Randi Zuckerberg's Blog, page 18
June 8, 2016
Radio Recap: Creating Tony Award-Winners
Broadway musical ‘Hamilton’ has made history, not only as the sold-out smash hip-hop musical hit of America’s first Treasury secretary, but it’s also received a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations and its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has even won a Pulitzer Prize for the show. Broadway is having its most diverse season to date, reflected in part by the Tony nominations where, of the 40 acting nominations, 14 went to black, Hispanic and Asian-American actors.Whereas Hollywood has once again been chided for its lack of diversity in its award ceremonies.
So what keeps the $1.3 billion dollar Broadway industry thriving? And what is the award-winning concoction that creates a Broadway hit to begin with? On Broadway SiriusXM host, Julie James, and ‘Hamilton’ producer, Jill Furman, revealed the secrets of smash Broadway hits on today’s ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg.’
“You can’t make a living but you can make a killing in Broadway.”
“I knew I needed to be in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s life the first time I saw him perform.”
“My first Broadway show was ‘A Chorus Line.’ It was my favorite until ‘Hamilton.’”
“I sell my passion for the project. I start out going to friends and family. People know they can make money but often they want to support the arts.”
“I’ve had a very good track record.”
“Nobody knows anything in the movie business or Broadway. You don’t know what is going to work.”
“I’ve never been scared of asking anyone for money.”
“I really liked the product and the person selling the product. I believed in Lin’s talent from a very early age.”
“You have to see every show on Broadway as a TONY voter. You’re left at the end of the season trying to cram them all in.”
“You don’t want to force tech into shows. It’s not going to work with every show.”
“In the case of ‘Hamilton’ watching the social media that Lin posts, Lin is a master at it. His energy is infectious.”
“Social media can have a huge impact on a show’s success.”
“The theater producer’s concern is about cannibalizing the audience.”
“If there’s interest in shooting the film live, there’s a hold back. You want to make sure you have enough time.”
“I see a lot of Off-Broadway shows. ‘In the Heights’ started as Off-Broadway.”
“The economic model for Off-Broadway is tough. It’s a helpful tool.”
“’Hamilton’ started at the Public which is a different type of Off-Broadway play.”
“I always think about what I’m going to do next but I’m riding the wave right now. What we’re doing with education will have a trickle down effect.”
“You have to be passionate about what you’re doing. It’s a labor of love. Trust your gut.”
“I had a performance background in opera and studio singing. I feel like that all led up to creating a whole other avenue for me.”
“Not everyone who listens to ‘On Broadway’ is a superfan of Broadway.”
“’Cats’ was the first Broadway show I ever saw. It was on a school trip.”
“When I landed in the Times Square I knew that’s where I wanted to be.”
“I’ve been with Sirius for 10 years but been working with Broadway since 2008. This has been the richest season.”
“’Hamilton’ resonates with audiences outside of theater fandom.”
“’Hamilton’ breaks the boundaries of genre.”
“EduHAM is for low income students in the city and there’s a free education program they prepare before they see the show.”
“From the business perspective no one wanted their show to go in the same season with ‘Hamilton.’”
“Road presenters are interested in shows that would potentially do well in their theater.”
“The Tonys connects people who aren’t theater fans. Especially in the year of ‘Hamilton’.”
“The Tonys are a one time a year when people get to take a look on national television and see what the shows look like.”
“I think there’s a real desire from the part of the fan to be exposed to what’s going on. What could streaming be on Broadway?”
“When we created the Metropolitan Opera station at Sirius in 2006 at Sirius it took over 19 unions to get rights to the recordings.”
“Live opera at the Met is in over 60 movie theaters now. You have a little countdown clock to see how much time you have for a bathroom break.”
“The connection I feel with our listeners because my Broadway was also a touring Broadway.”
“I didn’t want the pressure of mounting a show I wrote. I wanted a fun way to tell my story that was unique.”
“You have to do the thing no one else is doing. So I did a house concert in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I tried out my show there.”
“On June 12th Siriusxm.com/onBroadway will have the Town Hall with Anderson Cooper and all the Tony nominees.”
“There’s no formula or handbook that tells you have to be successful. It happens differently for everyone.”
“People are getting hired from video auditions.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday at 12pm ET to hear the latest in business and tech! Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111!
June 3, 2016
Where Do Emoji Come From?
Unicode 9.0 recently announced 72 new emoji coming our way on June 21, 2016. From a pregnant woman emoji to a selfie emoji to a facepalm emoji, this new batch hopes to keep the picture word craze alive. But just where do emojis come from and how do the new batches get chosen? Here’s your history of the world’s favorite shorthand communication: The Emoji.
The word EMOJI comes from a Japanese term meaning “picture characters” that could be translated into digital standardized icons. The first emoji for cellphones were invented in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita who was working on “i-mode,” the first mobile internet platform. In an interview Kurita said, “Japanese TV weather forecasts have always included pictures or symbols to describe the weather—for example, a picture of sun meant ‘sunny’. He theorized that pictures that display expressions could help revolutionize communication in small spaces for text and recommended that i-mode add emojis. The result was the 176 12-pixel by 12-pixel images that have become standard protocol for all emoji.
The very first emoji
The Unicode Consortium, “a non-profit corporation devoted to developing, maintaining, and promoting software internationalization standards and data which specifies the representation of text in all modern software products and standards” followed Kurita’s suit and picked up emoji for their Unicode standardizations, allowing the symbols to look the same across different platforms—sometimes. When emoji were developed in the late 90s, unique emoji marketing was how Japanese cell phone companies were going after customers. Soon all carriers were competing to add more emoji to their repertoire.
If you’re desperate to see a new emoji for a certain feeling not yet represented, Unicode says folks can fill out an application for a new emoji via their site—though it might be easier to appeal to your cellphone carrier than to get a nod from Unicode as the Unicode Consortium only convenes ONCE a quarter to determine which emoji go through and which don’t.
EMOJI FACTS:
There is no consensus of whether the plural of emoji is “emoji” or “emojis”
Happy face emoji are used more than sad face emojis, reading material emojis are used the least
Canadians use violent and raunchy emoji the most (think the gun and a peach)
Australians have twice the worldwide average for using the alcohol emoji
Americans tend to the more “female-oriented” emoji like the lipstick and, ahem, the eggplant
Russians use three times as many romantic emojis than the worldwide average
The French go for hearts and wedding icons
Match.com reports people who use emoji in texts have a more active sex life
It was reported in 2013 74 % of Americans and 82 % of Chinese have sent an emoji—but that was 3 years ago! The numbers must be in 90 percentile range by now!
Which emoji are your favorite? Do you prefer “emoji” or “emojis”? What emoji would you want to see? Tweet us @dotcomplicated and let us know!
June 1, 2016
Radio Recap: Millennials & Money with Congressional Candidate Erin Schrode
Millennials (those aged 18 to 35) have now surpassed the Baby Boomer generation as not only the largest living generation, but also are now the biggest voter population in the country. Millennials are also those hardest hit by unemployment. Which means starting now, politics are about to change dramatically.
Today on ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ author of Secrets of Financial Aid Pro, Jodi Okun, and Erin Schrode, the youngest candidate ever to run for US Congress, sat down to discuss Millennials & Money.
“We need to equip our young people to thrive on their own.”
“We are 6 days out from the Primary election on June 7th.”
“I had no idea what this journey is like. I love it.”
“I actually get to speak about solutions that improve our lives.”
“I am usually up around 6am. It’s a lot of meeting with people. It comes down to boots on the ground.”
“We marched with about 30 people on Memorial Day. It’s incredible to see the response.”
“Last night I was at a community meeting, I did a breakfast with parents. We’re going around giving lawn signs.”
“Turning Green started from studying toxins in the environment and how to reduce their effects.”
“As a then 13-year-old and now a 25 year old I’ve been able to help my generation live a more (fill in the blank ) life.”
“Working with kids is the best. We’re not afraid to challenge the status quo.”
“I was never one to say I was going to be a politician. Two and half years ago I gave a speech. It had an influence on my values and career.”
“I don’t fit the mold of who I think of as a politician but others told me that they need my voice in government today.”
“People don’t know how policy affects their lives if they don’t know.”
“What about having the ability to reverse the degradation of the environment?”
“I felt the burden of financial aid loans myself.”
“How do we implement forgiveness programs and reduce debt?”
“It’s our generation who are designing the future.”
“Now getting into the nuances of policy solutions is reinvigorating.”
“I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell when I first started campaigning. The way our message has resonated with people is astounding.”
“The way in which women of all ages are getting behind the campaign. The way elders are saying you’re the voice we’ve been waiting for.”
“Debt, student loans are carried with us after we graduation.”
“Jobs aren’t so different anywhere you go. How do we equip our students fill more than 20% of jobs right.”
“The entrepreneurial spirit needs to be fostered in our generation.”
“We’re talking about early childhood education. There’s a disadvantage straight from the get-go that needs to be fixed to level the playing field.”
“I’m a digital native so of course I launched my campaign online. I sent a tweet, a Facebook post and the world ran with it.”
“We accrued over 6 million views which is insane for a campaign launch.”
“We’re busting the campaign trail wide open using digital. Facebook Live is entirely unfiltered. That candor is what’s missing from politics today.”
“I got more excited about the Snapchat political team contacting me more than any other platform.”
“The word authenticity is being overused. Unfiltered nature shows you’re a real person.”
“Our country is 51% female, I don’t need a government of all women, but more to represent us and bring our needs into the fold.”
“This role running as a candidate in Congress is where I can best affect change.”
“Action is far too rare in our world today. Apathy is largest problem affecting our world now.”
“When you take that concrete step, people will coalesce around you.”
Erinforus.com @erinschrode #erinforus
“The way I’m looking at the process can start as young as 5 and old as 30. Having that money conversation as early as possible.”
“I took a class in financial aid and I thought I wanted to help students get into college.”
“We need to help our Millennials help learn what money is.”
“Millennials want to know what’s happening with them. They want to be responsible.”
“Millennials wanted to know about money earlier and now their catching up.”
“Anytime you can be at the kitchen table and bring up money is a good idea. Teach kids earlier.”
“When talking about college money you have to be up front.”
“The book isn’t a how-to. It’s a book of stories of how people deal with money and what to do next. It’s warming to hear similar questions from others.”
“We don’t know if college is going to change, but we know students need an education.”
“It’s really hard to talk about money. I want to make it easier.”
“I’m the first single person to be ranked so high on Twitter. The Top 3 were companies.”
“Creating #CollegeCash is about everything that has to do with students and families: Empty nesters, writing essays. Everyone knows someone who is a student.”
“#CollegeCash is more about outreach and communication now.”
“The first secret to being a responsible spender is to be a responsible borrower.”
“If you have extra money make payments ahead of time. If you have a refund or a graduation gift, use that money.”
“Learn about repayment plans. Have a list of all the loans you have.”
“Call your lender and communicate with them so you stay on top of your loans.”
“Financial aid has changed. All applications go live October 1st.”
“The minute we as women, entrepreneurs and find our voices online, we’re going to reach so many more people. Everyone’s on social media.”
“Social media might be uncomfortable at first but people are open and engaging.”
“It’s the tone you use that brings your following.”
“If you work while you’re in college, those working on graduation day are more likely to be employed.”
“There’s a lot of resources you can get online and the more you talk about it the easier money issues will get.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday to hear the latest news in tech & entrepreneurialism! Only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 12pm ET!
May 27, 2016
Augmented & Virtual Realities—What to Expect
If there’s one thing that’s true about virtual reality and augmented reality, it’s that we haven’t even scratched the surface of the technology’s potential. That doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of individuals and companies doing their best to push the limits of the tech as it exists today.
This is absolutely shaping up to be the year of virtual reality as analysts have predicted – in the sense that it will be a banner year for sales of VR hardware and software thanks to mid-priced options like the Samsung Galaxy Gear VR, which is compatible with several Samsung Galaxy smartphones that are powered by Snapdragon’s mobile processor, and a built-in customer base among serious gamers. But how the technology will be integrated into the lives of laypeople is less clear.
It’s interesting to speculate, however! Here are just some of the ways mass market virtual reality may shape how we work, play, learn and care for the vulnerable among us.
Live Entertainment, Virtually
VR will certainly have a major impact on not only cinema but also live theatre and theatrical events as content creators and producers explore the tech’s potential to give audiences more authentic experiences. iHeartRadio and Universal Music Group, for example, have partnered to develop a virtual entertainment platform that connects performers and fans anywhere in the world.
VR in the Classroom
Nearpod VR lesson plans are already being tested in classrooms in the San Francisco Unified School District and Polk County Public Schools in Florida. Imagine being a teacher who can take students on virtual immersive field trips to historic or educational destinations that would be impossible to visit due to distance or lack of funding. The curriculum includes Google Cardboard devices and a mix of virtual and non-VR content that lets kids tour notable sites like the caves on Easter Island, the Great Barrier Reef, Giza’s pyramids and historically important US landmarks.
Life Beyond the Sick Room Wall
There are now a handful of nonprofit organizations like VR Kids that are promoting the power of VR and augmented reality to boost quality of life in ill patients and people coping with limited mobility. In most cases they bring all of the equipment necessary to give those they support personalized therapeutic experiences that can offer a look at the world outside the hospital and offer relief from stress and anxiety.
Virtual Business, Real Money
Many companies are already using VR to create immersive training materials that help new hires get acclimated more quickly. Fewer are using virtual reality to map out and manage supply chains or give customers an opportunity to test products before buying. It won’t be long though before b2b firms like Trillenium are building fully customizable virtual stores where customers can wander the aisles without ever leaving home.
VR in the Sports Space
Reading about the big game or re-watching major moments in sports from years past can’t hold a candle to reliving a truly spectacular sporting event in your favorite player’s shoes. Want to be Don Larsen pitching a perfect game in Game Five of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956? Virtual reality will eventually give fans the chance to be anyone in any game.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to VR’s applications in our lives. The tech is only getting better and the content will grow richer and more immersive as the platform evolves. Between the two technologies, augmented reality is not nearly as accessible, but we will see that AR is opening the door into a whole new world of innovation in the fields of design, medicine, and advertising. Right now augmented and virtual realities are a novelty. Soon they will be as common as the smartphone.
Jennifer Thayer is an editor @FreshlyTechy and a freelance writer who loves covering technology, sports and traveling. freshlytechy.com
May 25, 2016
Radio Recap: From Broadway to Wall Street
Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t usually a first job for most. Compared to more traditional careers, entrepreneurship is risky, demanding, and requires plenty of capital, so working a steady job before starting your own company can often give you the skills, experiences, and money necessary for success.
Some jobs better prepare you than others—take sales, where you can learn strong communication skills and marketing; or management, where you learn team building, delegation, and time-management. Other careers like retail jobs allow you to work directly with money and learn customers’ needs versus their wants; there’s food service where multitasking is key; and, of course, customer service where you can see, firsthand, the angry side of consumerism—and how to deal with it.
But what about what less traditional—if not dream—careers, how do they equate to entrepreneurialism and how can we follow in those footsteps? Trisha Brinchero and Heather K. Terry both come from the world of Broadway, and now both women are forging ahead to Wall Street as CEOs and founders of their own companies. Here’s how they did it—and you can too:
BRISA TRINCHERO
“I’m from Portland so I was about as far from Broadway as you can get. I was completely obsessed.”
“The best way to be a part of every Broadway show was to go into the business aspect so I got my MBA in finance.”
“I networked my butt off and won a Tony Award within two years of moving to NYC.”
“I had been working in live entertainment and saw that real fans weren’t able to get tickets to the shows they wanted to go to—hence ShooWin!”
“Real fans were getting priced out of their coveted events.”
“Real fans are loyal and want to put down a face value prices for the teams they really want to see.”
“If you look at the Superbowl, you don’t see families there anymore because tickets are in the tens of thousands of dollars.”
“I did not come from a sports background. I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s like the theater world. Very passionate.”
“I am frequently the only woman in the meeting. But I find that the teams and leagues I talk to know a good idea when they see it.”
“A lot of the legal team and management team are women. We really own it. We don’t shy away from being women in the sports world.”
“We’re about to go into beta launch. It’s like Broadway previews.”
“The fans and leagues are getting it quickly. Lots of thank yous.”
“’Hamilton’ has been so great about trying to better serve their fans.”
“We have BBG Investors as one of our majors seed funders. They specifically target female-founded businesses.”
“Not all money is the same. Look at different funders and see what expertise they have. They are your advisors and major decisions.”
“You can get money from a lot of places but smart money is hard to find.”
“First go to ShooWin.com and sign up. If you’re a fan of a team, you can put money down to guarantee playoff tickets if they make it to the finals.”
“Entrepreneurialism is around the clock. You wish you had a crystal ball to make sure everything is going to work out.”
“You can’t afford to go home and crawl under the covers.”
“I frequently compare sports to Broadway. Sports has way bigger personalities and huge dramas. You can’t get too attached to a scene or a moment because it’s constantly changing.”
“Going into an entrepreneurial tech venture, if it doesn’t hit with the consumer it won’t work out.”
“I was at the World Congress of Sports in LA, the only woman being honored was Leslie Visser, the first female sports reporter.”
“Sometimes you have to cross the street even when the sign says ‘don’t walk’ is the best piece of business advice I’d ever heard.”
“You have to force to get yourself from out behind the desk. It’s important to be out there and meet new people to grow.”
“My passion is theater so ShooWin will definitely be opening up to the arts.”
HEATHER K. TERRY
“You have to respect the entrepreneur for coming up with what they thought was an answer to a question.”
“I had been an actor for a better part of a decade in NYC. You have successes and lulls in your career but that wasn’t satisfying.“
“I started bringing in samples of the chocolate I was making to the Broadway show I was on and people kept telling me I should pursue chocolate making.”
“The idea of becoming a health coach idea was me thinking I want to do something during the day when I wasn’t acting.”
“I had to get real-real and make a decision with what I wanted to do in life.”
“The first months were utter chaos, Google was my best friend. Find people to help connect you to other people.”
“First NibMor was self-funded, then friends and family, then an angel group.”
“I left NibMor in my full time capacity to go further into the pastry world.”
“As women we get afraid to ask for what we need in all facets of life, especially business.”
“Be clear and organized and talk to as many people as you can.”
“You meet people and try to figure what your skill sets are. I started to think about who could help with the business side of things. Find kindred spirits.”
“I was making all the chocolate all by myself for two years, standing on my feet for 16 hours a day. Then wrapping bars. It was insane.”
“We would take our chocolate bars and walk into stores and ask for placement.”
“I don’t want to glamourize entrepreneurship. It’s super hard.”
“Collaboration is everything. They provide you a platform to put your products in front of a different audience.”
“When I started NibMor I was drawn to other entrepreneurs who were like minded.”
“Find partnerships to help your business thrive.”
“Trust your gut is the best piece of business advice I’ve ever got.”
“I’ve always had business regret when I don’t trust my gut.”
“I was an unlikely entrepreneur. I was a fish out of water. I felt it was important to share the information of what I learned and what to do when I hit a wall.”
“Pick the buckets you want to put your energy into and allocate your time.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ June 1st when Erin Schrode, a 25-year-old environmentalist and Millennial currently running for Congress in California’s 2nd congressional district, joins the show! 12pm ET/9am PT only on SiriusXM Business 111.
May 20, 2016
The Etiquette of Tipping in the Rideshare Economy
Ride-sharing wunderkind, Uber, is perhaps third-best known (after its legal battles and of course the illuminating, Travis Kalanick) for its policy about tipping: Hail an Uber, get to location, all without any physical transaction between driver and rider. No need to bring a wallet, swipe or chip your card, or even have a good ol’ cash exchange for service + tip. That is until now.
After a recent Driver vs. Uber blowout in Austin, Texas, Uber is now allowing drivers in California and Massachusetts to solicit tips from riders. Before, asking for a tip was a strict no-no, but after a $100 million dollar settlement, drivers can now post signs, hold out empty hands, and simply say tips are very much appreciated. Uber drivers have (almost) won to the right to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors, resulting in a new tipping and ridesharing economy.
It’s not so bad, is it? We tip our nail salons, hair dressers, CAB DRIVERS, why is the idea of tipping in ridesharing so blasphemous? Perhaps it’s because Uber swore that we would never have to, or the fact that other rideshare services, like Lyft, makes it super easy for riders to tip drivers through their app. Now Uber is saying it doesn’t plan integrating an in-app tipping feature so riders will have to tip with cash— which is one of the mega benefits of using ridesharing services: NO WALLET NECESSARY.
So for you, as the rider, what should you do when you take an Uber? Tip each ride? If you’re going by the ratings that drivers and riders give each other—increasing your chances of getting picked up—then absolutely yes! Drivers rate their passengers when the trip is 100% complete, meaning you’re out of the car. Tip either given or not. So a tip is now pretty much required to ensure a high rating. Even if you’ve only got a dollar in your pocket, a little goes a long way to those driving around drunk college kids, loud cell phone talkers, and annoying barefoot passengers.
So what’s the new Uber etiquette—tip or not tip? If you’ve ever tipped the barista at the Starbucks, your hand car wash dryer, a taxi driver, or a bellboy, ridesharing is pretty much the same. A service economy exists to make life easier, so while Uber is making the drive a tad more difficult because you can’t just add a tip via their app—you’ll have to be cognizant enough to carry cash. But if you don’t care about negative reviews and would rather take Travis at his no-tipping word.
If this is all too much to bear, then just use Lyft. The pink mustaches are off the car, the fist bumps vary from driver to driver, and, as far as employer/employee exchange, they treat their drivers with more regard. They may not be as ubiquitous as Uber, nor have become a verb in their own right as of yet, but if etiquette is what you pride yourself on either tip or Lyft your way to a guilt-free conscious.
How do you feel about tipping under the new Uber model? Tweet us your thoughts! at @DotComplicated
May 18, 2016
Radio Recap: At-Home Healthcare
While a formal, in-office diagnosis from a medical practitioner was once the first step on the road to recovery, more and more healthcare-related businesses have eased the stress of making a doctors appointment. With online patient/doctor interactive companies like HealthTap and at-home first-aid kits like CellScope’s OtoScope, patients can now educate themselves on their ailments in the comfort and privacy of their own home.
According to a study conducted by healthcare marketing firm Markovsky Health, U.S. consumers spend at least 52 hours online per year—or one hour per week—looking for health information. In the survey, more than 1,000 individuals, ages 18 and older, revealed that 53% access health information online at WebMD; 24% use a combination of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; 19% use health magazine websites; and 16% use health advocacy group websites. Regardless of where we look, one the many reasons we look online in the first place is usually to avoid the difficult discussion of embarrassing conditions.
Today on ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ children’s book author, Sue-Ganz Schmitt, and MyLabBox inventors Ursula Hessenflow and Lora Ivanova discussed how they are revolutionizing at-home personal healthcare:
“I was an executive throughout my career but I left to pursue having children and helping children.”
“In my baby group, one baby was diagnosed with Leukemia, one had severe allergies—I watched families become like superheroes.”
“I always loved children’s books. I set out to write a book to help families and the kids in class who wondered about blood tests that were happening.”
“In ‘Even Superheroes Get Diabetes’ the little just wants to play and be a little kid.”
“’The Princess and the Peanut’ is based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale.”
“1 in every 12 kids in the classroom have a peanut allergy.”
“My first two books were self-published because publishers found medical fiction books as a niche market.”
“Medtronic helped us get the books into doctor’s offices around the country.”
“One little boy wanted to be a doctor after reading my books.”
“My books helps make kids feel more special and helps lift them up.”
“If we can all inspire just one child out there, we’ve made the world a better place.”
“Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They teach the craft side and the business side.”
“‘Planet Kindergarten’ likens the journey to kindergarten like an astronaut going to the moon.”
“I’m a NASA social media correspondent so I decided I wanted my next book to be a space-themed book for girls.”
“Media is the way to reach kids.”
“Tap into what you’re passionate about to help a field you’re interested in.”
For more info go to sueganzschmitt.com or follow Sue @planetkbooks
More than half of all the people in the world will have a sexually transmitted disease or infection at some point in their life. While over 80% of people with STDs have no symptoms, less than half of U.S. adults, ages 18 to 44, have ever been tested for an STD other than HIV.
Put simply, America’s got an epidemic of epic proportions on its hands. Luckily trying to help solve the problem are entrepreneurs Ursula Hessenflow and Lora Ivanova, creators of myLAB Box, an at-home STD testing kit that can be ordered online with tests that can be performed in the privacy of your own home:
“It’s the first online service that brings the lab into your home to test for STDs.”
“I couple of us got together to discuss dating in a big city, where we were in life. The awkward conversation of STDs came up.”
“The testing process was so uncomfortable that no one really wanted to approach the topic.”
“50% of all individuals in America will get an STI at some point in life.”
“Problem solving our own lives helped us to get us passionate and see the profitability.”
“MyLabBox is sold online. We try to make it as easy as 1-2-3 with results online in 3 to 8 days.”
“It’s been an interesting ride. We tried to spin it in the beginning without saying STDs, but everyone gets it.”
“One investor asked what STD we had that inspired us to create this. There were a lot of strange questions asked.”
“In Twitter and YouTube we got shut down for sexually explicit product. The stigma is there.”
“These are the networks communicating to the largest number of young adults. If all media refuses to talk about STDs, we don’t have a chance.”
“It comes in discreet packaging. Then you find a positive, colorful box that makes you think of anything but the gravity of what you’re about to do.”
“Pee in a cup, mail it back, and then we analyze it in our lab.”
“The challenge was how to get this into people’s hands and make it a lifestyle.”
“Once you order you kit, you can create an account on our secure website.”
“We don’t believe in painful screening, so there are no needles.”
“We saw that people don’t want to have an uncomfortable discussion with their doctor.”
“We’re big believers in giving consumers the ultimate choice to take care of their health.”
“The user is notified by one of our physicians to get treatment or discuss their results.”
“We offer a variety of anonymous hotlines for those with positive results.”
“No insurance to order. We kept costs low for the user.”
“We just hit our 300th customer.”
“We’ve been doing a lot of SEO and search marketing and keywords.”
“Education is a big piece of this. Most people don’t know how much of an epidemic this is.”
“The seniors are on par with the 20 year olds in terms of STDs.”
“We want to communicate to people that don’t even know they need to be tested in different stages of life.”
“We’re developing programs and outreach in college campuses and senior centers.”
“We would love one sports personality, one talk show host, and one celebrity or musician to talk about their status, it’s about the girl/guy next door.”
“We’d love a strategic partnership, like one of the major online dating sites.”
“If you’re sexually active you should be testing yourself.”
“Being female founders in this space is a bit of a hurdle.”
“Investors may not be able to relate to this as well. We’re trying to make it more relatable.”
“The questions we get from customers like is it easy, it is pain free. It’s a signal we need to make things clearer.”
“Roughly 2-4% of testing comes back positive which means people are proactive but that means a lot of people who need to test aren’t.”
For more info go to MyLabBox.com of follow them @myLABBox
Watch this week’s episode of ‘Quit Your Day Job’ on Oxygen at 10pm ET &PT to see if the women of My Lab Box win an investment from Randi and her fellow investors!
And don’t forget to tune into ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday at noon ET on SiriusXM Channel 111!
May 13, 2016
Wearing Flats Does Not Hinder Your Ability to Do Your Job
On May 13th, 2016, Nicola Thorp, a receptionist in a corporate finance company, was sent home from work after refusing to wear high heels. Yep, you heard right SENT HOME. IN 2016.
Employed as a temp at PwC, Nicola was told in December to only “wear shoes with 2- to 6-inch heel.” After telling the temporary services agency that hired her that the demand was discriminatory, she was sent home without pay.
Thorp told BBC Radio London: “I said, ‘If you can give me a reason as to why wearing flats would impair me to do my job today, then fair enough’, but they couldn’t. I was expected to do a nine-hour shift on my feet escorting clients to meeting rooms. I said I just won’t be able to do that in heels.”
Nicola Thorp
Today women around the world stood in solidarity with this sexist footware policy, taking the fight to social media with #FawcettFlatsFriday campaign started by the womens’ rights and equality group, The Fawcett Society.
UK politicians including Labour MP Stella Creasy and Women’s Equality party founder Catherine Mayer posted their solidarity on Twitter. But this type of shoe sexism isn’t just limited to the workplace. The famed Cannes film festival has reportedly been known to deny access to women not wearing high heels. Luckily Julia Roberts was up to this year’s challenge.
Promoting her new film, Money Monster, Julia kicked off her shoes and ascended the festival’s staircase, giving a big, giant, A-list middle finger to Cannes stodgy dress code of high heels only.
Show support for disassembling discriminatory dress codes. Tweet a photo of your flats with the hashtag #FawcettFlatsFriday and add @DotComplicated in support!
May 11, 2016
Are You Addicted to Being Busy?
How many times have you had this conversation?
Them: How’s it going?
You: I’m super busy!
Them: You need a vacation.
You: I haven’t taken a vacation day for a year. Oh wait, that’s not true. I had the flu last month.
Nowadays people wear their busyness like a badge of honor: If I’m busy I’m important, valuable, and in demand. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, I’m worthy and have a life. If I’m not busy, I’m useless—a loser. Sound familiar? Well according to TedTalk powerhouse, Brené Brown, this kind of thinking is not only dangerous, it’s wrong.
In her best-seller, Daring Greatly, Brown writes about our numbing behaviors that we use as “vulnerability armor.” But numbing is more that an alcohol or drug addiction, Brown states: “One of the most universal numbing strategies is what I call crazy-busy. I often say that when they start having 12-step meetings for busy-aholics, they’ll need to rent out football stadiums. We are a culture of people who’ve bought into the idea that if we stay busy enough, the truth of our lives won’t catch up with us.”
While now it’s commonplace to shame those who addicted to drugs or alcohol (ahem, Gene Simmons), our widespread acceptance of busyness addiction still remains normalized and almost appreciated—not that anyone should be shamed for any addiction—but it should be understood so we can better solve the problem.
So the question is what are we hiding from behind our over busy-fied lives? Usually it’s the things we don’t want to look at in real life:
Being in a flailing marriage.
Being a lack there of any marriage.
Being away from our kids.
Being alone.
Being bored.
Being ordinary.
Being perfect.
Being away from our parents.
Being a good friend.
Being a bad friend.
Being restless.
Being confronted with who I am, what I want, and what I do.
That’s a lot of being only to be replaced with too much doing. And of that doing, one of the things not being done is facing these fears and vulnerabilities head on.
Some tout meditation as the key to mental acceptance—though for those of us who are always busy, we can barely make it through five minutes of meditation without going through the long list of everything we have to do and how soon will this five minutes be over so I can do them? Others claim getting away or vacation allows time for relaxation and ‘me’ time—but how many of us have ever taken an amazing, life-altering trip only to stay burrowed down in work email and keeping up with Facebook posts?
I’m on boat! And working…??
So what’s the cure?! Brown says feeding our spirits and taking active control of our negative self-thoughts when they appear is paramount to accepting who we are AS WE ARE. Instead of fleeing from the things we don’t want to face in real life, we should instead consider what motivates our numbing behaviors. Brown advises we ask ourselves the following questions:
Are my choices comforting and nourishing my spirit, or are they temporary reprieves from vulnerability and difficult emotions ultimately diminishing my spirit?
Are my choices leading my Wholeheartedness, or do they leave me feeling empty and searching?
If your answers aren’t in alignment with who you are and strive to be (i.e. you don’t want to feel empty and alone), then it’s up to you to correct your actions by doing things that DO comfort your spirit and make you feel more Wholehearted (i.e. taking yourself out for lunch even though you have to hit a deadline, have a PTO meeting, and an early morning yoga class).
From the words of the great Brené:
“Spirituality emerged as a fundamental guidepost in Wholeheartedness. Not religiosity but the deeply held belief that we are inextricably connected to one another by a force greater than ourselves- a force grounded in love and compassion. For some of us, that’s God, for others it’s nature, art, or even human soulfulness. I believe that owning our worthiness is the act of acknowledging that we are sacred. Perhaps embracing vulnerability and overcoming numbing is ultimately about the care and feeding of our spirits.”
To sum it all up, you are not your actions, you are your heart. Be kind to it and it will reflect in everything that you do from a place of appreciation, patience, and above all else—love.
May 6, 2016
International Drone Day May 7th!
Tomorrow is the Second Annual International Drone Day!
So much has changed since the first International Drone Day. Last year, the message was “Drones Are Good.” The first International Drone Day came at a time when people were concerned about privacy, safety, spying, crashing and data being stolen. It was not uncommon for strangers to approach me as I flew my drone and say, “Who are you trying to spy on?”
In just a year, there has been a massive shift in public perception. These days, I’ll be out flying and strangers will approach me to say something like, “That’s really cool! How long can it fly, and how much does it cost?”
The first International Drone Day was intended to educate people about how drones can be used for good, like using aerial cameras to do otherwise dangerous inspections, gathering data that allows farmers to make decisions about the health of their crops, or carrying out search and rescue operations.
Within that year, I’ve written about so many more creative and life-changing uses for drones. Yuneec’s drones are being used to help scientists gather whale DNA in a noninvasive manner by hovering drones a few yards over them as they come up for air. In Africa, elephants have a tendency to trample on farmland, and farmers often have no choice but to shoot them. Since elephants are afraid of the sound of drones, DJI has given drones to African farmers, which farmers fly towards elephants to not only ward them off, but protect them. FLIR’s thermal cameras for drones identify hotspots and help firefighters see the safest place to enter a burning building. Drones operated by Flirtey and Matternet are delivering medical supplies to people in rural areas.
Nowadays people these days have no doubt that drones are good. International Drone Day worked.
This year, the focus is on policy and bringing the drone community together in support of laws that increase technological innovation. Right now, it is illegal to fly a drone for commercial purposes without a Section 333 exemption, an arduous paperwork process that even requires the operator to have a pilot’s license. (Most people, including the Federal Aviation Administration, recognize that the same skills needed to pilot manned aircraft don’t translate to operating a drone). The FAA in June is expected to come out with rules directing how drone operators can run a business using a drone — without needing a pilot’s license. The policy focus this year is also about getting our government on the same page so states don’t create laws that contradict the FAA’s work. This year we’ll also learn more about plans for drone air traffic control, so our national airspace remains safe.
Last year, I celebrated from the main event just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. This year, I’ll be celebrating from my own city of San Francisco. But I won’t feel any less connected. In fact, I feel more connected than ever. Throughout the year, the number of people interested in drones has grown exponentially. There are more groups springing up in cities like San Francisco, in suburbs, in other countries and even online. Because of the Internet, I’ve become friends with people around the world in various groups like a Slack channel for commercial drone operators, a Facebook group for women in drones and websites for photographers to share and critique aerial photos.
You can get involved too. Whether you have never seen a drone in person yourself, or whether you’re an expert using drones everyday for your business, it’s important you get involved. Show that drones aren’t a passing fad, but are a technology that makes this world a more efficient, safer, smarter place to live in. Your involvement tells the world that “Drones are good.”
Written by The Drone Girl, Sally French
Read more about Sally on LinkedIn
