Since the beginning of my career, I have been immersed in the world of kids, tweens and teens and I have loved every minute of it.  For each and every brand I’ve had the pleasure be a part of (JOON included, of course!), I have emerged from those experiences inspired by the young people that I met and by all of the amazing things that they do. As adults and parents, I believe that we, of course. think our kids are all geniuses.  At the same time, I don’t think that we give them the credit that they so oftentimes deserve.

So, I’ve decided to take all of my experiences and stories that I’ve heard and perspective that I’ve gained by spending a good part of my life with kids, tweens and teens and….

write a book!

(this is in addition to my full-time job of running JOON, so it may take a while to complete, but at least I’ve started the journey!  and, that’s what matters, right?)

I went to my first writing class last Monday night with just an idea in my head and was given the daunting exercise of writing the facts of my book (the plot) and the truth of the book (the core meaning of the book).  So, my idea came to life.  I’d never put pen to paper, but after thinking about it for so long, it didn’t take long for me to succinctly write the facts and even the core truth.  I can’t wait to see where this goes and I promise to give you snippets along the way.

I think it’s important for adults and kids alike to constantly evolve and explore different sides of them(our)selves.  Am I a writer, no.  But, I am curious and adventurous by nature.  I see this as just another adventure.

What’s your next adventure?

The other day I was flipping through a magazine – Glamour, I believe -  and I saw a Gap ad  that featured a girl with red hair, freckles and minimal make up.  What a natural beauty, I thought.  It reminded me of a collage that one of our interns did that was filled with amazing vibrant colors and had one quote cut out and pasted that said, “I love my freckles”. And, it got me thinking about what natural beauty truly means.

I rarely blog about our interns because the work that they do is quite evident in everything that we do – from our packaging to our marketing to the names of our products (yes, the girls are naming our new products for 2012!).  But, after seeing that picture, I was reminded of how the idea of “Natural Beauty” – the core of what JOON is about – is manifested not only in the work of our interns, but through the girls themselves.  The writing that they do, the dedication that they have to our Internship Program, the smiles on their faces in the photos that they send.  They truly embody what we’re all about.

When we first started the company, I remember someone asking if we were going to personify JOON, bring her to life.  In essence, make her a character.  We were adamant that JOON remain a silhouette because we wanted her to be  someone that all girls can relate to.  JOON represents the natural beauty within all girls.  JOON is about confidence, inner beauty, making smart choices.  She is not a particular type.  It’s amazing to see JOON come to life in all the girls that we meet every day.  In our interns and the passion that they show, the confidence that they have, their inner and outer beauty.

To all the JOON girls out there…a big thank you for showing the world the power of your natural beauty.

OMG!  This is HILARIOUS!!!  I read this a long time ago, but I archived it…well, just because.  I like to have a good belly-wrenching laugh every once in a while.  Especially being a mom and seeing and hearing the things that we moms see and hear on a daily basis.

Take a read:  http://jezebel.com/momthropology/ and tell us what type of mom you are.  (it’s ok if you don’t identify with any!)

While driving back to the office after a dr’s appt, I listened to an interview of Robert Davis talking about his new book, “Coffee Is Good For You“.  I am always reading articles and studies conducted about personal care products, toxic ingredients, etc.  I’m also very aware of conversations going around about what’s good to eat and what’s bad.  I’ve taken the stance that there’s way too much conflicting information – or just too much information in general – that I believe common sense and moderation should prevail when it comes to making choices for myself and my family.  Also, though the Internet provides us access to a vast amount of information, I think it can also be our worst enemy.  I studied Art History and Spanish in college, went to business school (for a stint), then went on to pursue a career in marketing and advertising.  But, with the democracy of the Internet, I can be an expert in anything that I so choose, without any training or background.  Crazy, right?

What I loved about Robert’s approach to the book is that his findings are not based on snippets of information.  As a layperson, that’s pretty much what we get.  Rather, he has looked at and dissected multiple studies and considered the funding sources of the studies to inform his conclusions.  Here are a few surprising finds/topics covered in his book:

• Coffee is high in antioxidants and there’s hardly any evidence that it’s harmful
• High fructose corn syrup isn’t worse than sugar
• Local food isn’t healthier than food from the supermarket
• The studies on farmed versus wild caught salmon are inconclusive

In the interview, there was a more in-depth discussion about high fructose corn syrup, which I found interesting.  It has been vilified in many articles, as we well know.  And, the food industry has taken measures to remove it from its foods.  However, research doesn’t bear out these findings.  In fact, Robert (I hope he doesn’t mind that we’re on a first name basis!) said that even honey isn’t better for you than table sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  The truth is that all sugars should be eaten in moderation because they’re all equally bad for you in excess.

I haven’t read the book, but the gems of information that I learned from the interview warrant a visit to Amazon.  If you’ve read the book or heard about it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Ta ta for now!

And the boys get super hero stuff.  This is great, especially given all the news about the new book “Cinderella Ate My Daughter” by Peggy Orenstein (another blog post to come about that).  Anyhow, words of wisdom from a little one.  Love it!

It has been years since I came up with a to-do list of sorts for the new year.  A long, long time ago, I had it in my mind that each year, I got a “do over”.  I could start afresh.  I could erase the past year.  A new year, a new me.

I suppose I stopped these lists because it became overwhelming to figure out just who and what this newly re-invented me would be each year.  As I’ve grown older and wiser (I like to think!), I have come to realize that it’s not at all about making drastic changes.  It’s not about forgetting about the past year – the mistakes made, the things I did that I don’t want to repeat, the fashions I experimented with (had to throw that in!).  Rather, I have come to the personal belief that it’s about taking all of those things and learning from them.

My new year is about taking inventory of everything  – and there’s lots.  I’m the co-owner of a new business, so believe me, there were mistakes made.  There were lessons to be learned.  There were also victories.  There were times in 2011 when I wanted to crawl in my bed and just read books FOREVER.  I’m also the mom of two young children.  I don’t want to be a different type of mom; I want to be a better mom.  But doing so requires that I take a long, hard look at the past.  I, like most people on the planet, want to lead a healthier life and lifestyle.  2011 was definitely my year of physical health – duathlon training, Kettlebell classes, lots of running.  But healthy isn’t just about the body, it’s also about the mind, and there I was lacking.  Learning how to achieve this is important to me not just for 2012, but for life.  And, on the fashion front, I have to say that at 38, I’ve finally realized (note:  not FOUND, but realized, my personal style).  The funny thing is that it has been my style since I was a kid, but I never took the time to reflect.

So, 2012 will not be a new me.  It will be the old me, just better.  It will be a build not only on 2011, but on all of the years past.

I found myself experiencing an “awkward” moment the other day and was completely embarrassed by it.  The funny thing is, no one else knew.  Phew, right?  Well, not exactly because that moment still haunts me weeks later.

Here’s what happened…you all know that I’m the Co-Founder/President/VP of Marketing for a natural line of skin care products for young girls.  I am an advocate for healthy living.  I want to be a guiding light for moms of young girls.  This is my passion.  Of course, it’s my business, but I can’t envision doing anything else.  (side note:  when I turned 30, a close friend bought me a session with an astrologer.  Besides telling me that I’m “other-worldly” – so cool, right! – he said, without knowing anything about my professional background, that I’m here to be a voice for others.  I never went back to him because I wasn’t really quite sure about all that stuff, but I never forgot that and it really resonated.  My entire professional career has been devoted to (in ad terms) being a voice of and for the consumer.  Moving on…)

So, here I am sitting in my friend’s living room with her brand new 2 week old foster baby girl and her neighbor who came over for a visit.  Her neighbor brought over lots of new baby stuff.  Included were these plastic bags that you could sterilize your plastic baby bottles in.  What?  Who puts plastic in the microwave?  That was the first of many thoughts running through my head.  She was well-intentioned, but this is a brand spanking new baby and this isn’t really news.  She said something to the effect of “I don’t think you’re supposed to microwave plastic, but whatever.  I have more important things to worry about. And, you can reuse these bags up to 20 times.”  So, she has heard the news.  I was about to speak up, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad.  After all, she is a mom of two young girls who had their bottles microwaved in plastic bags.  It killed me not to say anything.

It was a strange moment to sit there speechless.  I’ve been on national TV, on the local news, quoted in magazines, I write this blog.  I attend conferences.  I have to say that I’m pretty f*(S$^ing vocal.  Why was I silenced in this moment?  It’s funny because I just blogged about being more vocal about controversial topics.  I think the answer is that my objective has never been to make anyone feel guilty about their choices.  She clearly knew and had made a decision for herself.  Was it my place to make her feel bad about that decision?  Words can be very powerful, but so can your actions.  I bought my friend earth friendly onesies, BPA-free bottles, and gave her natural body wash for the new baby’s bath.

I will continue to be a voice, but I will also continue to show my dedication to girls and moms through my every day actions.  I will also not force my beliefs on others.  The conversation is open if you want to join in.  In time, people will come to see…all in due time.

OMG…what does that have to do with the season of giving?  I got lost in thought for a second☺Actually, quite a bit.  As I thought about a gift for our partners at JOON – our retailers, marketing gurus, Interns, everyone who helps us make JOON better each day, that camera came to mind.  I wanted to give something that brings us back to a real connection with people.  I wanted something that would allow us, even if for a moment, to take our minds off the freneticism of our daily grind and focus on something bigger, something better.

So this year, I decided to make a generous donation to The Girl Effect on behalf of everyone who is near and dear to JOON.  (all about The Girl Effect in my next post…if you can’t wait, visit www.thegirleffect.org).

Let’s just call today Too Good to Be Tuesday!  Because we love all of our JOON fans, followers, moms, girls and even those who are just learning about us, we want to honor you for making healthy choices when it comes to your skin.  It is your largest organ, after all!

SAVE 50% OF ALL JOON PRODUCTS THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! (and stay tuned for other great deals throughout the holiday season!)

xoxo