Spring Break…A Time to Recharge and Refresh April 7, 2010

Spring Break 2010 was a time to recharge and refresh. This year I spent Spring Break by myself. I shipped my daughters off in one direction

Too Much Time on my Hands

and I head to West Palm Beach, FL. I wanted to get away, catch some sun, most definitely catch up on some great reading and of course, check out the sites. I stayed at a very nice resort just a few blocks away from the PGA National office. No, no sign of Tiger…I believe he was in my neck of the woods in Georgia.

Each day I started off with going to the gym and working out for about an hour. I’ve gotta get my sexy back along with getting back to me. So often, we as women are all too busy catering, nurturing, nursing and concerned about everyone’s needs that we forget to take time for ourselves. Well this year, I’ve made a committee to take time for self.

Everyone I met were so friendly and when I spoke with other women and told that I had made this trip alone, many of them commented that I was so brave and one lady even said it made her proud to be a women that I didn’t need family or friends to travel with me on vacation. Actually, I had a wonderful time and who better to spend time with than yourself. If you can spend time alone with yourself, you are sure to be able to cope with others.

So what occupied my time for five days….a little shopping. I have a girl’s trip coming up next month to Aruba for the Soul Festival, so I had to pick up a few sundresses, etc. I sat by the pool and read and people watched…there were some awesome sites, youth is such a beautiful thing. Several young men from the Dominic Republic stayed at the resort with were playing in the Farm Pro League, all I can say is simply gorgeous. I meditated, watch a little TV, did a lot of sight seeing and exploring a new city. West Palm Beach is beautiful and there is a lot to see and do.

Well, I’m back in the ATL, all charged up and refreshed….time to get back to reality and back to work.

Think Like a Winner in 2009 February 5, 2009

As some of you know, I turned the Big 4-0 last month and to celebrate, I vacationed in Puerto Rico at the Gran Melia Luxury Resort and Spa (check it out on the web). This was a well needed break and a superb time to reflect on 2008 and finalize plans for 2009.

Little did I know when Shelby booked the resort that it was located in Coco Beach Puerto Rico, home to Donald Trump’s International Golf course. Our resort was the host resort in 2008 for the Puerto Rico’s first PGA tournament sponsored by the Donald himself. So you know we were staying in pure luxury and extravagance. While at the resort, one of Donald’s luxury home realtors spoke to Shelby and I about becoming a charter owner in his new condo and home development being built next to our resort priced between $700 K and $5MM.

Don’t let the price tag scare you, it’s all relative to where you are in life. We are seriously considering purchasing a second home in Puerto Rico. I also saw a yacht that I liked and it had a price tag of $6MM. The point I’m trying to make is that you have to think it and then you can achieve it.

Over the last 10 years, Shelby and my thoughts/dreams have actually become our reality and everyday lifestyle. When you put action behind the thoughts, anything is possible and we are living witnesses.

Take a moment to reflect and think. If your personal and/or professional life is not where you want it to be, change your thoughts.

So since the vacation was relaxing and gave me time to finalize both my personal and business ambitions for 2009, during my “me” time lying at the pool, I thought it compelling to read Words of Wisdom from the Donald Trump’s Book, Trump 101.

As you know, Donald J. Trump, billionaire businessman, real estate mogul and Chairman of Trump University, knows that success begins in your own mind. So as the year 2009 begins, I’d like to offer you his thoughts on success, taken from the pages of his book, Trump 101.

“Ask yourself whether you’re doing what you want and what is right for you.”

“Be positive every day. If you’re not, no one will think you can succeed.”

“Believe in yourself, exude confidence, and get in your competitors’ way. Project yourself into their picture and upset their status quo.”

“Break loose from your comfort zone by moving forward with the power and momentum that positive thinking creates.”

“Zap negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Whatever energy you expend will build the positive stamina that is vital for success.”

“Ignore the expectations of others. Stand up to your friends, family, teachers, colleagues and those who think that they know what’s best for you. Plug into your own energy.”

I wish you peace, much happiness and every success in the coming year. Feel free to forward to all your friends.

Bianca Shelby

mitchellandbianca.com

Journey to the Big 4-0 November 11, 2008

Just a few months ago I was flipping channels and came across a show called The Big 40 on TV Land. It was kind of interesting to find out how people were dealing with the issue of turning 40 and how they plan to celebrate this momentous birthday. I’ve watched several episodes since that time and got a few ideas for my own celebration.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

But this morning I woke up and realized that in just a four more weeks I will be turning the Big 40 myself. It was kinda of a scary thought; I started to get a little nervous in my stomach, my breathing became a little more rapid and my palms started to sweat because I realized that based on statistics, I have already ready lived half of the adult life span.

This was weird because I had to stop and think about what my life had been like for the last 40 years, the trials and tribulations I’ve gone through, the joy and pain of being a wife and a mom to two lovely daughters, my career ups and downs, my entrepreneur success of being in business for the last 10 years on my own and yes, the future, thoughts of what lies ahead for me in the next 40+ years. The reason I say 40+ is that I plan to live to at least 100. My family has a long life span, 95+ years and counting and I do not plan to break the cycle.

I then had to almost slap myself and say “Bianca, calm down, it will be okay.” I closed my eyes, started to take slow deep breathes and began to smile when thinking of what I had achieved in life thus far. After assessing the bad and the good, I truly believe the good times in my life surely out weigh the bad. I then started humming I Won’t Complain, a touching song by Paul Jones.

I’ve had some good days
I’ve had some hills to climb
I’ve had some weary days
And some lonely nights
But when I look around and I think
Things over…all of my good days,
They outweigh my weary days – I won’t complain

…..And I say, Thank you Lord – I won’t complain…

4 weeks and counting…..

I would love to hear your comments! What did you or plan to do for your 40^th birthday celebration?

Making a difference one day, one person at a time.

~Bianca J

A Dream Come True: Barack Wins! Share Your Thoughts… November 5, 2008

History was made yesterday because of you and I’m glad to say that it was wonderfule being apart of history. Senator Barack Obama has been voted in as the 44th president of the United States — although he is the first-ever

Obama Wins!!!

African-American to hold the nation’s top position, he is the America’s president. What a historic day, a dream that many black Americans thought they’d never see.

The last 18 months on the campaign has been a long road, filled with passionate speeches, bruising rumors and ugly bipartisan politics. But with the help of everyday working people ready for change, Obama’s path to the presidency inspired many, of all ages, race, and economic backgrounds.

But with the U.S. in the throes of two wars and an economic meltdown that has no end in sight, Barack has his work cut out for him. Will he make a good Chief Executive? Share your thoughts on President Obama.

–Bianca J.

The Big Day…Election 2008… History in the Making… November 4, 2008

After 18 months of campaign speeches, umpteen voter rallies, numerous television interviews, presidential and vice presidential debates, and promises galore, the day that we have all been waiting for has finally come. It’s election day so let your voice be heard. I won’t tell you who to vote for…I’m just asking every one to get out and vote.

After speaking with hundreds of people from around the world, they are all ready for change. Are you? I am very excited and hopeful for American’s future and I’ve put together a slide show that shows how voting is a family affair. Voting…A Family Affair

As we begin to focus back on the family, we can really impact our future once again. Get out and vote… please share your voting experience in this blog…I welcome your comments and photos. Email photos to askbianca@bianca.com.

The Sky is Falling, but it’s not the end of the world October 15, 2008

This will be my first and probably last comment about the Wall Street debacle and the failed “bailout.”
Yes, it’s bad news. Yep, a lot of people lost a great deal of money. Yes, things are looking bad. But guess what? It’s going to get better and you are going to be okay.

Chicken Little...The Sky is Falling

Please don’t think that I am not making light of the situation or not being compassionate. I know a lot of people are scared and hurting. Just remember this:

What you focus on expands.

And the truth is that all the worrying in the world is not going to change this turbulent financial situation and make the DOW increase overnight. It never does. So, you can keep watching the news and reading the newspaper and listening to the doom and gloom. You can keep focusing on the problem and you’ll just make yourself feel worse and worse.
Or, you can focus on what you can control. I can recall in one of Stephen Covey’s books, he calls that focusing on your “circle of influence.” When you spend time worrying about things that are outside your circle of influence, it’s counterproductive and a waste of time.

So stop stressing over the money you might have lost, but rather focus on how you can make money and create new opportunities to make more money. Now might be the time for you to change your life and catapult yourself to the next level. (During an economic “crisis”, do you realize that a whole bunch of people are going to become VERY, VERY wealthy? Are you going to be one of them?)

Now, more than ever, you must stick a stake in the ground and focus your attention on what you can do to improve your business, job, career or personal life. When times are good, you can be sloppy in your marketing, in your business practices or job performance. But when times are tough, sloppiness or loafing is unacceptable. I was talking to a business owner recently and he actually said, “Yeah, things are going well for me so I’m not doing as much marketing.” Huh? Could you imagine a dumber statement than that? When things are not going well for you that’s when you should INCREASE your marketing not cut back on it.

It’s time to get back to the fundamentals of not only running our businesses but running our lives.

You have a wonderful opportunity ahead. Think about what you really want to do. Try to ignore your past programming about what you “should” do and open your mind to the possibility of making your life and your business exactly like you want it to be.

There is no better time than right now.

If you own a business, what are you doing to recession proof you business? What are you doing to increase your sales.I would love to hear your comments.

Bianca J.

Don’t Panic…Time is on You Side October 9, 2008

STOP!!! Don’t panic. Don’t withdraw all your money from the bank and bury it in the backyard or hide it under your mattress. Don’t withdraw or stop contributing to your 401K and please don’t do anything stupid. Don’t give in to fear.

Time is on your side

I’m working in New York right now and word on the street and in the paper reports stories of doom and gloom. The financial giants of WallStreet have been cut off at the knees and tumbled to the ground hard. Yes, the stock market has taken a severe beating, and stock prices have plummeted to record lows, just remember time is on your side.

Don’t let the consequences of the mortgage meltdown on financial institutions and the stock market plummet erode your American dreams. Throughout history which usually tends to somehow repeat itself, WallStreet and the financial markets have always somehow bounced back stronger than ever. Right after the Great Depression of the 1930’s many self made millionaires were created.

While I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future, I agree with most economic analysts who expect the economy to remain fragile through 2009. For us, the best way to predict the future is to CREATE it. The best course of action for you and your family is to be disciplined: avoid splurging; identify and cut out unnecessary expenses and save for what’s essential; and hedge against those tough times. We can all benefit by developing good spending habits: confront – and cut up – credit cards; use your home as a savings vehicle – not as an ATM; and establish and contribute regularly to an IRA or 401(k).

If you can stay afloat and ride out this storm, the rainbow will appear and the sun will shine again. Remember time is on your side and better days are ahead.

What are you doing or what spending habits have you changed to deal with this tough economy? I would love to hear your comments!

Bianca J.

Nappy and Natural Hair Invades Atlanta April 29, 2008

Just when you think it is safe to leave the house, there is an invasion. An invasion of a different kind. This past weekend, Atlanta was invaded by thousands of beautiful Black brothers and sistas sporting their nappy and natural hairstyles at the World Natural Hairshow. It was an awesome event to see the various kinky, natuaral afros, twists, sisterlocks, puffs, and dreads that people were sporting.

People came from all across the southeastern part of the US to attend this event. My daughters and I all are natural and we learned a lot of information on how to care and maintain the look. My 11 yr old daughter, Elizabeth also interviewed several of the participants and asked them to share with her why did they decided to go natural, how long have they been wearing their hair natural and do they feel their hair makes a statement or identifies who they are. You can watch the responses on www.nappyandnatural.com.

Nappyandnatural.com is a community on the web where people can for information, view photos and connect with others who love their natural hair, are transistioning or just plain curious about nappy and natural hair.

Love After 40…Black women’s tastes for men expands March 17, 2008

Sistas are tired of spending Valentine’s Day, their birthday and many of the other holidays alone. Just yesterday, a good friend of mine informed me that she had taken her profile off all of the online dating list because she was having a hard time finding a “good” black man.

Boy, if I hear this again, I’m going to scream. My friends tell me that I do not understand because your married to a so called “good” black man and that I haven’t been in the dating game in 18 years.

The advice I give to them is don’t limit your possibilities. The world is a big place and if you can’t find a man of your own race, just go out there and find a “good” man. I often tell them that so called “good” men come in all different shapes, sizes and color.

I tell them that you do not have to be alone, it’s okay to date outside of our race. It was interesting to find this video that discusses the fact that an increasing number of Black women are dating and marrying interracially. Check out this video and let me know your thoughts….this subject can be a little controversial.

Click here to watch video

Bianca Meets Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” March 24, 2007

This week has an exciting and busy networking week for me. On Wednesday, my husband and I were selected to speak to an audience made up of hundreds of young entrepreneurs as part of Clark Atlanta universitys’ Leadership week. They were very curious about learning the secrets to success in business. One of the secrets lies in the one’s ability to network and that’s something that we both do well.

On Thursday, we were invited to a luncheon featuring Donald Trump’s “Apprentice”, Dr. Randall Pickett. Prior to the luncheon, we were able to spend some one-on-one time with Randall and the Judith Cole, Vice President of the Kaufman Foundation, a $2 billion dollar foundation that focues its efforts on advancing entrepreneurship and improving the education of children and youth.

It was quite enlightening to listen to Dr. Randall Pickett’s speech that discussed “wealth” vs. “income”. The statistics were rather alarming, but quite realistic for an urbanite like myself living in the heart of the SWAT (that’s Southwest Atlanta) to all those outside of the ATL. Can you believe that African Americans and Latinos spend $1.4 Trillion dollars a year, that a hell of a lot of money. But when you look at our net worth as compared to whites, the numbers are dismal: white households have a network of $121,000 and African American have a net worth of only about $19,000 and that is probably pushing it.

We understand working for Mr. Charlie and collecting a paycheck (income) on Friday only to spend it on nice cars, decked out rims, gold teeth (grillz), fine clothes, shoes and purses, but we still can’t seem to understand the ownership piece (wealth).

It appears that everyone else understands that we make a lot of income and spend a majority of it so they advertise and market their products and services to us and what do we do? Buy them.

I am all about ownership and sharing my knowledge and lessons learned to help others become successful business owners and market their products and services to whomever will purchase them.

Why can’t more of us be on the other side of the counter, owners of businesses, and then sell/market to us so that more dollars are circulated in our community and neighborhoods? Are we afraid, are we too stupid and don’t have the skill and ability to run a business? What is our problem? Please comment and let me know your thoughts…