New Year is Almost Here

We are two and a half days to 2014. Yep, seriously. I posted this image recently on my Facebook page. I think it's a very appropriate statement for 2014.

Image by Anne Taintor.

I also posted another one telling 2013 thank you for all the lessons and that I'm ready for 2014. I am. I think 2013 taught me its fair share of lessons and I'm done. I know what I want for 2014 and I'm going to go for it.

This was an amazing year, with the good, the bad, and the ugly. I took a HUGE leap of faith in May when I left the Chronicle. I like to think that in the words of Brene Brown I "dared greatly." I did what she says, "What's worth doing even if you fail?" I say this because I did it all on faith without any idea if this would work.

I am building my new business Casares Communications, that has evolved into a media rep company, and I am working on my writing.

I would love to say that I am writing full time but then that wouldn't be realistic either. I have to do something to make money to pay my bills and to take care of my children and I love the freedom of owning my own company and creating my own revenue.

So for the past six months and really more so in the last three months, I have been working on building a business where I can make money but that also gives me the freedom to be here for my kids, my dad and my writing, in that order.

One of my goals for 2014 is to make that business a real success and to make it profitable. I'm not asking to be a millionaire. All I want is to make enough money to cover my expenses, to feed my kids and to pay for my health insurance.

Another thing I did in 2013 was take a wonderful one week vacation with my kids. We went to Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York. It was a great experience they won't easily forget.

At the end of 2013 I tackled my novel again. I hired a wonderful editor who has been helping me edit it in order to get it ready for electronic publication. This is a novel that I started working on in 1996 and that I finished around 2005. Yes, eight years ago approximately. I finished it and then it just sat there forever. I was so excited to find someone as passionate about it as I was and so willing to edit it with me. I am forever in debt to her for encouraging me to do this, just by her interest. That in itself encouraged me so much.

So 2013, you've been good to me in many ways. Thank you for the freedom that I have had to spend time with the kids and with my father. Thank you for the courage to leave my job of 16 years for freedom. I feel like my mind has been freed in so many ways.

And thank you for the lessons. For the lessons in patience, forgiveness and letting go. I have another image by Kelly Rae Roberts that I love and I have to share here. This is me. I have to learn to just let it go.

 

An ex co-worker and one time teammate passed away last Monday, right as we drew near to the end of 2013. She lived life so richly and so fully. She was so ambitious and she reached for her professional goals, while still having fun and finding love again. I want to remember that about her. She lost her life at only 47 and it reminded me of my sister losing her life to cancer at only 42.

 

Ironically, I worked with Janice at the time that my sister was diagnosed and was going through chemotherapy. That was the first time that I had an "Aha" moment in my life and the first time that I left the Chronicle. Now that Janice passed away I remembered Hilda. It was a reminder that we must live life to its fullest and with no regrets.

 

That's what 2014 is going to be about. Letting go, having no regrets, living fully, writing novels and making my business profitable. Everything else will fall into place.

I Deserve a Vacation Too

It is no secret that since I stopped working at the Chronicle I haven't really stopped working. This week I signed three agreements to start working with the P & G Orgullosa Project for MECA Houston, Blog Elevated, and a Spanish magazine. I also sent a proposal to another magazine. Yes, I'm excited! But I haven't had much of a vacation.

Image borrowed from 7 Geese

Sure, I've had the flexibility and that's been great. I can go have lunch with my dad in the middle of the day any time. I can pick up my son from school and my daughter from the bus stop without many issues. But really time off, no, not really. Every morning I wake up at 6:40, take the kids to school and I come home and stay up all day. Although I did sleep one day when I was feeling sick. One day out of five weeks.

So today after making a few calls I am officially on vacation for the next 3.5 days!! I'm off to my refuge with the children. Although my niece Hannah says it's not really a refuge because I don't work a 9-5 job. She said it's more of a refuge from a refuge which is similar to a date after a date. Terms she's made up but I get what she's saying. It would seem that way to most people.

They're probably asking, "How can she be taking a vacation when she doesn't even work?" Well, my kids haven't had a vacation. They've been going to school every day, so this is really a vacation for them. It's the celebration of school being out for summer.

Today is the kids' last day of school. I'm picking them both up at their schools, taking them for a treat and then buying Seth and I sandals for the beach.

Tonight I'm packing us for our mini-vacation and tomorrow we are off to start our adventure. I'll be sitting on the beach with a cocktail in my hand. Most likely a cranberry vodka kind of cocktail.  Casares Communications will be closed until Monday. Catch y'all when I get back!

Because "Life is What Happens..."

Around 26 years ago I was a seventeen year old girl on a flight to Los Angeles with my parents. We had to connect in Dallas to get to LAX and we were flying non-rev on my sister's tickets. They couldn't seat us all together on that leg of the flight so my parents sent me off to sit by myself and I sat next to a young business man on the very last row.

Image borrowed from Jacob Morgan

I don't remember how we struck up a conversation but we talked the entire flight. We talked and we laughed until someone on one of the rows in front of us shushed us, which of course made us giggle even more. He was the perfect flight companion and you're probably wondering if he asked me for my number or if we ever saw one another again. The problem was I was 17 and he was probably around 27 or 30 and no, he was never inappropriate in any way. And yes he was very handsome.

I was telling my sisters and my dad this story last weekend and there was a funny part to the story that I don't remember that often. We talked about me speaking, reading and writing Spanish fluently and also that I was studying it in school. I was taking Spanish IV my senior year. He asked me if I could translate a business brochure for him. It was just a small 8.5 x 11 tri-fold about some optical equipment. I can't remember if he gave it to me then or if he mailed it to me, but the point is that I did. I translated it for him and then had my Spanish teacher proof it for me. In the age before fax machines and email I put it in the mail and sent it back to him. He then mailed me a check for $50 or $100. I can't remember the exact amount.

The funny part of this story is what I was doing at such a young age. I was selling my services while striking up a rapport with this guy. I wish I could remember his name just to send him a note saying hello. All I remember is that he had something to do with the optical business and that he lived in Arlington, TX. I should have known then that I had a future in sales. "Life is what happens," and apparently it's what's been happening since I was 17.

This was just the first step in many other interesting twists and turns that my life would take. From choosing Waltrip High School IB instead of HSPVA for creative writing when I was in 8th grade, to taking 3 more years of Spanish in high school and one year of French. Later switching from wanting to be a journalist to selling advertising when I was a freshman in college, to presenting the new product we were selling called La Voz the year I was an intern at the Chronicle, on to my many many experiences that have led up to who I am now. Every decision I made added more to my experience.

The past two weeks have been extremely interesting and full of serendipity. I never imagined that all I had to do was say that I was open for business and that this many people would reach out to me. I realize it's still early in the game, and not all the calls will turn into business, but it's nice to know that the possibility is there.

I have a feeling that when I'm ready to give Casares Communications my 100% I will be successful. I've spent the last twenty years selling someone else's product and I know that if I can sell them I can sell me, the product I know and trust the most.

For now I'm sticking to my plan to stay free this summer. I'm taking only a few select projects so I can have the time to spend with my kids, my dad and my house. But come August I will be in business full time so watch out!

Leap Fearlessly and Dare Greatly

Remember how it feels when you jump wildly into a cold pool or into a lake? Have you ever done that? When you do it you are leaping fearlessly into the unknown, especially if it's a lake. That is how I feel right now. I feel like I just took a fearless leap with my eyes closed.

From Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly

 

When I started thinking about leaving my job of sixteen plus years at the Houston Chronicle I couldn't stop. It was like this idea had just overtaken my mind and every time I tried to get it out of there I found myself doing other things instead. I was writing a Pros and Cons list. I was doing a budget. I was checking to see how much money I had in my savings. I was researching insurance. I knew then that I was going to do this.

I love the Houston Chronicle. Don't get me wrong. I learned A LOT during my years there and I still love what they do. I love that they put out a newspaper every day and that the entire city reads it at the same time. There's something magical about being a part of that for sixteen years.

But something else had happened and it wasn't just the Chronicle. It was me too. I was becoming steadily dissatisfied with my job. It was like a bad marriage where it wasn't just one person. It was both of us. I tried changing positions, thinking that maybe I could spice things up. But the truth of the matter was that there was nothing either one of us could do any more.

I applied at a couple of different places over the last few years, thinking that maybe a change of scenery would do me good. A few months ago I applied at a local organization that I really love and admire. I thought that it would be the perfect fit but unfortunately they didn't hire me.

It was after this last job interview that I told myself that I should just leap. I started listening to Brené Brown and her TED talks. I realized that the only way to really be true to myself and to have self-worth was to leap and to leap fearlessly.

I'm actually quoting Kelly Rae Roberts here too because she's the one who has this beautiful print on a frame that says "Leap Fearlessly." I gave it to my best friend when she got divorced and bought her first house a couple of years ago.

So here I am. Today is the first day of my freedom. I was talking to someone about my big step this morning and I realized something. I realized that when I was applying at another organization to get hired away from the Chronicle it was like I was waiting to get saved. And why? Why was I waiting for someone to come and save me when I could save myself?

That's what I've done! I have gone and saved myself and I have big plans this summer. I will be a stay at home mom with the children for the first time in both their lives. I will be available to have my dad come stay with me for a couple of days a week. Most importantly, I'm WRITING and I'm going to do some much much needed remodeling to my house. Finally, I'm launching Casares Communications part time. I say part-time but people are contacting me already about my services. I'm excited about the opportunities that will come my way!

I know it's a lot for the summer but I feel good about my choice. I feel like for the first time in a long time I'm in charge of my future and it's a good feeling. I'm glad that I took this fearless leap and I'm looking forward to this next chapter of my life.