Politics: up close

Politics is something that I have never been too involved with, sadly until the ballot shows up in the mail and I have to go out and vote at the local elementary school gym for election day. However, within the last 8 months or so, I have become close to a conservative group in Montecito. They have interesting speakers and guests come through town and it has opened my eyes to the world of politics and how much this really does affect my day-to-day life as an American citizen. All of that being said, last weekend Congressman David Dreier was in town and came to a lovely home of a good friend of mine. He was raising support for his re-election soon but more than that, talked about the state of CA and our country in this tumultuous time. Other guests at this private event were colleagues of Dreier's such as Dennis Miller, David Lack, and Tony Strickland. Bo Derrick was there too but just as a supporter of thier work in our government. Arnold was rumored to possibly be there but no such showing.





No matter where you stand on policitics, for such a time as this....get involved and form an opinion of your own, more than the news feeds to us blindly. This will benefit us all if we can just understand the key decision makers and what makes them different from all the rest. I am sure I will write more on this topic as the next elections loom ever closer.

Shades of Green

In early April, I hosted a series of events through Smith Barney called Shades of Green. In being green financial advisors, as mentioned before, we had the idea to bring together people across Santa Barbara, on the idea and work of all things green. First I had met Ellen, owner of the green home living store Living Green, a few months ago and knew that this was a good place to start. She was an honored woman in our community and had a new store opening soon also. Then, completely unrelated I met two wonderful women from the Community Environmental Council and the group of us began there. Through all of our business relationships in town and others interested in supporting a good cause, we had over 150 members in the community attend to hear from 8 panelists on everything from organic wine and food to investing, real estate, clothing, transportation, and community involvement.
We felt it was a huge success and hope to hold another series in the fall. If you are interested in being included in the next ones, please leave me a comment and let me know.



Thank you to all the hard work and great connections and planning that went into making this an event that brought out the voice of the locals to unite us on the hope of keeping this beautiful city forever green. In the meantime, take at least one simple step each week to make your life just one shade of green darker!

LA Biz Ladies Meetup

Grace from DesignSponge blog asked me to be apart of this great event. She brings together women in different cities for a one night share-all of ideas, creativity, and encouragement. This was the Los Angeles one..held at the Design Within Reach on Beverly Blvd and women came from all over the city to hear from four speakers: They were store owners, desginers, and famed bloggers themselves. I was also a speaker, thanks to Grace and my friend Raya (Paper Pony blog) for the opportunity.

I spoke to the women about finances, investing, and saving. It was the more left-brained session of the evening but seemed to strike a chord with most of them...whether personally or in business. The importance of having a savvy business sense, before diving into a new company or venture is crucial. One book that I recommended to all is called "On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girls Guide to Personal Finance" by Manisha Thakor. Check it out on Amazon and be ready to take notes and change the way you view money :) I have included a few pictures from this event. As you can see, it was quite a turn out with almost 200 women in attendance!

If you see one of these come to a city near you, I suggest you run, not walk, to get involved with quality and creative women such as the ones I met that night. The inspiration was overwhelming and I hope that I can incorporate more of that into my uninspiring workplace in the business of personal wealth planning...!

Green indulgnces

As a certified 'green' financial advisor, it is interesting to me the stories that come across my desk about all the new innovations in the eco-friendly world. For the average consumer, you can buy things in any variety from hybrid to electric to wind and solar powered now…but what does it all mean?

Today I read an article, possibly from someone playing devil's advocate, but none-the-less aruging that not all carbon offsets are authentic and reliable. It seems that in the area of carbon offsets and buying carbon credits, the wealthy continue to live the way they always have (private jets and multiple drivers)…then pay a hefty price to 'offset' their 'footprint'. The companies that transact this type of business claim to plant trees, convert coal to natural gas, etc. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very honest companies that are actually following through, but unless we hold even these enthusiats accountable, it does nothing more than clean our conscience, and not the environment.

For reliable sources, check out www.climateregistry.com or www.cleanair-coolplanet.org for lists of certified activists that follow through on their promise to you as a consumer and to our fragile planet.

Passion for a change

I would be remiss unless I mentioned the recent passing of a world leader, a woman who stood for what she believed right until the very end. Benazir Bhutto ran Pakistan as she saw it in the future--a place of peace and prosperity--, not how the people and her killers wanted it to be--a place of hatred and violence. A few years ago at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC I had the extreme priviledge of meeting Ms Bhutto and the president of her party, Kasim. She radiated with the promise of democracy in her country that she loved. I am sad to see her life and work cut short but hope that her son can continue her legacy where she left off. Rest in Peace beautiful one.

Pinstripes: Doing well by doing good

I have been interested lately to look seriously into an executive MBA program. This would require me to study and work for a few years in order to complete a Masters degree. Yet in the growing world of specializations, titles, and expertise becoming more important distinguinsh myself, this would be a minor road bump in the journey. Right now, the thought is completely overwhelming….but I think all the while, fully do-able.

There are hundreds of great business schools and thousands more programs that sound interesting to pursue, so I quickly became overwhelmed with the resources and where to begin. Busniess Week website puts out the top ‘B’ schools ('B' read Business) issue every year which is a good place to start. However, a great resource that I have found, which pertains to a more specific area of study that I might choose is a website called Beyond Grey Pinstripes. Fabulous resource pertaining to the idea of ranking business schools based on their social and environmental stewardship, curriculum, and research. Now that sounds fun to me! It will take me a long time to really narrow down what I want to invest my time and study to, but if you are anything like me and this sounds appealing…check it out here: http://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org/index.cfm. If nothing else, you can be learning about something which the corporate world knows little about (by this I mean Social Responsibility), and can add to your knowledge about doing well for both the environment and your career at the same time!

Until that day when I will wear both a pinstripe suit and a backpack in the same outfit (usually a fashion no-no)….happy searching and please share any other resources you might know of with me also.

Its for the kids

There is a non-profit in Santa Barbara called Storyteller Children's Center. It focuses on the homeless and underprivledged children in town, providing them education and nutrition. I have been looking to get involved in something local and this proved, by way of their amazing gala last weekend, to be just the right crowd and cause that I want to give my time to.



Their annual gala was themed ' Snow a go go'...think short silver dresses donned on every guest, blue martinis served from an ice bar, real snow piled up to welcome the guests, and go go dancers with fur lined hats. I rallied my friends to help for the night and we sold lots and lots of raffle tickets, in fact so many that we almost doubled what their fundraising goal was! Woo hooo...nothing better than 'doing it for the kids'!

I will try to find pictures of the 'snow patrol' security guys and the well dressed, young, philanthropic guests that attended...nothing short of the most amazing, fun event I have attended in all my years here. Cheers to the kids~

Apolis Activism Sp08

Friday night proved to be a night for the fashion logs. Apolis Activism, a socially conscious apparel brand, held a party to launch their spring 2008 line. The walls of the venue were lined with humanitarian photos displaying the designers passion for work in Africa and India. The designers are three brothers from Santa Barbara, the oldest of which is my boyfriend, Raan Parton. Apolis revealed thier womens line with luxe knit dresses, linen shorts, long tanks, and shrugs to drool over. The mens line previewed military jackets, graphic tees, cardigans and modern suiting. The spring launch party was held at one of LA's newest and most underground stores, rightly called Secret Service. This area of the Industrial district of downtown LA is transforming into a hot spot of sushi bars, yogurt shops, and upcoming designers alike.

It was a night of good drinks, the long awaited spring preview and many influential members in the fashion world visited as guests. Cheers to Apolis--we are excited to share in the excitement and anticipation of Spring 2008 in stores.

To Poverty in a Prada Purse

Ok, we all know what it is like to have a long, hard day at work and treat ourselves after to a nice, costly purchase. After all we earned it. While this might be true, it is also fact that spending to justify something in our life is a bad habit to get into. As women we know this technique well. Maybe it is to get the purse that others will associate status to…or maybe the new wardrobe that screams corner office. Either way, let’s for a moment put our emotions aside and think about the future.

As a financial advisor, it is common to watch females, more than males, spend themselves into poverty. The here and now seems weightier than a savings account, so before we know it, and many credit card debts later, we have forsaken a basic lesson—save first then live on the rest. It is crucially important to max out all 401k contributions or start a self-employed savings plan, and put away for the future before going out shopping. Your priorities will stay much more in line if you follow these few guidelines:

*Set a budget and get a grip with how much you are saving month to month
*Start small or large with your committment to savings each month, just make sure it becomes a habit
*Plan and follow long term financial goals—and review them regularly
*Limit the number of credit cards
*Contribute to 401k or other retirement accounts with direct deposit so that it is being put away before you have a chance to touch it
*Take the emotional experience of rewarding yourself through spending money and instead find things to do that don’t require money to boost your self esteem (working out, time with friends, read a good book, etc)

Don’t live your life beaten down because you can’t purchase something. Instead, feel good about shopping when you have put aside money to treat yourself. You will never have buyer’s remorse when you have saved the money ahead of time…and believe me, your retirement account will thank you as well.

Naive Idealism

I recently read an article in The New York Times, entitled " Generation Q", written by Thomas L Friedman (author of The World is Flat). He made some comments on the pacifism of Gen X and Y...which is naive idealism, mixed with a surreal outlook on the future of politics, the environment, and peace among our enemies. He claimed that this generation -or two- can also be called 'Generation Quiet'..."more optomistic and idealistic than they should be...so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be". We truly wont understand the inpact of the Baby Boomers until they have used all the Social Security, overpopulated the nursing homes, and left a trail of policitics that no one wants to clean up. I agree with his thoughts that my generation believes in the power of one, the click of a mouse to change policy, but maybe beyond the point for our own good?

If we dont pay attention soon to the state of our nation, global economics, climate change, foreign power players, and the changing face of life as we know it, we will be left behind in a world that wont stop while we catch up. Friedman quotes " American (and the twentysomethings) need a jolt of activism and outgrage". Being in the finance business, and seeing how quickly our world can change with a sneeze from someone in China makes me awakened to this idea. I hope that others in my generation can turn on the heat, stay involved in politics, be well read in world affairs, and take ownership for the US of A before courage and idealism become attributes of the past.

Anyone coming with me?