Kylie Jenner--Social Media Self Made Billionaire.

Hello!

On the cover of the upcoming issue of "Forbes" magazine, Kylie Jenner is the youngest to date self-made billionaire. For anyone who watches ABC's "The View" there were differing viewpoints on how much work Kylie Jenner put into making her business successful vs her success handed to her. Meghan Mccain talked about how she definitely benefited from her father's political career, however, in order to prove that she deserves her career success, she had to work 12 times harder.

My thoughts.

Whatever your viewpoint, everyone knows who the Kardashian family is; they have their own family brand business, along with individual businesses the Kardashian "kids" own and run. Kylie Jenner, I'm confident, is a very hard working business owner, however,  her customers/fans are mostly from her social media. It wasn't hard for her to gain a very large social media following; in her interview with "Forbes", Kylie talked about how social media is her selling tool. She gained her following being a Kardashian daughter, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it has been an easy tool to reach her customers, resulting in instant sales.

Marketing your brand is hands down one of the hardest aspects to making a business successful and strong. I am a very active social media user, as social media has expanded from simply being a personal networking tool, it is now the brilliant and convenient  digital marketing venue most, if not all businesses utilize to drive sales and promote products and services. This is how Kylie Jenner has been successful, her social media gives direct marketing of all her products. If an unknown like myself were to sell similar cosmetics that to what Kylie Jenner is producing, who would have more success, me or Kylie Jenner? The answer is obvious. Unless I became a worldwide known name, Kylie Jenner of course is going to be much more successful. This isn't a bad thing, just the predicted and most logical outcome.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, I look up to any and all self made successful business owners; receiving aide is great, keeping the success is where the true hard work comes into. You need to have a product that people want and will purchase, with client loyalty. Some people have a lot of ease with creating their brand, starting with an established and known name, while others really do start from the ground up.

I would love thoughts on this; are Kylie Jenner, and any other individual with an established name have an easier time and success in making a brand work vs people who start out with nothing?

Check out the article from "Forbes" here.

Thanks for reading, and I would LOVE for you to subscribe, its free!

Xo,

Amanda

Caretaker: It's not Just a Job, Its Love

Hello everyone,

This post is a very personal one, but one that I feel many will be able to relate to. I debated about writing about this for a while, was it too personal, should I stick to more career, and upbeat topics? No. Every now and then I like to reflect about personal things in my life, and this one has been going on for about three years.

I am one of the primary caretakers for an aging parent. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it sucks. By this, I don't mean they are a burden, I mean it sucks to see a family member you love so dearly, struggling with their health, especially aging problems.

About three years ago, my parent said to me and my family "you don't know what's coming." I sure as hell didn't. I thought they meant something in society, politically, anything but what actually has come about. Although not officially diagnosed, my parent is resembling symptoms very similar to Dementia/Alzheimer's disease, along with other health problems from pre-existing conditions. Let me say its hard. There are some days where I can not do a damn thing right, everything is wrong. Even small tasks such as vacuuming the carpet upsets them, because it's too loud. Small things, large things, it doesn't matter, I am wrong.

I really have to keep my patience in line, because to me, what I am doing is perfectly normal and an every day activity, but to them, its not. That's one of the problems with these diseases, not thinking clearly. It is very scary, the patient once had total control of everything, and now their mind is slipping, its very very hard. All I want to do is help, but yet, I feel like a failure when my efforts aren't enough.

My situation is a bit unique. I am a young adult, who lives at home with both mom and dad. I live in a very expensive real estate area. For some, they would say, "why haven't you moved out of your parent's house, and have your own life and career."

Well for those people, I all I have to say is this; assisted living and nursing homes are damn expensive.  I know what my parent needs at this time, and although some days I want to crack, I have the patience to deal with them. Some nursing home and assisted living places I'm sure are wonderful, others aren't. I could never live with myself if I didn't do everything humanly possible to make their life as easy as possible, even if it takes some sacrifice right now, so be it. I am called names, I am told how I am crazy, one moment, I get an immense thank you for my efforts, and then a moment later, its the exact opposite.

This message is for all the caretakers out there; you can do it. I am, and even though I don't feel that I get much appreciation in return, I know the reward is there; I get that much more time with my parent. It's worth the frustration and tears.

Thanks for reading,

Xo,

Amanda

Employment Websites

Hello everyone!

So I’ve been pondering about what to talk, what is of interest, informative and worth the read? Well one topic that I’ve been doing a lot of research on is employment websites.

Back in the day, most people looked for jobs in newspapers, and other print materials vs the now multitude of websites available. The hard part is knowing which sites are credible, have legit employment opportunities, all of that fun stuff. Another major difficulty in finding the perfect job is the accuracy in the job description made available.

Let me clarify.

I have viewed hundreds of jobs, and two of which I was employed by weren’t 100% honest in their job descriptions. To protect identity, I’m not going to identify the employers but I will say what happened. One employer is a small family owned business. The job description and interview process described working part time hours, an estimated 20-25 hours per week, with a few weekends involved. I had no problem with that. I also had a set schedule of working early afternoon until closings. Within the first month, I realized that wasn’t the case. Over the total time working working for this small business, I had a total of 4 weekends off. Additionally, I was never informed that I would be working opening to close on Saturday’s (closed for business on Sundays.) During the interview process, they mentioned that certain times of the year would be more demanding than others, as does happen with most places of employment. What did they didn’t mention was for those weeks where it’s incredibly busy, you have no set schedule. They could change your schedule around at anytime, and you must adhere to it, unless a previous arrangement was made.

Before I get anyone saying how I was lucky to be employed, that is not my reason for explaining this. I was never informed of this information until AFTER signing my employment agreement papers. Employers need to be upfront with all of their expectations in the job description and interview process. To back this statement, I attended a job hiring seminar, teaching the tips and techniques of landing that perfect job; one of the key concepts was about how job descriptions are only maybe 80% truthful. Additionally, many times, a candidate might be perfectly qualified for the position, however, if another candidate is personally recommended through networking connections, their resume is bumped to the very top of the bundle, giving that particular person a much higher advantage of obtaining the position. Fair right?

This isn’t meant to be a complaining post, but rather constructive criticism for employers. As employees, we want to know exactly what is expected of us at the beginning of the initial application, transitioning into interview process, if granted, to know it will be a good match for both employee and employer. Communication is key, and the only way to ensure that business relationship is professional.

I would love to hear any thoughts you readers have.

Thanks for reading!

Xo,

Amanda