All posts filed under: Q + A

Healing Hearts in the Midst of Horror

Published by Lois Nicholls

IRAQ―Preemptive Love Coalition provides lifesaving heart surgeries for Iraqi children in pursuit of peace between communities at odds. By training locals, they are committed to giving Iraqi doctors the tools and expertise they need to serve their own children. This is about dignity over dependence, hope over handouts. For years now, Iraqis have been trained to believe help comes from outside the country, but Preemptive Love is committed to making Iraqis the ultimate heroes as they become the solution their children so desperately need. Journonews caught up with Preemptive Love Coalition’s Communication Director, Matthew Willingham, currently in Iraq. How did you personally become involved in Preemptive Love Coalition? I followed their work while in college and admired their ethos and approach to caring for people. I also admired their desire to work where few others were willing to go, so my wife and I visited in 2010 and moved to Iraq shortly thereafter. What are the biggest challenges facing Preemptive Love Coalition right now? Working in Iraq is a pretty big challenge in-and-of-itself, even when extremist …

Founder of mosaicHUB inspires entrepreneurs

Published by Jessamy Owen

MARY-ALICE BRADY is CEO and Founder of mosaicHub, a dynamic business community connecting entrepreneurs with the pieces necessary to create great businesses. She was recently elected by The Boston Business Journal as one of 2012’s class of 40 under 40 honorees. She spoke with JournoNews. JN: What inspired you to start mosaicHUB? M-AB: My inspiration came from several sources and gradually built over years of practicing law. While at a law firm and then at a financial services company I saw many smart, driven people slowly lose their passion and become complacent. I am not saying everyone loses their motivation as a corporate employee but there are many people sitting behind desks miserable because they don’t like what they are doing and don’t see any other options. They think they are too old or have too many responsibilities to do something different or they just don’t know where to start. I then spent several years at a venture capital firm working with early stage entrepreneurs. I saw their excitement and vision, but also saw many wasting time on things …

Vanessa Rowe and ‘The Low Flying Duck’

Published by Lois Nicholls

GRAPHIC DESIGNER, VANESSA ROWE, is the founder of The Low Flying Duck, a blog that captures her everyday experiences living with Coeliac disease. JournoNews spoke with her. Why the name, The Low Flying Duck? The name of the site originates from the very Australian and irreverent saying: “Iʼm so hungry I could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck”. It was suggested by one of my best friends after a couple of cocktails during a Japanese degustation meal. I now privately refer to her as Mother Duck. I donʼt think she minds. What prompted you to set up the blog? I set up the Low Flying Duck to share my new experiences of living with Coeliac disease, which I was diagnosed with in 2009. Initially I found the diet left me feeling quite sad and frustrated – particularly when I was eating out. Iʼd eaten whatever I wanted for my entire life – so to remove some much loved parts of it was difficult. The moment I started writing about the experience and …

Innovation plus ‘Practical Creativity’ a must in the Workplace

Published by Media Release

JournoNews chats with Chris Griffiths, CEO of ThinkBuzan and author of ‘GRASP The Solution’, a refreshingly pragmatic approach to making decisions and solving problems creatively. What prompted you to write ‘GRASP The Solution’? Essentially, it was a lifelong study into modern brain based strategies that, bit by bit, led to my desire to write the book. Over the years, I’ve applied strategies based on how the brain works in all the companies I’ve been involved in. For instance, at Birchfield, where our educational products were in 80% of UK secondary schools, we didn’t focus just on the content, we focused on the delivery of the content to students and the impact it had on the brain. The more I delved into the subject and tried out different strategies, the more I came to realise that, while there are lots of tools out there that can help you be more creative and productive, if you happen to use them in the wrong context or frame of mind, they aren’t anywhere near as effective as they should …

Wanda Hennig – Editor, Writer and Life Coach, Oakland, California

Published by Lois Nicholls

Where do you live and how long have you lived there? I live in Oakland, California. If I jump in my car and if there’s no traffic on the Bay Bridge, I can be in downtown San Francisco in 15 minutes. I’ve lived in Oakland for nearly eight years, in an apartment with a view of Lake Merritt, which is an urban lake that has a resident bird population and seasonally, migrating birds (flocks of pelicans right now). You can walk around the lake in just under an hour, fast pace, which lots of people do. Before Oakland, I lived for a couple of years in Walnut Creek, which is about half an hour east. An affluent, clean little city but pretty bland. I moved there for a job (editor of a regional magazine) and left soon as I lost it. Before that, I lived in the town of Sonoma in Northern California wine country. I also went there for a job (senior editor on a glossy international wine country living magazine). Sonoma is a …

Glenda Condon, Pastoral Assistant, Integration, Brisbane

Published by Lois Nicholls

What do you love about your job? I love meeting new people and hearing their journey in life, where they come from and who they are, their families etc. I find people incredibly interesting. Dislike? There is absolutely nothing I dislike about my job – it’s a perfect fit. You have an accounting background, why the switch? All my clients were always telling me I was in the wrong business – I was just too much of a people person to be an accountant and I always knew there was something else out there for me. Where did you grow up and what countries have you lived in? I’m a country girl and grew up on a big sheep farm in Maldon, Victoria, Australia. I lived in New Zealand for 20 years and managed to pick up a Kiwi husband! I think NZ is as stunning as parts of Europe but a lot cheaper to live. And of course, there are lots of sheep! My favourite part is the South Island – mainly Queenstown. I …

Desiree Johnston

Published by Lois Nicholls

Where do you live and how long have you lived there? Milton, Ontario, Canada. What do you love most about Canada? Like least? Love Most: I love the seasons! You can experience all four seasons to the fullest. It feels like it resembles different stages in my life Like least: The fact that I cannot pop in and have a cup of tea with my parents. That it takes three flights to get to them before I can actually do that! What is your favourite time of year? Fall / Autumn! I absolutely LOVE the intense and bold colours and the crisp bite in the air. What was the biggest adjustment you had to make when moving to Canada? That I couldn’t pick up the phone and chat to my Mom everyday. That it took an hour to find a couple of groceries that should’ve taken less than 10 mins. That we had to have two young singles live with us to help pay the rent. That I had to look after an 11-month-old baby …

Kim Barty, Trojan Horse, Cape Town

Published by Lois Nicholls

What is your business and how did it start? Trojan Horse is a specialist PR and communications business. I’d worked in corporate PR for years and had always longed to do my own thing. Two friends started a brand development business and asked me to join them, so I waved goodbye to my boss, packed up my desk and set up office in a corner in my little cottage. I used my pension payout to buy my first laptop – R25,000 in 2001, considering they are now under R10, 000, I thought that showed commitment! Words hold magic, and over the last year Trojan Horse has conceptualized and implemented some large scale communications campaign in the financial services industry: The Coffee Campaign for Board of Executives The Fine Art of Wine for Nedbank Sweet Success for Old Mutual Bonsai Campaign for Citadel In addition to these campaigns, Trojan Horse has focused on publicity in the lifestyle and sporting categories. Some of our clients include the Gourmet Festival, The SA Golf Open, Peninsula Beverage (Bottler of …

Tamryn Lee D’Aubrey, Toptots, Dubai

Published by Lois Nicholls

What do you love about living in Dubai? How long have you lived there? I’ve lived in Dubai for five and a half years. We have a great lifestyle here with lots of good friends. It’s really easy to travel from Dubai as it’s only a short flight to some beautiful and interesting destinations. What is Top Tots? Toptots is a development program for Mums and tots that has been designed by a team of educational and developmental specialists. At Toptots, we provide stimulating, fun, age-appropriate activities that develop the child holistically. Mums get to meet other Mums with children of the same age. What do you love about your job? I really love working with the kids. I love the interaction I have with the Mums; seeing Mums and kids having so much fun together in our stimulating, creative environment is very rewarding. The flexibility that my job gives me is great too. What does a typical day consist of? My day starts at 5:30am – this for me is the best time of …