The Great Dana J

Nike Women’s Half Marathon in DC

May 3, 2013 By DanaJ 1 Comment

TGIF! This time last week, I was excited and nervous to head to DC for the inaugural Nike Women’s Half in DC. I don’t think the excitement really hit me until last Friday. Training for this one was tough because of my allergies. Sure enough, my allergies unexpectedly got worse in DC. I guess it was the Cherry Blossom trees? I was stuffy, sleepless and had nose bleeds while there. I guess despite the homeopathic allergy medicine that I took with me, my body just couldn’t get used to the atmosphere quickly

Regardless, I had a wonderful time. Running with Team In Training made the race even more special for me. Seeing coaches on the sidelines cheering us on. Children with Leukemia or Lyphoma screaming, “You’re running for me, don’t quit keep going.” I literally teared up at that last 3 miles when my body was saying “hell no”. My mind refused to quit.

At the starting line! Notice my puffy eyes . Thankfully, when I started running everything felt great. I only felt my allergies before/after the race.

I found my name on the runners wall outside of Nike Georgetown!

The Team In Training inspiration wall with photos of people with Leukemia and Lymphoma

My Favorite things about running the Nike Women’s DC half

DC is wonderful. The weather was not too hot and not too cold.
I loved not driving. We took the metro or walked wherever we needed to go. I never took a taxi or got behind the wheel and I’m so grateful after dealing with Atlanta traffic on a week day basis
The Nike race apparel – this was my first time buying race apparel and I’m glad I did. The outfits were cute and Nike had lots of options in different colors and styles. I bought my outfit at one of the race day partners, Macys on G Street. Coincidentally they had Friends and Family 25% off that weekend and a special event in store to celebrate the race with smoothies and a gift with purchase.
The race route was scenic and peaceful
Running with Team in Training and going to the Inspiration Dinner
Team in Training coaches cheering us on
The one cheerleader on the side who handed out gummy worms (thank you kind stranger, I needed those!)
Nice, well informed volunteers
And of course, the Tiffany finisher medal. How could I forget that?!

{from Instagram}

Tiffany finisher necklace

Other side of the Tiffany finisher necklace

My least favorite things about the race

Lack of port-a-potties along the race route
Water stations being unprepared and not having water to give out. This really slowed things down
Lack of availability of the commemorative race shoes. I was really disappointed when I couldn’t find 1 pair of the Nike Frees in my size I wanted the shoes more than any race souvenir. I wish the shoe sale opened just to finishers first then elsewhere after. Wishful thinking I guess…
Not starting the race with corral wave times. I felt like we were all running into each other while racing. It wasn’t pleasant at all.
My allergies! Next time I run a race in the spring I should try to keep this under control so that I can actually sleep the few nights prior to the race. Not sure how to do that with races out of state though, but maybe it’s possible.
The expo – The expo focused only on Nike merchandise and some of their employees weren’t too nice in that tent. Compared to other expos, it was kind of boring.
The expotique post race – the line was way too long. Over an hour wait just to look at finisher merchandise
Nike Georgetown – the store was way too crowded for a pleasurable experience. I wish they had better crowd control in there.

So, since the race on Sunday..I’ve been thinking about my fitness and running goals. I have more races coming up and a few fitness goals that I would like to document better here! I know I haven’t done the best job of that in the past. But I’m going to work on it. Sharing will keep me motivated and pushing for greatness.

I will share more soon! In the meantime, Happy Friday.

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: half marathon, nike women's half marathon, race, running

What’s Your Leadership Style? – Chick-fil-A Leadercast Giveaway

April 30, 2013 By DanaJ 12 Comments

I’m back from DC! I will do a race recap on the Nike Women’s Half later this week. First, I have a giveaway to announce! I’m working with Chick-fil-A to tell you about the new Leadercast app. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend Chick-fil-A Leadercast in Atlanta. At the time, I was in between jobs and trying to remain optimistic about everything coming ahead. I couldn’t afford to go to Leadercast or any of the satellite viewings since I wasn’t getting paid. In a crazy turn of events somehow in one week I heard Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A speak at a young professionals event and met him in person. Then, I ended up seeing him at the Dwarf House in Fayetteville where a guy I took a guy I was dating at the time because he had never been. I thought surely I was destined to go to Leadercast. But alas, the day came and I didn’t have a ticket.

The morning of Leadercast, I received a phone call from one of my Twitter followers, Kentara inviting me to Leadercast as her plus one. She knew how badly I wanted to go through my Twitter posts!! The two of us had never met face-to-face, despite the fact that we both went to University of West Georgia. Our relationship was Twitter only until that day. Honestly, I felt like my prayers had been answered and Leadercast just happened to be what my soul and heart needed. I had the entire day free, of course, since I wasn’t employed and I had the opportunity to learn, grow and eat free Chick-fil-A for the whole day Couldn’t get much better than that. Now, Kentara and I are friends and I’m so grateful for that day last year where she blessed me with the chance to go to Leadercast. As a young professional, it’s vital to build leadership qualities in our professional and personal lives. Listening to all of those amazing speakers last year really motivated me! Leadership has to be cultivated and grown over time. That’s a really important thing that people often overlook!

Attending Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2012

I have a giveaway for my readers! Chick-fil-A Leadercast has a new blog app! The app gives a 7 question test and lets you know your leadership style. Mine is The Visionary:

I think the app did a good job narrowing down my style. I’m good at seeing a situation accurately and not through rose-colored glasses! I also consider myself flexible in group situations. Bravo Leadercast app!

I’m giving away:

- 1 Copy of John C. Maxwell’s new book: The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
- 1 Chick-fil-A Leadercast Exclusive Audio Download Card, which includes access to audio segments from past and present events!
- 3 Chick-fil-A Digital offer cards for a free Chick-fil-A Sandwich Entrée of your choice.

I can’t lie, I have really wanted to get my hands on that new John C. Maxwell book since hearing him talk about it at Leadercast last year. So whoever wins, I hope that you are just as excited about it as I am

To enter: Please use the Chick-fil-A Leadercast App to determine what type of leader you are. Then comment on this post with your results including your email address and if the app did a great job of identifying your style. You can comment up until Friday of this week – May 3, 2013 and I will contact the winner on Monday!

You have to comment and put your email address in order to win. It will NOT be shown publicly!

Leadercast is coming to Atlanta on May 10, 2013 at the Gwinnett Arena. To learn more about Leadercast, click here.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: chickfila leadercast, giveaway, leadership

Off to DC

April 26, 2013 By DanaJ 1 Comment

I can’t believe that this week is almost over. I must share this Evian commercial. I found it on Twitter.

Lol. What a cute commercial

My cousin April came over for a visit a few days ago. She brought some products from her new Pink Zebra business. I’d never heard of Pink Zebra before. With a name like that, the products have to be fun

I had the chance to smell the scents above, Relax – Red Delicious Apple and Garden Lilac. My hands down favorite?

Relax. The combination of lavender and vanilla won me over. The scent of vanilla has always been a favorite of mine. There are over 50 different fragrances. You can even mix and match them, add a wick and create candles. I plan to see what I can find from Pink Zebra for Mother’s Day this year. For the first time (possibly ever) I feel kind of stumped on what to get my mom. Here’s a link to if you need some inspiration like me, or would like to check out Pink Zebra for yourself. Check out Pink Zebra for yourself if you need a little inspiration too.

Right now, I’m watching Scandal and I’m packing tonight to head off to D.C. for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon this weekend!

This is the race I have been fundraising for with Team in Training!

Filed Under: Life & More Tagged With: nike women's half marathon dc, pink zebra

Lose to Win and Blackberry Z10

April 19, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

Did anyone see Fantasia Barrino tonight on American Idol? While flipping through channels I stumbled on Fantasia performing her new song Lose to Win.

{via}

I have been a Fantasia fan since American Idol and her very first CD. I’m looking forward to her new one coming out at the end of this month. Obviously, the words to the song got Fantasia pretty emotional and the performance gave me chills. If the song Lose to Win sounds familiar, it’s a sample of the Commodores song Nightshift. This week I’ve been struggling with allergies and tonight I tried a new treatment.

Acupuncture! So far, I feel less congested and more energized. I will give it a few days before I really give feedback. Seems like in addition to allergy symptoms, I also have flu-like symptoms too. Fortunately, I received treatment for both. Acupuncture is not painful, I found it relaxing. I decided to try an alternative treatment because I don’t like over the counter medicines and the shots from the allergy doctor make me feel fatigue. I also dislike getting the steroid shot for allergy relief. I always feel miserable and over eat for weeks after receiving them.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been using and enjoying the new Blackberry Z10:

{Instagram}

Opening the box was an experience. Since I have a Christmas birthday, opening up any gift outside of the month of December brings me joy! The packaging was sleek and cool. Those are also two words I would use to describe the phone. It’s slim, but slightly longer than the iPhone. I prefer a longer phone because that I can hold them easier without getting hand cramps on long phone calls! One of the worst things about the phone is that there’s no Instagram or Evernote. I use Evernote across every device that I have and on desktop. So that was a disappointment. To use Foursquare you have to connect to BBM so I haven’t done that yet. I’m going to test a few new to me apps before I say that the Z10 doesn’t have all that I need. I do like the swiping functions, but since I skipped the instructional video I was lost for a bit. (Obviously, I was too excited to watch the videos ) Time for bed, I have a long day tomorrow. Before I go, I just wanted to share that…

I’m 50% away from reaching my LLS fundraising goal! Pretty exciting. I have until Monday to get to 100%.

If you are interested in helping me, your donation is tax deductible and I appreciate gifts in any amount. Click here.

Good night!

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: acupuncture, american idol, blackberry z10, fantasia, fantasia barrino

Forward Thinking at Digital Undivided

April 16, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend Start Atlanta presented by digitalundivided (DID) at Spelman College. I went into the event not sure of what to expect at all. I found out about the conference from an email invitation. Honestly, I learned so many great things and met many great driven individuals. To break it down:

digitalundivided (DID) is a social enterprise that builds forward thinking initiatives that fundamentally change the digital space by increasing the number of urban women digital entrepreneurs.

After my personal experience working at two different technology start-ups and doing social media for technology firms it’s hard not to notice that women and especially urban women are few and far between in these groups. It frequently gets lonely and it’s hard to ask questions sometimes. I remember standing at Venture Atlanta in 2011 wondering where is the diversity?

Throughout the day at DID we heard from men and women who are in the process of building businesses from the ground up. We also heard from venture capitalists and angel investors on how to create a pitch and get funding and taking out loans for your business.

Managing Director, Kathryn Finney opened the day by introducing us to her passion for technology and background as a blogger (The Budget Fashionista) who got started at the very beginning. She also gave tips on how to start your business now:

1. Start it – Kathryn recommended just doing something. Regardless of how fantastic the idea or concept seems right now. Get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect just begin.

2. Draw out your ideas – Seriously, draw out what the idea should look like on the web. Use paper and pencil, Powerpoint, Word, whatever floats your boat just do it.

3. Build a landing page – Build a landing page and test out keywords using Google Adwords to see what people are searching for in relation to what you want to create.

4. Build it yourself – Learn some basics and build what you can yourself before spending a large amount of money.

5. Share your idea – This one is hard. Regaradless of the stage your idea is in, you must share it. Period. don’t keep it a secret, don’t try to make everyone you talk to sign an NDA, just tell them. Your idea should be solid enough to share and you need feedback from potential consumers.

You don’t have to have a complete idea or concept. Just take action. Take it today and make it happen. Nothing ends up how it started. Does anyone out there remember the original Facebook with the line of text for a wall? Yeah, look where we are now…who could have imagined that? For me personally, all of those steps are hard. Especially sharing the idea. Start Atlanta was worth spending a beautiful Saturday seeking knowledge as opposed to relaxing. I left there motivated and ready to share information with my friends who are sitting on great ideas.

Do you have an idea you’ve been sitting on? Get it out of your head and start creating!

Filed Under: Marketing & Social Media

Digital Undivided

April 10, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

Last week I attending a screening of the movie 42. 42 is a biographical story about Jackie Robinson. Prior to seeing the movie I did not see much marketing for this film. However, I remembered seeing the trailer featuring Jay-Z’s song “Brooklyn We Go Hard” numerous times well in advance building anticipation. This movie doesn’t really have any big name stars outside of Harrison Ford. At first, I couldn’t even tell which actor was Harrison Ford (he plays Branch Rickey btw). I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters and thought that they did a great job in the roles they played. Great casting! I like how this film didn’t have much fluff to it. The primary focus was on baseball and the racial injustices that Jackie Robinson faced. The film also focused on teamwork: between husband and wife, community and the baseball team. If you’re dating someone, this is a great movie to go to together because there’s a mix of a love story, and action shots from the sport. My date really enjoyed the film and it opened the door for great dialogue when we left. Chadwick Boseman, who plays Jackie Robinson did a wonderful job. He’s a great leading man! If you plan to see a movie this weekend, consider 42 it’s worth it.

(Wikipedia)

I received an invitation to attend Digital Undivided on Saturday at Spelman College. The conference is focused around starting and growing a business. Topics will range from venture capital to site development and marketing. The conference will also allow 12 individuals with a business idea the opportunity to compete for $5,000 to help start and grow their business. I plan to do an event recap after the conference so make sure to check back. Click the photo for more information. My readers receive 50% off the listed price with the code FRIEND:

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: 42 movie, digital undivided

Chevy + The Color Run = Perfect Match

April 8, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

The Color Run took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway over the weekend. I missed out this year , but last year at Piedmont Park. I had a so much fun. This year, the race had over 24,000 people.

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to attend dinner with the team from Chevy and The Color Run. Chevy is a sponsor of the race for the second year. The partnership is perfect for Chevy’s fun new lineup of cars: The Spark, Sonic and Cruze!

The Color Run pace car, a Chevy Spark

Over the five course meal, we heard from Chevy executives about how The Color Run and Chevy’s small cars are a perfect fit. The campaign for the Spark, Sonic and Cruze has been more of a viral campaign targeting a younger demographic: millennials. When I think of the Chevy brand, I think of:

1. My grandfather’s old big red Chevy truck. He used to let me ride with him on trips to Alabama to buy Jack Daniels. I had to wait in the truck and I loved that truck!

2. The Chevy Camaro Bumble Bee from Transformer’s (The first movie from 2007, which was the best one in my opinion. Though Bumble Bee looked good in every movie. )

3. The Super Bowl commercial featuring the Chevy Sonic and the song “We Are Young” from 2012. It was pretty epic. In fact, I named it as one of my favorites ads that year.

4. Cool family SUVs like the Tahoe, Suburban and Equinox

The small Chevy car is a new idea to me. I like the cars and the colors which have cool names like Jalepeno, Techno Pink and Salsa. Makes sense for cars with colors like that to be a great match for The Color Run! A Techno Pink car sounds too cute! We enjoyed our dinner right outside next to the cars. Thankfully, the temperamental Atlanta weather cooperated that night. There was a slight chill, but we had heaters all around.

Our fun color themed menu at Rathbun’s:

Color themed cocktails! My favorite was the yellow Moscow Mule.

More color cocktails, the green was a margarita.

First course: Pan Roasted Salmon, Peppadew Salsa Verde

Second course: Local Mixed Greens, Strawberries, Feta Cheese and Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette

Third Course: Cauliflower Soup with Yellow Curry Shrimp – The curry flavor made this soup taste so soothing. After the soup, I was pretty stuffed.

Fourth course: NY Strip, Blue Whipped Potatoes, Purple Peruvian Haystack. I thought the touch of blue in the potatoes went great with the color theme. They tasted pretty good too

Pink Lemonade Chessecake – had a tart and sweet taste all at once. Such a great combination of flavors.

The Color Run will be back in Atlanta this fall, hopefully, I will be able to do it again! The Color Run truly is the happiest 5k on Earth! I think that Rathbun’s, Chevy and The Color Run did a great job on the “color theme”. We even made a color themed playlist. I picked “Little Red Corvette” as my song of choice. I came home inspired to make my own color themed playlist on Spotify. It has everything from Miles Davis to Aerosmith and LeAnn Rhimes. Happy listening.

Did you do The Color Run this past weekend or last year? How did it go?

Have a wonderful Monday!

Filed Under: Marketing & Social Media Tagged With: chevy, chevy spark, marketing, millennials, the color run

Back to team Blackberry

April 3, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

Over the last few days I’ve been playing with the new Blackberry Z10 courtesy of Verizon Wireless! Before I had my iPhone, I was on Team Blackberry. I used the Blackberry Storm for two years. It’s good to be back on Team Blackberry. I will review some of the features soon. For now, I finally have the “swiping” down

(Instagram)

I went on a solo date to see the latest Tyler Perry movie Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor:

(from)

For me, I thought the film was great. Tyler Perry had a different, younger target market than some of his other films. I didn’t like how the marketing campaigns focused on Kim Kardashian. I understand why media outlets did that. Kim Kardashian has a large loyal following and to mainstream media she was the selling point of this film. She basically played herself, which if you aren’t an actor by trade is the best role to play. If you go see Temptation just because she is in it, you will be disappointed. She does not have a big role. Jurnee Smollett-Bell was wonderful in the lead role of this film. Robbie Jones, the antagonist billionaire playboy, had some pretty corny lines. Lance Gross was great in his role, funny when he needed to be and he reminded me a little of Clark Kent. Not Superman, but Clark Kent with the glasses and patterned shirts. I’m glad that Brandy is acting again, but her part wasn’t a big deal in this movie. I like his films best when Madea is not involved. I also liked how these characters were closer to my age. Jurnee plays Judith, a driven, ambitious, physically active young professional. I liked that part. She also has weaknesses, like every other person in this world. I also noticed how Tyler Perry made sure to get the guys with their shirts off a few times . I heard Temptation ads about 20 times last week via Pandora but I didn’t see many commercials. I saw one billboard off of 285 in Atlanta. I also noticed that Temptation was a sponsored trend too and heavy social media activity on Facebook including special promos for Yahoo Movie fans. Online has to be one of the best ways to reach a younger audience. The movie made over $20 million this weekend which means the promotions paid off. Did you go see Temptation? I recommend it! Here’s a great video review by actor Terrence Colby for those who did see it. There are spoilers so don’t watch if you plan to see it soon.

Over the weekend I went to Zaxby’s where I did my LLS fundraiser a few weeks ago.

We raised $500!! That will help me get closer to my goal. If you live, work or play in the Marietta area make sure to stop by Zaxby’s on Lower Roswell Road. The whole fundraising process has been interesting! Fun, challenging and interesting. My race is next month and I’m excited. I dropped that check and a few others I’ve collected so far and put them in the mail to my race coordinator. If you would like to give and help me get closer to my goal: Click here. I appreciate your support

Have a great Wednesday!

Filed Under: Marketing & Social Media, Reviews Tagged With: blackberry z10, fundraising, leukemia and lymphoma society, marketing, movie review, tyler perry's temptation: confessions of a marriage counselor

Trying NuShape

March 28, 2013 By DanaJ Leave a Comment

Earlier this year I started taking NuShape to help with my fitness goals.

At first, I was nervous that NuShape would make me jittery due to the caffeine. The great thing is, NuShape does not have any caffeine in it. I don’t drink caffeine (except in tea) so this made the product way more appealing to me. In terms of results, after 30 days I lost 3 pounds. I do believe that with a solid plan and commitment to exercise 15 minutes a day it’s possible to lose more. I got sick in the middle of my 30 days. Which caused a slight setback. I didn’t want to eat or move for several days. On top of that, I took a trip to Minnesota where it was -11 degrees outside. I worked out there, but my body was literally in shock from that cold. A few tips in regards to NuShape:

1. Make a complete 30 day plan. Where you are going and what you will be eating. It will help tremendously to plan before you go. I did not have any fried foods and started drinking 80 oz + of water per day. However, I could have tightened up my eating by having a specific and detailed plan. I’m not going to lie, I’m still working on meal planning and budgeting. I know that it can only help me financially and physically to get that together.

2. Do the 15 minutes of exercise. I would make myself get 15 minutes in before bed if I happened to miss a workout during the day. That’s not a long amount of time to commit to being healthy. At all.

3. Be careful about traveling with the bottle. I took mine to Minnesota and kept it in the car. Everything held up fine, however, moving the bottle around so much caused some of the pills to crush in the bottom. So be careful.

4. Don’t try to change too many behaviors at once. I tried to take NuShape and also introduce food journaling at the same time. Inevitably, I was not successful with two new things at once. Food journaling can help with weight maintenance, but trying two new things like that simultaneously led to failure for me!

5. Try it with a friend. It’s nice to compare notes with someone else going through the same experience. My mom wants to try NuShape now, and I’m open to committing to another month to test it out with her.

Have you ever tried anything like NuShape? This is my second go with a product like this. I’m open to trying it again because the product is all natural.

Disclosure: I received a free 30 day trial of NuShape to test. Thoughts and opinions of the product are my own.

Filed Under: Fitness, Reviews Tagged With: diet, fitness, lesson, nushape, review