Entrepreneurs

Interviews with a Fellow: Michael Gotlib

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We asked our 2019 Fellows to answer some questions about themselves. Photo credit to Yael Pachino Photography. Here is our interview with Michael: 

My venture in under 5 words is… Teach people/organizations psychological flexibility

(We didn’t know what psychological flexibility was, so we asked the expert, Michael: “Psychological flexibility is our ability to recognize, adapt and shift perspective in various situations. It helps us shift both our mind and body towards the people and actions that are important to us rather than trying to avoid difficult thoughts and feelings. Psychological flexibility is a skill set and way of being that can be learned by anyone. People with greater psychological flexibility have increased well-being, resilience, work performance, improved focus, less burnout, reduced anxiety, and overall improved mental health.”)

What are you most excited to learn during the fellowship? How to briefly and easily share with organizations what I do and how I can help them. Also, to build my social and professional network because I am new to the area.

The person that inspires me most is… My wife Alexis

Weirdest thing on my desk… A stuffed owl wearing a graduation cap and ally pin

How do you eat your fries? Dipped in ranch dressing

You’ve been given an elephant. You can’t give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant? Ask the elephant what it would like to do (Author’s note: we really appreciate this answer, it’s very diplomatic of you!)

Michael’s venture is My Mental Yoga: Psychological Flexibility taught in yoga studios. Chat with Michae about it at Pitch Night! 

Interviews with a Fellow: Danielle Brief

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We asked our 2019 Fellows to answer some questions about themselves. Photo credit to Yael Pachino Photography. Here is our interview with Danielle:

My venture in under 5 words is… custom mosaic gifts

Who inspired you to do this venture? my twin sister, the bride who got everything on her registry but preferred the memorable, custom gifts

What was the last gift you gave someone? I gave my boyfriend a watercolor painting collage of all the cool places we’ve traveled to together.

Do you have a pet? I have a 5-year-old Calico cat named Paloma (Spanish for dove)

What makes me nerdy is… I’m on a Jewish improv team called The Maccababes

How do you eat your fries? Without ketchup, or else

You’ve been given an elephant. You can’t give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant? I would ride it to work, which would be waaaay faster than septa.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why? I would be a Manuka Tree so I could provide magical honey

Danielle’s venture is Hamsa Made: Custom mosaics using personal items. Chat with her about her venture at Pitch Night! 

Interviews with a Fellow: Yael Pachino

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We asked our 2019 Fellows to answer some questions about themselves. Photo credit to Yael Pachino Photography. Here is our interview with Yael: 

My venture in under 5 words is… Loving and Celebrating Jewish Marriage.

What are you most excited to learn during the fellowship? How to start a non-profit

What is your favorite mitzvah (good deed)? Tzedakah – No matter what I can always give a little something.

The holiday that I could celebrate every day is… Secular: Thanksgiving… Jewish: Rosh Hashanah.

My favorite thinking music genre is… Jazz

If I were a kitchen appliance I would be… A toaster!

My favorite button on a microwave is… +30 sec

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why? Willow Tree – They are known for their awareness, spirituality, and intuition.

Yael’s venture is The Jewish Wedding Project. Her mission is to help celebrate and cherish the beginning of every Jewish family through photography and more. To talk to Yael about her venture, chat with her at Pitch Night! 

Why Giving Circles are Appealing to Millennials

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Giving Circles are a fun way to bring a group of people together to pool their donations and decide on one charity to donate to. Here, we ask our friend and freelance writer Allie Linn to tells us all about Giving Circles. Allie Linn is a local freelance writer with a background in mental health and the arts.

You know all those good causes you wish you could give money to, but don’t because you feel like you don’t have enough dough to cough up?  Or maybe you have the funds to donate but can’t choose a cause because there are too many that strike close to your heart.  I find it difficult to decide which organizations I want to donate money to because I want to save the world and don’t have unlimited funds to do so.

Millennials are Charitable

Millennials tend to be prone to donating to charitable causes, more so than Generation X or the Baby Boomers, despite the fact that they face higher unemployment rates and more student debt.  Millennials tend to donate smaller amounts to more causes and feel compelled to be more charitable, generally, than the generations that came before.

Millennials, want to save the world and tend to be involved in direct activism, particularly in the last couple years.  Since the 2016 election, millennials in particular have been taking many steps to actively make change.  Millennials are taking on leadership roles and getting more active in their communities.  Besides direct action and protesting, millennials are donating to charitable causes and organizations they believe in.

Giving Circles

There are several ways to be philanthropic in today’s society.  You can donate directly to a charity or cause, or you can participate in what’s known as a giving circle.  Giving circles offer an opportunity to donate to a charitable cause as part of a group.  This form of philanthropy supports the formation of groups who pool their money and decide to which organization they would like to donate money.  In a giving circle, you can donate a small amount of money and still feel like you are making a big impact.

Giving circles appeal to millennials because they feel as if they are doing something philanthropic and making a difference in the world without feeling bad about the fact that they can’t donate a lot of money.  Giving circles also give people a chance to connect to one another in the name of a good cause.

The Appeal of Giving Circles to Millennial

Millennials yearn for connection and community.  Giving circles offer a way to connect with other like-minded people for a good cause.  The fact that the decision of where the money goes is established by a group takes the pressure off one individual trying to figure out where to spend his or her money.

 

Meet the writer! Allie Linn is a local freelance writer with a background in mental health and the arts.

As a millennial, I know I’m guilty of not donating to anything because I want to donate to everything.  I convince myself that my donation doesn’t matter because I can’t give more than a few dollars.  In a society where work life no longer looks like a full-time 9-5 job with benefits and paid vacation, millennials are having to learn how to spend their money differently and effectively.

 

A giving circle offers millennials a chance to spend a little bit of money while still feeling like they’re making a difference.  It’s satisfying to see a larger dollar sign attached to your name go towards an organization or charity that you believe in.  Giving circles also provide the opportunity to make financial decisions with other millennials (and people of other generations).

Giving Circles at Tribe 12

At Tribe 12, giving circles happen over three sessions and focus specifically on Jewish values, community and leadership.  Participants are

able to feel more connected to their community and empowered to make financial decisions that go to good causes.  They learn to take on leadership roles within a group through the nature of the decision-making process.  In this way, Tribe 12 is appealing to the millennial generation’s philanthropic nature and providing a place for millennials to connect with one another through an active charitable process.

Interested in getting involved with a Giving Circle? Email Ross at ross@tribe12.org!

 

Blinded By The Light: Mixing Business with Passion

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Jessica Bird is a 2018 Tribe 12 Fellow and founder of third-generation window treatment business, 3rdGenBlinds. She is a fun-loving entrepreneur with a dedication and passion toward her family and career. You can read more about her here. 

 

I’m a creative soul by nature. Whether it’s painting, drawing, or designing on the computer, being creative runs in my blood. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and love anything and everything creative and design-worthy.

When the opportunity to be a part of Tribe 12 arose, I jumped in with both feet! Without hesitation, I knew that I could help others by bringing creative ideas to life, and I know that there is much I can learn from the business expertise and knowledge of others.

I recently (July 2016) started a business: 3rdGenBlinds. Having grown up in the “business” I was well versed on the products, the benefits, and just how crucial window treatments are in the home. Not wanting to put my graphic design skills on the back burner, I made sure that I would be able to design each creative piece that this business uses. From the logo and business cards to our website and direct mail marketing campaign, I have had a hand (literally) in every piece of the creative and business process!

Window treatments were never my passion… until now. They were my father (and grandfather’s) business. It was not initially my desire, until I got myself into debt in the business that was my passion – designing wedding stationery. It was then that I realized that I needed something more. Something that I would enjoy AND that would help provide for my family. When I jumped into this business, I discovered my passion for it. I learned that I could provide people with design aesthetics and great style while staying true to my creativity and design background.

 

Jess, holding her daughter, poses with her husband for a picture
Jess and her family sporting 3rdGenBlinds swag!

 

As part of the Tribe 12 Fellowship, I am able to continue exploring my creativity while working with coaches, peers, and mentors to expand my business mindset. In just the first 12 weeks, I have already acquired the proper tools to take the next steps in creating our business model, learning how to stand out within this industry, and to grow as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Tribe 12 has helped me create a vision for this business, find my balance, and expand on my desire for social change in an industry that lends itself to be a for-profit business only. I have partnered with our very first non-profit (hopefully of many to come) and we are eager to build our network with more non-profits in the near future.

Transforming from an employee (before getting laid off just 2 months before getting married in 2012) to a business owner of a business that was, at the time, a huge failure, I am eternally grateful for the sense of persistence and graceful presence that I was given in order to pick up the pieces from broken business models and transform them into a successful business that not only gives me creative freedom but also allows me to put food on the table.

Never give up on your dreams!

Warmly,

Jess, Owner of 3rdGenBlinds

Confessions of an Intimacy Junkie

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I’m an intimacy junkie. I’ve been known to spend an entire Saturday video chatting with friends across the globe. I’m trained as a therapist, and I can never overdo it on heart-to-heart talks. “How are you doing?” inevitably leads to a two-hour conversation, punctuated by deep sighs and vigorous nodding.

So why would a touchy-feely type like me seek out Tribe 12’s social entrepreneurship fellowship? I haven’t updated my LinkedIn profile since 2013. (Seriously.)

I recently moved back to the East Coast from the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the seven years that I was out west after college – doing ancestral healing workshops and going to all-night dance parties – my friends back east managed to reach some of the normative markers of adulthood: launching their careers, settling in one place, getting engaged, having babies.

Now that I’m here, I miss the community-oriented culture of the Bay Area, but I don’t think about moving back. I’m excited by the chance to focus energy toward my professional life. And I’m hoping to share some of the unconventional wisdom I picked up on my California adventures with the buttoned-up East Coast.

 

I applied to the Tribe 12 Fellowship for the same reason that people finally start therapy: because I was ready to get help. I’ve always been terrified by the prospect of branding myself. Recently, a friend pointed out that I was the only person in a room without my own website (ok, I don’t know whether that says more about me or him for noticing – but either way, point taken, dude).

What makes it so scary to publicly claim what it is I’m passionate about? Well, it’s kind of countercultural: I’m an intimacy junkie.

I didn’t realize it, but I had been waiting for an invitation to get more ambitious about my professional life. Tribe 12 is giving me that chance: to name my vision for social change, to discern the values that guide my decision-making, and to dream of a career that is centered around what I love.

So, this spring, I’m launching a podcast called Taryn Up My Heart. (Catchy name, right?) But my aim is serious: to move intimate conversations about sex and spirituality from the margins to the mainstream. In the wake of #metoo, we need deeper public dialogues to build a healthy culture around gender and power.

I don’t have all the answers about the mysteries of sex and love, but I know that intimacy is the key. I’m getting started by recording those Saturday chats. Next, I’ll shape them into a first season’s worth of episodes. The way I see it, true learning happens through relationships.

Which is to say — here goes: 

 

I’m harvesting the heart-wisdom of the swaggiest babes I know, and creating a platform to broadcast their brilliance to the world.

 

Will it work? Only time will tell. My podcast could flourish, or flop. But even if (when) the project changes form, it will be an evolution more than a failure.

The Tribe 12 Fellowship is offering me something bigger than a curriculum. It is a community of peers and mentors who want to see me succeed, a forum within which to keep honing my vision, the chance to be honest with myself about what I really want to do with my professional life.

So, to my own surprise, I’ve caved – I’m an aspiring entrepreneur. I bought the domain and everything: www.tarynupmyheart.com. And I’ve never had an Insta, but I guess it’s time to get ‘gramming. I’m taking a deep breath, and jumping in with both feet. My LinkedIn profile, though? I think that one may have to wait until after Launch Night.

Join me on the journey @upmyheart for up close and personal takes of my adventures in podcasting. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

<3

Taryn

 

 

Taryn Wyron is a 2018 Tribe 12 Fellow who loves poetry, people, and building community to transform power. She is new to Philadelphia, where she facilitates Tikkun Olam initiatives at Reconstructing Judaism. Read Taryn’s full bio and learn more about Taryn and the rest of the 2018 Tribe 12 Fellows.