Do what you love...

“Take the work seriously, not yourself.”

Rift Fournier is a very cool guy. He has taken the idea of not taking yourself too seriously and lived his life accordingly. With all the success and achievements he has accomplished it is hard to argue against his philosophy. He worked in almost every realm of the entertainment business and has plenty of stories and names to drop. Although with Rift, it does not come off as arrogant. The guy has lived an extraordinary life is still extremely genuine.

It was not his stories that impressed me the most though, it was his attitude and encouragement. He takes a genuine interest in the well being of the students and encouraged us all to pursue careers that “make your heart pump.” He compared work to dying and said that we have to care about what we are dying for, otherwise what is the point.

This is something that I struggled with coming out of high school. I attended a private college preparatory academy and graduated at the top of my class. My teachers and peers expected me to become a lawyer or mathematician, which I easily could have, but I just was not passionate about either. I wanted to be a musician or artist. I was undecided my first year and a half of school because I felt like doing what I actually wanted to do would not be good enough.

Now I am pursuing what I love and I feel really confident about it. I may not make as much money, but I would rather be happy and do something I am really passionate about. Not everyone is as excited as I am. My high school principal was so disappointed when I told her what career I was pursuing, but I like to think I will show her and others that I will succeed because of my passion.

Rift Fournier is living proof that a person can do what they love and work their way on to success and happiness. It isn’t always easy, but when you look back at the end of the day, you can be proud of the work you’ve done and be excited for tomorrow. That’s the way Rift sees it, and I hope I will too.

The times, they are a changin'...

Gary Vaynerchuk is quite an interesting character. Once you get past his abrasive, in-your-face style of talking and get to the heart of what he is actually saying, it is quite interesting and very true. He is all about promoting social media or as he calls it “business”.

Gary Vaynerchuk is known as the “social media sommelier” and for good reason. He has obviously taken the idea of using social media as an outlet for a company’s branding and run with it. He used social media to further his wine business and has become a sort of guru on the process.

“Everybody has the ability to play the piano, but not everyone is Billy Joel.”

He used the outlets of facebook and twitter to promote his company, but he says there has to be more than that. He produced a webcast about his wine and promoted that on the internet. He feels like the times are changing and the best way for a business to reach its consumers is to connect with them through social media. He even gives the idea of watching a person at McDonalds make your burger on your iPhone. That would be so crazy, but really cool. The ideas of reaching out to consumers have to be innovative and creative. Having a facebook page alone will not cut it.

According to Gary, having everything out in the open through social media promotes truth. This is obviously a big plus for consumers. In this day of age if companies are not being honest, it is not long before a YouTube video is up and the company’s popularity starts falling.

It is not just companies that need to utilize social media for success, but people looking for jobs are also using the new mediums to get connected and network for potential job opportunities. One of the best ways to do this is through a site called Brazen Careerist.

The site was started by a woman named Penelope Trunk who also blogs about careers and networking. Her goal was to create a place where people could get information about jobs, links to what is happening in a field and most importantly a place where companies could find tech-savvy, motivated careerists to hire.

Trunk encourages bold careerists who are sick of waiting to climb the corporate ladder to join the community on her site and meet others who can potentially work with them to make their own path in the business world.

The blogs on the site have very useful information that challenge the conventional way of doing business. They are open and honest and right in with the way things are changing.
This article certainly made me question a few things I had been taught about school and work. People on Brazen Careerist understand that the way things used to be done, won’t cut it anymore.



Branding and social media are the future of careerists. Trunk and Vaynerchuk know this, but how long will it take the rest of the world to catch on?

Social Media is an amazing phenomenon that over the course of about three years has completely changed the way I relate to the people I know, and even some I do not. Social media is basically the name for the ways of communicating with each other through the powerful media that is the internet. We do this through sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, Digg, World of Warcraft, Yahoo! Answers, Blogger and so many more. The way that we give and receive information has completely changed all thanks to the amazing invention of social media.

My grandmother was lamenting to me earlier this week about how terrible it is that people do not send letters anymore. In her eyes, there is nothing more fulfilling than receiving a hand written personal letter. I felt it best not to tell her that I haven’t checked my school mailbox at all this semester, but I check my Facebook inbox at least three of four times a day. She was disappointed that I texted while in her presence. “Whatever happened to actual conversations? The good ole’ days when life was slow and you could stop and take the time to talk to someone?”

I will tell you what happened, Grandma- Social Media. With the invention of social media, we can now send messages to each other instantly. Why would I wait to get a letter in the mail, when I could get one right away? The amazing thing is that in addition to messages we can now do so much more than that! I can share pictures through Photobucket, listen to people’s music on YouTube, and get (mostly correct) answers to my questions from actual people on Wikipedia or Yahoo! Answers.

When I think about it, I actually base so much of my life around social media, and it all happened over time without me even realizing what I was doing. I started with a LiveJournal because one of my friends had one. Then I got a Xanga then MySpace and now Facebook and Twitter. I went from writing one or two entries a month about random topics on an internet journal to holding deep and meaningful conversations through my Facebook page.

I share pictures with my family on Photobucket. I learn how to play songs on piano by watching free lessons on YouTube. I get the answer about what episode of Scrubs a certain song was played in from Wikipedia. So much of the information I share and receive is through social media. The only avenue of social media I have not explored is the virtual reality communities like World of Warcraft or Second Life. Sadly, I do not feel like I will be investigating those any time soon.

Social Media is definitely the wave of the future. It is how we relate to each other now, and I definitely only see it getting bigger. Companies are reaching buyers through new technologies like viral videos or promotions on blogs. Ordinary people are becoming famous without powerful producers. It has changed our communication, our culture, and our lives. I think this is great… but I still have to convince Grandma.

Reading the article about Generation Diva made me really sad. I mean I have seen everything they talk about in the article on TV and in real life, but thinking about it makes me really hurt for the future generation of girls.

Young girls should be playing with dolls and having little tea parties. The idea of toddlers concerned with fixing her hair and putting on makeup is heart breaking. They lose their innocence at such a young age and grow up way too fast.

The most concerning part of the article for me was the fact that so many girls said their biggest fear was of getting fat. Primping yourself at such a young age is sad, but not necessarily dangerous to the girl’s health. Girls thinking that they have to be super skinny at such a young age could cause major health concerns both mentally and physically though. I did not even think about being fat or skinny until high school when a boy grabbed my side and called me squishy.

For me personally, I was not a member of “Generation Diva”. I started wearing makeup and caring about the way my clothes and hair looked at a pretty normal age (around middle school). When I was a toddler through elementary school, I was much more concerned with dressing up a Barbie than dressing up myself.

I think I was not a part of this movement for a number of reasons. The media was not as prevalent a force in my life as it is for young girls today. The internet opens up a world of images and ideas that girls, even very young ones, are influenced by. Another big reason is parenting. My parents did not allow me to wear makeup, get my ears pierced, or shave my legs until I was an appropriate age. Even though I sometimes complained, I appreciate it now. I had no reason to be concerned with my appearance as a child.

Parents, like the ones on “Toddlers and Tiaras”, who push their children into being little beauty queens are plain horrible. Pushing their ideals of beauty on a baby is disgusting, and I do not think the media should glorify them by giving them a TV show. Watching even a little bit of a show like that breaks my heart. Girls should be allowed to stay young and innocent as long as possible. It is the parents’ responsibility to protect their children, not exploit them to live out some vicarious fantasy.



Ultimately, I do not see any slowing down of Generation Diva, especially with the role models these young girls have. Their biggest heroes are Disney channel princesses like Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens. With the internet these girls Google their icons and see provocative images. These leaked photos were apparently sent to their respective boyfriends but released on the internet. This sends a message to the young girls that you will not get anywhere in life unless you are beautiful and flaunt your beauty for a man.



With messages like this being thrown at Generation Diva, we can look forward to a generation of very insecure, broken women who never had a real childhood, and that is the saddest part of all.