Tips for Making Better Career Moves for the New Year!

In 2009 I knew many Fabulous Brown Girls who were just going through the motions with their careers.. You were not really happy with where you were at work or how you were being treated. So in 2010 you said you wanted a CHANGE!! Well 2010 is here and nothing has happened. Its okay FBGs if you know you want to change, but don't necessarily know where to start. Just make sure you READ on for tips on how to go about it the right way..

• Self-Evaluation: Have you started a personal evaluation or self reflection of yourself career wise? Did you meet your professional goals over the last year or at least started making significant headway on them?

• Share Your Goals: Have you told your boss the goals you have? It is important to let your boss know where you see yourself professionally. Their job is not only to meet the company's goals, but also to help develop your career goals as well. A good boss will be impressed by your willingness to share your goals as well as be excited to help you progress. If you have let the new year come and haven't sat down to talk to your boss do that ASAP!

• Update Your Resume: If you achieved your goals for the year, make sure your boss knows this and your resume has your most current accomplishments on them with the results that back them up. And keep your eyes open for new opportunities within your company if you intend on staying.

• Professional Development: Use this year to expand on new skills that can be developed. Attend professional organization meetings, go to seminars, or listen to webinars for a few hours a month, purchase a few books on your industry to learn new and exciting techniques.

Corporate America is a hard game to play. We want to see all of our Fabulous Brown Girls succeed in this world, so if you have any more tips or stories you can share or pass along.. please by all means do not be afraid of leaving us a comment!

Notice Anything New?! 2010 is our BREAKTHOUGH year!

Happy New Year!!!

Wow ! 2009 was a great year! It was the year Fabulous Brown Girl came to me as an idea in the middle of the night and became a reality. I had several AHA moments as many scholarly folks would like to call it in 2009 which I am grateful for and it will only keep growing from here. It was a year of growth, change, and humility for me and 2010 will be the year where my thoughts and ideas actualize and become reality! 2010 will be in one simple word a.. BREAKTHROUGH!

With that we decided to change our look a bit! Do you like?! I hope you do, because this new format will be around for a while. Evolution is very necessary and is a great thing to realize and be a part of!

Fabulous Brown Girl will continue to evolve into greatness and I can't wait to see where this journey of female empowerment, inspiration, community involvement, and social sophistication takes us!

I have noticed that many of my young professional peers have a great anticipation about 2010! I think we for the most part we are growing into our own and I am happy and extremely proud to see these changes of mind frame coming about?

So to all my Fabulous Brown Girls, how did you bring in the New Year and what are you looking forward to doing differently in 2010?

Fabulous Brown Girl Going Strong 2010!

My apologies for my recent lack of postings, but I am taking time out for the holidays to catch up on some rest and spend with my family and friends! With less than a week away from not only a new year, but a new decade let's wrap it up with much thanks and evaluation. Also, be excited because there will be major changes coming to Fabulous Brown Girl in 2010! So keep checking us out!!

2010 WILL and MUST BE GREAT! There will be tons of new features, tips, self development, encouragement and empowerment , and most of all PROGRESS! So please, please stay TUNED in to the FAB!



Oh! and sidenote: Go see AVATAR in 3D if you haven't already done so, it has been one of the highlights of my holiday so far! James Cameron is a bona fide GENIUS

Fabulous Fashion and Style: Holiday Parties!

Tis' the Season for... you guessed it Holiday Parties at work. This is a time when its okay for you and your coworkers to get out of the office and see how your everyone's act outside of the normal work environment.

Well just because you are not at work, doesn't mean that you should forget where you work. It won't be smart to act like you are having a night out on the town with your girls at your corporate holiday party. You still have to carry yourself with some sort of professionalism but still not be as serious as you would be at work

Here are some styles that balance appropriateness for your corporate holiday party while still showing your nightlife style.

• Black Dresses are always a go when you a dressing up for a holiday party. Just make sure they are not too little. Dress it up with fabulous jewelry and sassy shoes and you are ready to go.
  
• Sequins is a way to show your classy party style. Sequins is really hot this season and having different touches of sequins will make you sparkle in a fashion forward way.

Holiday parties are a great way to celebrate the holidays with your coworkers and show your personality, just remember to keep it appropriate and FABULOUS!

These outfits were picked from one of my favorite online boutiques LuLus.com. They're clothes are chic and their prices are perfect for us entry-level FABULOUS BROWN GIRLS.

"YOU'RE HIRED!": Ways to Make Sure They Love You During an Interview!

Hello FBGs! Happy Monday! I was reading an article about careers and interviewing and I ran across a pretty interesting one.

If you are on an interview and you want to make sure they like you and see how FABULOUS you are, try doing these four things and you should feel pretty confident about hearing those magic words -- "You're Hired!"

• Find a way to make them like you! -- This is great advice to those who are naturally not shy person and if you are an introverted person try to break out of that shell! Give them a reason to smile! Make a funny joke, tell a heart warming story, find a common interest/hobby to discuss, or give them a straight up compliment! Getting them to like you before your interview is over is a key way to keep your name at the top!
• Show that you have done you homework! -- When you show them that you have researched the company and care about their mission then you show yourself as a valuable asset ans a strong piece of the business' pie.
• Convey that you care! -- Nobody wants to hire someone who just wants a check. Be genuine in your interview. If you have researched the company don't just list generic facts. Show them that you are really excited about the opportunity because you LOVE the company!
• Talk about your past experience in story form! -- Instead of just spitting facts and statistics (which are great to know, but may sound boring ), share what you have done for your past employer in a story. It becomes more intriguing if your potential employer gets to know you through painting a descriptive story about how you handled a marketing campaign or how you redesigned a website!

So if you follow these tips, not only will you most likely get hired, your interview will seem more like a conversation with positive vibes, and all that nervous edge will go out of the window!

Share your interview tips with us too! We would love to hear them!

Source

Coming Soon: Oprah Winfrey Network

For sometime now Oprah Winfrey has talked about starting her own network, which will conviently be known as OWN (short for the Oprah Winfrey Network)

After announcing her departure in 2011, this network is now becoming more and more anticpated by Oprah fans and inspirees everwhere.

CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network, Christina Norman, says the network will be about motivating self-discovery which is something Oprah has always felt is very important.

Even though she will not bring her sindicated talk show over to the network, she will give other women such as Laura Berman, Laura Ling, Suze Orman, and of course her BFF Gayle King opportunites to host their own show.

Fabulous Brown Girl will totally be showing the OWN network love and can't wait for its launch/premiere!

FBG Networking 101: 3 Ways to Maintain Networking Relationships

What is a network?

According to ReturnofRelationship.com, a network is a person or group of people who you "like, trust, and respect" in some form or fashion and vice versa. This can be anybody from your family members to people you meet at a work conference who have valuable information to get you to the next level.

So after you go to a networking event and have passed out and received several business cards from great and interesting people, what do you do next?

That is the question that catches several people up and they end up missing out on connecting with GREAT PEOPLE. And trust me, I am at fault of this too! So I am giving my own self some advice as well.

A great networker is not a person who can walk up to someone and give them a card, it is a person who can formulate and maintain that relationship after the fact! It is all about following up to show them that regardless of what terms you met them on, you are still interested in getting to know that person.

Here are some ways to maintain those networking relationships.

• Social Networking -- adding them on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIN is a great way to see what they do and what they are interested in after the event is over. Comment on their page or send them @replies on their tweets

• Invite them to Lunch or a Happy Hour -- Most young professionals like to meet up at trendy, hip spots to release stress from a hectic day at office. Try inviting the person to lunch or to have a cocktail to just talk. This is a great way to build a solid relationship!

• "Just wanted to say Hi" call/email -- People love to be randomly thought of from time to time, so "touch base" with them randomly. An "out of the blue" call/email to just say you were thinking of them will probably make their day especially if they were already having a bad one. Even if this is a strategic move, it will make them feel special and instantly put you on a good foot. This should contact should be all about them and what they are up to and what they are working on. Ask them about their family, something they have going on on the side their hobbies, or anything that is not work related. Try not to ask them for anything you want from them when making this call/email. It loses its genuineness and makes it seem like you wanted something from them all along.

Hopefully these are just a few tips you FABULOUS BROWN GIRLS can try to improve on for your networking skills. Don't be afraid to let people know you think they are awesome (stroking ego a little bit doesn't hurt) and that you would not mind getting to know them further.

What tips do you have to share with FBG? Leave a comment and let me know!

FABULOUS BROWN GIRL TIPS: OFFICE POLITICS

As college students and recent grads it is important to transition out of everyday life as a student and into one of office life. Any time you are in a professional setting many times you have to "turn it on" you have to talk a little different and come across as the happiest employee ever to keep good terms with your supervisor, boss, and CEO. I wish someone would have given me more of the real deal while I was in college so I would be aware of office politics. I have learned them through trial and error, which most of us do any how. Here are just a few tips I found from an great article to help us office "newbies" transition into Corporate America..

1. Pay attention to your surroundings -- try to fit in with the company culture as best as you can. Look at how your CEO and others that are in positions you would want to be in dress and try to mirror them as best you can.
2. Be tactful and humble -- even though you were the bomb on your campus, all that may be irrelevant when you enter corporate America. Instead of telling people who you are. how you do things, and how fabulous you are.. try to choose your words carefully that will not put you on people's bad side. Show them that you are sorry when you make mistakes and how willing you are to learn how to correct them immediately. Trust me! your FBG-ness will shine through!
   
3. Be attentive to the office's form of communication -- I know some offices communicate heavily through email. But please remember email is not text messaging! Unfortunately, you can not write emails as if you were texting your Fabulous Brown Girls. I am sure your boss would agree with me on this one.

Do yourself a favor! CLICK HERE to read more of the tips from the article..