Alexa, Joey and I volunteering at the LA Food Bank.
This is a guest post by my good friend, Alexa Brandt. Alexa recently left Step Up Women’s Network (of which I am a huge fan and supporter) to enter Babson’s MBA program in Boston. After four years at Step Up, Alexa has a lot of fans and her farewell email was one of the most inspiring I’ve received in a long time.
Alexa sent her 14 Commandments for Getting Ahead and Career Reflections to friends, coworkers, Step Up members and the countless people who look to her as an endless source of energy, creativity, open heart and desire to make the world a better place. With her permission, I’m reprinting that email here.
And now I give you…
Career Reflections: 14 Commandments for Getting Ahead by Alexa Brandt
During my four years at the national women’s organization Step Up Women’s Network, I had the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the brightest women executives in the country. Upon departing the organization to pursue my MBA, I am eager to share 14 commandments that have helped me get ahead in my career. I hope these tips will provide you with fuel for your professional advancement.
1. Dream jobs do exist. Understand your gifts and search long and hard until you find a role that puts them to good use. I speak from experience and will always be grateful for the phenomenal opportunity I was granted to play a small role in building Step Up Women’s Network into one of the most sought-after women’s networks in the nation.
2. Be an active community member – it pays. Find your cause, organization, or community group and get involved. Inevitably you will feel more connected, learn new skills, and build lasting relationships. Get started at Idealist. Once you find your organization, make friends with the staff and members of the board of directors. These individuals hold the keys to the best volunteer roles and event invitations.
3. Have a great business idea? Secure your web presence by purchasing the domain name for $10 a year at GoDaddy (I personally own seven). Build a free website at Yola.
4. Get connected. Every Friday go through your email inbox and send LinkedIn and Facebook requests to each new contact you have communicated with that week. Learn great insights on developing relationships by subscribing to expert Keith Ferazzi’s newsletter. (more…)
Posted by Sloane Berrent in Music on August 24, 2009 | Comments
Cebu Prisoners Dancing To Michael Jackson.
Hello there friends of the The Causemopolitan!
If you’re a fan of Michael Jackson’s music, you’re going to be a fan of what I am about to share with you. This is my third music mix and I’m really liking using mixable. I might try to venture one month into GarageBand, but in the meantime, this is a good way to get a little music from me to you.
This is a mix by DJ PhilAm and it’s all the MJ packed into 33 minutes you could want. Stream or download it and enjoy:
*Remember if you like the music you hear, support artists by buying their work.*
I’m taking requests for upcoming themes and types of music – if you have anything you’d like to hear me put together or genres to tackle – either leave me a comment or send an email to sloane@thecausemopolitan.com
I visited Smoky Mountain a few weeks ago which is the trash dumping ground for metro Manila here in the Philippines. The actual dump site has been moved three times over the past 30 years, as the sites reached maximum capacity and so the entire Tondo area of Metro Manila is affected by this dumping.
After my visit to the trash dump and slum inside, I and was completely numb and shaken for days after. I was also offline and the following week when I could look at this video on my computer, well, I can remember every emotion I felt that day and it’s hard to share with you, the world. Hard because where do you even begin?
But it’s a crucial story to tell. Poverty is at its worst when children can’t even be in school because they are needed to help earn money for their families to eat. The conditions of this slum were the worst I have ever seen. This video is just a small window into the pain my heart felt seeing children scavenging through trash, covered in mud and dirt, surrounded by mounds of smoldering garbage and others scavenging trying to earn at least $1 a day.
How did I end up there? It’s not-Kiva related, and it was my day off and I went by myself. I can only say my curiosity is insatiable to see first-hand all I can about the poverty that exists in the world and continue to reflect on my place in helping make the world a better place.
One day I heard about it passing from someone I met very briefly, the next day I asked around to my MFI about it (most of them have never been and in fact most Filipinos have never been – people have since been shocked that I went there and went alone). The next day, a really great staff member of ASHI helped set me up with a visit to Young Focus International, which operates a day care center within the dumping ground and could host me for the morning. They have scheduled feedings for the babies who live there and are malnourished and I could help feed the babies and then walk around the dump site.
When I first got to Tondo and the Smoky Mountain trash dump, they gave me (actually require) knee high rain boots to wear, and I wouldn’t have made it very far without those. The trash and muck and dirty water was over ankle-height. I wasn’t wearing socks and the boots were too big and the sweat inside caused a sucking sound with every step and I was sure I’d lose one with every step deeper in the dump.
Upon walking into the area, it hits you like a smack in the face. Garbage trucks passing me one by one with small children in the back already having climbed inside kilometers from the entrance to get a hear start on the scavenging for plastics and bottles, the sound of babies crying, the sight of skin problems and sickness from people as they walked by, the smells of decaying trash, the sounds of crushing and crumpling trash under the wheels of the trucks, the heat and sweat just pouring down your face – the whole thing – I had three immediate thoughts:
1) I really wished the day could end with a hug from a loved one. I’d never felt so far away from the people I loved or so completely alone. This hole just opened inside of me and absolute pain went rushing in from seeing the living conditions there. I wanted to curl up with my sisters in our living room at home and just let it all go. I wished I didn’t want to see this place at the same moment I felt so lucky to be there and be seeing everything with my own eyes. I felt like the world was pushing down on my shoulders and I suddenly ached physically all over. My body just hurt.
2) My immune system is never going to be the same. I had just ended antibiotics from my terrible cough and looking around, thought “my health insurance premium would so go up if they knew I was here.” Literally surrounded by mounds of trash, in the hot Manila and SE Asia sun blasting down, the stench rising, a barge mere feet from me in the very back of site being loaded with trash out to a new dump site on an non-inhabitable island. Back at the day care center holding babies who live there (their parents scavenging) and walking around the slum where 1,500 people live actually in the dump, yes I was sure the bacteria levels there were off the charts.
3) I will never look at trash or consumption the same again. I will never forget that just when you think you know something about poverty, about the conditions people live in, you realize you never will truly know it all. There is always more to learn. The human spirit has the ability to triumph. There is always hope but it has to be matched with action. Kids will always find a way to play and laugh (for I saw a few kids with old tires jumping in and out and having fun and I thought – wow – even in here KIDS ARE KIDS). (more…)
Shells Collected in San Jose, Antique, Philippines. July 2009.
Six months ago today I wrote my first blog post on The Causemopolitan. It’s hard to believe how much life has changed in six months. I have never really reflected here on why I started The Causemopolitan and what is has meant to me these past six months and then what I have in store for the next six months, so I wanted to take the opportunity to do that now.
When I reflect upon The Causemopolitan, there are seven areas I’d like to dive deeper into:
Today’s post, The Why.
Reflections. How this blog has helped shape the last six months.
A list of my favorite posts from the past six months.
Analytics and specifics. What I’ve learned, what I need to focus on.
Lessons learned from starting a blog.
Acknowledgments and inspiration. Who’s helped me out and what blogs I read and am inspired by.
The future of The Causemopolitan and what I’d like to do with the next six months.
I’ve often heard we spend more time planning a vacation than we do our futures and so I wanted to really take some time to think about how The Causemopolitan has grown the last six months and where I’m headed. I’m traveling and more inaccessible than usual (which is saying a lot) and so these posts might not be up until I’m up and connected. But I will prioritize each of them.
I hope you enjoy this little window in the history of The Causemopolitan.
Why The Causemopolitan? I first blogged on LAist back in November 2005 with a post called Brewing Up A Weekend of Art. That’s a long time ago. I had been in Los Angeles one year and wanted to write about all the cool places I went and I read LAist every day and wanted to contribute. That was my first time ever blogging and I loved it. I loved going someplace and then writing something up about it to share with the other people who lived in the same city as me.
My life changed. I started getting comped tickets to music shows and entrance to art opening and soft launches of restaurants and it was a lot of fun. It wasn’t paid (really isn’t it rare when blogging is!) but it was paid with the free and comped items I got and considering I went to about 3 live music shows a week, a museum or gallery on the weekends and endless other activities, I would say LAist saved me thousands of dollars. I became the Lifestyle Editor. LAist had monthly BBQs for all the bloggers and editors, many of them became my good friends. Many of them I’m still in contact with. The blogger for LAist are the most top caliber creative, intelligent, smart, snarky, politically engaged, socially conscious, environmental, community-driven, finger on the pulse with all things Los Angeles people I’ve ever met or had the privilege to work along side of.
I remember a tipping point was when I was at a new bar in downtown LA that I had recently reviewed the opening for (when the downtown scene was just picking up) and these guys were talking about how they heard about the place and one of them said “On LAist, I read it every day.” My head whipped around. It was awesome to hear people talk about LAist and really it IS the best source of information for things happening in Los Angeles. It was then, it is now.
LA seemed more of a home to me because of LAist. I had a community of people that were my friends and peers. I challenged myself to see new neighborhoods and get out and check out different farmer’s markets, different types of food, things I might not have seen were it not for an email from someone at LAist saying, “Hey, check this out!”
One of my (now) really good friends was an LAist groupie, when I met her she at a friend’s party, she was like “Oh my god, I read LAist every day, what are the last few things you’ve blogged about?” It was touching (creepy but touching!) and of course now, years later, we’re good friends and she still reads LAist religiously.
I realized a few things from that experience. I had a voice and I had an eye for finding new spots to go to in LA and I was willing to sit down and write about them. That was a valuable lesson. Honestly, I’d still write for LAist every day if I could, if I had the time. The only reason I stopped was the time. My last job ate up my whole life and I didn’t have time to write at all. So for most of 2008, I wasn’t writing or blogging, I was straight to the bone working.
And I missed it. I missed the outlet. I missed the connection to people with my writing. (more…)
I sent 7 in the first round, 10 in the second, 8 in the third and now 7 more. 32 TOTAL POSTCARDS. That’s a lot of postcards!!!
I’m thrilled to report though that all my “official” ones are complete, and a few family ones thrown in this round too. 32 people donated $100 or more to my fellowship and I hope you’ve been enjoying my postcards coming to you with stories about the Borrowers I’m meeting here, my reflections on microfinance, sharing as much as I can in a small space.
Hey, hang onto those, you never know they might be worth something someday!
Grace Winters and family (hi Chaya!), Wecht Family, Weiner Family, Rattner Family, Trey Shelton, Chris Gammill, Rafiq Manji and Ronan Reodica.
Thank you again to everyone who assisted with my journey to come here to the Philippines. I know it’s coming to an end – the actual physicality of being here – but these experiences will stay with me always. Plus I have so many more pictures and videos to share with everyone that I never got to put up here – I hope that’s ok and you continue to enjoy my posts about my Kiva Fellowship (even after it’s over)!
John Hughes and I had a very close relationship. Sure, he didn’t really know about it, and truthfully, I didn’t think about him much either. Yet, our stories were intertwined from the day I was born and named “SLOANE” and the day he gave the same name to the girlfriend of Ferris Bueller in his epic 80s classic film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Sloane Peterson was the coolest girl around. First of all she snagged Ferris as her boyfriend. Not bad. She put up with all his crazy wackiness, and despite his consistent shenanigans towards everyone around him, he was genuinely sweet on her.
She wore that incredible white leather fringe jacket.
I loved her.
Mia Sara might have played Sloane Peterson in the movie. But I lived with her, the memory of her, and of that role every day.
Secretly, I always worried about the “what if.” Like what if she was a total loser? What if the movie was a dud? What if I was a boy and my parents named me Doogie? That would have been terrible. These are the thoughts I had frequently as a kid.
I knew things about the movie most other people didn’t. And that’s because I was asked throughout my childhood and early adulthood EVERY DAY about the movie.
The biggest thing? Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was made in 1986 – making me older than the film. So my SLOANE came first. I always wanted to ask John Hughes where he got the idea to name the character “Sloane.” I still have hope that I’ll find out, even if he is gone. (more…)
As most of you know who have been reading my blog, it’s been a very busy summer. I have met over 40 Kiva Borrowers, and at least 100 other Ahon sa Hirap. Inc members (more on these final metrics to come!), I’ve traveled around the Philippines to other islands, been connected with amazing change-makers in microfinance and in general loved my time here – both good, bad, in complete poverty and in upscale digs. It’s been a diverse experience to say the least.
I have become friends with a lot of the ASHI staff, and on the weekends where I’m not going off to some island, they invite me to their hometowns, into their villages and never hesitate to include me. As a result, the last month I’ve spent most weekends with my new friends, figuring all those tourist “must-see” sights can wait. I mean how often can I go to a baptism, a town fiesta, a special glimpse into the lives of the people I work alongside with every day?
This weekend was no exception. I hadn’t been to the Laguna Province of the Philippines yet. Em and Herme took me to meet Marie – a branch manager at one of ASHI’s locations there – and also the place where we would be able to stay for the night in Santa Cruz.
Map of Laguna Province in the Philippines
We traveled up to Lilw – the shoe capital of the Philippines. Literally block after block of just shoes! My mom would have died and gone to heaven with the only exception that the sizes go up to about women’s 7 1/2. I mean that’s SMALL! I’m a 8 which is the U.S. is about as average as you can get and a lot of my favorite styles they didn’t have. Shoes ranged from about 100 PHP to 270 PHP ($2-$5). I KNOW RIGHT. If only I knew the shoe size of more of my friends with as small as a child’s!
We visited San Pablo Cathedral in San Pablo City. We went to the Underground Cemetery in Nagcarlan. We fiesta-hopped between two barangays visiting other ASHI staff members and members who welcomed us into their homes, fed us, and provided videoke fun.
There’s much more to do in Laguna – but by Sunday night we were exhausted! We went to branch office to gather our things and head back to Cubao, Quezon City, where ASHI headquarters are and sitting in the branch office all crashed out. (more…)
Many of you have asked me about the bathrooms, the kitchens and the water situation here in the Philippines during my three month Kiva Fellowship. These are two huge topics I encounter every day. I wanted to share with you quick video I made that is a bathroom walk-through from the Laguna Central Branch where I spent this past weekend with other Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. staff members. Each week and weekend, I’m usually at a different branch office for the microfinance institution I’m working for. Each branch has a set of dorm rooms the development officers, account officer and branch manager sleep in and they graciously host me.
(Side note, I could try in some places to find a hotel or hostel to check into, but I realized very early on I gained a lot more information and bonding time when I stayed in the branch with everyone and as such my experience is incredibly authentic).
A few points, I didn’t mention in this video:
* I’ve stayed in places with flushing toilets, but still bucket shower. They’re not always connected in making the switch.
* Even most middle class still have the bucket action going on and no hot water. My friend here’s mom run a hospital in a province and they have a lovely home I was invited to, with tile floor and sturdy walls and TV, but still cold water bucket showers. Occasionally she will heat up some water and mix in into a bucket, but it takes time and so only does it rarely. Moving up to showers and hot water tanks just doesn’t seem to be a priority.
* Having water indoors is a huge step! Many barangay villages I visit to don’t even have that. There is a water pump at the end of the lane and you have to carry the water buckets back to your home for both laundry, cooking and bathing.
* Yes you wear slippers (flipflops) in the shower and since you’re sharing with everyone you have to be considerate and clean up after yourself after.
* It’s not so bad! I mean there are some days I really want a hot shower and when that first bucket of cold water hits, I think “good god I’m pre-coffee or this would feel much more real.” But overall, it’s not always terrible and afterwards I do feel awake and ready to take on the day!
Which got me to thinking. What if cold water showers are actually GOOD for you.
Low and behold, it seems like they are. And who else has happened to write about this than my friend at Slacker Reform. According to Slacker Reform:
There are many health benefits associated with cold showers:
1. Increases blood flow to your organs and circulation throughout your body.
2. Helps eliminate toxins from the body due to increased circulation and contraction of the muscles.
3. Increases your white blood cell count.
4. Boosts your immune system by strengthening mucous membranes.
5. Gives you healthier hair by closing the cuticle in a similar manner to your skin.
6. Gives you better looking skin by constricting the blood vessels and reducing swelling.
7. Makes your body acclimate faster to cold temperatures keeping you warmer.
I simply had to share this compelling, tragic and unforgettable story from a Kiva partner in Srebrenica, Bosnia about a borrower at Zene za Zene who was brave enough to tell her story to Milena Arciszewski, a Kiva Fellow who served her first placement in Bosnia, another in Kenya and is now here in the Philippines at another partner, Community Economic Ventures, Inc.
When I hear stories like this, first-hand, through pictures, videos or words, my heart just aches. The pain that some people experience in this world is fairly unfathomable. We are all more lucky than we could ever imagine.
I don’t usually say this, but please think about a way to give back today. It doesn’t have to be to Kiva. It doesn’t even have to be money – just be kind to a stranger. Do something nice for someone. We need to find more ways to be kind to each other.
Of course…if you wanted to make a loan on Kiva, go ahead. It’s super easy to do you know.
Philippines License Plate, Hamtic, Antique. July 2009.
Amazing, incredulous things seem to happen to me all the time. It’s true. I still call them surprises or coincidences – and to some extent they are. But it’s more than that. It’s more than just willing it so, or sneaking under the radar, or ignoring the rules, or having good karma.
It’s having the universe bend in your favor. Any anyone can do it. You don’t have to be a nomad, no-permanent address, and you don’t have to be an entrepreneur and you don’t have to want to be incredibly extraordinary. That’s not for everyone and there is something deep and true and beautiful with having a loving family and a good job and being really happy with your life the way it is. But maybe you just wish that some of the seemingly good luck that happens to others happened to you.
Here are my six tips to make it so. They work for me. I know they can work for you too.
1. Be Enthusiastic. Having an attitude of gratitude really does go a long way. If you want something in life you have to will it. You have to open a layer in the Universe that is going to taking into consideration your request and to do this you have to be positive. Enthusiasm, a good attitude and sincere excitement goes a long way in this world. If you’re thankful and show it, if you don’t think you can say thank you enough, if you always remember that all the pieces have to fall into place JUST SO, then 100% more wonderful things will happen to you.
2. Be Specific. The Universe doesn’t do well with “Let’s schedule something for sometime.” Or “I’m looking for a job.” Or “I’d love just once to have front row tickets to a game.” You have to say what you want. I know, I know, but what if it DOESN’T HAPPEN? My response? So what. Try something else. The crazy thing though is that when I am specific, what I want happens at a 4:1 ratio. I don’t even realize half the time I’m being specific until after. We can’t be in tune with ourselves all the time. But we can make something a habit, second nature, and then it starts to take care of itself. Treat your request to the Universe like invitations to a party with a specific day or industry or request. I know, it’s a lot of talk about the Universe, but I swear it all works.
3. Follow Up. People will go out of their way for you. It could be simple like an email introduction, or passing along the name of someone they met that you should know or putting together a list of recommendations for a city you’re going to visit, or taking time out to help you with a task. Whatever it is, that is time that could have been spent doing something else. So if someone makes an intro, follow up. Follow up with whom they’ve introduced you to and then follow up with the person you know about how it went. From a Twitter DM, to a quick email to a hand-written thank you note, follow up with people. It makes a HUGE difference.
4. Say Yes. Next obstacle. Ok, so you’ve been enthusiastic and you’ve follow up and now you’ve been asked to do something, meet someone, go somewhere. You have to start saying yes! I know there is traffic and the gym and laundry and the need for downtime. Schedule all of those things too. I’m not suggesting you go around being a YES machine. Don’t ever sacrifice the things you need for you. But more often than not, people get stuck on this point. They had the best of intentions and really wanted to go the distance, but they forgot to say yes.
5. Show Up. Eeks. So you’ve done the other steps, but now you have to hold yourself accountable. That’s tough. Last minute things come up, or you have to go somewhere alone because your friend bailed, or you don’t have directions/know the neighborhood, there is traffic, you’re not sure what’s going to happen, you really just realized you’ve been going-going-going and are desperate for a night at home. You have to realize this is your brain trying to trick you from taking the most important step of all. You have to show up! And you have to show up ready to be enthusiastic and specific and take a look at a situation and own it. That’s a lot to ask. I constantly am exhausted and think next week, next week I’ll do that thing, meet that person, go to that place. But the Universe doesn’t work that way. If you’re given an opportunity you have to take it. Drink coffee, take a power nap, give yourself a pep talk. Then walk out your door and proceed to show up.
6. Return the Favor. Be a giver. Give back. If good things happened to you and you passed it forward and that person passed it forward, think of all the good deeds and Universe-Bending that would be going on. There are many ways you can do this from making introductions of your own to offering those extra tickets you have to this Thursday’s basketball game to a colleague to making a donation to a nonprofit in the name of someone else. Stop and open the door for an elderly woman walking by, pick up the change someone dropped on the ground and hand it back to them, pay for the person behind you in a toll lane! Big or small, being in the habit of giving back is what gives you the heads up to keep doing all the rest of the stuff and making your deepest dreams, aspirations, and goals a reality.
Now get cracking. As my old babysitter used to say, “Time waits for no one.”
