As I continue on my journey getting to Wow! I look forward to seeing good friends and new friends whenever I travel to conferences. I like the energy of gathered thinkers and gamechangers who are passionate about the arts in our lives.
OK, so I’m registered, I booked my hotel, I know what sessions I am going to, who I want to see.
I just don’t know what I want to knit.
Daughter of an Engineer
You would have liked my father. He had a thing about camping in Maine, Chopin mazurkas and figuring stuff out, like pigtail bridges and cooling systems for nuclear power plants, usually on the back of envelopes in blue ink. But what he loved best was coming up with an unusual solution to a problem: “Why, we can hang those plants up with some fishing hooks!” or “Those file cabinets will make terrific dressers!”
Function, not form. I silently pinky swore to myself that I would never live an unexpected, undesigned or unWow! life.
DNA, more powerful than my pinky promise, coupled with a stack of DIY magazines overcame me in a yarn shop. Without a second glance at the pretty cottons and cashmeres, my eyes found a delicate blend of wool and steel and I fell in love. “This will look fei cheong (Cantonese for totally) fabelhaft (German for fabulous) knit up like a loose neck sculpture thing!”
You could get a little crazy like I did and string a few clear crystal beads before you start knitting and space them here and there, to look like morning dew suspended in a spider web.
Beads on steel wool. I am my father’s daughter.
How to make it
Here’s what you do if you want to create a stunning scarf that can stand on its own:
She does tai chi and takes cha cha classes four times a week with her friends in a Buddhist temple across the street from a fabulous northern style noodle shop in Flushing, Queens. She has a very busy social life. Mahng sz le! she sighs when I finally reach her on the phone in the evening. So busy!
Oh, she also sings in a chorus that performs an intriguing repertoire of songs. Here’s a little video of her latest appearance.
Check out what Wow! can look like when you’re 86.
Enjoy!
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Whenever things go smoothly you don’t hear about it.
However, when things don’t, that’s when you know it’s time to smile, roll up your sleeves and get uncomfortable.
You, yes I mean you, our fearless leader, are the one who we are looking to inspire us, to make things better, to push through all obstacles in our path to success.
Here’s your list of things to do:
Soothe an angry board member
Negotiate a huge reduction on a lease
Listen to lots of complaints
Produce a mountain of minutiae for a funder
Shatter the status quo
How do you do this without storming out of the room asking yourself, “Who needs this?” How do you do this with style?
First of all, take comfort knowing you are not alone. All of us who are leaders are part of a subtle and select subculture. Our smiles slowly autopilot, our eyes glaze, some of us twitch.
We are divas of discomfort
You can change the world, one uncomfortable moment at a time. Here’s what you do:
After they finish yelling about whatever they’re yelling about and they are clearly out of breath, say you are sorry they are so upset.
Think to yourself, “Am I going to drop dead if they say no?”
Imagine you are in the Cone of Silence and smile.
If they want more data, drown them in data.
Never apologize.
Leaders confront and conquer with a steady gaze. They are at ease with uncertainty, in a zen like state out of their comfort zone.
Comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
One of my funders asked me about corporate support to Queens Council on the Arts over the last two years.? It should be no surprise to anyone that corporate giving has fallen significantly and that funding levels have been greatly reduced.? In my case,? the amount of support has dropped about 15%.
Not great.? Do I lose sleep over it?
Not really.
Keeping pre-recession goals doesn’t make sense.? The funding environment is drastically different and not just about dollars anymore.? Many of our funders have chosen to focus on who they are currently funding.? Some have changed their internal criteria.? Your head could split trying to keep up with everyone.
New times, same story
Some things don’t change.? Even in a downturn, people fund people.? Relationship is the coin of the realm.? This is the time to reach out, build and solidify the relationships you have.? Keep an upbeat attitude and helpful energy during the down times.
Why lose sleep over stuff you have no control over? I recommend doing as much as you can to be a resource to current and prospective funders.? I have several new donors that have just come in with modest levels of support for ideas we have talked about which I am grateful for and looking forward to.
This is a time to plant seeds and tend to the field with care.? Having less money but more donors may be a more promising measure of success in this challenging season.
What is your fundraising forecast and strategy?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
An artist friend asked me for some advice in crafting a blog that could become a profitable and creative online business. Now, I know my friend very well, however, I was not sure if she knew herself well enough to answer the following questions:
Who you are and why you are important to me?
What do you do and how does that help me?
What is your product and how does it benefit me?
Let me point out that it is all about me. Me, your reader and potential customer. These questions are all about the benefits to me. Oh, and your answers should be seven words or less.
Why is this important?
These questions will help you create your tagline, a short and clear description of what your business offers.
Not so easy to do because you have to move from very comfortable generalities into sharp and specific detail that instantly convey who you are, what you are all about and why I should buy stuff from you.
OK, here’s an example.
Who am I? In seven words or less, I am an:
artspy, momspy and nonprofit knitter
If the name of your blog or your company is your name, you will need a descriptive tagline to tell people what you are about. For example, the name of my blog is my name:
hoongyee.com
What do I do? Voila! Here’s my tagline:
hoongyee.com
stylenotes for people who change the world
What is my product? E books that help you:
feel good, look good and do good
Taglines tell people exactly what they need to know about you and are terrific ways to communicate your offer. If your business changes direction, services or products you offer, you can simply re-write, add to, or create a new tagline. Just as easily as changing your knitting needles.
So, let’s work on your tagline. Communicate more with less.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
I write for love and money. It is my everyday passion. What's yours? 
