Linden Wolbert Finds Her Profitable Passion as a Professional Mermaid with a Purpose of Ocean Education and Preservation

Mermaid Linden Wolbert
Photo by REUBEN E. REYNOSO

Years ago, my little niece, now grown was all about the Disney classic film “The Little Mermaid.” You simply could not go wrong buying her a “Little Mermaid” gift for Birthdays or Christmas. My niece loved the ocean, swimming, and of course mermaids. If somebody would have told her back than you could grow up to be a real professional mermaid, she would have said sign me up! Of course, there isn't such a thing as a professional mermaid or is there?

That would be “silly” to use one of my niece's favorite words as a toddler.

Linden Wolbert does not think being a mermaid is silly and has created her own career doing just that. Linden is a professional mermaid!

How do you become a mermaid?

Linden tells the Huffington Post, “"I just kind of dreamed up this idea of what I wanted to do."

Now that is profit by imagination!

Los Angeles based Wolbert became a full time mermaid in 2005.

Linden Wolbert
Photo by MATTHEW ADDISON

“My day-to-day as a mermaid is never the same thing. It can involve working on maintaining and designing tails, doing training, editing my “Mermaid Minute” videos for children, which is my passion, booking events like Hollywood parties or working with people to come up with neat fund raising ideas for ocean causes I believe in. I’m pretty much a one woman show. Overall, I’m wearing about 50 different hats. I get hired very frequently to do really high-end celebrity events in swimming pools at hotels or at people’s private mansions. I just did a huge party for a certain celebrity’s little girl. I do all sorts of events where you don’t even know who’s hiring you. I’ve sort of become a mermaid to the stars and mermaid to the stars’ kids. I have pinching-myself moments frequently. (Huffington Post.)"

Indeed, Linden Wolbert is an excellent case study in how to find your profitable passion and create a career through what I call “Profit by Imagination.”

First, Linden was aware of what her passions. In her Huffington Post interview she explains that while a residence director for a local college, she was “becoming increasingly distracted by the oceans and scuba diving and free diving. Swimming is my favorite thing in the world.” Linden is also passionate about the ocean, ocean preservation, sea life, and ocean education and advocacy.

She says, “There was one day where I got emailed to come down to the Grand Cayman Islands to do a shoot for free diving. When I came back I thought, “Why am I sitting in this office in A/C wearing uncomfortable shoes when I could be doing something more meaningful for the oceans.” At that moment I knew I had to pursue my underwater career. I didn’t realize I would become a mermaid yet -- that happened organically over the next few months.

Mermaid Linden with Children
Photo by REUBEN E. REYNOSO

Add some Disney style imagination and a friend who happens to be a Hollywood special effects artist to help design her silicone tail and presto, Mermaid Linden was born and ready to swim. ((Sidebar: If you can be a professional mermaid, why not Merman? Yes, there is such a thing, some 3000 miles from Linden Wolbert in Florida, Eric Ducharme supports what he calls his Merman lifestyle with a creative business selling mermaid and merman wetsuits. Read that story on Yahoo Shine here.)

Linden's passions for swimming and all things ocean drive her life purpose;

“The main core of what I do is sharing the ocean with people. Kids are my main target audience. That’s why I started [being a mermaid]. My “Mermaid Minute” series was born because I wanted to be a mermaid to be a vessel for education for the oceans and conservation for our oceans.”

According to Linden's website, The Mermaid Minute is a completion of short videos featuring “Mermaid Linden” in a series of what she calls ocean “ 'edutainment' for children to enjoy at home or in the classroom!” Linden's goal is for “any child with computer access may enjoy free ocean education programming which teaches them to explore, love and protect our oceans!”

View one of Linden's Mermaid Minutes below;

Linden Wolbert followed the profitable passion and profit by imagination formula perfectly. It is really quite simple;

Passion + Imagination + Action = Purpose + Success

When you incorporate the other core principle of the Don't Seek Success – Be Happi model of belief, enthusiasm, heart, and attitude to passion, purpose and imagination, genuine happiness and fulfillment magically appears in your life.

Make no mistake, it is not always easy, personally, professionally or financially as Linden readily admits; “...It’s a very inconsistent profession. I’ll go for weeks where I am booked straight. And then there are other times in the winter where it’s a lot slower. I’ve learned to weather my way through the storm. That’s just part of creating your own career.”

Mermaid Linden
Photo Courtesy of www.mermaidsinmotion.com

Wolbert understands that pursuing your profitable passion and purpose is not about the money. There will be times, especially in the beginning when following your profitable passion results in financial struggle and other frustrations. Is it all worth it in giving up a 9 to 5 job and a stable paycheck to pursue a career of passion and purpose? I am positive Linden Wolbert would answer unequivocally yes! Indeed, virtually everybody that I have ever met or interviewed who has found and pursued their profitable passion and purpose says the same thing, it is more than worth it in terms of happiness and fulfillment.

For more on finding your profitable passion, profit by imagination, and the entire Be Happi model, see Don't Seek Success – Be Happi. Also stay tuned for the upcoming series of books, entitled Profit by Imagination, scheduled for release in early 2014.

Be Great!

MB

Loss of Daughter's Hand-Made Earring Leads Shelly Fisher to Profitable Passion and Purpose Creating Jewelry to Save Lives.

Every parent who has ever lost something made with love as a gift from a child knows the panic Shelly Fisher felt when she lost a beaded earring made by her 7 year old daughter while the family was vacationing on the Jersey Shore. What Shelly did not know, is the loss of that earring would result in a profitable passion and purpose which quite literally saves lives.

In an article for the Huffington Post, Fisher tells how she found a bead store on the boardwalk and thought the owner of the store could quickly make a replacement earring and her daughter would not be disappointed with her Mother losing her special gift.

Fishers says, “I just thought she’d make me something but instead, she said ‘I’ll show you how, but you have to make it yourself.’ At first I thought, You’ve got to be kidding. But actually, it was a great marketing technique. Once you try it and see the results of your work, you’re hooked and you buy more beads!”

Shelly was hooked and after some art classes and a house full of beads and crystals, she was the one making jewelry for her daughter and her friends.

At that point destiny was about to set in for Shelly. As she explains to the Huffington Post, “My friend Lisa showed me a pink crystal bracelet she was going to buy for her mother, who is a breast cancer survivor. It cost $120 and 10 percent of the proceeds would go to breast cancer research. But I knew it really only cost $25 to make. So I convinced her to let me show her how to create one. I knew her mother would love the fact that she made it herself and that way she could take that extra $100 and donate it directly to the charity.”

That is when Shelly and Lisa, both of whom had been active in their children's school and local charities had an epiphany and realized they could use their jewelry making talents to help charities and other groups raise money. Shelly and Lisa “began designing awareness bracelets -- jewelry that the charities could sell as fundraisers.”

Shelly Fisher and her friend Lisa had found their profitable passion and purpose helping charities raise money and having the time of their lives doing it, but their purpose was about to evolve in a way they could have never expected, that would result in saving lives.

Shelly recalls how it happened, ““I was at a meeting with the local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,” Shelly remembered, “and one of the other moms stopped me and said. ‘I think what you’re doing is really nice, but it would be great if you could create a medical bracelet that younger people would want to wear.’ Her daughter Kristen was 16 and she was diabetic. She was about to start driving and her mother was concerned that she could be pulled over and end up at a police station, rather than a hospital, because an officer would mistake a drop in blood sugar for drunk driving. But her daughter wasn’t willing to wear the traditional silver medical alert bracelet. She thought it would make her stand out -- to be defined as the girl with diabetes.

“As a mom, I instantly said yes, as long as her daughter would help us design it, so we knew she would wear it. But I walked away thinking, 'What do I know about medical bracelets?'”

Kristin models the Medical Alert Bracelet
She Helped Design with Shelly Fisher 

Shelly immediately began making phone calls to find out what needed to be included in a medical alert bracelet. With that information, She and Kristin began brainstorming design ideas.

It wasn't long before they had come up with a leather watchband bracelet, replacing the actual watch with a medical insignia that matched the band. Kristen chose two colors -- neon green and pink. And it was at that point that Shelly thought, if Kristen was willing to wear a bracelet like this, maybe other kids would too. So once the mold was made, she ordered 400 more and posted them on a website a friend’s son created for her.” (Huffington Post).

Shelly says, “We thought if we could just make back the money we invested and make a difference in even one person’s life, we were doing a good thing. Lisa and I were doing it from our basements and maybe selling ten a week. If we sold more than one in a day, we were doing a happy dance around the table!”

Soon they were getting requests for other types of medial alert bracelets and Shelly and Lisa realized they could help others with all types medical conditions where an alert bracelet would be appropriate. Shelly says, “And then I walked by a kiosk at the mall,” Shelly recalled, “where a young person was using an engraving machine and I thought, 'How hard could it be?' So we ordered one. Let’s just say the lesson that was supposed to take five hours, took nine hours with us. We weren’t as bright as we thought!”

They did however catch the attention of a sales rep who thought he could get their unique medical alert bracelets on pharmacy shelves. He left his name and number and Shelly tacked it to a bulletin board and left it there for two years!

Shelly explains that sometimes timing in everything; “This was just a hobby for us. Lisa really didn’t want anything more from it and I was raising three children. I knew it was a big leap and the time just wasn't right -- so with the engraving, maybe we were selling 30 bracelets a week and we thought that was great! But then one day it occurred to me that I no longer had to feel guilty about working between three and six o’clock, since the kids were all involved in after school sports -- and that’s when I took the piece of paper off the board and called him.”

Shelly and the Sales Rep took the concept to a Pharmacy trade show and when the buyers began asking for custom bracelets for themselves or members of their families, they knew they were on to something.

The designer medical alert bracelets caught the attention of the media too. Shelly recalls, “Just as things were taking off, I got a call early one morning from someone in our office. He said, ‘Did you know we’re in the Wall Street Journal?’ And I laughed. I thought he was kidding. But we were on the front page! A reporter had discovered our bracelets on the internet, ordered four styles and featured them in an article called The Jewelry Prescription. That was my real 'aha' moment, when I realized we could change the way people looked at medical alert bracelets.”

According to her website, Medical ID Marketplace partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Make A Wish Foundation, and many others. Other corporate customers and partners (current and past) include The Coca-Cola Corporation, The McDonald's Corporation and The Hershey Foods Corporation. The company has more than 150 styles that can be customized for any medical condition or simply with emergency contact information. (Medical ID Marketplace ).

"The little bracelet that once brought on a celebration, when more than one was sold in a day, is now flying off the shelves -- with as many as 11,000 going out in any given week. The first year it hit pharmacies, Shelly’s hobby became a million-dollar business.

“This all began with the hope that I could help one teenage girl fit in with her friends -- so that she wouldn't be branded by her illness,” Shelly said, “And while I feel really fortunate, it’s important for people to know that success doesn't have to be on a grand scale, it just needs to be something that fulfills you.

“Find something that makes you feel like you’re contributing and take the first step. You never know where it will take you.” (Huffington Post).

Shelly Fisher is living the Don't Seek Success – Be Happi model. For more on finding your profitale passion and purpose in life, see Don't Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB.

Jen Rozenbaum Finds A Profitable Passion and Purpose Helping Woman See Their Beauty with Boudoir Photography Starting From Her Bedroom!

Jen Rozenbaum

In 2008, Jen Rozenbaum left her job with a family business to have her first child. With what little time she had as a stay at home mom to an infant daughter, she taught herself how to take photos. Turned out she had quite a knack for it and her passion photography was born. 

In an AOL video profile, Rozenbaum says shortly thereafter, she discovered Boudoir Photography and fell in love with the genre, telling her husband, she knew what she wanted to do when she grew up and that was to become a Boudoir Photographer. Forty Eight hours later, Jen started her business out of her bedroom!

Rosenbaum explains to AOL that she perceives Boudoir Photography as an opportunity for woman to explore their sensuality, intimacy, and femininity through an amazing experience of dressing up, putting on make-up and above all, stepping out of their comfort zone.

Jenerations

Jen wants woman as clients that want to participate in the boudoir session for themselves, but can also serve as a gift to husbands or boyfriends, Rosenbaum’s passion for Boudoir Photography drives her purpose which is to make a difference in women’s lives by encouraging them to feel “confident and desirable by showing women they are beautiful, worthy and can be a little fearless” through photos that are tasteful and sexy at the same time.

She has worked with women who have survived breast cancer, woman who have lost everything and woman trying to save their marriages.

In the AOL Video, Rozenbaum says she believes every woman is beautiful. Her job is to help them find their particular beauty and to empower woman with a side that they may not show every day, but is inside of them.

Jen coaches her clients every step of the way, saying she does not just tell them to stand there and look sexy. Posing has become a specialty of Rozenbaum.

Jenerations

In a Q & A with the Boudoir Forum, Jen explains her love of Boudoir, “I love the transformation. There is nothing better than when a client sees themselves all done up and how awesome their bodies look and they say ‘WOW – that doesn’t even look like me!’ Except it totally does! It’s such a thrill to show them the beauty that they behold.”

In a mini profile for Entrepreneur Magazine, Jen says that “She meets personally with every client before a shoot. During the session, she makes sure to focus on both taking compelling photos and making her client comfortable. She tells them about her kids, makes fun of herself and makes it clear that her studio is a ‘no judgment" zone’”

In response to many requests, future plans call for couples shoots. Rozenbaum tells Entrepreneur Magazine, “We'll just have to set up boundaries and make clear what people can and cannot do together during the shoots," she says. At the end of the day, boudoir needs to be about beauty and sexuality, nothing else."

In November 2011, Jen Rozenbaum opened a studio called Jenerations in Long Island City NY.

In Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi, I write about passion, purpose and finding your profitable passion in great detail. Passion means what interests you the most. We all have unique passions in life separate and distinct from anyone else. By giving it some thought, you can easily figure out what your passions are. Many of our passions, however, may yet to be discovered. Jen Rozenbaum did not pick up a camera until 2008 and quickly discovered a new passion which she has turned into a profitable passion with her Boudoir Photography business. Don’t be afraid to try new things, you may discover a passion you never knew you had and turn it into a profitable passion.

Passion and/or a profitable passion drives purpose. In Jen Rosenbaum’s case her purpose is to empower woman by showing them they have a sensual and sexy side they may never have thought they had.

When you add the other principles in the Be Happi model to passion and purpose; belief, enthusiasm, heart, attitude and imagination, success cannot help but to find you!

On her website, Jenerations, Rozenbaum says, “I believe in hard work, doing what you love, and challenging yourself in any way that you can. If you do those three things with all your heart - you will learn and grow in ways you can't even imagine.

Well said.

To learn more about passion, purpose and finding your profitable passion, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB

Finding Passion and Purpose Regardless of Life Situation

Christopher Renfro found his passion and purpose in life three years ago in 2009 and has since turned it into a profitable passion in a big way in spite of suffering from a severe disability.   

Christopher creates art though what he calls light painting.

In a recent interview with The Weekly Flickr, Renfro said;

 “When I first found light painting in 2009 it just completely blew my mind. I have spent my entire life really not knowing who I am, what I am supposed to do, or why I am here and when I found light art photography I knew instantly who I was.”

“I have a mental illness called borderline personality disorder, and it has created a lot of challenges in my life. When I’m having a rough day I can just go off and create art. And just the act of creating something is very therapeutic to me.”

Watch Christopher's Weekly Flickr interview below.

Christopher posted his initial photos to Flickr and was quickly invited to join a community of fellow light enthusiasts. He says, “I wouldn’t be here and have gotten this far with them and their support.”

Take a look at Christopher Renfro’s stunning photos on his Flickr Photo Stream, here.

According to The Weekly Flickr, Renfro’s advice to others with disabilities is to never give up. “You don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” says Christopher.

Denis Diderot said, “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” Passion is where the magic happens. Passion is the engine that drives purpose.

Christopher Renfro found himself when he discovered his passion for light painting and it gave his life purpose. He disability could have left him bitter, angry and lifeless. Instead, Christopher chose to live a life of passion and purpose.

It doesn’t matter, whether you suffer from a disability like Christopher Renfro, or are a teenager like Olivia Bee in yesterday’s post, it doesn’t matter what your past is, where you come from or what your educational background is, everybody has one of a kind passions and a specific purpose to fulfill in life. Find them and your life will be fulfilled and meaningful. You will truly discover who you are.

For more information on discovering your passions and purpose in life, including your profitable passion, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

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MB

Veronika Scott Empowers Homeless Women in Motor City With Jobs Making Sleeping Bag Coats To Keep The Homeless Warm

There is a lot of talk these days about the decline of values in our youth and their self centered nature. From my vantage point I believe those theories are either overstated or just plain wrong. In March 2013 I posted an article about 6 year old Dylan Siegel who wrote a book to help his friend suffering from a rare illness. Our future is in good hands if the two new examples below are representative of today's youth and young adults and I believe they are.

Yesterday, as I entered an Albertsons grocery store in Boise, an 8 year old girl named Emily and her 6 year old brother were near the entrance selling cups of Kool Aid (Peach Mango and Strawberry) to raise money for a classmate with cancer. She explained to me that her friend was undergoing Chemo Therapy and had lost all her hair. Emily wanted to buy a wig for her friend so she would not be self conscious about her appearance. Emily and her Mother went to a wig shop and the owner told her that if she could raise $30, the wig shop owner would contribute the rest of the money for the wig. I am happy to report that as I left this young entrepreneur with heart and purpose, she had made almost $80 in just one day. That is a lot of Kool Aid at 50 cents per cup. Many people gave Emily up to $10 to support the cause.

Perhaps Emily will grow up to do something similar to 23 year old Veronika Scott, a remarkable young woman filled with passion and purpose. For Veronika's “Design Activism” class at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Professor Stephen Schock charged his students to “Design to fill a need” that wold benefit the disadvantaged in their community. Students had to design a project that was doable.

Veronika Scott
Founder of The Empowerment Plan

Veronika decided to do something to help the homeless, a group that tugged at her heart and for which she was passionate about assisting in some way. One in every 42 people in Detroit are homeless, some 20,000 people. Scott's passion stems from her own family situation. She tells ABC News, “I was raised in a situation of poverty. It wasn't abstract as it is for most people. So knowing that can happen to my family means that can happen to anyone."

Veronika went to the Neighborhood Service Organization, a community development center in Detroit and started talking with the Homeless.

Scott tells the New York Times what she was able to glean from her research; “I noticed that there were people sleeping outside of shelters even when they could have been inside. There are many reasons why people are homeless, but I could see one thing all of them needed: warmth.”

Ultimately, Scott came up with the idea to design and produce a coat that would double as a sleeping bag. Now that is imagination!

According to a blog post for ABC News, “For five months, and even after her class ended, Scott worked with the homeless at the shelter Neighborhood Service Organization in Detroit to develop the first prototype of the coat.”

Sleeping Bag Coat
Photo by Brittany Thomasson

The result is a self-heated waterproof coat that transforms into a sleeping bag at night.

“I became known as the crazy coat lady,"Scott said.

Scott says her original concept was to offer comfort, warmth and pride to the homeless, but one homeless woman's words would not only alter the concept, but propel Veronika Scott in a direction should could never have anticipated.

"This Homeless woman told Veronika, “Your coats don't matter, jobs matter. We need jobs, not coats.”

"It was then about who I could employ." said Scott. At that point the coats became a creative and worthy by-product to aid the homeless, but her true mission became to give the homeless what they needed most, a job.

As for the coat/sleeping bag itself, Veronika probably did not even realize what she was on to. “The truth is Veronika’s garment has great international ramifications,” Imre Molnar, a dean at the College for Creative Studies tells the New York Times, “Her coat could be used by refugees or for disaster relief operations.“She came up with a great idea that is simple, but well researched. Because of her passion for the homeless, I can’t see her not succeeding.” It has been reported that the Red Cross in interested in the coats as well.

In December of 2011, Veronika Scott founded a non-profit organization called, “The Empowerment Plan.” The Empowerment Plan's mission is;

“We're a Detroit-based nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the homeless community. We hire homeless women from local shelters to become full time seamstresses. These women manufacture a coat that transforms into a sleeping bag, which is then given out to homeless individuals living on the streets at no cost to them.

We believe in giving second chances to those who want it, and providing warmth to those who need it.”

"At the end of the day, people gravitate to the coats because it's easy to understand, but the uniqueness in what we do is who we hire," Scott said. "That woman really changed the whole direction."  (Source: Crains Detroit Business.)

Scott encountered her share of people suffering from what I call Negavitis in Don't Seek Success – Be Happi. The Empowerment Plan website explains it this way;

Veronika Scott with one of her Employees
Photo by Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times 

Veronika started the Empowerment Plan as a 20 year old product design student at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit. It started as a class project and became a non-profit organization when she graduated in December 2011. During the creation of the project, she was told over and over again that this organization would never succeed. Not because the person running it had no business experience but that the homeless women she hired would be almost worthless, that she would be lucky to have anyone show up, let alone make a coat. 



"Everyday I enjoy proving all of those people wrong. The homeless women I hire are powerful, driven, and I am privileged to be a part of their lives."

Veronika is quite proud of her first employee, Elisha, a homeless woman living with her children in a homeless shelter. Veronika and Elisha started making their coats in a room the size of a closet at a Detroit homeless shelter, where they did not even have enough room to layout the coats. Today, The Empowerment Plan has a staff of 14. As for Elisha, she learned new job skills, earned money and was able to move herself and her family out of the shelter and into their own apartment after just a few months. (Source; Forbes).

In 2012, The Empowerment Plan distributed more than 1,000 coats to people in need, and Scott said it plans to hand out 4,000 coats nationwide through other organizations.

Veronika tells Crains Detroit Business, "I never in my wildest imagination and dreams ever expected it to become like this," Scott said. The non-profit raised $25,000 last year with a goal of $700,00 this year. Contributors include companies like General Motors which also donates materials that allow the coats to self heat.

Veronika is not resting on her laurels. Next up is a For Profit company based on a one for one model. Scott explains her vision of the For Profit Company to the New York Times this way;

Veronika Scott models the Sleeping Bag Coat

“For revenue, I want to sell them online to individuals who can afford to buy them,” Ms. Scott said, explaining that anyone purchasing the coat will automatically be given a second one that can be sent to various shelters and charities anywhere in the world.”

Veronika Scott found her profitable passion and purpose through her desire to help the homeless. She came up with a very imaginative and creative idea to provide a practical garment which would provide comfort, warmth and pride to the homeless. But as one insightful homeless woman bluntly told her, pride and self worth come from jobs, that is what the homeless truly needed. Veronika could have ignored that advice and continued on with her coat/sleeping bag design, but Veronika listened and her mission evolved to not only produce a valuable asset for the homeless but to empower them with a job giving them a sense of purpose, a second chance and a way out.

When brainstorming and researching your profitable passion, keep your eyes and ears open, your original idea may very well evolve into something you did not initially imagine. In last week's post, Shelly Fisher was making costume beaded jewelry to aid various charities, but when somebody asked her to design a attractive custom designed medial alert bracelet, she listened and her passion evolved into something spectacular to help save lives.

To learn how you find your own profitable passion and purpose in life, see Don't Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB

Unusual Passion Leads to Great Purpose for Ocean Ramsey

Ocean Ramsey believes sharks need love too. The poor reputation and demonization of sharks is unfortunate and ill-founded according to Ms. Ramsey. The Hawaii based Scuba Instructor is passionate about improving the horrible image of sharks around the globe. To prove the point, Ocean, who could not have a more appropriate name, recently swam with a Great White Shark in a stunning promotional video for an HD camera company. 

In a post on the ocean conservation site Water Inspired, Ramsey says “A lot can be said between two creatures that don't speak the same language. Even without eye contact, hanging on to the dorsal fin allowed me to feel the sharks’ subtle unseen movements; feeling the way the water displaced as we glided together, and the gentle but strong swaying of the sharks’ caudal fin (tail) so careful not to kick me as I released my hold.” (Source; Huffington Post, Ocean Ramsey, Shark Diver, Swims With Great White Shark.)

Watch Ocean Ramsey swim with a Great White Shark Below;

In video interview for the Huffington Post, Ramsey who “free dives” with the sharks, and can hold her breath underwater for almost 6 minutes, says she is not so much nervous when swimming with sharks as she is excited to observe them. 

Ramsey, who has been swimming with sharks since she was only 14 years old, notes in the video that shark bites are so rare in comparison to other tragic events and that most of us have probably been around sharks in the ocean and just didn't realize it. “That's a testament to the animal that you haven't been attacked,”

For Ocean, swimming with sharks is far more than just an unusual pastime or as a vehicle to improve their reputation of the sea creatures she loves. Her purpose is to educate us on shark conservation. She notes, that with films like "Jaws" and television shows like “Shark Week,” these amazing creatures of the deep blue sea get a bad rap. Many species of shark are endangered or close to it, and she says, “…people don’t want to protect things they are afraid of.”

Ocean Ramsey has found purpose through her passion and love of sharks, proving passion and purpose can be found anywhere, even underwater. Indeed, Ramsey has turned her passion into a “profitable passion” too. She is a stunt woman and stunt double for underwater scenes in film and television.

For more on Passion, Purpose and finding your “profitable passion,” see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.”

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MB

Kim Airs Finds Passion and Purpose with Sex in the City of Boston.

Boston may be a liberal city when it comes to politics, but in many things, the city is culturally conservative, especially when it comes to bringing sexuality out in the open, even more so in 1992. That, however, would not stop Kim Airs.

In an article by Claire Gordon entitled “Kim Airs: From Harvard University To Sex Toy Entrepreneur” for AOL, Airs discusses her career transformation from an assistant to a Harvard University administrator to opening a sex shop in Boston.

Married young, Airs says “her sexual curiosity made her husband uncomfortable.” After that marriage ended, Airs eventually started dating a disc jockey she calls, “Smut Hound,” who “"totally supported everything I wanted to do and learn about sex."

Never having used a sex toy until she was 30, Airs curiosity about sex and her acquired knowledge made her a kind of “in-house” expert to the Harvard administrative staff. Airs says, “…co-workers would ask her to help them pick out their first vibrators, or suggest a porn movie to watch with their boyfriends.”

Good small business ideas can be found anywhere if you keep an open mind, your ears open and have vision and imagination. That is exactly what Airs did. In the article “Kim Airs: From Harvard University To Sex Toy Entrepreneur” outlines out Kim came up with her idea;

“Then one day in 1992, she had a conversation with a woman running a G-spot workshop, who had struggled to find a space willing to host her in Boston. "We could really use a women's sex toy store in Boston," Airs remembers her saying. And like so many entrepreneurs, she spotted the opportunity. "I could do that," Airs thought. "The clouds burst open and the lightbulb went off.”

Kim Airs did not just let the idea sit in her mind, however, she took action to bring her idea to reality.

In spite of plenty of people telling her it would never work in Boston, Airs persisted, raising $14,000 from a co-worker and opening her “Women’s Boutique” with little fanfare. According to the article;

“Airs rented a 225-square-foot, second-floor former insurance agent's office in Brookline, a few miles from Harvard. She tried to be low-key and didn't advertise, while working part-time at Harvard in the morning to keep her benefits. The only way you'd know her store existed was through word-of-mouth and her subtle outside signage: "Grand Opening: A Woman's Boutique.

The first year, Airs grossed $50,000; by 2004, she had $1.6 million in revenue, a 1,000-square-foot store at street level, and a dozen employees.” Airs takes pride in what she accomplished, saying “I can't tell you how many people had said, 'Boston, that's so conservative. It'll never fly there.'”

In 2006, Airs sold the business and moved to Los Angeles. Today, Kim Airs is a sex consultant, “writing reviews, speaking about sex toys, consulting for sex toy companies and advising doctors on how to treat conditions like vaginismus (a tensing of the vagina that makes penetration painful) and erectile dysfunction.”

Kim Airs has turned her passion for sexual curiosity and fulfillment into her profitable passion and a life purpose, “to help people have better, happier, and more fulfilled sexual lives.” You can find Kim Airs website at http://grandopening.com.
 

As for all the naysayers that told her she was crazy in trying to turn her passion into a profitable passion, Kim lives by this motto; “I care what you think about, but I don't care what you think about me.”

She also has a tattoo which says, “I don't sleep, I dream.”

For more on finding your passion, profitable passion and purpose in life, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB