November 2014 archive

Motivation Monday: University of Alabama graduate and designer Smith Sinrod talks fashion, rejection and Southern grits

Inspired by architecture and art deco, designer Smith Sinrod likes to work with Thai silk, vibrant colors and bold patterns to give a spin on classic looks. Photo credo: Special.

Inspired by architecture and art deco, designer Smith Sinrod, 28, likes to work with Thai silk, vibrant colors and bold patterns to give a spin on classic looks. Photo by: Chanda Temple.

By Chanda Temple

When starting your own business, you can’t be afraid to hear the negative feedback because it’s bound to come.

It happened early in the career of clothing designer Smith Sinrod. She was at her first trade show when a woman walked by and said, “Eeew, look at that.” The woman didn’t know Sinrod was the designer.

The comment hurt so much that Sinrod wondered, “Gosh, should I be doing this?” But Sinrod recovered, telling herself that for every 10 nos the one yes she gets will make it all worth it.

“People are very opinionated. I’ve heard it all,” she says. “I think it’s important to have a little criticism. That’s the only way to evolve.”

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Be thankful for the little things

Thanksgiving

Thank God for everything, even the small things in life. Photo via Flickr/Creative Commons.

By Chanda Temple

Tonight as I worked on a blog post, I couldn’t figure out how to size a certain photo. I kept trying and nothing worked. Then all of a sudden, something appeared on my computer screen. It was just what I needed to fix the problem.

I then looked up and thanked God. He made it possible.

Right after I did that, I remembered my pastor’s message from this morning: In All Things, Give Thanks. Citing Matthew 14:15-21, my pastor gave us five ways on how to give thanks. With this being Thanksgiving week, I thought it would be a good time to share them.

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Birmingham loves Bud’s Best Cookies

Bud's Best Cookies, based in Birmingham, Ala., has 17 products. Its vanilla wafers are the companies top cookie. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

Bud’s Best Cookies, based in Birmingham, Ala., has 17 products. Its vanilla wafers are the companies top cookie. People like eating them right out of the box or in a banana pudding. At least five Birmingham-area restaurants use the cookies in their banana pudding recipe. Photo by Chanda Temple.

By Chanda Temple

One of the best parts of a banana pudding is a sweet, fresh wafer that holds up to the custard. In Birmingham, Ala., people have found just the right cookie in the vanilla wafers by Bud’s Best Cookies.

Birmingham-area restaurants know this, too, which is why places such as Dreamland Bar-B-Que, Ragtime Cafe, Magnolia Cafe, Irondale Cafe and Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q all use the Bud’s Best Cookies wafers in their banana pudding recipes.

“I like them because they are small, they are not burnt, they are baked local, and they are fresh,” says Rennae Wheat, one of the owners of Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Cahaba Heights, Alabama. “They are just right.”

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Head to Market Noel This Weekend in Birmingham, Alabama

The Junior League of Birmingham's Market Noel is always a fun event.

The Junior League of Birmingham’s Market Noel is always a fun event.

By Chanda Temple

‘Tis the season for giving and the Junior League of Birmingham has a way you can do that and help more than 30 community organizations this weekend.

For the sixth year, the Junior League of Birmingham will present its Market Noel at Cahaba Grand Conference Center, 3660 Grandview Parkway. General admission shopping takes place Friday, Nov. 21 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than 90 vendors will be on hand to meet all of your holiday shopping needs over the weekend. Go here for a list of vendors. 

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9 ways to make a sales call

Is your sales pitch strong enough to get potential clients through the door? Image via Flickr/Creative Commons.

Is your sales pitch strong enough to get potential clients through the door?
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons.

By Chanda Temple

For the last three weeks, business expert and social media guru Melinda Emerson has been hosting webinars on how to improve your sales game. I’m not in the sales industry, but tips from the webinars can be applied to any industry, including public relations.

Today’s post includes Emerson’s nine tips on how to make a sales call. If you like these tips, she has two more FREE webinars. They will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 and Thursday, Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. EST. Visit http://www.getsales14.com for details. Her webinar co-host is Jeffery Gitomer and he’s just as awesome as Emerson.

1. How to make a bold call

Call someone you’ve already met. Cold calling does not work. Do your homework. Use LinkedIn to look for info to connect. Look at your contacts’ volunteer interests to discover their passions. It can help with your conversation. People give their time and money to things they care about.

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Happy Veterans Day: Alabama Veteran Noah Galloway Makes Cover of Men’s Health Magazine

Disabled veteran Noah Galloway of Alabaster, Ala. appears on the cover of the November issue of Men's Health. Image courtesy Men's Health.

Disabled veteran Noah Galloway of Alabaster, Ala. lost his right leg and arm in a 2005 roadside bomb while serving in the Army in Iraq. Image courtesy Men’s Health.

By Chanda Temple

In October, Noah Galloway sat on the Today Show set waiting to see if he had won a national contest to appear on the November cover of Men’s Health magazine.

When it was announced that he was the winner, Galloway smiled. But when Galloway returned to his hotel room, doubt settled in. He thought the other two finalists, also appearing on live television with him, should have won. Then he wondered if he won because he was a disabled veteran. (He lost his right leg and arm in a 2005 roadside bomb while serving in the Army in Iraq. He went through a period of depression and heavy drinking before he used exercise to get a new take on life. He shared his story in his quest to win. More than 400,000 readers cast votes in the contest, which had nearly 1,300 entries. Galloway made it to the Top 3.)

“There was that moment, ‘Oh crap! I don’t deserve this,” Galloway recalled the way he felt after winning. But Men’s Health assured him that he was the right winner and there was no special treatment. “Finny (Akers), one of the other contestants, called me and congratulated me. He was like, ‘You earned this and you have every right to be happy about it.’ ”

Said Galloway:  “Now I’m taking it all in. It’s been an incredible ride.’’

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Motivation Monday: What would you do if you lost an eye?

Kenisha Shamburger Photo by Handy Media Photography

Kenisha Shamburger Photo by Handy Photo Media

By Chanda Temple

Picture this: You’ve just pulled out of your driveway and you’re headed to work. On the way, you hit a patch of black ice and your car goes zooming into a ravine. You hit a tree, head on.

The airbag deploys and you walk away – without a drop of blood on you. Minus a swollen right eye, you think things are good.

But future doctor examinations will reveal something else: You have high pressure in your eye, which threatens the life of your right eye. Your vision is touch and go. You develop glaucoma and later have a cornea transplant and then an eye transplant. Two years after all of that, your eyelid begins to droop. What would you do?

For Kenisha Shamburger, all she could do was lean on her faith.

“For a long time, I couldn’t read or watch TV. Things were blurred and I couldn’t see,” she said of what she experienced before the eye transplant. “I would literally have to sit in bed and talk to myself, saying, ‘You will not die. You will not quit.’ ’’

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