Rediscovering my blog almost 5 years later!

This is bizarre! I was posting a comment on someone else's blog earlier today and had to login to google to post. I decided I would start a blogger blog, so I typed in julieteaston and it said that name was already taken on blogspot. Who could have taken my name?? Well, when I typed the url into my browser window, I started reading and was like wow this sounds familiar, and soon rediscovered a blog that I had started almost five years ago with only one post! I had totally forgotten about it! So I am going to try to resume where I left off.

It is really ironic because my first post was written when my former business was at its height - between $60-75,000 per month in revenues. I was going to conferences (at least once a month) and had a staff of 5 full-time and 7 part-time employees. The funny thing is the entire reason I created that business was to fund a nonprofit program to teach entrepreneurship to kids. I got so busy with the business that I never got around to creating the nonprofit program. The first post on this blog was written about what I was really wanting to do, but not doing - yet!

By March of that year, things were starting to go downhill with my company. I had too much overhead (esp. payroll), too many projects in development (none quite ready to launch), & my main source of revenue almost stopped overnight - not a good combo. Long story short, I tried to hold on for almost a year after that, but the business tanked and with $150,000+ in debt and no more income, I had to declare the big B. That was a very humbling experience!

A lot has happened in my life since then, including getting divorced & remarried. I kept the same last name as my kids, Easton, to make their lives easier (plus do you know what a pain it is to change your last name??) I finished my graduate degree and have been doing volunteer work & serving on the the board for Athens-Clarke County Family Connection/Communities In Schools of Athens - http://athensconnection.org/.

I am now finally ready to launch my dream - eBiz4Youth, a nonprofit program for at-risk youth. The website is not up yet, but I will post here when it is.

My next post should be sooner than 5 years from now!!

Entrepreneurship for Kids & Youth with Mark Victor Hansen & Robert Allen

Well, I have never done this before, but I know that I venture into territory where many others have blogged before. This is ok because I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me :-) Thanks Stuart for the inspiration.

It's Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday today and I stayed home with my kids for some much needed r&r. Went to Vegas last week for the launch of a brand new entrepreneurial program for high school students in Nevada. My friend Robby LeBlanc is filming a documentary about it. You can find out more at http://successforalifetime.com.

I went with Robby, his "honey" Vicky, Mark Victor Hansen, and Robert Allen to the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (see Charter School at http://www.agassifoundation.org) and Mark and Bob gave copies of their One Minute Millionaire book to the kids there and talked to them about how they can become millionaires too. It was very inspiring! I'll post pictures soon.

We also went to the Green Valley High School where the first class in entrepreneurship is being launched. Mark and Bob spoke to the students there also and gave them their book as well. The whole two days were incredible! Helping kids with entrepreneurship has been a big dream of mine for a long time and it was so cool to be there for the launch of this historic project in Nevada.

I am starting on a book this week "How to Stay on the Mountaintop as You Walk Through the Valley" - a book about how to stay in a high enegy state. I am very enthused about several well-known people who have agreed for me to interview them for this book. I can't say more than that at this time though ;-)

Well that's it for my first blog entry...more later.