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Interview with Melanie Hill from Aupair Anywhere NL

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Aupair Anywhere offers a unique opportunity for families and au pairs to experience the enrichment that comes from firsthand exposure to another culture. Aupair Anywhere provides an effective, alternative form of childcare, giving you peace of mind.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
Reliable, Friendly,  Youthful

What are your most popular products or services?
Highly qualified au-pairs with first aid certification.

People may be surprised to know…
I have au-paired in 4 different countries.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My inspiration comes from being an au-pair and having au-pairs for my own children.

Who is your role model or mentor?
My role models are my parents and best friend/sister, Bronwyn.

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
Not listening to my inner voice, once the fear is gone many new opportunities present themselves.

How do you spend your free time?
Shopping, listening to music and spending time with family and friends.

What is your indulgence?
Smiles and hugs from my children.

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
Ladies night out.

Catch-up with Melanie on Twitter and Facebook.

Posted in Connect, Interviews, Moms | No Comments »

Dreams – powerful stuff!

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Faced with a health crisis back in the early ’90s, Zelda Hall turned to her dreams to gather vital information about
her own physical, emotional and spiritual health. Since discovering the power of dreams, Zelda, a psychologist
and therapist with more than 25 years experience, has helped many clients interpret their life path through dream
work and body directed therapy. She helps people discover the strengths needed to face difficulties. To let go of outmoded ways of being. To be compassionate with themselves. And to find what nourishes their heart and soul.
She regularly hosts workshops and lectures on the Wisdom of Dreams in Amsterdam, London and Dublin.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
powerful , life enhancing, compassionate

What are your most popular products or services?
MEKUTA energy- field analysis. Dream workshops. Dancing Goddess workshops.

People may be surprised to know…
that dreams give you information about ALL aspects of your being physical , emotional and spiritual.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
a very curious nature and a love of people

Who is your role model or mentor?
Karen Armstrong…a passionate woman with a great mind who can have a good laugh!

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
underestimating my own capabilities! And being over nice to someone who was not doing their work well.

How do you spend your free time?
dancing , dreaming and  consciousness research. Finding as many opportunities to laugh as possible.

What is your indulgence?
high tea in the Grand! Too many pairs of shoes. And yet more books….

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
windswept beaches and good restaurants with organic food

Posted in Connect, Enhance | No Comments »

The story of the CRAVE Amsterdam Brand Scent

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

At Casa 400 the CRAVE book launch experience will get a 4D dimension. With the sponsoring services of The Perfume Lounge the Casa 400 Hotel will get a unique CRAVE Scent. The CRAVE Amsterdam scent is a unique blend that brings together a touch of Amsterdam, Sophistication, Entrepreneurship and female proud. It is a great sensory symbol for CRAVE Amsterdam and a first for The CRAVE Company.

Most Media companies focus on publishing. At The CRAVE Company we prefer to focus on the connections. The CRAVE Amsterdam book is an important visible aspect of creating connections because of the exposure of female entrepreneurs getting connected to share business experiences and opportunities. The power of scent is one that entrepreneur Athalie Stegeman shared with Tanja Deurloo. The two entrepreneurs joined forces to develop unique custom scented gift cards which soon will be available at Audiotainment. At the booklaunch, Tanja offers CRAVE visitors the power of scent marketing services that she is delivering to business and service companies.  Did you know that the power of scent marketing is the power of emotional branding? Providing a pleasant buying experience is key in attracting new customers. But most of the importance goes to creating a loyal customer basis. The Perfume Lounge knows all about the power of scents and is offering CRAVE the 4D experience as a proof of concept. Are you curious about the CRAVE Amsterdam scent? Come and visit us at the booklaunch!

Posted in Connect, Enhance, Events, Style | No Comments »

Startup Weekend Amsterdam

Friday, August 27th, 2010

So, you have heard of Startup Weekend, but what’s it all about?

Startup Weekend is coming to Amsterdam on 24-26th of September. Mark your calendars because this is no ordinary event. It’s where like-minded entrepreneurs gather for a weekend of company creation. In 54 hours, you take an initial idea from the Friday night pitches through to a mind spinning startup company on the Sunday night.

Sounds intense? It is!

Just don’t think it’s just developers. Its marketing maestros, design gurus, business development wizards, legal geniuses, and the specialist of startups – the jack of all trades coming together as one unit, creating a harmony that can only be envied by the corporate world.

From there? Well, it’s all up to you. Startup Weekend can only help you start your dream. It’s up to you to live it out.

CRAVE decided to partner with Startup Weekend in Amsterdam because we believe in local talents and passionate people that CRAVE inspiring and fresh ideas.

We are giving away one ticket to a lucky winner that helps us spread the word.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
  • Join them on Facebook and ‘Like’ the Startup Weekend Amsterdam page

  • Follow Startup Weekend  Amsterdam on Twitter and ReTweet: “Enter the @swamsterdam #Giveaway (Ends 1 Sept) and win a ticket to Startup Weekend Amsterdam http://amsterdam.startupweekend.org”

If you don’t win the ticket but really like to participate, head over to the ticket section HERE to find out for yourself what it’s all about!

Posted in Business, Connect, Events, Interviews | No Comments »

CALL FOR ACTION: Corporate Social Responsibility

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

This week the “CSR Netherlands index” passed the milestone of 1000 proudly affiliated companies.This growth demonstrates that CSR is on the rise. Some entrepreneurs are taking ethical and social reasons, others are more of a commercially-built society. The second group is currently the largest, but there is still so much more to gain!

CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – involves all business actions taken to focus on economic performance (profit) while respecting the social side (people) within the ecological constraints (planet): the triple-P approach.

It is about finding a balance between people, planet and profit. Often it appears that this balance leads to better results for both the company and society and therefore we call it sustainability.

Within CRAVE we have many women who are engaging their business in a sustainable manner and we would love to inspire you and all the readers with these sustainable businesses.

We like to encourage companies to investigate their options and opportunities in finding their balance between ethics and commerce.

To feel socially responsible and act upon, it is a mindset whereby female entrepreneurs prove very active and we are proud to present many inspiring examples among the CRAVE Amsterdam listing.

CALL FOR ACTION:

We like to add an sustainable sign to each CRAVE member who is engaging in CSR. Therefore we would like you to reply to us with a YES we are sustainable and preferably a brief motivation as to what you do in terms of sustainability.

All CRAVE members who reply will get the sustainable sign in their CRAVE Amsterdam spread. The CRAVE company is working on a sustainable listing on the website, if it’s ready we’ll inform you about it so that you can add your businessin the sustainable business index too.

As we are now in the middle of the design process for the CRAVE Amsterdam book we are looking forward to your prompt replies!

On behalf of the CRAVE Amsterdam team,

I am looking forward to your replies!

Posted in Business, Connect, Enhance, Interviews | 4 Comments »

Interview with Rachel, owner of ROOFF

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Rachel van der Ploeg started with a dream written on a piece of paper. Several years later she is conducting a successful production office in Amsterdam.

ROOFF is a full service production office with over 12 years of experience producing photo shoots (commercial, editorial & projects) and film (commercials & videos). They provide you a full service production fit to your request: regarding approach, quality, atmosphere, efficiency and budget! ROOFF can arrange the production from the beginning to the end or just a part of it. Their motto: ” Strong execution makes a strong idea a better idea”. Read her interview below:

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
Passionate, Punctual, Personal

What are your most popular products or services?
I do not have a most popular service. It is always a package people ask for.

People may be surprised to know…
…that I can’t do all just by myself.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
Myself. I always dreamed about owning my own business. When I was 20 years old, I wrote all my dreams on a small letter. One of them was to own my own business before by the time I was 35. So in the year I turned 35, I started working on my plan and quit my job. 6 months later, that dream came true.


Who is your role model or mentor?
If I really have to pick somebody than it is my mom: she is a very strong woman. Who does the things because she wants to and not because people expect it.

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
That I say ok to every job eventhough my agenda is full.

How do you spend your free time?
Having fun with my boyfriend, the kids, family, friends & my little dog Monster. Shopping, traveling, dining..

What is your indulgence?
My indulgence is spoiling myself. Shopping, a nice walk, a good book, music, good food, etc…..Me time!!!!

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
As long as I am with my friends it doesn’t matter where it is.

Posted in Connect, Interviews | 1 Comment »

Daddy’s Day is Almost Here!

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Father’s Day is around the corner and every year its the same. We ponder WHAT to get our dear dads for a gift. We all know that whatever we hand them they’ll be thankful for; but we always want to push the envelope! When we are pressed for time and don’t have the  effort left to make something extremely sentimental, here is some advice from your friends at CRAVE on what to do that will make him smile.

Try and remember what your dad is passionate about. Is he an outdoors-man? Cook? Tech-savvy? Music lover? With some passion he has in mind its always easier to direct your gift towards a certain theme and come out successful. It will help you avoid spending hours shopping with no clue of what to get as well as guaranteeing that he will appreciate the gift and the thought you put into it.
If still stuck on where to begin with finding a gift, maybe go in a different direction then a simple gift from the store. Does your dad love a certain comedian or band? Grab tickets to a concert.

Dad’s love knowing you want to spend time with them, so if time allows, do an activity that involves doing something together. Time spent is more precious than any other gift money could buy!

Remember first and foremost that its your dad’s day! All that truly matters is that you make sure to tell him he’s special and you love him.

Posted in Connect, Details | No Comments »

It’s World Cup Time!

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Ladies! The World Cup is on this week, so why not throw a fabulous party to celebrate! Football is the most popular sport in the world and throwing a party will be just another fun reason to sit around the TV with the gals and drool over men in jerseys.

So what are the three key items necessary for throwing a great party? Friends, food, and some fun drinks. With those elements you’re bound to have fun.

First, lets start off with friends. Invite your best gal pals over (probably 8 to 10 ladies) and ask them to previously pick a team to cheer for. Then suggest they wear the colors of their team to the party. It will add a small hint of competition to the group and keep your ladies having fun screaming for their men during the game.

Second, it may be a football party but the snacks don’t have to be the typical game food of chicken wings and burgers. For your ladies, whip up a batch of cupcakes or if in a time crunch grab some from your local grocer and decorate them with the colors of the teams playing. As for the other snacks, everything needs to be decent at room temperature, since once the game starts the attention will be focused more on the TV. Perhaps some bruschetta and caprese salad would be yummy finger food that will leave your guests happy and satisfied. If feeling too crunched for time on the snacky goods, ask your gals to each bring something small and yummy with them when they come. It will help relieve some of the stress and you know then you’ll have plenty of food to go around.

Third, but just as important are those drinks! Decide to make some of your favorite cocktails or bubbly that will keep the girls having fun throughout the game. Perhaps a drink that includes the colors of the teams! Drinks are always fun but no one wants to bust their budget on buying alcohol that not everyone will like, so let your girlfriends know you will be providing some drinks, but suggest they bring more if they have a specific or picky preference.

So no more excuses and procrastinating! You now have all you need for a successful party! All that’s left is letting the gals know and start getting caught up on your knowledge of the teams and the gorgeous men playing. Games start June 11th so get your head in the game and get your party started!

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Posted in Connect, Events | No Comments »

Tricks of the Trade

Monday, May 31st, 2010

When great minds come together, amazing things can happen. When great CRAVE minds come together, amazing things DO happen! Part of our mission – along with being the go-to source for all things fab in your city – is to connect women business-owners to the resources, information, and other like-minded women that will enable their success and growth as professionals. So to offer up some advice and inspiration to all of our hard-working entreprenesses, we’ve got a handful of intelligent lady-experts opening up their book of knowledge for us. Consider it the metaphorical – and less painful form of walking a mile in their fiercely fabulous high-heeled shoes. Read on for each experts’ single most important tip for fellow entreprenesses and their favorite part about working with women in business.

Dawn McCooey- McCooey Consulting Group Inc., Woman’s Enterprise Centre
Must-do: Understand the act and the art of juggling. If you know which balls are rubber and which are glass – you can handle anything.
Love-to-do: As a business advisor with Women’s Enterprise Centre, and as a consultant, I love the energy and the synergy of women business owners. I love how they are willing to collaborate and build community.

Carlie Smith- Portobello West
Must-do: Don’t write-off any idea until you’ve looked at it from various perspectives and always run the numbers.
Love-to-do: Female business owners are very supportive of one another and are great at working together to create amazing projects and businesses!

Pauline O’Malley- TheRevenueBuilder
Must-do: Without sales, you don’t have a business. As a woman, you have the natural abilities to persuade others to believe in you. Women are the best sales people in the world; they just don’t know it yet!

Heather White- 2020 Communications
Must-do: Take action!
Love-to-do: Sitting on the shoulders of my clients and watching them make their dreams come true. Female business owners have high energy and it’s a lot of fun to be around them.

Felicia Lee- Ghost CEO Advisor
Must-do: You are not an island – utilize mentors, resources and communities around you to help you build your business.
Love-to-do: Many women entrepreneurs are afraid of sales.  It’s been incredibly rewarding to see the transformation from fear to embracing to owning the sales process!

Katie Bennett- Double Black Diamond Coaching
Must-do: What separates my clients that get good results from my clients who get great results is commitment.  100% or 0%. There is no wiggle room on true commitment.
Love-to-do: The best part of my job is getting to help people achieve the lives and businesses they have always dreamed of.

Shauna Causey- Voluntweetup
Must-do: Test your limits on how generous you can be.
Love-to-do: The best part of my job is that I get to talk about dynamic ideas, inspiring people and worthwhile causes.

Maria Ross- Red Slice
Must-do: Make sure you know who your audience is! Get as close to defining your “ideal” customer vs. just your “average” customer.
Love-to-do: Seeing the light go off when they discover what their brand is really all about or who really is their ideal customer.

Andrea Baxter- Bratface Marketing
Must-do: There is nothing more beneficial to business women in a small city than to get out there, make yourself aware, and make a name for yourself.
Love-to-do: I would be lying if I didn’t say the freedom it allows me to have my own business.

Posted in Connect | No Comments »

CRAVE Book Featured on the Small Screen

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Click on picture to view video

Just in time for Mother’s Day, our CRAVE guides were featured on Twin Cities Live as the perfect gift for stylish moms everywhere! Watch the clip here and see our lovely books take center-stage!

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Posted in Connect | No Comments »

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