Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Wow! All I keep saying is wow! I was humbled and very appreciative of everyone who came out and supported the “Cosmo Affair” at Ann Taylor Vinings Jubilee. It was an awesome event and I look forward to doing many more.

Thank you to Tamika Morrison (my publicist) of T. Morrison Agency. You worked overtime and I thank you very much for your calm and professional outlook during this journey.

A BIG thank you to Cherise Beasley of White Diamond Image Consulting and Eva Jane Bunkley, a fabulous MUA, and inventor of The Makeup Bullet. These ladies are both My Moxie features because they are well respected in their respective industries, so it meant so much to me for them both to provide their expertise and support. Allowing me to truly demonstrate the purpose of Corporate Moxie.

Parker Simmons of Everyday Runway and Elle of ElleSees, what can I say. Thank you so much for coming out and being part of our social media camaraderie. You are both well respected bloggers and part of the Social Media elite. Thank you again for everything.

Will not and cannot forget my friends that came out to support me. I love you! My college crew, my women’s group, and my church family. You all ROCK. Ann Taylor, Jennifer, Sonia, and Margaret; you were fantastic! You were so helpful during this event. I had a wonderful time and am just still so grateful. Until the next event make sure you keep pursuing those dreams and Stay Moxie!

Catch some of the highlights below!

I had the opportunity to appear on Better Mornings, a local morning TV show in the Atlanta market that airs on CBS to talk about my upcoming launch at Ann Taylor. Thanks to beauty expert, Eva Jane Bunkley of The MakeUp Bullet for being such a great security blanket for my first TV appearance.  It was so much fun!  Special thanks to Ann Taylor for providing all the looks and to our wonderful model, Velvet for being such a great sport!

Video below!

Previously, I revealed an outline of a basic structure for progressive discipline in hopes you could use it as a foundation. You could add to the disciplines and rearrange according to the need of your business, however, I do not recommend implementing any less than the following:

• Verbal Discussion
  
• Written Warning
• Final Warning
  
• Termination
  

With that stated, let’s breakdown what verbal discussion really is. Just because it is a conversation does not mean that you don't document the discussion. It doesn't have to be formal, but you must document the date and the subject of the conversation you had with the employee. Do not get in a habit of having a verbal discussion and not being able to recall the date and subject matter of the verbal discussion. 

If that goes well, then you can just state the date and a very brief description of the subject. For example, June 28th - tardiness. That is enough information. However, if the verbal discussion does not go well, then you have to make sure that you document the date and subject, but also add the reason the employee took exception to what was discussed. To be on the safe side send an email to Human Resources and/or your supervisor to alert others of how the employee received the verbal discussion if within a team environment.

When you are invited to a networking event, you should attend even if you do not have anyone to go with you. I know that going it alone does not sound appealing, we all have to put ourselves in positions that will stretch our limits.

So, what can you bring to the event? You probably won’t believe this, but you are expected to bring your smile and your willingness to mingle. That’s all!  No need for nerves to come along either. Trust yourself, you have what it takes. 

Keep this in mind, you were invited because the host thought you would represent yourself well and participate in the event in such a way that would draw people to attend future events. Don’t believe me? Well, ask yourself, why are you at the event? It is probably because you heard from your associates that it was a great networking event, see my point? (smile)

Bring your most confident smile and your business cards. Try not to have business cards with crossed-out phone numbers or altered social media links. I know they can be expensive, but if you think you can get away with handwritten business cards and still be taken seriously, be my guest. Just kidding, don’t!

I recently attended an event and met many established entrepreneurs who were prepared to mingle with us, "newbies".  It was amazing to me that at the beginning of the event several people either did not bring business cards, or they only brought a few cards and literally told people that they only had planned to give those out under “special circumstances." Can you believe it? Yes, someone actually said that.

Rule of Thumb: you have to be careful how you treat people because you never know whom you just might be entertaining. At a networking event, you will cross paths with the same people again and again. So, let’s refrain from limiting the amount of cards you bring because you deem many of us not worthy.

Bring enough business cards. You don’t have to bring your whole inventory, but bring enough to get you through a few hours. 
We all know some attendees are not really there to network. They are there to “say” they were there and have no intention of really doing business outside their circle. That’s frustrating. However, you cannot allow yourself to focus on those few attendees. You must focus on your task at hand and follow through to accomplish what you have strategically sought out to do.

Okay, that's my #MoxieAdvice! Now talk back to me :)