Tag: small business

My Hobbies ….

by Chanel Rose, posted in About Me, General

I absolutely love trying new crafting hobbies.

My sewing machine is in its box on a shelf, seldom taken down. Tried my hand at embroidery… once. In college, I took an intro pottery class. That was fun. Occasionally, I buy paints, colored pencils, and crayons. Our wedding invites … made by me!

I love creating things. My go to hobby though is wax. I began making candles in high school, and sadly never actually got good at it. Today, I make wax melts and sell them on eBay.

I am hoping to get back into making candles. I would also like to embroider again, make my own clothes and such. The issue with crafting hobbies is that supplies take money (and space) and finished products take up space. Hence the eBay store.

Oh, and I like baking and cooking in general. Home made pudding, rolls, cookies, brownies. YUM!

What is your hobby?

Check out my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/chanellyon/m.html?item=112195380992&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Happy Holidays!

by Chanel Rose, posted in General, How to Contribute to Society

The holidays are upon us!

Run for the hills!

Okay, may be some people enjoy seeing family that you haven’t visited all year. May be some of you want to show up with some nifty gifts. … or may be some of you only feel obligated to get stuff for the pesky people.

No matter which camp you sit in handmade soap is a great stocking stuffer! Follow this link to order a Gift Box of Soap, or browse the Insanely Crafty Friends​ online store for individual stocking stuffers.

Use PROMO code TGBoCR to receive 5% off your order.
(Not the comments section, it is one the last page where you enter your payment method and shipping address. There will be a link that says “Add promotional code.” It’s on the right).

Thanks for supporting The Great Blog of Chanel Rose!

My imperative – my command – is to ….

by Chanel Rose, posted in About Me, Women's Issues

My imperative – my command – is to work directly with individuals to help them overcome societal barriers by helping them find answers and increase their knowledge.

I seek to impact individuals or groups of individuals.

I am driven to ensure everyone has access to opportunity.

I uncover new information and develop insights.

It breaks my heart to know people go hungry. It breaks my heart to know that people sleep without shelter. It breaks my heart to know that people go without health care. What breaks my heart more is to hear people say that those people deserve it. No one deserves to be hungry. No one deserves to not have shelter. No one deserves to go without treatment. No one. Not the “good” people. Not the “bad” people. Not adults. Not children. No one deserves to be in poverty.

In the not too distant future no one will go hungry. No one will be without shelter. No one will be without healthcare. This is an idealized view of the near future. Some may say that this is unrealistic and unachievable. However, nothing is impossible if we work together to build the perfect society. What matters is not that we achieve this within our lifetime, but that we continuously work toward it.

Highways, Banks, & Congress

by Chanel Rose, posted in Business Ethics, Current Events, Economics, My 2 Cents and Sadly No Coffee

Congress to Eliminate Billions in Wall Street Subsidies to Fund Repair of Nation’s Highways by C Robert Gibson a Contributor of US Uncut

Lawmakers Weigh Cut in Fed Payout to Banks by Ryan Tracy a Reporter for The Wall Street Journal

A US Uncut article popped up on my Facebook discussing Congress possibly defunding banks to pay for the repair of US highways. This tickled my suspicious nerves. Of course, I had to look deeper into it. Then I found The Wall Street Journal’s article. This could actually be a thing.

Here is the problem with cutting the Fed dividend rate from 6% to 1.5%: Banks are counting on that 3.5% difference when creating short term (yearly) and long term budgets. So Janet Yellen is right, this does have unforeseen consequences. For many of them, Congress members are just diverting their eyes away. Some of the bigger banks could make up for the difference by not paying their execs HUGE bonuses, but not only will that not happen, the smaller banks don’t have that leeway.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I am all for requiring the rich to help keep this country great — or make it great again — by financing infrastructure directly and indirectly. On the other hand, a 3.5% drop in expected revenue/income/etc is a BIG drop to makeup.

As stated previously, the “big” banks have areas they could cut that would not affect their customers, clients, or the “average” American. These include: not remodeling the million dollar exec offices, lowering exec bonus, reducing “marketing” budgets for their largest clients (businesses spend money winning and dinning their clients, especially their big client. It is reasonable to assume banks do too), and much more. However, we can all assume that these reasonable adjustments will not be implemented. Instead, overage charges will increase, and loan terms will become less favorable and the “perks” will be reduced for the smaller clients.

Banks will react to this, they can’t not react. In the end, someone is going to be hurt, and I doubt it will be the wealthy.

Business Women and the Challenges for Minorities in the Business World — Commentary on an Article

by Chanel Rose, posted in Business Ethics, My 2 Cents and Sadly No Coffee, Women's Issues

Fundraising While Female: Women Entrepreneurs and VCs On How to Bridge The Gender Gap by Clare O’Connor a Forbes Staff member

This article has a some great advice. My favorite is if you have no idea what you would do if someone wrote you a million dollar check, it is too early to fundraise. My least favorite is “Look for ways to be unimpeachably good,” said by Sarah Kunst.

This advice upsets me, not because it is ‘wrong,’ but because it is true. An old saying, [insert minority group here] have to work twice as hard as white men to be seen half as good. This is a sad reality. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, we all understand that the ratio is not 4:1 (twice for half). However, minorities are hardly ever seen as the equal of the non-minority for equal work.

Once I spoke out about this inequality in a college class and the instructor had the audacity to tell me that there wasn’t a discrepancy between the pay of men and women and when asking for a raise I should bring up the fact that I am a woman and use that to my advantage. HELLO!

If I have to blackmail my employer for a pay raise by crying sexism in order to get the raise, the gender gap still exists… or I am a poor employee. We as a society should not have use our minority status in order to get equal footing. However, until we can get equal footing without it, inequality will remain a problem.

To eliminate the whitewash, each minority group has its own disadvantages, and if you are part of multiple minority groups, the issues compound. Are you a female? Strike! Are you anything but white? Strike! Are you a foreigner? Strike! Do you have an accent ? Strike! Are you not a citizen? Strike!

There are so many things that  can be held against you. Our society needs to recognize this so that we can overcome it. The good news is that there are many people who have. We have many social scientists that recognize that we all have bias and have discovered ways we can overcome our own bias. The bad news is that there are many people who refuse to recognize their own bias.

It is disturbing that minorities have to work harder and be better to be recognized as equals, competitors, and such.

What advice gets your panties in bunch? What do you think can be done to eliminate bias and discrimination?

Making it work in Syria

by Chanel Rose, posted in Current Events, My 2 Cents and Sadly No Coffee

Somehow, This Tech Entrepreneur Pulled Off A Conference In Damascus In The Midst Of Civil War

Never ask Syrian’s to stay in their country. Those who have left, left because it is not safe. However, we should applaud those who do stay. Those brave individuals are trying with all their might to create a country of innovation and prosperity. I hope with all my heart that one day, I can travel to Syria and other middle eastern countries and witness their beauty.

Tips of Ending Poverty: #2 Reflect Productivity

by Chanel Rose, posted in Business Ethics, Economics, My 2 Cents and Sadly No Coffee, Personal Finance

You don’t want to bust your a$$ making someone else rich while you go no where. Do not make others do that for you either.

Why do so many people want to or do start their own business? There are so many reasons why people want to own and/or run a business. Get rich. Make their own hours. Answer to no one, but themselves. Stick to The Man. All these reasons and more, can be summed up with the fact that they are tired of working all the time and getting nowhere real quick.

A rare few start a business because they have a new idea to take to market. We aren’t talking about those individuals.

It is awesome that people have the gumption to start their own business. It is great fuel for our economy. However, it is despicable that people are motivated to venture out on their own because they are not being properly compensated.

It has been a while since I have looked at the numbers, so bare with me on this. Off the top of my head, productivity has doubled since 1970-ish. Since then the average household income has stagnated.

To put it simply, pay your employees what they are worth–which isn’t always in line with what the market pays them.

Tips on Ending Poverty: #1 Local

by Chanel Rose, posted in Economics, Personal Finance

One way we can all help to end poverty is buy local hire local. When you buy from a local retail store, you are helping an individual support themselves. When a local business hires local people to help run the business, they too are helping an individual support themselves. … Or even a family.

Take a fraction of your budget and spend it with a local business. Have $100 budgeted for groceries? Spend $10 with a local farmer, bakery, or other take-home-yummies maker. Have two date nights budgeted a month? Spend one at a mom-and-pop diner, or pay a friend to make you dinner –after all she wants to open up a restaurant.

Do you know crafty people? What about aspiring entrepreneurs? In most cases, it doesn’t take much to help support your community.

Remember: BUY LOCAL!