A Penny For Your Entrepreneurial Thoughts…

One thing I’m learning in this season is that if you don’t ask for what you want, you won’t get it.

I’ve been thinking about what I want for my business and how to ask for in a way that is sincere and authentic to my own personality and brand. Asking can be as simple as telling your graphic designer that you prefer red to blue as the featured colour in your promotional material, or as risky as sending a proposal to a funding organization for a grant.

Bottom line is, that if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. And the worst thing that could happen is “no.” Because what if they say “yes?”

What are you asking for these days?

Creative Campaigning: Videos + Justice…

One of the projects that I worked on recently was a short promo video for a not-for-profit organization called Africa Arise–a grassroots organization based in Canada that does justice work in in the Acholi Quarter, a refugee slum on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda.

For the past year, I’ve been working as a volunteer on the creative team of the organization (with a group of seven other creatives and strategic thinkers), to help strategize about how to grow the organization,  implement effective fundraising campaigns and how to adequately communicate the mission and vision of the organization.

Our last fundraising campaign for 2014 (The 10.10.10. Thanksgiving Campaign) focused on encouraging Canadian families to give Ugandan families the opportunity to move back home to their original villages, now that the war is over, and to be able to “give thanks” for what they now have. The campaign lasted 10 days and we were able to raise approximately $4000 via online and in-hand donations. Amazing!

We’re excited about our new campaign for 2015, named “Families for Families”. This year we want to highlight that the organization focuses on restoring every member of the family–not only children or women, as many other great organizations do. But to examine the needs of men and how families as a whole can be restored.

This is one of two short videos that I shot and edited to announce the campaign:

If you would like more information about Africa Arise and the campaign, feel free to check out www.africaarise.ca and donate to our “Families for Families” campaign.

You can also find us on facebook and twitter!

Also, I may be travelling to Uganda in a few months! Stay tuned for details!

Campaign Love: This Girl Can

I absolutely love this campaign and this campaign video. The music, the footage and the creative editing is faultless. A great campaign video is all that this is: compelling, inspirational and excellent in visuals and audio.

And the name… The name is perfect: This Girl Can

The purpose of the campaign is to encourage women to be active in sports and exercise and to be proud of their bodies regardless of much they may wiggle, jiggle or sweat.

“Fear of judgement is stopping many of us from taking part in exercise.
But as thousands of women up and down the country are proving, it really doesn’t have to.” – This Girl Can

No body shaming here–it’s all about encouragement and celebration.

Love it.

You can find more of This Girl Can on facebook, twitter and instagram.