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Well, That Was Fun! – Is Summertime OFFICIALLY Over Already?…

Published on September 26, 2019October 1, 2019 by Roshonda B8 Comments

Hey, Y’all! I Love saying that – it makes me sound so southern, in which I truly am! Arkansas born and bred, I Ain’t shame of it…lol.

The State of Arkansas Home of the Razorbacks

Anywho, welllllll…. Has summer come to an end already? In a couple of months, we’re going to be shouting Happy New Year – 2020!! Like Literally, my co-worker tells me all the time that the year’s speediness is my fault because when February came in, I honestly was wishing that the month would go by SUPER fast. I had just found a new dig and I was ready to MOVEEEEEEEE, I talk about that in a series of blog posts – you can catch up here, here and HERE! Just in case you missed it.

However, it seems like ever since I asked God for the time to SPEED by so I can get on with my moving on and upward. I must’ve sparked something in the Universe and BLINK! Here we are in September, going into October NEXT WEEK!!! Oh Gosh, please Universe – make it STOP!

Oh Well, I don’t know if that will happen, but I can say that this summer while it went away quickly. I did get some things accomplished and that’s what I want to talk about.

Before you ask, No – I didn’t travel to any elaborate locations with some girlfriends and chilled. Although, that does sound nice and I would love to do that someday. Once I get enough girlfriends to take that trip that is…lol. I came into this year saying that I wanted to travel to Russia and Africa – well, that never happened and from the looks of things, it won’t at this point. BUTTTTT, while that won’t be happening, I got this sensation in me to start saying YESSSSS to quite a bit of things…I’ll get into that shortly.

In the meantime, I didn’t expect to come into this year with the hope of starting a business. It just happened and when it did, I was ALLLLLL in! I created the Website, The FB Business Page and even the IG page for it, next I began working on content. What was this BUSINESS going to be about, what did I want to talk about? I have to be honest – when I first started the FB page, it was ALL about me and my services and etc., somewhat…. You can say maybe 80% was about me and 20% was about business tips for what I like to call “The Business Parent” and etc. I like doing research – at least on things that I’m really interested in knowing more about and I found out that I was doing it ALL wrong, I should have been talking about other things 80% of the time and only displaying my services 20% of the time.

This is a tip for the new and/or seasoned business parents, especially if you have a business page and/or advertising your brand. Think about you less (20%) and what else you can offer your clients more of (80%). Is there anything they need to know? Because people hate when things are constantly being pushed on them in a “salesy” way…. I’m one of them!

You can thank me later for that…. lol

Soooooooo, outside of starting the bizness – what comes next? Of course, business photos!! I said I wanted to take some, but people were super expensive, and I knew the selfies weren’t going to keep cutting it. Thank God for social media, a friend of mine got some family pics done and the guy that did her family pics had a $20 for 15 min special going on, you already know what I did… Yep!! – I JUMPED ALL ON IT!! I mean, for 20 bucks, I couldn’t pass it up – and here are the results of that…

What you think! I thought he did a fantastic job and I’ve already used them in a couple of mockups to promote my biz – check this out…

Let this be a lesson, you can do ANYTHING with photos, especially when it comes to creating content for your business. Okay, soooo another venture I tried over the summer – well, sort after the summer. Is going REDDDDDD…. I always wanted to be a redhead, so much so until when my beautician years ago would perm my hair, I always asked for a red rinse to be put in. I loved it so much until I got the idea to just turn my WHOLE head red, can someone say..

It truly was, I should have let a professional do it. As a matter of fact, here’s another lesson. If your hair is “weak” and/or “thin” please don’t put color on top of it. The color is already strong and even stronger depending on the color you get. It’s a chemical that will strip your hair as it is and if your hair is already “On the Weak Side of the Road” – You ain’t gonna have no HAIR!

I don’t have a picture for it now but Day 1 my hair was good, by Day 5 my hair was GONE!

All my precious hair (what I did have) shed away, I finally had to get it all cut off. I vowed that I would NEVER use color again on my hair (because I loved color and loved trying different shades) The women on those color care boxes are not created equal and its no telling WHO, WHAT or HOW long it took them to get their hair to the desired color they wanted. Plus, I’m sure they had a professional stylist…

So, if I can’t color my hair – Why not get some hair with the color in it and VIOLA! Here are the results…

To say I love this, would definitely be an understatement but I LOVE IT!!! Do You Like It??

On top of that, I got some new glasses (A Pair by Karl Lagerfeld (left) & One by a brand entitled Colours (right) I had a dark blue pair by Colours, I love their glasses, their unique and they tend to fit my personality, wish they had a white pair. Love these babies!

Well, outside of celebrating my daughters 15^th birthday (Man time is flying) She’ll be out of school in TWO YEARS!! And she’s already talking about driving and getting a license and working and starting a baby and dog care business, in which I created a flyer and she’s been passing out all over our neighborhood and everywhere she goes outside of bugging me about taking her to swap shops to see if she could sell some clothing items, books, and other things. SMH, she’s a littlepreneur in the making – see below.

First comes driving and the next thing you know, we’ll be talking about a CAR! Can she go back to being a kindergartner? Geeshhhhhh!! But she’s my baby girl and I Love Her!!

Well, that was my summer and it was other stuff in between, like not having air conditioning for a FULL MONTH! But that’s another story for another time. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to saying YES!!! Not to the Dress, at least not now – I’m praying though…. that’ll definitely be a BIG Blog Post to share!

Buttttt, I’m saying YES! before 2020 rolls in like “Gone With The Wind” to outings and doing more things. I realized outside of being in the house over the summer and taking care of bills, kids and starting up a smallbiz. I really don’t get out much…, like not ever – now that I think about it.

So, instead of starting off the year with a new year’s resolution of saying YES (Anyone see the movie “Yes, Man” by Jim Carrey? Now, I’m not nieve’ and realize that the events that happened to him in the movie, don’t quite happen in real life. I mean – that’s why they call it Hollywood, people. However, this journey is just to get out of my comfort zone a little and meet and/or do things, OUTSIDE of the house. It’s me not thinking about doing it but actually putting the thought to action! So, I thought I’d start the month of October doing so and when I do, I’m going to BLOG about it. Hey, I gotta keep myself accountable! Will you go on the Journey of YES with me?

Well, Folks that it! That was my summer in a nutshell – Now onto Fall and Pumpkins and Spice and Everything Nice and to me saying…

Happy Fall! See Ya Soon!

Answering Work Emails On the Weekends? Yes or No…

Published on September 14, 2017September 14, 2017 by Roshonda B8 Comments

I was talking with a friend recently and she began to discuss with me how her boss emails her on the weekends and this isn’t a once in a while occurrence – this is every single weekend, nonstop. As she began to describe the feelings of “job commitment” that comes over her when she taps the respond button, I began to think about how I too was in her same shoes and would answer all sorts of emails from work “on my weekends” and “days off” YES! you can say I was quite the committed employee. As someone whom wanted to always make a good impression with my boss; I later realized that I had taken on a whole lot more than I could chew.

Model employee you could say, but was that really coming across to my boss because I answered multiple emails on the weekends? Uhhh—–NO! One email answered at 10pm one night, changed my life forever. It was a night in which I had nothing to do and just happened to browse my work email (in which I had coming to my phone) and seen that my boss had emailed me to ask a question, to their surprise – I answered them back. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer this time of night?” they explained and I said “Oh, it was no problem.” While they assured me that answering emails after hours or on weekends was not necessary, I continued to do it and they soon took it as “This girl is available at all times” and used it to their advantage, not only them but multiple people after them. I had set myself up as the availability gal in which you could email at any time and get a response.

Work Emails3 — *Answering work emails during your “personal time” can become complicated*

While this was fun and liberating at first, it soon became a nightmare. Suddenly I was getting emails at the most awkward times of the night or day. They usually trickled in during the time in which I was spending with family, friends or having a mental health day. What had I started!!, my life was beginning to turn into a 365, 7day a week, 24 hours a day job. I suddenly realized that I had no time for myself as I soon began going in to work on weekends, Sundays included and stay extra hours after work and to answer emails on top of all that —– My job seemed like it was becoming a never ending story. Once you put yourself out there to be the “IT” person – everything changes, including your personal life.

I abruptly decided one day to just shut down the email on my phone altogether. I also stopped going in on weekends and while I do have my current job email coming to my phone now, I only check it or respond when I feel it’s an emergency that needs to be handled right away. If not, then it can wait till Monday. You see?, I felt that if I answered emails on the weekends that it would make me a more valuable employee but what it made me was a robot. I never received any awards, recognition or cool points with the boss because I answered an email after hours or on weekends and my pay definitely didn’t change. So who was I really doing this for and why had I subjected myself to this task? Because I wanted to show my boss they could count on me – no matter what.

And while that’s all good, it wasn’t good for my health; sanity or livelihood – so something had to change and change FAST!

Do you feel obligated to answer work emails after hours or weekends? Well, if you’re feeling the pressure – Don’t worry, just take the necessary steps below:

Just Say No

work email4 — *There’s no harm in saying NO!*

Don’t get me wrong, we all work jobs in which we want to be relevant and deemed as a good employee but there has to be a line crossed somewhere. When we constantly say YES to everything our boss shoots our way, we put ourselves in position to not have feelings, a say or an opinion about anything. It’s okay to say NO sometimes. Especially if it’s going to interfere with your life outside of the workplace or office. They can’t fire you for saying NO.

Have a Conversation with the Boss

USA, New Jersey, Jersey City, Business man and woman arguing — *Check with your Boss to see what their idea of after hours entails*

You might want to see where your boss stands on how they want you to respond to emails during your off hours and is it a requirement. Personally, I used to have a boss that would send me emails after hours but only because if they didn’t do it right away, they would forget to and working at night was sort of their down time in which they used to respond to emails. So, get your bosses opinion on what they would like you to do concerning it. You may also want to let them know that your off hours and weekends are very busy. Express the fact that if they do send an email, you may not respond until the next workday. This will let your boss know your stance on after hour emails and that they should not expect a response.

Expectations, Expectation, Expectations – Watch Out!

Word Expectations on ascending arrow above bar graph — *The more you put yourself out, The more will be expected of you.*

Ever noticed how when you do something for a person one time – they tend to take advantage of you doing it that one time and consistently come back to you again and again expecting you to do the same thing? That’s how we can become when we give of ourselves more than we should. It’s okay to be nice and kind but at the end of the day, you’re required to perform your job duties (that’s what you get paid for) anything in over excess to that can lead people to expect more from you than you’re willing to give. Only give what you can afford to give away because your time is precious.

Self-Care is the Best Care

self-care-b — *Self Care will Save your Life*

Whether it’s concerning work or anything else that may be pressing in your life. You must take care of yourself, including your sanity. I’ve been on jobs where I’ve over exhausted myself trying to prove or show how good of an employee I was and at the end of the day, I was the one with the swollen ankles, extreme headache and body aches. I was literally stressing myself out, while I made others feel comfy, cozy. Just as your boss needs their time, so do you. You’re no good to them, the business or organization if you’re spazzed out, stressed or in the hospital. Learn to turn off your email notifications from work or just don’t answer them at all. While that may be hard to do (because it was for me) you have to realize that you’re only one person and if something happens to you; will they come to your aide? No…(yes they’ll be concerned but the job must and always will go on, whether you’re there or not)

That’s sad to say, but in reality – we only get one life, one chance and one opportunity to make the best of it as much as possible and I can think of a million things for you to do besides answering that annoying email message from you know who. Life is short my friend and those after hour/weekend emails can wait…Life, unfortunately cannot.

All images used were courtesy of Bing ~

Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager

Let’s Live Well, Laugh Loud & Love Hard!

C’Mon, You Just Gotta ASK!

Published on June 3, 2017June 2, 2017 by Roshonda B2 Comments

Thursday afternoon, after work I went into the local market Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of items and as I always do – thinking I’m just going to go in for one thing and run out…(Intermission Break #ThatNeverHappens 😞😣, Okay…so back to the story) I began to see everything under the sun that I needed and/or wanted.

As my arms were filling up with items, I realized that I should have gotten a basket, so here I was running from aisle to aisle looking for an abandoned basket to place my items in but there was no basket in sight. Suddenly as I approached a self-check out line, I noticed a big basket (empty) just sitting there. I wanted to grab it but then I noticed there was a man there whom was just completing his transaction, he was about to go. I immediately backed away to continue my search to find a basket. It suddenly hit me, Why are you searching for a basket; when you seen one, all you had to do was ask? I was like, Yes…why didn’t I ask him, why did I just walk away?

I said all of that to say, in life we don’t monopolize on situations that are right in front of us. We procrastinate, take our time, beat around the bush and talk ourselves out of our blessings. Then we wonder why, things happen for other people and seem to pass us by. It’s not that things pass us by….it’s just that those other people know how to ASK & THEY RECOGNIZE OPPORTUNITY! I went back, hand full of groceries and asked the man “Are you done with this basket? He said yes, you can take it. As I said Thank you to him, he in turn said “No, Thank You, you helped me out.”

So, I have to ask you a question. “What is Today your Day to Do” Is it your day to say Yes! Is it your day to Take a Leap of Faith in moving towards your dream? Because when you don’t use the time or take advantage of the resources that’s in your path in that moment, you’re not only hurting yourself, but you very well could be hurting someone else in the process.