Blog - Happy Black Woman

Writing, Working and Paying Attention: A Day in My Life in Charlottesville

March 27, 2012 | By Rosetta |

This is the room I’m renting in Charlottesville, Virginia. I’ve been here over a week now.

I found it as a sublet on Airbnb (referral link) for the month. This is the second time I’ve used Airbnb to find a really cool place to stay during my little nomadic adventure (without having to sign a lease!). I used it to find the place I stayed at in Baltimore, which was a great experience. You can use the site to find a room to stay in for a night or a week or a month (or more), in pretty much any country it looks like. To me, it’s like a cross between Craigslist and Expedia. I love that the site allows you to see who your hosts are, view photos and details about the room they’re renting out, plus read reviews of guests who have stayed in the room before you. My current host has about a dozen positive reviews, so that helped me with my choice. She is also an artist and I love artists. Her home is beautiful and old and full of original art and flowers and light. The neighborhood is very walkable, lined with trees and plants and situated just a few blocks from the University of Virginia. This is why I didn’t mind paying $800 to stay here for a month. I have full house privileges, so I’ve been able to cook, do laundry and drink bourbon on the porch whenever I want.

Turn Off the Lights

March 26, 2012 | By Rosetta |

. . . and light a candle . . .

Nah, this post has nothing to do with the Teddy Pendergrass song of the same name. Although, it is one of my favorites.

Turn ’em off!

I’ve been in Charlottesville, Virginia for a little over a week now. (Much more about my new “home” later!) Half the time I’ve spent enjoying the Virginia Festival of the Book. The other half I’ve spent working on revamping both of my main websites. I wanted them both to be mobile-responsive, so people could see my content better on their iPhones, iPads, etc. I wanted my nonprofit-focused site to highlight me more prominently as a speaker. I wanted happyblackwoman.com to look like a cleaner, more personal Tumblr-style site – without having to actually use Tumblr. (You can see the new layout here, if you’re reading this post by email.)

How to Start a Side Hustle: My Top 10 Posts to Help You Begin Working for Yourself

March 16, 2012 | By Rosetta |

Over the past two years, I’ve written numerous posts about my entrepreneurial journey as well as tips for other ladies who want to start working for themselves. Here are my top 10 posts about how to start a side hustle or a passion-based business doing what you love.

Two Simple Ways to Cultivate Intuition

March 15, 2012 | By Rosetta |

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

About this time last year, I went to a lecture given by Sophy Burnham at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. I’d never heard of Sophy until seeing the event in the festival program, but the title of her new book, The Art of Intuition: Cultivating Your Inner Wisdom caught my eye and for some reason I felt compelled to go to her talk.

This was actually my first lesson. Always do what you feel compelled to do.

Don’t Die Not Knowing

March 14, 2012 | By Rosetta |

When I was a little girl, my family used to call me “nosy Rosie.” That was my nickname. They called me that because I was an extremely curious child. I always wanted to know what everyone was doing, how stuff worked, why certain things happened in the world.

I had a beautiful love affair with Encyclopedia Brown and idolized Nancy Drew as if she were a real person.

I wanted to know everything about everything.

When I was about six or so, my grandfather (or uncle, I can’t remember which) gave me a magnifying glass to play with. I thought it was the best gift ever. Now, I thought, I have the key to all the secrets of the world!

How I Became a Professional Speaker: My Journey from Free to Fee (Video)

March 12, 2012 | By Rosetta |

I’m on the road again after being “home” in Baltimore for the past few weeks, exploring the city and working on my business. I flew into Springfield, Massachusetts this afternoon for a keynote I’m giving at a women’s conference tomorrow. Actually, I flew into Hartford, then one of the lovely organizers picked me up and took me to dinner, and then on to the Marriott where I’m writing this blog post. I was walking around the hotel room with my trusty iPhone and just started recording a video about why I’m here, which led to me telling the story of how I even got started with professional speaking in the first place. Click here to learn about my 3-hour training on becoming a professional speaker.

How to Get Paid to Do What You Love (Video)

March 6, 2012 | By Rosetta |

I thought it was high time I test out this fancy iPhone video function, so here we go! In the video below, I answer a question that ladies ask me all the time, “how can I get paid to do what I love?” I’ve been supporting myself from my passions of writing, speaking, training and coaching for the past two years, so I wanted to share an important lesson that I’ve had to learn along the way.

Your Version of Happy is the Only One That Matters

March 3, 2012 | By Rosetta |

We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry. – E.B. White

There are a lot of people in your life that, for whatever reason, see fit to tell you what you should be striving for in life. Most of the time, they mean well. They actually want you to be happy, they just don’t know how to help you besides offer advice that you probably don’t need.

My mom (especially as she gets older) seems to think I will be happy when I finally settle down with a husband and ~~her grandkids~~ kids. Although she is supportive of my current lifestyle, I think she views it as a phase that I’ll grow out of, kinda like when I was 12 and would only eat Trix cereal for breakfast. Maybe she’s right. But what she may not see is that I’m pretty happy with how my life is right now.

How to Start a Side Hustle: Two Basic Tools to Start Earning Money from Your Passion

February 28, 2012 | By Rosetta |

This is the seventh post in my How to Start a Side Hustle series.

I get a lot of questions from ladies who want to begin selling products or services on the side to supplement their current income or start working for themselves full-time. The first thing I tell people is that it largely depends on what you want to sell. What is your passion and how can you earn money from sharing it with others? What’s your side hustle sweet spot? I have been working for myself a little over two years now and I found my sweet spot through selling both products (books, ebooks, online training programs) and services (speaking, coaching) in my business.

My last post was about how I’m using the technology of iPhone apps to support my ideal life, especially my business. In this post, I wanted to share the two basic tools that have been essential for me in starting a side hustle that turned into a full-time business based around my passion, expertise and lifestyle.

On Getting an iPhone and Using Technology as a Tool to Support My Ideal Life

February 25, 2012 | By Rosetta |

Yesterday, I traded in my Blackberry for an iPhone.

My Blackberry had been acting wonky for months now, and lately it had begun shutting off for no reason in the middle of phone conversations. My mom had gotten into the iLife a month before, so her enthusiastic recommendation of the iPhone as a tool for my business was what brought me over to the other side.