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Project Michelle: Be a Hero and Possibly Save a Life

Online video is such a powerful medium to spread the word on just about anything. One area where it is incredibly powerful and useful is in bringing awareness to causes and projects that bring change to one life or millions of lives.

Today, I stumbled upon a video that deeply moved me. It was of Michelle Maykin, a 26-year old UC Berkeley graduate, class of 2004, and San Francisco Bay Area resident who is fighting for her life.

A little over a year ago Maykin, an energetic, active and vibrant young woman who enjoys mountain bike riding, rock climbing and snowboarding, set out on a bike ride. As she was riding on the bridge crossing the San Francisco Bay she found herself falling behind, feeling fatigued and experiencing shortness of breath. For someone who had always been healthy and active, this was uncharacteristic and of concern.

Then a short time later, Maykin and friends went snowboarding and both she and her friends noticed that she was struggling to keep up. After returning from her snowboarding trip, Maykin visited the doctor. On February 27, 2007, Maykin found the answer to why she had been so fatigued and was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a blood cancer.

Bringing Innovative Ideas to Life

If you have recently launched a new business or are thinking of turning your idea that you've been so passionate about into a business, but you're not sure exactly what steps to take, then you should seriously consider attending the Ladies Who Launch Live event in Los Angeles next Saturday. It's going to be a day of networking, learning and inspiration to fuel your vision and take it to the next level.

Ladies Who Launch LIVE is a series of events that are taking place around the U.S. and Canada, so if you can't make it to LA next weekend then definitely attend one of the other events taking place later this year in the following cities: Atlanta, Detroit, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Toronto.

For those of you who know me, I'm a big proponent of women entrepreneurs and turning your passions into profitable businesses. The reason I'm excited about the LA event is because it’s featuring two women who I highly respect and am very inspired by. And they are Jane Wurwand and Patricia Handschiegel.

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.