Join me today as I kick off the blog tour for Jennifer Lee's new book: Building Your Business the Right Brain Way: Sustainable Success for the Creative Entrepreneur.

This is the first stop on the tour and I'm delighted to share this chat with you. Whether you are a small business owner, a writer, or simply someone who wants to be inspired, you will get something from this interview.

Jenn talks about the importance of creating sustainable practices in your business, the writing process, and the power of embracing ease.

Link to the Right Brainers in Business Video Summit (Upgrade ends on April 23)

The next stop on the tour is tomorrow (April 22nd) on Jennifer Hewett's blog where she shares a review of Jenn's book.

There are 20 other stops on this tour. Check out the schedule.

For more information about Jennifer Lee, visit her website and take a look at the wonderful offerings and the various ways you can work with her. Trust me, it will change your life.

And of course I'm giving away a copy of Jenn's new book. Leave a comment below sharing one of your take aways from the interview before Monday 28th, to be entered. Want to double your chances to win? Tweet this blog post using the hashtags #rbbiz and #givinghandscreative

On day 4 of the summit, Jenn interviewed Megan Auman (Designing an MBA) and they talked about pricing for profit and letting go of perfectionism. It was a fast-paced, hard hitting interview with a ton of information packed in. This is one of the ones I'll be watching on the reply two or three times.

I got some amazing insights from Megan about allowing time for your business to grow. And, like always, I received some wonderful validation that my way of working (putting in a lot of hours when you want to and taking time off when you need to) is not strange or odd (hint: Megan works like that too).

Megan's no nonsense style is definitely one I'm loving and if her online classes are the same, I can only imagine how inspired her students must feel.

Then we got to see Jenn chat with Sarah Stevenson (creator of Create Explore Discover). You all remember Sarah from the Mixed Media Inspiration Deck Blog Hop, right? She created a lovely piece using the deck.  In my blog post about Sarah I mentioned how I'm super inspired by the work she does in her art, her photography, and her business. She really does rock and the spotlight was amazing because not only did she talk about the upcoming Create Explore Discover retreat, she demonstrated what it means to be a mom and a business owner. It was a fascinating time.

Day 5 left me on a mission to incorporate MORE self-care and compassion towards self into my daily routine. Vivienne is the creator of Be Your Own Beloved -- a self-portraiture course designed to help you see yourself with kindness. She talked about how she came to create the class that has since become a revolution (my word, not hers). I just fell in love with her and can't wait to have my photo taken by her later this year as a "Shooting Star" in Jenn's mentorship circle.

Next we got to meet Bindi Shah -- which was perfect since we were already talking about self-care and compassion -- that's Bindi's specialty. Her meditations and Heal Thyself program are designed to help folks incorporate ease into their lives. She pulls from her personal past to help others have a better future. Talk about inspired action.

Okay. If you still haven't signed up for the summit, there's one more week of interviews and spotlights (I'm on the 17th). You should join us if you're thinking of starting a biz or you have a biz you want to grow. The information you get from these experts and spotlights is invaluable.

I'll see you there.

Okay ya'll, it's getting real over at the video summit. Seriously. Today's interview was ridiculously inspiring. Alicia Forest shared some powerful tips and strategies for building a priority based business. Jenn talked about embodying your core message using her ecosystem playsheet (get it here). Here is my start on my business ecosystem. And of course I have two of them. One for Giving Hands Creative and one for Generations Literary Press.

Now if you know me and you've been following me, then you know that I was a teacher for 20 years. I started out teaching pre-school and day care, then moved to middle school, then high school, and eventually college level. But even after believing all of those "teachers get their summers off" myths, I NEVER had a full summer off. Not one single year in 20 years of teaching. Clearly I was doing something wrong.

But after hearing how Alicia was able to break her 1 million dollar moola milestone while also taking the summers off, I now have a new goal:

• I will take two months in 2015 where my husband and I have a few stay-cations and also travel to really warm parts of the world (Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Hawaii, etc.).

Of course, this is going to be tough for me because I don't really know what a true vacation feels like. I think I'm always working. Always planning the next thing, working on the current thing, and tweaking the thing I just finished. It's going to require me to let go. Whew!!! Let me say that again...it's going to require me to LET GO. AHHHH!!! Just typing it scares me. But the one thing I know is that my fears are really my inner critic telling me I can't do something. And to her I say -- WATCH ME!!!

Alicia has planted the seed and I know it's possible. Remember my quote from Monday's blog post? If one human can do it, any human can do it.

I wholeheartedly believe that and so with coaching from Jenn and the help of my creative cohorts, my team of amazing editors, my virtual assistant, and my spectacularly supportive husband, Damon, I CAN LIVE A MORE EMPOWERED LIFE.

How about you? What would you do if you had your summers off?

Okay, it's only day two of the Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit and I'm still feeling overjoyed that I'm able to be a part of such an amazing event. Seriously, the information alone is worth the time, the money, the space, but then on top of that, there is a super supportive community of folks gathered each day (more than 250 awesome folks) to share and experience this two week journey together. It's powerful stuff.

Today, Jenn interviewed Lilla Rogers, illustrator, teacher, lecturer, mentor, mother, and craft-maker. Basically, she's a beacon to the creative women out there trying to make it in this crazy world of creative entrepreneurship. And today's interview with her reminded me that I am a creative woman and that happens to be a pretty amazing label to have. I think my favorite part of the interview was when Lilla yelled, "Oh my God! I'm a creative woman!"

Then she went on to say that creative women can make a living at being creative. Yes! It is possible. We see it more and more these days and that is a beautiful shift to witness.

Jenn's interview with Lilla brought forth some spectacular nuggets. There were things many of us know and live, but that we sometimes need to be reminded of. For example, she talked about "the democratization of knowledge": the idea that we now have access to the tools and the information like we never have before. She went on to describe how technology is one of the ways we have so much access and how using that to our advantage is in our best interest as creative women.

She reminds women to stop feeling guilty about being creative and instead, to rediscover ourselves. The reminder that we were born highly creative is something I think I need to make one of my Monday mantras.

There were so many other great points Lilla made, like "education is key, learn the ropes, get familiar with what you're doing, then repeat it. This is similar to what Jenn said during day one -- find what works then repeat it and also similar to what Michael Port said on that first day. The conversation between Jenn and Lilla led to talk about career longevity and ways to make sure that happens. After all, this year's summit is all about sustainability, right? Right!

Then, we got to see Nicole Piar (a.k.a. GhostKitten Designs) as the first spotlight guest of the summit. She was fantastic. Her art is stunning. She talked about a collaborative project she's doing with eleven other artists--it's called Lovely Ink. I was so inspired by her art and the way she corralled her creative cohorts that I started thinking about others ways for me to do some of that (more on that soon).

So if you missed the interviews, grab your ticket then check out the replays. If you already have a ticket and you were there, spread the word. This is the kind of information we must be sure to share. It's too good to keep tucked away.

I hope to see you there tomorrow!!

I just watched an interview with Michael Port and I'm feeling super-charged to go out and serve. Yes. I know, I already serve is so many ways, but this call to action feels a little different. This is about mastering the things I want to be great at:

• Being a resource to writers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs.
• Helping others identify their passions and step fully into a life that allows those passions to unfold.
• Demonstrating how to live an empowered life.

One of Jenn's teachings from the first book, The Right Brain Business Plan, is about what we need to START, STOP, or CONTINUE in our businesses, and this interview got me thinking about that in relationship to what I want to master in my life and in my business.

I hope you'll join me in this two-week immersion of right-brained goodness. Whether you own a business or not, you might find some of the information helpful for establishing a creative practice and simply living a more empowered life.
See you there!!