Jodene is the co-founder of:
and founder of:
Published January 26th, 2012
A huge thank you to the biggest #FollowSA crowd to date ... 130 people, for making #howzite2012 such a memorable event!
I don’t know whether yesterday, the day of the event, or today was more of a whirlwind. What an incredible event #FollowSA #Howzit2012 turned out to be. My very rough estimate is that #followsa was Tweeted over 1000 times for the event.
The Fire and Ice Melrose Arch team headed by Anton Gillis who just happens to be an amazing DJ on the side. What a bonus
Twitter was an absolute frenzy of Tweets with the hashtag #fireandicema thanks to the generous hospitality of Anton Gillis and his Protea Hotels Fire and Ice team. I don’t have words to express the pride and emotion that filled my night as I took in the venue that made #FollowSA #Howzit2012 the most spectacular event to date.
A special thanks to Karen Battaliou who doubled as an employee and a very dear friend. #FollowSA was born because of my wish that people connected to amazing individuals in the way that I have and K, you are a shining example. Thank you!
The food just never stopped ... wow!
It’s the first time that a venue has catered for a #FollowSA event as part of the sponsorship and the combination of mindbogglingly delicious and the endless supply of it was just spectacular.
I mean, have you EVA?
Yes, that was desert. An unbelievably delicious tower of heavenly pastry, cream, chocolate and strawberry. I’m sure there’s a pic of me walking around with an entire plate full at some point.
Lovoka Milkshakes .... mmmmm
Thanks to Franco D’ Onofrio of Twiga Communications for organising the Lovoka sponsorship so that #followsa could welcome each guest with an adult milkshake that Fire and Ice Melrose Arch hotel is famous for.
Greggie talking the crowd through a very interesting prize from Hustler Girl's store, Hustler Extreme!
A huge thank you to the prize givers, @lovokaSA, @hustlergirl, @daisydeblonde of @lamb_media, @jdhairbeauty and @proteahotels #fireandicema … it’s always such a fun time at the events and with you guys there would surely be something amiss at #followsa
A host of amazing celebs graced the stage
I’m always so humbled by the amazing entertainers who have found their way to the #FollowSA events and found such joy in being a part of the excitement.
Thank you to my dear Sibu Radebe, who I happened to meet through my blogging journey, for stepping in to be emergency MC for the night. You are such a great presence and we were honoured to share the stage with you.
Crushanda Forbes came 3rd in the Idols finals last year and it was so great to have her join us on stage to hand out prizes. Thanks for being such a great sport and for you enthusiasm to be a part of a future #followsa event.
Then there’s Caitlin the electric violinist …
Caitlin, you are an entertainer beyond words and you took the crowd’s breath away by your incredible talent with the violin. Thank you for giving so generously of your time to make #FollowSA #Howzit2012 what it was … and thanks most of all for honouring my special request and playing Cotton Eye Joe for me! I love you kid!!!
I will be posting a video of Caitlin in action for her project me interview on the blog in the near future.
To the new faces and the old, you are #followsa and these events are for you and because of you and on behalf of Greg, Lifeology and me I thank you for every Tweet and every questions that asks: “when is the next #FollowSA event?”
Lastly … to the man in my life who doubles as #FollowSA’s resident photographer, Pat Sloane (and I don’t have a pic because he’s always hiding behind the camera) I thank you for capturing every event as a perfect moment in time, for loving and supporting me and putting up with speed wobble before, during and after every event!
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 25th, 2012… NOT!!!
Tonight’s #followsa Tweetup is going to be crazy!!! Tomorrow’s blog will be filled with pics and thanks and sanity …
Hold thumbs for Lifeology’s biggest event EVA!! Thanks so much Protea Hotels Fire and Ice Melrose Arch for making it happen 
Got to dash …
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 24th, 2012
Tomorrow’s #FollowSA’s biggest event to date!
I’m so excited and super proud!
But … I woke up with a headache that I thought was just because I had slept a little oddly. By lunch time it was time for a tablet and a few hours ago it was something stronger.
I can’t remember when last I had one of these. The ones that make me feel ill … like I wanna hug the loo kinda sick. Now all I want to do is cry.
Of course, that’s because I’ve been sitting in silence the entire day and forcing myself through trying to get organised for tomorrow.
Project me lesson … SPEAK UP!!!
I’ve done everything from drinking water to wash it away to eating a decent meal to feed it away. I’ve nodded off at the computer, got a fan blowing cold air on me and done self healing Reiki on my brain … but my head has other plans and sometimes that’s what the body does. Wait … that’s always what the body does. It tells us what it wants to do, to eat and to think, but we fight it and eventually some part of us has to win.
The part that needs to have faith in the process and learn to ask for help, that part has finally won and I’m off to lie down (which I should have done about 5 hours ago!)
PS … did I say that our #FollowSA event at @proteahotels #fireandicema hotel is FULL!!! No wonder my brain feels like it’s going to explode ;p
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 23rd, 2012
If you don’t know my incredible love for dragons, then let me take a moment to introduce you to my world that has my cats named after all the characters from the dragon movie, Eragon. The there are the dragon ornaments that adorn my bathroom and bedroom and of course my very own portal crystal that dragons are believed to travel through. I have books and dragon friends and … well, enough said, I think.
That’s why there is a special excitement for this year’s Chinese New Year that starts today.
I have to admit that if today’s anything to go by then this Dragon energy is going to be pretty interesting for me (and I’m sure so many of you). I remember when I first got introduced to the energy of the dragon, my first warning was of a playful, mischievous energy that tests the boundaries of people and in so, pushes them to the limits. That’s so much of what we can expect of this year. A good old kick in the pants and our choice of what we are going to do with it. It’s one of those years where things are going to either soar or tumble down, but either way, the passion of the dragon shows us the limitless potential to make anything happen.
That’s what I want from this year and it’s certainly what I got from the day. Not that it went without its complete downers that has me literally feeling that every nerve is frazzled with both excitement and frustration.
Greggie and I are having such amazing business meetings, with plans that are beyond exciting. Wednesday is the first of many #FollowSA tweetups and on that night I also announced our first trip to Cape Town for the start of national events. Prizes are pouring in and so are business opportunities, but on the other end of the stick I’m finally feeling like a working woman who can’t believe I have to get home (way after 5pm) and still blog, cook dinner, prepare lunch for Pat for work for tomorrow … with a load of Tweets and emails still to follow.
I’m far from complaining. Actually I think I just feel as though I’ve started a new gym routine and my body and mind have to settle in. We all know what that feels like and I certainly need to adjust to the new pace that my brain needs to operate, my words need to express my creativity and my heart needs to ensure I maintain the balance of the beautiful home I’ve created.
Just on a side, if you read my blog entitled What I learned from Trump and O’Donnell, that was written a few weeks back, you will see that I’m already dealing with so much of what the dragon years bring to someone born in the Chinese zodiac of the Ox. Yes, I’m the Ox and very proudly so … well except for the part where I’m supposed to love to work in the garden. You see … I saw an earthworm once …
Here is how you find your Chinese zodiac and this is how you see what the year of the dragon has in store for you.
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 22nd, 2012
That's it, Pat's eating with chopstick for the rest of his life ... tee hee!! The empty plate is mine (rare sight) and the chopstick dyslexia is well ... um ... my man's! )
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 19th, 2012
Doug Anderson was given a 2% chance of survival at birth. He was born with a condition called Spina Bifida. Dr’s said that he would never be educated and would have no quality of life. 34 years and 37 operations later Doug is very much “alive and kicking”.
Doug was expelled in grd.1 from a mainstream school because he had a disability. After a lengthy court battle, the then TED forced Doug’s parents to place him in a school that catered for kids with disabilities (Hope School).
It was at Hope School that Doug excelled in sports, leadership and academia, representing Southern Transvaal (Now Central Gauteng) in provincial sports for people with disabilities at the National Championships from 1989 – 1997. Doug also represented South Africa at the World Wheelchair Games in 1996. He has 39 Gold, 16 Silver and 5 Bronze medals to his name and numerous sporting awards including “Sportsmand of The Year 1996”, “Best Wheelchair Athlete 1997” and “Victor Ladorum of the National Championships 1996”.
Doug also excelled in leadership becoming Head Boy in 1996 and winning the Rotary Round Table Award for Best Leadership in Schools across South Africa.
Doug studied Alternative Health and qualified as a Reflexologist in 2000. Doug battled to get employment because of his disability and so decided to start his own business which he ran for 10 years and sold in 2010.
In 2004 Doug decided to do a course on Radio Presenting and shortly after finishing the course was asked to present a Disability Talk-show on a community Radio Station called Radio Today. He paid his dues and learnt the ropes on Community Radio before joining National Radio Station, Radio 2000 in January 2007 and has been with them ever since. He has also worked in TV, presenting the 2008 Paralympics and 2010 Commonwealth Games on SABC.
Doug has always been passionate about Making A Difference and has supported many charities in any way possible for many years. He has been the brainchild of many fundraising initiatives for many charities in South Africa. He is co-founder along with fiancé Madelaine Steyn of TheMADNetwork – The Network that is Making A Difference which was launched in November 2011.
TheMADNetwork is a Social Networking platform that enables the user to interact and communicate socially with friends and family AND at the same time make money for their favourite charities without it costing them a cent!
The rationale for the creation of TheMADNetwork is simple explains Doug: “750million people are using Facebook, 250 million people are using Twitter and so Social Networking is clearly the way of the future. If you asked these 950million people if they wanted to Make A Difference, chances are they would say yes. Charities in need will always outnumber the companies and individuals that can give. The two things that prevent you and I from giving to charities in need is time and most importantly money”
Doug and Madelaine wanted to come up with a model that made a difference and didn’t require a person to give of their time or money. “Facebook and Twitter have huge followings but are not designed to help charities and until now the traditional way of supporting charities required you to either give of your time and/or money. So we decided to design a social networking platform that enables the user to make money for their favourite charities WITHOUT it costing them a cent, and so TheMADNetwork – The Network that is Making A Difference was born”, explains Doug.
It took a year of development and it has been funded by the couple. “The way that it works is simple, explains Doug:
1. Advertisers place ads and surveys on the various pages on TheMADNetwork.
2. The user gets exposed to the ads and surveys and earns points by being exposed to the ads and participating in the surveys.
3. These points can then be allocated by the user to any charity of their choice on TheMADNetwork.
4. The charity then exchanges their points for physical money from TheMADNetwork.
So essentially we are using our advertising revenue to help charities in need and in this way, the user gets to make money for their favourite charities without it costing them a cent!
We would like to believe that EVERYONE on the planet cares about something, we may not care about the same thing but we all care about something. We don’t however always have the money or time to help and so TheMADNetwork addresses this.
We are asking people if they go online to download e-mails or if they are on Facebook or Twitter, that they include TheMADNetwork to their list of social networking platforms and help us Make A Difference in the World!
We worked out that if TheMADNetwork had the same number of users as Facebook, that R3.5Billion would have been raised for charities in need in the very first week of launching!”
If you want to Make A Difference, then join TheMADNetwork – The Network that is Making A Difference, http://www.themadnetwork.com
For more on Doug’s life, visit http://www.douganderson.co.za
You can follow Doug on Twitter: dougandersonza
You can follow TheMADNetwork on Twitter: @themadnetwork
You can follow TheMADNetwork Group on Facebook: The MAD Network
Doug tells his project me story:
What is your definition of happiness?
I believe happiness is a choice – you can choose to be happy or not.
If you could have everyone say one thing to themselves every day, what would it be?
As you think and say, you are and as you sow you reap
We all need someone to believe in us. Who is that person for you and why?
My mother, my late father, my fiancé, my family, my friends – I am truly blessed!
What quality do you believe we can never be taught because it is our birth right?
Difficult question. I think there are a few: Passion. Generosity. Gratitude.
Describe the moment when you realised that you could achieve anything?
I guess from a very young age. I was brought up with the understanding that I could achieve anything if I believed and put my mind to it.
What have you always dreamed of being or doing and have you reached that dream?
I am living my dream & I wouldn’t change it for the world! I get to make a difference in people’s lives every day!
When life gets in the way, what do you always remind yourself of?
Just keep smiling!
We all have something unique to offer the world, what is yours?
I Make A Difference at every opportunity.
How do you deal with the fears that could potentially hold you back?
I know that it is the fear of failure that holds people back. I believe that true failure is not trying again
What do you believe we have lost sight of in the world as a whole?
What you have become is nothing to what you can become. You matter and you can Make A Difference!
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 18th, 2012
I can’t remember when last I felt totally exhausted from excitement but at least I know that I’m not having a heart attack or going to pass out, even though that’s the message my heart keeps sending my very noisy mind after today’s events.
Actually, it’s not just today’s events but a build up that literally began the day Greggie and I got back to work. One exciting meeting after another. One person, with compatible ideas to accompany Lifeology, after another. One amazing opportunity after another.
No wonder my body is so tired that even typing is a blur and all my mind is churning in a dull begging voice is “sleep! sleep” sleep!” I think to night is going to make history for the earliest I’ve gone to be since I was in primary school, but then again I remember how excited I was in school and why the end of the day couldn’t come soon enough to go to sleep.
That’s today … one of those days where life was a fun-filled playground that I tired myself running from one activity to the next. There’s always the last swing ride, where you almost touch the sky or the last spin on the merry-go-round where you feel as though you are going to fall off the world … and then you know your day is complete.
That moment for me was a meeting Greggie and I had with Angela Ludek from Radio 2000. I am already honoured to have a regular 5 week slot on her show where I talk about social media, but today’s proposal from Angela left me so excited that I had to run to the bathroom and do air punches, jump up and down and scream silently into my hands.
I am so grateful to every celeb, entertainer, business person and blogger who has taken the time to do the ‘your project me story’ on my blog. It’s one thing to hear my story, but to have people that we admire take the time to share how they have made themselves their own project has taken my blog to a new level. Here is the link to the people I have interviewed so far: Your project me story interviews.
Trying to contain my excitement and extending the greatest thanks to Angela for believing in project me so much, I’m thrilled to announced that ‘project me’ now has a weekly radio 2000 slot with Angela Ludek starting from Sunday 5th February. Angela will interview the individuals I have interviewed as an extension of the blog and ask them to tell their project me story based on the blog’s interview questions.
*faints*
I’m sure the happy bathroom dance won’t be the first but there’s work to be done, guest blogger’s stories to share and a new chapter of project me to embark upon … and it all starts with a good night’s sleep and a prayer that if starts with thanks and gratitude, and end with a self hug.
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 17th, 2012It’s seldom that I take a look back at the blog post I wrote a year to the day, but it’s not seldom that I don’t notice just how everything is exactly as it should be. Here it is again … one of those perfectly synced moments where the greatest gift I could have given myself was to wonder (now I know the difference between wander and wonder) what I was doing and how I was feeling a year ago today.
I read the post that I wrote 365 days ago and am ending my day mighty proud of my choice to live consciously, or at least do my very best at it each day. Most of all, I’ve never been more grateful for the dedication to blog daily, even on the night’s when I’ve left it too late, I’m tired and weary and all I want to do is curl up into bed.
So here it is … 365 days ago I called my blog post: If you had Dorothy’s shoes for a day
How far have you come in 365?
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
Published January 16th, 2012
Brainstorm!!
It’s seriously not something that happens in a very formal way between Greg and myself and follows the pattern of Lifeology, where nothing goes like the rest of the world … except for the usual business realities, fears and drama of course.
Sometimes we think we are so unique in things we do and sometimes we feel as though we are just another salmon swimming with all the rest and it’s taken us a long time to realise that the salmon is still unique in it’s own special way. That’s made it somewhat easier to settle down about being lost in the ocean of people involved in any part of personal development that we follow.
There is something very powerful about what is going on in my life at the moment and although I could blame in on the fact that all the planets are traveling forward before the first one goes retrograde on the 25th of January, I am less inclined to give any of my power away to any outside forces anymore. It’s taken me years and over 700 days of consecutive, conscious living and blogging to truly feel that even the outside forces are determined by me.
I could feel the energy when Greggie and myself set out on a brainstorming mission with an individual we connected with as soon as met. Alright, there’s a little sneakiness but when we are done there will be so many exciting things to share with you. In the meantime, intense brainstorming was the name of the game.
Did you know that this is where I panic? I get myself in a total state that what I say is going to be completely senseless and that no one is going to write down of the words I throw out there. I keep thinking I’m not going to be on the same page and actually asked far too many times if what I was saying was still on track. Of course, it’s never all on track all of the time but at least I didn’t beat up on my brain and slowly let the creative process flow. That’s the theme for this year … creative!!
Creative in thinking, acting, brainstorming, cooking, bedrooming … I did, after all, promise myself that there was no holding back this year.
With all of the thinking and planning going on, I still have a #FollowSA event happening next week and was on TV today for an interview on a program called Sistahood. This sent a flood of Tweets and I’m usually on the ball to respond but I just didn’t have it today. My brain literally feels like scrambled eggs now and I’m even going to do something that I don’t do often … I’m going to leave the Tweet responses for the morning and not let that part of my brain, that thinks everyone will unfollow me if I don’t respond, have some fun and chill time after this blog post is done.
During our breaks between long thinking stints we ended up talking about meditation. I have tried every form of meditation that there is and finally settled on the good old 5 breaths a day and letting my imagination run will about all that I can create and achieve. It took me ages to be okay with that and not get lost in the believe that I had to sit in a certain position, chant anything or get too lost in technique and all of a sudden I came to the most powerful realisation of all … simple!!!
That’s what we did today … we took the most simple and common of words and turned them into the most powerful sentences that we hope to pave the way for a whole new future for ourselves … I like that plan and I think I’m gonna stick to it for all days moving forward!
Simple!
With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
