Postings will resume May 24
A free download excerpt of a forthcoming print and eBook will be available.
Changing Your Work or Career
How to Explore Self-Employment Options after Injury or Illness
Tips, Facts, & Resources…
Blog Update
Written by Dee Adams on May 15th, 2013Two Interviews with Shoestring Entrepreneurs
Written by Dee Adams on May 11th, 2013Charlie Rose
American-born chef, Daniel Rose, now has a famous restaurant in Paris.
During 20-minute interview, he reveals details of how he figured out his niche and went from a tiny space without heat and with one employee…himself… to new quarters and 16 employees.
http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/7710
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Test-Kitchen/e/B004LSANTK
Americas Test Kitchen
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/tour/
Abc Kgo
News
Limo Owner Explains What Could Have Gone Wrong in Fatal Fire
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=9092491
Abc Kgo7 News
Limo Owners Weigh In on Possible Causes of Fire
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=9093665
The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov
Written by Dee Adams on May 3rd, 2013Princeton Professor Uncovers Lost History
An unexpected sentence in a Russian memoir startled the Princeton professor. He decided to investigate the mention of a famous African American man living in Moscow. Intrigued, the professor of languages and literature had studied the history and culture of the era, but had never heard or read previously of anyone prior to 1917, of that ethnicity, from any part of the world living in Russia.
Professor Alexandrov spent a year traveling around the U.S. and to exotic
locales around the world to gather research on the life and times of a man not mentioned in history books.
Fredrick Bruce Thomas, born on a Mississippi farm to remarkable parents who’d been enslaved.
Thomas later worked in the most advanced hotel in the United States as a valet before moving to Europe where he eventually became a millionaire entrepreneur… his father brutally murdered in the states, long ago; Thomas’ life would play out set against the political and historical upheaval of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution.
Professor Alexandrov recounts the history of Frederick Bruce Thomas’s life in a compelling one-hour lecture.
The author’s blog is a rich source of background material. The biography of Fredrick Bruce Thomas illustrates many take away lessons not just entrepreneurial.
Another lesson: Professor Alexandrov found a hidden, long forgotten topic, within his field of interest, investigated further and discovered an amazing story.
What topic or subject interests you most? What little-known information might you uncover in your field? Or what early products, processes, or methods might possibly be revived , adapted as a superior offering in the 21st century?
References
C-Span
http://www.booktv.org/Program/14417/The+Black+Russian.aspx
Amazon title
http://tinyurl.com/crs8dw7
Author’s Blog
http://www.valexandrov.com/
Disability Quiz
Written by Dee Adams on April 26th, 2013How Much Do You Really Know?
Content adapted from Awakening to Disability by Karen G. Stone.
True or false?
1. Two-thirds of adults with disability wish to work but are unemployed. Yet many are educated and qualified to work.
True or False?
2. Only 30 percent of women with disabilities work full-time.
True or false?
3. The most frequent age of injury is 19, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Association.
4. 7 barriers are commonly confronted by the newly disabled.
What are they? Hint: Financial, architectural, and transportation are three of them.
5. The largest cause of trip and falls is
A. Poor coordination
B. Lack of medical checkups to detect hidden motor skills issues
C. Floor sills, steps, loose rugs, floor level changes
6. True or false?
Adapting a workplace for a person with disability cost on average $500 or less.
7. Teens are one of the largest groups of people who end up in wheelchairs after a disabling accident.
8. True or false?
In the U.S., accessible housing is not often available because it is costly to design and build.
9. True or false?
Able-bodied travel agents specializing in accessibility travel are an often-overlooked resource for travelers with disabilities.
10. True or false?
Falls are twice as likely to cause disability rather than traffic accidents
11. True or False?
Trip and falling accidents are three times higher than injuries or fatalities from fire and earthquake evacuations.
12. True or false?
The Boston Globe recently reported that one in six doctors in the city refused to schedule appointments for callers posing as disabled patients in wheelchairs, according to medical researchers.
13. True or false?
One in four families has a member with a disability and one in five worldwide has a disability.
Answers posted at end of post
“You ask what can I do to be more compassionate, helpful person when facing someone within a disability?” Well, a little awareness of the multitude of barriers persons with disabilities is an enormous step toward understanding any disability.”
This excerpt from “Awakening to Disability: Nothing About Us Without Us,” by Karen Stone, courtesy of the publisher, Volcano Press.
To view and purchase this book: www.volcanopress.com
Answers
1. True
2. False, 12 percent or one out of eight women, according to Karen Stone in the chapter “Women and disabilities.”
3. True
4. The remaining major barriers are
A. Society’s subtle and overt paternalistic attitude, which directs counterproductive behavior toward people with disabilities…
B. Man made and natural. For example, certain building materials, new carpeting, cigarettes, perfume…
C. Communication…at times, unclear communication…
D. Myths or common beliefs about disability interfere with effective social interaction and is the seventh barrier…
5. C
6. True
7. True
8. False
9. Nope, the author while traveling often encountered faulty assurances about accessibility issues…
10. True
11. Six times higher not three…
12. True, according to news story posted last week on Boston.com
13. True, according to the World Health Organization
References
http://usdailyreview.com/most-unprepared-for-disabling-injuries-or-illness
Career Change after Injury or Illness
Written by Dee Adams on April 26th, 2013Karen G. Stone
People sometimes pursue self-employment when health issues make it difficult to pursue their previous occupations.
The following story also illustrates how a challenging circumstance can be the basis for meaningful productive work.
The late author Karen G. Stone, an able-bodied photographer and marketing executive, began writing a popular series of newspaper columns for a New Mexico newspaper on topics related to disability after a major illness left her disabled. She became an activist and later wrote Awakening to Disability: Nothing about Us without Us.
The book is a collection of author’s newspaper columns.
And is written for both able-bodied readers as well as people with disabilities trying to adjust and create a new normal.
Written in a simple easy-to-read style, it’s free of legal and medical language.
Topics are discussed using a short chapter to illustrate day-to-day realities. And the author dismantles common myths and misconceptions. She gives readers an overview of life for more than 50 million Americans living with disabilities, including her own.
Numerous themes include 7 major barriers for people with disability, visible and invisible disabilities, childhood and disability, language, accessible housing, recreation and leisure, education, travel, money and change, diet exercise & health issues, parking, wars, and other battles, employment… or lack thereof, attitude, exercising your spiritual muscle, mentors, on the job, and how to deal effectively with injustices.
Stone compares and contrasts lifestyles and cultural attitudes in the U.S. versus other countries and offers insight on how wasteful government policies are influenced by powerful moneyed lobbying groups in the U.S., which play a major role in the choices available to the American public.
Although the book was written in 1997, the content is still relevant and useful, and for many people, even more so in 2013. Stone’s goal is to educate able-bodied readers and inspire those with disabilities. She uses Awakening to Disability to symbolize equality, dignity, and independence.
For able-bodied readers, the book’s contents may be an unsettling and sobering wake-up call for those who may not be able to answer the following questions:
If you suddenly had a disabling injury how many barriers would you confront ? How would you handle the financial situation?
At the very least, some readers with foresight will take a closer look at the fine print in their health policies and shop for the best possible alternative.
“Awakening to Disability: Nothing About Us Without Us”, by Karen Stone, courtesy of the publisher, Volcano Press.
To view and purchase this book: www.volcanopress.com
Boston Marathon Survivors
Written by Dee Adams on April 19th, 2013Vigil
“Dedication… grit… human spirit…
Run with endurance the race that is run before us…” -President Obama.
As our thoughts and prayers go out to the people who lost their lives or suffered injury in Boston, certain life-changing consequences are settling in for some of the survivors. For instance, the self-employed carpenter who lost the use of both hands.
Boston survivors are part of a larger less publicized group. More than a billion people around the world suffer injury related disability, according to World Health Organization estimates. And in some countries, as many as 25 percent of the cases are from injury or violence by someone the victim did not know.
Consequences on a personal level and ripple economic effect on communities are enormous…figures are in the billions of dollars, according to World Health Organization. And how do people place a value on cherished family members lost through senseless crime?
A fund of more than $7 million has been started in Boston.
However, when you consider that a state of the art prosthetic could cost $60,000, and more than a dozen people have lost limbs, and you factor in living expenses, lost wages, extensive long-term rehabilitation, and other related medical care for almost two hundred people one begins to understand how $7 million can be used up quickly.
People disabled by crime in other less high profile confrontations may have access to state victim’s compensation, but the funds may be inadequate to restore them to their pre-injury status.
Disability happens more often than people think, and it many ways,
but a defense strategy of prevention and avoidance is a tool that people can practice.
Having the right type of disability insurance, savings, resources, creating a self-employment emergency plan, and having a strong support system will help ease the challenges and adjustment.
In the case of the Boston Marathon, experts agree, that it’s impossible to protect a wide-open public event, 26 + miles in distance. Perhaps… but I can’t help but think that rethinking how the events are planned is in order.
And I can’t help but think that someone out there with a vision and the right skill set could develop a new app or cost-effective technology that could dramatically reduce the risk at these events.
Israel is renowned for it’s security measures. “No-one understands security as the Israelis do…,” so adapt, borrow, and innovate from them.
References
Anderson Cooper 360
Injured Marathon Survivor
http://tinyurl.com/bvyh4fw
Disabilitycanhappen.org
http://tinyurl.com/ycydfke
World health organization
Injury-related Facts
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/disability/en/
Huffington Post
$7 million-dollar fund
http://tinyurl.com/c7py4zc
ABC News.com
U.S./Marathon Security Practices
http://tinyurl.com/c365nxu
Charlie Rose
BostonMarathon
Update April 17
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12878
Homeland Security
Newswire
http://tinyurl.com/d4wuhd2
Clive Davis
Written by Dee Adams on April 12th, 2013Why Some Singers Should Not Write Their Own Songs
The music industry entrepreneur and producer discuss his autobiography The Soundtrack of My Life with Charlie Rose. And one of the topics discussed is the struggle that some singers, including famous ones, confront about whether or not to write their own songs.
While many singers decide to write their own material, the strategy can backfire if they lack the right skill set, according to Clive Davis a Harvard trained lawyer.
Did you know?
Writers and lawyers have the same aptitude pattern in general, according to Margaret Broadley in Your Natural Gifts.
References
Clive Davis on Charlie Rose
April 5 12 Min.
http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2903
New York Times .com Book Review
6th para.
http://tinyurl.com/bq7m8a3
Understanding Your Aptitudes
Johnson O’Connor
http://www.jocrf.org/resources/books.html
Amazon
Your Natural Gifts
http://tinyurl.com/cut2eh7
Midwest Book Review
Written by Dee Adams on April 12th, 2013Praise for Finding Your Niche
The Midwest Book Review is a respected industry source for small press publications, according to publishing pioneer Marilyn Ross.
Reviews from the organization are posted with Cengage Learning, Gale interactive CD-ROM series for academic corporate and public library systems.
Several days ago, the post office delivered a first-class letter from Wisconsin’s Midwest Book Review. The letter announced that Finding Your Niche had been included in the latest online book review magazine Small Press BookWatch. A copy of the evaluation was included.
It was good news. Traffic for the blog had increased and the source had been mystifying but now I believe I had finally solved that puzzle.
Then the postmark on the envelope startled me… October 9, 2011.
18 months? the letter had arrived 18 months after it had been mailed!
I was curious: How long would it have taken for a letter sent from Wisconsin to reach California during the pony express era?
Better late than never…thanks Midwest!
The Review
Small Press BookWatch: October 2011
The Business Shelf
Finding Your Niche: Discover a Profitable Idea for a Business at Home — Or Elsewhere lives up to its title with practical advice for starting up one’s own business. From assessing one’s own skills and finding profitable ideas suitable for business, to marketing tips for startups, warnings against common pitfalls, learning to devise a business plan, and more.
Finding Your Niche is a solid and invaluable resource for any would-be entrepreneur, especially since it’s wisdom is couched in plain terms accessible to readers of all backgrounds.
“People won’t buy what they don’t understand. Develop your explanations beforehand and test them out on students, family, or friends to measure comprehension before trying to sell your ideas.”
Highly recommended especially in today’s tough economic times when more and more people need to look into self-employment as a career path!
http://nichecreativity.com/book-free-downloads-kindle-lessons-2/
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/index.htm
http://sites.cengage.com/SiteDirectory/
True West Magazine/Pony Express
http://tinyurl.com/cxq5qzo
Lessons from Roger Ebert
Written by Dee Adams on April 5th, 2013Inspiration
The iconic movie critic loved his work, and entertained and educated the masses in the process.
Read his reviews of “Freddy Got Fingered” or “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” and it’s hard not to laugh aloud while gaining some insight into the American movie industry and the culture.
Roger Ebert was also an astute businessman, credited with advising Oprah Winfrey to syndicate her talk show. He will be remembered as a popular and beloved movie reviewer. But I think he is an inspiration for another reason.
You see, millions of people each year find themselves struggling with major injuries or illness, which disrupt their ability to work; and many abandon or change their occupations. Despite tremendous circumstances, Ebert found a way to persevere, against tremendous odds, adapt and resume doing the work that he loved for as long as it was possible.
References
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/showbiz/roger-ebert-obituary/index.html
New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/cfsev7c
Roger Ebert’s journal
How I gave Oprah her start
http://tinyurl.com/bs98p9l
Oprah.com/Video Shows
How Technology Gave Roger Ebert His Voice
http://tinyurl.com/yftjphj