How History Sparked Ideas for Food Entrepreneurs

Finding Inspiration in the Antiquarian Marketplace

holiday-813705_640F

Emily Dickinson’s passion for cooking and baking inspired
Concord Teacakes to produce one of her recipes. And the
young owners of Franklin Fountain with an avid interest since
childhood in antiquarian objects created an
unusual specialty sundae based on a recipe
found in a book published in 1915.

What other ways to apply history in other f
fields of interest might there be?

Dee Adams is the author of
Finding Your Niche: Discover…
https://nichecreativity.com/finding-your-niche-ebook/

References

Pbs.org
Emily Dickinson: A Poet in the Kitchen”
http://tinyurl.com/q7fpx2m

Concord Tea Cakes
http://www.concordteacakes.com/about-us

Foodnetwork.com
Top5 Restaurants, para.2, line 6.
http://tinyurl.com/nwfsl37

Franklin Fountain.com
http://www.franklinfountain.com/

Save

Save




Takeaways from van Gogh

Revisiting the Painter’s Creative iNspirations

The first painting by the Dutch painter was inspired
by his interest in Japanese culture.

And despite great adversity, one night van Gogh gazed
out of a window from a locked room 

and his skill, training, knowledge and aptitudes took hold.
And the artist produce what is considered his finest masterpiece.

Previous van Gogh post
https://nichecreativity.com/following-your-aptitudes/

Van Gogh; Almond Blossoms. 1890. Scans of 2 d images in the public domain believed to be free to use without restriction in the US.
Van Gogh; Almond Blossoms. 1890. Scans of 2 d images in the public domain believed to be free to use without restriction in the US.

VanGogh-starry_night

Dee Adams is the author of
Finding Your Niche: Discover…
https://nichecreativity.com/finding-your-niche-ebook/




Entrepreneurial Lessons From Starbucks Founders

3 Memorable Takeaways

cuba-cup
Coffee Drinking Practices in Other Countries

Travel is an educational tool that provides
cultural as well 
as business insights for observers.

It was a trip to Italy where future CEO Howard Schultz first noticed how
the culture there interacted with their coffee in a community setting.
Schultz at the time an employee for a company that only sold
coffee beans tried to persuade his bosses to change their business model.
They were not interested.

Considering how it later turned out were
the original founders shortsighted?

An argument could easily be made that both Schultz and Schultz’s
bosses were correct. Using the metaphor of the Blind Men and the Elephant,
Shultz was positioned atop the elephant and could envision
all sorts of possibilities for an idea that appealed to his values.

On the other hand, Schultz’s bosses could not see the possibilities
from their vantage point…

They had chosen a business model they believed in and could execute.
But Schultz’s new idea would have meant a different set of business tasks and responsibilities outside their interests, motivational levels,
and possibly outside their skill set.

xWcqazwvSXadCA7dZLiQ_Ship_mast
Brewing Up the Right Business Name

Love of literature and lack of marketing savvy can lead to
amusing and costly mistakes while dreaming up
a new product name.

Pequods reportedly was the name selected before Starbucks was favored…
Takeaway:
1. Draf and evaluating taglines for each name considered
2. Record the names and listening to the playback
3. Place choices on a bulletin board or computer
screen for visual study.

But most important, in addition to observing product naming rules,
check each syllable of the title in question. Look for overlooked issues that
might clash with the product being named.

Peaquods is the whaling ship in the novel Moby Dick.
Can you figure out why the name was scrapped?
See the Mental Floss link.

Dee Adams is the author of
Finding Your Niche: Discover…
https://nichecreativity.com/finding-your-niche-ebook/

References

Own-Super Soul Sunday
Howard Shultz on Building A Business With Soul

Mental Floss.com
10 Things You Don’t know about Starbucks




Blog Move And Post Update

New Server for Niche Creativity.com

photo-1429032021766-c6a53949594f

Move Completed!
On Saturday, July 25, by midnight  the blog will be transferred to a new server.
And because of the extensive archive, what may only be a few hours offline
during the transfer might be 48 hours, according to tech support.

Meanwhile, here’s  an updated post from 2013

How Some Entrepreneurial Career Changers
Assess Skills Without Tests

Niche Creativity.com
http://tinyurl.com/nsxeg2e




How Music Got Free

From Finance to Investigative Journalism

How music got free tumblr_nbk5hnOKuF1st5lhmo1_1280

Stephen Witt had a background in  finance when he decided to
earn a degree in journalism. And his recent c-span book presentation
was riveting as well as educational.

How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, 
the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy
BY Stephen Witt.

A fascinating account of how one person really
can make a difference…
but not in a good way.

One takeaway for would-be and emerging entrepreneurs
in any industry is to take a closer look at their ideas or business
models and evaluate for weak security points.
In the 21st century, data breach or hacking
often means Disgruntled Former Employee.

Dee Adams is the  editor of
MusicBiz Notes
Teachers Pay Teachers.com
http://tinyurl.com/z38zl6b

References
C-span.org
Stephen Witt
How Music Got to Be Free
http://tinyurl.com/olbjwf7

 New Yorker.com
The Man Who Broke the Music Business
http://tinyurl.com/ooy9h6t

 The Guardian.com
http://tinyurl.com/q57x4my




Black Athletes, Career Change, and Entrepreneurship

Two African American football players on the playing fieldLessons for Pro Sports Hopefuls

Summary
Eye-opening facts
Athletes and career change
Q & A Exploration
Selected Famous Athletes & Career Change
Sources + Video Excerpts

Play to win at all cost and leave personal development on the blind side is often the game plan for many athletes until a crisis forces the issue.

Case in point: a segment back in October on Oprah’s LifeClass: A suspended NFL football player revealed that his income dropped from $2 million to $12 hourly.

And when asked how he would get his life back on track if not reinstated, the player, a university graduate who majored in communication and rhetorical studies confessed to not knowing the answer.

Unfortunately, a typical response that many have experienced. The last thing on the mind of many pro athletes or hopefuls is Career Literacy. It’s a term coined by the Ball Foundation. Too often, a little-known concept in and outside the sports world,

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Joe Montana, Andre Agassi, Shark Tank contestant, Al Baker of Bubba’s Q are a few examples of athletes who have traded a sports career for various forms of entrepreneurship.

But, many other athletes don’t fare as well when it comes to identifying the right career change strategy.

Ideally, career management experts point out that self-exploration should be a key part of everyone’s game plan. And in the world of sports, that means exploration long before being benched, suspended, injured, or ready to retire in an industry known for short time spans. But pro athletes often overlook this crucial step and only when a job loss crisis looms is there a realization there is no backup plan.

Eye-Opening facts

The NFL evaluates potential players using the popular Wonderlic Intelligence test. Successful completion requires an answer to 50 questions in about 12 minutes.

Hardly likely to offer a complete picture of the full potential of the athlete as a human being with other talents.

Films such as Money Ball illustrate the focus of team owners on winning above all else… a sport is a business! And athletes often focus all their energy on winning the game. But in today’s marketplace, the athlete must also take on the responsibility of learning how to win outside the arena.

Consider these statistics from Sports Illustrated in 2009

More than 75 percent of NFL players are in financial stress or are in bankruptcy five years after leaving pro sports. And 60 percent of NBA players are broke after reaching retirement. In 2015, one in six players in the NFL will file for bankruptcy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Athletes and Career Change
Q & A Exploration

Instruction:
Choose a time when the ability to think is most sharp. Grab pen, pencil, and paper, or an app, video equipment, sketch pad, journal, audiotape, or other preferred media. And mull over, think, chew on, reflect, evaluate or meditate on how to answer the following questions.

  • What led you to this sport?
  • What motivates you to play sports?
  • If you couldn’t play anymore for whatever reason…injury…long-term suspension or permanent retirement. What would your next role be? For example, the sporting industry has a large number
    of roles, depending on the sport. Recruiting? Training? PR? Coaching? Legal? Business administration? Other? Would your choice be a good fit for my interests, motivation, and skill set or would the fit be poor?
  • What sources will you use for self-awareness and exploration? Books? Videos?, Informational interviews? Mentorship? Apprenticeship? Other? How will you evaluate results?
  • Does a need for security, prestige or status play a role in your choices?

***Note: A college major may provide important clues if the major was chosen wisely. But research shows that if the major is not compatible with learning style, interests, aptitudes, and motivation then the college dropout rate increases.

Selected Famous Athletes & Career Change

Arthur Ashe
Although the late tennis icon and humanitarian obtained a college degree in business administration, it was not his first choice for a college major.

Architecture was the original goal, but Arthur Ashe’s coach pointed out that the demands of that major would have made it impossible to combine the academic demands and a tennis career, whereas a business major offered more flexibility.

Note: Many people are unaware of the tennis great’s military service. According to Professor Eric Allen author of Life and Legacy of Arthur AsheLife on C-Span BookTV https://www.c-span.org/video/?327261-1/life-legacy-arthur-ashe

James Braddock…Cinderella Man
After boxing, and having exercised skillful management of his
prize winnings,  Braddock entered the military and became an officer.
And he likely had structural visualization, an ability, and aptitude
so named by the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation.

Chris Everett…Writes and publishes tennis information.
Operates a tennis academy and is an ESPN commentator.

Pele
Sports Marketing, licensing, country ambassador

Joe Montana
According to Inside Sports Illustrated, Montana tried
TV announcing but disliked it. He got involved in real estate
and the corporate speaking circuit. Earned a degree in business
administration and marketing before football fame.
commentator.

Malcolm Mitchell…
From wide receiver to author and poet
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/book-club-is-the-mvp-of-patriot-wide-receiver-malcolm-mitchells-career/#x

Sugar Ray Leonard
Event and media marketing

Source: Database: Biography in Content…
Notable Sports Figures,
2004

Sources

Arthur Ashe.org Learning Center
http://www.arthurashe.org/life-story.html

 James Braddock.com
http://www.jamesjbraddock.com/theman/

Career Vision.org
Job Satisfaction Survey
https://careervision.org/job-satisfaction-its-about-fit/

Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation http://jocrf.org/

Career vision.org Career Management tab: www.careervision.org

Bubba’s Q Bonelessribs.com: http://www.bubbasbonelessribs.com/

Casey Crawford, CEO,  Movement Mortgage, started flipping homes while still a pro athlete. National Business Report, August 7, 20 http://nbr.com/2015/08/07/nightly-business-report-august-7-2015/

NY Daily News, Wayne Coffry, 2009. With a passion for soccer and food, Amos Zereoue is not your typical former NFL player.
https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/passion-soccer-food-amos-zereoue-not-typical-nfl-player-article-1.433855

Wall Street Journal.com/April 2015
One in Six NFL players
Goes Bankrupt within 12 Years of Retirement
https://sports.cbslocal.com/2015/04/16/wall-street-journal-one-in-six-nfl-players-broke-within-12-years/

Washington Post.com
Tanard Jackson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/09/11/tanard-jackson-went-on-oprah-to-get-advice-from-steve-harvey/

Coachup.com  https://www.coachup.com

Friday Night Lights
C-Span.org
https://www.c-span.org/video/?328394-1/friday-night-lights
Award-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger’s memorable talk about high school football culture in small-town America. Blunt, honest, informative overview of the pitfalls of sports obsession and the impact on players’ lives.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPeE7d5sfgM?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]




The Book that Oprah Bought For Stanford Graduating Class

A Whole New Mind; Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgajf1d7YFw?feature=oembed&w=1200&h=675]

Although this segment of Super Soul Sunday with author Daniel Pink
first aired in 2012, Oprah bought more than 4600 copies of A Whole New
Mind as part of a commencement
gift for the entire
graduating class in
 2008.

Yet in 2015, many arts related programs are being phased out of schools…
Despite the value of right-brained activities.
For example,  Steve Jobs credited a class in calligraphy as the one that
helped him most in his business career because it taught him
the importance of design, according to CNN.

STEM skills are considered golden.
Three areas of STEM that non stem people can adapt their skills
to fit in the technology marketplace are
Ideas
Language
Numerical
For STEM articles see JOCRF Facebook
and the organization’s homepage on Neuroscience and jets

Dee Adams is the author of
Finding Your Niche: Discover:…
https://nichecreativity.com/finding-your-niche-ebook/

References

Stanford.edu/news
http://tinyurl.com/o2vcpq9

Whole Mind Book
Amazon.com
http://tinyurl.com/oxu56ez

Evollltion.com/article
STEM Education
in America Half Brained and a
Four Letter Word
http://tinyurl.com/pggebye

University of Florida/STEM vs. Steam/
Graphic features selected famous
entrepreneurs and their thinking abilities
http://tinyurl.com/ng95nc9

Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation/Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/p5tqssk

Jocrf.org/research/article
Relationships Between Aptitudes and Brain Areas
http://tinyurl.com/nndglr6




Career Change & Injured Athletes

Fireworks Accident

Football player running with ball in front of second player running behind with hands outstretched

How seemingly minor injury can affect the ability
to handle routine work-related tasks is illustrated
by the examples of two football athletes injured
by fireworks recently

Post next week…Athletes Who Become
Entrepreneurs

References
Pro FootballTalknbcsports.com

Report: C.J. Wilson lost two fingers in fireworks accident

ESPN.com/blog
https://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/171547/nfl-faq-jason-pierre-paul-c-j-wilson-injured-in-fireworks-accidents




Balloon Marketing Stunt Gone Wild

Flying Lawn Chair & Aviation Regulation

paragliding-744053_640

Michael Strahan’s recent comment on Live with Kelly and Michael
should give some aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs with hot schemes reason to rethink their ideas using Murphy’s Law risk assessment checklist, and possibly consulting a stupidity app
for potential ranking.

Strahan noted, after learning about an entrepreneur
who devised a stunt to promote his all-natural cleaning
products company by jumping from a balloon hoisted lawn
chair over Canadian skies, and then parachuting to semi-safety…

Paraphrase
I would not want this guy anywhere near the cleaning
products in my house.

Ouch….

So in addition to facing criminal charges, jeopardizing
his life and possibly that of innocent parties, hit by a flying
abandoned lawn chair, the entrepreneur’s business competence
is called into question

All in all, probably not the reaction the
fledgling entrepreneur hoped for.

That the stunt had no relation in any way to cleaning
or cleaning products.is another major point overlooked
in the planning stage.

This stunt is not new…it’s been tried before
for thrill-seeking purposes.

 FAA and other authorities were not amused in either case.

Takeaway: will the entrepreneur sell enough cleaning
products to justify the money spent on the PR stunt
and the legal fines?Will this stunt help position his company
as a go-to resource for cleaning products?

Sources

Cbc.ca
Balloon Man describes soaring
Note: Not sure he helped his case with some
of the additional details supplied.

USA Today.com
Man arrested after
flying lawn chair over Canad
a
http://tinyurl.com/qxs6dyn

Mark Barry.com/Lawn Chair pilot
http://www.markbarry.com/lawnchairman.html




Self-Employment Q and A: Work-Life Conflict

Clarence Crane & Starbucks Founders
pick-and-mix-171342_640

Q. What’s the difference between candy inventor
Clarence Crane and the founders of the original Starbucks?
Shouldn’t Crane and Starbucks founders both been able to
walk away from business ideas that may not have been compatible
with their skill sets?

A. You are referring to an earlier post in which I noted that it
was understandable in the case of Starbucks not to pursue a change
in their original concept vs. Clarence Crane who made a huge
mistake when he gave up on his idea for
a new kind of candy that he’d invented.

The difference is that Crane was a chocolate
manufacturer when a problem with candy melting during
shipping in the summer sparked the idea for
a product that wouldn’t melt.

So Crane created Life Savers®, remained in the candy industry
but sold the rights to the mints for nearly nothing.
Frustration over production and marketing
issues were the reasons cited.

After checking several sources, I suspect that work-life
issues may have clouded his judgment…
Crane had a very challenging home life.

Dee Adams is the author of
Finding Your Niche: Discover…
https://nichecreativity.com/finding-your-niche-ebook/

Reference
Prezi.com
https://prezi.com/yaxwoarpao9n/clarence-crane/