Mompreneur, dentist, franchisee, CEO, brick and mortar retailer, E-commerce Business Owner, Service Provider? How do you define yourself?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” That’s true, of course, but this definition doesn’t tell the whole story—namely the entrepreneur characteristics that define their success and, more importantly, the intrinsic drive it takes to achieve that success.

There are 5 entrepreneur characteristics that are common among anyone who strives to start and run his or her own business. These characteristics are found in entrepreneurs at any age, in any industry, and at any socioeconomic level.

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I’ve been meeting with a lot of clients lately who are ready to join with a larger entity. This article addresses well the key points to address when making this transition.

The Move From Freelancer to Staffer

By DENNIS NISHI

Courtesy Svilen Milev

Becoming a full-time employee after a career of freelance and contract work isn’t always an easy transition. Some employers view career freelancers as a flight risk or as lone wolves not suited to working in collaborative environments. How to prove you’re ready to join a staff.

• Tap your networks. Connect with past and present clients. They’re already familiar with your work, so may be receptive to taking you on or even creating a new role for you. Try getting a referral from an employee or trusted third party. This can include vendors, former employees or even trade-group contacts. Read the rest of this entry »

Challenges and opportunities clearly exist as the most creative try to make sense of how our new world works…

Help Wanted: Creative Types

As the Recession Eases, Ad Agencies Scramble to Fill a Critical Job at the Top

By SUZANNE VRANICA
The recession may be easing, but the tough economy has left a gaping hole in one of Madison Avenue’s most critical operations: the creative department. Read the rest of this entry »

Not very inspiring words. But doesn’t speaking the truth help sometimes? I’ve been talking to so many people who are feeling this way lately. Those of you who have been looking for work — I know it can be draining and truly it takes a lot of mental discipline to keep at it. And those who I talk to who are employed are feeling the anxiety of the ‘what if’…what if things change here and my job goes away? What if I don’t get all of this work done — which is so much more now because staff has gotten leaner. Lots of burn out brewing out there one way or another.

So what are we going to do? PRESS RESET.

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By SUE SHELLENBARGER

Kelley McDonald has always loved exploring new terrain. In home videos as early as age 3, “I’m always off by myself, looking under rocks or catching and studying bees,” she says. Today, at 18, the Apple Valley, Minn., college student is studying for a science career in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology—working with materials at the molecular or atomic level.

That makes her one of the lucky ones—a young adult whose career passion is in sync with one of the hot jobs of the near future.

Predicting the jobs or skills that will be in demand years from now is a tricky task for many teens, young adults and their parents. Luckily, there are rich sources of information on the Web, in books, and in most people’s communities; the challenge is to sift through them all.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to get down and depressed when it seems like so many things aren’t happening the way you want them to. I meet with men and women who are working hard to find the next right thing for them and they come in stooped and frustrated. But they do perk up and become inspired once we scratch the surface and find the quiet possibilities that lie, often, just below the surface. Read the rest of this entry »

Equal Opportunity Parenting and Partnering: Everyone Needs a Strategy to Communicate and Show off Their Skills

Much has been written about the challenges awaiting at-home mothers who decide to return to work. Few of them, though, have a tougher time of it than the stay-at-home dad.

Compared with at-home moms, who outnumber them by more than 5 to 1, at-home dads face a bigger stigma among would-be employers, and they often have fewer opportunities to network from home. Also, they are returning to a labor market where men have suffered major setbacks; heavy job losses in male-dominated industries and middle management have led pundits to label the latest downturn the “he-cession.”

A record 7.4% of fathers in married-couple families with children under 18 were home in 2009 while their wives worked, based on unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics data set for release next week. That is up two percentage points from 2008 and the highest on record, says Sandra Hofferth, a University of Maryland family-science professor and researcher on family time use.

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Even if you do not have a college-aged child at home, please share this with someone who does, and to anyone and everyone that comes to mind.

Though there are a number of companies and organizations that have donated money for scholarships to African Americans and Latino Students, a great deal of the money is being returned because of a lack of interest or awareness.No one is going to knock on our doors and ask if we can use a scholarship. Take the initiative to get your children involved. Money shouldn’t be returned to donating companies because we fail to apply for it. Please pass this information on to family members, nieces, nephews, friends with children etc. We must get the word out that money is available. If you are a college student or getting ready to become one, you probably already know how useful additional money can be. (If clicking on the link doesn’t work, then type in the Web site address manually.)

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Steve Nash has been an inspiration to me since the first time I saw him play, live, at the Staples Center years ago. I recently read a great article about him in Sports Illustrated. What struck me was Stoudemire’s statement here about how success on the court manifests — through creative vision and seeing. “When you have creative minds, you get involved in different sports, in different cultures, and it allows you to open up on the basketball court and just be yourself. Steve’s a heck of a soccer player. He’s one of those skateboard guys. For the most part, you want to be yourself. Being yourself allows you to play better, to have more fun. It opens up your spirit.”

Take a moment to assess how open you are to what’s going on around you. What energy are you leaving on the table? How engaged are you in a variety of activities that can lead to greater creativity right now? If you notice a bit of tunnel vision taking over, choose another path for a day or two each week. Opening up our spirit helps us to open up and see more opportunities to play in a bigger world.  Playing a targeted and competitive game results in a win, but diversifying yourself and expanding your skills and awareness ‘sharpens the saw’ and keeps our aliveness fresh.

Biz is coming back.  Different.  But back!

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

Only five years ago, the center of the still thriving independent film universe lay behind the green doors of a converted TriBeCa warehouse from which the Weinstein brothers, Bob and Harvey, ran Miramax Films.

With their possible deal — negotiations continued through last week — to join investors in reacquiring Miramax, which they left in 2005, the Weinsteins are again in the middle of something.

But it is not the business they once ruled.

For more than a decade, the indie film movement centered in New York flourished, at times almost eclipsing the output of the mainstream Hollywood studios in terms of impact and accolades. But the financial collapse and the credit crisis had a deep impact on all of the movie world, which has responded with fewer expensive releases and safer bets.

And that new austerity has decimated the indie film business, ending with the collapse or downsizing of distributors like New Line Cinema, Picturehouse, Warner Independent Pictures, ThinkFilm and Miramax, all in the last few years.

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