pinkMOXIE

WebVet to Launch this Summer

When I'm looking for health-related news and information, I head on over to WebMD, Mayo Clinic, and one of my favorites Natural Solutions (formerly Alternative Medicine). All three have served me well over the years, but when it comes to my pets I don't really have one main site that I go to. I've mostly hit Google to find what I'm looking for and by calling my veterinarian.

WebVet is a new site launching this summer. According to the site, WebVet will provide comprehensive news, information, education and community forums to maintain and improve the health and well-being of pets. The site will offer breaking news, which is vitally important to pet owners when it comes to food product recalls or communicable diseases and bacterium outbreaks, such as the recent outbreak of the streptococcus zooepidemicus bacterium that killed seven dogs in a Milwaukee kennel and sickened many others.

WebVet will also offer pet owners the ability to search specific symptoms to help pet owners better understand what ails their pets. Of course, never self-diagnose and see your veterinarian. Other features WebVet will offer: information about care and safety; diet and exercise; travel; and pet technology. In addition to articles, the site will offer podcasts. And for those looking to engage with other pet owners, there will be forums.

WebVet competitor Dogster and Catster offer similar information and forums, but is specific to dogs and cats; whereas WebVet will also include information for birds, rabbits, hamsters and other pets. What I'd like to see both Dogster/Catster and WebVet include are social features in their community sections beyond forums, and a section for organic pet living.

I look forward to checking out WebVet when it launches this summer. Until then, check out Dogster and Catster.

Pursuing your passion into a fulltime gig

Words of advice from the original PopSugar, Lisa Sugar, "If you have something that you're really passionate about, but you have to have the other job going to pay the bills... it's finding the time to do (what you love) on the side so that you know if it really does take off, then you can put your all behind it."

With the help of her husband, Brian Sugar, Lisa took her passion and turned it into a viable and successful business. Lisa started PopSugar, a celebrity gossip blog, as something she did for fun on the side. But her passion for blogging about celebrity gossip was something others were passionate about reading. PopSugar grew in popularity and Lisa soon had a large following of regular readers. Brian suggested monetizing it, and together they created Sugar Inc.

According to their corporate site, the Sugar Network comprises of 15 distinct lifestyle and entertainment sites covering topics that include celebrity, fashion, shopping, beauty, entertainment, food, health and more. The site names range from GeekSugar and PetSugar (two of my favorites) to CasaSugar and BellaSugar, as well as the popular social networking site TeamSugar. Brian is the CEO and publisher, and Lisa is editor in chief.

Lisa and Brian's entrepreneurial spirit and inspiring story of how PopSugar and Sugar Inc. came into existence and then evolved into what it is today is a great example of how to grow something your passionate about into a fulltime gig.

I'm a big believer in discovering and pursuing your passions in life, which is why I find Lisa and Brian's story so inspirational, not to mention I love what they've created. The Sugar sites, including TeamSugar, are all insanely addictive and I personally have enjoyed being a part of it as a TeamSugar member.

Sowing the Seeds of Passion

One element that fuels and drives me everyday is having the entrepreneurial spirit pulsing through my veins, being surrounded by it in my clients, at networking events, and in my friends.

There is something unique and inspiring about people who thrive on risk, who will forgo the security of a regular paycheck that corporate life provides to live on the fringe, work well into the night on a daily basis (including weekends) to make their crazy idea and dream get off the ground in hopes that it becomes the next big thing.

I like how Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, put it in a recent post about tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley:

If you want a well balanced life, Silicon Valley is not for you. But if you want to change the world and are willing to do absolutely anything to achieve your dreams, there is no better place to be than here…And if you aren’t willing to take advantage of every possible advantage to make your crazy startup idea work, perhaps you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur.

He is 100 percent correct! And I couldn’t agree more that it truly takes that kind of drive, commitment and passion.

Coming from the performing arts world, passion has always been a driver for me, which is why when I left the dance world and ventured into communications I didn’t go work for a big established corporate company. I chose to work with startups. I love startup life because passion abounds. The energy is contagious. And the brilliant minds and ideas that flow from them are inspiring.

However, if I could change one thing, it would be having more women entrepreneurs in technology. I am a big believer in encouraging, supporting and fostering women entrepreneurs and the next generation of women entrepreneurs, so when I came across Golden Seeds, I knew I had to blog about them.

Getting the Skinny from Heidi Roizen

I'm a frequent reader of Kara Swisher's blog BoomTown, which is part of the All Things D Web site. On Wednesday, Kara wrote about a music project that Heidi Roizen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, has embarked upon.

This project is not funding and launching the next big music platform or player, as one might think given Roizen’s background. No, it's a project that's unique and quite personal to Roizen.

In Roizen's own pursuit to lose weight, she wanted to listen to great music to help her stay motivated as she took off the pounds and got in shape, but when she wasn't unable to find any, the entrepreneur in her kicked in and she set out to create it.

Not being a musician herself, Roizen teamed with veteran music industry exec George Daly and songwriter and producer David Malloy, along with some very talented artists. Together they took Roizen's idea and turned it into a well-produced CD, or as Roizen puts it, "first class, radio-hit-quality music," which includes 10 songs.

Roizen wrote the lyrics for the CD, which is titled Skinny Songs and is available at iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and SnoCap. You can also listen to Skinny Songs and read about it at MySpace and the Skinny Songs Web site.