Job Location: United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom

Job Responsibilities: Arbonne combines superior, botanically based products, a generous compensation plan, exceptional support, training and committed leadership to create the perfect window of opportunity for you!

Preferred Experience: If any or all of the below are true for you, Arbonne might just be what you’ve been looking for. Do you like to use botanically based products? Would you like to have more time & money for your family? Do you value having creative control over your life?

Income Range: Unlimited income potential

Company Name: Arbonne International

Contact: Robert Craig

Phone: 447889985295

Email: robertcraig@myarbonne.co.uk

We hope you’ll visit their Profiles (click on the hyperlinked names), and send a Welcome Intro note when you can. You never know where that intro may lead! And don’t forget to check our main Directory page often - as new Professional Listings are published every day.

NOTE: If you don’t see the specific category or area of expertise that describes what you do – no worries! We’re happy to add that on as new Listing Professionals request new categories.

Laura Rubinstein, a social media marketing consultant from CA

• Laura Rubinstein, social media marketing consultant, speaker, trainer, CA
• Ximena Beltran, a publicist and new media specialist, IL
• Alara Castell, a speaker and fun-loving business coach, CA
• Julie Browning, PIP
• Dana Lustbader, an epipen and allergy medicine products professional, PIP
• Zighe Mwachofi, an African safari travel consultant, NV
• Roberta Rosenberg, a copywriter, SEO & landing page specialist, social media marketing consultant, MD, PIP
• Anne Kleinman a promotional products and marketing consultant, NY
• Mara Martini, an education book reviewer, creator / editor of higher-education staff training manuals, and teacher/ trainer in higher education topics, IL, PIP
• Suzanne Wardrop, the founding partner of a divorce coach group, NJ

NOTE: PIP means Profile in Progress. So pop back to the Directory often. Or – do a Search in our Search field located in the right sidebar of all our main pages. Search by state, name, area of expertise or country as you’re able, to view all the exceptional Professionals and job seekers that are in our awesome community!

One factor in her success is her ability to be open to new ideas and avenues. “I jumped on the MP3 bandwagon very early,” she recalls. “To this day, I adopt any new technology to further my livelihood.” She took advantage of licensing her songs to TV and film after Colgate/Palmolive came to her in 2002 with a request to use the song “You Make Me Feel” for a South African commercial ad campaign.

From 2003 to 2007, licensing became Brown’s major source of income. It also helped her grow as a songwriter, working in various genres and considering how a melody fits into the action in a TV show or movie. “We did a lot of TV watching to see how those scenarios worked,” she says.

More recently, in 2010, Brown leaped into the still-nascent crowdfunding concept. She raised $5,000 on the Indiegogo website to produce a physical version of her latest CD, The Relationship Odyssey (released in January 2012).

Music has been her passion since childhood, says Brown. “I’ve always loved music. I’d do it even if I didn’t get paid for it,” she says. “Amazing things happen through music.”

She advises would-be musicians to be certain they know what they want. “Do you want to be famous?” If so, there are ways to do that, including appearing on TV shows such as American Idol or The Voice. Do you want to write for film and TV only? Do you want to make records? If your plan is to be a recording artist, how do you pay for your recordings? Are you going to use your own equipment or rent a studio?

Remember that your audience is people like you. “Define who you are, and target your niche,” Brown advises.

But be sure and have fun while you’re doing it. Brown says she reviews her music career every five years. She asks herself: Does it still bring me joy?

There are special challenges that come with being an independent artist. You won’t get radio play. You have to do interviews and podcasts to get the word out. “It’s me, telling people to spread the word about me on facebook and Twitter.” The notoriety comes slower, piece by piece. “It’s very time-consuming – and there’s no magic button,” she says.

According to Brown, she presently spends about half her time on the music side of her business – writing songs and doing session work – and half her time running the business side of the operation. But she admits to writing music “all the time – every week.”

Brown started her career in San Francisco, then lived on the East Coast before returning home to Toronto, Canada. She hopes eventually to do a U.S. tour, with dates on both coasts. Both the logistics and the financing make touring difficult for an indie like Brown–but when Brown wants something badly enough, she usually does what it takes to get there. So fans shouldn’t rule it out.

Founder’s Note – We actually found out about Natalie through another WomenCentric Member talking about her on Google+. One of our favorite songs by Natalie Brown is “It’s a Beautiful Day.” We know you’ll enjoy it too!

The founder of Navigating Life, Zimmerman brings her solid core of dogged determination to her work with clients, who come to her for life coaching, image consulting, personal training and nutritional counseling. The key to success, she says, is working with clients “from the inside out” to help them achieve an authentic personal brand.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” Zimmerman likes to say. Here are Zimmerman’s tips for making that first impression count:

If you want to rise in the corporate ranks, dress like the people a rank or two above you. “If your look is polished, pulled together and professional, they’ll assume your work and work ethic probably reflect those characteristics,” Zimmerman says.

1. Buy clothes on sale, but use the money you save to have them tailored, so you get a custom fit.
2. Earrings tend to finish a look for a woman. They frame your face and keep a listener’s eyes focused on you.
3. Your face and your hair create a frame. Your hair fashions three sides of that frame. The color across the bottom – directly underneath your face — should complete that frame. It should pull out the undertones in your skin to make it look even and polished. The right color blends into your natural coloring. The wrong color makes it look like there’s no frame on the bottom of the picture.

We hope you’ll visit their Profiles (click on the hyperlinked names), and send a Welcome Intro note when you can. You never know where that intro may lead! And don’t forget to check our Directory often – new Professional Listings are published every day. If you don’t see the specific category or area of expertise that describes what you do – no worries! We’re happy to add that on as new Listing Professionals request new categories.

Catherine Farman, a website designer and developer

• Cathy Liska, a CEO and training director of a coaching certification center, SC
• Natasha Zeligs, a certified nutritionist, master personal trainer, speaker, author and consultant, CA, PIP
• Margaret Francis, PIP
• Jenelle Marie, is the founder and CEO of a website about sharing authentic and reputable stories about living with an STD, MI
• Kacie Anderson, founder of a PR and communications company, CA
• Laurie Lewis, PIP
• Barb Quin, a CEO of a  hair-style blog, MN, PIP
• Jane Kristensen, Denmark, PIP
• Barbara Last, PIP
• Alara Castell, PIP
• Nancy Tierney, an internet marketing mentor and social media strategy & copy writing specialist, NY, PIP
• Catherine Farman, our newest Platinum Pro Member, a website designer and developer from PA
• Jennifer Shaw, the managing director at a New York social community for women, NY, PIP
• Shweta Boishyo, PIP
• Susie DeStasio, an account executive for a corporation that uses technology tools to spread your information, NY, PIP

NOTE: PIP means Profile in Progress. So pop back to the Directory often. Or – do a Search in our Search field located in the right sidebar of all our main pages. Search by state, name, area of expertise or country as you’re able, to view all the exceptional Professionals and job seekers that are in our awesome community!

We hope you’ll visit their Profiles (click on the hyperlinked names), and send a Welcome Intro note when you can. You never know where that intro may lead! And don’t forget to check our Directory often – new Professional Listings are published every day. If you don’t see the specific category or area of expertise that describes what you do – no worries! We’re happy to add that on as new Listing Professionals request new categories.

Wendy Newman, The Pesonal Brand Coach from CA

• Cookie Lockhart, an auctioneer professional, CO, PIP

• Jazmin Idakaar, an information professional with a passion for social media, event planning and community outreach, PA

• Sarah Sammis, PIP

• Maurene Grey, a founder and principal analyst of a consulting firm with experience in e-communications, social media and collaboration, NY, PIP

• Wendy Newman, a personal & business brand coach and TV/Radio host of a celebrity weight loss show, CA

• Lili Vazquez, PIP

• Margy Blessings, an administrative and costumer service professional

• Nikoi Henry, PIP

• Demitra Mroncz, a coastal Orange County real estate professional, CA

• Ashley Jurgensen, owner of an event and catering space, NY, PIP

• Elizabeth Boskey, a women’s health researcher and STDs expert, NY

• Erin Tillotson, a social media phoenix, UT, PIP

• Edith Moore, PIP

• Huyla Egin, owner of a online gift basket store, NJ

• Margaret E. Ward, an award-winning financial journalist, Ireland, PIP

• Nora Semacha, PIP

• April Jones, PIP

• Laura-Lynn Bolan, a contemporary artist, Canada

NOTE: PIP means Profile in Progress. So pop back to the Directory often. Or – do a Search in our Search field located in the right sidebar of all our main pages. Search by state, name, area of expertise or country as you’re able, to view all the exceptional Professionals and job seekers that are in our awesome community!

After researching the phenomenon thoroughly, Kobrin decided to create a site with website developer Deb Augur and PR/marketing expert Debe Fennell. This site is niched to women – that doesn’t mean you have to be a woman to list your project on crowdfundinglive.com, but the project should at least be one that would interest women.

“Everything I’ve done for years has been to help people promote their business. This brings it all together,” Kobrin says. What’s more, with crowdfunding, she says, “the worst that happens is that you lose $50,” versus the thousands of dollars an investor can lose under more traditional fundraising. The prospects for success are better than even, Kobrin says. “Sixty percent of projects earn the funding they need – and people will go on to do things they only dreamed about before.

Because Kobrin is an event planner, she decided to give the crowdfunding concept a twist by holding a live event in Los Angeles that will combine educational presentations from successful funders with live networking opportunities. Crowdfunding Live initially was set to take place in Los Angeles on March 31 – but when major crowdfunding sites began contacting Kobrin about the event, she decided to postpone it until June 9 to take advantage of all the interest the site was attracting.

Crowdfunding isn’t necessarily easy. Already, there are so many projects and so many sites it’s difficult to rise above the clamor. “It’s hard to get noticed on some of the bigger sites now,” Kobrin says. The sites won’t put the project together or do the marketing for you – that’s up to the person or team behind each project. That means contacting your database, putting your request on facebook and Twitter, and bringing enough critical mass to the project to get donors excited. “I really stress that people should set realistic goals. If you can only raise a few hundred through friends, don’t set the goal at $20,000,” Kobrin says.

“I would love at some point for crowdfunding to be all I’m doing,” says Kobrin, who presently splits her time among CEC Global Events, Crowdfunding Live and working as a recruiter. She’s been a frequent speaker on crowdfunding in recent weeks, as well.

What are Kobrin’s tips for crowdfunding?

1. Make a video. “People want to look in your eyes. Let them feel like friend,” she says.
2. Write four or five paragraphs from the heart: Why is this something you really want to do?
3. Make sure your project makes sense. Make sure there’s a market for it. And make sure your gifting makes sense.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

2 egg whites
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco shortening

Beat until smooth

My grandmother’s instructions, verbatim:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 5 to 7 minutes.
Sift dry ingredients
Cream shortening and sugar; add egg yolks
Add dry ingredients; add milk

Author Note: Having seen my grandmother make these, the next step is to form the batter into 28 large spoonfuls and drop onto an ungreased baking sheet. Then bake for 5-7 minutes. Let cool and then frost!

Lindsay Connors is a student at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., majoring in English with a minor in communications. She has written articles for the Woburn Advocate and drafted endowment reports for the Lahey Clinic.

“The problem that I found, as I started meeting with institutional investors, is that it all gets focused on the exit strategy,” Brenner says. “I want to create jobs, not just sell out to the highest bidder in the shortest amount of time.”

That’s why Brenner is excited about H.R. 2930, the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, signed by President Barack Obama this month.

H.R. 2930 is a twist on crowdfunding, where businesses rely on hundreds or thousands of people to invest small amounts of money to help fund a particular project, usually in return for the product once it’s available. Popular crowdfunding websites are Kickstarter and indiegogo. Under H.R. 2930, a startup will have the option of giving investors shares of equity in the company in return for their investments. Companies can’t raise more than $1 million through this vehicle ($2 million if the issuer provides potential investors with audited financial statements), and investments are limited to $10,000 or 10 percent of an investor’s annual income – whichever is smaller.

“This new bill is going to change the landscape for entrepreneurs in America,” Brenner predicts. “When people buy stock, they’re buying stock to see it succeed. That would give me a word-of-mouth advantage. If I could raise the money with 5,000 people each investing $100, they would be brand ambassadors for Women of the Vine.”

Brenner, who serves on U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York Agriculture Working Group, spoke to the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship on behalf of the bill before Obama signed it. She explained that she needs half a million dollars to grow her business so she can hire three more full-time and two part-time employees.

Women of the Vine markets and sells wines made by small-scale, artisanal vintners – all women – whose products might otherwise never find their way to customers across the country.  Brenner now represents seven winemakers and grape growers. Last year, her vintners produced 60,000 bottles, sold in retail stores in 21 states and via her website, WomenoftheVine.com.

Brenner walked away from a six-figure corporate marketing salary to work from her home in Rockland County, N.Y. She was doing freelance marketing and public relations work when she met a group of women vintners during a trip to Napa Valley in 2005. They inspired her to write the book Women of the Vine: Inside the World of Women Who Make, Taste, and Enjoy Wine. A year later, Brenner invested $135,000 to launch her first-of-its-kind winery, featuring hand-crafted, limited-production wines from women winemakers around the world.

Brenner believes she has found her calling. “I love the fact that everything I do every day is tied to the land. I’ve never felt more in tune with the seasons and the weather. In corporate America, I didn’t even see the leaves change color in the fall.”

Her advice for entrepreneurs:

1. Perseverance and resiliency. “Those are the two biggest words in my vocabulary these days,” she says. You’re going to hit roadblocks, and it’s going to be tough. Keep persevering. Many entrepreneurs who fail give up too early.”
2. Don’t be afraid to fail. “I have failures on a regular basis,” Brenner says. “You many lose some money; you may make some poor choices. You may go down a certain direction and need to refocus,” Brenner views her errors as learning experiences. “We all make mistakes. There’s no manual,” she says.
3. Be patient. “I’m building a brand in a highly competitive space. To get out there and get known and make inroads takes time,” Brenner says. “I think the problem with entrepreneurs is that we are often driven by fear – fear of failure and running out of money. I’m in it for the long haul. I have to pace myself.”
4. Brenner also emphasizes caution. Entrepreneurs tend to burn the candle at both ends, she says, “thinking you’ll get that one more client, that one more sale, that one more opportunity. Some things need to play themselves out. A lot of people give up too early because they don’t anticipate how hard it can be.” Because of that, Brenner suggests running a lean operation.

Creative Business Strategist, Jennifer Peek, from MO

And if you have not posted your own Profile in our Directory – get cracking! All our Listing Members benefit from our service-centric model + a weekly dose of inspiration, timely tips, event & Conference news, and deals and discounts via SuccessPaths, our e-newsletter.  Don’t miss out click here and post your Professional Profile today!

Here’s the latest list of the new Professionals who have joined us this past week!

NOTE: PIP means Profile in Progress. So pop back to the Directory often. Or –  do a Search in our Search field located in the right sidebar of all our main pages. Search by state, name, area of expertise or country as you’re able, to view all the exceptional Professionals and job seekers that are in our awesome community!