Chic Perspectives

Elizabeth Gordon interviews Kimberly Wilson, Designer, Yogini, & Entrepreneur, Tranquil Space Foundation & Dallas author & CEO Shama Kabani author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing & President of The Marketing Zen Group

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Today on The Chic Perspectives Show I had on Tranquilista, Kimberly Wilson from D.C. and Dallas author Shama Kabani as my guests.   Kimberly Wilson, Designer, Yogini, and Entrepreneur, Tranquil Space Foundation and Shama Kabini is the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing.

Thanks for today’s show goes to our sponsor – Pink Payments, Merchant Services for Women, by Women and Supporting Women www.pinkpayments.com .

Kimberly Wilson is the author of Tranquilista and Hip Tranquil Chick. She is also the designer of eco-fashion line TranquiliT, and the founder of the Tranquil Space Foundation, which promotes yoga, creativity, and leadership in women and girls. She lives in Washington, DC. Visit her online at http://www.kimberlywilson.com

Kimberly talked about what a Tranquilista is – and why creative women of today want to embrace this philosophy.  A Tranquilista blends mind/body philosophy, creativity, and entrepreneurship to help women live a life full of extravagance grounded in mindfulness. Kimberly Wilson aims to help women realize — and revel in — their unique potential to make a difference through enlightened work and mindful play.

Kimberly explained what enlightened work looks like and feels like and how to use mindful play to make yourself more productive and more joy-filled.

Enlightened work is about forgoing spreadsheets and stodgy office politics to forge ahead with a new way of designing our lives as self-defined entrepreneurs who care about blending balance, bliss, and beauty. Kimberly uses the word entrepreneur, to  refer to today’s woman who wants to leave a legacy through her daily actions, whether working for a nonprofit, launching a vegan cafe, or being a full-time activist.

Mindful play allows the incorporation of art, creativity, style, and dreams into one’s spiritual journey. Kimberly says to think of play as the icing on top of a yummy cupcake – it makes the whole experience more enjoyable and balanced. Mindfulness allows one’s playful spirit to remained focused on the world-at-large and making a difference.

Kimberly focused an entire chapter of her book on style – so you know I was all over that.  We discussed how style ties into work and play.

Looking good and feeling good often goes hand in hand. “When I don a flattering outfit with a dash of the perfect of accessories and hint of make-up plus dab of eau de parfum, I hold my head high and put my best self forward.”  Here here sister!

In addition to fashion, Kimberly’s book also addresses decluttering, communicating clearly, home décor, beauty rest, bathing rituals, nourishment, exercise, and entertaining. Style plays into how you present yourself to the world in fashion, communication, home and office environment, and more. It’s a defining aspect of who you are and how you express your creativity.

Kimberly explained how she finds balance while wearing so many different hats

She says she no longer sees a distinction between my work and play. During down time you’ll find her reading business books, practicing yoga, or thumbing through fashion magazines – all of which are applicable to her career and professional life and fuel her passion. During work she’ll be sipping tea, engaging in social media, and blogging about her latest adventure. Her work and play commingle in a coherent, holistic way. She admits she’s also a sucker for self-care: regular massage, oodles of sleep, yoga, and journal writing.  – What a different world it would be if businesswomen had more pride in self care and a little less in being a workaholic or a Type A personality  – I talked about this very thing at a Panta Rei meeting recently.

Lastly Kimberly and I got into the reasons why she emphasizes spirituality and do-gooding as lifestyle essentials.

Kimberly holds that spirituality and do-gooding are foundational building blocks to launching a career and life mindfully. By taking time to feed your spiritual self through simple acts such as time in nature, meditation, journal writing, and yoga, you’re able to know yourself better and find your center. Similarly, by giving back to others and striving to let your thoughts, words, and actions have a powerful impact on those around you, you are able to make better decisions, be a leader, and, ultimately, leave a legacy.

It was such an awesomely Tranquil experience having you on Kimberly thanks so much for sharing your story and your tips with our listeners.

Find out more and keep in touch with Kimberly

www.KimberlyWilson.com

@Tranqulista; Twitter

and on the Tranqulista Fan Page on Facebook

Next up on the Chic Perspectives Show was Shama Kabani.  Shama is President of The Marketing Zen Group, a full service online marketing firm that serves clients around the world. She has been dubbed a “millennial master of the universe” and “online marketing shaman” by Fast Company magazine. In 2009, Business Week honored her as one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 in North America.

Shama holds a masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and prides herself on being a constant learner. Her website, http://www.MarketingZen.com, has turned into a high-traffic destination for people looking for advice on how to successfully market businesses online. Companies around the world have hired Shama and her fast-growing digital media agency to guide them through the world of social media marketing. She also hosts a popular web TV show on new media marketing at http://Shama.TV, and is regularly quoted on marketing and technology trends by broadcast, print, and online media.

Shama shared some valuable perspective on social media strategy and how businesses can leverage the tools to build customer relationships.

Shama says to remember that social media marketing comes LAST – after you have a great website, a solid product strategy, and a clear product direction.  Nobody “starts tweeting today” and makes a million.

It was interesting to here her talk about how traditional marketing tools are almost certain to fail in the world of social media – because social media is a consumer-driven environment, not a marketing platform.

Even if you don’t have a social media plan – Shama says social media is already influencing your customers.  It’s the great equalizer, that amplifies every opinion (positive or negative), where a college student in Austin can have as much impact as a magazine reviewer in New York City, depending on their network and their relevance to your target market.

A good rule of thumb – remember your mother’s advice:  treat people with respect, and don’t try to hide who you are.  (There are multiple case studies, and admonitions in the book, about this because one of the most common mistakes newcomers to social media make is to forget basic etiquette, or try to hide their identity to create “false positive” reviews or comments.  Two short examples:  you’d never run up to a stranger at a trade show, shove your business card in their hand, and then run away without saying anything – but people will sometimes do just that by posting their contact info or a product pitch on someone’s blog, Facebook page, or Twitter DM, without realizing that it’s the exact same thing.  Businesses that enter social media through the back door after a negative review on a site like Yelp, often try to “Googlewash” the negative reviews with positive reviews they write themselves under false names.  That ISN’T the way to handle negative consumer postings.)

Shama shared that for most businesses, it isn’t a question of whether or not they are going to make social media a part of their marketing efforts at some point.  It’s a question of when they are going to enter the conversation, and take charge of their online reputation and brand.  So what we do for our clients is show them how to get into the game, and use the Zen-like secret of success:  go with the flow, instead of trying to swim upstream.  By that, we mean using social media as a way to communicate with, educate, entertain, and open a dialog with people who may become customers (now, someday, or never) – instead of always trying to sell.  Yes, we do make money for our clients and our own business through social media marketing – and we do get customers that way.  But it is often an indirect process – someone who reads my blog, or follows me on twitter gives my name to their cousin who is looking for a web design firm, or they put our name into consideration when their company is looking for an agency, or whatever.  It’s not always a direct sales process – but is can be very profitable.

Find out more about Shama’s work, clients, book and solutions @ www.marketingzen.com

Be sure to keep in touch with Shama as well – she really knows what she’s talking about and is one of the leaders in this space.

http://Shama.Tv

twitter: @shama

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shamakabani

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamahyder

Thanks Shama for coming on and bringing some much needed zen into the social media world – I love your unique perspective.  It was such a pleasure getting to know you and we look forward to hearing more from the first “live book” on social media.

Thanks again to our sponsor – Pink Payments, Merchant Services for Women, by Women and Supporting Women. www.pinkpayments.com

Like to pitch a guest for The Chic Perspectives Show?  Visit www.chicentrepreneur.com for media contact info.

Thanks for listening.  Until next time… wishing you all Chic Success.

Elizabeth