Interview with Amanda of Jamberry Nails + Giveaway!

Let's get to know Amanda Thompson, an independent consultant for Jamberry Nails! 

Amanda is a mom to three kids and a newborn. She's passionate about Jamberry Nail Wraps because they help her support her family and allow her to be her own boss. They are a fraction of the cost of a salon visit, have no harsh chemicals, are made in America, are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, and cause no damage to your natural nail. With over 350 style options to choose from there is something for everyone.

INTERVIEW

You're an independent consultant for Jamberry. How did you get into it? What have you learned about being your own boss because of Jamberry? 

I was introduced to Jamberry by a friend from high school. I have always loved nails and having my nails done so when I saw it was a cost effective way to have super cute nails, I joined! Who doesn't want a 30% discount? Then when I found out I could use the opportunity to help empower other women and bring in an income while staying home with my children, I was definitely sold. 

One of the things that I have learned about being my own boss is that you have to prioritize your time. It is so crucial for me to sit down, look at my day, and pick out what the priorities are, especially with a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a newborn! There are days I will wake up with my kids, get them ready for school, and the next thing I know it's bedtime, it's like the day has completely escaped me. This has also driven me to learn how to manage my time better. 

What's the best thing about being a Jamberry consultant? What's the worst?

The best thing about being a Jamberry consultant is the freedom I have. I don't have to have an inventory to bog me down and I can put as much or as little time into it as I need. Right now, I have decreased the time since I just had a baby, but I plan on slowly incorporating more of my time back into it until I am back to where I need to be. I also love the sisterhood environment within Jamberry and having cute nails, that is a definite plus!

The worst, hmm, that is a hard question. I think the worst thing for me is that there is such a plethora of resources available for me to use in my business and feeling like I don't have enough time to help everyone. I seriously have the attention span of a corn flake, so I will log in for one thing and I will get distracted by something else and then something else and then here I am and I have forgotten to answer my original question. Another issue I have is that I want so many of the nail wraps, but that would require me changing them every few days and I like to get the full use out of them!

Women's Business Empowerment Opportunity: https://anthjams.jamberry.com/join/

You're a cancer survivor. (Go, you, for beating cancer!) How has your life changed because of it? 

One of the biggest things that has changed in my life is my ability to see the important things and appreciate the little things in life. I used to be a very impatient person and get upset over some of the smallest stuff. Now I have to evaluate and see is it worth the time for me to emotionally invest or is it something I can move on from? It has freed my life from much worry, stress, and unnecessary drama. If it's not productive and doesn't add some value, I don't deal with it. 

What's one place you've always wanted to visit?

I am such a huge Anglophile, so the one place I have always wanted to visit is England. I would love to start in London and just make my way across the country. One of the places that I look forward to visiting the most is Stanage Edge in Derbyshire where the scene from Pride and Prejudice (2005) was filmed as Elizabeth looked over the cliff and took in the world.

Do you have a favorite book? A favorite author? 

I have so many books that I read on a yearly basis, but I would have to say that my favorite book is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I love Chiyo/Sayuri and her story as she keeps reaching for her happiness and all of the antagonists she faces along the way. Plus, the beautiful love story that is weaved between the Chairman and her hooks me every time.

I would have to say that my favorite author is Jane Austen. I adore the way she writes and uses it to express her opinion on social standings of women in that day. One of my favorite characters she created is Mrs. Bennett. Her tendency to be over the top and only care about herself rather than the happiness of her daughters makes me love/hate her character more. 

Do you have any tips for people looking to either be their own boss or become a Jamberry consultant?

I think the biggest tip that I could give is to find something you love and be passionate about it. When you find something that you love, work will never feel like work. Waking up and loving what you do is one of the best feelings in the world. For me this applies well beyond Jamberry and into other areas of life as well!

What are some of your life goals?

Some of my life goals are to finish my college degree, start a successful blog, write a novel, visit every continent, and make sure my children learn to make a difference and positive impact in their dealings with the world. I also want to help motivate and inspire others in their lives as well.

How do you stay inspired? Any tips?

One of the ways I stay inspired is by writing down my goals and my vision and putting them in front of me so I can be reminded of them. In all of the everyday dealings of life we can get so swept away by many different obligations, monkey wrenches, and other things that come along and it can be easy to lose sight of what you really need to do. I have started to even apply this to what I need to accomplish daily by writing a list by priority and putting the list in a place where I can see it. Having the ability to help others and have fun with my business inspires me. Another way I stay inspired is by thinking of my children because I would do anything in the world for them. 

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Interview: Kate of Clear Creative Consulting

Today I'm interviewing Kate of Clear Creative Consulting. 

Get to know her new endeavor and how you can benefit. 

Clear Creative Consulting exists to help new or struggling bloggers develop the tools and confidence needed to blog with passion and ease. After paving my own way to blogging success with my personal blog Clear the Way, I felt inspired to share my knowledge and talents with others and so Clear Creative Consulting was born. My mission is to help clarify and streamline the process of blogging so you can enjoy the fun stuff. Through one-on-one consultations, collaborative online courses and exclusive memberships, bloggers can learn all they need to run efficient and successful blogs. Browse my full list of services and sign up for my Personal Branding Strategy course to get started on your way to happy blogging!

INTERVIEW

You blog at Clear the Way, a lifestyle and feminist blog. How did you get into blogging?

I started blogging as a way to make my online time more productive and creative.  Clear the Way was a fashion blog when it first started out but it quickly developed into my favorite hobby and a real passion.

You recently launched Clear Creative Consulting, a business that helps bloggers. What made you start this new venture?

I’ve wanted to start a business for a while now, but I have been careful in figuring out what business would use my best strengths and make me feel the most fulfilled. I am a great teacher with tons of blogging and social media experience and I love helping others reach their goals. Clear Creative Consulting just made sense.

I love that you're a badass feminist. Everyone is a feminist for a different reason. Why are you a feminist?

First of all, thank you so much for calling me a badass feminist. My journey of becoming and growing as a feminist started a long time before I even knew what feminism was. Feminism is my language. It’s how I see the world from a place of love and understanding. It’s how I relate to God and my spirituality. It connects me to the cares and concerns of others and opens up my mind to the real truths of the world.

What's one place you've always wanted to visit?

Iceland. I don’t even have to think about it. I dream of hikes in the almost-unearthly landscapes, epiphanies in the natural hot springs, tears while I watch the dancing Northern lights. One day...

Do you have a favorite book? A favorite author?

It is impossible for me to choose a single favorite book or favorite author. Instead, I’ll offer long-time favorites and favorites most recently added to the list. I’m a big fan of The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner and I’ve always been fond of Fyodor Dostoevsky. As far as most recent favorites, the book The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood was really great and I love the author bell hooks (especially her books on love).

Why did you choose to be vegan? Do you have any tips for people looking to become vegan?

I first became vegetarian because eating meat didn’t sit well with me. In time, I explored my health and diet and eventually determined that veganism was the right choice for me. For others thinking about becoming vegan, I would advise them to take it as an opportunity to discover a new way of living. Don’t think about it as “giving up” but rather as “inviting in” a new way of relating to the world, being a conscious consumer, caring for other living creatures, being healthy, and whatever other aspects you find appealing about veganism.

What are some of your life goals?

I love this question. I am such a goals person and I’m always thinking about my future. I would love to build a strong business out of Clear Creative Consulting that will last me through my long educational career (pursuing a PhD) and be a sustainable, fulfilling side project while I teach feminist theory at a University and write books.

How do you stay inspired? Any tips?

I always stay inspired because I crave inspiration. If you really crave something, you go out and search for it. Moments of feeling uninspired may come but they pass quickly because I’m always on the lookout for finding the extraordinary, enlightening things in the world.

Get 20% off discount on the Personal Branding Strategy class with the code SARA20! 

Kate also has two free classes coming up: Social Media Tips & Tricks and How To Rock At Twitter Chats. 

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Interview with And She Blushes Shop + Giveaway

Kristina is the owner of And She Blushes. She handmakes all of the candles, wax melts, and wax tarts at her home, and she let me interview her today about what having an Etsy shop, living in Texas, and her life goals. 

In your Etsy shop, And She Blushes, you sell soy wax candles. How did you get into candle-making?

I do! I sell soy wax candles and plan to expand this summer to bath products! In a nutshell, I used to spend way too much money on candles and wax tarts, so one day I just did some research and found that it really wasn't hard to make my own! I actually only did it so save money, and then some of my friends wanted the candles I make (mostly the Birthday Party one!) so I opened my Etsy a few weeks later!

What's the best thing about owning a candle shop? What's the worst?

The best thing would definitely be the exposure, meeting new people, spreading joy through wax haha. The worst? Well, I don't want to bad-mouth Etsy at all, but the seller fees. I will actually be branching from Etsy in the coming weeks, and selling on my own mostly, from my website called And She Blushes. 

You were born in California, grew up in Alaska, and currently live in Texas. What was the best thing about living in each of those places? 

We moved so quick from Cali, I never really knew what it was like to be there! But Alaska, was great, small towns, that's actually where most of my friends are from, but for the most part we have all moved away! I truly am grateful for my life in Alaska, it's not as crazy as people think; like we didn't live in Igloos or anything haha! Texas is great too, hot and humid, but it's where we live for now! My boyfriend works on the pipeline, so that's why we live here!

What's one place you've always wanted to visit?

British Columbia! My dad lives there currently, and he always talks about how gorgeous it is! Plus, how fun would it be to just randomly show up on my dad's porch haha!

Do you have a favorite book? A favorite author?

I actually am really not much of a reader, I have tried so many times to get into it, I just can't. I get bored too easily I think. My mind just doesn't slow down enough to sit and read a book. But, there have been a couple books that have managed to grab me! Don't judge me, haha! Veronica Mars, so amazing, as well as most thinks from John Green (The Fault in our Start, Paper Towns!)

What are some of your life goals?

Life goals, well I'm working on them still. But By next year, I want my ASB business, to stand on its own two feet, financially. That's a major goal, and a pretty top priority. I actually, plan to eventually complete a half marathon. Last year, I was in training for one, and then a knee injury put me out, and by the time it healed enough for me to run again, it was too late!

How do you stay inspired? Any tips?

Inspired. Well, memories from being a kid usually, like the Birthday Cupcake, Little Sisters Lemonade Stand (I don't have a sister, but a ton of cousins who had lemonade stands!) One of my most special candles and wax tarts, is called GTFO. I suffer from migraines, and so do some of my friends, so I wanted to create a candle that would aide in the relief, so I spent hours doing research to find scents that trigger migraine relief, and made them into a candle! My friends inspire me a lot, I get texts from my friends that usually begin with "OMG you know what would be awesome..." 

Never stop making it fun, once it becomes something you don't want to do, it will never be the same. Just keep it fresh and new, and find someone you can talk business with! 80% of my conversations with my best friend, include business chats of some sort! Bouncing ideas off of someone who gets it, is a serious help! 

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Interview with Jamie Baywood

Hello! Today I have an interview with Jamie Baywood, a twenty-something writer
who made the impulsive decision to move to New Zealand to avoid dating. 

Getting Rooted in New Zealand book description:

Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

About the author Jamie Baywood:

Jamie Baywood grew up in Petaluma, California. In 2010, she made the most impulsive decision of her life by moving to New Zealand. Getting Rooted in New Zealand is her first book about her experiences living there. Jamie is now married and living happily ever after in the United Kingdom. She is working on her second book.

INTERVIEW:

I love that you moved to New Zealand to avoid dating! You chose New Zealand because the country’s population has 100,000 fewer men, but were there any other reasons you chose New Zealand?

I know it sounds like a crazy reason, but I need a serious change in my life and felt I needed to leave the country to do so. By the age of twenty-six, I was actually much happier being alone than dating, but I was completely bombarded by guys trying to date me. I read in a New Zealand tour book that the country’s population has 100,000 fewer men than women.  I wanted to have some me time and an adventure. New Zealand seemed like a good place to do so.

I found a work abroad company that helped young Americans get work visas in New Zealand and Australia. I had been watching a lot of Flight of the Conchords at the time and enjoyed Bret and Jemaine’s sense of humor and accents. 

It was shockingly easy to relocate to New Zealand literally a few weeks after I made the decision. It only took a couple of weeks for my work visa to go through. I was 26, single, I quit my job, I moved out of a little cottage I was renting and put the few things I had at my mom’s house and brought a suitcase with me to New Zealand.

If things aren’t working out for you at home with relationships, instead of staying at home crying that you’re single, consider yourself free. You are free to do whatever you want. 

What were the biggest differences between California life and life in New Zealand? Anything that was surprisingly the same?

Whenever I go back to California, I am always shocked by how busy, crowded and loud it is. Everyone is rushing around, there is so much traffic, and it just feels chaotic all the time.  I was amazed with how quiet and unpopulated Auckland felt. People in Auckland would complain about traffic and I would laugh.

California and New Zealand are roughly the same size. It wasn’t until I went to New Zealand that I understood how enormous America is.

New Zealand feels so safe. In California, I would carry pepper spray with me everywhere I went. I was always on edge living in California. It was amazing to me that in New Zealand the police didn’t have guns.  I felt much safer as a single female traveling alone in New Zealand than living in California.

The flip side of the feeling of being sheltered from the world in New Zealand was I felt isolated. There was a palpable feeling of being at the end of the world in New Zealand that at times I found overwhelming.

When I first moved to New Zealand, the sandwich shop Subway had just arrived in the country. I don’t like their sandwiches, but I was surprised they stores smelt the same when you walked by them on the street. Also libraries seem to smell the same in every country. 

What made you want to write about your life and travels?

I consider myself an accidental author. I didn’t go to New Zealand with the intentions of writing a book about my experiences there.  I had funny experiences that I had trouble believing were true. I wrote the stories down to stay sane. I wrote situations down that were happening around me and shared them with friends. 

My education is in fine arts. I had a lot of art shows in California and New Zealand and even managed an art collective in Auckland.  I was bored with the fine art scene. Everything has already been done before in painting, but I am the only person that can tell my own story. Writing feels like a more honest form of art than any other method I’ve tried. While I was in New Zealand I meet a director named Thomas Sainsbury, he asked me what I was doing in New Zealand. My everyday stories made him laugh and he asked me to write a monologue for him. I had never done anything like that before. I was shocked by the adrenaline rush that came with storytelling and making people laugh.  

The stories made people laugh so I decided to organize the stories into a book and publish in the hopes to make others laugh too.

I heard you had a funny experience with the word “rooted.” Is that why you picked Getting Rooted in New Zealand as your title?

My title is another way of laughing at myself. One night I was brushing my teeth with my flatmate and I said, “I'm really excited to live in this house because I have been travelling a lot and I just need to settle down, stop travelling and get rooted.”

I had meant get rooted in the America way to settle down, lay down roots. He started choking on his toothbrush and asked if I was hitting on him. He explained to me what rooting meant in New Zealand.

I decided on Getting Rooted in New Zealand because it’s funny and the book is about rooting – both meanings of the word.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you before publishing your novel?

I wish someone had told me not to worry so much. Publishing my story was easily the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. I barely slept the first half of the year worrying what people would think of my book. Publishing my book was my way of transforming poison into medicine. I hope that it can help people that have had bad dating experiences or bad work experiences – make them laugh and not give up hope.  I had good, bad and weird experiences in New Zealand and California. My experiences have turned me into a writer and I am extremely grateful for that.

People that read it either seem to think it’s hilarious or horrifying and I respect all points of view.  I hope my book Getting Rooted in New Zealand makes you laugh!

Do you have a favorite book? A favorite author?

May I Ask You Something? by Cyan Corwine.

What did you read recently that you wish you’d gotten to sooner?

A Mighty Heart, a memoir by Mariane Pearl.

You’re currently working on your second book! Is it another humorous memoir? Are you approaching writing differently now that you’ve already published your first book?

Self-publishing is one person taking on all of the responsibilities typically held by teams of people in traditional publishing companies. I wrote, designed and have been marketing my own book. It has been a steep learning curve. I really understand the publishing process now and am less intimidated by everything.  I plan to divide my books by the countries I’ve lived in. My next book will be about attempting to settle in Scotland. I plan to publish it late 2014.

How do you stay inspired? Any tips? 

I constantly make myself notes. This summer in Wales, I would scribble stories on the backs of maps and Google directions as a passenger in the car. I also send myself text messages or emails riding in trains or buses. It might not look like I’m writing a book if one was to observe me, but I am constantly watching, listening and thinking about writing. 

Getting Rooted in New Zealand is available in paperback and ebook on Amazon!

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