Organic Excellence in the News > Investors Business Daily - Decide Upon Your True Dreams
Decide Upon Your True Dreams
Investors Business Daily
Decide Upon Your True Dreams
Get Stoked, Blaze A Trail
April 2005
Written by Amy Alexander
Start making your vision a reality by simply paying a little bit of attention to what you want to accomplish. Small beginnings can lead to big enterprises, as long as you're willing to feed the fire - even when it's just a smoldering pile of kindling.
It was a New England spring day in 1999. Kim Goldstein and her husband were up to their elbows in a do-it yourself porch project.
They'd ripped up flagstones and were ready to carve out their new veranda when Goldstein realized the idea she had for the porch came out of a stack of her women's magazines.
The challenge: finding the picture.
"It took me 30 or 40 minutes to go back through each magazine and find it," said Goldstein, who resides in Brewster, N.Y.
Frustrated, Goldstein started dreaming of a way to save and catalog pictures and articles from magazines on her computer. Then it dawned on her that others might be interested in the solution too.
In 2003, Goldstein launched Scanalog, a software program that lets users catalog and organize scanned materials from magazines. The software's gotten rave reviews.
Smooth Operator
When Cynthia Drasler's daughter kept having allergic reactions to shampoos, lotions and creams, Drasler decided to create her own line of products.
Working with chemists over the course of nearly 10 years, Drasler brought Organic Excellence to market in 2000. The award-winning company now has an international client base.
"When you start with nothing, even though you're a long way off from where you want to be, you can accomplish things," Phoenix-based Drasler said. "Goals really were what kept me going."
Have a dream? Here's how to move forward, according to Goldstein and Drasler:
Take one step. Read a book, enroll in a class and network to get energized. Goldstein went to a conference in New York for women entrepreneurs. On the train ride home, she drew out the basic design of her computer program.
"That conference really helped me say, 'It's an idea. But it can become a reality,' " she said.
Keep a goal journal. Drasler not only set goals, but also entered goals she'd already accomplished into a journal and reflected on them.
The journal became a way of celebrating what she'd accomplished - and helped her move on to the next thing.
Collaborate. Drasler and Goldstein both reached out to others to bring their ideas to life. Goldstein asked women if they'd buy her product, and hired computer programmers who understood her intention. Drasler hooked up with chemists who could develop just the right mixtures.
Fall in love with your concept.
Sure, you have to test your product. But it's OK to care deeply about it too. "If it feels right and you get excited about it, that's going to carry you through the planning process and doing the work," Goldstein said. "You find the time and energy if you feel good about it."
