“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” – Albert Einstein

So, what’s going on with me right now?  Craziness – that’s what.  My husband and I are in the middle of a big business deal with our company at 360 Wraps and as VP for the corporation, I have taken on a full time role at the business so that we can all work together to make things happen better and faster.   We are spending many long hours putting things in place and we have found our fair share of roadblocks along the way.   With any big things in business, things often don’t go as smoothly as we’d like and it often feels like an intense mental game.  When I play games, I like to win.  I am competitive and I will spend a lot of time strategizing and formulating plans.  (BTW – I have only played chess once and it was with a guy that was considered to be “pretty good” at the game.  I beat him.  I haven’t played again as I don’t want to ruin my record! haha )  Anyway… so, I just had one of those moments of clarity about an aspect of the deal we are working on and with just a little research I found a critical piece of the puzzle.  I’m proud of myself for not giving up!  As I work through these things at 360 Wraps I will be continuing my radio show, but my TV show is on hold.  I am also continuing with my Beachbody business as it is the best paying and most consistent direct selling business I’ve ever been in and I completely believe in the products, so I wouldn’t give that up.

So, tune in to my radio show, “What’s Your Bottom Line?” Tuesday’s at 2:00pm CST.  If you want to lose weight, feel great, or make a little extra money while getting fit and healthy, let me know and I’ll get you some info on Beachbody.  AND – if you are interested in increasing your own financial bottom line by improving your marketing strategy, consider wrapping your vehicle, updating your website and business cards, adding a professional video to your website, improving your social media presence and skills our team at 360 Wraps is here to help.  We are currently looking for people in the Dallas/Fort Worth market who are ready to take their business to the next level with a clear and concise business marketing plan.

Let’s play and let’s play to WIN!  ~  Angie

Why the heck are you trying to do everything yourself? Didn’t you learn in kindergarten that we are supposed to share?  In fact the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten refreshes our memory very clearly by reminding us we must learn how to share and we are even told that when we go out into the world, we must watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.  So, what happens?  Why are we now insistent on doing it all ourselves?  Was there a merit badge for ‘going it alone’ that I didn’t know about?

It’s time to get back to asking for help, hiring help, borrowing or bartering for help… whatever it takes, GET HELP!  There is absolutely no reason to go it alone. Together we can do more, achieve more, be more, and have more of  __(you fill in the blank)____.

Patooey on that whole competition thing.  That’s sooo 2009.  2010 and beyond is about collaboration.  Be creative and inclusive.  Align yourself with those that compliment you and your mission.   Reach out to those you admire most and who you want to work with.  If you don’t, someone else will.   This isn’t a passing fad, people are starting to ‘get it’ and realizing there really is strength in numbers.  Don’t be left behind.  Get outside yourself and start bringing people together to create something bigger.

Use the buddy system AND while you are at it, share the credit!

“If you want to be incrementally better: Be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better: Be cooperative.”  –Unknown

~Angie

Having just come off a four-day conference with a couple of thousand women – the topic of personal branding is fresh on my mind. I met or talked with at least 200 women over that four days and only a handful of those women made enough of a positive impression on me to matter. Harsh, but true. What did stand out to me is the number of coaches in attendance. If you are one of the many coaches in a room vying for attention and business, then you better find a way to stand out in a positive way.

In taking a look at the business cards I brought home with me, I see that I I met a life coach, business coach, lifestyle coach, branding coach, marking coach, social media coach, financial coach, acting coach, voice coach, meditation coach, spiritual coach, personal development coach, SEO coach and I even talked with a coach who is a coach to coaches. With all of those coaches around, guess the number one question women asked me. “Why don’t you become a coach?” Seriously? Who is left to coach? I’m not a coach and don’t want to be a coach. I do however have a coach and a darn good one at that!

In looking at the plethora of coaches on hand, I had plenty of opportunity to analyze and draw some conclusions. Here are three things from my perspective that are required if you want to stand out from the crowd:

• If you are going to coach someone in a particular area, you better lead by example. For instance, if you are an SEO Coach, then your website SEO grade better rank in the top percentages – or at least higher than those you are pitching. With any smart phone, it is easy to run Website Grader to immediately find out how well a website is performing. If you are a marketing coach, make sure you are up to date on all of the most current marketing trends and have a fully stocked supply of current and compelling marketing materials on hand. If you are a business coach, your resume better showcase your proven successes in the business world and you better be able to demonstrate a high level of business acumen.

• You need to consider what your personal brand/appearance says about you. Ladies, it’s time to take a good look in the mirror – full length mirror! You don’t have to look like a Barbie doll or wear designer labels and expensive jewelry to create a polished look, but you do need to take a little extra time to present a professional image. There are a few things you need to be aware of and correct right now. Number one on my list – pantie lines are unacceptable! Either wear pantyhose, Spanx or a discreet thong, but no more pantie lines. You are seen from the front, side and back. Be aware of that and take a look in the mirror from behind before you walk out the door. Another no-no is chipped nail polish, dirty fingernails or fingernails of varying lengths. Every time you talk, you probably move your hands. If your hands are not clean and neat, the person you are talking with will be distracted and possibly even lose interest in what you are saying. Bottom line – pay attention to the details as they do matter.

• Listen more than you talk. Ask questions, then listen. Be interested, not interesting. Attention spans are at an all-time low. We watch recorded shows in fast motion and skip commercials and we watch short headline news snippets. Even magazine articles are getting shorter and the font is getting bigger. We are used to all things fast, simple and on point. If you ramble on and on, your listener will disengage. They may stand there and appear to be listening, but they may be looking for an escape route. Don’t be the commercial people are wishing they could skip past.

Competition is fierce and you have to find a positive way to stand out in a crowd. From what I see, if you are knowledgeable, polished and professional and able to engage in meaningful conversations, you have an edge on the competition. You need to show up and stand out.

What is surprising about this Saturday?  Well, since my professional life seems to be narrowly focused on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) “Your OWN Show” video audition, you can imagine my surprise is related to the competition. I am surprised by the number of people coming together to dedicate a portion of their day – every day – to vote for me! It’s a humbling experience and also an exhilarating ride in which I am eternally grateful!  Of all the things I have ever done in my life, campaigning for myself is NOT one of them.  I’ve always been the one to lift up others, to promote others, to encourage and shout from the roof tops for others’ causes.  Not now.  Right now it is about ME.  So why would I do this now?  Am I changing?  Am I beocoming self-absorbed?  I asked myself the same question, and then I realized that I haven’t changed my point of view at all.  What I’ve done is realize that through a bigger media platform I will be able to serve others better.   I put on the thinking cap of “What would I do to help promote someone else?” and then apply that to my OWN campaign.

So, here I sit day after day voting, tweeting, Facebooking, and emailing family, friends, and associates asking for their support and reminding them to VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!  I know that getting a show on OWN is a long shot, but I am known to make the long shots.  I also know that the more people who see my audition video the more that will checkout my existing shows and that will help gain more listeners and viewers for my current guests.

There is something bigger out there for me and this is a chance for me to Make a Difference myself!

“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” -Pamela Vaull Starr

I wonder…

Am I on track?

Am I headed in the right direction?

Should I go that way?

What if I don’t go that way?

What if I do?

Where will I go?

What will I learn?

How will I change?

How will I grow?

Will I succeed?

Is it meant to be?

Who will come with me?

Who will stay behind?

Who will I meet?

Who will become my friend?

Who won’t like me?

Do I care?

Should I care?

Am I truly my authentic self?

Is the risk worth it?

What if I don’t take the risk?

How will I know what I missed?

Am I where I’m supposed to be?

I wonder what’s in store for me.

~ Angie Strader

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Your thoughts and comments are welcome!

Every now and then a song comes along that gets me pumped up and this is my current favorite.  I hope you enjoy the song and the video.  Those who know me will so get why I love this song!

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Your thoughts and comments are welcome.  Thank you!

~ Angie

So, yesterday morning I woke up with a slight uneasy feeling about bills.  As I lay in bed going over the month’s bills, feeling pretty sure I had paid everything, I kept having this feeling gnawing at me that made me doubt myself.  I got up, got on my computer and opened my online bank account and it hit me.  Like a sucker punch in the stomach – I saw that an unexpected expense had posted to my account and it was big!  That uneasy feeling quickly became panic.  I hope you don’t know the feeling I’m talking about, but unfortunately more people can probably relate to that feeling than we’d like to admit.   Anyway, at that point I let the emotions take hold – kind of like a vice grip around my heart – and I broke down.  Yep, I had my own little Pitty Party with tears, stomping my feet and even pounding my fist.  I was angry with the situation.  With everything I have going on, I really didn’t need another thing to have to take care of and fix.  I just let it all out at the kitchen table.  And then I said a prayer.  A loud and clear prayer asking God for help.  I needed strength and understanding.  I needed energy and focus.  I did the whole, “We are good people.  We work hard, we give back to others, we try our best…., please God give us a break.”  The break I was referring to was to just relieve a little of the stress we are under with everything that revolves around running several businesses.

I am a firm believer that a good cry is often times the best therapy there is.  As soon as I let it all out, I felt okay and I felt ready to take care of things.  I literally wiped my face, sat up and squared my shoulders as if to say, okay Life, I’m ready, let’s go!  I then got out my little To-Do list (okay, it’s not so little, but probably not as big as Oprah’s) and I started digging in.  First thing at hand, I needed to find out some information about my stock investments.  Fortunately, I have invested wisely in GMCR and that stock is fairing so much better than everything else – and that is always good news in today’s economy.  I went into my office and starting digging through a stack of stock related things I haven’t got around to properly filing.  As I’m digging around, I pull it out a very official looking piece of paper that I didn’t remember having.  As I look at it, I realize it is a stock certificate that I forgot I had.  I received it exactly one year ago today, April 21, 2009.   Upon further inspection and looking up that stock’s value, that one piece of paper signifies a whole lot of money – and I mean BIG!  As my daughter refers to it, it’s like someone’s annual salary big!

Does God answer prayers?  Yes!

Something to consider here is that that I have had that certificate for a year.  It has been tucked away in a stack of stuff that I intended to file “someday,”  and it was right there at my finger tips all this time.  Why didn’t I remember it?  Why did I get that envelope a year ago, peek inside and set it aside to “deal with” later?  Who knows.  I think it’s because it wasn’t the right time for us to have it.  There is something to be said for working hard for every penny and not having a soft safety net available.  You work harder, you save more, and you don’t give up – at least Tommy and I don’t.  When money gets tight, and it does, we remind each other we are on the right track and we cannot give up.  We know that we know that we are right where we are supposed to be and because of that, we won’t fail.  God will provide and he did!

Not all prayers are answered so obviously.  Sometimes they are so subtle that they go unnoticed.  Sometimes prayers are answered through little sequences of events and other times they are answered in grand ways.  I am not so worried about how my prayers are answered – what I do know is that they are answered and I am at peace once again knowing that for sure.

You know what went into my Gratitude Journal last night!

Many blessings to you my friend!

~ Angie

“I always knew I would be successful. So there was no element of surprise.” – Aisyawarya Rai

Go ahead – Be Feisty Today!

~ Angie

“Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it.” - Bill Bradley

Together Everyone Achieves More

Whether you are on a work related team, a sports team or working as a team in parenting – good solid teamwork is key to success.  We all have individual talent and skills we bring to a team and when everyone’s effort and abilities are combined, the team achieves the goal.

Are you a good team player?  How can you be better?  Who do you take for granted on your team?  Who on your team can you thank today?

I am grateful for my husband, Tommy.  He is my teammate and soul mate.  We work together and push ourselves to do more, achieve more and give back more.  When one of us is down, the other carries the load.  When we reach our goals, we make sure we take time to celebrate – and boy do we celebrate!

Happy Tuesday!

~ Angie

Enjoy the ride!

Over the years, I have read many inspiring articles and books on how to attain the perfect balance between my personal (family) and professional (work) life.  I say they are inspiring because after reading through them, I get all excited with a renewed sense of determination that if I just use the tips, tricks and systems – I too can achieve that place of balance.  I envision it to be like all of the planets aligning just right, the clouds will part and the sun will shine brightly down right on me and I’ll hear trumpets!  Guess what?  It doesn’t happen.  I may get brief glimpses of that perfect world, but overall instead of living in a world of balance, I find my life is more like a teeter-totter.  And I find that a teeter totter is not so bad.

Think about being a kid at recess… Wasn’t the teeter-totter one of the most popular pieces of equipment on the playground?  There is a thrill in the going up and down.  And remember, what goes up, does come down.  So, I have accepted the fact that there will be times when my career is going to require a tremendous amount of my time and focus and that just means I must prioritize things at home so that the most important is taken care of.  The same applies when my I’m focusing on my personal life.

I have also found that the teeter-totter can go up and down several times a day or it can even get stuck in one position for a long time.  Either way, I remember that what goes up, must come down and to enjoy the ride along the way!

Oh, and that other piece of playground equipment – the merry go round – well, that will be part two coming soon.