Expect the Unexpected

Last month was a whirlwind. It was all work and no play. Here’s why…

I enjoy reading/hearing/talking about business, especially entrepreneurship, and believe that I will someday run a successful, profitable business myself.

For years, I’ve been debating whether or not to go to Business School. I’ve done research online, spoken to college reps, asked about online and full time programs, attended information sessions, bought the GMAT books and I’ve always ended up nixing the idea. I just don’t think it’s for me.

My dad, on the other hand, would love it if I went to Business School (read: slightly pressured to go). It wouldn’t be any business school though. It would have to be on the level of Columbia, Kellogg, etc. I have nothing against that. It’s just not my cup of tea.

So when he emails me one day and says, “What about this online program from Seth Godin called the altMBA?” My jaw dropped. My dad, the non-believer in online MBA education, caved a little. We both enjoy Seth Godin’s approach to business/freelancing and the power of making change happen. So, I clicked on it. It was different, short, and attractive. I applied and told no one. Continue reading “Expect the Unexpected”

7 Things I Learned About Money at WSS Miami

Hello hello beautiful readers!

How many of you want more money? If you didn’t say “me” then there’s something wrong with you. LOL! We all want more money! And guess what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with saying that. Saying you want more money doesn’t necessarily mean you are greedy. You want more money because you want to put yourself in a position where YOU and your clients seriously respect and value YOU. You want more money because YOU want to provide security for yourself and/or your family. You want more money because having it feels Hella Good! Doesn’t it?

WSS1Then ask yourself this: Are you worth what you’re getting paid? Are you working yourself to the core and not seeing financial results to your liking? What are your thoughts on Money? Ultimately, do you know your financial worth?

All of these questions were addressed last week at the Women’s Success Summit in Miami which is organized by the charismatic and award-winning entrepreneur, Michelle Villalobos. I went to the first summit in May (read that post HERE) and it was so good I had to come back. This summit gives women entrepreneurs the tools and guidance to dream big and help them grow their business. This time, the theme was; “Show Me the Money”. That’s right. Money. I second that. Woop Woop!WSS7Here are 7 quotes and lessons that I found interesting, insightful and helpful. If you follow this advice your money ‘mojo’ will surely change! Most attendees, including myself, had some serious “Ah-ha” moments. I’ve narrowed them down for you here.

  1. When women have money, businesses, communities and charities do better” – Michelle Villalobos. This is so true. You may have read in my post (HERE) about the CNN Movie “Girl Rising” that women are the direct agents of change in developing countries. Why? Women are naturally wired to GIVE. Women are innate caregivers and like Michelle said; “We have the ability to increase power and influence“. Amen sista’. This is why the women of this world need more money.
  2. An important aspect of money is how you think about it. That’s called your Money Mindset. This is most likely what is hindering you from getting more of it. As the powerful Mina Shah states; “Being smart doesn’t guarantee financial success… Working hard is just one ingredient in creating financial success… Making a lot of money doesn’t necessarily mean financial success… Money is neutral” – Mina Shah. How do you look at money? If you fear it, then you have nothing to gain from it. You have to think of it as a neutral, non emotional thing. Don’t fear it. Retrain your brain to look at it differently. During her exercise, I started to see that for me Money = Peace of mind. No need to get nervous, anxious or fearful. Your Money Mindset is crucial in taking the right steps that will lead you to financial freedom. Mina is a powerhouse. You should read more about her HERE.
  3. This money mindset goes hand-in-hand with the quote from Wayne Dyre that speaker Bert Oliva repeated several times for a very good reason, “change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” I love this quote and it is absolutely truthful.
  4. Use philanthropy to tell your story. People will fall in love with you.” – Jessica Kizorek. Having traveled all over the world documenting the calamities, problems and breakthroughs of other towns and cultures,  Jessica explains how telling potential clients about your support for charities lets them know that there’s a higher purpose behind your work. Companies also benefit from this for numerous reasons such as marketing. This will surely help you make more money in the long run.WSS4
  5. Lack of trust makes everything slower and more expensive.” – Joachim de Posada. This is a big one. By taking full control of everything (aka lack of trust, aka micro-managing) you lose money. Whenever that happens, you have set yourself up for failure because one person will never be able to handle what 3 others were hired to do. No one will ever work exactly as you do because there is only one You! Get over yourself! Delegate. (I don’t mean to be harsh, but I’ve seen this one with my very own eyes and it is lethal to your mind, your body and your company). You are not able to do it all. Get help in those areas that you are not good at or hate doing. You’ll reap the benefits in the end. Which is a great segue into…
  6. Sacrifice now to get paid later.” – Joachim de Posada. This is called self-discipline. A million dollars overnight only happens to lottery winners and most of them end up spending it all. This is exactly what I’m doing now, my friends. Sacrificing now to get amazing results later. It is one of the hardest things ever, but I believe in myself now more than ever and I vow to not let myself down.WSS2
  7. And most importantly, “Have a plan” – Jody Johnson. Three little words that will make a hell of a difference. You should try it. It works.

These were some of the suggestions that I took from the event. (There were many more, but these seemed fitting for this post). Now it’s time to implement them. That’s the hard part. It takes a lot of brain power and courage to break down the walls and move forward. In the end, I know my worth. I know the value of my time. I also know how to decorate. So, this means that pretty soon you will see the cost of my services go up. Why? Because I love what I do and I do it well. In the meantime, I’m doing more and more planning. At least you get this blog for Free! LOL!

Did any of the points I mentioned above hit you in the gut? Or maybe gave you an “Ah-ha” moment? Want to learn more about the speakers mentioned above? You can read more about them here:

    • Michelle Villalobos, Founder of the Women’s Success Summit – @Mivi – www.michellevillalobos.com
    • Mina Shah, professional speaker, trainer and strategic coach – @MightyMinaShah – www.minashah.com
    • Bert Oliva, professional speaker, trainer, entrepreneur – @BertOliva @Bowaworld – www.bowaworld.com
    • Jessica Kizorek, video producer and award winning badass business woman – @JessicaKizorek – www.jessicakizorek.com
    • Jody Johnson, Business Coach – www.actioncoachteamsage.com
    • Joachim de Posada, motivational speaker and author of “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow, Yet!” – @JoachimDePosada – www.joachimdeposada.com
    • Watch Joachim de Posada’s insightful Ted Talk Here:

Thanks for reading, and Go out there and make some Money Honey!! Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter in the above column on the right. I promise I won’t send you a million emails. I hate it when people do it to me, so I won’t abuse it.

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Mighty Thrifty Bowl

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Bonjour! I have to tell you about a recent and wonderful find at a thrift store! I had been looking for a small bowl for a while and the ones I liked were expensive (nothing new). I also didn’t want an average bowl. I wanted something of really good quality that wouldn’t make a hole in my pocket. Well, as I perused through the piled goods at a nearby Goodwill store, this pretty, dotted bowl caught my eye. I could tell it was of good quality because the glass was heavy and pristine. The dotted embellishments were also so cute. I had to have it! So, i bought it for a mere $5.

Months later, something fantastic happened. As I was reading the July/August 2013 issue of House Beautiful magazine, I turn to page 22 and BAM! a picture of my thrift store bowl shows up! I said, “Whaaat?” to myself and proceeded to read the caption; Pressed glass in classic design from 1964, reissued by Finland’s iconic littala factory. Two-quart Dewdrop Bowl in Blue, Green, and Clear, 8″ DIA. $65. huset-shop.com.bowl_2_zania

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I grabbed the bowl from my kitchen cabinet and carefully inspected it. “I think it’s the same exact one!” So it retails for $65 and I got it for $5. So cool! Needless to say, it might actually be the same one or it might be a replica, but in my mind that was a Mighty Thrifty find!

What have you found at thrift shops? Show me! I’ve also found many other things that are way more expensive elsewhere. You never know what you could find a thrift shop!

Happy thrifting!

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Follow me on Instagram @zaniamusic. I love sharing my life in pictures!

 

Miss Ideas Webisode #3 – Buenas ideas para envolver regalos

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This is the third episode for Miss Ideas on Yahoo En Español. Here I teach you how to wrap gifts in three different and unique ways! You can get so creative with this and you’ll definitely get some compliments! It doesn’t take much time and it’s pretty easy to do. Just watch and learn! If you have any other suggestions or comments, please let me know below! I would love to hear what ideas you have.

Subscribe to my blog by clicking on the +Follow link at the bottom right of your screen to receive email alerts every time I publish a new post. xoxo

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Éste es el tercer episodio de Miss Ideas para Yahoo en Español. Aquí les enseño como envolver regalos de trés maneras diferentes. Es muy fácil y no toma mucho tiempo. Solo necesitas tu imaginación y ¡listo! Vean el video y dejenme saber si les gusta. Si tienes algun comentario o sugerencia, me encantaría escucharla! Escribelo abajo en la sección de comentarios.

Subscríbete a mi blog con hacerle click al link +Follow localizado a la derecha en la parte baja de tu monitor. Recibirás un email cada vez que publique un post nuevo. xoxo

Thanks so much for reading! ¡Muchas gracias por leer mi blog!

Z~
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The Women’s Success Summit VII: Shameless Self-Promotion

On Tuesday, May 21st and Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Miami Women’s Success Summit at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood. I heard about the event through two very talented and hard-working women, Maria Elena Holguin from Holguin Interiors and Luly Balepogi from Luly B. They both spoke wonders about the event and about its founder, Michelle Villalobos, a skilled and successful business woman. Signing up was a no brainer!

 

Michelle Villalobos and Me!
Michelle Villalobos and Me!

The summit’s theme this year was Shameless Self-Promotion, something that I and many women struggle with. We tend to believe that promoting ourselves shamelessly is self-centered and can be interpreted as bragging. We get insecure and start to make up excuses for not being up-to-par with what we really want. Well, this summit trumped it all. In order to get business we have to stand up and lean in. We have to push ourselves and get out there. Let the world know who you are and scream it out loud. Don’t be ashamed! This is your life, your business, your money! Continue reading “The Women’s Success Summit VII: Shameless Self-Promotion”

The Pace of Success

Hello!

I recently came across an article on Bloomberg Businessweek on Arianna Huffington, the founder of the Huffington Post. (You can read the article here). She speaks about pushing herself to the limit and ending up getting 5 stitches around her eye because she fainted due to exhaustion.

Take a moment and look at your life. Are you pushing yourself too much? It’s okay to say NO sometimes to the things that drag you down and it’s okay to say YES to the things that bring you peace! Listen to what your body and your inner voice is telling you… Psst, “slow down”, “don’t take that call”, “go to sleep a little earlier”… If you find yourself struggling with this, just take a breather. Literally. Take a deep breath in and out. Then do what makes you happy.

I’ll give you a small example of how one simple action can lead to satisfying results. While working at my old desk job I was desperately attempting to finish a report that was due that same day. Suddenly my desk phone started ringing. My options were to; 1) take the call and potentially have a new task/situation on my hands or 2) not take the call, prioritize the report and reply to the call later.

I knew option #1 would have made me a little more stressed, frustrated and distracted. Hence, I opted for choice #2. I let the call go to voicemail and I was able to finish my report on time. I was then ready to attend to the missed call without having to worry about the report.

I have seen some people that are indeed taking on too much and therefore suffering because of it. Everyone works differently, you just have to adjust your life to whatever works out for you. Define what success is for you and then put it to action.

If you read the article I mentioned above, the last paragraph is my favorite. “If success continues to be defined as driving yourself to the ground and burning out, it will be disastrous for our families, our companies, and our world… If success doesn’t include your own health and happiness, then what is it?”

Thanks for Reading!

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What do you think? Are you struggling with the “pace of success” as seen on this article? Tell me about it! Comment below!

¿Que crees? ¿Te encuentras pasando por lo mismo que pasó Arianna? ¡Cuéntame abajo en los comentarios!

Welcome to Zania.net!

Hello beautiful people & welcome to Zania.net!

On my first blog post I would like to tell you a bit about who I am, what this blog will contain and why it is coming to life.

My name is Zania. I’m 30, married and living in Miami, FL with my husband and my brother. I just resigned from my job in corporate America for two important reasons; 1) I was miserable and 2) I wanted to put my talents to work 24/7. After years of being numb at work I decided it was time to snap out of it and be true to myself and work towards achieving my dreams. I’m now working from home, building my brand, starting a business and starting to blog (amongst other things). I’m also in search for the highly sought after “flextime”. I figured this would come in handy for when I have kids in the future. Thankfully, I have my family and friends to support me while going through this risky part of my life. Could not be more thankful to have them in my life. {For more on my background click HERE}

Here at Zania.net my goal is to share with you a few of my favorite things such as beautiful spaces, inspirational moments, pieces on women empowerment, curiosities and who knows what else could be posted! I’m in the process of learning about myself and figuring out how to move forward with all of the ideas that clutter my mind. I thought a blog provides a platform where my ideas could be made public while in the process maybe help or inspire others. I’m scared as heck but excited to find out what the future holds! I am fully aware that it won’t be easy, and it will take me some time to find my voice, but that only makes me want to work even more. Stay tuned if you want to join me on this journey!

Thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

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Have you taken a leap of faith like this before? Tell me about it! I want to listen and learn! Comment below. 

¿Ház tomado algún tipo de riesgo que te haya aterrorizado? ¡Cuéntame! ¡Quiero escuchar de ti y aprender! Los comentarios van a abajo.