All Entries in the "Volume 4 Issue 1" Category

Preparing Rhode Island Youth to be Successful Professionals

Do you think that Rhode Island’s sons and daughters are well prepared to become successful professionals? While listening to a local radio station earlier this month, I heard a disturbing discussion indicating that many youth were not prepared with even basic knowledge about the world of work. Thinking back about my experiences interviewing job candidates, I have observed that even college graduates, sometimes those with advanced degrees, are not prepared to present themselves optimally as job candidates and really are not aware of employer’s expectations.

Let us take a few moments to do a self-assessment for our children and encourage our employees to do one, too.  You may use this information to develop a meaningful company program for the 22nd Annual Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work®2 (TODASTW) Day on Thursday, April 23, 2015 (or another date if April 23rd does not work for you). In addition to being meaningful, please be sure that your program is fun! If your business is too small to have a meaningful program, perhaps you could work with your local business association, Chamber of Commerce, networking group or other professional organization to sponsor a TODASTW event. Additionally, you may wish to use the results of your assessment to plan future family activities.

The assessment:

Have your sons and daughters in a developmentally and age-appropriate manner:

1. Contributed in a meaningful way to one or more important projects?  Have they:
   1. Articulated what the project was and why it was important?
   2. Explained their role in the project, what they contributed, and why their contribution was valuable?
   3. Documented the project so that they will be able to reference it as they prepare college or job applications?
2. Successfully participated in a team project? Have they analyzed:
   1. Their own involvement and what made them successful and how they could have been even more successful?
   2. The team dynamics and what could have made the initiative even more successful?
3. Learned what business and capitalism are all about? Do they know:
   1. What profit and loss are?
   2. How to maintain a budget?
4. Communicated effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and different ages in a business setting?
5. Demonstrated, beyond reciting a job title, they know what you and other adult family members and friends do at work?
6. Managed their time (and perhaps the time of others) successfully?
7. Successfully negotiated solutions to problems without parental involvement?
8. Demonstrated care and compassion for others?
9. Articulated clearly, and convincingly, a point of view which is completely the opposite from theirs?
10. Explored potential careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), which may be of interest to them as well as benefit to our nation?
11. Observed (and perhaps helped) you or other professionals in a business setting?
12. Prepared a Results Oriented And Relevant (ROARing) resume for themselves and participated in a real or a series of model interviews?

While affirmative answers to most or all of the above questions do not guarantee success in the workforce, they, combined with successful school performance and a career choice which is aligned with the child’s strengths and interests, should go a long way to strengthening the chances of a successful career.

1. I would like to thank Dr. Margarita Posada Cossuto for helpful comments.

2. Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work® is a trademark of the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation.

When You Start Over: Things You Need to Know

My Story

I returned to my New England roots after 15 years in North Carolina, arriving in Rhode Island at the beginning of the recession in 2008. I was committed to investing my limited personal resources to start my business in RI and build upon what I had in NC. I had to create a new business model that would allow me to cover startup and operating expenses, and I was essentially starting over.

I went through trial and error to find out the best business strategy. I hired a seasoned professional in the beginning, and she got me on the right path. I seized the opportunity to use and integrate my teaching and counseling educational background, my strong networking skills, my on-air radio communications skills, and my innate desire to help others transform their problems into solutions.

Philosophy

In my first book Success, Your Dream and You, I outline my 5 P’s to success, which are Purpose, Planning, Passion, Persistence and Patience. Your purpose guides you, your plan focuses you, your passion motivates you, your persistence gives you new direction and keeps you going when the going gets tough, and your patience brings you the trust and faith you need to stay on your path. I added a sixth P, which is prayer. This is individual, and it works.

7 To-Do’s for a Startup

1. Create a Business Plan

Know what your purpose is. What is the overall vision? How do you get there, step by step? Have three-, six-, and nine-month goals and one-year goals first. Then look at a three- to five-year plan, but don’t get overwhelmed. Progression is each step and this steady movement counts.

2. Get Help

Find an advisor. There are great no-cost, low-cost resources here in RI that will help you write your business plan and will provide strategic planning advice. SCORE is a great resource, as well as The Center for Women & Enterprise.

3. Be Versatile

Have one theme but more than one avenue. For example, I am a radio broadcaster, facilitator, coach, speaker and trainer and through all of my positions, I have the ability to help people transform problems into solutions and see the positive side.

4. Have Grit

If you believe in what you are doing, you can succeed. You may have to regroup, go down another avenue, or restructure, but those who make it, have grit and resilience. They find a way.

5. Let Your Passion Show

If you love it and the overall gain supersedes the overall pain, you’ll stick with it. Add grit and resilience to passion, and you have a winning combination.

6. Review Financials

Put figures on a spreadsheet and review them every month. This is so helpful to let you know what you are spending and where.

7. Follow Your Intuition

Listen to your advisors and let the numbers talk. Then follow your instincts. They rarely fail as long as you look at your business from all aspects.

Helping RI Families Save for their Children’s College Education

Rhode Island families are struggling, and so we are making it easier for them to save for their child’s college education.

I know firsthand the importance of saving for higher education. I wouldn’t be where I am today if my parents hadn’t worked hard to save for my future.

Earlier this month, I announced enhancements to the CollegeBoundbaby program that will help Rhode Island families save and pursue higher education opportunities for their children.

The enhanced initiative was announced at the Community College of Rhode Island and featured an interactive forum with educational groups, researchers and policy makers from across Rhode Island and the country.

 Starting January 1, 2015, it will be easier than ever for Rhode Island families to take advantage of a $100 CollegeBoundbaby Grant that is offered through CollegeBoundfund, the state’s 529 plan.

The initiative is in partnership with the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority (RIHEAA). Collegeboundbaby is an innovative program designed to significantly boost the number of Rhode Island families with college savings.

Through the newly enhanced CollegeBoundbaby program, parents of newborns check “yes” on their in-hospital Birth Certificate Worksheet to allow the Rhode Island Office of Vital Records to release the necessary contact information to RIHEAA to award the CollegeBoundbaby Grant for their child. Rhode Island residents who adopt a child may self-enroll the child within the first year of adoption.
The grant may be used at any higher education institution, whether it is a college of trade, technical, or vocational school. The $100 contribution will be invested by RIHEAA in a CollegeBoundfund master account on behalf of the child until the child is ready to attend a higher education institution.

Investing in higher education is one of the best ways for Rhode Island to succeed in the future. A strong economy depends on a skilled workforce. People with a college degree are more likely to be employed than those without one, and are more likely to be employed in a job that provides quality of health and retirement benefits.
This initiative makes Rhode Island one of only three states in the country to provide universal children’s savings accounts. This is a true example of how government agencies can work together to help Rhode Islanders.

I look forward to continuing to improve higher education opportunities for Rhode Islanders.

Best Wishes,

Gina

Having a website is part of doing business

Potential clients and customers do research before purchasing goods and services. They read articles, talk to friends and colleagues, review Google search results, and visit the company websites. Having a website is part of doing business. But, you’re a startup. You have lots of work that needs to be done. The stress only intensifies if you are a one-person business and are responsible for everything, AND on a shoestring budget. You may have limited funds, but you can still have a presence online, including a website.

If you truly have $0 to dedicate to a website, you can use social media in place of a website, temporarily. Before jumping in, take time to think about your potential customers/clients and which social media channels they use. Wherever your customers/clients are, that is where you need to be. Choose one or two, and then do it, and do it well. It’s better to do one or two well than to do a bad job at trying to handle several.

Once you have an actual website budget, you can embark on creating a website for your business.

Building a website is easy, if you know what you’re doing. If not, building a website can be a nightmare. Here are key points to keep in mind to make the most of your budget:

• Purchase a domain name. The name should make sense for your business, and should be as short as you can make it. This is something you can do yourself.
• Wait to purchase hosting. The company where you purchased your domain name may sell hosting services, but don’t feel pressured to purchase. Just because a hosting company is cheap, it doesn’t mean that they are good.
• Plan. Take time to think about what you need. Maybe all you need is a basic site with a few pages. Or, if you are selling a product, you may need an e-commerce site to enable you to sell your product online. Look around at different websites (including competitor sites) and makes notes about what you like and don’t like.
• Work with a professional. Please work with someone who knows what they are doing and who can deliver a well-designed site that can help you meet your business (and sales) goals. You need a website that is easy to navigate, easy to read, and contains all needed elements.
• Start small. Do a site with a few pages (a smaller site costs less to build), and add more pages as your business grows. Maybe all you need right now are a few pages: a product or services page to talk about what you are selling, an about us page (to talk about you and your business), and a contact page. Do you really need a custom website, or can your designer customize a template instead?
• Ask for an open source content management system. An open source system will allow you to take control of your site and do many of your own updates.
• Create meaningful content. Think about what you need. You may have much of what you need. Take a look at anything you have written for your company (e.g., PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, etc.). It might be a matter of editing and re-formatting for the web. No one knows your business better than you do, and creating some of your own content will help you to keep control of your budget.

Take the process one step at a time, and you will get there.