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How One Woman Is Saving The Book Industry--The Old-Fashioned Way

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There's a story about Sarah McNally that seems lifted out of one of the plots of the 60,000-plus volumes she sells at her Manhattan bookstore. As documented in a piece about her in the New York Times, many years ago recent college grad McNally booked a one-way ticket and spent nearly a year wandering the African continent--until she had a self-diagnosed nervous breakdown that led to the village taking her to a magical healer who gave her roots and a prediction: She had a gift for clairvoyance that would one day reveal itself.

This--believe it or not--is not the most unexpected thing to have happened to McNally. Simply consider that as Borders declares bankruptcy, Barnes & Noble shuts down location after location, independent bookstores shutter their doors at a rapid pace, and more people than ever rely on Amazon and their Kindle for reading, her McNally Jackson store sees annual revenue growth in the double digits. This fall she will open a new location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, her fourth store, as she also has an art and home accessories retail businesses. McNally has accomplished all of this, not because of luck, but a belief in knowing that book lovers are a loyal, and not dying breed--and that they will support a business that celebrates the power of books, not the power and whims of the book industry.

While McNally says there are "plenty of brick-and-mortar booksellers doing well," she admits that her approach is not the standard one. Because she was raised at McNally Robinson, the bookstore chain her parents own in her native Canada, it's logical that she is clear on what she does and does not like. So at McNally Jackson, she is the road map. "I cater to my own tastes," she says, adding, "It's like understanding that one night I can read Proust, the next night I can watch network TV, and there's no contradiction, it's just different parts of me, neither of which is invalid. So I experience the store as all my many selves, with all their different tastes, each of whom could be either alienated or seduced."

The store, which opened in 2004 in New York's Nolita neighborhood, is a book lover's haven. There is a café, but for many years it did not contain Wi-Fi, meaning that if you spent hours there, it was with a book, not Facebook. And the leather chaise lounges dotting aisles throughout the two floors also encourage customers to grab a title, sit down, and relax, a distinctly different agenda than the frenetic rush going on outside the doors. There is also what McNally calls the "depth of inventory, which is at odds with most other bookstores in this country, so that when you enter a section you enter a labyrinth." It has paid off. It is rare to come into the store and not find it crowded with customers carrying books and standing in line at the register, as opposed to milling about the café waiting for tea.

Yet while this nod to the old days of bookstores for readers definitely has its charm, the store's success has also come from McNally's embrace of the future. Before she was a bookseller, she edited children's titles at Basic Books. So she is acutely aware of the challenges facing her field. To provide opportunities to authors who cannot get book deals in a shrinking economy, she invested in the Espresso Book Machine. It looks like a very large photocopier and prints books on command, in minutes, and for the cost of a typical paperback. When the machine moved into the store in 2011, it was the only one in New York and just one of 80 worldwide. To date, it has printed thousands of titles--and proven that McNally's pre-destined clairvoyance was indeed waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.


Office Yoga Does Not Have To Be Awkward

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There's no question that to survive in today's 24-7 work world, many of us have had to make a lot of adjustments and sacrifices. Yet for all of our adaptability, there is one thing that people have stayed resolutely against: "No one wants to be in gym shorts in front of their boss," says Jennifer Kluczkowski.

This presented a big problem to Kluczkowski and her business partner Chiyoko Osborne, old friends who six months ago decided to create Yoga Means Business, a company that brings yoga to the workplace. A Jivamukti-trained instructor who travels annually to India to deepen her practice, Kluczkowski knew that few places needed soothing yoga and meditation more than stressed-out, frenetic office environments; but when she and Osborne would hold hour-long sessions that required everyone to come to the conference room in their workout gear and get onto a mat, turnout was generally low. "Since the benefits of yoga are so well known, we wanted to understand why the rest of the group wasn't joining," says Kluczkowski. "We created an informal focus group of friends and learned that asking people to put on Spandex, in front of coworkers, and then wobble awkwardly for an hour was just too much."

Cofounders Chiyoko Osborne and Jennifer Kluczkowski

So they changed the entire approach and overhauled Yoga Means Business. First change: the hour-long session was shortened and branded the YMB 30-Minute Method. Second change: No more yoga outfits. Or mats. Participants sit in their office chairs in their suits, ties, and other business attire. "People are busy. It's asking too much of them to leave the office in the middle of the workday; even changing clothes twice takes too much time," says Osborne, the marketing brains of the company. "That drove home our business model of sending yoga teachers into companies and using whatever office space they have available. We have yet to find an office we cannot hold a class in."

While the women had to completely revolutionize their thinking, they still have a very traditional belief in yoga's power. "Although we're providing a new method, we stay deeply rooted in the teachings," says Kluczkowski. "In each session, our clients learn pranayama (breath control to steady the mind), asana (physical postures to increase flexibility and reduce tension/tightness), and dharana (a form of meditation to cultivate single-pointed focus)."

Yoga Means Business in action

The ability to effectively adapt is not surprising, considering it was the original impetus behind the business. Osborne and Kluczkowski had been friends for nearly a decade and both had successful, separate careers in marketing (Osborne) and advertising (Kluczkowski). But they shared an interest in yoga and in working together. Instead of buying a studio, they got creative. "A path to start a business together finally emerged where we could combine my marketing and branding background with Jen's yoga expertise," says Osborne, who previously worked building brands for Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang, Johnson & Johnson, and Pepsi. "In short, our magic formula: She's the yoga, I'm the business."

Both, however, are the investors, as the company was funded by what Osborne describes as "our personal savings accounts and unprecedented levels of optimism." And while that optimism, coupled with an aggressive networking push, has led to clients including Facebook, L'Oreal, and Gilt Groupe, they are nowhere near the end of their shared vision. Says Osborne: "We dream big over here. Our goal is to create one of the largest yoga schools without actually owning a brick-and-mortar location."

How Noah Kerner Gets Inside The Minds Of Millennials

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Noah Kerner has a simple career philosophy: "You have to do what you love in this short life." And what he loves are startups. So Kerner has created not one, or even two, but three companies that have transformed how the world communicates and consumes media. And he did it all before turning 40.

Noah Kerner

Now, however, Kerner is in a new position. Instead of launching a company, he helped to acquire another. In a move announced this week in the New York Times, his most successful venture, Noise and parent company Engine, acquired The Intelligence Group, an agency that collects data and produces studies on young consumers. A change in role, yes, but Kerner's focus is still on how to best reach 18-to-34-year-olds. Though he admits that the term "millennials" makes him "want to throw up a little," he knows--more than most business leaders--what this demographic wants in terms of how products are marketed and how corporations talk to them. Overwhelmingly, he says, they want to be connected to a community. Sounds simple, but in a world where technology changes the definition of community at a dizzying pace, it is hard to achieve in concrete ways. Now armed with the know-how collected by The Intelligence Group, Kerner and Noise can remain one step ahead.

Kerner has been thinking outside of the box since high school. He started DJing as a teenager, eventually working his way onto stage with Jennifer Lopez. Upon graduation from Cornell University, he landed a position at VH1 Group managing online marketing. It was a great job for someone newly out of school but, says Kerner, "it definitely was not for me." Instead of polishing his resume, he brushed up his observation skills and realized that while "creative agencies have always been charged with reaching consumers," he didn't believe they were necessarily approaching it the best way. So back in 2005--before corporate America had fully recognized the unique power of the demographic--he cofounded Noise, a company oriented around the young adult audience.

Noise may have begun as an abstract alternative solution to traditional marketing, but after a successful campaign with Chase in 2006, it moved from concept to success. Kerner and Noise worked with the banking giant and built the first student credit card to reward (with points) those who paid their bills on time. Kerner calls it a "paradigm shift" that promoted responsible money management over reckless spending for a group that often spends well beyond their means. It also marked a new day for his company. "We had a chance to lead product development, brand development, and marketing, so it was a true realization of the original Noise vision," he says.

Noise also shifted the paradigm of how people communicate. The company was founded eons ago, in terms of technological know-how. However, they weren't in the precarious role of having to play catch up when social media exploded--they were on the front lines. "We were the first agency to work with Facebook," says Kerner. "We built their app and launched the first execution of Facebook Connect. So we didn't really adapt. We were more a part of the change."

As Noise continues to stay 10 steps ahead, so, too, does Kerner. In 2007, he cofounded Soundproof, a music agency that has represented legendary producers including Quincy Jones and Babyface. That same year, he released his pop culture business book, Chasing Cool. In 2010, Noise was sold to communications and marketing services group Engine USA, but he continues to have an active role as chairman. Meanwhile, he has become an adviser to his long-time friend Adam Neumann to build WeWork, which transforms buildings around the world into collaborative workspaces. With nearly 20 locations and a global reach, WeWork is important, "meaningful work" says Kerner.

His newest venture is a little less serious, but just as in tune with what millennials want. "I've just funded and helped launch a mobile game development startup called Good Hamsters," he says. Their first iOS game, Bouncy Hamsters, debuted in June and as adorably named as it is, Bouncy Hamsters is only the beginning, with plans to launch a new game every three months. "The mission of Good Hamsters is to bring happiness to your inner kid. I'm a big believer in businesses with a soulful mission."

How Pharrell's Creative Director Is Making The World Happy

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Pharrell Williams recently told a magazine that he used to be "the guy next to the guy." It was an apt description for a man who spent much of his two-decade career as the behind-the-scenes producer, or the somewhat famous singer/rapper in the video with the very famous singer/rapper. This past year, thanks to gargantuan hits, an Oscar nomination and a critically acclaimed solo album, Pharrell became The Guy. Which begs the question: Who is next to him? Her name is Mimi Valdés, and her vision is changing the way the world consumes pop culture.

Valdés is creative director for Pharrell's i am OTHER, a multimedia company that works in music, apparel, philanthropy, film, video, and whatever else Pharrell wants to explore. Hers is a simple title for a complicated position where she is responsible for an astounding number of things. "Album covers, music videos, live concert performances, I'm in charge of executing all of that," says Valdés, adding that she is not as directly involved with the fashion side of Pharrell's growing empire. She is working on so many projects simultaneously that she has taken to listing each on its own index card. The stack is more than an inch thick.

Mimi ValdésPhoto courtesy of Mimi Valdés

It's hectic, yes, but her former career as a magazine editor more than prepared her. "When you're an editor, there are all these moving parts--writer, editor, photographer, and art," says Valdés, who was editor-in-chief of both Vibe and Latina magazines. After years of unofficially giving Pharrell, a close friend, the advice and counsel that a creative director would, he asked her to join i am OTHER at launch. "I was unsure at first," she admits. "I had never done this before. But I had to check myself--I have done this before. I know how to create content and this is just a different form of content. Also, I know more than anybody how to help Pharrell execute his vision." She started in January 2011 and immediately went to work shaping a company built on the idea of innovative creativity.

And then came "Happy," the 2013 song that catapulted Pharrell to mega-fame. "'Happy' is such an amazing little blessing of a story," Valdés says. A track on the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, "Happy" needed a music video before the film was released on DVD. "Originally Pharrell wanted to do something in a black church with a choir," she explains. "Then I said, 'I feel like, do what the character in the movie does. He dances through the streets, saying hi to people, doing acts of kindness.'" In someone else's hands, the "Happy" video might have been four minutes of Disney cuteness starring Pharrell. Valdés, however, wanted to bring on the French directing duo We Are From LA (with additional creative direction from Woodkid), who turned "Happy" into a daringly original 24-hour video that played the song on loop while different people danced. It spawned more than 1950 tribute videos and propelled the song to No. 1 around the world.

Many companies would have leaned on the success of "Happy" for years, but i am OTHER wants to "get involved with everything . . . every medium," Valdés says. So on her stack of index cards there are projects for potential films, a European tour, set design for The Voice (where Pharrell is a coach), and corporate branding. "We can be a creative agency, figuring out ways for brands to engage with new audiences," she says. "But only ones that are okay taking risks--Pharrell wants to change culture."

So does Valdés, which is why she is also creating her own independent magazine. "Kaleido Beauty is an idea I've had forever," she explains about the print title that will launch in December. "When you look at covers of magazines, it's normally dictated by Hollywood and there's not a lot of variety. Kaleido is concerned with the culture of beauty, with exploring what people really consider beautiful. And why." For some, adding another major project to their lives might be a major deterrent. But for Valdés, it brings a deep satisfaction. "If I can entertain and inspire and inform, I am the happiest person in the world."

How AudioSalad Is Saving Indie Music

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When Iain Catling relocated from his native England to New York City, his first new friend was Deane Thomas. They met at a bar a few days after he arrived in the city and "found that we shared a common passion for music and technology." That led to a lot of concerts and going out to buy music--back in the "old days" of record shops and Virgin megastores--and even testing out a new invention together: "We were at the front of the queue when iPods came out!" Catling remembers.

Iain Catling, cofounder of AudioSalad, making organizational sense of the new music industry model

As the very rules of how music distribution shifted from physical products to digital files, they wanted to be a part of this groundswell of change. "In 2007, we found ourselves talking at great length about tech, music, the intersection of the two, and the changes the music industry was going through," says Catling, a house music fan who was working in software development and finance on Wall Street at the time. Those conversations were the beginning of AudioSalad, a content-management platform for music labels and artists. "Initially, we worked with labels to create their own digital storefronts to sell their content (alongside iTunes) and offer exclusive releases to their fans," he explains. It was a boutique experience compared to the mega-mall feeling of mass online music shops. However, it soon became clear that what these labels needed went well beyond software that would manage a digital store. Says Catling: "They needed a solution to quickly leverage their assets."

Deane Thomas, cofounder of AudioSalad

In other words, just at the time that labels were making less money, thanks to people being able to illegally download music for free, they needed to spend more money to learn how to be tech savvy. Tasks like creating spreadsheets, setting print resolution for artwork, transcoding file formats, assigning metadata, and uploading content to distributors like iTunes suddenly became critical to success--and were exactly what Catling and Thomas, who also had a background in tech, could provide. So AudioSalad shifted its approach to meet the demands of its clients. "Today, AudioSalad offers a centralized repository for their asset and metadata storage," says Catling, explaining that "we spent a significant amount of time developing the platform along with input from some of our key clients--it is now a complex piece of software offered as a cloud based service."

One client that proves the success of their model early on is indie label Domino Records, the musical home of many popular bands including Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. "It took six months working quite intensely with them to get everything into great shape," says Catling. "But once they reached that point where the catalogue was perfectly organized, they were poised to utilize and monetize their catalogue better than most other indie labels out there."

This ability to combine great music with innovative technology is what continues to motivate AudioSalad. "The name comes from the audio-centric intermix of content and functionality, like a good salad," says Catling. The company works with more than 60 third-party services, including iTunes, Google, and Shopify, and boasts clients including soul music powerhouse Daptone Records. As AudioSalad grows, so too does the profit margin for the labels and independent artists with whom they work. "Things we are able to build today with a small team were out of reach [technologically] just a decade ago," says Catling. Which means that thanks to AudioSalad, the music industry may be finding the happily ever after that once seemed out of grasp.

Twoople Aims to Eradicate Annoying On-Hold Music

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Your cable is out, and you've been on hold for 31, no 32, minutes waiting for someone to help you. Today, even with all of the tech-savvy ways to communicate, if you want to talk to a business, you are still likely using the phone . . . and sitting on hold waiting for a customer service rep.

"Twenty-seven percent of consumers state that chat is their communication preference if it's possible," explains Patrick Arlia, cofounder of Twoople, an innovative update to basic chat that is poised to solve this nagging problem. In November 2012, he realized that if nearly a quarter of people doing business wanted a change, then that was a business opportunity for him. But it was not enough to simply build an app that let people chat with corporations the normal way you talk to a coworker or friends. "The problem is, chat tools are not democratized for business use and those that are, are exclusive and don't lend themselves well to engagement purposes," says Arlia.

Enter Twoople. Arlia, a Toronto-based web developer who used to build apps for Fortune 500 companies, sold his e-commerce business and dedicated himself to building this new online engagement tool. That included bringing in partners Luciano Volpe, Rino Spano, and Opinder Sahota, all of whom he had worked with in the past. The self-funded company launched in March 2014.

The Twoople website

To use it, you go to the company website, create your own personalized Twoople address and then give the address out to anyone you want to set up a chat conversation with. "You share it the same way you'd share your phone number or e-mail address," says Arlia. Next, that person can click your address and instantly chat with you. "And they don't have to register for Twoople or download an app--this is the inclusive part," explains Arlia, who wanted to eliminate the online red tape of having to register with a site every time you want to do something new. To prevent popular people or businesses from having to engage in chats with everyone, filter-free, Twoople requires that first-time conversations send a notification that can be accepted or ignored. There are also Android and iPhone apps that can send you an alert when someone is ready to chat--er, twoople--you.

Most users--and there have been more than 4,000 in the three months since launch--turn to Twoople for the very business purposes Arlia imagined. Success stories include small business owners--such as a bar owner in Formentera, Spain, and retail store Dallas Golf--who can be in direct conversation with customers to gauge likes, dislikes and promote sales and other changes. There are also real estate agents who Twoople with potential clients as a way to interact more personally than an email allows. In addition, businesses, even ones as frustrating-to-reach as a local cable company, can also embed their Twoople address as the customer service link on their website. "The great thing is the ubiquity--they're no longer limited to offering chat through their website," says Arlia.

Twoople is also changing how individuals communicate professionally. It has given the outdated business card a new lease on life. After awkward networking events where cards are distributed, most people are left with the even more awkward prospect of calling or emailing someone to try to "casually" continue a conversation that began at an event. Now, they can jump into a chat, which feels closer to normal because it mimics how most people are already communicating.

For the future, Twoople is looking to combine one of the classic relics of telecommunication with modern technology. "We plan to introduce an inclusive click-to-chat directory--sort of like the Yellow Pages, except for chat. Consumers would be able to visit twoople.com, search for a profession and click-to-chat with a number of matches in their area, all without registering.""Twoople," coming soon to a dictionary near you.

Jason Moran Is Expanding What It Means To Experience Music

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What do you do after the world declares you a genius? Take your twin sons to school, if you're Jason Moran. In 2010, the jazz pianist and composer was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the financial award granted annually to innovatively creative artists that is commonly called the "Genius Grant." And while it opened doors and gave Moran more financial freedom, life for the Harlem-based musician went on as normal. Fortunately, normal for Moran is about as eclectically off-center as normal could be. How else to explain the catalog of an artist who has stretched far beyond the piano to create collaborations that challenge and transform the relationship between music, the other arts, and the audience with a list that includes visual artists Kara Walker and Glenn Ligon, opera singer and theater star (and his wife) Alicia Hall Moran, National Book Award honoree Asali Solomon and filmmaker Ava DuVernay, whose upcoming Selma will be scored by him?

Jason Moran

This summer is no less groundbreaking for Moran. First, there was the May debut of Looks of a Lot, a performance with installation artist Theaster Gates, his group The Bandwagon, and the high school band Kenwood Jazz Academy, which explored 25 years of Chicago's jazz and blues history. "I have a lot of new grey hairs from that," jokes the Houston native, who feels indebted in many ways to Chicago. "A lot of my teachers came from that city. And it holds a significant place in America's Great Migration."

It is also the eve of the September release of his ninth album, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller, a collaboration with vocalist and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello that turns the music of the jazz legend into a dance party. Moran is continuing in his role as the Kennedy Center's artistic director for jazz, a position he has held since 2011, and prepping to return to teaching in the fall at the New England Conservatory. Beyond being a dizzying amount of work, his multiple roles have cast him into the spotlight. "In all my years of being a young punk, I never thought I'd be a spokesman for jazz. I never signed up to be, but that's what is demanded now of musicians," he says.

What is not demanded of musicians, but what Moran seems to demand of himself, is to constantly push beyond the expected. "Musicians think when you walk onto stage, the lights go down and an audience is supposed to look at you for an hour or two. That's bold and ridiculous as a concept, but musicians consider it normal," he says, adding that after working with pioneering video and performance artist Joan Jonas, he learned "when you enter a stage, it's more than just a concert. From the way you walk, what I'm wearing, lighting, how I communicate with my instrument, context is what's most important."

Legacy, however, is also significant. And to guarantee that the archives of his work--from the music to the various multimedia creations--are preserved, Moran has entered into a new kind of collaboration. He is now represented by Manhattan's Luhring Augustine Gallery. Not only does this mean that the gallery will make sure his projects are well-documented, but it also "offers a new kind of flexibility as a performer," says Moran. "If I wanted to put up a concert that started at 1 in the morning, I wouldn't have to go to a venue, I can go to my gallery. It is amazing."

Nearly two decades into a career that has expanded where we think jazz can live, what sounds a piano can make and what stories it can tell, Moran has reached a new place. "In the end, none of it matters," he says, quickly adding, "That's the wrong way of saying it. But people come and sit [and listen] and then it's over. The residue lives in people. I have no control over that, only control over how I play." This profound shift in perspective has led to an "ease in tension" in him, one that can only mean an even greater release and freedom in the art that gets to live on in the rest of us.

How TuneCore Is Making Record Labels Unnecessary

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The music industry used to be a very different place. Artists would make a demo or figure out another strategy for getting discovered and signed by a record label. That label would then pay them an advance, facilitate the making of an album, and then put that album on the radio and store shelves.

Fast-forward to today: With record stores gone and the Internet making it easy for anyone--from the most tech-savvy to total Luddites--to illegally listen to whatever they want, the industry has been reeling. And since every artist cannot be a Beyoncé, it's a good thing that TuneCore exists. The company, started in 2006 by Jeff Price, Peter Wells, and Gary Burke, has figured out how to make the Internet work for, not against, artists and has grown to become one of the most successful forces to keep the indie music scene financially afloat. "TuneCore was founded on the belief that all artists should be able to get their music out to the public and sold around the world without having a label deal, without giving up their rights, and without handing over a sizeable chunk of their sales revenue," says TuneCore's CEO Scott Ackerman.

TuneCore began as a distribution service that could help indie artists get on store shelves. With the collapse of record stores, they had to shift focus and soon were providing music publishing. "We are constantly evaluating what we can do to help artists be heard while also enabling them to make more money," says Ackerman. Today those services include everything from publishing deals to professional mastering of tracks to distribution in more than 80 of the most popular digital stores (often within 24 to 72 hours of signing up for the service). In addition, they work to get songs placed in television shows, films, and on commercials and have gotten spots on ESPN, HBO, Fox, and ABC Family. Just this summer they launched Track Smarts, a service that plays unreleased songs to selected listeners and then reports back to the artists, so they can decide what works, what doesn't, what should be a single and what untapped markets they may want to focus on.

What TuneCore is doing is no different from what a record label would provide, but the all-important catch is who makes and keeps the money. A label would retain a significant percentage of ownership over the music, whereas with TuneCore, the artists have 100% ownership and are responsible for paying a flat fee, which can be under $10 depending on the service. "The traditional label model is an option, not a requirement, for success," says Ackerman.

This model is clearly working for both sides, as there are currently over one million registered users of TuneCore, which has enabled the Brooklyn-based company to expand to a team of more than 40 employees. And, explains Ackerman, "Our artist community has made over $438.8 million in revenue and sold over 8.8 billion total downloads and streams." While they've worked with household names like Drake and Fleetwood Mac, some of TuneCore's biggest achievements are with lesser-known artists. "Ron Pope has been distributing music through [us] since 2008 (after leaving a label he had signed with) and he embraces all that TuneCore offers, including our unique Sales Trend Reports that allow him to pinpoint where his music is most popular and plan his marketing efforts and tours accordingly," says Ackerman, adding that the pop singer is a "streaming advocate" who has made over $300,000 just from Spotify. Though his success may be remarkable, it is very much in line with TuneCore's philosophy. Says Ackerman: "Our commitment to empowering musicians and songwriters to take charge of their careers is unwavering."


You May Be Thirstier Than You Think

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What do athletes, famous musicians, water-deprived parts of the world, and nearly three-fourths of Americans have in common? They are all at risk for dehydration. Not what you were expecting?

At the most extreme end of the spectrum are communities devastated by dehydration. As global activists focus on making clean water safe and easily accessible to these communities, Dr. Eduardo Dolhun is concerned with making the most of the water that is available. To that end, he has created a rehydration powder that, when combined with H2O, works up to one-third faster than plain water--and just as effectively. DripDrop is only a year old, but it is poised to transform how the world hydrates.

Dr. Dolhun mixing DripDrop.

When Dolhun was on a relief mission to Guatemala in the midst of a cholera outbreak, he quickly learned how fast a water shortage could affect a community. "He witnessed many people, including children, dying from cholera-induced dehydration," says Doug Wolf, CEO of DripDrop. Some could have been saved by Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS), salt and sodium solutions that already existed, but, says Wolf, "They tasted terrible--like seawater--and patients wouldn't drink them."

When he returned to San Francisco, Dolhun presented himself with a challenge: He wanted to find a solution that hydrated as well as the existing ORSs, but tasted better and was not cost-prohibitive. In 2007, he began working on recipes in earnest, asking patients in his family medicine practice to taste-test them.

Eighteen months later, Dolhun had a product that comes in lemon and berry flavors, a major improvement over seawater. Though it needs to be added to water to work, DripDrop claims to go further than H2O. "Water alone is not enough to effectively hydrate--our bodies need sodium and other electrolytes to activate hydration," says Wolf, explaining that these are found, along with sugars, in DripDrop's solution and aid in faster absorption. In one study, says Wolf, "DripDrop was shown to hydrate 34% faster [than water]."

DripDrop is sold in CVS and Walgreens for about $10.

Aside from inventing a product whose flavor wouldn't make you gag, Dolhun had another ace up his sleeve. Several of his patients, including Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, wanted to invest. Of the $11 million the company has raised from friends and family, there are other famous names, including football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and rock star Sammy Hagar. "All of the musicians who invested say they drink it on stage, under those hot lights, and share it with their crew, as travel and adventures in foreign cuisine can be dehydrating," says Wolf.

Musicians are not the only ones who have pushed demand so high that nearly 15,000 stores carry it, including CVS and Walgreens. Other users include men and women with chronic GI conditions like Crohn's disease. "These are people for whom adequate hydration is a daily problem," says Wolf. Athletes are another big market for DripDrop, as are office workers looking for something less nerve-frazzling than a cup of coffee to get over the 4 p.m. energy slump. Hospitals and military units are also stocking it to help in relief centers. Meanwhile, DripDrop is experimenting with a liquid version and is hoping to replace IV therapy in up to 90% of hospital treatments. It's the water revolution the world doesn't have to hope--or wait--for.

How To Make Money When Airlines Ruin Your Trip

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A few years ago, Nicolas Michaelsen was headed to Seville, Spain. Typically that would be a good thing. Yet it soon became his personal nightmare. "I had a layover in Madrid," he says. "But the connecting flight was cancelled and I was stuck until the next day. I went to the help desk to ask for accommodations and food vouchers, only to be turned down. Essentially they told me I'd have to sleep in the airport." Several hours later, after Googling his rights and insisting someone abide by them, Michaelsen had a meal and hotel. After enduring more horrifying travel situations, he also had an idea: AirHelp.

AirHelp

"My partners and I thought, if we are experiencing this, there's a good chance other passengers might be in the same situation," says Michaelsen. He was correct. An estimated 26 million passengers are entitled to some kind of compensation annually for their travel woes. Of that number, a puny 2% actually fight for it. AirHelp, Michaelsen's company that launched in May 2013, is looking to make that number much higher. It acts as an affordable online advocate for frustrated fliers, dedicated to informing travelers of their rights--and helping them get financial compensation when things go wrong.

For AirHelp, this advocacy takes two forms. "Our number one goal is to increase awareness of passengers' rights," says Michaelsen. In the U.S., if your flight is oversold, you could get up to 400% of a one-way fare up to $1300. If you are in Europe and delayed more than three hours, you could be entitled to $800. These are laws that the airlines are well aware of but, not surprisingly, they don't do a lot to spread the news to passengers.

"Social media shifted the balance of power and gave consumers a voice and ability to call out companies that weren't offering good customer service," says Michaelsen. "We take this one step further by enabling consumers to actually assert their legally given rights. This has resulted in viral growth and a lot of sharing via word of mouth." Aside from a blog on airline rights, the company website lists the European Union and U.S. passenger laws, a one-stop way to find out if there is financial compensation for your misery. There is also a mobile app so fliers stranded at an airport or on the runway don't have to unpack their computer to research what to do next.

AirHelp's second goal is to get money into people's hands. "It's a giant maze of sorting through links and documents in order to figure out what compensation you're entitled. When you finally figure out how to submit claims, there is a good chance that your claim will get rejected, not to mention the likelihood of not even getting a response," says Michaelsen, adding that the average process may take three months of research and effort. AirHelp has reduced this time to the three minutes it will take to fill out their online claim form. From there, one of AirHelp's 35 full-time employees, based in eight countries including the U.S., takes over. "We will reach out to the airline, prepare all necessary documents, handle all communication with the airline, and make sure [our clients] get the compensation they are entitled to," says Michaelsen.

Of the more than 50,000 claims they have filed so far, the average payout is $800. While anyone who has ever waited on hold to talk to an airline help desk could say that this kind of assistance is invaluable, AirHelp charges just 25% of whatever compensation is paid. It seems a small price to pay for peace of mind.

This Company Is Putting The Homeless To Work--As Tour Guides

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When Lisa Grace was on maternity leave from her marketing job in Barcelona, her employer fired her. The British expat could have returned home to take advantage of the more woman-friendly employment laws in the UK. But not only did she stay--she figured out a way to make her adopted city even better. Three hundred plus tours later, her Hidden City Tours has found success and made an impact in the lives of some of Barcelona's most marginalized citizens.

As opposed to typical tours, where large groups of people follow a hapless leader who continually counts off to make sure someone hasn't been lost, Hidden City Tours average just four people at a time, so the experience is more intimate.

And there is another marked differences. At Hidden City, which launched in 2013, the walk is led by a formerly or currently homeless person. They will show visitors the Gaudis, Las Ramblas, and the other sites that make Barcelona one of the most visited cities in the world. But beyond the attractions, they share real stories about real lives. They are human faces to the economic crisis that swept Europe and crippled Spain financially. "Our guides have much life experience, empathy, and I'd say almost a sixth sense from years of living on the street," says Grace, who currently employs five people.

Some may hasten to call her business a charity. After all, she is bringing money and opportunity to a population in need, as Barcelona currently has more than three thousand homeless. But Grace is adamant in pointing out that Hidden Tours is in no way a charity, it is a social enterprise. "A charity is a body that receives donations and grants. We are a company that offers a service, a quality service," she says about the business that was initially self-funded and now supports itself via tour profits. "We receive no funding or donations. A social enterprise must be economically viable, otherwise it just causes more problems for society."

The means Grace uses to solve society's problems are as simple as they are impressive. First, she recruits the guides, which she calls the most challenging part of her business. To find the men and women to lead tours, Grace initially worked with a local homeless charity, yet today she finds that she is the best filter. "I recruit via social services, some selected local charities and soup kitchens. I am constantly expanding my network to try and find new sources for potential guides," she says. Each guide, aside from having to be drug and alcohol free, must also speak French, English, or German as well as their native Spanish and Catalan. A local historian has also worked with the company to help the guides brush up on local knowledge.

Grace has also structured a work environment that thrives on team building and creating a sense of camaraderie. The guides earn 50% of the cost of their tours and keep 100% of tips. "But the income is just one side of the story. Social exclusion resulting from homelessness and poverty is a much deeper issue," says Grace, who adds that most guides re-evaluate their life's objectives and reconnect with family after they join Hidden City. "Being with people and meeting new people on tours is good for the guides. Talking about their time on the streets is also therapy."

This, of course, means more work for Grace. As tour leaders gain skills and become more employable in Spain's shaky economy, they leave. "If we still have the same guides three years from now, then we're doing something wrong," she says. "In this case employee turnover is a good thing!"

Mama Glow Is There For You From The Birthing Room To The Boardroom

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We are living in the midst of a pop culture obsession with motherhood. Famous baby bumps and celeb post-baby body reveals are hard to avoid, whether you're reading tabloids or serious news. Yet one woman, Latham Thomas, knew that what the world needed wasn't more belly watches--it was to celebrate and make life better for all mothers and moms-to-be. So she created Mama Glow, a company based on a very New Age concept that accomplishes the very hard work of uplifting women.

Latham Thomas

What is a Mama Glow? Thomas calls it "an abundant, radiant energy that comes from within." And her business is focused on harnessing it. "We have a unique methodology, combining nutrition, yoga and movement, birth doula service, maternal counseling, and inspirational content that helps women tap into what I call glow power," she says. This glow power is evident for anyone who has seen recent red carpet pictures of singer Alicia Keys, one of Thomas's celebrity fans, who is pregnant with her second child. But it is also apparent in the success stories of women who were told they could not get pregnant, but are now mothers after working with Thomas. And there are those who made her 2012 book Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy an Amazon best seller.

While pregnant, Thomas tapped into her own mama glow and imagined the company. "I saw that there was a tremendous need for women to have a comprehensive and boutique holistic lifestyle service focused on the childbearing period," she says. So in 2006, after completing her doula training, she took the tools she already had at her disposal, including a degree in nutrition and a yoga background, and began her business.

Though Thomas was an early adopter of this idea of mainstreaming a holistic, green approach to pregnancy, her mission caught on. Today, she frequently appears on Dr. Oz. and other programs. The Mama Glow website offers everything from advice on how to shop for produce to help for getting pregnant. "This is the turkey baster of the 21st century!" one recent, enthusiastic review joked about a product. While the tone is conversational, the information is exactly what women desperate to know about fertility, work-life balance as a parent, and healthy eating are looking for.

Mama Glow, however, does not only live online. Other services include a specialized yoga program, prenatal nutrition, a detox program for women trying to conceive, and doula services. There is also Glow Guidance, private phone or group sessions where Thomas helps women establish a holistic living program. She launched the Mama Glow Film Festival in 2011 with Selita Ebanks and Christy Turlington Burns. And she recently created the Mama Glow Salon Series, where women can have honest, informative conversations around birth and motherhood over cocktails.

With a staff of five and a number of project contractors, Mama Glow is showing no signs of retreat now that a holistic approach to pregnancy is mainstream business. "I know that there is currently more attention placed on pregnancy in our culture because of celebrity and social media," she says. So there is a product line on the horizon. And, "we aren't just helping in the birth room," says Thomas. "This sense of power translates to the boardroom as well." After she realized that a number of women launch businesses during pregnancy, Mama Glow expanded to include entrepreneurial counseling, "like a doula for your business," says Thomas, who believes that all of her hard, multi-category work has one overall end goal. "We are here to help save the planet one belly at a time."

This Company Is Changing How Women Go Nude

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Men get asked the question "boxers or briefs" as if that is the fundamental undergarment question. Women wish it were that simple. Instead they contend with: Wireless or soft cup? Thong, boy short or full cut? Strapless, T-back or regular straps? And now, thanks to a new business, there is the question that should have been asked years ago: Which nude is your nude? Nubian Skin, a London-based lingerie line, is providing a range of shades of "flesh-toned" underwear that answers that question by acknowledging that flesh comes in many shades and colors. It's a simple concept, but one the fashion industry has long ignored—until now.

Ade Hassan had studied English and economics and had a career in finance. Her fashion background went as far as a few sewing and pattern-cutting classes. However, she didn't need a fashion degree to spot a real need in the market. She only needed to look at her own underwear drawer.

The new company, which opened in October, was founded by Ade Hassan. The Londoner had studied English and economics and was in a career in finance. Her fashion background went as far as a few sewing and pattern-cutting classes. However, she didn't need a fashion degree to spot a real need in the market. She only needed to look at her own underwear drawer. "I've never been able to find flesh-toned lingerie," she says. "The most annoying part about it was simply not having complete freedom in what I wanted to wear due to undergarment restrictions." In 2011, Hassan decided to stop waiting for established brands to develop a line she could use, and she made her own that could benefit all women of color. Funded by friends and family, Nubian Skin was also launched, in no small part, because of an unexpected contribution. "The thing that really gave me the push I needed was receiving a card from my friend which said, 'It's time to start living the life you have always imagined.' So I decided to do just that."

For Hassan, the most challenging part of the experience has been finding a manufacturer. "As a new and small business, a lot of manufacturers simply didn't respond to queries, and others were looking for incredibly high volumes, so it was tricky," she says. One full year after finding a company that could do what she needed, Hassan released Nubian Skin. The line, which includes push-up bras, briefs, lace shorts, and T-shirt bras (all priced at $60 and under) comes in four colors, Cinnamon, Café Au Lait, Berry, and Caramel. For women who aren't sure which they may be, the models on the site have a full range of skin tones, making it easier to shop.

Before the company launched, accolades poured in from social media and even fashion titles like Lucky, praising Nubian Skin for successfully solving a long-ignored problem—while gently chiding mass-market brands for failing to do so before. That leaves Nubian Skin in a desirable, yet also dangerous, position. Once the big labels notice that they could be selling a lot more items if they diversified their offering of "flesh-toned," how does Nubian Skin plan to compete? "We have a lot of ideas up our sleeves," says Hassan. "Currently our focus is on broadening our size range." And the company will launch a hosiery line in December. Next year Hassan hopes to expand distribution beyond the Internet and sell Nubian Skin at various brick-and-mortar retailers.

For Hassan, it is clear that a lot more has happened since the launch of Nubian Skin than women simply having more underwear choices. Her company, she believes, is contributing to a larger cultural shift. "Women are more comfortable with who they are today, and we realize that it's okay to treat and take care of ourselves," says Hassan. "I think a lot of people simply like the fact that they are being told they matter, because they do."

This Woman Is Changing Ex-Felons' Lives--And Her Own

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Three seemingly unrelated events changed the course of Mary Cunningham's life—and has the potential to change the lives of men and women who have passed through the American prison system.

First, Cunningham decided it was time to pursue her dream to become a social entrepreneur. She began researching poverty to get a sense of a viable business idea. "I was appalled to learn about mass incarceration," she says. "It was even more appalling to learn that felons upon release are cut off from welfare, housing, Pell grants, federal student loans and most jobs. It became apparent why two-thirds re-offend within a year. To fix the broken system with a meaningful job was common sense. It was the fastest, most economical and humane way to address our annual $875 billion poverty and prison tax bill."

Mary Cunningham left her career in the corporate world to start Urban Stone.

After nine months of research, she hit upon a business model that would become Urban Stone. The company's mission seems simple: They recycle stone construction waste into valuable green building materials. Yet what it accomplishes is a lot more complex—and rewarding. Urban Stone, which launches in early 2015, also provides jobs, profit-sharing 401(k) and the potential of company ownership to employees who have worked there for a year.

"People drop out of life when they lose hope about their futures," says Cunningham. "Urban Stone exists for one reason—to lift up people and the planet by leveraging capitalism." Urban Stone works with non-profits that specialize in ex-offender re-entry, and hires these men and women with the goal of bringing the bottom 10% of the population out of poverty while also helping to lower recidivism rates.

But coming up with a unique business idea wasn't enough to get her going. "I was afraid to leave the corporate world where I was a 2% wage earner and risk everything that I spent a lifetime building," says the New York-based former business performance advisor. "Yet here I was, at a crossroads: Do I always wonder what if? Or do I risk everything and start all over?"

Enter the second event that changed her life: hearing Steve Forbes give a speech. "He spoke about the economy, the importance of job creation, servant leadership and the correlation between wealth and helping others," recalls Cunningham. One month later, she resigned.

Next, there was the phone call no parent wants to receive—the one that propelled her not to wait any longer. Her daughter's half-brother, who is like a son to Cunningham, had been arrested for selling marijuana and was facing prison time. "I discussed my business model with him. His eyes welled with tears and he said, 'You want to help people like me,'" she remembers.

That was two years ago, two years that Cunningham has spent finalizing plans. "The biggest challenge was finding an innovative green business that required low-skilled employment with high-growth potential. Stone fabricators pay to have their waste hauled. There are currently 500 billion pounds a year that pollute our overcrowded landfills. Instead of hauling it to the dump, it will end up in our manufacturing plant where we create solid-stone tiles and pavers for the commercial markets," explains Cunningham. Urban Stone hopes to establish relationships with quarries, as they produce tremendous waste. "These businesses can donate their waste and get a tax write off for doing so."

In lieu of engaging angel investors—who would take ownership percentages away from employee—she has used her life savings to fund the operation, and will launch a crowdfunding campaign later this month to raise additional capital. It will be an opportunity to not only help realize Cunningham's dream—but to give possibility back to many who seemed to be without.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story stated that Cunningham heard a speech by Steve Jobs.

The Key To Rebranding Cannabis Is More Soccer Mom And Less Bob Marley

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Despite the recent dramatic changes in the world of marijuana—hello, THC-infused lemonade legally sold in L.A. dispensaries—there is one holdover from the past that won't go away. Ask most people who is using and profiting off the cannabis industry and they'll describe a Harold and Kumar-type or Bob Marley-wannabe. Regardless of what studies, polls, and legislators say, many resist the notion that soccer moms are lighting up in large numbers or that the industry—from dispensaries to hemp home accessories—is in the hands of a growing group of savvy entrepreneurs. Enter Olivia Mannix and Jennifer DeFalco, two twenty-somethings who, in their heels and sheath dresses, seem decidedly more Condé Nast than Cheech and Chong. And with their full-service branding company Cannabrand, they are introducing the world to the modern cannabis entrepreneur.

Cannabrand partners Olivia Mannix (left) and Jennifer DeFalcoPhoto: Morgan Rachel Levy

"Like all industries, cannabis companies need to be branded and marketed effectively," says Mannix, co-founder of the Denver-based company. She and her business partner knew that they were the ones to launch the company, not because of a shared affinity for marijuana, but because of their ability to spot trends and solve problems. "We had both been avidly following the cannabis industry for years. Once we were aware that recreational use was going to become legal in Colorado, we planned to open a full-service marketing agency catering to the cannabis space," says Mannix. She and DeFalco studied together at University of Colorado at Boulder and a few years ago opened a boutique marketing agency called MARCA Strategic. Then they decided to go niche and focus Cannabrand exclusively on cannabis culture. Clients have included Mindful, a network of Colorado dispensaries looking to overhaul its look from logo to employee uniforms, as well as soon-to-launched Bold Harvest, an edibles company created by a restaurant industry veteran.

"Our clients range from small startups to international public companies," Mannix says. For these businesses, they do everything from logo creation to websites to social media management. "Jennifer is the creative director and was able to create all of the artwork for our company, including website design, logos, marketing materials, as well as direct creative strategy. I am the strategic director with a strong PR and marketing background who leads strategic aspects," she explains, calling them a "dynamic duo" who financially bootstrapped the venture as soon as they saw that the legal tide was turning in favor of the cannabis entrepreneur.

As innovative as it may be to venture into newly legalized terrain, it is also risky. Laws can always change and public sentiment can turn against legalization. To Teflon-proof their business, Cannabrand is thinking outside of the box, offering brand extensions to show off their business creativity and simultaneously raise public support of cannabis legalization. They have the blog CannaBuzz, with its tagline "Covering cannabis culture and the recreational movement" with posts like the one titled "What it's like to be a mother in the cannabis industry," written by a woman on their creative team. It also means that they are looking beyond Colorado. "We envision opening branches across the nation, and we will continue to influence policy and the federal legalization of cannabis," says Mannix. In other words, they are way more Fortune 500 forward-thinking than High Times laissez-faire.


Brooklyn's Weeksville Is Where Hipsters And History Coexist

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For the past few years, Brooklyn has been charmed. From the New York Times to the HBO show Girls, the media has taken to calling this borough "the New Brooklyn," a place of coffee shops and artisanal wares and gentrifying newcomers paying top price for real estate. Yet one of the most important things happening today in Brooklyn—on a few acres of land between the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, and Brownsville neighborhood borders—is not new, but as old as the 19th century. Weeksville, a multidimensional museum and historic site, is bringing the past together with today's Brooklyn in a way that is further improving an already-rich community.

Weeksville's story began in 1838. Eleven years after slavery was abolished in New York state, a free African American named James Weeks bought a plot of land. It grew into a successful, thriving village called Weeksville that lasted into the 1900s. The discovery of three original houses from the community—built between 1840 and 1883 and now called the Hunterfly Road Houses—led to preservation efforts. Opened to the public for exploration in December 2013, executive director Tia Powell Harris explains, "Our mission is to document, preserve, and interpret the history of free African-American communities in Weeksville, Brooklyn, and beyond and to create and inspire innovative, contemporary uses of African-American history through education, the arts, and civic engagement."

Today that means a full calendar of events, which includes free concerts and art exhibits. The Historic Hunterfly House Tours are currently the most popular part of the visitor experience. There's also Sustainable Weeksville, which features a weekly farmers market. "It is a programmatic theme that draws on the relationship of 19th-century Weeksville residents to their environment and how they grew, preserved, and managed food," says Powell Harris.

Weeksville's new Heritage CenterPhoto: Nic Lehoux for Caples Jefferson

The newest—and some would say, grandest—achievement at Weeksville is the 2014 opening of the Weeksville Heritage Center, a 19,000-square-foot education and cultural arts building. It is a research and training center focused on 19th-century African-American history, with space for visual and performing arts and education programs. "In a very real sense, the expansion of space and amenities provided by the new building enables WHC to more fully realize its mission," says Powell Harris, who believes that while Weeksville is unique, it is very much a part of our national character. "The Weeksville Story is the American Story. Community building, place making, sustainability, education, the entrepreneurial spirit, activism and achieving equity—these are all represented here."

As the area changes—brownstones now sell for well over $2 million dollars in the once economically depressed environs—Weeksville is prepared. "The inherent imperative in our mission is the responsibility we have to ensure that the historic and cultural fabric and footprint of this community is not lost, especially as the 'landscape' shifts," says Powell Harris, who previously served as director of Artistic Affairs at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., and associate director of education at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. "The Weeksville experience emanates from a place of inclusion. Our goal is to unite all residents around a shared contemporary vision for the community by reintroducing long-time residents—and introducing new residents and visitors, to what made this community a place of significant history and what continues to inspire continued civic engagement today."

A Long Walk Through Brooklyn With Collaborative Fund Founder Craig Shapiro

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It's easy to imagine the founder and managing partner of a Manhattan venture-capital firm speeding through the streets of New York in the back of a car with a driver, juggling two smartphones and multitasking like a madman. Craig Shapiro has the job titles, the company, and the tony Manhattan office address, but nothing could be further from the black-car scenario. Each day, Shapiro wakes up with the sun, and instead of diving into a flurry of calls, emails, and meetings, he laces up his sneakers and hits the pavement for an over six-mile walk to work.

Shapiro began Collaborative Fund, which provides seed capital to creative entrepreneurs, in 2011. Since then, they have invested in companies including Kickstarter, Lyft, and Blue Bottle Coffee. To juggle the demands of the dozens of firms they are working with while keeping up with trends in the areas he wants to get more involved in—from local food movements to children's vitamins—Shapiro has turned himself into a pedestrian wunderkind. He walks through staggering humidity, snow, basically anything except walls of rain as a way to be a more productive, better businessman. Here are three lessons he learned for why slowing down is his best shot at keeping up.

Craig ShapiroPhoto: John Maeda

Take Meditation Where You Can Find It

"I've been doing the walking-to-work thing for a long time, starting when I lived in San Francisco. Now in Brooklyn, I get up super early, around 5:30 or 6 a.m., and go from my apartment [in the Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn] to the office in Soho. It's about six and a half miles and takes two hours. My route is always the same—through Prospect Park, down Flatbush Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge and then west into Soho.

"Even though the city is so loud and construction is always happening somewhere, the time for me is like meditating. It allows me to gather my thoughts and centers me. There's balance when I get to work, I operate better in meetings and with my coworkers. Also, on days when I take the subway or a car, I'm more jittery and anxious. It's tougher to get in a good zone without having the physical and mental exercise of walking. All in all, it makes me a lot more productive."

The Joy Of Monotasking

"I keep it pretty simple—no fancy sneakers or headphones. Just the regular iPhone earplugs so I can listen to podcasts, either political ones or on Mondays, the Meet the Press that aired the day before. I'm so busy, it's basically the best way for me to get my news consumption. I can also use the podcasts to catch up on the latest technology trends, which might lead to investment ideas. Sometimes I steal my wife's playlist as a way to discover new music. The main thing is to not use the time on the phone or texting."

Find Time To Focus On The Big Picture

"Walking has opened my eyes to stuff that's happening, not just in my [rapidly changing] neighborhood, but for the company. How it has translated into meaningful returns on Collaborative Fund is that this is the only time I have where I'm able to think about our future and our investment thesis more fully. I can see where we're going in a holistic way. It's 2015; what are the goals for this year? And what about 2016 and 2017? I have space to think on that scale. Once I get into the office, there's an email, a phone call, pitches—all good and exciting things, but they leave no time to reflect. Walking down Flatbush Avenue is the chance to make sure my business's compass is set in the right direction."

A Day In Harlem With TV Personality And People Connector Bevy Smith

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While most who know her would describe Bevy Smith as a woman about town, the radio host and TV personality admits that she rarely leaves Harlem. Born and raised in the northern Manhattan neighborhood, Smith credits growing up uptown with everything from her career courage to her love of a stiletto heel and wrap dress. When she left a thriving career—and big paycheck—doing fashion ad sales for magazines to become an entertainer, Smith knew she could do it. And this was from day one, before she landed countless media appearances, a three-season Bravo series (Fashion Queens) and her brand-new show, Bevelations, on Sirius Radio. What gave her all that confidence? Harlem, of course. Here, Smith talks about the neighborhood's gravitational pull.

Bevy SmithPhoto: Jason Shaltz

When did you fall in love with Harlem?

Since I was a kid I knew it was one of the great places of Manhattan. And as an adult, I can really appreciate how the community is rich with a legacy that belongs to me and mine. When I'm on Lenox Avenue, I'm on the same avenue that Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston walked. It's where Malcolm X became a magical orator. I can stand on 140th Street, where Sammy Davis Jr. used to tap dance on the corner for money. Then, I can get on the subway at 145th Street, and two stops later, I'm in midtown, on 59th Street—it's a no-brainer that it's wonderful.

Imagine you could only spend 24 hours ever again in Harlem. What are you doing that day?

I would go to the Schomburg, then to the block where I grew up on 150th and 8th Avenue. Next, I'd hang out with neighborhood kids at the public pool down the block from my house—the pool is next to the projects. It's not fancy and the kids love it; it's a real reminder that happiness doesn't have to mean money. Afterwards, I would go to the Apollo—hopefully it's a Wednesday night, so I can see Amateur Night.

Then [Marcus Samuelsson's restaurant] Red Rooster. I would have to reopen the [recently closed] Lenox Lounge so I could head over there around 2 o'clock in the morning. There are so many things I would reopen, including M&Gs, where I'd play the jukebox and have scrambled eggs, cheese, salmon croquettes and grits at like 5 a.m. Lunch would be barbecue shrimp and a mai tai at Sylvia's. I'd walk through St. Nicholas Park and take the stairs three at a time. I would definitely go to the vista of City College where you can overlook all of Harlem and take the river walk at 125th Street.

Other than your love of Harlem as a place to hang out, how has it affected the rest of your life?

Harlem is all about peacocking, and that's how it has influenced my style. I love a bright color and a body-con dress. This place on Lenox Avenue, The Cove—there you'll see women enjoying themselves dancing and having fun. These are women who maybe mainstream society wouldn't deem attractive. But they are all that, with this real joy and confidence that inspires me.

It's quite interesting: People try to compare Harlem to Brooklyn, and you can't compare the two. Brooklyn is a borough, Harlem is a neighborhood. Harlem folks have such a leg up from people from outer boroughs because we are a part of Manhattan, which is the epicenter of the world. And I'm already here—I didn't have to go anywhere to make my dreams come true.

How does that translate to your work?

Everything I do professionally is connected to who I am as a black woman from this vibrant community. When I host a Dinner with Bevy (an invitation-only event where I connect people from art, entertainment, fashion and philanthropy), it's what I saw barmaids do as a kid—entertaining the guests, remembering their cocktail, introducing them to people who I think might be interested in each other, like sitting Nelson George next to Misty Copeland and two years later he makes a documentary on her [A Ballerina's Tale]. That's just being a barmaid at the Dunbar on 150th Street!

My podcast, Bevy Says, is all about women's empowerment and finding the power to express who you are. And that is all Harlem women, having an authentic voice and a swagger and an approach to life that is fearless. It's about being an explorer and experimenter.

Eternal It Girl Molly Ringwald Is Busier Than Ever

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Having just wrapped up a packed morning taping talk show The Chew, Molly Ringwald attempts to answer a question about what she's currently working on. "I'm promoting the film Jem, which was out on October 23, and also doing a television series in Toronto, a single-camera family sitcom called The Wonderful Wayneys where Jason Priestley plays my husband. And I just did a part in a movie with James Franco and Christian Slater called King Cobra. Then the singing, performing at [New York jazz mecca] Birdland with my band in March." Ringwald has failed to mention that she's writing a book (another one, that is) . . . her third. Or that she is a married mother of three.

But for Ringwald, a gah-inducing star for anyone born from 1970 onwards, it's a pretty standard to-do list.Here's how she balances it all:

Molly RingwaldPhoto: Collette Lash

The pleasures and pitfalls of running your own Twitter account: The main reason I wanted to is because I felt like I wanted to have a personal connection with my fans. And for better or for worse, no one sounds like me. When I wrote the column for The Guardian and my books, I did it all myself. I try not to get too political, because I feel like if I do, I'm going to get into crazy arguments and it will raise my blood pressure without changing anyone's mind. Really early on, I commented on this issue with Dan Savage, who I like a lot. And these people descended like locusts. I was on the beach with my kids in California, reading from these hardcore Christians about what a cunt I was. A 24-hour onslaught. I would block one and another one would pop up. Like whack-a-mole. And 24 hours later, they moved on to someone else and I thought, I'm not going to use this forum for expressing these opinions, because this is pointless.

Electronic hoarding is underrated: In one of my books, I actually wrote something about how many unread emails was in this person's inbox and set it at 15,000. My editor wrote back and said, make it less, that's not realistic. I'd put less than what I had! My brother gave me this whole system that's supposed to work to organize them, but if it's not your system, it never does. And the thing with me is I'm always afraid of not having something that I need. The way that email is set up is so convenient. If you want to know what happened five years ago, you can just do a search, and I know it's there and I love that. But there are clearly a lot of things I do not need.

Family time is sacred: My husband and I both grew up in households where we had family dinners every night, so we decided we were going to make that work with our kids. I'm shooting in Toronto until November, so I'm not able to do it right now. But he is, and he's the one who cooks every night.

A fantasy family day: What would be amazing would be to go to a farmers' market and get fresh vegetables and proteins and have a ton of groceries in this really fancy kitchen with a chef that teaches us what to do with it. What would make it even more fantasy is that this would be in Italy or the south of France. I feel like one of the things that's hard for me is that I have three kids, but two of them hardly eat anything. Neither daughter is very adventurous with food. I've been told kids are less squeamish about food when they prepare it. I think if they had that experience it could have helped them.

My favorite thing to do is spend time in the kitchen, cooking for a big dinner party with friends. If my husband is like the daily diner chef, I'm the fancy chef. I get a complicated recipe and prepare it for days before. The last fancy stuff I made was a delicious bouillabaisse.

Inspiration all around: I get it everywhere and in unexpected places. Graffiti I might see, an overheard conversation, a song I just heard. When you walk through the world that way, when you do all the different things that I do, I always find somewhere to put my experiences.

How Brooklyn Is Helping To Put Philly On The Food Map

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One entrepreneurial couple turned homesickness—and pretzels—into business success.

Philadelphia is just 100 miles from New York City, but it felt as far as Australia for Leon Kirkland. A native of the City of Brotherly Love living in Brooklyn, all he wanted was a soft pretzel like the ones he grew up eating. "They're a staple street food in Philly," he says. "But in New York, street pretzels aren't so well-loved and seem to mostly be consumed by tourists." Instead of giving up, he got smart and opened Pelzer's Pretzels. Its success is not only changing the way that New Yorkers snack, but with plans to go national, the store is adding to Philly's growing reputation as a foodie destination.

Leon and Barella Kirkland in the Shop

After eight years living in a city without a good soft pretzel, Leon vowed it would not be nine. So on New Year's Eve 2011, he and his wife, Barella, headed to Google, downloaded a basic recipe, and went to the kitchen.

If this were a Hollywood film, what happened next would be like that scene in Ratatouille where the ingredients combined perfectly and magic was made. Instead, the parchment paper they were baking on baked directly into the dough. At midnight, the couple threw the batch in the garbage and started over. "They were horrible," Leon admits. "But at least we knew what we were going for: that flavor I remembered from my childhood growing up in South Philadelphia, within walking distance of two of the city's biggest pretzel bakeries."

But soon the Kirklands got their happy ending. After much trial and error and making what they consider "every mistake in the book," they struck soft-pretzel recipe gold. Then, their former super told them that a space that had last been used as a takeout restaurant was for rent in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood—and still equipped. "The moral of the story: Offer your super some coffee when he comes to make repairs, and tip generously at the holidays!" says Leon. As soon as they opened for business in 2012, the neighborhood knew that this was not the average New York soft pretzel, and they started showing up for the decidedly different flavors such as Cran-Mary (cranberry, rosemary, and lemon zest) and their top seller, the Everything, with onion, garlic, and sesame and poppy seeds.

That summer, Pelzer's Pretzels landed a spot at Smorgasburg, the celebrated destination for top artisanal food vendors. "It was the greatest publicity we could have ever asked for, and from that flowed our first corporate catering orders," says Leon. Thanks to the website, catering is now the main staple of the business. Yet Barella credits another factor with their success. "New Yorkers love feeling like they're 'in the know,' so customers gleefully talk about us," says the former beauty-industry marketer. "They take a lot of pride in introducing our products to their network."

Early success has meant serious time management for the couple. Barella runs day-to-day operations. "That makes me the head baker, chief marketing officer, primary customer service rep, delivery person, and head of product development. I'm probably forgetting a few job titles," she says. Her husband, a full-time attorney for a global bank, works in the shop on weekends and oversees financial, legal, and tax matters. That means that alone time for the couple usually means sitting on the couch at the end of the night, exhausted. Barella, however, sees an upshot in the arrangement: "I don't have to schedule a meeting with him to talk business, which means we can make decisions together quickly."

Philly's finest: Ben Franklin, Questlove, and soft pretzels.

Currently those discussions are about expansion. They are working towards national distribution through e-commerce and have fielded numerous requests to franchise. They are also looking to stock more beloved Philly foods, including water ice (which any Philadelphian will tell you is not the same as Italian ice). It is an unexpected story of a hometown success—just a bit farther north on the turnpike.

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