Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Truth

I'm a young lawyer, recently licensed and practicing bankruptcy law in Los Angeles. My law office is virtual because I still hold a full time position with the Department of Insurance as a compliance officer. I'm also a single mom and a homeowner. Besides these jobs, I am also the president of my law school's alumni association and I am a personal mentor to 4 people.

I have huge, lofty goals of being rich, but currently have more than $600,000.00 of debt including my mortgage. Last year, when I finally passed the bar exam after 6 rounds and spending way too much money, I finally got a reality check. I'm in debt up to my eyeballs and I need to do something quick or I will sink.

I maintain my current full time position as my base pay, I got child support from the ex spouse, and started my law firm in the area of bankruptcy to not only educate myself if I needed it, but to help others with financial difficulties in their lives. It's personal for me.

Do I need personal coaching? Or a head check? Please advise . . .

I recently signed up for your newsletters which led me to your blog and hence your contest. I am inspired by what you share in both your newsletters and your blog. I have started a new business recently that I am really excited about. The mission of the business is to help independent inventors get their ideas to market. I have found a great business partner has authored 4 books, helped develop ideas into marketable products for others and for himself. I recently finished law school and have a fortune 50o background and have been awarded 10 US patents. It has taken me a while since I left the corporate world to get clear on my passion in life but I know that it is to help others be successful with innovation. I originally started a business to provide services to independent inventors but I found that everyone I contracted to provide services that I didn't personally perform in the end to end go to market strategy for inventors failed to meet the customers expectations and I ended up doing a lot of rework and eating the cost. Not a great financial model. Connecting with Jack has been really great since we share the values for delivering to our customers and he has a lot of proven innovation to market experience. I have alot of experince in technololgy and business entity formation, legal operations & tax strategies for new and growing businesses.
I am interested in your contest because you have a great system for implementing an information marketing system. I would love to learn from you the details of the right steps to implement the information marketing systems.
Thanks for holding this contest. Your genuine interest in making a difference in the world, building a business and raising your children is inspiring.
Karla

I want to have the courage to quit my six figure job and spend my days doing something that inspires me. I want to figure out what that is. Also, I want to travel.

I cannot tell you how much each one of you has completely and totally inspired me. I love the passion with which you have shared your hopes, dreams and goals.

And, I want to help you get there. How can I possibly choose just one of you to receive mentorship and coaching?

I want each of you to have it!

So, here's what we're going to do - I'm going to pick a date at the end of October to have a live, free mentoring call. You are all invited and when you tell me you're coming, I'm going to pick two or three of you to have a "hot seat" on the call.

What that means is that you'll be receiving personal coaching from me on the call about your dreams.

I will give you an action plan that you can take immediately to move your dreams forward exponentially.

The huge benefit to everyone else is that by listening in on the hot seat, you will be able to immediately put your own plan into action.

I'll post more about this on the blog shortly. You each are amazing. Thank you!

It's taken me days to finally sit down and write this. Plain and simply, I want to be the next big thing...sort of. I've always said that I wanted to be a cross between Tony Robbins and Oprah. I want to use my gifts, my skills and my experiences to help others to be the person they've always dreamed they could be.

I want to be a published author and have a great organization set up so that I can help people either personally, from the stage or even through products to guide them.

I'd also like my site, constantchatter.com to become more than the awesome resource for women than it already is and become more like a magazine and a community. The good news, this is totally in the works and I believe I'll be relaunching long before our 4th anniversary in July.

As for the rest of it, I'm moving forward with that as well. I'm taking my own advice ;-) and investing in my business by investing in myself by taking a couple classes and starting up a Mastermind group. Though to be honest, I could just a swift kick in the butt from time to time or that procrastination seems to sneak up and make itself comfortable.

Thanks for posting this Alexis. It was great to read what others are focusing on in their lives.

I hope I am not too late to enter! It would be like me to hear of something wonderful and not be on time!

I have one wish, one goal: Be The Oprah Winfrey of Catholic Spiritual Directors! Now this goal also entails that I help people understand what the heck a spiritual director is, not a small feat; when we, directors, don't even know what we do!

Spiritual directors are those people who help others hear God's call in their lives. But spiritual directors can also be "soul friends"; some one who is just with a person as they explore their spiritual life. Soul friends are very passive with their direction. I am not passive. Coming from a social work background I want to help people find their calling and pursue it. Examine what might be holding them back spiritually. As a director I have found that many of the people who came to me are moms. There concerns are mine: How to become a person again and leave the role behind.

I really believe that Catholic mothers don't take enough time to care for themselves spiritual, emotionally, physically; they are seeking to understand how to find this elusive balance everyone tells them is important. I want to help Catholic moms take their lives back, their spiritual life, so they can be enriched to share it with everyone in their family, everyone in their Church, everyone they meet, and even with themselves. No one celebrates Catholic moms. You go to any other denominations and you will see material on motherhood and its spiritual significance. There will be months of celebration for moms, but not the Catholics. There are Catholic websites for moms but they are filled with information, not celebration!

I want to do celebrate Catholic motherhood with my blog and website as resources where I have gathered enterprising women who have knowledge and expertise in many areas, who have things my moms may want to buy or services that may be of service to my moms. On my blog I explore the trails and triumphs of life through a spiritual direction process to help moms see how to create spiritual balance. On my website I have inspirational messages, exercises, and readings to help them on their journey as moms.

"Off-line" I run mothering groups which have the same purpose as the "on-line" material: To give moms the support and celebration they need and want. I want to have playtime retreats for the moms where they bring back into their lives a sense of joy and play. I want to create supportive communities where moms can reach out to each other.

So, you see its not much, I only want to be Oprah.

Well, where do I begin. I dream big, and have some lofty goals, and it feels like I've been treading water for the past year. I just can't seem to make any headway.

But here's the scoop. I work in finance and help people realize their financial dreams. Because of what I do, I started a finance site at Generation X Finance. This has been a tremendous experience, and I've met some amazing people, and helped many more get a better grip on their finances. Doing this also opened the doors for me to become a writer over at <a href="http://financialplan.about.com" rel="nofollow">About.com talking about financial planning. Again, a fantastic opportunity to really connect with people and help out.

But, I'm not satisfied, and want to take thins to the next level. I want to go on and educate the masses about money. I've come a long way in the past 2 years at building my personal brand and carving out a spot in this niche, but I really want to write a book.

I have started the process, and have a fantastic idea. In my opinion, it's best seller list material. It goes beyond just a book, but creates a whole platform in which I can educate people about how to manage their money. The problem is, my book is just sitting in outline form on some scratch paper. Although I can completely envision the book, its pages, and everything else about it, I can't get beyond this step. I think this primarily has to do with the fact I know nothing about writing a book and how to get it published.

If the book gets off the ground, and if it becomes successful, I see myself working towards becoming a household name in personal finance. Sort of like a Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey, but with a different approach and focus. I already do local seminars and presentations on finance in addition to all of my writing, so I think this transition into becoming a more public figure would be relatively easy.

I also think that financial education is so extremely important, yet lacks the funding and outreach it really needs. I would love to develop a curriculum that could be used in both middle and high school, either as a standalone program, or something that could be integrated into existing courses. Unfortunately, money isn't being taught at home by many people, and if it isn't taught there, it probably won't be at all.

I want to completely become my own brand and my own business, working on my own terms. Right now, having to maintain a full-time job in addition to taking on these ambitious goals is quite difficult. I want the freedom to be able to work when, where, and how I want. And this will become even more important as our first child is on the way. I have no idea how to balance the task of being a father, an employee, and run my own business at the same time.

In other words, I want to change the world through education, specifically, financial education. The problem is, I seem to be getting older faster than I can get this ship out of port, and I fear if I don't make progress very soon, by the time the baby arrives, I'll find myself unable to take the steps necessary until it's too late.

Thanks for the opportunity!

Alexis.. you are so inspiring :o) I'm so happy to share my goal of turning my pre-marriage planning bootcamp into a teleseminar so that I may reach more people at a time. People spend so much time and money planning their wedding and pratically no time planning a life time of Marriage. My goal is to have the ability to offer my 8 week program to large groups of over 50 couples at one time... with 3 private sessions included for personally tailored plans.
Getting married without pre-marriage prep is like starting a business or any important venture without preparing. Half of all marriages end in divorce, and only half of those that endure are truly happy in the long run. Many happy engaged couples assume that they won't be contributing to these statistics. But, if you just wing it and count on your luck to make your marriage a success, your odds are only one in four. There is another way.

Alexis,

Thanks for writing about OtherInbox on your blog. The TC50 conference in San Francisco earlier this month was a great forum to launch our new service to the public and we were really honored to be chosen to participate. We'd like to invite you to join our private beta that we announced at the conference, and we're happy to extend the invitation to your readers as well! Because we're in private beta, you need to have a special URL to sign up. This URL will work for 26 invitations (one fore you and 25 for your readers) if you want to post as a followup on your blog.

http://beta.otherinbox.com/signup/alexismartinn...


Please let us know if you have any questions about the service. Thanks again!

~ The OtherInbox Team

I'm not a mompreneur - I'm a grandmompreneur. But I'm just as busy with family, friends, and launching a new online business. I'm still trying to figure out how to connect with my target audience. I'm using Constant Contact, Linked In, and Facebook. But something is still missing.

Wow some people on here have such incredible and lofty goals - very inspiring!! And I'm actually one of the mom writers/editors on Kelby's Type A site, so I'd love to see her win!!!

My goals and dreams have to do with my virtual legal assistance business. I had my third child last year and was inspired to start a business from my home working as a virtual assistant. My goal is to eventually have so much work that I can start a team/company of other virtual legal assistants that can partner with lawyers, firms and small businesses. I want a flexible lifestyle (able to work wherever, whenever) with plenty to keep me busy and challenged. I want to be an example for my children of achieving your dreams - to show them you can be a good mom and still be ambitious and intelligent.

Ok- Alexis the last post you mentioned someone copycatting you in your own backyard and why copy when we all can network/ share make a win-win situation (my business motto),right?!-my hairs stood up on my arms! Today the post is an invitation to share my dreams /aspirations/business with a possible,coaching session,so I had to post... here goes-
You've actually met me - mom of 6- I'm indebted to you in all senses of the word ( still paying for my estate planning- thank you Susan!) Nevertheless, since I met you and the wonderful staff at Martin Neeley and Associates, reading your newsletters, personal notes, blogs, and links for the past 3 years, I can confidently say, and have been giving my testimony ,that you have informally coached, and definitely encouraged me to boldly step out of my box as a mompreneur.
My partner and I haven't LLC'd yet, so we aren't an official business ,which is part of the reason why this offering of coaching is a particularly interesting proposal to me-
My story is since the birth of my fifth child, I have been trying to stay close to or stay at home, not exactly quit working, because there is my mortgage, bills, and well,life... but I want the "wealthy" life where I can fulfill my purpose and foster my children in theirs. My expertise in teaching was what I discovered-not my passion, and has turned to a tug-of-war with the demands of my family- I am passionate about cooking and baking, so I was looking for the next great recipe I could market and sell, but no business model, nor did I know was my purpose to be a successful chef or baker?? - My best friend would always tell me you need a business model, A BUSINESS MODEL, but what does that look like?- ok -so flash at the end of June, 2008- I went to a Pampered Chef ( cooking tools-direct sales) party and had so much fun with the food and my friends and the products-I even bought something!! So I volunteered to host another one at my house and thought about my friend out in Encino who is a Mona Vie (nutrient juice) distributor and had been inviting me to taste test, but I could never go out there.I called her up and asked if she would like to come out to my Pampered Chef party, made sense- food and drink ,and business for both interested parties- So, her response was, "I have a business plan just like that and I need help!" Ding! Business Plan! I knew this was the sign- you see, all my training for collaborating with colleagues and planning community events for my school with vendors and parents, had prepared me for THE PLAN and what I now realize is the gateway into my Divine Purpose - all the experiences I've had to the present, have prepared me for this business- the BackyardBoutiquePartyNetwork (bbpartynetwork.com ) This is a network of women in business or women business owners brought together on our developing membership- based web site ( in pre-launch stage as we speak). It will be a fee-based membership site with different levels of membership. At bbpartynetwork.com, the women can meet,communicate, advertise, advise, and get advice, educate and learn from experts and each other. Alexus, we definitely would love you to be an expert on our site, and sounds like from your follower Angela, we could use her as an expert on our site, too!!!( So Angela,I'll be linking right after this post) OK let me continue... so to invest into the future and create recurring income for our members and non-members, we are branding our in-home boutiques, an entertaining , personal shopping experience (backyardboutiquela.com) which showcase the products, services, talents of these phenomenal women . We actively search for these wonderful women in our communities, our own backyards. Our vendors, potential members are single, married, moms, we are drawing in women from all ages! We recruit hostesses (with incentives of course), plan the boutique with them, and stay at the event so the hostesses can enjoy their parties. Since June, we have grown from 10 founding members to now over 80 (and counting weekly )interested members from the San Fernando Valley and farther to the South Bay. We are excited because our growth can be territorial as far as women can start up their own BBPN - we set the guidelines (our BBLA brand, which could be BBSF, BBMI, BBNY, etc..) for the boutiques and we can all stay connected through the BBPN website. We also have monthly potlucks to see each other face to face.
So why do we need coaching, well, I believe we're at a crucial juncture. My partner and I are both working mom's, she's married and I'm c0-parenting- and we are growing at such an exponential rate and the women we are meeting are so ready for the site and branching out ,that we are maxed with time, finances, and limited expertise .We want and are currently planning charity/fund-raising boutiques. On our site and our boutiques, we want to feature teen entrepeneurs, and create a mentorship program. We are pursuing celebrity marketing, as well, by offering swag bags and planning celebrity-hostess boutiques. In addition to this , we would love to joint venture with existing networking sites or any other interested parties. WIN-WIN situations!!! My partner is a business analyst and has other businesses; and I am passionate about creating successful events and networking, so we balance each other out,but we need plenty of guidance for our high sights. How do we prioritize? What are the best marketing and advertising strategies for our business? How do we grow executively? We believe our business will be successful, but what is the best way to achieve optimal success and be prepared for it?
Thanks for your generous offer and the invitation to share on your blog. I'm excited to find out your decision and future posts.
Backyard Blessings!
Heidi

Hello. I think I lay it all on the line all the time! I'm just an open book that way. But my big goal is to not just make it possible to make a living off of my sites, but to make it possible for MANY moms to have the option of working at home. I run Type-A Mom and Foodie Mama, as well as a variety of other sites. The overriding mission and goal is to be a place where any mom can be a writer, and all writers share the revenue of the site for their contributions.

The biggest challenge I have is lack of financing. I really do not want investors. I want the ones who profit off of the sites to be the moms. But it means I spend a whole lot of time promoting, social networking, DIY PR, and finding alternative ways to promote the sites. They are building very nicely, but I would really like to get to a level where many moms on the sites (me too!) are making some nice money off of it.

I would LOVE some inspiration from someone. I really need some guidance.
I'm a tech marketing/PR veteran (a pioneer really), and left the corporate (and start-up) world behind to start my own consulting biz 8 years ago. Last year I decided enough was enough. New clients, but really the same old thing. So I started blogging (hence momtobedepot.blogspot.com) and then built MomToBeDepot.com because I couldn't figure out how to add categories to my blog.
So I'm a mom blogger (soon to be paid by the way!). Writing is my passion. I blog on so many sites. And I know I want to write a book(s) - based on so many themes I can't even focus to write an outline. My husband wants me to go back to the corporate world for 'stability' (um, does he believe that?? yes!)

So my BHAG is this:
Become a published author of a best-selling book (or book series) within 6 months!
And become a paid mom blogger in dollars (not pennies).

Is that crazy??
Help me!!
L.H.

I am passionate about parties and my company, Social Couture, which sells upscale party decorations!!! I love what I do and I wouldn't trade it in for the world even when the days are long and the work seems to never end. Cheers.

Oh and thanks for all of your inspirational words in this blog.

Ok, I'm game to really take your challenge and let it all hang out. I'm going to share information here that I've never even posted on my own blogs and get really real about my goals and dreams with you!

Hope this doesn't turn out to be a novel :)

Ever since my son was born over six years ago I have worked non-stop to become a successful entrepreneur with real freedom and it just hasn't come to me. In the past I liked to blame my bad business choices and my ex for my money troubles. Now I know I need a whole new mindset, a prosperity mindset rather than the poverty mindset I've carried around all these years. I don't know why but I think I've always felt that I just can't take care of myself well enough to really be independent.

I've tried so many businesses: I turned a soapmaking hobby into a full fledged soap production and sales business, I sold RESP's (Registered Education Savings Plans) to parents who wanted to send their kids to university, I joined a MLM Soy Candle business, I spent years building and tearing down websites and I finally found some success as an internet marketing virtual assistant and affiliate manager in the past couple of years.

Now - here are my big dreams:

- To be a speaker - I want to share my experiences and my successes and all that I've learned with a real audience and connect with them. I'm terrified of speaking in front of people but I want to do it anyway. I know I have tons to share and plenty that many entrepreneurs can relate to. I also have a talent for internet marketing, understanding and applying it and using programs to make money online. I've been doing teleseminars and webinars and have been getting great feedback so I think I'd be great at it.

- To pay off my debts - Yea so it doesn't seem like a huge dream but I know I need to change my mindset so I can live without debt and I am working on a millionaire mindset hard to do this.

- To earn 100,000k+ per year - I know I can't do this without systems and without determination. If nothing else I have always believed I can achieve my dreams and last year I did quit a crappy factory job to work at home full time. Now I'm on to the next goal and won't quit until I reach it (and then I won't quit either, just make a new goal ;) )

- To work 3 days a week - My son is 6 and I'm a single mom (with a boyfriend who doesn't live with me) and I DON'T want to have to spend 16 hours a day at the computer to earn a fantastic income. It's a big dream/goal of mine to have the freedom to only work because I choose to, not because I have to.

- Find amazing mentors - I've been following your blog and your twitter posts Alexis and I think you're a fantastic mentor to women who want success and a happy family. Even if I don't win the coaching I'll continue to learn from you just by reading and seeing how you're creating the life you want every day and I'll know that I can do it too!

What am I doing to achieve these things:

- I'm branding myself and my business. I'm working on my new site where I will be sharing the successes I've helped my clients achieve and the things I've done myself. This new site is http://MarketersMojo.com and everything I do will branch off of this site. Right now I have too many sites which is diluting/not creating a real brand for me or my business.

- I'm working up the nerve to call a local business about doing a workshop at their location on using Email Marketing for Small Businesses. I'm also planning on attending Toastmasters, Chamber of Commerce and a local networking group.

- Every month I'm asking myself the question: "How can I make $10,000 this month?" and then writing down all the ways I can and picking some to work on.

- I'm reading books like 'The One-Minute Millionaire', 'How to Become Wildly Wealthy, Fast' and will be grabbing 'The e-Myth' too.

- Taking Fridays to work like crazy on Systems so I can outsource more, to learn more about the programs to make my business run and to do my bookkeeping so I really see where my money is coming from and going.

Thanks for letting me share.
Angela

Hey Alexis,

What a great opportunity! I always find you inspiring, but also mind boggling. You have 2 little ones just like me and I am always left wondering how you do it all. I think my biggest challenge in my business right now is . . . how to do it all! I have such a huge vision for my company www.peternity.com (big, hairy, audacious goals), and trying to bring it all to life while juggling family, children, husband and household is quite the balancing act.

I think if I could afford to hire a professional organizer, a time management assistant, a full-time housekeeper and an on-staff coach/consultant I would be just fine, but being an entrepreneur at the beginning of this exciting journey that I'm on, that's just not in the budget!

I would love your coaching in this area.

Thanks for your generosity.

With warm regards,

Colleen

I used to have big dreams, and I got close to realizing them. But then life got in the way and I got scared and now I'm in my 50's and I still want to feel like I'm *somebody*. And sometimes I do. But not often enough.

I now just have a vague dream of being happy and comfortable in the second half of my life. And the current state of the economy does not make me hopeful.

Well, I came here to tell you how passionate I am about creating more out of food blog (cookbook, magazine, etc) but after seeing the comment from James, I'll think I'll pass it up. BabySpot totally deserves it. They have done so much, worked so hard and to win this, well, it could open so many more doors for them.

Good luck James.

Well I would like to start!!

Big Dreams=BabySpot.com

I started BabySpot.com as a tool for my wife and I to share my babies pictures and videos with family and friends only. We built this tool so you don't have to upload them to Youtube or Flickr before you show them off, on BabySpot you upload the precious moments direct from your computer!

Then when my friends started to ask me if I could build a BabySpot for their baby I said I would love too! This sparked a wonderful dream of mine!! To provide a tool for new parents that they would love!! BabySpot.com is a dream that is currently coming true!!! YES! We continue to provide this tool "BabySpot" for our growing community! Always raising the bar is a current passion of mine, But the Dream....is to be your BabySpot! A place for new parents to come and share their precious moments that their little super stars give them in a safe and secure place online, also being able to connect moms with other moms in every stage of their pregnancy and life events! You know questions like: "How am I going to feel after my c-section?" Well you can reach out to our community and get this answered with your BabySpot friends. This is what we strive for! Oh and part of the dream is to provide this all FREE!! No limits and not be exclusive just inclusive of all parents!

Alexis thanks for this opportunity to win a coaching session with you! But I know I can just pick up the phone and you will answer any questions I have. I thank you for being so great with us! So If I do win this AWESOME Prize I will raffle it away to one of our members.

Thanks for listening!

James
COO & Co-Founder of BabySpot.com
twitter: jamesatbabyspot