Advice Wednesday: O's 3-Step Make-it-Happen Plan to Get a Great Job

courtesy of Oprah.com

"Forget the want ads. O is on a mission to help four deserving women land their dream jobs. With an all-star team of career coaches, fashion experts, hairstylists, and makeup artists, we get down to work..."


Click here to read the article on Oprah.com

Highlight Monday: Nana's Corner

I came across NanasCorner.com while trying to find quality blogs for grandparents.  This website is run by a high school special education teacher in New Jersey- lovingly called "Nana".  She says that her "greatest joys" are her grandchildren which is why this is the focus of her site.

On Nanas Corner you will find posts on topics such as poems, staying in touch, healthy living, and fun things to do with grandchildren.

For an example of one of Nana's posts click READ MORE below:

Interview Friday: Herbalist Catherine Browne

Interview: 

 Q.  Please tell us about yourself and what people, influences, events or desires led you to your profession.

     There were not many herbalists in the US in the early 1980’s, so being an herbalist was not something that one aspired to be. It was actually more of an entrepreneurial spirit that guided me to herbs. My parents had bought a property with an old glass greenhouse on it, and someone said I should grow herbs. I began researching it by ordering catalogs (as the internet was not yet developed) and was completely intrigued; there was basil that smelled like cinnamon, thyme that smelled like lavender, and scented geraniums that smelled like coconut. I started growing and selling plants, just at the time when the garden center industry was taking off.  The scents and flavors of herbs make for a fun and fascinating adventure, but when I started learning the medicinal benefits of plants, I was on the journey of a lifetime.

 Q.  How would you describe the job of an herbalist?  Can you tell us what a typical day or week is like?

     The great thing about being an herbalist is that there is nothing typical one day to the next. You may be planting seeds, working in the garden, foraging for herbs through the forest, making salves and remedies, or formulating remedies for patients in clinic; being an herbalist can describe a great many different tasks, and I have done them all. 

To continue reading Catherine's interview click on READ MORE below...

Press Release - Great Cause - Please Help and Vote - Great Organization

Founder of Kids Are Heroes a Finalist in Role Model Competition

Local philanthropist being featured by Discovery Girls Magazine.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 07, 2010 – MaryMargaret O’Neill, an eleven-year-old from Ijamsville, is a finalist in the Discovery Girls Magazine Role Model contest.  She was chosen as one of 30 from thousands of entries from all over the US and Canada.  Voting began September 1 on the Discovery Girls web site so that the top 10 will be selected to go to California and be featured in an upcoming issue of their magazine.  Supporters of MaryMargaret can vote once a day through the entire month of September to help put her in the top 10.  The link to the contest is: http://discoverygirls.com/fun-stuff/contests/role-model. Registration is required to vote.  Once that has been completed people can simply find her picture and click the “Vote for MaryMargaret” link underneath it once every 24 hours.  MaryMargaret’s dad even set up an email subscription site so that people could be reminded each day to vote.  That link is http://marymargaret.kidsareheroes.org.  “This would mean so much for our charity.” MaryMargaret said.  

In March of 2008, MaryMargaret, then just nine years old, founded a non-profit organization called Kids Are Heroes (see www.kidsareheroes.org).  This web site inspires children to get involved in their communities at a very young age by showcasing those that are already making great strides to change the world.  In just two years the organization has grown substantially.  They had their video featured on Virgin Atlantic planes for a month, partnered with an ex-NFL player who travels the country speaking about the kids’ stories, have featured over 100 children from all over the US, Canada, Europe and recently Africa and established a collaboration with a company called MAGPI, which plans to broadcast live presentations of heroes from around the country to schools in the US and Canada during live video conferencing events.  (The first one is scheduled for December 8.)  They have even been approached by an Emmy award winning filmmaker to produce a documentary.

Besides featuring other children, MaryMargaret is quite the young philanthropist herself.  It began on her ninth birthday when she gave up her birthday gifts in lieu of donations to the Defenders of Wildlife.  The following year she hosted a lemonade stand with two of her friends which raised $600.  They used that money to buy Webkinz and donated them to a local cancer camp for children.  She instigated a cell phone drive at her school which yielded 150 used cell phones.  These phones were turned into prepaid phone cards to be used by our troops stationed around the world.  For her 10th birthday she had a sleepover party.  Attendants were asked to bring bathrobes, pajamas and slippers so they could be given to her local shelter.  In 2009-2010 MaryMargaret’s most ambitious task was to raise enough money to buy 150 MP3 players to benefit sick children in hospitals.  Having spent 10 harrowing days in the hospital when she was just six years old, she knew how scary things could be for kids.  She hosted dozens of fund raisers over the course of a year and surpassed her goal.  In the spring of 2010 she donated 125 pre-loaded MP3 players to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore and another 125 to Children’s Medical Center in Washington D.C.  In the summer of 2010 she won the Nestlé Drumstick Hero Award given for her philanthropic achievements.  This award consisted of 56 ice cream cones, shirts, hats, games and other items to host a party for her friends.  Instead of using those items for herself, she donated all the proceeds to needy families through the Community Action Agency of Frederick.  MaryMargaret’s current project is called “Black to Blue” which is an effort to raise $5000 to help clean up the animals devastated by the disastrous Gulf oil spill.  If you would like to donate to this effort please visit http://blacktoblue.kidsareheroes.org.

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About Kids Are Heroes: We are a non-profit that showcases children who do amazing things for others with no consideration of their own benefit. We encourage this activity in all kids as it boosts self-confidence and builds leadership skills.

ADVICE WEDNESDAY: How to Make the Most of Redundancy

By Martin Haworth


For many people, the fear and worry of losing their job is a huge blow to them. Yet more and more people are seeing such a challenge more as the kick in the butt they needed, to enable them to achieve much more from their life than they ever thought possible.

Even better...they not only grasp the opportunity, but they enjoy life much, much more.

Being let go; suffering redundancy; experiencing downsizing are all very different ways of saying the same thing.

Your employer doesn't want you any more.

Suddenly, that place; those people you've been bitching about for years, seems so much more attractive than it did yesterday - and you are going to fight tooth and nail to hang in there.

But wait, maybe there's something in you that relishes the chance to move on and do something different.

Maybe it's time to revisit your values and see what is missing from your life - and not blindly rush into the nearest 'clone' job to the one you've been doing.

For all those years when you didn't quite fit. Where the role you had caused you some unease, there is something to learn.

Is it not possible that you were something of a square peg, who over the years had done your best to fit into the round hole of your career?

So, think about the things you truly love. The types of way you want to spend your time and take the opportunity to move on as a sign. Time to look for an alternative future that better suits the person you really are.

This can be a challenging time, yet if you see the possibilities and seize the moment, it can be one of the most stimulating phases of your life.

Martin Haworth is a personal development coach, with an expertise in career development. Checkout the free six-part e-course at Martin Haworth's website,http://www.HowToLandYourDreamjob.com.