OC Business Journal Women in Business Nominee

The purpose of posting my awards on this blog is to inspire other women. As a stay home mom of a 4 & 5 year olds & business woman, I have managed in receiving recognition & various awards by the business community. I'm not lucky or gifted, I have vision & work extremely hard with the support of my loving family.

This year I was a nominee for the Orange County in Excellence 2006 Women in business. This event is sponored by the O. C. Business Journal. What an encouragement!... Every little step I take on a daily basis, assist me in achieving my goal towards my business venture.

We can not afford to think of why we can't achieve things, instead we must focus on what can be. Confidence, determination and attitude are key!.. That has always been my philosophy. On an average, I spend between 3 or 5 hours on a daily basis with my business. Parenting is another full time job that requires patience & lot's of love. What works for me? Forming partnerships with fellow entrepreneur, sharing resources of information, cross promotions, reading, taking courses and tackling business issues together. Learning technology has been one of my biggest efforts that has allowed my business to grow.

As an entrepreneur, you can't afford not to promote your business. 90 percent of time is spent raising my children, 10 percent is spent on my business, networking, attending meetings, seminars. I decorate myself with my designs that add sparkle and bling when attending meetings. I wear a badge holder that displays my product . This of course brings women coming to me and asking me what is that? I also carry a cute adorable Swarovski Austrian Crystal card holder with my business cards (see picture above) & some of my famous swarovski book marks. My marketing leaves a positive impression & I make sales. I'm also looking at introducing some pins that are personalized with crystals as a marketing tool for entrepreneur's that are looking at making a lasting impression . More information to follow.

One can't be shy!.... I always make it a point to share what's coming up with my business to key folks. While I attended a conference, there was an opportunity to ask a question during a panel discussion with over 200 people. I took the opportunity not to ask a question, but to expand on what the the speaker had discussed. As a result, a representative from the O.C. Business Journal heard me and told me about their annual Women in Business Awards. If your shy, check out toastmaster. I joined toastmaster http://www.toastmasters.org/when I was in college. This group provides a great platform for enhancing your public speaking.

Remember, no body will know about your product or service if you do not show any passion towards your business. If you had a chance to check out American Inventor on ABC, each finalist had a burning desire of passion towards their invention http://abc.go.com/primetime/americaninventor/ I love what I do and show it!

I recall when I first started my business, I met with a business consultant. He told me that I would not be able to run a business just by carrying my product around but I did. One needs to think outside of the box and make things work, I did. Completing my first year of business was one of the biggest hurdles . It was so, so rough. I had a one year old and a two year old.... I worked so hard on setting a foundation with the business community and working so hard on my website. Both were so critical that set the foundation for everything else that followed. I give my brain a break and enjoyed watching the Apprentice http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice_5/ . One never stops learning.

Above the heart charm is a Finders Key Purse. There are many themes from fashion, sports, inspirational, pets,...etc. These cool little gadgets are affordable and make life easy for any woman. You just attach your key's, use the charm as a decorator for a purse, then you always know where your key's are located. You will not have to search deep down inside your purse. These cool items are located under accessories on my website, finders key purse.

Stay stunned as Addy drives away in the Addy mobile with Bling and Sparkle. I would like to hear from other folks on what has helped them with marketing their business.

HERO UPDATE

The purpose of my HERO Search is to acklnowlege our women and men whom have served or are currently serving. These brave souls have made it possible for us in having freedom. Freedom ultimately has a price.

I would like to also acknowledge the families. My heart goes out to the many families whom are handling the role of both mom and day, while maintaining strength on a daily basis with their families wait until their loved ones return. These family members are forced to being mentally tough by maintaining positive spirits not knowing what the the future holds. In addition, I would also like to recognize soldiers that are immigrants. They along with their families believe in the American Dream; some will return as citizens in caskets . Another reason is to promote the history of Latino's in the military.

Our youth and community needs to know that we have a history of many contributions. I therefore have added websites links and encourage submissions from military folks. Visit Eddie Morin, Purple Heart Awardee, Author of "Valor & Discord,. Learn about Latino Soldiers whom recieved 10 Medal of Honors.

One of the judges, Rita Armendariz is a 5th generation Mexican American from Orange County, California. She is a proud mother of two U.S Active Duty Servicemen, a daughter of a WWII Veteran and has a long history of military family members. Her personal experiences with military family life has inspired her to support the troops in a very unique way. In 2003 she created the first Spanish-speaking military mother s support group in the nation, Madres Militares. The group was formed with only six members and to date has grown to over 70 members. In addition, Rita has formed two other chapters in California. Rita is an advocate for military mothers and their families who otherwise would have been unable to find the proper resources and support. The group empowers mothers and their families to adjust to the military life.

Fourth of July is coming soon, our family attends the Fourth of July Celebration Parade in Hunington Beach. I remember seeing some of the veterans and how proud they wore their uniforms . It was great to see how the crowd cheered for them, some veterans had tears in thier eyes. This is what I hope to accomplish, a feeling of pride and honor for our military soldiers and their families.

Here are some sites

Authors

http://www.valiantpress.com/ Eddie Morin & Raul Morin
http://www.chusmahouse.com/new_releases.htm , Charlie Trujillo
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html, Dr. Maggie-Rivas- Rodriguez
Covert Ops , James E. Parker, Jr

Military Websites

http://www.vva785.org/ (Veterans from Orange County, CA)
http://www.snopes.com/military/military.asp#turnhead, Urban Legends
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html, Vietnam Veterans
http://www.agif.org/, GI Forum

http://www.purpleheartchapters.org/Chapter392.htm

Hispanic's in the Military - great resources and indept research

http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html , Hispanic America USA, "Award winning"

http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html , Hispanic Contributions
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html, Dr. Maggie-Rivas- Rodriguez
http://www.somosprimos.com/, Mimi Lozano

In preparation for this, I did research on Military websites ...wow... what true valor. If you have any websites, you would like me to add email me at hsjewels@msn.com and I will include your sight on this blog.

Special Thanks to Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, author Legacy of Honor: The U.S. Latino & Latina World War II for allowing us to use a photo's in recognizing our Hero's. http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html

Stay tuned for more as Addy rides away in the Addy mobile with Bling & Sparkle.