Wauw,  what an insights we gained. It was so rewarding to take time to reflect and learn. Want to know a little about our insights? Read on.

With a group of great business women we shared, recognized and grew. Reflections are about understanding the phases we are in today, the strengths that keep us successful and the work we need to do the overcome both personal and business barriers. Dare to share means realising that it takes guts to share and there is the rewarding part too.

Faye Cosser of Juxta Position tells us all about the importance of time in relation. The strengths of astrological insights, forms a clear sign throughout the chat. It and everything is connected through time; date of birth, star signs, friends with similar signs are easily explained but also the relationship between collegues and the company birthdate. Faye inspired all of us and we got curious about our individual situation and our chances in business.

Marianne founder of Tromper is a serial entrepreneur. She combines her business intuition with great timing to balance the work and life situation. As a result, the way to move forward, how to be successfull in a smart sense, is depending on it. It is just a matter of defining what she needs based on her preferences in life. This is true for Daniella Rubinovitz and Blanca Vergara too, as all pieces are coming together, they find themselves moving into a new phase in life. We all develop every six to seven years and each phase has typical characteristics in quality of life. Cris of Crisspix is rapidly developing from IT professional to CRAVE business connector, visual communicator in photography and on top of that internet entrepreneur with iPhone app 123DressMe. Pieces are falling together and she has a great opportunities ahead of her. Gaid of Ietje Company is an ambitious selfstarter. She has a clear vision in what she wants to achieve. She is considering various options to enhance her business and by reflecting she realized that her strenght is somehow turning against her. Tanja is a designer. Her passion for designs and fabrics mover her away from fashion and straight into what she is best at: designing patterns. Creators like Tanja of Pieces of Art often notice that the focus on passion also brings a need for partnerships as you are more successfull when you focus. Faye indicated great tools that allow any business owner to successfully grow in partnerships.  As different times have different qualities, there is much to gain by using thoughts and intuition. Daniella Rubinovitz, owner of Atelier Molenpad, Teresa of The California Girl and Helen Grevink of De Knipkamer were all very aware of that. It’s our time, we women are the power of time, lets gather and use this power.

The insights of this edition of CRAVE reflections for me is that on a professional level, my ideas are sky-high and there is more room for questions. Asking questions feels like asking a favour, which seems more difficult that giving and yet that’s the part I like the most, so why not offer the pleasure to all of you?

Get more out of reflections. Faye and Daniella are organising a unique joint event on March 24th. Take a look at the programme and reserve a spot.

The next CRAVE reflection is on April 7th 7 – 10 PM. Join us! (more info soon, see pictures form this one here)

Contact me if you want to participate as a professional reflector like Vera of Innearth did in the first and Fay and Daniella did in the second edition.

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Post written by Athalie Stegeman.

We’re ringing in the new year at CRAVE with a question for all you women business owners out there… Do you dare? Is 2011 going to be a year of taking risks with your business, holding back, or a combination of both? To help you strategize, we are dedicating the month of January to the pros and cons of risk-taking across the board. Our business chat and blog entries will be brimming with juicy stories of risks gone right or wrong as well as advice from our CRAVE experts on when to know to take a leap of faith or to simply sit back and let life fall into place.

We knew this would be a hot topic when Melody wanted to know what her Facebook followers ask themselves before taking a risk and got SO many amazing responses. Check them out and prepare yourself for an exciting month of risks and rewards!

What do you ask yourself before you take a risk?
Just curious? before you take a risk? a leap to something new? start a new project? WHAT DO YOU ASK YOURSELF? do you write down the pros and cons? do you just do it and ask why later? how long do you ponder? do you end up jumping? or do nothing? tell me!!! what is your risk taking style?

	Suzette Sommer Oh… wow. What is a “risk?” That is one four-letter word that I have seemingly never known.
	Sydney Chavez I ask myself what I would lose if I didn’t take the leap.
	Nicole Francois before i take a risk i ask myself: why i am interested in taking the risk, what i hope to gain from it, what the result will be and who’s going to be with me? then, i outline my plan and jump!
	Maria Ross Before I take a risk I ask myself if I will regret it more if I don’t take it than if I do. I weigh pros and cons, seek advice from those I trust….and then go with my gut! At a certain point, if it feels right, all the data in the world doesn’t matter.
	Sonja Silver The first thing I ask is “what is the worst thing that can happen”? If I can live with the answer, I go for it. The biggest risk is to not take one!
	Elise Kloter same here, Sonia…puts the scary stuff in perspective
	Melody Biringer lovin all you risk takers….keep it coming! as i get older i seem to take risks slower and more cautious. i want to be naive again!
	Lauren Bacon These days, more and more I check in with my gut. I highly recommend a little book called “Make Light Work” by Kate Sutherland that has helped me enormously with listening to my intuition. (It’s cool and non-flaky, I promise.)
	Michelle Michael what’s the reward…? is it personal or financial? maybe a little of both. go for it, and surround yourself with those that support your dream!
	Lyndi Thompson My first thought: Risks can often be re-labeled as adventures. I tend to dismiss risks that I don’t feel I have good access to supportive people around me. However, most of the time I can find at least two people. I try imagine best and worst case scenario, while always keeping in mind I know I make pretty good decisions and in the end things always end up OK.
	Mary Boisselle I usually don’t ask any questions…I trust my intuition then I take a huge leap and bungie jump off the bridge or I don’t. There is a reason why opportunities come, so I can find the gem inside, whether it’s a pearl or a piece of glass.
	Larisa Goldin I try to check in with my guidance. i believe that risks are just opportunities in disguise, the only question is whether they are part of the intended path or are a test (a distraction). So based on what I get back from my inner guidance (does it feel right?) I take the risk or not.
	Rupa Wickrama Feelings of Anxiety = don’t take it. Feelings of Anticipation or Excitement = this warrants further exploration!
	Sydney Chavez I CRAVE Risk Taking. : )
	Traci Barnum Jump and figure everything else out later. Unless of course, you have a really smart husband who demands that you make a plan before you jump and break into your retirement fund for that risk. It’s a great balance. : )
	Carrie McIlveen Middlemiss It’s typically a gut feeling. I usually think it through and if it still feels right I go for it. Especially if it is something I’ll enjoy and it makes money.
	Jennifer Saphier Whitman I have to step away from the decision for a few days. It always pops back into my head while I am doing other things during the day. If every time the idea pops up I get a sick feeling, I know it isn’t the right choice. If I get excited every time I think about it, it is a definite go!

We hope these comments get you thinking about your own risk-tasking strategies for the year and that you’ll stay tuned to our blog over the next month and share your own daring deeds in the comments! And of course, have a Happy New Year from CRAVE!

It is all about people for Antoinette Gast, founder of tuyu fair trade business gifts. With her company she enables producers in developing countries, besides making a living for themselves and their employees, to bring their organization and products to the international commercial market. This way the producers can build their business in a sustainable way and do not need subsidies. Antoinette does this in a very personal way with care for people as the binding factor. Products, People and various Cultures have always been in Antoinette’s vains.

Products

From an early age, Antoinette craves for beautiful products, the design and its use. As a teenager she had a special fancy for chairs, especially the design. The mathematical load withheld Antoinette from taking up the Industrial Design study. So she started German-Dutch Translation Studies, but this was not her call. She graduated as the 25th in European Studies and worked at the European Commission in Brussels. In that time the apparel industry moved from Europe to developing countries. She wrote her paper about this development, the EU trade policy and its social effects. She seems not to be the typical civil servant. She wants to see results in short time and therefore she made her move to business by starting as consultant with an agency related to Price Waterhouse, active in feasibility studies for investments in developing countries. After that, she worked at Mexx in Sales at the international head office and closely with the management. In general every study, job and experience has led to where Antoinette stands now with tuyu. It all comes together in this company she owns. A product from tuyu is more than fair trade!

People

People are very important to Antoinette; from her partner, family and friends to her business contacts and employees. She wants them to have a good life and stay in close contact. Building relationships is a way of life for her. Relationships with customers, whom she wants to deliver the right business gift. With people that work for tuyu, employees and free lancers. And with producers in developing countries, who are actually making tuyu’s fair trade business gifts. As the producers go along with tuyu in the business process, they become real partners. Not at once, building a relationship is a process. Most of the handling is done in the Netherlands by people working in a sheltered workplace. Antoinette has thought about the whole production and business process and how to involve people. She states that tuyu consists of all those people who work with tuyu.

Personal

After working and living in Amsterdam, she searched for a house outside the city and into the nature. Antoinette always wanted a dog, but long working hours would not allow this. She found a new home in Vinkeveen, an area which she already knew from her regular biking tours on Saturday mornings via a bike club. With this house a dream came true! She now lives with her partner and their dog next to a wide meadow with a home based office. Her office is full of boxes with business gifts. Proudly she shows me and tells all about it, not per se proud of herself since she believes that “the person you are, is given”. Antoinette takes life the way it comes to her. She says “it is the way it is” to many things. Her pretty down to earth lifestyle is ‘What You See Is What You Get’.

Entrepreneurship gives her the opportunity to make her own decisions. The way tuyu works together with the fair trade producers and the market is innovative and her company is a leader in this branch. Tuyu is not only about fair trade, but also about beautiful products and design, about people over there in developing countries and people over here. It is also about universality. As an entrepreneur Antoinette can combine all of this and challenge herself as a decision maker and being her own coach.

Click here if you like to know more about the entrepreneur Antoinette Gast

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Text written by Marjon Parmentier © 2010 www.PARMsupport.com

Our first CRAVE Amsterdam Chat will take place on thursday the 9th of december from 09:30-12:00 at the CASA 400.
Vera van de Ven, founder of Innerearth and  Catriona Ravelli of LaptopLounge will be our guest speakers, sharing with us how they learned to use reflections to be more successful.

I would love to welcome you there and learn about what you learned this year! Please subscribe here.

Athalie Stegeman

Athalie Stegeman athaliestegeman.nl

Many of you know got to know me through the activities for CRAVE Amsterdam. In CRAVE most of you have seen one side of me; the positive Yang side, full of beans and enthusiasm. But then we all have a Yin side, feminine and awaiting and more focused to the inside. Since Crave is all about growth I love to share my personal reflections with you as some of you thought me so  many. Please click to read it..

Isrid van Geuns

Isrid van Geuns isworks.nl

I am almost at the end of a year again. Bye 2010…… It’s gone so fast but hey what else is new? Reflect? Actually, I am a future person; I look ahead, make plans and look forward most of the time. However, some weeks ago my CRAVE Amsterdam team gathered to make our schedule for the upcoming year, because our network is much more than a book! We talked about future events for our network, what matches with our own talents and wishes and what would our community expect from us? In line with the CRAVE USA teams and brand we felt we wanted to organise a CRAVE Chat and as the date would be in december, we decided to make it a ‘reflections-chat’. Inspiration for this subject was not only the new year ahead but also the story that team member Athalie had written some weeks before on what shé had learned this year and how she had experienced working with- and for CRAVE Amsterdam entrepreneurs. So here I go. All inspired and ready to open up; What (the hell) did I learn this year? Please click to read it.

Cristina Stoian

Cristina Stoian crisspix.com

2010.. where did it go? for me…it’s been a crazy year…but it passed so fast it seemed it was yesterday. I’ve been told by my CRAVE colleagues to reflect on my past year and share what I’ve learned this year… Inspired by Athalie Stegeman and Isrid van Geuns, I sit down and write. I realize I forgot half of the stuff I did. Everything happened in a blink of an eye, it feel like in a never-ending carousel…photos slide in front of my eyes at a dizzy speed… Please click to read it.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?

Young. Reliable. Clear

People may be surprised to know…

We have been doing great business for seven years!

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My good old friend, George

Who is your role model or mentor?
Obama, Gandhi, Sister Theresa and many others

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
Easily trust others like myself

How do you spend your free time?
Relaxing, going out with friends, reading and learning languages, going to the cinema

What is your indulgence?
Shopping

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
High tea

What do you CRAVE? In business? In life?
I wish that everyone around the world could have the same opportunities in life.

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.

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.

• 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!

It’s vintage for little ones ! Angelique Roelofsen started bieq a few years ago. Her passion for handcrafts made this Dutch brand succeed. It evokes nostalgia and shows care and attention. Her brand sells completely hand-knitted items, everything made of pure merino wool. Merino garments are light weight, breath well and are non-irritant to the skin. Those are all important qualities, especially for toddlers and babies. Specialized in baby hats, they also sell a wide range of mittens, clothing and beautiful baby-blankets.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
cherish, stylish, pure

What are your most popular products or services?
wide range of hand-knitted hats, mittens and the newly designed baby-blankets.

People may be surprised to know…
that really nothing is produced by machines, but everything is hand-knitted !

What or who inspired you to start your business?
my passion for handcraft and design.

Who is your role model or mentor?
not one particular person, but I see there is market for my business and my passion is really satisfied by bieq,  so I keep on going !

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
not to just trust anyone and also read the fine prints..

How do you spend your free time?
with my family (boyfriend Steven and our two children Seb (11) & Puck (8)) and friends.

What is your indulgence?
have a drink with friends, gardening, jogging and …working on bieq

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
doesn’t matter as long as I am with friends. Of course, a nice location, sunshine and some bubbles always makes it even better !

Keep tabs on Angelique’s latest creations online:
Website
Twitter
Facebook

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!

We love meeting women that make their passion a successful business out of it. Just recently we meet one of Amsterdam’s new talents in leather design, Sanne Gils, owner of Sanne Gils Bags & Accessories. Her designs are handmade in small quantities, which means that each bag is unique. The starting point of her designs is the material, the leather. The leather is carefully selected according to suppleness, colour and structure. One of her unique ideas we liked the most was her “pump ups”. She creates custom chique covers for your shoes and bags so you can achieve different looks for different occasions to go with your wardrobe.

Sanne Gils Bags & Accessories can be found at www.sannegils.nl and several shops in The Netherlands.

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
Stylish. Daring. Colourful.

What are your most popular products or services?
The most popular products are the bags, ‘pump ups’. ‘Pump ups’ are covers for your pumps or boots. You can give your pump another look every time

People may be surprised to know…
All the designs have their own name, like: Thula, Juffs or Flo

What or who inspired you to start your business?
I was inspired by all kind of little stores in town who sell their on personal designs

Who is your role model or mentor?
Other people who make beautiful designs and run their own business

What business mistake have you made that you will not repeat?
I learned to always pick up the phone, because you can miss great opportunities by not doing so.

How do you spend your free time?
When I have free time, I spend it in company of good friends. I like to cook and make nice dinners for them.

What is your indulgence?
I like to give every woman a beautiful bag and make her feel wonderful!

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
A good restaurant, a nice evening and some good Italian food