Posts Tagged With 'sponsorship'

Hair Elements partners with Project Me – project me day 587

Posted by jodene August 10, 2011 4 Comments »
Hair Elements partners with Project Me - project me day 587

The Hair Elements team, Calub, Duncan and Gregg

I never think of myself as ‘Plain Jane’ until I sit in the chair at Hair Elements. Actually it’s hard for me to avoid the fact that I’m ‘Plain Jane’ when most of my friends and family are always harping on me to add a few highlights or get a style.

I blame Alanis Morissette …

I kid you not! I absolutely loved the fact that she got to grow her hair to this gypsy length and with the simplest of dark (one tone) colours. Maybe it’s the Pagan in me that wishes I was roaming around like a … dare I say … modern day witch.

None the less, reality struck today when my treasured hair stylist, Gregg Mons, told me that, well, my hair resembled that of Willie Nelson’s daughter! The fact that it’s beyond compliment being associated with one of Country’s great is one thing, but I doubt Gregg was going for the compliment.

‘Project Me’ is about telling myself the truth and it always gets voiced for you to hear it, so here goes … I haven’t cut my hair in about a year. Oh please, don’t gasp!! I told you, it’s Alanis’s fault. I’m sure I’m like most girls and the bond with a hairstylist is one that blossoms into a very trusting and open hair-affair … so I let Gregg cut.

This partnership is a special one for me, because Gregg’s been my guy for many years and as my hair colour has changed, so has my life. He knew me before blogging and he heard me talk about social media, while admitting hour foreign it was (okay, IS) to him. It was Hair Element’s floor that I was sitting on for my first ever radio call just before Social Media Day and it means so much to me that Gregg and Calub believe in me and ‘project me’ to stand beside me and make sure  I don’t look like Willie Nelson’s daughter in the public eye.

I’m also thrilled to be the one to take Hair Elements and welcome it to the online world with a website that Lifeology will create and bring to life. Baby steps, but I plan Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare too but seriously … baby steps because you never mess with a hairstylist who has scissors near you hair.

Washed, coloured, cut and styled … and it was off to La Vie en Rose for a meeting that took my breath away.
I have a confession to make. I had a horrid few days of feeling as though I was never going to be able to achieve what I set out to do. I have been so mean to Mr Unexpected that my mother had to sms me to tell me, and I quote: “You should feel like a dog – shame, I feel sorry for him. He’s always in the shit!” Bless my mom, that’s why I love her. I’ve come to realise that when I don’t trust me own judgement or have much faith in myself, that she’ll always tell me what my unconscious is screaming for me to hear.

Thanks Katie Mohamed for and inspirational and passionately SA afternoon

Then I met her … Katie Mohamed! I was seriously dazed and confused when she DM’d me to meet for coffee and had one of those moments where I completely underplay what I have achieved and what I am worthy of. With my unconscious still needing comforting from my mom and having only surfaced at 9am this morning because I truly felt as though I had no purpose other than to churn out yet another ‘project me’ post, I found myself sitting before on of SA’s great women.

Over the past few days I have managed to convince myself that my only claim to fame is that I’m crazy enough to blog every day and that I’m so mad that I’m still going strong at day 587. Then this morning my official regular slot on Radio 2000 with Angela Ludek is confirmed and I’m back on at 7:40 am this Saturday. That’s not just because I’m a mad blogger …
Halfway through lunch I realise that Katie and I have something incredible in common. We are passionate women who know we can succeed and are now dabbling in life’s possibilities while we figure out just how far we can push our dreams and make them happen. Katie is best known to me as one of the presenters of No Reservations and I was mesmerised at her life story of standing as an individual and living her truth and I can’t wait to share her project me story with you soon.

An exciting new partnership and an inspirational woman … I manifested both of these moments today, along with an incredibly supportive business partner that is holding the positive light over my head at the moment, a man who is patient and loving while I freak out that I’ve actually found love and a mother who knows what not to say but says it like it is when the time is right. Wow, don’t I feel damn powerful right about now …

Let’s hope I can hold that over until tomorrow morning and bounce out of bed with a little less money fear and lot more faith in myself. One thing I do know is, whatever happens, I’m waking up a little less Ms Nelson and a lot more Ms Diva!



With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour

Hello Cape Town – Project me day 521

Posted by jodene June 05, 2011 8 Comments »

I’m officially here, where the air is clearer, the seagulls fill the air and the memories are a little tougher to adjust to. Hello Cape Town!

Firstly, lets get the cons out the way … Although the sponsorship for the new laptop has been confirmed, it has been delivered yet and there was no way I could go away on a writing holiday still missing and ‘A’ and with no back up battery supply. Literally, as the plug leaves the wall, the laptop dies. I’m so grateful to my mom for letting me use her little travel laptop. It has full battery power and a very functional ‘A’. On the other hand, I’m completely not used to the size of the keyboard and every second letter that I hit is wrong. I’m waiting to adjust my brain to the keys and then I should be a little less frustrated.

Once again, I have no words to express how grateful I am to the family of 6 on 13th for allowing their home by the sea to be Greggie and my home for the next week and a bit. This place is absolutely gorgeous and is this quaint bachelor flat that I could see myself living in and writing in for the rest of my day. Unfortunately there is only a couch and my back hates couches. I can feel the strain on my back already, so it’s confirmed that I won’t be able to do much writing in the flat. On the other hand, most of the writing is done and there is only reading through and editing, so I’m going to see if that makes it any easier. If not, there shall be a lot of sitting in coffee shops while still being money conscious on this spontaneous holiday.

I’m here to finish the final edit of the novel. Yes .. I have one of those and I have been working on it for nearly 4 years now. Well, it has to be that long. My dad was still alive and I he has been gone 3 years in September. The crazy thing is that I love the story. For those of you who don’t know about it yet, it’s called Ephineah(Ee-fee-nee-yah). If you google it, there is no trace of the name except for my book and the crazy thing is that the name was given to me in a mediation and the story is based on real meditations that I journeyed through. That is one powerful story in my own opinion and I have finally come to terms with the fact that book is a little girlie. I think that is was has been the holdup … I have been trying to change it to suit every0ne on the planet except for just writing the story that I most want to tell. So the writing is a lot freer and the time to finish it is now!

I know there is so much to tell you about the Twitter Blanket Drive and a newly confirmed sponsorship but I have to stall that a little until I can figure out how to get my email onto this laptop and be a little more organised online. Lucky for me, the blanket counting isn’t finished as yet, because a special blog truly is needed for such a special experience.

As the days unfold I will share more of the bitter sweet memories of Cape Town and my family memories. I’m still in that phase of missing my dad terribly and I don’t want to become was someone who keeps bringing up my father at the turn of every corner … but today has been laced with that.
We just came back from a long walk along the Seapoint promenade and the memories are countless. It was special to let them wash over me in silence and Greggie and I took in the view of the sea, the mountain, the architecture and the beautiful boys. It’s beginning to be blazingly clear that I have been single for far too long and sunset by the sea always add that additional pang.

On the other hand I couldn’t stop praising my body for how far I have come. Just 9 months ago I was bedridden and walking to the bathroom to pee was a small feat. I thought about wheeling myself to and from the bed in an office chair and here I am sitting back in this gorgeous flat after having walked a good hour and a bit in the sea air. It wasn’t a stroll, trust me. With Greggie’s long legs I have to walk double time to keep up with him … but it did me the world of good. In the near future every Sunday’s blog with be ‘project body’ and today felt like a great way to acknowledge that. Of course, I’m petrified to get back into gym and it’s scarier to be doing it with a personal trainer who isn’t going to let me get away with 10 minutes around the walking track and then home. This is some serious stuff and the walk made me feel better about being fitter than I thought I was.

Ooh, ooh … the last thing is my exciting news about my witchy, winter pumpkin soup! It got published on the Jozi Kids blog … I’m thrilled to have been able to contribute something to a blog that I love and it’s so worth following them on Twitter if you are in the Jozi area or ever visit.



With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour

I now know my awkward interview question – project me day 510

Posted by jodene May 25, 2011 4 Comments »
I now know my awkward interview question - project me day 510

It’s one of those days I didn’t dream about and that’s what makes it all the more incredible.
It was my first interview as a blogger! Okay, casting my mind back, I’m pretty certain that it was my first interview … period! Well a face to face one with that little dictaphone and a journalist asking me questions that the world wants to know the answers to. Well, my world at least.

One of the questions that Lindsey Kin of Media Update asked me was, how do I decide what to blog about each day?
It’s the significant moments. The ones that jump out as a time when I’ve had to go into ‘project me’ mode and either tell my truth, face my reality, laugh at the moment or be conscious and grateful.

With that in mind, my day was filled with two of those moments.
The morning was abuzz with ‘project body’ phone calls and emails. I had to call my friend, The Gossip Guy for a little pep talk on actually telling the world that I’m fabulous because he knows the difference between confidence and arrogance. That done, I finally got brave and damn well called the personal trainer that I contacted just after I was given clearance to get back to gym … In MARCH! I though I would have to re-introduce myself to him, but instead he picked up the call and said, “Hi Jode, where have you been? Not in my water aerobics class, I see!”
Yes, yes … I hate gym! Well, actually … I’m scared of it! It’s because I have no idea what moderation is and usually end up breaking my body when unsupervised. After hearing my idea for ‘project body’, he’s keen to sponsor me with a few personal training session in the pool (because my back is safest exercising in water) and monitoring my weight loss and body fat, measurements … blah, blah! I’m even more excited that Niel from Slimlab is joining me in potential sponsor’s meeting and has proven to be an unbelievable support along a very scary road.

Now I”m on a mission to get a little more media exposure and Niel was a great help there too … even though he told me that all he had to do was Google. Hey, if I don’t have a PA yet, a little damsel in distress can be faked once in  a while.

Driving to the interview was fun, considering I had to break it to Greggie that I double booked Monday morning because my diary is on the Blackberry and I’m scared to sync it with the laptop because things get triple booked … so when I’m on the phone I don’t know what’s happening in the dairy and … well … do you think I’m kidding about the PA?

I loved the interview questions, but we never escape the voice of the low esteem that has to be mean at the most crucial moments. Mine always says the same thing: “You talk too much!” I never give myself a hard time about talking nonsense or making no sense. I’m always mean to me when I think I could have said all of that in half the time. I said it anyway and in true Jodene style, even had a moment to shed a tear.

I love knowing that what I do is unique enough to not be able to pull 10 questions out a hat, but do know that one questions is always going to come up: “What do I do in my spare time?”
Cook!
I swear … I could think of nothing else but spending time with my friends and family and cooking … a lot of cooking! Do I need to get a life? Do I need to tell the low esteem to shut up and go into all the little details of what I do like … oh wait, I also said listen to country music. Does that count against me? Only a smattering of followers in the US will be thrilled about that answer, but most of SA will roll their eyes. Don’t make me take up knitting or sky diving. The other option is that word will spread that my stand answer will be, “I cook!” and all future journalists will know to avoid that one … damn I hope so!
Of course, the question does make me lonely! Don’t get me wrong … I love living with mom, the 2 kitties and the parrot. I would, however, love to say that my spare time was spent with a special man driving around SA and seeing all the incredible places our Country has to offer. That was my dad’s dream and we used to laugh at him. He wanted to buy a caravan and drive the whole of Africa … it never sounded tempting until after he was gone and we didn’t have the luxury of seeing the Africa through his beautiful stories and memories.

Well on that very exciting note and with a huge thank you to the team at Newsclip for finding my ‘project me’ journey newsworthy … I’m off to cook for friends! Another defining day with priceless ‘project me’ blogging moments and a great reason to blog!



With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour

Why Skyetor Photography arrived right on time – project me day 502

Posted by jodene May 17, 2011 6 Comments »
Why Skyetor Photography arrived right on time - project me day 502

For a girl who hates having my picture taken, I sure have been in front of the camera a lot. I think it’s a combination of not shaking off the old issues that I carry and holding on a little too tight onto what I know I have the potential to look like in front of the camera.

It’s such a fine line between what I’m trying to explain to the world and what I know I mean. To make it worse, I am having one of the most most frustrating day I have had in a very long time. Bless my mother and Greggie who have decided I’m feeling like this because it’s an anti-climax after Sunday. Double bless them for thinking that saying silly things and trying to make me laugh is going to lighten the mood at all, but it’s nearly the end of the day and I haven’t had a moment to breathe and find time to do this blog. On top of it … it’s a tough blog that I have been dreading a little (okay, a lot!)

I am trying to adjust to the fact that look stunning as I am, but still know that my body has so much more potential. I’m also trying to give one incredible photographer the thanks that I have never, ever been able to give another photographer in my entire life. At the same time I still battle to explain myself fully without getting comments that I must get over myself and I’m pretty or someone will love me as I am.

This is the reason why I blog and why ‘project me’ has to be thought out and expressed at the end of every day, because I battle so much to explain me to me that I wonder how the rest of the world would possibly understand the space I get into around photographs.

I know I’m pretty … fact!
I know my personality shines through every picture that is taken of me … fact!
I know there are facial and body things that will never change unless I am plucked and tucked more than Cher … fact!

I also know that I have come a long way in losing well over 20kilos since the birth of my project me journey with myself.
I am not fixated on weight and I’m not overweight because I am unhappy. That’s always falls into the spiritual analysis of reasons why people carry weight. I’m the happiest girl I know. I’m the luckiest girl I know and I couldn’t ask for anything in my life to be more than what it is at this very moment.

On the other hand, I know that it’s perfection now slowly paves the way for more and more of my potential to blossom and what I am trying to achieve won’t be hindered if I never lose another ounce or put on a whole lot … or become as skinny as Twiggy!

My journey with my body has to with a little birthing issue. Had I been born at any other time I would not be the fabulous Libran I am, but had I not been the Libran I would not have the balance issues I have.
That’s literal too … I can’t do that posture thing where I balance on one leg and I have a lot of core strength issues to sort out after me back.
My gorgeous best friend loves having his picture taken and he’s a comfie tart in front of the camera … hence the happy Lifeology business shots that he intends to splash all over our website. While I adjusted my hair a dozen times before each shot and had no clue how to stand, he was happily being snapped away by Pat. On the other hand, it was amazing to watch Pat work and I could see that he understood all my concerns before taking each picture.

Back to balance before I go on about why I agreed to this sponsorship of a photographer who intends to take pics of my life in progress over the months that are to follow.

When I gym, I usually go to the extreme and injure myself so that I can’t train for months.
When I try go onto an eating plan I usually go so extreme that I make it impossible to adapt to a normal social environment.

Balance is something I have no idea how to relate to. I don’t know what is enough for me, when it is time to stop and when it is time to give me all. At the beginning of ‘project me’ I was a confessed recovering workaholic for those very reasons and it took being bed-ridden for months to get over myself. To be honest, there are glimmers of psychotic working days but I always have my best friend helping me see when enough is enough.

Now it’s time to tackle food and exercise in the same vein. I have been so grateful for the Slimlab sponsorship and the support of Niel to help me deal with the cravings and the constant remind that balance is key. It’s so easy in theory, but to put it into practice has been a daunting challenge for me.

Then one day I got a phone call from a photographer who thought I was sensual enough to offer a boudoir shoot to. I’m a big advocate for finding ways for woman to feel good about themselves and enhance their sexuality and sensuality in order to build the worth enough to reach the goals. Long winded sentence, I know … but I don’t believe that anyone should be out of balance or integrity with their bodies. I also believe that we each know what happy and healthy and sexy means to us. I have the happy and the sexy, but the healthy needs works. So Pat offered me a sensual photo shoot through his business Skyetor Photography which I will be planning in the next month or two.

Before he could even get me to agree to the possibility of sexy, sensual shots of a partially naked body, he had to get me comfortable in front of the camera. I was a miserable bitch on the day of this shoot, until he took the time to listen to my concerns and set up the studio and his angle of shots to make me feel comfortable. None of these shots are even too tampered with. He didn’t photoshop me thinner or take away my freckles … that wouldn’t be project me or worth his sponsorship … instead … he made me feel beautiful by working with what he had … the truth of who I am and a touch of lighting.

It doesn’t feel like the day to announce it because it obviously scares the crap out of me … but Pat and this incredible sponsorship are going to photography my new ‘project me’ journey called ‘project body’! It’s going to be stuff I have dodged talking about in the 500 days that have passed. It’s going to deal with what it’s like to binge, crave, doubt what I choose to eat, how I manage to avoid exercise and … blah … blah … all while being kind enough to myself to be my own best friend!

The timing is perfect … the support is unwavering  … the audience is loving enough … and the body is ready!


Now take a moment to tell my Greggie how absolutely gorgeous he is …



With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour

A tribute to my sponsors – project me day 499

Posted by jodene May 14, 2011 11 Comments »
A tribute to my sponsors - project me day 499

A part of me can’t believe that I am writing my 499th post and other part of me can feel every moment of every word that has been typed. Sometimes I can’t live without it and other times I can’t believe I ever started it.

Today I had a mini primary school reunion. A part of me felt rushed and just wanted to get back to sorting out arrangements for tomorrow’s big #D500 party. On the other hand, it was so good to get together and catch up after about 25 years. Of course, both moments are thanks to the same thing … social networking.

Without Facebook, the 3 of us would not have connected and without Twitter I would not have the platform to have shared my blog with the world. Well, I would not even have a blog had it not become one of the post powerful forms of communication.

I’ve had a very melancholy few days and I keep bursting out crying with excitement and then overwhelming amazement at the journey. In all the emotion I’ve reflected on how I got to tomorrow being so supported, online and off and I’ve realised this … besides my mother and my best friend/business partner Greggie, every other person surrounding me is a part of my life thanks to social networking.

EVERY!!!!

Then I thought about the turning point when I knew that the blog went from being a commitment for 365 day to an open journey with limitless possibility … it was the day I looked at my blog and saw ‘sponsors’ in red writing and went … “WOW … I have sponsors”!
There is something in that. Something in someone believing in you so much that they put their brand behind you, spend time or money on you and encourage you to carry on way beyond 365, with a promise to be by your side.

I have those sponsors and I ask you to indulge me as I thank each one of them for their role in making ‘project me’ what it is today.

sell your creativity on byouThe gorgeousness of this blog is all thanks to Bruce Young and his combination of patience and web design genius.
Bruce, thank you for the countless hours committed to bringing ‘project me’ to life. I have requested the impossible and expected everything to happen at the click of a button. I have crashed my site and turned it upside down and each time, there you are … my knight in shining web designed armour!

Hustler Girl, where do I begin to thank you for the support and dedication to my blog and our friendship?
Never once did I question the need for the sponsorship of your adult store. When it comes to being a single girl with an open mind about sex, it is refreshing to know that there is someone in the industry with the compassion, care and discreet respect for every client. It’s the greatest joy and fun to be able to call on you during the single days and the attached ones (as fleeting as they have been of late!)

I think that the journey with weight never leaves a person whether they get to their goal or not. Obviously the whole point of ‘project me’ is to show that it’s more about the purpose than the goal and that is a difficult route to take when dealing with a sponsorship that is driven by the scale or the tape measure.
I don’t know how to explain my gratitude for this sponsorship or how to thank Niel for taking his time to understand the choice to not follow the route of the goal, but to live the purpose. Your support has been unfailing and after I injured my back and couldn’t train for month while the weight crept back on, you kept cheering me on. Your product is truly all it promised to be and still it stick within my beliefs that you might have support, but you still have to do the work yourself. Thank you for believing in me … always!

Tracey, when my mother told me that you had heard my story of having teenage skin in my (late) 30′s and wanted to sponsor my blog, I was beyond thrilled. Every day that I wash my face, put on my day or night cream and look at myself in the mirror and smile at my clear skin … I give thanks to you and the amazing product your represent.
I got told that I looked ten years younger than I am but it was when the person nearly fell over at my real age that I said: “It’s thanks to my amazing sponsor, Regim A!”

This sponsorship began in an instant, with a touch of spice and a warmth of hospitality.
To ‘my family’ at Thava Indian Restaurant, I am blessed to have you share so many special moments where you feed my friends, family and myself. When I was sick in bed for months, you bought me food. When I have had celebrations, you have opened your hearts to my guests. You have rescued my sister during shock Joburg floods and you have fed my heart with an unfailing warmth.
As for the food … well, I don’t say you’re the best in town for nothing!

The new kid on the block:

I hate having my picture taken. Okay, I hated having my picture taken and now I can handle having my picture taken. I am tired of hearing that there are rules to photography and that what I look like is what the world must see. It’s not easy trying to explain what it’s like being a bigger woman and wanting to feel sexy in front of the camera. Well, it wasn’t easy until Pat Sloan entered the picture and told me how he specialises in photographing woman for boudoir shots. Pat, for the first time ever I have felt ‘semi’ comfortable with a camera in my face. The picture featured on my post tonight is that very confirmation … wow, I love me in that shot!
I thank you for the comfort with which you make me feel and for making me brave making the camera my friend … here’s to my boudoir shoot (a few weeks down the line of course).

My #D500 Sponsors

Well am I not just the luckiest girl to have the awesome duo of mom and son sponsoring my big day! Bev and Matt, you have been unfailing in your support and your excitement for tomorrow. I am honoured to be inspired by your passion to shine.

Thank you for the support when the wheels fell of and for helping every step of the way. I can’t wait for everyone to see the Kathy van Zeeland bags and to give one away courtesy of 6 on Thirteenth.
I have a sneaky suspicion that this is just the first step along and exciting journey of collaboration and celebrations.

I fell in love with the venue before I even walked in the door and with every step through it I just knew that I wanted to host #D500 at Cafe Culture.
Kerry, you have embraced this special day with such excitement and have the same vision as me for the endless possibility of networking and socialising as the greatest tool to explore endless possibility.
I see myself sharing your venue with so many people, be if for project me or any of the other products within Lifeology. I can’t wait to taste the prego rolls you are raving about … oh, and the potato wedges. I know they are going to be worth a few tweets.

Project Me would love to welcome more sponsors on board and now has advertising space, so please read more about it where it says ‘sponsorship/advertising’ in the tool bar.



With courage, consciousness & a sense of humour
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