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Showing posts from August, 2016

Labor Day Feast

We think labor day is the last weekend that  you can get away with eating everything you want, after all it is the last hooray before we get back to the business. Favorite Labor Day Feast Foods: 1. Grilled Brats Boil brats in beer with a bay leaf and a chopped onion. Until they are boiled until 15 minutes. Take them out and throw them on the grill. 2. BBQ Ribs Another pot take fresh pork ribs and boil them with a bay leaf or mustard seeds boil them for fifteen minutes,  then put on the grill and slow cook them. 3. Fried Chicken Overnight soak in buttermilk with thyme and garlic. Take out the next day dredge in seasoned flour of garlic powder, cayenne pepper and in a pot of hot oil fry for 15 to 20 minutes. Take out of the fryer and drizzle with hot honey and salt. Brats serve with brown mustard in hot dog buns. Ribs take from the grill after 30 min and slather with BBQ sauce. Serve immediately with a basket of Corn Bread and a simple salad. Dessert is a peach pie with ic

Tip of the Iceberg: The 1 Percent

Over the past few weeks, I have read several motivation books and listened to numerous pod casts. Here's why the one percent or as I think of it top 10 percent of people achieve great success. Characteristics of Successful People : 1. Willingness to fail. 2. Willingness to have your character malaligned. 3. Willingness to be betrayed. 4. Willingness to do something repetition. 5. Willingness to be alone. 6. Giving Spirit Most people at the first chance of adversity they pivot or course  correct,  or take themselves out of the game completely. In listening to several successful people they all were willing to do the work. Lisa Nichols: Sat in a  workshop 42 times, until they asked her to facilitate the workshop and she is  now an owner of the first publicly traded  motivation company in the world. Tony Robbins : He read more than 200 books and worked for a motivational speaker before being one. Simon Cowell After he declared bankruptcy,  went back to work,  he sat in

Thanks for Four Years

l started the best thing of my life, which is this blog. Every day for  four years I would  think,  what piece of happiness can I share with the world.  What will be  my legacy in terms of writing. Regardless, of what I write I want to thank each of you who read an article, shared an article that you read on this site. It keeps me going knowing that I have impacted a lot of people worldwide. It is also humbling to know that with good  intentions you can change the world. The reason why I kept anonymous for these four years without blogger parties, commercial endorsements,  etc. Is I wanted to give you the reader the best in unfiltered and unbiased information. Terry  McMillan said it the best "A true  writer is first an observer of life, then  we create the stories based on our intuition." My goal of Positivexpert is get everyone to see the beauty of life and for every one to know that there is always a  rainbow in everything. As my father laid in bed this past June,

Foodie Friday's : Chicken BBQ Dinner

It's the end of the summer and most people have been to BBQ or two and now you have to host. Here's our take on the  classic chicken BBQ. Clean chicken with lemon juice and vinegar. Season with salt, pepper,  and garlic powder overnight. Next day bring the chicken up to  room temperature and par cook it, til done. Then put on the  grill for a  smokey flavor. BBQ Sauce: We used Sticky Fingers Sweet and Sour Sauce with a  Kick. We gave a generous slather to all of  our pieces of chicken. Sides: Bean Salad 1. Can Kidney beans 2. Can of Chick  Peas 3. Can of Corn 4. Can of Black Beans All rinsed and drained. Put in a  bowl of balsamic vinegar, one stalk of green onions,  and dried cranberries. Let this marinade overnight. Corn Bread 1. 3 Cups Corn Meal 2. 2 Cups flower 3. 3 teaspoons of baking powder 4. 1 tablespoon of sugar 5.  2 beaten eggs 6.  Sharp Cheese grated 7. 1 Cup of Milk 8. 1 Can of Cream Corn Mix in a  mixing bowl and transfer to a  melted butt

The Truth About Natural Beauty

Okay, every one is all about going natural and embracing an all natural way of life. We have are trying to just that and this is what we found: 1. Most natural products especially beauty products are not going to smell wonderful, in fact some of them stink. This is because most plants and things found in nature do have an earthy scent. 2. A little goes a long way,  I was using 100 percent pure charcoal soap every day and it dried out my very oily skin to the  point where I had to double up on moisturizer. If I had followed instructions and used the soap every two days, my face would not have dried out. 3. A little of scents go a long way as well.  If you are using pure organic aroma therapy oils,  don't put the entire bottle on your  skin in a week. It will be overbearing and you could get sick. 4. Lather and suds don't expect it.  100 percent organic body washes and shampoo do not have a lot of suds. This is because they don't have chemicals that cause that Sud produc

Back to Fall Savings

Yeah  we are in the middle of  August and when I went into a  Target or Wal-Mart  it took me two hours to leave. Because Of back to school shoppers. But, in a  recent article by Refinery 29, they  said that Target prices  aren't always the cheapest. So, I had to find out if this was true. I  found for certain new items that you can get great  deals such as  Method and Seventh Generation products. Especially if they are launching a  new seasonal scent. However,  the best place to purchase bulk cleaning items and paper goods is.... Home Depot. Yup, Home Depot has the best prices in terms of everything that you need to  clean. There prices best Target,  Cosco, BJ'S  and Wal Mart by at least 15.00 in savings. Another thing that I found to be  true is savings on meats. Again,  I read this in Good Housekeeping,  a person advocating buying all ready  frozen meat, instead of fresh meat. Again, I put this to the test with 50.00 dollars,  I went to the grocery store that sells

Beauty Spot : Subcription Boxes

A couple of months ago we said we were going back to subcription boxes. Because we checked out our beauty bills for the month and it was  outrageous. Especially since we noticed we were always buying new products. So how did we do... First thing there are so many beauty boxes out there, it's  so hard to believe and choose. However, we whittled it down to  two and it's the two that are associated  with major media publications. So you ask??? We noticed that other subscription boxes had a  two for one  deal on boxes that  didn't  sell. Red Flag this means they  are  giving  you old beauty products,  which  is not cool. Allure is the most popular of all the  beauty  boxes and last month the samples coincided with the  Nordstrom Annual  Beauty Sale, so  that was a  plus  and we went to get  our  mid summer needs. Essence is another box for women of color  and is also associated with magazine. Note Allure is owned by Conde Nast and Essence is own by Time Inc. Therefore t

Fall Lifestyle Trends

We have been around looking at what will  trend high this fall in terms of  lifestyle. Old Fashion American Cusine : Americans will return to  pot roast and carrots, pancakes and waffles, grilled cheese and tomato soup. And Roasted Chicken with rice pilaf. See more of Brooklyn  Dinners , Big Daddys restaurants make a comeback. And traditional steakhouses will see great growth. Cuban Influence : Since we think it is only a matter of months before there is a direct flight from the US to Cuba this is what is going to trend high: 1. Traditional Red Wine Sangria the kind you let rest for three days. 2. Rum and Rum drinks. 3. Cigar clubs that were big in the 90's now are going to have authentic Cuba cigars of course at a  premium. 4. More women are going for large flowers in the hair. 5. 12 piece Samba Music will also make a comeback. 6. And family style paella dishes will be added to menus as will Roasted Suckling Pig. Curvy Women’s World Many women will embrace their natura

Re-think: Communications Career

When most people think of communications  careers they think of journalism,  public relations, writers, etc. We noticed a trend with people who have  careers in communications, which  was often thought of as a fluff job, which all you do was go to fancy parties, meet cool  people and get unlimited swag. However, publicists and corporate communication officers are almost as important as  the finance person. They have to craft strategies that  would  maximize exposure hence revenue for the company.  They are constantly  monitoring their field and counter acting any mistakes that  leadership may make in public or social media. So,  it is  no coincidence that  the  CEO of HBO was the head of Communications and the famed director Ava DuVarnay who spent over 15 years  in public  relations  before she went to  direct  movies and  was recently tapped to direct  a major high budget film from Disney. Before you jump ship to learn how to  code, think about  all the skills  needed to be  a  g

Case Study : Eataly

It's  Foodie Friday, so naturally we had to  end with a  case study on food. The food establishment we chose is Eataly. It is a wonderful Italian marketplace and restaurants in one. It's the only place where you can get authentic  olive oil, grilled puplo  or octopus and get the freshest  veal for authentic  Osco Busco. So, why does this make our case study, it makes our cases because one of the  owners is Mario Batali, the world renowned chef and TV personality. He knows how to select the finest  products for this concept store and restaurants, however in terms  of  expansion and business development and operations, he realized that  he needed the best business minds to do that without compromising what he knows best food. Last spring at NYU he went to the  business school  and gave a wonderful  presentation on his business, why the food and beverage industry needs MBA 's. Most of the people in business school are looking to be a founder,  Co founder and exit from the

Case Study: Allure Beauty Box

The July Allure Beauty Box had  samples from prestige luxury brands. If you  never tried  products  such as  Glam Glow, LA Mer,  Estee  Lauder, Allure gave you a  chance  to try what celebrities  rave about. So why was this so special? Because it coincided with Nordstrom ' s annual Anniversary Sale. So, if you really  loved that  Glam Glow Mud Mask, or the Clinique cubby lipstick, and  wanted more all you had to  do was log on  to  Nordstrom 's website and get  the product,  but so many wonderful products  such as Jo Malone was on sale that you  spent more than  you intended. Also, if you went into any  Nordstrom before a certain date you could get your own  free sample  of a Bobby  Brown product. Allure along with  Nordstrom increased Web traffic and sales that not only  contributed to the beauty products, but to other products. They also contributed to increased foot traffic because you  had to  go into their physical store to get the free sample, plus I am certain custo

Case Study: J. Hilburn

J. Hilburn is the direct men custom made  suits and shirts and shirts. So why do they  deserve  a case study? During NYFW  Men this Dallas based company  did something so ingenious  with regards to  marketing. Most of the shows where spilt  from the Skylight Clarkson venue  to the  Cadillac House. However, all participants had to pass by this  one corner on your way going  to the shows. J. Hilburn figured this corner out an set up a  cabana  style atmosphere  with a lounge and tables, free amazing  appetizers,  sure there were drinks, but you had to go into their air conditioned  showroom where you were shown all the latest  in their collection. They also timed this so they had models come  out when people were in between shows and knew when other shows  were being let out to offer a cold beverage on a 90 degree day. Why is this so ingenious? 1. They knew where there market was located. 2. They figured out  ideal time capture the most  foot traffic. 3. They created an enticin

Case Study : Ashley Stewart Stores

The plus size  market is on the  verge of becoming the next  multi billion market and could  attribute to steady sales within the overall  fashion industry. Around five years ago many of the initial plus size  stores began to  close as straight  sizes began  to incorporate clothing  up to  a size 18  into  their  lines. Specialty stores such  as Ashley  Stewart  began to tinker on bankruptcy. Until  the new Executive Chairman  and  CEO took  over the  Ashley  Stewart  stores, so what  did he do  differently??? He realized that  the internal infrastructure  needed work  and through  technology began  to  overhaul the inventory system, he studied  the demographics  of the  market, which  was  maturing  and needed a designer  overhaul  from trendy club outfits to career, weekend and specialty occasions. After redesigning the main  product clothing, the next  step  was to figure  out  their  customer base, which were AfricanAmerican  women. A successful relaunch takes partners! The 

Beauty Spot: Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics

It's  back  to work  and though  it's  fun wearing  turquoise eyeliner on the  weekends. We need  what  I  call investment  make  up that  we go into  the  work place and be taken  seriously. The brand  that is long lasting , elegant  and will  win you the contracts and can give you a  great  date night  is Elizabeth Arden. The  lipsticks  in Iced Coffee  the brown  that  is not  too  dark. Rose Berry this is  a soft  mauve  that is a great  substitute  for  the completely nude look. Iced Grape which  is a again a soft  purple  that  doesn't  need toning down. Bold Red in Matte , has great  brown  under tones. The  eyeshadow in Golden  Ivy gives a subtle  shimmer  to the  brow bone. Iridescent Pink is so subtle and feminine it gives  a great finish  to your  nude look. Innocence again is in the  gray family  and looks amazing Desert Rose again gives that pulled  together  look . The lipsticks retail  for approximately  28.00 per tube. The eyeshadow retail

Getting Ready for School and Life

All college  campuses  have career offices, but  realistically; How many times  have you  ever  been  to  them ? Three young  women  who decided  to take career  development along  with women 's empowerment head on and created organizations that  give college  women  a head start  in their  lives. Intern Queen That's right  the Intern Queen  is a  national  organization  that  assists in finding  any college  student  an internship. These internships can range  from coding at a  start up, banking, fashion, and traditional marketing at a  variety if companies and non- profits. When  I attended the  Intern Queen Party in NYC what  I  really  appreciate was the willingness  of the  interns giving  tips  to each  other on how to  get ahead.  We also  observed  many of  the  Intern Queens staff  were former office  staff  members, who came  to  assist  at the  event. Some  former staff members  work  for prestigious  PR companies, others were working at  non profits,  etc. In