do this! 

Follow @ReesaRenee on Twitter and Facebook and visit ReesaRenee.com. 

-#TheBuildUP

About Reesa Renee 

Reesa Renee is an artist, musician, songwriter, and lyrical poet from the DC Metropolitan Area. Her voice skims through the soulful sounds of the jazz era and then fast-forwards your musical clocks to the more modern sounds of the R&B greats of today. Add that to an energetic ensemble of musical harmonies and undertones and you get an amazing experience. Reesa Renee launched her solo career in 2011, and in October, became the first person to win the prestigious Amateur Night at the Apollo in three years with an original song, Got Me Loose. She has performed alongside of musical greats Eric Roberson, Raheem DeVaughn, Chuck Brown, Roy Ayers and Wale. Reesa Renee’s debut album Reelease charted on the iTunes top 20 R&B charts, and her work on Reelease was recently recognized with three WAMMIE Award nominations from the Washington Area Music Association.  For more information on Reesa Renee, visit her website at www.reesarenee.com, Facebook.com/FanReesaRenee and Twitter @ReesaRenee. Or, watch the “Who Is Reesa Renee?” bio video here.

WOMEN and #TheBuildUp: Dominique Broadway – Financial Coach, Discusses Personal Finances and Dreams2Reality Brunch!

Personal Finance Coach Dominique Broadway

#TheBuildUP! caught up with Personal Finance Coach Dominique Broadway who specializes in helping young professionals and entrepreneurs build wealth. There are so many great events happening this month in celebration of National Women’s History Month and we’re excited to share Broadway’s Finances Demystified  Dreams2Reality Brunch scheduled for March 9th in Washington, DC. Check out our chat below, and be sure to support this amazing woman, who inspires business owners in their build up.

TheBuildUP: Explain what you do for your clients? And your ideal client?

“My ideal clients are young professionals and entrepreneurs.  I love working with clients who are just starting out and in the beginning and middle phases of their financial lives.  When I take on a new client, my goal is to help them bring their Dreams2Reality!  I always begin by determining what they want to accomplish in this lifetime and figuring out how we can change their current financial situation and begin implementing a plan to help reach those life goals.  Most clients typically need help with creating a realistic budget, determining the best way to tackle their debt, learning the best options to save and planning for retirement to name a few.

#TheBuildUP: This sounds great! What are some common financial pitfalls new entrepreneurs make?

New entrepreneurs often make the financial pitfall of not determining what all of their costs will be to launch and operate their new ventures. When starting any new business or even purchasing a home, outside of the costs that it will take to start the business or purchase the home, you also need to calculate what the monthly expenses will be to keep the business running or keep the lights on in your new home.  Make sure you estimate those costs so that you can determine the minimum amount that your business will need to make in monthly income to stay a float.

#TheBuildUP: Can you remember a challenging financial issue that you helped a client get through and rebuild from?

People make financial mistakes all the time and many of them are out of our control.  The most common financial issue that I help clients get through is excessive spending and the debt that remains from it.  In this situation, I will work with a client to determine where their money is going each month and help to create and monitor their spending to keep them on track with the new budget.  I will also work with them on a debt pay down plan to show them that it is possible to pay their debts off and when that debt-free date will be.

#TheBuildUP:  Debt  is certainly an issue that many young entrepreneurs are dealing with and rebuilding from! So, you have an event approaching. Please tell us more about it and let our readers know how they can attend.

On 3.9.13 Finances Demystified will be hosting the Dreams2Reality Brunch!  At this brunch we will have FOX News Correspondent Jennifer Streaks, who will be discussing and signing her new book Your 2013 Financial Planner.  We will also be discussing how to set a step-by-step action plan to take control of your finances and bring your Dreams2Reality.  All of this will occur over unlimited mimosas and a lavish brunch buffet! Tickets to this event are $40 and can be purchased by visting my site www.dominiquebroadway.com or the event site fddreams2realitybrunch.splashthat.com

-#TheBuildUP!

DREAM. BIG…. in #TheBuildUP!

Source: southernpiphi.tumblr.com via ThinkBrownINK Media on Pinterest

I pinned the above to the TBI “Words for Life” board on Pinterest eight weeks ago, and earlier this week, it began to get a massive amount of repins- over 500 to date. So, a lightbulb went off when I opened my email today and saw the growing popularity of this post. DREAM BIG! Yes. This was a reminder for me, and hopefully, you as well.

You see, each day, you and I are working individually and collaboratively to build something – build programs. Be them big or small, attracting lots of attention and impact or simply changing one life, the results, the passion, the effort, the output should always be BIG! The old adage is soooo true in our BUILD UP — shoot for the stars, worst case scenario, you might land in the clouds.

We truly never know where the inspiration will come from, but this was one of those posts that made me wake up, and push harder to secure important meetings, partnerships, press coverage and begin to conduct new research that will allow me to establish new worthwhile relationships.

So, that’s it. “You musn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

NOW, back into #TheBuildUp lab we go,

-Natasha the Builder

WOMEN and #TheBuildUp: Tanya Blount- Singer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist

Singer, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist Tanya Blount

I truly love March (National Women’s History Month), because it reminds me of all of the amazing women that I know and that TBI has worked with over the years. Amazing clients, partners, mentors, ‘mentees’, entertainers, etc.! This month, I’ll introduce you to some of them…..Right now, I have the pleasure of working with the legendary Ms. Tanya Blount as a partner and presenter of the upcoming Butterfly Beautiful Girls Conference March 8-9 in Bowie, MD, presented by Tanya and her I Am Beautiful Corporation. A few days ago, I caught up with the  Sister Act 2 star for my Sophisticated Sunday column at OnStage-DC and she had such a great testimony and message, I thought I’d share it with you, in honor of this very special month!

Enjoy!

-TBI Natasha

OnStage: What are you up to these days?

Wow, *laughs* I just opened office space for my entertainment company, Code Red Corporation. We’re located in the Downtown Cultural Arts Center in Baltimore. The I Am Beautiful Corporation is also preparing for the Butterfly Beautiful Girls Conference, taking place in Bowie March 8-9. We have three cities where we will take a two-day conference, featuring a variety of [professionals] who will bring their experience to encourage self esteem in girls ages eight to 18.

OnStage: What made you want to create the “I Am Beautiful” Self Esteem Movement? 

There’s research done (by the Dove Company and others) that only 11 percent of women say they are beautiful, and that’s not even considering girls. Specifically in the Prince George’s County area, I’ve found that girls 15 to 17 are struggling with teen pregnancies, and oftentimes, you find girls and young women wanting to have babies so that they have someone to love them. So it was put on my heart to start something to get women and girls to know that they are beautiful.

I chose to do it in Prince George’s County first, specifically in Bowie, because I grew up there and I want to empower girls in my own backyard first.

The conference will be in Baltimore at the Downtown Cultural Arts Center May 17-18 and in Switzerland in December, where I Am Beautiful plans to take 20-30 girls.

OnStage: Tell me about your music now, how it’s evolved and where you’re headed?  

My voice has changed a lot, so now it’s very classic – a cross between Whitney Houston and Julie Andrews. I’m striving to make really good songs, love songs with meaningful lyrics that inspire people.

OnStage: When is your next project going to be released?

I am releasing the “Butterfly Beautiful” single on March 5, (editor’s note: click previous link to download this song. It’s awesome!)  to go along with the conference. So when people purchase the song it will benefit the I Am Beautiful God Esteem/Self Esteem Movement, and we also support service organization that provide direct support to young women and girls. I’m in the studio now writing and working with my husband. Before 2013 is over the album will be out.

OnStage: Talk a little about the business and music partnership between you and your husband Michael Trotter, Jr. It seems like a beautiful collaboration.  

He’s a singer, songwriter author. He’s multitalented. We’re just like water. We just flow. He’s an incredible writer, we write our stage plays together. It’s just really cool to be able to love somebody and work together, be inspired by them and not get tired of them.

We published our book, Glide Devotional in January, while my book Glid-ing: From Joy to Happiness published in October 2012. Glid-ing deals with life and talks about how people want to put a lot of energy into their lives, but when God’s got you, you’re good.  We use both books for our inspirational workshops and when we travel to speak to different groups.

(Both are available on Amazon and Kindle.)

OnStage: Everyone knows you from your role in Sister Act 2. How did the movie help your career?

This year will be 20 years since we did the movie. I spoke with [another cast member not too long ago] and we talked about how we can’t get away from it. Sister Act 2 has allowed me to go to Switzerland every year, and go to other countries that I would’ve never been to, where I reenact the scenes. And it’s allowed me to transcend generations. It’s just a classic. The movie is never going to go anywhere. It’s helped my career in ways that I couldn’t even imagine. When we were making Sister Act 2, it didn’t seem like it was a classic for us. We were just a bunch of kids having fun.
Read the full story, here.