Celtic New Year in Richmond Stop by and Say Hi!

I went to the holiday party for RABA (Richmond Area Business Association) and I just loved the energy! Toscano's appetizers were to die for; I have no idea what I consumed (the din was deafening with all those business leaders yapping) but it was delicious. I met with Lucie Whiteford and she's putting together the Celtic New Year celebration in Richmond. She's a powerhouse and I love what she's creating. She needed someone to sell tickets, I needed a venue for Vermont Helps Room to Read, so we put our heads together and worked out a plan.

I met with the Richmond Library Board to ask permission to have a booth in the library to sell tickets and also accept donations for Vermont Helps Room to Read. It's going to be fantastic; they have a wireless connection in the library so people can donate online or just send in checks right on the spot. The Celtic New Year is full of wonderful musicians, food and stories for all to celebrate right in Richmond. It's the first time Celtic New Year has been done in Richmond and I wish Lucie and her group all the success in the world. Please check out the website at http://www.acelticnewyear.org

Stop by for great music, great community and great food! I'll be in the library starting at 6:00 pm if you want to say hello.

Start Spreadin' The News...

I'm recovering from our trip to the Big Apple to watch a Loral Langemeier seminar. I know she's big on hiring housecleaners and assistants and I was hoping to network with that crowd to grow my Virtual Assistance business. Lots of dreams, and lots of money pouring out the door. Some of the packages were selling anywhere from $29.95 for the book to $3000 for coaching sessions to $15,000 for a shot at The Big Table. It was tempting; you always want a mentor to lead the way, but I think I'll hold off on that big investment for a little while longer. I networked with some really terrific people who I have no doubt will achieve their dreams of millionaire status.

While I was in the room, one woman who had just purchased her $300 package realized it was missing a real estate investment guide and gladly plunked down another $100 or so bucks for that package. How do you generate that income so quickly? I'm asking for $20 from 300-some odd people and they've generated around $300,000 in an afternoon! I guess it's the promise of building something better for your own life that draws people to shell out lots of money to buy into that paradigm. The American Dream in full swing.

I loved the cabbies! One from Pakistan told me he worked in a shoe store when 9-11 hit. He said a woman distraught over the devastation came into the store because her shoes had been lost in the blast. She could not remember her size and he marvelled at the confusion that that horrible day caused. You could see him playing the memory over in his mind as he dodged the food cart on the left and the Lincoln on the right.

A gentleman from India said "you can build anything you want here in America as long as you want to work hard for it." He hit the nail on the head.

Yes, becoming a millionaire's a noble goal, but it takes time, vision and hard work. I'll just settle for an $8,000 library in Cambodia, thank you!

I'll get pictures up on the blog a little later on. Thanks for checking in!

384 and Counting

I've gotta say, the people at Room to Read are a class act. I just received a letter in the mail that I can use as my tax-deductible contribution. They could've just sent me a receipt and I'd give it to my accountant, but they went the extra mile. They sent me a wonderful card with pictures of happy students on the front. It's a hand-written card (you just don't see those much anymore!) saying how much they appreciate the Vermont Helps Room to Read initiative. I'm so glad I'm working on this project.

I did the RABA (Richmond Area Business Association) Holiday market and it was wonderful to see neighbors buying locally and willing to help globally. I had a lot of donations (we now just need 384 people willing to donate $20 to hit our goal!) and I was so happy with the response and warmth. Billy set up his own computer so we could take donations online and Marie has reached out to the students at CHMS. It's nice to see the community helping in anyway they can.

If you can help spread the word, I know we'll be able to reach our goal.

Room to Read Live at Richmond Holiday Bazaar

I just came back from a great meeting with the Richmond Area Business Association (RABA) http://www.richmondvermont.com/ and we're gearing up for the annual Holiday Bazaar in town. I've never been before, but Santa is poised to come snow or no and many local vendors will have their wares up for sale.

I have a poster showcasing the beautiful library that can be built when we raise the $8,000 needed. My goal? Reaching out to 400 people for them to donate $20 each so that we can build the library.

If you know of businesses who would like to contribute and be added to the poster, that would be fantastic.

I plan on hanging this poster in schools, libraries, and businesses who would like to support the initiative. If you have some ideas on how else I can generate interest, I'm all ears!

Through the Woods in a Mini-Van We Go!

If you haven't had the experience of sciatica yet, you just don't know what you're missing. I've been in agony since August. I know it's one of those lessons you need to go through, I just wish it didn't last so long. I make deals every morning in meditation; "Okay, God, I get it. I need to ask for help. Great message. So, I'll ask my ex-husband to muck the stall, my son to walk the dogs and then I'll be better, is that okay?" Nope. I still hobble out to the mailbox and my patience wears thin.

My son's relatives are in Massachusetts and he wanted me to make the trek to see everyone for Thanksgiving. I have an aversion to travel of any kind; I get car sick, I get impatient, I'm really a miserable travelling companion. As I sat on the couch with an icepack on my behind, my son pleaded with me to go. After six of my resounding "NO!s" he relegated himself to the recliner and our depression filled the room.

All Thanksgiving eve I tossed and turned. What kind of mother doesn't spend Thanksgiving with her son? I gave in and took a seat in the very back of the minivan between the Vermont Shortbread box and the "Sorry" game. I'm convinced God has a sense of humor as the "Sorry" game became more pronounced in my peripheral vision.

"Wanna play?" Tony (my son) saw me staring at the Sorry box.

"Sure."

He lost the first couple of rounds and then he nailed me on a few other games. What I noticed is he lost so graciously. I couldn't do that when I was a kid. The board would go flying into someone's face as pieces scattered under the seats. "You cheated!" was always my refrain. Each time he lost, instead of anger, he'd say "Oh, I should've moved my other guy. I'll try that next time." He didn't get hung up on his mistakes. He didn't regret losing, he just enjoyed the journey. I looked up to the heavens and I said "Thank you, God. I got the message."

I've spent alot of time worrying about: the business; will we raise the money for Room to Read? Will my pants still fit for the next BNI meeting? The list goes on and on. What I'm missing is the thrill of the journey. It took being trapped in the back of a mini-van for hours to finally understand it's about the journey, not the destination.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

LCRCC Helps Room to Read

I have a hard time with November. It's all about letting go, shedding the old to make way for the new. I was a little apprehensive about starting this initiative for Room to Read at this time of year when people want to let go instead of create and build. I was with my friends today and we were talking about the power of intention, how it's present in the seed unseen, underground in the frigid January earth. We talked about how each seed has it's potential already lined up for itself; the oak tree knows what it's destined to do as does the rabbit, the horse, the lion ( you get the picture.) We were talking about what we were put on this earth to do; "what's my purpose?" "what drives me?" It made me realize that maybe I'm shedding that old corporate hat in favor of one more humanitarian. I'm living more on-purpose, driven by what I'm meant to do. Maybe this is a harbinger of good things to come!

It's about 10:00 pm (there's no rest for the Virtual Assistant! :) ) and I was just wrapping up some projects when I receive a post from the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce in Burlington. They've posted my press release on helping Room to Read. It's so nice to have help from so many different sources!

Marie Thomas wants to have the kids in her son's class donate in honor of their teacher. I saw a post on Richmond Area Business Association's website for my business. Isn't it amazing how when we set our vision to something broader, people feel the energy and ignite the spark into an all-out flame? I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by all of this good will toward our cause and toward my business. It's easy to fall into the "go it alone" mentality, especially when you're the sole entrepreneur running the show. I'm learning to shed that paradigm in favor of reaching out to my family, my community and creating a circle of trusted friends who can help me manifest my dreams. Thanks for joining me on the journey.

A Little Help From My Friends

I've become a recent member of BNI in Burlington and mentioned the Room to Read project. There wasn't much response at first, alot of people wrote in their notebooks, or scrunched their eyebrows together. I misinterpreted the scrunches for nos, when in fact, it was the gears turning...

I went out to coffee with the group and Miles from Culligan Water Systems talked to me over a hot brew about the project. He said his wife would just love the project and he said he'd help out. I had a skip in my step...

I read Ann Zuccardy's blog (www.vermontshortblog.com) and saw her plea for someone to join her at the University Mall for shortbread. Ann's also a member of BNI and we chatted about the group and the project. She wrote me a check right on the spot. I'm still looking for the proper banking vessel to put this check into (we currently only accept credit cards online) but I know I'll have this remedied soon.

It didn't stop! Billy Keyworth, owner of Keyworth Graphics (keyworthgraphics.com) is also the President of RABA (Richmond Area Business Association.) RABA is in need of promoting shoppers to shop locally here in Richmond and we're brainstorming on how to help local merchants and our global quest for Room to Read. We've decided it would be great to have our local merchants support Room to Read by donating a portion of their sales to the cause. If people know where the shops are, they're more likely to a) help a cause and b) shop locally. We'll put participating vendors on the posters and hang them around town. I'll post the vendors right here on the blog, too, so that you can support these wonderful businesses. It's a great idea and I can't wait to get started.

I feel like I've already had my Christmas; I'm so happy to have met so many wonderful people willing to donate their time, skills and experience for some children in Cambodia that we have never met before.

You can make your tax-deductible donation at www.sarahspencersolutions.com. Just click on Vermont Helps Room to Read and you can pay by credit card. Thanks in advance for all your help!

Promoting Locally Versus Internationally

I received an email from someone I know through a business group. He said I would get more business if I promoted a local cause as opposed to something overseas.

This email really impacted me; I don't do things for the bottom line of my business, I work from the bottom of my heart. I do things I'm passionate about and I work on things that I see as do-able. And what constitutes local anyway? Most of my business is done over the internet so it doesn't matter whether my client's in Albany, New York or Atlanta, Georgia. I care about them equally and help them in anyway I can.

I went to Mr. Carbone yesterday (he's the principal of Camels Hump Middle School.) CHMS was involved in raising funds to help students with the Tsunami disaster through Room to Read and raised about $2,000 all on their own. Room to Read speaks highly of our local school and Mr. Carbone said he'd be glad to have posters hung in the school. That really made my day. I'm seeing that even Richmond, Vermont can make a difference in the world that's remembered years after the kindness.

Above is a picture of what we can build with the funds raised. I hope you won't let the fact that this school's in Cambodia prevent you from helping. I wonder what would've happened if we had provided Iraq and Afghanistan with schools instead of weapons? Wouldn't it have been nice for them to have read about "Green Eggs and Ham" instead of what they did learn; how to calculate the number of bullets left for your uzi? September 11th's devastation impacted the entire world, as did the tsunami. No, this isn't a bake sale to raise funds for our local school, this is a fund to raise awareness that we have the power to make our world a much safer place for all of our children no matter where we live.

I'll close with something I heard at a funeral that touched me profoundly:

"Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
To all the people you can
As long as you ever can"

If you'd like to donate, please go to www.sarahspencersolutions.com and click on Vermont Helps Room to Read. Thanks for listening.

Will You Help Room to Read?

Have you read "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World?" Do yourself (and the world...) a favor and buy a copy. John Wood writes about working for Microsoft and feeling there's a better way. Boy, I could relate from page one. When I finished, I couldn't stop thinking about how very little it takes to make a huge difference.

Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructures all around the world.

I've donated $250 to grease the wheels and I hope you can help. I'm reaching out to see if we as a community can raise $8,000 to build a library in Cambodia. It takes so little to make such a big difference. $250 will send a child to school for a whole year! If I can find 400 people willing to donate $20, we could have the funds raised for Cambodia before Christmas.

If you'd like to help, please go to my website www.sarahspencersolutions.com and click on "Vermont Helps Room to Read." They've set up an individual fund for us to contribute to. It's easy, just click on the secure hyper link, make your donation and I'll keep you updated as to the progress of our fund on this blog.

Please give a gift that will have a lifetime affect on our world.

Blogging, Big Boys and Beer Parties

I feel a bit like I did at my first keg party in high school,

“c’mon, Sarah, everybody’s doing it!”
“Relax; there are no cops… yet.”

I think it was just the impending doom of being uninhibited after my first bottle of Schlitz that made me walk (or run, I can’t remember) to my truck and say “I’ll be right back!” I never came back...

So here I am blogging for the first time, just like all the “big boys” and girls do online. It feels a bit like standing naked with 20 acquaintances in a cornfield after that third bottle of Schlitz. Freeing, yet terrifying. (Yes it really does just take 3 beers to have me under the table.)

I started my Virtual Assistance business in February 2004 when AT&T threatened every quarter to put me on an “FMP” (Forced Management Package). After 5 years of this torment, by 2006, I prayed nightly for a package to end my nightmare. It never came. I felt like Dumbo’s mom seeing all the other mommies getting their FMPs except her own. I decided, on my birthday this past May, to let go of one of the highest paying jobs I’ve ever known and go into the world of entrepreneurship. Is it right? Oh yeah, this works for me, but not without some pain…