All You Need Is Love

All You Need Is Love

March 18, 2013Nina KovnerGROW

“I have decided to stick to love…Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

All You Need Is Love

Here is the audio version of this post. Click below to listen. Thank you.

All You Need Is Love

Passion is defined as a strong and barely controllable emotion, be it love, or hate. And squared is a multiplier, meaning taking a number and making it bigger (well that is my way of understanding the meaning of squared at least). When you look at the Passion Squared logo, there is a heart, symbolizing LOVE. My purpose and the purpose of Passion Squared is to multiply love and empower awesome in people and business (with love).

You see, I am a big believer in love. Love of self, love of animals, love of people, of business and the planet. I believe that love is the answer to everything.

The Esteem Epidemic
One of the greatest challenges I see when working with people in the beauty industry is not that of love, but of insecurity and unloving actions. When I speak with hairdressers unhappy in the workplace, and sadly there are many, the same theme comes up over and over. Which is so strange as you would think in the business of beauty it would be the opposite. But there is a reason.

There is an alarming level of low self esteem or what is known as “other esteem” in the beauty biz. The reason I know this is because if everyone had strong esteem and were love focused, there would not be so much negativity and bullying.  But the thing is when we do not love ourselves, we cannot love others. No matter how much external praise or false sense of awesomeness we feel, it is not real.

There is NO reason in the world to put others down to feel better. There is NO excuse to be mean or bully others in the workplace. There is NO reason to be hateful to others just because you are unhappy with your own self. Think about it.

I Have A Dream
My dream is to have an industry that is love centered. But there is still a lot of work to do. And it begins with each of us. You see, love is an inside job. And if each of us focuses on being more loving, to ourselves and others, we will all be amazed what can happen in our businesses. There needs to be more discussion around this incredibly important issue, and I am committed to doing my part to help make our industry a more love centered place.

What are you going to do today to be more loving to yourself and others? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. It matters. You matter. Want to share your thoughts with me? Click here. I am listening.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Find + Love + Share = Curation

May 30, 2012Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

 “There is no delight in owning anything unshared”

Seneca

Curate: to pull together, sift through and select for presentation, as music or Web site content. Dictionary.com

Before there was the social and digital web, most of what we saw as news and inspiration was the result of choices made by a limited number of professional “editors”. Today, that number has increased exponentially as platforms like Facebook have given us all the ability to become “editors” by simply curating (sharing the content that we find and love) for our online friends and fans.

A great example of this shift can be found on YouTube -a social platform featuring “gazillions” (48 hours of content uploaded every minute) of videos that run the gamut from impossibly amateur and uninteresting to highly polished productions (and everything in between).

One of our recent fave video finds is “1950’s Womens Beauty Salon” from Glamour Daze, a YouTube channel with 2.5 million views! We found it while searching beauty salons on YouTube, were hooked from the opening line, “To women, a beauty salon is more than a feminine barber shop”, and immediately knew we to had to share…curation at its best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFvJVRcVaE&feature=youtu.be

We also found this super juicy video on “curation” from devour.com (awesome video curation site) that simply and beautifully describes what curation really means and why it’s important.

PS: This blog was inspired by our passion of curating; finding engaging and empowering content that we love and feel compelled share.

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

 

IT GETS BETTER…The Power of Hope

April 3, 2012Nina KovnerGIVE BACK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7skPnJOZYdA

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.

Why Heroes?

March 28, 2012Nina KovnerHEROES

he-ro (n)
a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.

Today perhaps more than ever, heroes matter. They help us to find our way in a complicated and sometimes confusing personal and professional world.

They offer up context to help us know how we fit in and serve as examples to show us the possibilities of the path we have chosen.

Our list of heroes is thankfully long and varied and likely somewhat different than yours; but if we were to guess just one name we likely share with most, we’d guess it would belong to the guy in the photo below – the first of many we look forward to sharing.

 

 

 

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Vidal Sassoon

Vidal Sassoon is the hairdressers’ hairdresser’; the artists’ artist; our industry icons’ icon. Sassoon worked his way to success from 1940’s “shampoo boy” to a household name by the late 1960’s.

He went on to define the salon in its most modern incarnation. He brought incredible cred to the art and craft of hairdressing. He helped to create a revolution in how hair was understood and done – by professionals and for the women who depend on and adore them.

He believed – in the power of hairdressers to change the lives of clients in transformative ways and, in doing so, change themselves for the better.

Since “retiring” following the sale of his namesake salons, academies and products in the 1980’s, he has continued to serve as a role model for professionals around the world.

Today, Vidal uses his position in the public eye and considerable wealth to do good as a humanitarian and unofficial goodwill ambassador for the salon industry to the world.

Some 70 years after walking into his first salon, no name is more synonymous worldwide with the art and business of hair than that of Vidal Sassoon.

We heart Vidal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(photos from Phase 4 Films , Vidal Sassoon The Movie)

 

GROW

March 26, 2012Nina KovnerGROW

“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid of only standing still.”

Chinese Proverb

To that end, this is where we’ll share our favorite connections, stories, best practices and education to help you grow -in your career, business, art and life.