I’ve had enough of me.

I’m headed down the mountain and back to society once again.

Great trip, but what I learned about being alone is this:

I like being with people. Other people besides just me. I’m outward-focused, and all this introspection gets old after a few days. Plus, it’s hard to play tennis alone (if I even played tennis . . .).

I work with people for a living. I help them think about themselves and why they do what they do and then dive into what it is they really want to do. I take all their ideas, help them think bigger, and then help plan their business growth and innovation strategies.

To do this job, one has to be able to listen. It’s when people tell you who they are (thanks Maya Angelou).

I have learned to be a good listener and I love to listen.

To someone other than myself.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Design & Life & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

As a former owner of a few different companies over the years, I operated as a corporation, which I now realize is the ultimate pyramid.

Only us owners were able to make more than just a salary.

But along with ownership came taxes, licenses, loans, office expenses and other profit drains.

Worse, for me, were the emotional drains. Between the constant stress of running the operation and the limited ways in which I could help my employees, the fun was gone and the business collapsed under its own weight.

I now see the beauty of Network Marketing. Yeah, of course I was skeptical. People always fear doing things against the grain. Well, look around at the devastation of the past couple of years. I fear that more. Status quo ain’t cutting it anymore.

All I can tell you is there are millions of people out there making millions in Network Marketing. And Both Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki like the business model.That’s good enough for me.

Not only does Network Marketing eliminate the profit and emotional drains, but it enables me to completely satisfy my core value of contribution. Additionally, I’m no longer tethered to a desk, an office, a partner or any overhead. THANK GOD.

I chose Xocai Healthy Chocolate as my network marketing product because health+ wellness are also core values of mine, and Xocai is proven pure health, period. I have already shared the health victories this product has afforded my mother. And their just-released Meal Replacement product will rock the weight loss world. You will be hearing about it everywhere.

So this is pretty much a win all around. I’m sitting here on my loaned vacation home porch in North Carolina and making an income, all at the same time.

Sweet. And I don’t just mean Healthy Chocolate.

Feel free to e-me. Feel free to join me. I’d like all my friends to feel like I do right now.

patty.pattychocolate@gmail.com

Posted by Patty Soffer under . . . Xocai Healthy Chocolate & Business & Health and Wellness & Network Marketing & Patty Soffer | a collec+ive & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Xocai | No Comments »

OK, we’re not talking strictly geography here, ‘tho in this instance it’s relevant.

If you’ve been following my travels, you know I’ve gone from Florida to North Carolina. My trip abruptly became unrecognizable from the trip I had planned. The universe clearly had other plans for me.

So-without repeating the long and very boring story, I am here. ALONE. 100% devoid of any companionship other than Addy and Ed, the dogs. Thank God I fought for them being part of this trip.

Anyhow, this turn of events has completely changed my STATE. Yes, I’m in a different state, but mostly, and more importantly, I’m in a different STATE.

Like I am seeing things differently. Hearing things differently (including the Boogy Man at 3 am-I don’t sleep til the sun rises. Oh crap I am a vampire).

My golf/hiking/dining/laughing/bonding trip is now just me and a rocking chair on a porch, and let me tell you–things look very different through this lens.

Bridal Veil Falls, NC

So I went, camera in hand, to Bridal Veil Falls. Gorgeous, but very quickly clear to me that any photo op would have to be jacked from whomever was there.

So I asked a nice lady if she would take my photo, and she replied. ” ARE YOU ALONE?????? OMG, you are so brave!”

I got, very clearly, that my trip, ALONE, was such a state change that I was seeing everything differently than anyone else.

ALONE is cool. ALONE is often necessary. ALONE refocuses oneself on what matters most. There is no one around to boss you, agree with you, argue with you, love you, fight with you, kiss you, hold you, yell at you.

Yeah, alone is brave.

It’s just you.

And you.

Talk about a change of state.

My state right now is creative and content.

And, more tired than ever before in my life.

The boonies are scary at night, and I’m there, eyes wide open and heart pounding, sitting sentry so the dogs can sleep well.

Holy Crap.

This is some weird state.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Philanthropy & Spirituality & Strategy & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

But I am tempted.

Anyway, what caught my eye today, besides the beauty of this little Bed and Breakfast, is the INTENTION with which they declare themselves to the world.

They want “Nice People” as their guests.

There.

They said it.

For all the world to see.

This implies a contract in that when someone walks in to register at the front desk, they are “nice people.” If you’re not, then the Chandler Inn isn’t the place for you.

I think this is fantastic. I’ve worked with brand after fancy brand over the years -  and this little North Carolina Inn just simply gets it.

Most businesses don’t declare themselves - to them or their customers.  In fact, many don’t have a clue who their customers even are, or who they are, for that matter. So how can they speak with INTENTION?

People rush into business all the time without building a foundation, a strategy. They mean well, but eventually wind up in trouble. [been there done that]

It’s critical to discover and verbalize your core values so you can declare your INTENTION with you, your customers, vendors, partners, employees, family and everyone else you come into contact with.

Then, if something does not fit your core values, it cannot exist in your life. Period. It makes decision making a snap.

I’m guessing these nice folks have a strong set of core values that they live by every day. They must. Because their reputation is as lovely as their premises.

Here’s another photo.

Have you done the work to identify your core values? E-me. I can help. This is what I love to do.

It’s always my first step when I work with businesses.

It’s always the one people feel is unimportant or a waste of time.

It’s always the one they are most grateful for in the end.

Core values keep us directed and focused.

Core values keep us out of trouble.

I’m loving it here in Mayberry. And I’m learning a lot. Learning is one of my core values.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Branding & Business & Patty Soffer | a collec+ive & Strategy & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

Ok, not exactly video blogging today. Sometimes pictures speak louder than moving pictures with words.

Plus my hair is a mess . . .

So - my bucolic mountain trip is perfect.

Except my MacBook Power Cord is failing.

Damn.

So the wilderness is only cool when I’m connected?

Yes. I admit it.

But not because I am a connect-a-holic. Which I am.

But because a big part of my trip here is to complete a huge project that is near and dear to me.

And that can only happen online.

It’s the modern world, no matter how deeply buried I am in the mountains.

So FEDEX will find me when nobody else can.

I actually think that’s cool.

I’m as lost as I need to be to find myself.

So here’s what I did today.Rather, what I did for myself today:

I bought flowers. I love flowers. On the dining room table. Photo as evidence. [Failing MacBook Pro power cord is under the table. Sob.]

I also bought incense. Named after the local 5-star hotel here. Yummy.

Think the FEDEX guy will be able to sniff me out come Tuesday am?

Oh Good God, I hope so.

In the meantime, I will be zooming through the Smokies on the back of a Harley with some new friends I made today.

I love it here.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Health and Wellness & Patty Soffer | a collec+ive & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized & World Travel | No Comments »

So here’s a state that has been decimated with the loss of much of its main industry- automobile manufacturing.

So what they did was shift the focus –from Detroit and its problems to their other abundant natural assets.

What they have done is respond to human needs.

First, there’s the series of Pure Michigan commercials that uses emotional and heartfelt messages of a quiet, healthy, safe respite in a really scary world, whether it’s on land or on their many unpolluted waterways. And they are telling the truth. Michigan is a well-kept secret and absolutely gorgeous with natural resources that take ones’ breath away. Don’t miss it.

Perhaps the most priceless resource they have is their people. They are honest, loyal, hard-working, community-minded survivors. They are midwesterners.

So, in the spirit of survival, they are working hard to become a film capital. Yes, you heard me. They have gone Film Friendly. In a big way. Last year, the Michigan legislature passed nearly unanimously the best film and commercial production incentive package in the nation. They know they need to create a new industry to replace what once was. What innovation! Incredibly creative thinking! In addition to Mother Nature’s stage, imagine all the available studio space that can be created from abandoned or closed auto plants.

Florida is really missing the mark here. We have, and have had for years, ample opportunity to become Hollywood West. We, too, have incredible natural resources and one more thing Michigan can’t claim-amazing weather.

I can’t imagine why we are not pursuing this.

Anyway, bravo to Michigan. Makes me proud to be a midwesterner.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Art & Branding & Business & Design & Economy & Family & Movies & Music & Politics & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

Seth Godin talks about the energy that goes into the last 10% of anything (harder to climb the last stairs, improve your golf score, run that last mile, write the last pages of a story etc) .

Thing is, that’s where the value lies. That last 10% separates good from great, great from outstanding.

We are in a time where value is, well, not valued. In fact, it is de-valued. It’s all about price, not value. Some even theorize that this economic downturn is as much about absence of value as anything. The money is out there. But nobody values anything enough to spend.

Here’s the rub: I find it impossible to do/deliver/create/add anything that lacks value. I cannot deliver good or even great. It has to be outstanding.

So - if people aren’t valuing value, then what?

Then dig deeper. The shift is I am now digging deeper inside, not out there.

Because I believe that value lies within.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Business & Economy & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

Two beautiful things that made me very happy today.

Posted by Patty Soffer under . . . Xocai Healthy Chocolate & Family & Health and Wellness & Spirituality & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

We gotta be the only out-of-business business with seven Local and Regional ADDY Awards under our 2010 belt and on the way to the Nationals! Stay tuned for more award updates. And a shout out to the best creative team ever in life. Can’t keep us down!

Posted by Patty Soffer under Awards & Business & Design & Economy & Fashion & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »

My friend Seth  -  no, not Godin; Seth Gordon - got me thinking this morning about the events that led to my current state of blissful semi-unemployment and I realize there is a larger movement happening right now–or perhaps again-regarding the drift back to the home office.

Besides making me personally very very happy, there are benefits that go beyond my passion for personal space and comfort, affecting the planet in a massively favorable way (unless you happen to be in commercial real estate).

This from INC Magazine:
April 1, 2010

What would a world without offices look like? Well, Dilbert wouldn’t be funny, and there would be no such thing as rush-hour traffic. Here, thanks to Kate Lister of the Telework Research Network, a San Diego — based research firm, is a rough guess at what else would happen to the U.S. economy if everyone who could work from home — about 40 percent of the work force — did so half the time. The figures are annual. Feel free to rattle them off the next time someone makes fun of you for managing in your PJs.

$200 billion
productivity gains by American companies

$190 billion
savings from reduced real estate expenses, electricity bills, absenteeism, and employee turnover

100 hours
per person not spent commuting

50 million tons
of greenhouse gas emissions cut

276 million barrels
of oil saved, or roughly 32 percent of oil imports from the Middle East

1,500 lives
not lost in car accidents

$700 billion
total estimated savings to American businesses

Now if we can just get rid of those pesky condo commandos.

Posted by Patty Soffer under Business & Economy & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »