I lost my mojo... but found it again
13 January 2012
Wow! It's the New Year already and I haven't written a post since finishing the Epic T-shirt Trade in September last year.
Well, that is how I felt.
It had been a year of studying full time at Raizcorp, working full time on and in Inner Coaching, starting my own online TV Show Let's Talk Possibility, becoming a director of YBSA, helping to develop the MCF's supervision programme, only wearing T-shirts (that wardrobe restriction did cause a level of stress for even the tom-boy in me!), and creatively engaging all my gears to finish trading the springleap T-shirts.
So yeah, I was pretty tired.
Rest is good. Time contemplating is useful. Re-connecting with my purpose and my reasons for turning a matchstick into an office ignited something again. Throw in a couple of transformational coaching sessions too, and time with my family in Cape Town, and voila- I've found my mojo again.
I'm back. I'm ready.
With also many calls and meetings and emails and options explored over the last few months, and becoming a full page spread in the Brainstorm Magazine, I've now made some decisions. And that will lead to an announcement of my next step.
So, just a little more patience please. You'll know soon enough what the 375 Springleap T-shirts have turned into, that you can then make me offers on, in order to help me get to the offices. And help those entrepreneurs we need to create more jobs. Yeah!
Till then, rock on!
Labels: brainstorm, mojo, raizcorp, springleap, ybsa
posted by Telana @ 6:08:00 PM,
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Hallelujah! I've finished!
22 September 2011
This is what I've been hearing in my mind since Wednesday morning 21 September. As it was then that I got the final nod from the awesome team at Springleap – to say they have accounted for all my 375 T-shirt trades that they facilitated for my tenth trade.
Labels: Ellen, Hallelujah, Harlem Gospel Choir, Johann Strauss Orchestra, springleap
posted by Telana @ 9:24:00 PM,
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ONE left! Be my Hero!
07 September 2011
So I now have one Springleap T-shirt left to trade, as part of finishing my tenth trade.
Exactly 1.
O-N-E!
So, who is going to be my T-shirt Hero and trade with me for my last T-shirt?
It's taken me nearly 2 years to trade 374 T-shirts... so how long will it take to trade the very last one?
If you want to be the onematchstick Hero and my Hero, then all you need to do is follow the below instructions, and then contact me with your order number! Email or sms 0837302979 or tweet me!
How to trade with me by buying your T-shirt and make it count towards my onematchstick trade:
1. If you haven't registered yet on www.Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.
2. When you are logged in, choose the T-shirt you want. You can choose ANY design. Click on the SHOP button to see the available designs.
3. When you find the T-shirt you want, click on the size you want (there is a link which explains the sizing and the ladies T-shirts are a lady's cut). Once you click on the size, it gets added to your "shopping cart".
4. When you've finished adding your T-shirt to your shopping cart, click on the shopping cart icon on the top right hand of the screen.
5. Enter in your delivery details, and where it says "if you have a Springleap coupon, enter it here:" you enter the code, which is: onematchstick (all lower case, one word). This is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP! Please remember to add the code! this is how springleap tracks that it is a trade with me, and it costs you nothing.
6. Choose your delivery options, then click the confirm and pay button.
7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by credit card.
8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finalised trading with me, and your T-shirt will be delivered to your door by courier in about 3 days.
9. Email or sms 0837302979 or tweet me your order number so I can add it to my list of trades as the FINAL TRADE!
Yippeeee!
Thank you!
Telana
posted by Telana @ 3:07:00 PM,
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My "Ellen DeGeneres Look"
07 August 2011
On the 2 August 2009 I started my long Tshirt Trade with Eric and Eran of Springleap. What an epic long trade it's turned out to be: a whole 2 years and 4 days to date.
We threw a competition to design the official onematchstick Tshirt. And then I traded nearly a hundred in a few weeks of launching the code to track the trades. Then things slowed down...
I am often asked if I think I made a mistake making this trade. I don't believe I have. I made it for very specific reasons, which will unfold as I progress with my future trades. And though I did not think that it would be such a difficult (at times), and long process to trade on the 375 T-shirts (especially such awesome, funky, designer T-shirts like Springleap T's), I will finish this trade. And soon!
To keep myself motivated and show the few nay-sayers my commitment to this trade, I pledged on 27 August 2010 to only wear Springleap T-shirts until I finished this trade. That meant that every day I would put on a Springleap T-shirt, and remind myself of my mission. And then it was easy too to show a sample to people I met who expressed interest in trading with me.
And I have kept that pledge to date. And will for however long it takes me to trade the last remaining 27 T-shirts.
I had some challenges with this dress-code pledge in the last year. Like when I had business meetings to go to – I soon learnt how to "corporatize" my T-shirts. Then there was a formal wedding a friend asked me to attend as his date. I hired a Tuxedo Tailcoat and added high heels, to dress up my T-shirt for that occasion. And then the elegant Feather Awards, where I was a finalist, I dug out my glitzy poncho that I got on my travels to India for a friend's wedding.
Recently I noticed that I’ve developed a certain "look". After starting my own podcast show with my friend and co-host Jack, I started looking for mentors to help develop my skills. I've been getting some inspiration from watching TV talk shows, and often catch the Ellen DeGeneres show while I have lunch. And then I noticed how my pledge has led me to pick up an "Ellen look".
Living in jeans and a T-shirt and a blazer sure is comfortable. And even though it's comfy, I am so looking forward to finding my own look again, and exploring some girly-girl dresses this summer, and less of the T-shirts and jeans.
So, with only 27 T-shirts to go, I am wondering if I'll manage to trade them all by the end of the month – making it a yearlong Pledge and a 2 years and one month Trade. I have this Adventure Talk coming up, these 3-way trades, and also the Tattoo Picnic Party to help finish this trade.
Do you think I can do it?
Labels: Ellen DeGeneres, pledge, springleap, tshirt
posted by Telana @ 1:10:00 PM,
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Lisa talks for onematchstick about Adventure!
04 August 2011
Labels: adventure, FEAT, Lisa de Speville
posted by Telana @ 1:26:00 PM,
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Walter Pike spoke for one matchstick
17 July 2011
A great bunch of Joburg-ites ventured out into the cold and found their way to 44 Stanley, to The (vibey) Room at Il Giardino to hear Walter Pike talk for onematchstick.
It was an enjoyable evening, with lots of networking and learning. Walter shared how "the internet is word of mouth on steroids" and profiled case studies including Vodacom, Cell C, Nando's and FNB that my friends are still talking about. He made the new Organic Marketing so accessible and practical, with examples from Egypt, to Charlie Chaplin, to surfing and Big Mac’s.
Some of the tweets that were flying around included:
I would like to thank Walter for trading his talk with me for one of my Springleap T-shirts, and helping me to trade another 32 T-shirts through this event! (At the time of writing this I have 44 T-shirts to go until I can move onto my next step)
A big thanks too goes to Grieta for allowing us to use Il Giardino to host the talk and for Rika for putting me in touch with Michelle of The Sound Corporation for providing the sound equipment we needed, and to Jelena for the projector.
And thanks to all of you who attended the evening and traded with me!
You all rock, and made the evening a huge success! *mwah!*
Labels: Il Giardino, springleap, walter pike
posted by Telana @ 7:05:00 PM,
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The Room at Il Giardino, our venue for 29 June!
19 June 2011
Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there!
I was day dreaming today that if my Father were here, I would have taken him for lunch at Il Giardino at 44 Stanley. He would have loved the vibe, sitting under the wild olives trees, with the gypsy folk jazz band playing, having a glass of wine and some pizza.
We would have been brainstorming ideas to help me find the 50 more people to attend Walter Pike's talk for onematchstick, to finish my tenth trade. I imagine that the conversation would have also covered topics like business (he was an entrepreneur too!) and politics and how he loved his country and the spiritual flow of life!
My Dad would have also enjoyed laughing with Grieta, the lovely lady who runs Il Giardino and is sponsoring the venue for Walter's talk. He would have got all fired up with the negotiations I had with Christof who is looking into helping me with the audio-visual equipment for the event. And he would have chatted too to some of the other lovely people I met under the trees, like the Pieters family, and Sean and Michelle!
I gave Michelle one of my matchstick business cards, and she exclaimed that it reminded her of her wedding! At each guest's seat they put a single matchstick. And each matchstick had stamped on it: "a perfect match!" My dad would have smiled with me at hearing that story!
So I am so looking forward to hearing Walter's Talk entitled "Recalculating – a new guide to marketing" with my friends, old and new, who are supporting me in getting closer to my offices!
Join us – I have 50 Springleap T-shirts left!
For more info check out the event on Facebook or this blog post.
And give me a call on 0837302979 to RSVP!
Labels: Il Giardino, springleap, walter pike
posted by Telana @ 5:38:00 PM,
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