about us – the {r}evolution apparel blog

Our First Fight: The Marriage of Business

They say not to start a business with a friend.

On the verge of exhaustion, stress, and extreme questioning of our venture, we started thinking “they” were right.

We said we’d blog about everything, so I guess that means the really rough times, too. There were tears, on more than one occasion, during our few days in Asheville together. In the car. On a stranger’s couch. It wasn’t pretty.

I should preempt this by saying that Shannon and I are usually very amiable people. And we have an incredible respect for each other. We disagree sometimes, but in a healthy way. We know that two opinions make our business better, and there haven’t been many hurt feelings in our partnership.

But when you care about something so deeply, it can bring out both the best and the worst in you.

So instead of replaying the details (that seems far less important now), I’ll say what I learned.

Partnership is hard. It’s like family. You love them and you feel comfortable disagreeing with them. Maybe too comfortable.

But partnership can also make everything 100 times easier. Over the last six months, we’ve gotten nothing but “no” or no response to the hundreds of e-mails we’ve sent out about sustainable fabric.

Despite it, when everyone else said “no,” Shannon and I told each other “yes.” Because if we did it together, then it was possible.

The relationship we have with each other is unlike any other. It has nothing to do with money, or business, or control. It has everything to do with two very passionate people, trying to take the best route possible towards making the world a little bit better. And you have to be prepared to fight to make that dream come true.

At the end of the day, our blowup was a good thing. We walked away from it, still loving each other, and knowing that we will only be a stronger partnership because of it.

So, we won’t say things are always awesome and they never suck. But with the lows come the highs, and I can most definitely say that a few tears are worth sharing this incredible experience with someone you will always have a special bond with.

Because none of this would be worth it without someone you love. And “One of Us” Revolution just doesn’t have the same ring. {r}

Photo Credit: KayVeeInc

Why We Fail at Project Estimation, and How to Avoid It

For the last six months, we’ve been epically failing in one aspect of business: project estimation.

“We’ll finish setting up the blog this week.”

“The eBook should only take a few days to write.”

“Sourcing ethical fabric will be easy.”

The lesson?

We have a tendency to under-or-over estimate how long it will take to complete a task. And we’re not the only ones.

This is psychologically proven. It’s called the planning fallacy. Generally, people aren’t good at estimating task completion — look at the Big Dig in Boston or the Sydney Opera House for prime examples.

So, why do we do this? If we know about the planning fallacy, then why can’t we stop ourselves from trying to estimate?

I want to understand why we “do what we do” so I can be more aware of it next time. After a few minutes of research, I came up with these cognitive biases — the tricks our minds play on us that lead to severe project mis-estimation.

Wishful Thinking. You have a deadline. You’re under pressure. Instead of considering the reality of meeting that deadline, you “wish” the project to completion. This happens when you have no flex time or feel like you have no choice in delivery date. Solution: Don’t be fox-holed into unrealistic deadlines. It’s better to speak up and face the music early in the game, rather than show up empty-handed on the due date.

Optimism Bias. People like to think the best of themselves and their team. People also like to think that nothing will go wrong. Solution: Sit down with a bottle of wine and brainstorm everything that could go wrong. Account for inevitable bumps in the road before they happen.

Oversimplification Effect. One task always consists of several tasks. It’s easier to say, “This weekend I will complete our blog” instead of, “This weekend I will pick a theme, set up a host and a server, customize the site, and add plug-ins.” Solution: Break down tasks to the very basics. Things are always more complex than they seem.

Overconfidence Effect. It would be embarrassing to share how many times I’ve felt confident that I can create or find solutions, only to come up empty-handed. We have to know our limits. Solution: Be honest, and outsource the things you really can’t finish.

These biases lead us to do silly things in business. We’ve got to, at the least, be aware of the mind-games we play on ourselves.

I’m sure this won’t be the last time we miscalculate a project completion date. But then again, who am I to make an estimatation? {r}

A New Year, A New Us: How to Abandon Excuses

One day, Shannon and I were taking a walk, and started talking about yoga.

Me: “I’ve been wanting to take classes for so long! I just never do. I keep thinking that I will when I have money.”

Shan: “I know, me too…”

And then we talked about all the other things we’d like to do in life, but because of money, laziness, or time, we haven’t.

For example, some simple things from my list:
Do 30 sit-ups and push-ups every morning while listening to a feel-good song.
Take another photography class.
Spend a season snowboarding.

And a few things from Shannon’s:
Compartmentalize my time better, so I remember to leave time for “fun” things.
Start mediating again (in addition to the yoga).
Move to a new city, meet new people.

We are probably the queens of, “Just do it; excuses are for wimps.”

But we can be guilty, too. We have a vision of what we want our lives to look like “someday.” And we keep thinking that we’ll get there “someday,” and it will be great. When we have more of this or that, and we can do all those cool things that make up the cool people we want to be.

That day on our walk, I think we reminded each other that if we would just do those cool things now, our lives would be what we want them to be.

No more excuses. It’s a new year. A new us. More motivated for a more balanced life. More in tune with the present. More active. Dare I say, more “proactive” (I’ll be snowboarding in Colorado for the next few months, and Shannon is moving to hipster Austin at the end of January, both of us accomplishing our #3).

What have you been wanting to do in life? {r}

A Minimalist Christmas: Give the Gift of Entrepreneurship

As westerners, we take advantage of having almost everything readily available to us. Most of us don’t have to trek into the woods to hunt or go to the nearest river to catch our dinner. In much of the developing world though, people rely on basic survival skills to feed their families and generally, opportunity is self-made.

Enter Kiva. Co-founded in 2005 by the current CEO Matt Flannery, Kiva is one of the most innovative ideas to hit cyberspace. In a nutshell, it’s everything a non-profit should be, focusing its mission around empowerment and not charity.

The Kiva website provides a platform for individuals, like us, to lend to a developing-world entrepreneur across the globe. Potential lenders can browse through the profiles of prospective entrepreneurs, and as little as 25 dollars can help fund a new business venture, anywhere from Nicaragua to Cambodia. Pending the success of the start-up, lenders are eventually repaid in full (the current repayment rate is 98.79%).

Kiva runs on these three principles:

1.) By nature, people are generous if given the opportunity.

2.) The poor are highly motivated and can be successful.

3.) Through loans, a global community can be created expressing support and encouragement for one another.

Imagine if we each passed up our morning cup of coffee for a week and lent that money instead.

One large coffee = $3.57 x 7 days in a week = $25.
$25 x 100 people reading this = $2,500

$2,500 provides 100 different loans or fully funds five to 10 entrepreneurs. From one week without coffee!

Another way to look at it: My friend owed me 30 dollars for a concert ticket. I was living pretty comfortably without that 30 bucks, but then she repaid me and instead of spending it, I lent it to Una Luz En El Camino group, several women in Guatemala who need to restock their store inventory.

By the time I had completed my transaction through PayPal, the women’s venture had been fully funded. Kiva receives a loan every 11 seconds! When the women pay back my 25 dollars to my Kiva account, I’ll be able to loan that 25 bucks to someone else. If I’m barely scraping by and need the money to buy groceries, I’m free to withdraw the full amount.

As we continue to talk about the fallacy of buying ‘stuff,’ consider making a Kiva loan on behalf of someone else this holiday season — it makes a great Christmas gift and is literally the gift that keeps on giving. {r}

{If you’re interested, here’s a video depicting the journey of a $25 loan, so you know exactly where your money is going and how it’s getting there.}

Keeping Humor in “Sex Change” Moments

Kristin talked about the beginning stages of All of Us in a previous post and mentioned how all of our planning and execution is done solely through Gmail and Skype. But in August, we finally had the opportunity to work together in the same physical location. Kristin came to Boston for a three-day All of Us marathon — we literally did nothing else.

In those three days, we had a full agenda to follow (both of us love lists), and we accomplished just about everything, from finalizing our logo, to filming footage for our launch video, to developing a blog skeleton. But with under a month until our September 1st launch, we experienced our fair share of bumps in the road.

To give you an idea, we originally wanted to call our business “All of Us Exchange.” We had designed the logo, and when we went to buy our web domain we typed in “allofusexchange.com.” All of Us Sex Change? It seemed like such a minor detail but even when we asked my mom, “sex change” was the first thing she read. We had no other choice than to go back to the drawing board. In the end, we’re glad we did.

On top of that, after hours of filming video footage to go with our blog launch, the digital files on my camera wouldn’t upload onto my computer. I had two full memory cards, 2GB and 4GB, and my computer refused to recognize them. I had less than a month to put a baller video together with footage that was inaccessible with no option to re-film. An hour at the camera shop and a hundred dollars later, fortunately resulted in a solution.

With these obstacles behind us, September 1st went above and beyond them all. After collectively sending out several hundred e-mails to friends and family announcing the launch of our new business, our web-host crashed from a power outage. No one could view the site and it looked like our blog was a blank screen.

At the end of the day, we’ve kept our wits about us and have an underlying feeling that everything will work out. It’s important to keep challenges in perspective and know that a seemingly catastrophic problem is actually minor in the grand scheme of things. Kristin flew back to New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning, and when I woke up she had left this note: “Thanks for putting me up, motivating me and agreeing to embark on such a life-revolutionizing ADVENTURE!”

I’m convinced the key to a great business is first and foremost, a great business partner. {r}

Behind the Scenes: The Making of All of Us Revolution

We’ve been talking a lot about inspiration lately. And while inspiration is a key element in figuring out your big idea, perspiration is the key element in making it all work. Yep, 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.We thought we’d give you a little peek into what we’ve been sweating over for the last few months. The basics:

1. Brainstorm and research ideas
2. Agree on one idea
3. Make travel plans
4. Set up marketing (blog, business cards, Twitter, Facebook)
5. Officially start business (register for an LLC)

I know, I know — it sounds easy, right? But throw in two perfectionists, some technical difficulties, zero training and very little experience, and you’ve got your hands full.

Research alone took a month. After the original Facebook message, we started shooting each other web links and forming ideas. And the options were endless. Should we import tagua seed jewelry? Peruvian llama-wool sweaters? Or go with our own idea for an apparel line?

We were lucky because the “agreeing” part came easy and the disagreements were easily compromised. Things could have gone astray from the very beginning, but our personalities and individual talents have turned out to be quite the combo.

Then it came down to the “where” of the business. At first we were dead-set on South America, but Chile & Argentina have “dirty” Spanish, and we couldn’t find much info on Bolivian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian cooperatives. Fortunately, Central America had just what we wanted. Jackpot! Guatemala and Nicaragua have heaps of women-owned cooperatives, plus some of the biggest markets in Central America.

Part of our business plan was to get people involved from the beginning — let everyone see what the process looks like. Sure, we could wait until we had a product in our hands and throw it on a website like everyone else, but the how we got there is just as important as getting there.

Our idea of blogging became a totally other “business” of its own. The entire next month was spent writing: fair trade, fashion, travel, business, and of course, our project. (Those posts will be making a debut soon!) We wanted to have a backlog of about 50 solid articles even before our launch date.

And then we made it official and became a Limited Liability Company. By chance, I re-checked the Missouri LLC fees. In the last few months, it had magically become a cheap and easy process: pay 50 dollars for a lifetime LLC, and receive your paperwork instantly via PDF!

Honestly, things were pretty smooth sailing up to this point. But all of that changed in early August when I flew up to Boston to put our blog together and prepare for take-off.

Stay tuned for Shannon’s next post about some of the hilarious moments and epic failures in our last month before blog launch. {r}

Video: How to Cope with Change {Part II}

How does one “deal” with change? What do we do to make ourselves overcome the mental obstacles regarding big changes in our lives?

Kristin talks about her coping methods, and shares some photos from the last time she made a big change — and almost backed out.

What do you do to soothe your mind and power through “scary” times? {r}

Video: Shannon Talks the Biz (and moonwalks…)

Find out what’s exciting about “the biz” for Shannon, and what she wants for fellow {r}evolutionaries who read our blog. If that doesn’t suit your fancy, she has some pretty sweet dance moves…

How We’re {r}evolutionizing Lifestyle Design

Blog and make $100,000. Quit your job and retire to the Philippines for virtually nothing. Become part of the “new rich.” Be location independent just like me!

It’s everywhere. Inspiring content that can claim hours of your life as you dream of location independence just like “john.blogspot.com.” It makes you think — maybe I could start a blog, move to Thailand, and be successful by sharing my success with others…

Where it All Began

Thirty years ago, a woman named Barbara Sher wrote a book called Wishcraft. It outlines the foundation of pursuing your passions and making your life what you want it to be.

Fast forward a few decades.

The term “lifestyle design” was coined by Tim Ferriss back in 2008 when he wrote the New York Time’s bestseller, “The 4-Hour Workweek.” He ran a fully-automated online business called BrainQUICKEN, selling performance-enhancing capsules in over 15 countries, and made a lot of money — over $40,000 per month.

The book tells people how they, too, can design their lives by using automation, Pareto Principle, and Parkinson’s Law to condense their work-week to four hours.

So began the lifestyle design fad. Bloggers started writing full-time about how to make a decent living by blogging. And while they blogged about making money, they made money. No fresh ideas; no new businesses. Even John Chow says, “I make money online by telling other people how I make money online” (granted, he had a burgeoning internet career pre-blog).

The newest spin-off is “location independence,” a fairly new term describing people who can work from anywhere. Just Google it for a slew of new blogs about people living in Mexico or the Philippines, making money by telling you how to make money.

The business model is pretty simple: read the blogs, apply it to your life (“I’m a 23 year old living the life on Greek beaches, blogging and living the dream. You can do it too!), add some personal flavor, and that’s it!

Sounds easy, right? For a minute, we toyed with the idea of jumping on the gravy train. But then we started thinking about what we really wanted. We started asking questions.

What happened to the whole basis of lifestyle design — pursuing your passion, living a fulfilled life, and doing what you want?

That’s going to be our basis. Not making money, not making every post SEO-friendly, not worrying about our Google Analytics. We’re just going to continue doing what we do know how to do: write about our business, our passions, our successes and our failures, and the little things we do every day to make life better.

As for your own blog, well, we can’t tell you what to do. Someday, when we know better and are making $40,000 a month, we’ll gladly pass on the secret. Our best advice so far: This blogging stuff is not easy. It’d better be something you care about with gusto, or you’re drive and determination will fade away. Do what you love, and the rest will fall into place (or so we’re told)! {r}

How it all started: The Facebook Message

Today we’re sharing some details about the very beginning of All of Us — the brief Facebook message that started it all, and the early stages of business planning.

Sometimes all it takes is one thought.

I had just recently returned from living in South Africa and the unbearable pressure of getting a ‘real job’ was looming over me. Kristin had returned to the U.S. a few months earlier after almost a year and half of traveling. After two years, we were both living in the same country — discontent and directionless.

A few days after I got back, she sent me a message, “would love to hear about your plans for the coming year. i am really uncertain about what i’m doing with my life. having a crisis, you could say.”

Convenient for me, since I was also having a ‘mid-twenties life crisis.’ All it took was a phone call and we started to brainstorm what we could do next: backpack South America, move to Valparaiso, Chile, start a nonprofit. We hung up the phone, assuring each other we would do some research and figure it out together.

The next day I sent Kris a message with one line: “How can we get into the import/export business?”

I was mostly joking. We hadn’t even discussed going into business with each other, but Kristin took it and ran with it, sending me links to other import businesses around the world. The more we talked about it the more excited we got.

Find a niche that nurtures your passion.
Saying you’re going to start an import business is like saying you have a job in finance. It’s a hugely broad industry that can range from jewelry to coffee, India to Uruguay. We knew we wanted to import from Latin America — neither of us had been before, we wanted to learn Spanish, and it’s geographically convenient for trading in the U.S.

The truth is that finding your passion lies in the little things. For some, importing may not sound glamorous or fun, but in the process, we get to photograph, write, design, travel, learn a language, and most importantly, be involved in a social project that helps others. Once you’re able to narrow down your area of opportunity, you can find a way to incorporate the things you love to do.

Turning a thought into a reality.
Since most aspiring entrepreneurs are more creative-minded and less concerned with logistics, the idea of sitting down to write a 50-page business plan is akin to pulling your eyelashes out one by one.

A Babson College study sited on the Young Entrepreneur website revealed, “there was no difference between the performance of new businesses launched with or without written business plans.” Having said that, and while going through the beginning stages of the process ourselves, we don’t recommend not having a plan at all.

The benefits of writing up a plan are two-fold: it makes you think of answers to important questions you may not have otherwise, and it outlines your ideas and vision in a concise way. It is the actual act of writing the plan that is most beneficial. We started out by googling “how to write a business plan” and from there, found a prototype of an import/export business to use as a guideline. Believe me, it’s not rocket science.

Remember that a business plan is never a finished product — you should constantly be tweaking and adding to it, depending on how your business is changing. There’s nothing wrong with opting for a simple one-pager. It comes down to whatever is right for your company. In most cases though, even the most basic biz plan should have the following: Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Action Plans.

While you’re turning your big idea into reality, we’ll be here to listen and advise. We’d love for you to e-mail us or leave a comment with your questions, and we’ll be sure to get back to you. Everyone else, please add to our suggestions if you can offer any additional help in early business planning! {r}

Shannon

I’ve never been rebellious. In high school — I didn’t drink. Never did drugs. Obeyed my curfew. Kept the bedroom door open if my boyfriend was over. In college — I got good grades, stayed out of trouble, stuck to my morals. I did just about everything I was supposed to do. And then I graduated. And instead of getting a “real” job like everyone else, I flew to Australia. And I began to rebel.

I rebelled against what society said I “should” be doing.

I spent that first post-grad year in cities like Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, bartending to support myself and never saying “no” or “I can’t” or “I’m afraid.” I saved enough money to visit New Zealand and Fiji and to live in Southeast Asia. I found passions for art, fashion and music that don’t exist where I come from, and discovered people and opinions that added another dimension to my life.

And then I went home and people said, “So now are you going to get a real job?”

I guess I should, right? I guess I should be a “contributing” member of society. That’s what I’m supposed to do. But instead I flew to South Africa.

I bartended. I volunteered. I honed my journalism degree by writing and photographing the people and things I came across. Every day was a new adventure and every new face was another story I couldn’t wait to hear.

When I came home after eight months I knew that was it. I was turning 25 and enough was enough. I had to start climbing that corporate ladder before everyone else got too far ahead. Enter Kristin.

Kristin is insightful, intelligent and too talented for her own good. Most importantly, she gets “it” and is at a similar point in her life — directionless yet ambitious, and full of potential. We met when we were both living in Australia, and I remember nights, sitting on the back porch of her flat, just pondering the world together. Do you think aliens exist? Are you a believer in ‘love at first sight’? What would you do if the world were to end tomorrow?

When it all comes down to it I guess both Kristin and I believe in doing what you want to do right now. Not in a naive or entitled way, but knowing that you better make the most of what you’ve got because it may not be there tomorrow.

So that’s me — a not-so-rebellious rebel, choosing to live life the way I want to live it and hoping to make the world better for others along the way. {r}

Kristin

I’m from the Midwest. Grew up on casseroles and iced tea. Terribly all-American. Everyone in my hometown picked one of the predetermined career options. Doctor. Lawyer. Teacher. Truck driver.

I went to college, like many others, thinking I’d be passionate about one of those things, too.

Four years later, and I had a business degree with no sense of direction. People kept saying, “You’re young, you’ll figure it out. Just wait and see.”

So I’ve been waiting around, traveling and bartending and hoping to bump into my passion along the way.

I have many talents, but no expertise. I like everything. Especially everything creative. Like making handmade greeting cards and taking photos. So why haven’t I taken the plunge to make a career out of either of those things?

Because I have a huge, huge fear of commitment.

Ask my mom; she’ll elaborate. I can’t pick anything, because I’m afraid that I’ll miss out on something else.

But in recent months, as I’ve passed the time in a job I don’t particularly like, the thought struck me: If I don’t do something, then I’ll never do anything.

Enter Shannon. We met in Australia. She’s driven, smart, and creative. We’ve inspired each other to commit. And surprisingly, I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on other things at all. I feel like finally, I might be able to use my talents and cultivate a passion in this self-created venture.

Kind of like creating the most awesome job in the world, where you wear many hats and work hard, but love it – and you don’t even have to apply.

So that’s me — a creative Midwestern commitment-phobe who’s finally making a choice to change her circumstances. {r}

Remember When You Were a Kid?

And you thought you could do anything?

You still can.

Join the entrepreneurial movement. Stimulate the economy. Spread the word. Original music by Carly Comando. Written & Produced by Sonja Jacob.

Having it All

One day, two friends and fellow travelers asked each other, “Why can’t we have it all?”And neither could come up with a good answer.

We all want everything. A job we love. Money to support ourselves. A feeling of purpose. Time to do the things we want. Freedom.

Some say that we young people have a sense of entitlement. That we are unrealistic and our expectations are too high. We won’t work in jobs we don’t care for, and we are always looking for the next best thing.

Older, wiser generations say we have a lot of earning to do: just enjoy your one-week vacation and spend the other 51 weeks working your way up. One day, you’ll have the time and money to enjoy your life. One day.

Well, we just can’t accept “one day.” That could be way too many years from now.

So we’re going to have it all today. Adventure. Hard work. Purpose. The opportunity to give back. We’re going to start a journey, with no destination but to live by our own terms and help others do the same along the way. There is no “one day” in our philosophy; only today, and we believe the possibilities abound.

We hope you’ll join us as we quit our jobs and jump into today. And we hope to gain inspiration from those who have similar paths and dreams. All of us are in this together. And with the right tools and support, all of us can have it all.

Subscribe and keep reading to find out what the “young and naive” have planned for the job-less world. We’ll be blogging often about entrepreneurship, inspiration, and elements of our own business venture: fair trade, fashion, and travel. Join our community, be inspired, and start a revolution! {r}

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

{the blog}

Tagged: about us