Friday, February 19, 2010

On the Radio, Whoa Oh Oh Oh Oh


Bay Area radio personality Nikki Thomas of KBLX 102.9FM interviewed Oakland business owner Tracey Friley (that's me!), creator of OneBrownGirl.com® and Executive Director of CampCaribe, on Nikki's half hour radio show - Bayview - that airs at the crickety crack of dawn (smiling) this Sunday, February 21, 2010 @ 5:30am on KBLX.  Nikki's awesome!  And if you aren't awake (yawning already), no worries. I'll post the recording on my FB page & somewhere on the CampCaribe blog. =)
Tracey <<<< doing her best impression of Donna Summer singing
::::: On the radio, Whoa oh oh oh oh, on the radio :::::

Monday, February 15, 2010

27 Degrees and Sunny?

LOL.  I leave for Denver tomorrow and I just checked the weather:  27 degrees and sunny.  Sounds like an oxymoron to me!  I'll just need to remember to bring my sunglasses...and my coat.  See you soon!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Love, love, love.

Valentine's Day is coming up, but I don't think this annual Love Holiday is just for lovers, do you?  Who says you need Big Diamonds? (Okay, let me think about that a little more.)  What I really think is that VDay is a cute little holiday that's meant to show affection to any of the people we love with Little Love Trinkets, like the little treasures and trinkets at oo la la!  Since my weakness is sweets, I ordered these amazing Raspberry truffles that will knock. your. socks. off.  They should arrive at the store by Thursday, as they're being shipped in from Washington state.  There are also rose petals for the romantics, red barrettes for the girls, and a number of other cutesy red items for the loves of your life, including yourself.  Feel free to come on by and see what's what.  
Love you like crazy,
Tracey, Your Oakland Shop Girl  

Ooooo! The Shop Girl is All Fired Up!

"Well behaved women rarely make history." --Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
[Note: I wrote this last week and I still feel the same way, so I figured I would go ahead and publish it.  :::Shrugging shoulders:::]  I don't feel like being PC today.  I am over (O-V-E-R) lip service, false promises, wasting time and haters. Where are the action-oriented people? The ones that don't hate because you are doing something novel and new?  The ones that don't just jibber jabber for the sake of flapping their jaws?  The ones that know how to do business professionally?  Where are the people that realize that we can collectively be of service to girls that need our help? The ones that don't care about Who Gets Credit, but Who Gets Growth? Where are these people? Do they exist?
I've been working on my camp project and volunteerism for awhile now and a number of irritating occurences have motivated me to write. I'm POed. It's official. 
(1) I was blown off (how unprofessional!) by a local women's organization that didn't have the decency to return an inquiry, but they were perfectly willing to accept my annual donations for the past several years.  I'm over them. 
(2) I sent a proposal to a girls organization with a similar mission that I had previously contact with.  Instead of a yes or a no, I was blown off (yes, again!).  Oh yeah, someone from their Board of Directors contacted me a few months after my proposal to tell me that they wanted to "pick my brain" because they want to do a similar program.  I told them I'd send them my fee schedule and haven't heard back.  Good. 
(3) I made a business arrangement with a local booster with contacts.  She said she would fundraise (she was going to get paid) starting in January and on my third follow-up communication, she told me I fell off her radar over the holidays.  WTF. 
(4) I volunteered my time to a local girls group and some of the staff turned one of my survey questions into a race issue.  Some adults always seem to find a way to ruin what could have been a positive experience.  Ugh. 
(5) Even some of my customers have made promises (that I didn't ask them to make) and didn't follow through, or at least tell me that they are no longer interested.  Oh well. 
(6) I met a local politican at a networking event and asked if she knew the best way for me to go about raising funds.  She got all enthusiastic about my program and said she would help (yes, she said it).  And then she passed me on to her Right Hand Guy and he told me he couldn't help.  Gee, a politican that didn't follow through on something.  How novel.
(7) A local church said "Yes! We're in!" and then they weren't.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  NOT. 
(8) And then a pastor I met told me I would "definitely be hearing from the Youth Division leader" at his church, and I don't hear a message on my voicemail.  (Yes, it's working.) 
I could go on.  But I won't.
Just be about what you say you're about.  And if you don't roll like that, just stay the hell away from me.  No offense intended.
Sincerely,
Tracey
P.S. Success is the best revenge.