Monday, December 12, 2011

Coaching a big girl

As I move along with this process of starting a company - I'm finding such value from the power of coaching. I've met some amazing business, entrepreneurial and life coaches the past few months. I try to make the time to participate in regular calls, tweet-ups and networking events.  They have encouraged me to find my focus, live and work with a grateful spirit, and to embrace my talents and unique vision.

One of the other wonderful effects of being open to coaching, is that it has also really opened my mind to learning from sources all around me.. which is fantastic! I realize that sounds silly being jazzed all over again about learning  – so soon after finishing school – but business school was a focused learning; on specific subjects, goals and in focused environments with classmates and teachers. Now having the ability to be present in situations enough to recognize all the different opportunities for learning around me has been an evolution. After finishing business school, I was afraid my brain may shut down - for some post graduate recovery, but, luckily by meeting and interacting with these amazing people, it has been the opposite.

I'm now feeling the results of great mentoring and coaching experiences: from working with my fiance and his company, from working with my own consulting clients, from groups I've joined, blogs I read and people I interact with. Whether they know it or not, I am finding business and life coaches all around me. I'm grateful that through this process of becoming an entrepreneur, I've found outlets to continue learning, where I can continue to be coached and mentored... and soak their brilliance up like those lovely olives that end up at the bottom of my martini glass.

The best part of the drink is there.

- Cheers to all the coaches, mentors and those who open themselves enough to learn from them.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Balance of FIVE

I've said one of the absolute best parts of being an entrepreneur is finally having the life balance I've been chasing all my career. Even though there is plenty on our plate, I finally have the flexibility to do things like; work on projects, get to the gym regularly, cook at home – actually have personal time. I remember when I was in the corporate world, constantly feeling like I just needed a few moments to even take a breath.. let alone live my life.

I recently read a great book, Masters of Sales. One of the sections talks about finding FIVE things a day to focus on. What are your most important five things to focus on? Masters focus on them daily – so that's what I've been working on doing. I'm juggling a lot these days.. working on starting 2 companies, writing 2 books and we're planning our wedding – as well as maintaining some of my consulting clients. Just as when I was in the corporate world, it's easy to have the day speed past and not give the full attention to everything I intended. The business of daily life is still just as hectic whether home or in an office. Practicing "FIVE Things" daily has really helped me. I try to dedicate an hour to each thing, but even if it's only 20 minutes daily, I feel like I'm making progress on everthing that matters to me. I've found this time so important for my personal happiness – which is were all great interactions start. If I'm happy and balanced, I can give more of myself.. the best of myself.

Every day I make sure to:
Be healthy - Go to the gym or out for a run
Write - Work on my books
Work on Big Girl - Research, marketing, networking, strategy
Make time for my relationships (time with Kelly and connect with friends, family)
Make time for myself (read, paint or just be quiet with my thoughts for a few minutes)

From my days in the corporate world, or when I was in business school, this time would have felt like a luxury.. now I'm grateful to say it's my balanced life.


- Cheers to all who make the commitment to find some balance in their day

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Cirque of my LIFE


Kelly took me to see Cirque Du Soleil's Iris for my birthday. If you're in LA and you get a chance to see it, it's amazing. As I looked up in the air, I kept thinking how truly fantastic it all was. If you've ever seen a Cirque show before, there are dozens of things going on at once.. it makes your head spin with the trapeze artists, contortionists, acrobats, clowns, and entertainers -  it seems crazy, but I think that's why I was so drawn to it. Amazing and impressive,  I realized I must have a bit of the "Cirque" within me. I think we all do.

We can all relate, our lives feel like a circus from time to time. We juggle jobs, families, responsibilities, commitments.. or our own choices and needs. We perform incredible feats to get it all done.  I don't know about you, but my life always seems like a "circus" and I love it that way. If I'm not juggling dozens of things at once, I'm not really happy. Personally, I think it's a bit an ADD issue, but also life is just too exciting and amazing not to go for it all. There is something invigorating about following your passions, no matter how many you have. Living life energized by what you do, even if it seems crazy or too much to other people.  Right now, we're starting 2 companies, I'm writing and publishing my first book and starting the second. I'm back on the running circuit, competing in 1/2 marathons.. oh and ... all while we're planning a wedding and our future family. Yes, it's all hectic, and exciting, exhilarating, risky, very entertaining, but mostly.. the best time of my life! I'm like the girls flying through the air, swinging and spinning on the trapeze.. IT's a MAGICAL ride and I love it.





- Cheers to all the trapeze artists, contortionists, acrobats, clowns, and entertainers, you are amazing and inspiring for much more than your show.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Figuring out your MOOD

One of the things I realized I need to figure out in developing the Big Girl brand was what is my overall VISION for the company. What is our culture, style going to be? What is our VISUAL communication?

I want Big Girl Cocktails to be the company that is like a friend who is fun, funky and stylish... but not over the top... more importantly, warm, approachable, and accessible. My vision is to give and share ideas, creativity and what inspires us.. whether it's a new cocktail recipe, a great big girl tip or amazing advice or stories we've heard.

I got addicted to a site called Pinterest (click on the link to see my page). It's a wonderful place to make online Vision boards, or Mood boards as we used to call them in art school... but then, we used exacto knives and glue. It got pretty messy. Now opportunities online with sites like Pinterest, it's easy and the options are limitless....

As I created boards for myself and for Big Girl, I realized my vision was more than just a visual style, but a feeling... I'm not sure how to put my finger on it.. but with a "MOOD/VISION" board, I want to convey the company character I am trying to develop and share with Big Girl Cocktails.

Recently, I met some career/entrepreneurial coaches who suggested that companies create Vision/Mood boards regularly -  at least once a year.. to visualize and assess who and what they want to be as an organization. It's a challenge, in the hectic life of entrepreneurship to stop and think about our vision.. but I'm glad I'm doing it, it's helping me as a business owner to describe and define who and what I want my company to be as I go along. 

So go make yourself a great cocktail and create a mood board!
- Cheers to all those who see and share their visions!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lessons from Princesses

I attended my first big girl conference last week... Startup Princess - I didn't go for some other company I was working for as I have dozens of times in the past, but for me, for my own company, for support on my own ventures.. THAT was an amazing feeling.

I met some of the most inspiring women who had some great lessons to share... advice I needed as a new business owner.

the two biggest .....

1. Be TRUE to yourself.

One of my biggest lessons was that as an entrepreneur -  I'm not just developing my product but myself, from the inside out - it's an important time where I'm developing my image, my brand, how I present myself, my message... how I look, speak, show my own personality. I am Big Girl Cocktails. Developing this company to be the most that I can is my passion.

2. SERVE to sell
The second biggest lesson I learned, hit me as big as the first. Serve to sell.  How do I SERVE others with my product? You don't just sell if you're a sales person, everyone sells in one way or another. Everyone has the opportunity to serve with what they sell.

How do you serve the community with your business, what you sell?

As I listened to the speaker.. I thought.. I'm not sure this fits me, how can I serve? then it hit me - I am serving.. not just with my stories of Big Girl Cocktails as a company...

I'm reminding women to celebrate themselves. Looking around the room at all these brilliant over-tasked women -  professionals and moms, I thought to myself... that could be pretty huge. 

Stop. Celebrate yourself, your friends.. other women for being "big girls" and tackling the world every day. As I've said before, that's definitely worth celebrating!

I actually re-wrote my mission during the conference.

Big Girl Cocktails is a company that celebrates and champions women.. that happens to sell the cocktails worthy of them.

- Cheers to all the ladies and the lessons they taught me!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Training a big girl

I ran my first 1/2 marathon in over 2 years Sunday. I was nervous as hell I wasn't going to be as good... I'd lost my timing or even worse.. I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I used to - but none of that happened. In fact, I rocked it and I LOVED every moment of it. From picking up my number and getting that pre-race excitement at the expo, to not sleeping all night planning my strategy because I was so excited to run, .. to actually taking off down Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan in Chicago. I was energized by it all.

It had its bumps along the way.. including my cab driver getting lost among the dozens of cabs taking runners to the race, somehow mine didn't know how to follow others, and I ended up running in about a mile to the starting line, through the Southside Chicago.. which if you've been there, not really an area people would get up at 5 am to run through. I got to the race 26 minutes after the start and just hauled ass. It ended up being a great thing.... Running an 8+ minute mile, I caught up to my new running buddy Nadia, who also had a bit of a late start to the event and also ran my normal pace of a 10:30 minute mile. It was her first race, and I was feeling frazzled so we joined forces and ran together. We killed it.

For the next 8 miles we kept a very respectable 9:30 -10:00 minute mile. We talked running, training, careers, sharing more importantly what was on our respective playlists and visions of how great the beer garden was going to be once we hit the finish line.

We crossed the finish line in 2hrs 30mins.. no stopping, no walking.. just hard core, big girl running.

As I thought about the run after.. sitting in the beer garden, drinking my nasty victory beer - which at that moment...was the best thing I ever tasted - I thought to myself.. I did well because I really worked at it. I trained really hard. 5 - 6 days a week I hit the gym and ran my miles, at least 45 minutes to an hour a day of running. I did all my long runs, and cross training... all the work I was supposed to do to prepare for a run of that distance - and it paid off.

I reminded myself, Big Girl will go the same way. I'm an entrepreneur "in training". If I put in the time, have the dedication to do the work, prepare, build some strong business muscle and take some time to step back and "stretch" from time to time -  I'll rock the business race just like I did with this first half marathon.

Cheers to Nadia for getting me through, and cheers to all the other runners out there, giving everything they have to the time they are running... you're all rockstars!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Labor Day advice on getting it done!

My first Labor Day weekend as an entrepreneur! I'm happy to say I did take some important chill time, but that being said as a new business owner, Big Girl Cocktails is always on the brain. I think a lot about how to move forward, how to keep motivated, how I'm going to get it all done.

I was pondering all of this yesterday while on my last big training run for my half marathon I'm running next week. I had lots of time to think - 9.5 miles worth.  Between miles 7 and 8, I started to get a bit sore and a little tired... and I heard something in my head I hadn't heard in a while.. "if you're tired and you want to stop, don't... don't stop, just keep running." It was kinda weird hearing Rob's voice randomly in my head. Rob is my best friend Helen's husband. He gave me that advice over 8 years ago, before my very first half marathon. It was funny at the time since he's not a runner and I was expecting him to tell me it was ok to stop and say screw it... Instead it was his voice I heard kick in as I ran my first race.. "don't stop, keep running", "don't stop, keep running" - which ultimately got me through.

This made me think of how Big Girls is like running the marathon and that the "don't stop, keep running" mantra definitely fits with starting a new business. If I ever get frustrated, or feel beaten down, I just need to keep going as I do when I'm running. It ended up being some of the best advice anyone gave me. Thanks Rob.

That got me thinking of other life changing advice I've gotten over the years.

While working on one of my final papers in my first year of business school, I was way burnt out from the year and didn't seem to have any brain cells left to write. I was completely frustrated with a blank page and nothing to say. One of my dear friends from school said.. "Sam, don't think... just write!" "You can go back and make it perfect later... for now, just write." That advice got me through writing my first book.  Several times I'd get disheartened trying to get everything out perfectly that I wanted to say with the book... that's when I would hear my friend putting me in line... "Sam don't think.. just write!" ... so I did. Thanks Dana.

Finally, one of the best ones that I constantly rehear, was advice from someone I don't even know. I tagged along with one of my classmates for her entrepreneur interview we were assigned for school. Randy was the head of a company in the aircraft industry - completely different than anything I did in my world. Towards the end of the interview, he turned to me and asked about my background and what I did. I had just started contemplating Big Girl Cocktails at the time. I told him I wanted to be and entrepreneur, and that I had some ideas in mind, but was still working some things out. Randy brilliantly responded to me,"What is there to work out?"  "You just gotta get out of you're own way and do it!" I hear that advice about once a day. Thanks Randy!

So this Labor Day... here is my big girl advice to share with those pursuing a goal or a dream - you can apply them to anything you're working towards.

1. If you want to stop, don't just keep running!
2. Don't think... just write!
3. If you want something... get out of you're own way and do it!


- Cheers to all my advice givers!
You don't know it, but you changed my life with your words of encouragement! 

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Our new racing shirts

10 days till the Chicago 1/2 Marathon! I'm excited to run my first race with my "big girl"mojo! This is my first run in over 2 years. I took time off the marathon circuit while I was in school - it was a marathon in itself trying to manage my then job at Disney, go to school full time and study full time.

But now that I'm starting Big Girl Cocktails, running has been wonderful. It's a great time for me to step away, let myself go for a bit, disconnect from my computer and think. It has been where I've had most of my really great brainstorms lately. I finally relax and the ideas come flooding. Sometimes I even have to stop and take notes on my iphone... talk about multi-tasking!

The organizers of the Chicago Half Marathon sent an email yesterday to encourage all the runners to wear red, white and blue in memory of 9/11. It will be on this 10 year anniversary that we are all running... reason enough to make a new racing shirt.

Big girls always rally around monumental events.

Hopefully if they turn out, I'd love to start sending them to all my runner "big girls" and support their events as well!


- Cheers to all the big girl runners out there!
If you're in Chicago, I'll be the one running with a martini!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Essentials and Unmentionables for all Cocktail Girls



Special guest post - from our lovely friend Alison Hay! Cheers luv!

What better than to combine two of a glam girl’s favorite treats – martinis and chocolate! I’m going to let you in on the Top Five Chocolate Martini’s in Los Angeles, a formerly VERY closely guarded secret!
5. Lola’s on Fairfax. Just because they invented the Apple Martini doesn’t mean they can’t refine a Chocolatini – theirs comes creamy with the taste of Godiva.  
4. The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Downtown LA. The Grandest Setting Ever!  The famous 1920’s bar is staffed with the most knowledgeable, old style barmen who know all the tricks. This Chocolatini packs a punch. After two of them, I fell off the side of the plush hall carpet runner on the way out.
3. The Chateau Marmont. Not the fanciest, but clear, with good flavours. But it’s hard to beat sipping one surrounded by the A List in the magical garden restaurant!
2. The Bel Air Hotel. Definitely the most expensive, it comes in a large traditional glass and is a lush, deep, clear chocolate brown. The finishing touch, the one that will have your knees go weak, it comes provided with its own CHOCOLATE STRAW. You have been Heaven Blessed.
1. The Ultimate. The bad news is you can only order it in a restaurant that is private. The good news? It’s the worlds best. Hidden away along a side street of New Orleans Square in Disneyland is a small, unassuming door marked simply by the number of 33. Behind and above it is the former apartment of Walt himself, complete with the original buzzard chandelier he designed and bugged to listen in on what his employees said about him when he left the room. While it no longer records lunch conversations, it is the best feature in the smaller dining room, one of two that overlooks the park. Club 33 is by invite from a Disney executive and is a proper 5 star venue, where the alcohol flows. Order a chocolate martini and out comes a chilled, traditional shaped glass that has a thick coating of dark chocolate frozen around the rim. Oh dear God. But it is white chocolate that makes the nectar liquid, like sweet, alcoholic milk. Dessert in a glass, you can’t help downing them like candy, one after another.

Now, as a former lingerie expert, with six years of dressing such nakedness as Christina, Gwen, J.Lo, Carmen, Jessica, Paris, Britney and Dita, I have another cocktail of an entirely different kind to share with you, one that was dreamed up and put into deadly practice by me and the femme fatales who worked the pink uniform on Melrose Avenue at Agent Provocateur. Not the one that was created for us at The Hungry Cat, called the Provocatini, which was pink and fatal, like us, but a Bra-tini.
For this recipe you need two very fancy and complementary bras. Perhaps a red one combined with a black bra that has red and black lacy straps. Or a black and pink with extravagant trimming underneath something pink and black. The outer one should be slightly smaller in cup (or even a quarter cup or balconette) and the bra under it should showcase fabulous detail. Try it for a truly bordello look. It double boosts the cleavage! Want to know how to triple boost your assets? Make a bra-tini of your own choosing. Then put on a corset…here’s the secret that is the wow factor: IF you position the corset half way up the bra-tini, you not only get an amazing new look but when the corset is tightened, your very own home-made boob job.

Oh, you’ll thank me.

Alison Hay is the author of the fabulous new book Pink Prose at www.alisonlouisehay.com and www.facebook.com/PinkProse

Monday, August 29, 2011

Big Girl School

It's almost 2 years ago that I started business school. I've read lots of articles about the value of an MBA. For me I can honestly say, it changed my life... but I think any thing that challenges you to THAT level should. I look at the world a completely different way now, with a different perspective and manner about myself. I am able to see the whole picture, or most of it... and for what I can't see, I know I have the tools and abilities to figure it out. I have a confidence and determination about my life choices that I didn't have before. I analyze and think through decisions strategically and financially, not just based upon my own passions and gut instincts.

That being said, I really feel like I'm going through that challenge all over again. I'm entering Big Girl Cocktail school. At USC we took classes in all the basics of business, of entrepreneurship and leadership, which have provided me a great foundation to get going... but to balance out my MBA experience in the classroom, there is no learning quite like doing. It's funny, I haven't boxed away any of my school books, all my USC binders are right next to my desk where they have been for the past two years, it's like a security blanket knowing they are there.

Wouldn't it be great if I could go to Big Girl Cocktails school.. there would be classes on the liquor industry and contract manufacturing, a whole class on SBA loans and bootstrap financing.. a project to have us learn the liquor laws and beverage control licenses and practice negotiations with potential product partners and investors.

When I get the company launched, maybe I'll print myself up a "big girl" diploma and hang it right next to my business school diploma from USC.

- Cheers to all the entrepreneurs teaching themselves as they go along!


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Building a team


I've been thinking a lot lately about the of the importance of building company partnerships and relationships... not just in an advisory manner, which I think is key, but also partnerships in creating the product and company itself. What type of team will I need to create? It would have to be made up of those that connect with how I want to develop Big Girl Cocktails, with my plan, mission, and goals.

Appropriately I'm thinking about all of this during the kick-off of football season. Kelly and I are huge football fans. I've been thinking about the partnerships that I am developing is much like building a football team. There are key positions for everyone to fill, from financial, manufacturing and legal...  to marketing, product strategy and promotion. It's going to take a bunch of great players to create the Big Girl Cocktail Team. But as you can see, for me, even the most unlikely partnerships can be the best ever.



- Cheers to all the great partnerships! Go Redskins!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Action plan is officially in action

So I actually did it, I finished my plan. Several days of sketching, revising and putting goals on a calendar, I think I have an action plan for the next few months, that will pretty much take me as far as I can go with out getting some serious "big girl" help, which = finally calling up my buddies from biz school and bringing on some serious finance, legal and manufacturing power.

It's funny, just a few months ago, I was working on my final project for business school, trying to wrap my brain around such complex subjects and industries that I wasn't familiar with... somehow that now feels like a cake walk compared to what I have laid out for myself. I think it's all do-able... or at least that is what I'm telling myself. I think the "key" is really trying hard to hold myself to daily accountability of knocking out things on my list... really holding strong to the time I have carved out for myself to get this all done, which is hard when I'm trying to balance out the rest of life.. working for my clients, getting my book published.. oh and at some point continuing to plan our wedding. :P

I'm excited that I don't doubt myself about this venture any more. Big Girl Cocktails is a living thing. I see it growing and evolving every day. I get excited with every new success, every new facebook fan and twitter follower we get... with every new comment and email.

I LOVE every new thing that I learn... which considering I'm entering a new industry is a constant.

I LOVE that I'm starting a business, that I have incredible passion and focus for.. I'm having so much FUN, I feel like I'm getting away with something enjoying this experience.

I remember some amazing advice I got from one of the entrepreneurs we interviewed in business school, he said " Sam, the secret to making it in business is.. make a plan and GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY." So, that's what I did.

- Cheers to all the big girls with a plan!


Sunday, August 21, 2011

Growing grassroots in West Hollywood



Continuing off my post from yesterday, Kelly and I headed out to the Sunset Strip Music Festival. It was a blast! It was so cool to enjoy the festival not only as a neighborhood event but for the first time as a community business owner, reaching out to others and talking about future of business in our community.

- Cheers to all the grassroots big girls, rockin it in their community!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Reaching out to my tribes

I participated in a tweet-up earlier this week with Startup Princess. It was on Do it Yourself PRESS/PR. One of the women I follow, Aimee Carmichael @aimee1986 tweeted - "Keep it local supporting the community, offering value, don't just plug your services #startupchat" 

That immediately got me thinking about grassroots strategies - not just for PR but for growing a small business as a whole. Really trying to focus on what I can do myself, with friends, within my circles to grow and make Big Girl Cocktials a part of the those communities. 


As I've mentioned before, I LOVE that "my community" now includes all the wonderful, talented people I've met on twitter, who I chat with daily about entrepreneurship and creativity. Building a company through community interaction also makes me think of one of my favorite professors from USC,  Dave Logan who wrote a great book called Tribal Leadership. You should check it out.  I'm definitely finding myself thinking about my new communities which I now think of as the "tribes" that he refers to in the book. I really believe that by reaching out in a "grassroots" style, to all my tribes... friends, my USC family and people that I've met through social media networks, I'll be able to grow and evolve the company through experiences much richer than if I tried to tackle it all on my own.


My hope is, that through this blog and through my posts and interactions, that people can get to know me.. get to know Big Girl Cocktails and feel connected to what it's all about. I love the thought of my community,  customers and all the tribes that I'm involved with, helping to support this adventure. 


- Cheers to all the supporters of big girls

Thursday, August 18, 2011

exciting day for the designer in me

Besides finishing my logo, a sweet moment for the designer in me, was getting my cards today! I'm not sure this is SUCH a big deal for most entrepreneurs, but I'm a very visual person. As an artist, having a logo and real business cards.. makes this all more real for me. I'm still working on branding ideas along with the 500 other things on the list, but I talked myself into not being such a crazy designer.. (it's very hard for designers to design for themselves).. and make something. So I did. Yeahhh!

I heart them. So excited!

- Cheers to my new "big girl cards"

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Big Girl "Action Plan"

I'm very goal oriented. My life is pretty much organized by the goals I set. It's how I ran marathons, how I got through business school, how I wrote my book... how I handle everything. I need to break something down into small attainable goals.

I've been working the past few weeks on a "GOAL/ACTION PLAN" for Big Girl Cocktails.

I thought it would be a good way to make very long lists more manageable and organized. I thought if I can break down starting up a business, it wouldn't be so overwhelming. HA. Good thought.

Funny, how much my little list for Big Girl Cocktails has grown the more I learn about the industry and all the bits involved with being an entrepreneur. I'm still keeping weekly and monthy goals, but now they are also broken down in categories.. such as Marketing and PR, Finance and Accounting, Strategy, and Manufacturing and Operations. I feel like I'm I'm working on the BIGGEST SCHOOL PROJECT EVER! My grade will be what I actually do with this ADVENTURE.

I find, that now I'm also having to prioritize with in the plan, what can wait - research wise and what do I really need to spend my time now. My big project by the end of the month is to get my company deck done. It will be a simply defined, wonderfully designed business plan. The goal is to have it finished by September when I attend Start Up Princess (our first "Big Girl" conference).

I still think my "ACTION PLAN" is a good idea.. though I may need to add, get partners and help soon.

- Cheers to all the Big Girls with action plans.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our 1st big girl conference!

I signed up for first conference today! I wasn't sure I was ready. I've been going back and forth on how much I should have set with the company before I reach out to more than my own network (friends, family, etc) I found a group called Startup Princess on twitter. I started following them, and found out about a really great conference they host for women entrepreneurs. I'm not particularly ready to go to a conference and really market Big Girl ... but, in pure "Sam Hoey" fashion.... I follow my mantra
 

Never do anything you're actually prepared to do... 

It pushes me to be more, be better. Following it got me through running the marathon, business school and writing my first book. Why would this be any different.

- Cheers to all the big girls who push their limits, 
  who knows what it will get them!

Defining ourselves

A new business challenge - Being prepared to define Big Girl Cocktails.

We were out at one of our favorite local spots last night and and started up a conversation with some people hanging out at the bar. Some how Big Girl Cocktails came up. Instantly one of the girls at the bar, said, Oh cocktails for .. you know.. large women, they drink too! She didn't get it. I politely explained that being a big girl was a state of mind of maturity, grace, being fabulously strong and not about anyone's physical body characteristics; but still she continued with her cause, even going to the point of suggesting  that I re-do my logo, which is too thin, and target the plus sized market. Which may be a sound idea, but not mine. I kindly explained again, my concept is a celebration of womanhood, not one's shape.

I acted like a "big girl" and continued to smile and chat while she continued to not get it and push her idea with me. I'm used to it. It's kind of how people act when they hear I'm getting married. Every one has an opinion and ideas of what that experience should be like.

At the time, I don't really think it bothered me at all. Kelly and I even had a conversion on the way home about being prepared to respond to situations such as that. I appreciated his sweet concern, discussing how to handle those who question something so passionate to me.

But now as it's 2 am and I have entrepreneur-insomnia. Which is funny. I'm annoyed and awake over a complete stranger I just met. But she presented a new challenge for me.

Thou as I was lying in bed , not sleeping and thinking about the situation (or maybe the term brooding over is a better description) How is having to define my company any different than what we all do every day? I'm defining myself constantly as an artist, an mba, an author, an entrepreneur, a fiance, a daughter, a runner, and a friend. Women define themselves as single, as professionals, as moms, as wives as students... as whatever they are.

For those who have their OWN ideas of what big girl is.. this is not that.

What I'm creating is a celebration of mature women, who are so many wonderful things, and who have grown into amazing adults who rise to the occasion with grace, heart and mostly a great sense of humor about it all... as a big girl should.

- Cheers to all the big girls





Sunday, August 14, 2011

The ulitmate big girl glass

My grandmother was such an influence on my life growing up. I regularly bragged that I didn't have a boring old grandma, I had a GRANZ. She was elegant, exciting, fun, beautiful, graceful and incredibly smart. It is wonderful for me, how much she still affects my life now... and how much she continues to influence me. She'd LOVE Big Girl Cocktails. I can hear the ideas flowing from her now.. just as bubbly as the best bottle of champagne.

My Granz had a love affair with glassware. Actually, to say she loved glassware was an understatement... OBSESSION is probably a better word. For her 80th birthday, I found the most beautiful glass, the glass of all cocktail glasses.. only fitting for a Granz.  I bought her THE "big girl" glass. As you can see from the pictures above, she kinda liked it... happily, I think she went nuts over it. Her enthusiasm and excitement for a beautiful glass has spilled over on to my mom, cousins and myself... and is now considered a "family issue"we're all attempting to manage.

Of course THIS was the inspiration behind the Big Girl Cocktail logo.

- Cheers to all the big girls.. and to the biggest girl of all - my Granzie


Saturday, August 13, 2011

About this blog

One of the biggest lessons I learned in business school was the importance of storytelling. I've learned so much from entrepreneurs and leaders who chose to share their stories with me, as well as people I run across online sharing stories on Twitter, Facebook and their own blogs. It's been invaluable to me.

In working on creating Big Girl Cocktails, I realized what an amazing opportunity I have to share the daily process of starting a new venture. How lucky we are in this time of social media to be able to reach out and share this experience from the beginning with friends, colleagues, and our customers. Big Girl Cocktails is a celebration of them. I think it will be such a wonderful experience to interact with everyone as we evolve as a company and share our story along the way.

- Cheers to all the big girls everywhere and our future together.




Friday, August 12, 2011

I'm a Big Girl

At the mature age of 4, I used to go to a restaurant called The Bird Cage for special "big girl" lunches with my grandmother (Granz). I was known to special order my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and chocolate milk, making sure they were made just the way I liked them. Feeling so glamorous and grown up, out for a fancy lunch with my Granz, I don't think my feet could have touched the floor, even if I was big enough at the time for them to do so.

Granz used to call me a "big girl". She asked me to behave like a "big girl", when we'd go shopping for "big girl" dresses, run our "big girl" errands and go for our "big girl" lunches.

My favorites were the "big girl" cocktails I used to get when we returned home after our outings. She'd make me the best Shirley Temples and put them in the fanciest of glasses... and if I was really lucky I'd get some fantastic garnish with a matchy cocktail stirrer. We'd get so excited we'd both clap. I still do that when I'm really, really happy about something. The term "big girl" was reserved for special things, grown up things, things only a mature girl knew how to handle.

Thirty-some years later, I made dear friends with some amazing women in business school. Wouldn't you know, they're "big girls" too. We all put on our "big girl pants" when we have to do something tough or challenging, we wear our hot "big girl" outfits with our "big girl bags" and our "big girl shoes" when we go out on the town. We all share a special affection for a fabulous "Big Girl Cocktail".

Being a "big girl" has always been something to celebrate for me. It exemplified being sophisticated, level headed, having grace under pressure, feminine and tough, determined, fun, and fanciful. It's all those lessons my Granz taught me as a little girl, "To be the best and the most you can be"... that's ALWAYS worth celebrating.

- Cheers to all the big girls