Nurture this to create larger BRAND
and business SUCCESS
(4 tips + my Oscars PHOTOS)

What would you say is the thing that makes you feel or come more fully alive?

Are you making sufficient time for that thing, person, event, or class every week?

The things that make me feel or come alive are meaningful relationships, dancing, travel, poetry, fashion and generally expressing the love and joy I feel inside through the external (last month I started singing lessons and the month before that did trapeze school classes).

I’ll focus this sharing on relationships…

I had an experience this weekend that has come to remind the branding gal and success coach in me, what it takes to feel alive and step into greater levels of successful in both life and business:

In short you could say it comes by self-expressing in a way that inspires connection…

This experience came, as most others do, to remind me of our charge every day to consistently do the things that make us feel in true alignment and, to take it a step deeper and further, to share more transparently so we may connect with more and more people as humans first and ~ drum roll ~ as marketers or ego-rich humanoids never.

This sharing was inspired by going to the Oscars this past weekend…

What fun it was to be able to creatively paint my weekend with gorgeous gowns! It’s true… the three days of parties, getting dressed up and being pampered with professional hair and make-up every day felt amazing.

I felt nurtured, beautiful and at peace (whenever I’m having the most fun, I feel peace. If you feel this way too, this our our soul saying “Right on, sister. Keep having WAY more fun, keep moving towards pleasure, comfort in your own skin and being more and more yourself.”).

But by far the most important part about this weekend went way beyond shaking hands with celebrities, going to Ari Emanuel’s house for a party Friday night or to the “it” Vanity Fair party on Sunday where I saw Oprah, Beyoncé and took a photo with Oscar-winner John Legend.

The most important party and the true VIPs were my husband and the two bffs we were with.
What made me feel most alive was sharing the experience with my husband of 14 years (17 years together), one of my best girlfriends from college (we’ve known each other 22) and her sweet husband (known him for about 15 years).

In short, it's true what they say –> it’s all about who you (REALLY) know 😉

And I really, really know them, down deep. I am so grateful.

Your Business, Brand & Home

In the most successful businesses and brands, it’s all about who you deeply know too. How you really take the time to get to know someone, and how you’re communicating with them not TO them.

Are you being human?

Are you being more interested than interesting?

Are you listening, really listening to them?

And, on the flip…at home: are you consistently treating the people that matter most in your life in alignment with what you want to bring into your business — and with what you generally value and believe?

Try this on for size: if you’re not treating your good friends or those at home how you want your business community or potential clients to treat you, it may be a tough trick to land.

Our greatest success and good feelings experienced come from alignment.

Are you treating your husband the way you wish potential clients to treat you or respond to you? Are you giving those who have known you longest in life red-carpet treatment and your "best side” too?

Alignment brings us the right opportunities, people and events, every time, without fail, but we must focus on what's most important.

We can have all the money in the world but I think we would all agree that it doesn't matter very much if we don’t have good, solid relationships (in and outside of our business) to share experiences with.

And most importantly, we can have all the money in the world but if we don't have a good, honest relationship with ourselves first…well, you fill in the blank.

Relationship and relating are key.

Relationships ground us by showing us how much of us there is to love. And when relationships are good, boy do they ever bring us back to ourselves.

That’s what the Oscars came to sing to me…

Energy outputted with one group ends up being the energy received from another.

Personally, I felt my most creative, self-expressed and ALIVE self as a result of the loving people you see above and as a result of the positive, elevated, fun-loving, balanced and abundance-oriented conversation that flowed between the four of us.

Anything is possible was the feeling behind it all…

I felt alive because the relationships I’ve nurtured for the last 17-22 years were nurturing ME all weekend long with all the things money can't buy.

It's beautiful to feel how focused a group of people can genuinely be with one another.

Whether it was in our hotel rooms, drinking green juice at a cafe or meeting celebrities at the fancy parties, our conversation and connection, as it is other in all other times we're together, was balanced, honest, soulful and easy…

The dance experienced was great:

It went from one of us telling a story to someone else picking up where they left off…from one of us asking questions and listening, to another asking and listening…from positive, uplifting topics all the way through to a constant golden thread of generous laughter that came in long, loving streams; it was all flowing, elegant and fabulous.

Sure, I could focus more on the actual Oscars (OMG the Oscars!) and all the celebrities we met, however the real truth, gift and focus is this –> relationship. The gift of deep, fulfilling relating.

How much or how little are you doing this in business or in life?

Enter Relationship Architecture

Your ultimate self-expression, the biggest expression of you, can be found in the relationships you create and keep.

How?

Relationships, whether extremely good or challenging, give us the opportunity to be our most full, authentic and true self and it's this most fully-expressed self that your business needs to grow…

Your joy and greatest wealth and success in business lies in these genuine, human and heartful connections.

I love to call this focus becoming a “relationship architect.”

If you want to experience more happiness in your life and more engagement in your business, think about designing relationships and keeping relationships that nurture each of you equally.

If you’ve reached out to an affiliate partner and they don’t write you back multiple times, let it go…move on to connecting with someone who is more suited to working and communing in a deep, human way with you.
If you've been treating your community like a "list", always attempting to turn a connection into a sale, love up on them instead and give them true value, give of yourself in an unexpected, delightful way…
If you have been writing your newsletter in a way that you think will “convert” vs. connect, scratch it and start again.
If you’ve been thinking about money first, connection second, scratch that too and substitute humanity and some love. Love in business never hurts.

Here's the thing. Focusing on being a "relationship architect" is important because relationships grow you, and, in the end, that growth inside of you, grows the business.

Your self-expression and self-development are crucial for business growth.

How can you express the brand of woman you really are, how can you express your ultimate ALIVENESS throughout the relationships that make up your life and business.

Feel free to share your answer or any aha’s that came from this sharing on my Facebook wall: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.ghilotti.mandel. I'd love to hear from you and can't wait to continue the conversation…

Enjoy your business, enjoy your life! Love from La la land, where, in my corner, it's filled with lo lo love…

Life is good,

p.s. Until next time, #relationshipsarchitect on.

10-minute Creative Heroine mp3 INSIDE!

This last month I led the Creative Heroine facebook community towards one new creative endeavor. A creative endeavor that was going to support them in more fully expressing themselves in all areas of their lives.

Ah, connecting to our juicy, creative nature! It's like going back home…

Scratch that, it IS going back home.

During the month of January, we called the creative endeavor our "soul food”. It consisted of one thing that equally excited and unnerved us, that was the challenge.

The "soul food" we chose was to bleed us to our edges and, in doing so, speak to the soulful core of who we are (all passion and possibility!). It would also, as an added bonus, of course, feed all other parts of our lives and all of our titles too (mom, friend, business owner, nurturer, boss, manager, wife, etc.).

It's true, when we re-engage with our creativity, our life force, everyone wins…

What's ONE thing that equally excites and unnerves you — AND is it time to take it on so that you make happiness and expression your business?

I chose singing lessons as my "soul food" (honest report: I have no natural talent but getting a little better every Friday) while other ladies chose meditation, playing an instrument, running, writing their first song, you name it!

It was a fun time of going within (and watching others do the same) and tuning into just what creativity and being a Creative heroine is all about:

creativity = your soul's voice. The unlimited resource deep inside that helps you move from problem to solution, more quickly each time, in hopes of expressing more of who you really are.

Creative Heroine = you. A soulful woman filled with depth and daring. You could call her "beauty rising up from the chaos" (don't we all have "chaos" that we've re-branded as "experience" or "wisdom"?). It's this light you have on inside (see photo below) that lights the way, moving you from problem to solution, in hopes of expressing more of who you really are.

"Expansion" by sculptor Paige Bradley

Because I think it will support you in this conversation, I invite you to listen to the following 10-minute clip of the Creative Heroine talk I gave in England last November. It covers some of the "Creative Blocks" we may experience on our way from problem to solution. (note: devouring new "soul food" is the cure to creative blocks…find a "problem" you want to solve and then solve it!)

Listen to the clip below not to judge yourself but to simply take note and usher in a mindfulness that will eventually lead you beautifully to a solution in life or business: https://soundcloud.com/michelle-ghilotti-mandel/creative-blocks-creative-heroine-talk-at-ignite-in-england-2014

IGNITE 2014, Birmingham England

See if any of the blocks I mention in this short clip ring true for you. And if none do, ask yourself what is normally blocking your creativity, flow or ability to move from problem to solution quickly in life or business?

Lastly and most importantly, what are you in the practice of to move through those blocks? Could it be that moving on your version of "soul food" will help you do this with more ease? (My singing lessons this last month have helped me in a big way find creative solutions to so many things in my life)

I'll be sharing another clip on Three Ways to Nurture Your Creativity soon so stay tuned.

All this said, this year is a year of going in for that "soul food" for both MGI and Walking Momtra. It's a year of getting to know our work better, getting to know you better and ultimately reaching unique ways to serve and support you more fully, more creatively.

That said, this year we will be serving up a lot more free trainings, helpful worksheets as well as bringing groups like the Creative Heroine community together that will all be focused on dancing with all things expression and with creating the brand of woman we know ourselves to be.

Ultimately, working on ourselves is what creates successful relationships in both business and life.

The 10-minute "Creative Heroine" clip is just the first of many topics and soundbites to be shared with you, with love.

I hope 2015, a powerful "8" year in numerology, is off to a passionate start, Creative Heroine.

Life is good,

p.s. Toasting to your light with my green tea this morning.

The spiral staircase (a new visual tool for you)

The spiral staircase has always intrigued the yogi-designer in me. The visual draw, similarity to DNA, and cosmic patterns, as well as its mathematical genius could be enough, but the structure can also mean more.

Picture yourself tripping up in work, life, or love. You’ve made a mistake, said the wrong thing, or didn’t come through with your end of the bargain.

You think: How did I let that happen? What a (fill in the blank) I am. I can’t believe I did that, AGAIN. If only I could rewind.

These aren’t the greatest feelings—it’s true. However, we live our lives in irony. Though we dislike how we feel having just tripped-up, we continue to beat ourselves up way after the fact.

We cause our own suffering. Furthermore, we seem to forget that when we make mistakes, we grow. An atmosphere of growth is integral to happiness. So create happiness by seeing mistakes as true growth opportunities.

Although yoga, psychology, and conventional wisdom scream at us to live in the moment, I say we are not just the present moment.

We are very much our past in the most rich and helpful way. We can use past mistakes to yield a shiny new perspective and, in turn, create a new outcome.

If we allow them, our mistakes can fuel our awareness. In helping us decide how to act and react in a fresh and fruitful way, they can bring us closer to happiness and further away from (causing our own) suffering.

Picture a most beautiful spiral staircase in Rome, Paris, London, NYC, or Barcelona. Visualize its ample room.

Now visualize yourself on this staircase, midway up. You’re accomplished. You’ve come all this way. Look up at where you’re going and down at where you’ve come from. Peek around and up at the spirals of stair above; over and down at the spirals below.

Now comes the part that we don’t like that’s part of being human.

You’ve suddenly tripped up and missed a step, and you’ve probably done something similar before. Look down at your feet. Yes, you are here, right now, and it’s close to before—but, not exactly.

You are wiser today than yesterday.Though you might feel bad because you’re encountering the same or similar problem, this time it’s with a different view and varied perspective.

Accept where you are. You will immediately suffer less. Remember this is merely one moment in time. It only defines you and your worth if you choose to make it a defining moment.

Look down the middle of the staircase at what you’ve ascended. Keep hold on this view of yourself and see where you are now in comparison.

Yes, this human moment has come to find you again, but you’re now higher up and can respond from a different place, literally, figuratively, emotionally, and intellectually.

Ask yourself: How can I respond from this higher place instead of causing myself pain?

Welcome to your new spiral staircase-inspired mantra: I have a view. I hold wisdom. I use both.

Think it. Say it. Act on it. Let it create your new character.

I’ve practiced this mantra and used the visual of a staircase for a long time.

In sports and yoga I have always asked a lot of myself. I’ve competed with myself and, for years, failed to listen to my body.

I journeyed close to one year+ with a sports hernia, then chronic SI / low back issues, and a tear of my adductor during a restorative yoga pose (of all times). I could go on about my wrists, my left shoulder, my neck, and the running injuries.

I did an A+ job beating myself up, which only added to the sadness of not being active each time. I made myself suffer.

But that was then and this is now. I now have wisdom that has changed the way I treat my body. I have proven that I can be gentle (to myself) but still strong.

Also, I have learned an insane amount about the human body. Though I still like to push when I know it is “healthy” to do so, I assess from that higher place. I assess where I’ve been, where I am, where I really want to go, and how I want to feel.

On that next spiral up I remind myself there’s no final or “perfect” destination off the staircase of life. It is merely a journey with many similar situations. However, with growing wisdom and a richer perspective, we are better able to deal, enjoy ourselves, and suffer less.

It’s freeing to know that we are acting from a more intelligent place today versus yesterday.

Woe is not you. Wisdom is.

Here are five ways to change your perspective:

1. Find strength in the visual of a staircase.

Make it your new BFF. Yes, you’re confronting something similar again, but this time it’s higher up the staircase. Trust and respond from this place. Ask yourself: How can I react differently this time given the learning from last time?

2. Remember that everything transforms.

Connect with the fact that with up comes down, with light comes darkness. With down comes up, with darkness comes light.

When you find yourself smack in the middle of a day filled with disequilibrium, remember that your equilibrium must be right around the corner.Trust in the flow of your life and that of the universe.

3. Adopt a growth mindset.

Accept the idea of a failure en route to your goals. In essence, plan for some roadblocks, nod when they come (you knew they were coming), and move on as quickly as possible.

If you Google more on a growth mindset, you’ll see the myriad of benefits it has for your continued success in all aspects of life. Exhibit the mindset in your thoughts, words, and actions, and teach it your kids.
4. Practice saying “I’m sorry,” especially to those you wouldn’t normally say it to.

Saying these words filled with meaning forces you to move from your comfort zone and look at things from a different side. Healthy, yes, but more importantly, it also brings you closer to the people who make life worth living.

5. Do a headstand or down dog.

It’s difficult to feel and see things the same way if you’re upside down.

As originally seen on Tiny Buddha's site and in the Guide to Loving Yourself: http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-grow-from-mistakes-and-stop-beating-yourself-up/

The greatest marketing “tactic” is not a tactic, it’s real and takes being real.

The biggest gift and greatest branding/marketing "tactic" lies in the seamless connection between the you in life and the you in business…

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The blurring of where YOU (the personal you) ends and the business begins or the business ends and YOU (the personal you) begins —> that's where we want to dance.

My invitation is to do just that, to blur the lines a little more. This is how we continue to create and build our most authentic brands AND where we awaken our greatest happiness, without apology.

Your fullness is waiting.

Internal riches await.

At MGI, we aim to support your fullness, your dance in the rain tendencies, your silliness, your bravery…your boldness. #creativeheroine

It's the expressions and businesses that come from visionaries and founders that don't hold back who they really are that not only inspire others but move them to be more fully expressed, to dance, be silly, be brave and bold.

Tell your visual, photographic story from this perspective.

Tell us and show us…

What you believe.

What you're passionate about.

What you're moved by.

What you envision for the world.

Where you're you taking your business turned movement.

Sharing of yourself is personally and lovingly professional. If you were waiting to hear any version of that or get permission in your business to be more of who you really are, then you have it.

PERMISSION GRANTED.

A little more each time goes a long way.

We so want to get to know you, the real you, more. It's so much more than know, like and trust too.

It's about human connection.

We want to see ourselves in you and through your sharing…

Share yourself in story (each day, more and more, without leaving anything out) and watch engagement, connection and business relationships shine like the sequin dress I'm wearing below.

Make happiness your business and express more of who you really are in 2015.

The greatest marketing tactic is not a tactic at all, it's real and takes being real.

You're invited to join a group of us from the MGI community in the private Creative Heroine facebook group where you can claim one creative endeavor (what I call "soul food") that will help you express more fully in your business and brand communication this year. See why here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1582874648592822/.

My soul food for the month and for the year is singing. I had my first lesson Saturday! I share more in the group, while also guiding and motivating the rest of the ladies to their soul food every day with new direction, inspiration or guidance:

Creative Heroine January Soul Food Challenge

We'd love to be real together and create joy through the sharing of our soul food 😉

Here's to your creativity, realness, wildness…here's to your FULLNESS.

Life is good,

p.s. Be wild + dance in the rain.

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