Sneak Peek! 2015 Green Couch Session

What you see is what you get because of hard work and big hearts. While The Green Couch may be a young and small project with a large outreach, it still takes many hands to make these inspirational sessions happen.

Today we are so proud to give you a sneak peek into some of the people that sat with us and a new app we used to make The Green Couch reach more and do more good on September 15^th,,.

While two guys who represent Digital Bard - but we’ve adopted as part of our team - set up and shoot all the scenes you see, we decided to introduce the world to live footage. Whether it’s three minutes or fifteen minutes long, we gave you a glimpse of a risk-taker’s gutsy through Twitter’s Periscope. The app that lets you discover life through the eyes of someone else…all from a phone. And since the one filming was scoping a Green Couch session, we all were discovering life through the eyes of someone else…

The great thing about Periscope is that if you didn’t catch it live, you can catch it later on our YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenCouchProject

So we challenge you to not just be inspired but to really be part of the Project. And even though the videos may be not be part of the Periscope archive anymore, follow our periscope account because we will still be scoping live inspirational!

Project: How to Be Creative In a Corporate World

It is easy to lose sight of "you" in a universal system. Even in the name of solidarity, there has to be a way to find a way to capture a sense of solitary refinement; a way to create a space that is singularly yours.

Here’s how we get in touch with our space and add a touch of our taste:

• Color: We are in love with Poppin: now this is a company with an array of bold colors. Their vast supply of office accouterments can help liven up many sections of any office – both on the go, in or on the desk, supply closet and even actual furniture pieces.

• Casual Fridays (or Fiesta Fridays): While some may be finding it hard to shake off Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off, sometimes you need to shake off the stress and start off the weekend early. De-stressing at work and ensuring that you’ve established an ambiance that encourages friendship, communication and a little bit of liberation can be found in creative business clothes and some zesty food!

• Extracurricular Activities: Who said your co-workers cannot be friends? Whether it is 5ks or soup kitchen volunteerism, it is important to strengthen your relationship and build more than your company community. You are a leader in your neighborhood; respected and admired - when you step outside of the concrete walls, explore the avenues to find additional ways to be a resource. It will feel amazing to be seen as a team and feel awesome to work as a team.

• Wall Art: Whether it is post-it notes, whiteboards or chalk drawings, our hero’s quotes are the fuel to our emotional and mental fires. It can be a satisfied client, a historic fictitious character or esteemed politician or poet. Daily reading of positive words is like a personal testament to our struggles or our success similar to displaying a trophy for all to see.

Sometimes you just need to see a little bit outside of your space. Just like fine dining and acquiring new tastes, explore ideas outside of your own cubicle and see what you can find around your own box. Think what could compliment your style and take baby steps towards that goal and go beyond.

The corporate world is a necessary place - it keeps us aligned, but it is the dotted lines that tell us where we can cut, and we all like to keep a pair a scissors handy, do we not? (Good thing Poppin sells them, eh?) So find your dotted line, get creative, cut it and show off your personality in your workspace!

-The Green Couch

Project: Hello My Name Is…

Networking with fellow entrepreneurs is the only way you can get out of the garage. Last week we learned how people like Walt Disney and the creator of Yankee Candle made it big. Little Mike made a candle, and you know how his little light shined? His neighbor saw him and thus his business boomed.

Stage fright lasts only for a few seconds and once you find a way to swallow the frog in your throat you find a way to talk about your passion, about your product or services you will be able to allow your shoulders to loosen.

Here are a few ways how you can begin to network and next week we’ll discuss where you can begin to network.

#1 Stand Up

Begin by introducing yourself and remembering names. When someone introduces himself or herself to you, make sure you catch their name and reiterate it – shake their hand and say their name back to them. Give them a nod and use their name several times during the conversation.  

#2 Follow Up

Exchange business cards and date your new business clients. You do not have to wait three days. You do not have to wait for them to email you first. When you get back to the office, get settled in and  send them a quick but quality filled email. You know, something that sparks conversation and picks up where you might have left off; this shows you listened, heard and processed their information.

#3 Keep Up

Business days are Monday through Friday; there are five of them. Try to not let five of them go between non-essential conversations or meetings. Whether clients or confidants it is important to value the time of others and to earn the respect of your colleagues.

#4 Show Up

Let’s admit it, attending events – informal, creative cocktail, backyard BBQ or black tie formal – at times can be self-serving. Who doesn’t like a good dining in or out experience? More importantly this is great face time - to circulate with established friends, business acquaintances and make new friends (but keep the old!).

#5 Grow Up

Embrace new ideas. Some of those new friends you meet may spark a conversation and bring you back to #1 Stand Up. When you combine all these 5 steps you can magnify the outreach and create a bigger boom for your business. Through networking you get in the know. Moreover, you grow upwards, generate interest, produce fiscal numbers, impact your community and help residents.

How to go about it? We’ve covered that.

What next? Take one step a time to go from local to regional. Check back next week to see how to get there.

-The Green Couch