The End

Until I find work what am I going to do?!  I am not the type of person that can sit still for very long, I don’t do well with having a lot of free time.  So being done with school and currently having no job is doing a number on me.  I’ve had a job since I was fourteen years old!  In an attempt to keep what little sanity I have left I’ve begun to develop a list of things to do in order to keep busy and drum up job prospects.  First I’ve got to get these holidays out the way.  To celebrate my graduation I’m going to treat myself to a trip to New York City.  I also have plans to ring in the New Year in Dallas.  After I return it’s all about networking and applying for jobs.  I don’t want to look up and the recent graduate window has closed.  That’s what happened to me last time; I thought it was more important to get a job than get one that would actually benefit my career.  The bills wait for no one so at that time it was the best decision.  I don’t want to end up in a dead end career field again.  I am also going to join local organizations such as FPRA, PRSA Orlando, and Central FL Urban League.  There are also a few different internships I'm inquiring about.  I've been in Orlando for a few years now and it's time to lay more established roots down if I plan on staying here. I won’t feel so out of work if I give myself a full schedule so I will also be volunteering at several different organizations.  This is also a great networking tool plus something that I’ve wanted to do but between work and school this school I had no time to commit to it.  I’m hoping that I won’t be out of work for long between my recent degree and several job opportunities I’ve seen in the Orlando area I just asking that you pray for me.

Graduation

So here we are, on the cusp of graduation and I can’t help but to freak a bit.  I mean I’m excited it’s such a great accomplishment but things get real, immediately after graduation.  There are no grace periods, no do overs, and no guarantees.  School has been my comfort zone and safety net this year.  Not to mention it helped me regain a confidence in skills I never got to use in the meaningless, glass ceiling jobs I’ve had to get over the years to make ends meet.  I don’t know if I’m ready to face the real world again.  I’ve made myself so comfortable in school, my classmates are some of the best, most talented people I’ve ever met, each one of them has a special skill and such a passion for that skill, and for us all to have to go our separate ways is saddening.

Now, because I’m an optimist I can also look at the bright side to all this.  In a few weeks I will have a Master’s degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University!!  How great is that?  I’m hopeful about the prospects of career opportunities that this school can open for me.  I’m grateful I some how had the finances to go back to school.  I’m thankful that my job was able to work around the ever-changing schedule that the program required.  This year went by so quickly I almost wish I could do it over.  Then I think about finance and law class and quickly change my mind.

So I just really want to thank my classmates and teachers and wish everyone the best in their endeavors.  I look forward to seeing what everyone is going to accomplish in his or her pursuit of happiness.  Well I’m going to finish up this degree and head off into the world of public relations wish me luck!

The Difference in Investors

Since I will more than likely need assistance with my start up cash, it’s very important to look deeper into how Angel investors’ work and other ways I can get the necessary people interested in my business plan. It’s important to know what they look for and what stands out to them. So I have an example of two such investors.

Daymond John was famous long before his spot as an investor on ABC’s Sharktank, he was known in the fashion industry years before his face was recognizable. Nicknamed “ the Godfather of Urban Fashion” he is the founder and CEO of FUBU. In 1998, the company made $350 million in revenue. As an investor, Daymond looks for clients that are good listeners and know their business. All of which is understandable, I understand peoples’ passion for their work especially, if it’s a business they started from the ground up, but when looking for investors you have to be open minded and open to criticism. You can’t expect to reach your companies full potential if you’re stubborn.These are two totally different investors but they do share similarities in the things that they look for in order to invest companies.



Ashton Kutcher is another such investor. I actually didn’t know this about him. I think it is very respectable that he takes the time to look into these developing companies and invest his money in them. I actually found him to be one of the most popular Angel investors. He looks to invest in a lot of tech companies and social media projects.




Ashton got his start as a runway model he then became an actor on “That 70’s Show.” Known mostly for comedic performances, he has since gone on to be one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. As an investor Ashton has staged he looks for six things in a client: problem solvers, good founders, servers crashing, market need and want, fixing a signal to noise issue and trust. These are key for him because he mostly invests in tech companies these are all important components to look into.

Election Time

‘Tis the Season

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year again…election time!  Oh joy!  Have you prepared yourselves for the endless, pointless debates about who is right, who is wrong, and who cares anyway?  There are entirely too many meaningless water cooler conversations where no resolution is met and true colors are exposed during election time.  I’ll spare you my personal opinions on the matter and direct you to the opinions of some celebrities who thought it was a good idea to voice their thoughts and who they intend to back and how that worked out for them. 

The thought is that a good majority of celebrities are liberals and more than likely support democrats but every once and awhile a republican supporter will come forward.  Most recently, Stacey Dash tweeted her support of Mitt Romney.  A decision I’m sure she has got to be second-guessing.  They let her have it on Twitter calling her everything from a “poor beautiful idiot” to  “a sell out.”  I personally watched as her mentions were lit up for hours.  A lot of it was humorous but the things that weren’t were unnecessarily offensive.  She responded on Piers Morgan saying she was “saddened and shocked, really shocked” at all the negativity.  Now that she has been put in the spotlight again she seized the opportunity to release her new music video entitled, “Life of the Party.”  As a PR person I can respect this as the song was originally released in July.  I hope she is able to make the most of the buzz she was able to create.  Also, in what appeared as more of a public breakdown than endorsement Clint Eastwood spoke at the RNC this year in which the focus of his speech was on an invisible President Obama he was debating with.  What seems to have come from that is the speculation that Beyoncé, the queen mother, herself has dropped out of the remake of “A Star is Born” he is slated to be directing.  Great actress or not anything the queen mother touches turns to gold.  She is a big supporter of President Obama having held a fundraiser for him earlier this year.  Is it fair that the republicans are essentially shut down by the masses when stating what they believe while celebs like Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney, and Eva Longoria are praised for being open-minded liberals?

I’m interested in your thoughts let me know what you think should celebrities publicly voice the candidates they intend to vote for or not?  Do you think that helps the candidate?

Celebrity Judges on Talent Shows

Talent Reality Shows

Why have all these celebrities suddenly taken to being judges on these talent shows?  For me and the other people I’ve asked for their opinion, the consensus is the same, their careers are over.  Lets think about it for a moment.  You’ve got Christina Aguilera, CeeLo, Mariah Carey, and Adam Levine telling people if they have what it takes to make in Hollywood or not.  These judges I’m ok with they can actually sing and have had successful careers however with the exception of Adam Levine they have not seen any recent album success.  Christina is a great singer live but I think people are tried of her over singing and her time has come and gone for the pop music she was famous for.  Mariah Carey is an old married lady with babies now and I mean that in the positive sense she has had one of the best careers ever.  The Emancipation of Mimi is one of my personal favorites.  So I think it’s a great thing for her to input what can only be called expertise.  

Celebrity Judges 

Now for the slander here recently they have added Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and Nicki Minaj to the panel of judges on these different shows.  I cannot condone this.  These are not real talents they are from a generation of “artists” that were invented in the studio there is no way as a contestant I would take their criticism seriously as they have yet to display any of their own.  The industry unfortunately has shifted to gimmicks instead of grooming actual talents to entertain.  What I find to be the most hilarious thing ever is Britney Spears is actually a harsh judge.  Does she really thing she can sing??  The lip sync queen.  I guess it’s true what they say about the industry creating delusional individuals with delusions of grandeur.  Don't support shows that contradict their show's own format.  Why not just get experts in the industry that aren't necessarily identifiable?  The show will still be popular.

Staying Local

So here’s the thing…I would like to stay local after graduation.  The majority of my family is here now, and I have made some really great friends since my move here several years ago. I think we can all agree, those are hard to come by.  The problem is Orlando does not have a huge market for entertainment publicists.  A huge part of the reason I decided to come back to school was to pursue exactly what I was interested in.  I don’t want a life of working in fields I care nothing about.  Will I now have to move out of state in order to make that happen?  I have been researching local firms and I’m a little surprised that they don’t have a few more here.  Orlando is strange because, it’s a big, small city.  What I mean by that is, while it seems as though there is a lot going on here, there really isn’t.  So now that I figured what I want to do with my life, I have to find a way to do it where I would like to.  I have found a few firms in the area that I would be interested in.  Icon B is based out of Tampa, which isn’t too far to travel to, they specialize in all the areas that I like.  Mascioli is based out Orlando they offer services for conventions, casinos, arenas, theaters, nightclubs, fairs, festivals, and special events.  That to me has more of a personal feel, which is appealing.  Also, with it being in Orlando a tourist city and Florida a tourist state, it seems like there would always be work.  Buzz Entertainment PR was the final one that stood out to me.  It’s local and they actually had a client list available which showed me that they were directly involved with artist I’m familiar with.  As you can see three is not a lot for what I want to do.  So the challenge becomes, where do I go from here? 

Rich Dad Poor Dad

So this month we have been reading Rich Dad Poor Dad for my finance class.  The further I get into the book, the more I see I have the mindset of poor dad which both humors me and makes me angry.  I see how incredibly easy it is for everyone to have the mindset of poor dad which is educate yourself and work hard in a company for raises and promotions and an occasional bonus.  Living like that you may get to take one good vacation a year then you have to come back and work extra hours to make ends meet at the end of the month and if you have kids forget it.  No vacation. You may just have enough to send them to grandmas for the summer and your vacation becomes one away from them.  What type of life is that?  To those living it I’m sure great but the more I’m learning about finance the better I intend to do.  The book talks about getting a better financial IQ which is something I can now start to work on.  Now a lot of these things I have heard about or understood just never really realized what a disservice I would be doing myself if I don’t become more of a financially risky person.  Not risky in the sense of going to Vegas and betting all my savings on black but in the sense of letting my money work for me through investments and side business ventures.  I want desperately to retire early I hate people and the quicker I can get away from them the better off I’ll be.  I’m kidding of course.  Not really but ok.  Seriously though I want to live a comfortable life in which I can travel when I want without having to come back and stress myself about bills, and I want to be able to do that doing something that I love and be able to retire early.  Work should be optional not mandatory.