Kicking & Screaming

Unfortunately, I think there is a better late than never theme for me when it comes to the hottest trend. You know you are late to jump on the bandwagon when every magazine is writing about it (I mean magazines have waaaaaaay early deadlines) and ever time you turn the TV on there is a news segment on it.  This has been my experience with Twitter (and well all the other social media or Web 2.0 that came before it for that matter). On February 5th, 2009, I took the plunge and set up my Twitter account (which I had signed up for in December 2008, still not really sure how I did it, but just left it).  For goodness sake, I had just figured out 6 months before how to reconnect with old friends (or people I went to high school with that I don’t remember) on Facebook. I had comfortably lived with ignorance is bliss, but enough was enough. And even though I had to go kicking and screaming, it was time for me to enter another new world.

Keeping my head down, and sometimes ignoring the world around is unfortunately, another theme in my life (I blame that on the fact that I think I am ADD and tend to hyper-focus). Anyway, so the last few years I have had my head comfortably buried in the world of product design and production. An area I had no experience and no friends or family that knew anything about it. It is an absolutely non-tech world but the most crucial part of the business I had decided to start. Funny thing is my former life was in the high tech industry in marketing and communications. I used to know about telecommunications infrastructure, IP routers and networking.  Being out of it for 4 years now, all those terms just sound foreign to me. Considering, I have never taken the time to learn to sew (I know, hard to believe - why on earth would I start a sewn products business?!), I have been able to bring my design drawings to fruition and have built beautiful products (patting myself on the back ;-).

Everything I know about product design, fabric sourcing, pattern making, production, etc. I have learned through trial and error (some of the missteps warrant an entire post or many posts), like finding a good pattern maker is easier said than done and sewing contractors in the US are a dying breed (even if you want to make it in the US and can find decent production most Americans do not want to pay the extra price of what it costs to produce it domestically - a reality that still makes me very sad!). Anyway the point is I learned by doing, asking and making mistakes (that’s how we learn right?).

So here I am again, learning, which is a good thing. I had an objective with tweeting to get followers and well make my business and to eventually benefit from some social media magic. So begrudgingly and with much trepidation (how could these be addictive?) I started following, being followed and tweeting. I felt like the new kid at school trying to get with the cool kids, the in crowd. Gosh I really don’t like the way that feels. The worst part about Twitter is you really can’t get more followers or get involved unless you chime in on other people’s tweets. Chiming in is like butting in on a conversation where you may not be invited. With twitter you can’t see people’s reactions to your tweets. It’s like a comedian trying out a new joke and nothing, just silence. So you may respond to someone, and they don’t actually acknowledge that you said something. Or you tweet something, maybe ask a question and are met with silence. Not a single @reply from ANYONE. But more times than not, someone will respond. Like about a month ago my Outlook crashed, I was devastated and tweeted about it. I got a response and advice from someone who I was not follow and was not following me. The advice he gave me was priceless. I couldn’t have found answers that fast even searching on Google. So I thought, oh I am liking Twitter even more now.

Although my motives were more for business than for personal to delve into social media, I am actually finding the experience, pardon the choice of word - social. Working at home can be lonely at times. Starting a business is hard. I don’t have colleagues to complain to!  And even though I don’t always get an @reply from what I tweet, I still feel like I am talking to someone and I read other tweets (and hear conversations). It is amazing how much personality can actually be felt through 140 characters. And I have started to feel connected to certain tweeps. There are people just by the choice of their avatar/picture or their profile name, who make me smile when I “see” them. Ya, so now I get it, it’s social and a community. Duh.

So as corny as it sounds, I feel the virtual Twitter community. I don’t think I am addicted, but I do look forward to reading tweets. And most of all I no longer feel like I am working alone. And whenever I need to I can start a conversation and be heard.

Chic Mama, what?

I am going to talk about the choice of the title for this new fantastic blog - “Chic Mama - mother, woman, diva?” Joke, right? Well, ya!  I founded Chic Tots, inspired by the birth our first daughter, Tatum, who we affectionately called Baby Diva, cause she wanted everything right away and I believe from time I was in labor with her, she believed we were her entourage.

To serve my demanding little diva, I started coming up with product ideas. I also imagined, if I had my own business, I’d be a glamorous, jet-setting entrepreneur – a Chic Mama. But the reality of life and raising a family, and setting priorities, glamour is just in my head and love is in my everyday.

My everyday life feels (and is) far from chic. A chic mama, I am, in my own dreams - where I AM absolutely fabulous & glamorous. But there is more to the word chic (pronounced sheek or scheque NOT chick - you have no idea how many people say chick!). If we take one of the definitions of chic according to m-w.com it means “cleverly stylish.” So think style with a practical purpose. I like to solve problems. If you even mention a problem or I hear a problem in something you have said (you may not see the problem, let me show you the way…), I am on it like white on rice. Hubby doesn’t find it a very appealing quality, and I do try to keep it underwraps when he is telling me a story to share not to solve.  Anyway finding a solution to a problem stylishly - ya, I am all about that. Moms in general have to creatively solve problems. We have to work smarter, be clever to keep our sanity.

So a cleverly stylish mama, that can make a little sense. I can still imagine as I day dream (in all my free time), that I am fabulous. At least for right now, my kids think I am and that is enough for me.