give Archives - Passion Squared

The Best Of 2012

December 31, 2012Nina KovnerGROW

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Søren Kierkegaard

As this amazing year comes to a close, we took a moment to look back at what made your heart sing.

Not surprisingly, you loved posts about our hair heroes such as Vidal and Ann Bray, and our profile on the incredibly talented family of hairdressers, and our friends The Teals. Our plea to “just do it” in our post What Are You Waiting For stuck a cord with you, as did our super easy social + digital cheat sheets and stories. These were your favorite blog posts of 2012.

1. Why Heroes?

2. The Rose Heard Round The World

3. Why Social?

4. Are You There Salon? It’s Me Client.

5. Passionista Profile: The Teals

6. The Truth About Yelp

7. What Are You Waiting For?

8. Awesome Facebook Cheat Sheet

9. Instagram Cheat Sheet

10. Our History, We Can All Learn From It

It has been an awesome year creating and sharing our passion with you, thank you for being here with us and taking the time to engage with our form of art. It matters. You matter.

(shared with LOVE + GRATITUDE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

Baby You’re A Firework

October 24, 2012Nina KovnerHEROES

“The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.”

Henry Miller

Jodi DiPiazza, an adorable 11-year-old girl living with autism, uses music to connect with the world.

This video from Comedy Central’s Night Of Too Many Stars brought tears of joy to my eyes, to watch a young artist realize a dream against so much adversity. Beautiful.

It is so amazing what happens when we take a moment to step outside ourselves, and our never ending to-do list, and remember what living is all about; giving back and being of service to others.

If you are having one of those days, all wrapped up in your to-do list and need some inspiration or a reality check, please take a moment to learn Jodi’s story and experience Katy Perry and Jodi DiPiazza singing Firework.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QX-xToQI34I#!

Jodi also loves the Internet, and created her own website when she was just 3 years old. You can check out Jodi’s website by clicking here. You can also follow Jodi on Twitter @jodigirl2001.

To learn more about how you can help beautiful young people living with autism like Jodi, click here.

Jodi + Katie are both true heroes in my book. And I am so grateful to have discovered this story of hope.

(shared with LOVE from your passionista Nina)

Kickstart My Heart

July 27, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GIVE BACK

Crowd Funding
“The collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money together, usually via the Internet, in order to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”

We heart Kickstarter. As the social and digital revolution continues to explode, there are so many great things that have come from it. Kickstarter is one of those really “great things”.

In three short years, Kickstarter has raised over $119M to fund creative peoples dreams. WOW! This is such a cool and innovative way for entrepreneurs and creative types (that’s YOU) to be able to bring their projects to life, and shows so much about the people in our world who will support a total strangers dream if they feel compelled by their message and the projects impact on our world.

Here is one of our favorites, the true passion, love of her craft and creativity in raising funds is just some of the reasons Amanda Palmer raised nearly $1.2 million (her goal was $100K) to fund her music project and passions.

Have you contributed on Kickstarter to help fund a passion?

To learn more about this incredible young women and on how this digital platform is a game-changer, check out Seth Godin’s Domino Project blog post @ http://www.thedominoproject.com/2012/05/brick-by-brick-building-a-digital-platform-right.html

To learn more about how to create a compelling Kickstarter Campaign, check out Seth Godins blog post on the topic @http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/06/reflections-on-todays-kickstarter.html

PS: A big shout out of love to passionista Nikki Waller of Red Magnolia Beauty for inspiring this post.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina+Gordon)

Can You Keep a Secret?

May 4, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GIVE BACK

“Secrets can take many forms. They can be shocking or silly or soulful. They can connect us with our deepest humanity.”

Frank Warren, PostSecret.com

Who hears more ‘secrets’ than hairdressers? It’s part of the unique bond you share with clients. It’s a reinforcement of the important role you play in the lives of many – often unknowingly. As this Ted Talk highlights, people have a need to share their deepest secrets. Doing so can be empowering. Never underestimate the power to do good by sometimes simply listening.

“Ted Talk featuring Frank Warren, the founder of PostSecret.com, who shares some of the half-million secrets that strangers have mailed him on postcards.”

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

Tag Archives: give

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Søren Kierkegaard

As this amazing year comes to a close, we took a moment to look back at what made your heart sing.

1. Why Heroes?

2. The Rose Heard Round The World

3. Why Social?

4. Are You There Salon? It’s Me Client.

5. Passionista Profile: The Teals

6. The Truth About Yelp

7. What Are You Waiting For?

8. Awesome Facebook Cheat Sheet

9. Instagram Cheat Sheet

10. Our History, We Can All Learn From It

It has been an awesome year creating and sharing our passion with you, thank you for being here with us and taking the time to engage with our form of art. It matters. You matter.

(shared with LOVE + GRATITUDE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

“The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.”

Henry Miller

Jodi DiPiazza, an adorable 11-year-old girl living with autism, uses music to connect with the world.

This video from Comedy Central’s Night Of Too Many Stars brought tears of joy to my eyes, to watch a young artist realize a dream against so much adversity. Beautiful.

It is so amazing what happens when we take a moment to step outside ourselves, and our never ending to-do list, and remember what living is all about; giving back and being of service to others.

If you are having one of those days, all wrapped up in your to-do list and need some inspiration or a reality check, please take a moment to learn Jodi’s story and experience Katy Perry and Jodi DiPiazza singing Firework.

Jodi also loves the Internet, and created her own website when she was just 3 years old. You can check out Jodi’s website by clicking here. You can also follow Jodi on Twitter @jodigirl2001.

To learn more about how you can help beautiful young people living with autism like Jodi, click here.

Jodi + Katie are both true heroes in my book. And I am so grateful to have discovered this story of hope.

(shared with LOVE from your passionista Nina)

Crowd Funding “The collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money together, usually via the Internet, in order to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”

We heart Kickstarter. As the social and digital revolution continues to explode, there are so many great things that have come from it. Kickstarter is one of those really “great things”.

Here is one of our favorites, the true passion, love of her craft and creativity in raising funds is just some of the reasons Amanda Palmer raised nearly $1.2 million (her goal was $100K) to fund her music project and passions.

Have you contributed on Kickstarter to help fund a passion?

To learn more about this incredible young women and on how this digital platform is a game-changer, check out Seth Godin’s Domino Project blog post @ http://www.thedominoproject.com/2012/05/brick-by-brick-building-a-digital-platform-right.html

To learn more about how to create a compelling Kickstarter Campaign, check out Seth Godins blog post on the topic @http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/06/reflections-on-todays-kickstarter.html

PS: A big shout out of love to passionista Nikki Waller of Red Magnolia Beauty for inspiring this post.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina+Gordon)

“Secrets can take many forms. They can be shocking or silly or soulful. They can connect us with our deepest humanity.”

Frank Warren, PostSecret.com

“Ted Talk featuring Frank Warren, the founder of PostSecret.com, who shares some of the half-million secrets that strangers have mailed him on postcards.”

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)

Beginning with one inspiring video, Dan Savage used the web to create the It Gets Better Project–a movement that has generated thousands of uplifting videos that give hope to teens.

We LOVE this video first because of the message it has of hope to the untold numbers of young people it has and continues to inspire to overcome the burden of bullies and negativity they face every day in being who they are.

We also LOVE this video as another example of the power of the social web to engage, inspire and empower (!!) us personally and professionally.

The social web is changing how we communicate, share and learn – and is leveling the business playing field between individuals, small companies and the mega brands. For sure, “it gets better” is a message of hope for us all.

Crowd Funding
“The collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money together, usually via the Internet, in order to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”