MEGAN AUMAN

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what I’m reading: good to great

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Lately, it seems like I’ve been reading a lot of bicycling related books, so I decided to switch things up and read something business related. I’d been thinking about reading Good to Great by Jim Collins for a while, and since my business hasn’t been going as well as I’d like, now seemed like the perfect time.

As I began reading, I had a hard time visualizing how a book about major corporations such as Gillette and Walgreens would apply to my little, one woman show. But it didn’t take long for me to start applying the lessons in the book to my own business. In fact, I found this to be one of the most relevant books I’ve read in a long time. So I’ve decided to break the book down step by step and examine how it relates to me and my business. (I won’t do this all in one post, it would overwhelm everyone!)

But first, a little introduction. The initial premise of the book is that “Good is the enemy of great.” There are so many good companies around that very few invest the time and energy to become great companies. By studying eleven companies they identified as “great”, Collins and his research team came up with a series of characteristics that set these companies apart. And these are the concepts that can be applied to companies, organizations, teams, and most any other group of people looking to make the leap from good to great. These concepts are:
-Level 5 Leadership
-First Who… Then What
-Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
-The Hedgehog Concept
-A Culture of Discipline
-Technology Accelerators
-The Flywheel and the Doom Loop
I’ll be using these concepts to examine myself and my business. Hopefully those of you running your own businesses will find some use in this exercise as well. (In fact, I recommend anyone running their own business run out and grab a copy of this book. You won’t be disappointed.)

I’ll be back tomorrow to take a look at Level 5 Leadership.

crafty bastards recap + complaints about crutches

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No pictures in this post because I didn’t take a single picture at Crafty Bastards. Sad, I know. Thanks to everyone who responded to my last post, and thanks a million to my wonderful husband, who came with me to help out at the show! Oh, and thanks to the Crafty Bastards volunteers who helped out as well.

Sadly, I didn’t get to scope out the show, for obvious reasons. One trip to the port-a-potties on crutches was enough to keep me tied to my booth. But I really appreciate everyone who came by and shopped – you made my day worthwhile! I’m happy I decided not to cancel the show.

Now I’m home and exhausted, thanks in no small measure to my crutches. My foot may be resting, but the rest of my body feels beat up and sore. I’m also learning how difficult crutches can be if you’re a grown-up who needs to do things like grocery shop, clean, and laundry. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to get my dirty clothes from my second floor bedroom to my basement washing machine. That’s not to mention that I have several wholesale orders to go out this week. At least I have a rolling chair in my studio…

HELP!!!

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Well, the results are in, and I have an “incomplete fracture” in my right heel and am now on crutches. I seriously need some help for Crafty Bastards on Sunday! If there’s anyone in the DC/Baltimore area interested in helping me, I would really appreciate it. Please email me at meauman(at)yahoo(dot)com. I pay in jewelry.

crafty bastards is Sunday!

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Its cold and gray today, forcing me to bust out the fleece lined boots and making me not want to do anything. That’s not good, though, because…

Crafty Bastards is this Sunday! Rain or shine (lets hope for shine). Please stop by and see me in booth #49 – I should even have some new work if I can get my butt in gear.

Really though, I’m still in a pretty crappy mood. On top of the weather and my foot, I sliced my thumb chopping an onion yesterday (not bad, but enough to be annoying in the studio) and we have a groundhog that’s taken up residence in our back yard. I’m terrified of groundhogs, plus I have to make sure its not around when I take out Grizzly, or he practically pulls me off the porch to chase it. I’m really looking forward to Monday, when my to do list looks like this:
-sleep in
-go for a long ride on my new bike
-clean my house

Hopefully your Friday is happier than mine!

update: yakkay bike helmet

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I finally got my Yakkay helmet in the mail yesterday, and I couldn’t be more excited. I absolutely love it! I think its super-cute, and much better than my current helmet. The helmet under the cover is super well made, with really high quality straps, and you could actually wear it without the cover. While I probably won’t be wearing it on long training rides, its perfect for running errands around town.

The biggest issue is that it is a little big. The helmet is only available in medium and large. I bought the medium. It comes with foam inserts that you place yourself to adjust the fit – mine fits well after putting those in, but if you have a really small head, this might not be the best helmet for you.

I ordered it from 50cycles, a British company. You can order directly from their website and they ship to the US.

a stressful few days

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I wanted to share this great photo by Elle Moss that I discovered on Etsy as a way to counteract what has been a stressful few days. In addition to the possible stress fracture in my foot, the battery on my laptop died. This is the second time this has happened in the three years I’ve had my laptop, and now I can’t use it unless its plugged into the wall until my new battery arrived. Plus yesterday, I spent 14 hours in a car delivering my sculpture to an exhibition in southwest Ohio. And Crafty Bastards is less than a week away, I have nothing done, and the things I’ve got to do this week are piling up quickly. I think its time to go do some yoga before I freak out completely.

On a happier note, I’m totally excited because I won Liz’s blog giveaway. I can’t wait to get my print!

injuries and insurance

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So it seems that I’ve developed a stress fracture in my right heel. About a week ago, I started having pain below my ankle. Now, I can’t walk without limping and I can’t run without pain. I went to the doctor, who said yes, its probably a stress fracture. And here’s where my gripe about insurance and the modern medical system begins. According to my doctor, an x-ray most likely won’t show a stress fracture, but insurance usually doesn’t cover an MRI until you have an x-ray first. So yesterday, I had a completely useless x-ray, which came back, shockingly, negative. Now, its going to take more than a week until I can even get in for an MRI. I feel like I went through this when I hurt my knee a few years ago. If you have a sports-related injury, but aren’t a professional athlete, no one seems in that much of a hurry to figure out what’s wrong with you. Instead, you just spend weeks (or months, in the case of my knee) waiting to see what’s wrong and hoping it gets better, while not being able to exercise.

So, I’m not allowed to run (most likely for a few weeks), and as you can probably tell, its already making me grumpy. I am not a happy person when I’m not a running person.

The only saving grace is that I am allowed to bike. And yesterday, I ordered my new bike! I get it on Tuesday and i couldn’t be more excited.

bike accessories for metalsmiths and design junkies

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Sögreni produces beautiful bicycle accessories that would make any metalsmith drool (and which are a far cry from the plastic crap you mostly see in America). My favorite has to be the trouser-clip. What a simple, classic, functional design. Like jewelry for your pant leg. (And it makes my neon, velcro ones seem ridiculous.)


via Copenhagenize. (Be sure to click all the links to see the full range of Sögreni’s accessories.)