Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney Lend Expertise, Blood, Sweet, and a Whole Lot of Love (Heart) to Help Homeless Moms Gain Work Skills

Photo by Randall Benton for the Sacramento Bee

Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney own a traditional for profit restaurant in Sacramento, California, Mulvaney's B&L. That has not, however stopped them from venturing into social entrepreneurship by volunteering to help launch an intriguing concept that helps homeless mothers learn job skills and gain a work history to lead them on a path of self-sustainability.

These busy restaurateurs definitely have passion, purpose and a whole lot of heart.

Three years ago, the St John’s Shelter Program for Women and Children in Sacramento, California launched a restaurant called simply “Plates,” guided by the expertise and help of the Mulvaneys. The difference here, is that the casual eatery employs homeless mothers that often have little or no work experience.

The Mulvaneys are totally committed to the concept. Bobbin Mulvaney tells Cathie Anderson of the Sacramento Bee that they “put a lot of "love and Elvis" into it.”

The experiment has been more than successful.   Plates now grosses about $650,000 in revenue. $45,000 of that revenue helps to pay for other programs.

Diners at Plates to Go
Photo by Randall Benton
 for the Sacramento Bee

With the success of the original Plates, St. Johns Shelter is expanding with the addition of “Plates to Go” in midtown Sacramento. Again with the blood, sweet, and love of the Mulvaneys.  

St. John's Shelter CEO Michele Steeb told Anderson, “There's not a word in the English language to describe how instrumental the partnership with the Mulvaneys has been. That came in loud and clear the week that the original Plates restaurant opened. We had a chef, but it worked for only about a week. We opened the first week and Patrick was on the line cooking for three out of the first six days."

Plates to Go Executive Chef
Stu Edgcombe & Kitchen
Manager Tamara KafkaPhoto by Randall Benton
 for the Sacramento Bee 

Apparently the Mulvaneys hire people at their own restaurant with a lot of heart too. Stu Edgcombe, a former chef at Mulvaneys B & L, volunteered to help out and liked the concept so much, he stayed on as the Plate to Go Executive Chef.

At the new Plates to Go, Kitchen Manager Tamara Kafka escaped domestic-violence.  A graduate of the St. Johns Shelter Program, Kafka tells CBS 13 in Sacramento, “It was not a good time in my life,” she said. “The environment wasn’t healthy for me and my kids, so that’s what made me homeless. You can’t let the past define you. We all have a past, we all have a story. We just have to move on and motivate each other.”

Tamara is no longer homeless. That makes it all worthwhile for the Mulvaneys.

For more on passion, purpose and heart and how to find your own passion and purpose in life. See Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB 

Life is Good continues Optimism and Heart in the Wake of Boston Bombing Tragedy

Bert and John Jacobs believe life to good. So that is exactly what they named their now thriving company, but it was not always that way. In 1989, the brothers began selling t-shirts door to door and on the streets. As they tell it on their website, the early years were something less than profitable. They lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and as two single guys at the time, they say “chicks were not impressed.”

Searching for an answer, but ever optimistic, they found it in the form of a drawing on their apartment wall that served as a kind of early brand and logo called “Jake.”

Bert and John recall;

“Jake's contagious grin, simple as it was, seemed to express everything the Jacobs brothers believed in.

  

One fateful September day, they printed up 48 Jake shirts for a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They laid the shirts out on their rickety card table. By noontime, all 48 of those tees were gone. A star was born.

Soon Jake was introduced to local retailers, and his simple message of optimism was embraced like nothing the brothers had ever seen. As demand for product soared, Jake's team grew, and the Little Brand That Could began to spread across America.”

Today, Life is Good has 260 employees and continues its emphasis on simplicity, humor and humility.

The more you learn about this company, you will find, they have a whole lot of heart and an abundance of love.

Life is Good is based in Boston and during the Boston Marathon, the company had several employees in the crowd promoting the company’s brand. One was seriously injured.

In a story for Inc. Magazine Chief Optimist Bert Jacobs says, their employee was badly burned, but grateful he survived and knew that others were much worse off. (Sounds like a perfect employee for Life is Good to me.)

Bert continues; “The day after the attacks, our employees started asking whether we could do something to raise money for the victims and their families. I said no. I felt like we had to get our own house in order, to feel like it was OK to get back to work, before helping somebody else. But we're a brand about the power of optimism. We should be leaders of the spirit when bad things happen. So by Sunday, I changed my position and said we should make a T-shirt.”

Make a T-shirt they did.  Bert tells Inc., “We looked at what was already out there. A lot of "Be Strong" and "Boston Strong," that tough Irish mentality. I don't knock that. But it's almost like they're suppressing emotion: We're so strong, let's just move on. Life Is Good focuses on what's right in the world.

No matter how you slice it, this was a hate crime. But instantly afterward, all these people--the first responders and the people who helped people on the street and opened up their homes and ran to the hospitals to give blood--performed acts of love. So we created a shirt that says "Boston" on the front and "There is nothing stronger than love" on the back.”

The company’s sales plummeted after the attacks, and Jacobs says the T-shirts helped to head the company and sales bounced back because of the t-shirt. “We have 260 employees, and there is not a single person who did not touch that shirt. From start to finish, we got it out there in just under 30 hours. We're not built to turn something around that fast, but our people figured it out. They worked day and night. We're proud of their hustle,” said Jacobs.

In fact, according to Jacobs, the T-Shirt may be their fastest selling product ever with over 70,000 units sold in the first week. Life is Good had a goal of raising $50,000 to $100,000 and now it looks like they could hit a half a million. All proceeds are going to One Fund Boston.

Life is Good’s good works are not limited to the tragedy in Boston. Fox News reports, has raised over 9 million for kids in need.

Without a doubt, Bert and John Jacobs and the entire Life is Good team emulates the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi model. They focus on core principles like Belief, Enthusiasm, Heart, Attitude, Passion, Purpose and Imagination. What they call optimism. They believe that by focusing on and staying true to their core values, that success will find them and it has in a big way.

Life if very good for Life is Good.

Click here to learn more about the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi model.

Be Great!

MB

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Sesame Street's Abby Cadabby Puppeteer Makes a Difference with Passion, Purpose and Imagination

I was watching the Tonight Show with Jay Leno a few weeks ago and one of the guests was Chris Jenner, the Matriarch of the Kardashian family. Apparently, Jenner is slated to begin hosting a new daytime talk show. In promoting her new show, Jenner said they would be sponsoring a content in which the winner will get to spend a whole day with the Kardashians. Oh joy. Leno quipped that maybe the prize should be not having to spend a whole day with the Kardashians.

Fast forward a week or so down the road and in a local promotion for the same contest, a 13 year old girl was asked why she wanted to win the contest and spend a day with the Kardashians. Her response; because they are beautiful, rich and famous.  Unfortunately, she is not alone. A year or so ago, I received an email promoting a television show entitled “The Next.” The logo graphic’s tagline was “Fame is at your Doorstep.”

We live in a culture that pushes fame and fortune as the key to the good life, the key to happiness. We buy it hook, line and sinker. Whether we are Kardashian Krazed or just celebrity crazed in general, we hang on every word, every outfit and every move celebrities make. We dream of being just like them.

It is hard not to believe that being rich and famous is the answer to happiness when society in general and the entertainment media in particular bombards us with that notion 24/7. The problem is we are buying off on a big lie, a myth.

In Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi, I document in detail how fame and fortune, in and of itself is not the answer to happiness and argue that we will only be truly happy once we discover are passions and true purpose in life. When you discover passion and purpose (the fifth and sixth core principles in the Be Happi model) and combine them with Belief, Enthusiasm, Heart, Attitude and Imagination, you do not need to seek success, success and happiness will find you!

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, street artist, performer and Sesame Street puppeteer is a perfect example of somebody who is living the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi model. Leslie says, “You can only really measure success by what you contribute to the world.”

Leslie is the creator of "fairy-in-training" Abby Cadabby and the puppeteer behind the Sesame Street character. In a profile and video interview for Yahoo Shine, Leslie says that she started “cartooning and drawing when she was a child with a big imagination. She even told her sister that she was moving to Sesame Street, because she knew she belonged there. But when Leslie was 11, her brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. After, she says her family dynamic changed, making the arts even more important to her.”

Leslie designed her own major at San Francisco State University in Child Development through the Arts. After college, Leslie worked at a street artist and performer before landing the gig with Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street in 2006.

Leslie explains to Yahoo Shine, that shortly after she came up with the idea for "fairy-in-training" Abby Cadabby. “Sesame Street was looking for a strong, female role model who could have a different perspective on what it's like to be new on Sesame Street. Leslie, a fan of fairies, put on the puppet and knew exactly who she was. "Well, I'm a wish fairy," says Leslie as Abby Cadabby.

“She is actively involved in Sesame Street's outreach programs that focus on problems kids face. Leslie says she's helped kids with everything from divorce to food insecurity. "It's an honor to be doing what we're doing," she explains. "The way your characters reach is beyond what we could possibly imagine.

Leslie is also working on a side project called Wake Up Your Weird, featuring a puppet named Lolly Lardpop. Lolly deals with self-esteem issues and bullying, Leslie says. She recently took Lolly to visit a high school. Nervous to pull a sock puppet out in front of a group of teenagers, Leslie says Lolly received a warm welcome; the teens took it as a "permission slip to feel joy and empathy." (Yahoo Shine.)

As a result of her bothers fatal motorcycle accident, Leslie has learned that everyday counts. She believes one person can make a difference and Leslie is doing exactly that with her passion, creativity and imagination. She says, “I'm really grateful that I've found a place that I get to keep giving."

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph may not have the degree of fame and fortune of a Kardashian, but through passion, purpose and an amazing imagination, she has found the true key to happiness and fulfillment.

For more on passion, purpose, imagination, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB

Karen Bostick has Passion and Purpose with Petspage.com

Karen Bostick and Tinks
petspage.com

I have not posted in a couple of weeks, not for a lack of inspiring stories worthy of the Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi Model, but rather because I have been helping my friend Karen Bostick with the media for her new website, petspage.com. So this week, I am doing two blog posts. See also, Seattle Mom Robyn Rosenberger Uses Heart, Passion and Purpose to Create Tiny Super Heroes.

If there is one thing I know about Karen, she filled with passion, purpose and incredible energy. Indeed, it is easy to be energized when you have passion and purpose in your life.

The primary mission of Karen and petspage.com is to make pet owners aware of a higher level of veterinary care that can often save pets' lives when all else fails. This higher level of veterinary care comes in the form of veterinary specialists, which most pet owners don’t know exist. These vet specialists can literally save a pets’ life when a primary vet is stumped or does not have the expertise to treat a dangerous life threatening illness.

Petpage.com is not however, a dry pet health education website.

Petspage.com is a social community designed to connect pet owners with other pet owners as well as vet specialists, and other pet professionals in a fun, friendly and interactive way!

Petspage.com is in the final week of a beta launch and will officially launch on July 15^th. 

Check it out at petspage.com.  You will love Tinks!

Look for a more detailed post in the Profit by Imagination Blog during the petspage.com launch week, July 15th.

For more on passion, purpose and finding your profitable passion, see Don't Seek Success - Be Happi. 

Be Great!

MB

Seattle Mom Robyn Rosenberger Uses Heart, Passion and Purpose to Create Tiny Super Heroes

Robyn Rosenberger
and some of her Tiny Super Heroes

Seattle Mom Robyn Rosenberger is using Heart, Passion and Purpose to turn children suffering from illness and disability around the world into tiny super heroes. "I want the world to know we think of kids with illness as different. Truth is, they are extraordinary because they overcome things we can't imagine and they do it with a smile," Rosenberger told ABC News.

After a move from St. Louis to Seattle, Robyn renewed her interest and passion for sewing. She sewed a super hero cape for her 2 year old nephew. She had also been following a blog of a brave little girl named Brenna who was born with a rare skin disease. Rosenburger decided that Brenna needed a cape too. So she sewed a special cape for Brenna with a big “B” on the back and “Super Brenna” was born. Needless to say, Brenna loved the cape.

Super Brenna with her Cape

Robyn tells ABC News, that she “...quickly realized there were other kids out there who actually were tiny superheroes."

After featuring “Super Brenna's” cape on her Blog, Rosenberger received dozens of requests for other tiny super heroes who needed a cape.

In six months, she's sent 700 personalized capes to sick children in 45 states and 11 countries. Each cape comes with a handwritten message.

Rosenberger now gets 10 to 20 requests a day. She quit her job and has pulled friends in to help.

Super Hero KE, a 10 year old suffering froma severe gastrointestinal
disorder never takes his cape off.
According to his mother, He has taken it to his biopsy, to the emergency room,
showed it to other patients,
'it gives him a sense of comfort," she says. ABC News

“We are building a Tiny Superhero squad. Together these kids can make a difference. We cross-reference their stories," she said. "Then, by sharing them we can help raise awareness. Raising awareness brings funding, funding leads to more research, and research brings cures.”

Rosenberger has mailed capes to children affected by Oklahoma's recent tornadoes.

She hopes to establish contacts with children's hospitals and ultimately have a Tiny Superheroes center “that takes our relationship with the children outside the virtual world.” (Source: ABC News for GMA on Yahoo.)

Robyn Rosenberger used her heart in finding a way to turn her passion for sewing into an incredibly worthy cause helping young children suffering from rare and life threatening illnesses find courage and comfort as tiny super heroes. In a nutshell, Robyn found her life purpose through her heart, passion for sewing and imagination in wanting to help a brave young girl named Brenna become Super Brenna and it snowballed from there to create hundreds of tiny super heroes.

Rosenberger says, “If you would have told me six months ago that this would be my life, I would have paid a million dollars to make this my life, but I wouldn't believe you,”

Do you have a passion in which you can use your imagination to create a life purpose to help those in need in your community, country or even the world? We all do and it is up to us to find it and implement it. All it takes is a little heart and imagination!

For more on heart, passion, purpose and imagination, see Don’t Seek Success – Be Happi.

Be Great!

MB