Essy Dias

5 Business Tips from the Trenches

I’m really just a newbie in the business industry, and have so much yet to learn but I’ve also gained a lot of insight in these early start up years both from personal experience and through knowing some amazing people. Hopefully what I can share here today will be of some help to someone out there, if only to just encourage them to take the leap themselves.

First let me give you a little back history. My first encounter with an entrepreneur was my own mom. It’s actually taken me all these years to come to the full realiziation of what an amazing woman she was in that regard. She passed away back in 1997, but continues to have a powerful influence over me. She was from the Azores and we lived there until 1971, when she moved her family here to give us a better opportunity. Up until that point, she had been self employed. This was a time and place that didn’t see too many women in the workplace, even jobs that are now considered to be dominated by women weren’t so at that time. She was a hair dresser, and had been taught by a man. She then took it from there, not only did she see clients in her own home but often took it on the road and would go from village to village as needed. She was well loved, respected and always welcomed where ever she went. In the later years just prior to moving to the States, she had a sewing business. She was the personal seamstress for many of the American teachers living at the Base in Terceira. Ready made clothes were hard to come by in those days, so she found a nice niche for herself using her amazing talent. The entrepreneurial bug spread to her kids as well, my siblings owned businesses from auto body shops, gift shops, restaurants, cleaning companies, electrical companies and of course me with my photography business.

So here is a little bit of what I’ve learned so far…

1)CONFIDENCE: First of all the thing that can break you even before you get started is your attitude. You need to be confident enough to even try. My mom had a saying that she would repeat to me often when I was little, “If it can be done, then I can do it…I’m not dumber than anyone else.” …lol. She wasn’t cocky either, her full confidence was in her Lord and His power to see her through whatever He was asking of her. She tackled many anxiety issues, but they never held her back. She never let her fear stop her. She’d just pray through it. When I was five years old, she came to work here in the States for about six months on her own. My dad stayed behind to care for us, there were seven of us but a couple had left the roost by this point. This without a doubt had to have been one of the hardest acts of obedience on her part. But boy did it pay back, it lay down the foundation required for the job contract that would bring us all back just a couple of years later.

2)HUMILITY: This might seem contradictory to number 1, but it’s not…it’s simply the other side of the coin. If your confidence is not a God confidence but a cocky self confidence, then you will lack this part of it and even though you may still acquire a certain level of success in your career it will never be fully satisfying. Here’s the deal, you can’t go in with the expectation that others will just fall all over themselves to get whatever you are selling. You are going to have to put yourself and your product out there over and over. And risk feeling stupid or appearing stupid to someone.

Another important way that being humble can help you, is in being able to listen to the advice of others that have gone before you. I’m not talking about allowing others to make important decisions for you, or always doing everything everyone tells you. But about LISTENING and discerning what can be helpful and throwing away the rest. You also need to be able to be real with yourself and know your own abilities or lack of them. If you are just beginning, there will be a real learning curve to whatever you undertake. Don’t be too hard on yourself because this is part of the journey. But be aware of it, and know that even though most people outside of the industry might even think that you are the cat’s meow…there are others who have been at it longer and you haven’t reached their level yet. This is perfectly ok and gives you room to grow. There is a niche for everyone, don’t let this stop you.

3) Offer Value: You need to constantly offer something that your clients need and you have to be willing to bust your tail doing it. Owning your own business is not a 9-5 endeavour. This is true for all aspects of the business, whether you are working on your craft, marketing it, or simply growing your presence on social media. Never take anyone for granted, they don’t have to ‘follow’ you. They don’t have to ‘like’ or share your stuff. Make it worth their while to do so. Build connections that are real…and that takes us to my next point, networking.

4)Networking : People matter!!!Both your customers and other business people! It’s ALL about relationships! We are seeing a lot of that being magnified today through social networking. Before you try to sell anybody anything, you need to build trust. This is part of the reason that ‘mommy bloggers’ and ‘mommy Togs’ (photographers) are doing so wildly well at the moment. There is a trust factor, and who better at building relationships than moms?

The first time that the importance of knowing the right people hit me was while I was watching The Voice one night. Here were all these incredibly talented individuals, who had been working hard all along so by all rights they should all be huge stars by now. Some had even been in the industry before as professionals. What’s the difference this time? Here was a venue that put them before millions of folks and directly in touch with these four judges who personally put time and effort into their chosen candidates. WOW!

I’ve even heard how Ansel Adams, the famed photographer himself didn’t fare too well until he hooked up with the right marketing agent. People need each other, there is no shame in that.

5)PATIENCE: It takes a huge amount of time to build something up that is worthwhile. Trust the process! Don’t give up too soon.

Here’s my business page, please stop in for a visit. Essy D Photography

Work as if for the Lord

Many people think that our life should some how be divided up, that we have something special that we do on Sunday that is more spiritual and then we have the stuff that we need to do in order to stay alive and that includes working for a living. However that’s not what being Christian is. Being Christian is infusing every single aspect of our life with God’s grace, including those more worldly aspects.

First of all, if you are finding the Lord early enough…I believe that He will lead you into the proper path in the first place. He will guide you in educational choices, and career choices, He wants to be a part of every area of your life. Nothing is too big or too small for Him. However, if you are already in an established path it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are to pack up and leave. He may be asking you to continue with the same job but do it in a different way now. Work at it as if for the Lord Himself. Don’t be concerned about the outcome so much, just step out in obedience and He will cover you. Operate in the power of the Spirit…He will either give you what you need or He will pull you out and have you move on. Either way, don’t be overly attached to the outcome as long as you are doing your best.

I recently saw a meme that I really liked, it said that being a Christian shoemaker doesn’t mean putting little crosses on all the shoes you make. It means making the best shoes possible. So indeed that is what being a Christian employee or a Christian business owner is. Our morality comes from within, by relentless dedication to excellent service to all including the least of our brothers. By superb product quality that stands the test of time and that is priced right. That’s another thing, many think that if you are Christian you should be giving your talents away. Even though you are certainly asked to do volunteering and to tithe, that should only be a portion of it. Every Christian should charge market value for their products, it gives them value and allows them to take care of their families first and then be able to serve the Lord in whatever He asks. Poverty does not equal holiness unless it is taken on as obedience to the Lord as in the case of certain religious communities and so forth, that take such vows.

Another thing that is very important in the workplace is community. He sends us out two by two, find another Christian in your workplace (or industry) as a prayer partner. He will not send you in alone, even if you are self employed there are others either in your same business or another business that is compatible with yours that you can connect with. It has a dual purpose, you can check with each other on matters of discerning the Spirit and for intercession. But you can also be there for each other for networking and building each other up.

You can listen to Fr. Al Lauer speaking about Risen at my LENTEN page.

Please check out my friend’s book.

Genius Marketing, Starting Out: Edition 1

Women's Day 2015TORONTO

We kick off “Step 3…VOCATION” week (our work) with Women’s Day. How awesome and appropriate is THAT? I was privileged to fly to Toronto to photograph the event of the year.

Here are a few photos, there will be more available for purchase at my photography site soon (link at the top).

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Check out my friend’s Blog for more on the tiara mission.
And here are the amazing sponsors!!!

Stepping into Step 2

Freeing Each Other

John 8

31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Discipleship and freedom go hand in hand. But freedom from what, for what and by whom? We need freedom from all that holds us back from hearing and doing God’s word. These are our addictions, our inordinate attractions, our old ways of doing things. We know what is right, we want to do it, but we are tied up. In John 11, when Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, he may have come back to life but he wasn’t able to function very well. He was still bound up by his grave clothes. Those wrappings were necessary for his burial, but were now an impediment to the new life that he was being called to.

John 11

43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Now we know what we are to be free from, but what is the purpose of that freedom and how shall we achieve it? For that we look at the last sentence of verse 44. “Jesus said to them, “loose him, and let him go.”. Jesus was speaking to his family and friends that were standing by him, his community. I’m sure that Jesus who had just brought him up from the dead was more than able to have those bindings dissolve as he was being raised. But no, that’s not how He chose to do it. He chose community. Because I believe that is not merely the how, but the why also. We are to be set free by community and for community. We each have gifts that the other needs. We are a puzzle that only makes sense when bound together. We ARE the body of Christ.

So how do we do that? People don’t walk around with actual grave clothes for us to pick at. For that we go back to the first passage of John that I mentioned above. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. We are to be living in the word ourselves in such a way that we can speak truth to those closest to us. That is what evangelization and prophecy are all about…truth telling.

We don’t have to rip bandages or force change, we merely have to be obedient to God. In every situation say what He puts in our heart to say and do what He is asking of us without consideration for the outcome, let the Lord take care of the results. We are so often fearful of losing the favor of others, that we hold our tongue or don’t do what we are being called to do. We are afraid of losing people, but those that would leave were never meant for us anyway. We need to continue praying, but allow them to go so that they may find the community that they were meant for and real healing can begin.

You can listen to Fr. Lauer speak on this subject at our LENTEN page.

Step 2 Day 2: Christian Friendships

Christian brotherly love is the basis of all other relationships. We all yearn for relationships where we are known, cared for, loved with great affection and appreciated, where we can divulge our deepest selves and still be accepted. That’s what we are supposed to be to each other. We have an inborn need for it and we can’t become fully ourselves separate from it. God provides for some of that in the Christian community, outside the exclusivity and sexual bond of marriage. Some people are never called to marriage, whose main aim is the procreation of children. It doesn’t mean that they are to be left out of the love bus. Or if they are called to marriage, that now their spouse is to be their all in all. Not at all.

Satans tries to

1)reduce the importance of such relationships.

2)to imply that every significant relationship has to be based on sex.

3)or insist that all relationships are competitive.

None of the above are true and are indeed lies from the pit of hell. Every time that we see Satan expending a lot of energy on something, we need to take a closer look at it. It is most likely an area that is of very great importance to the Lord, and necessary for our well being. Remember Satan has a fierce hatred for mankind, and his main mission is to kill and destroy.

Lacking these bonds, we can be propelled into great loneliness and despair. We can see it in our world today, where depression and mood disorders are rampant. We are missing this type of connection. Other relationships like marriage and parenting become messed up because now we have too much riding on it. Without it young people rush into romantic relationships and often marriages that they were never meant to be in, in the first place. They want to feel loved, not to create babies which is what marriage is for.

You can listen to Fr. Lauer’s talk on this subject over at our LENTEN page.

Step 2: Day 1: Created for Relationship

Love God above all things and others as yourself…which of course presumes that you are loving yourselves. So right there you have The CORE, STEP 1 and STEP 2.

If step 1 was the beam going from us up to heaven, then step 2 is the horizontal beam reaching out from ourselves to our brothers and sisters. Put them together and you have the Cross, which is the solid foundation of our faith. Steps 4 through 6 that will come later, merely help us in living out these initial three.

We were created for relationship, first with God and then with each other. Being in relationship means that we are involved in each other’s lives, we matter to each other and want the best for each other. We don’t let those we love suffer if we can help it. This is in stark contrast to what the world offers…the hookup culture, and using the other person for self gratification…why porn is both so rampant and so, so wrong. It can never satisfy our longings for love.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We have often heard that love is a verb, the problem that we run into in fully recognizing that is that we associate love with some kind of Hallmark sentimentality. But that’s not what Christian love is. I’m not re-emphasing that in order to degrade feelings and emotions, I’m a ball of emotions myself. I think those of us that are attracted to the mystical side of spirituality often are. We are easily consumed by love. That is not good or bad, it just is…if anything, it probably provides us with the fire necessary to do what we need to. However to really love the way the Lord calls us to, is to go beyond that. To look in the eyes of the un-loveable and to see Jesus there. Mother Teresa comes to mind. Such unlovables can exist anywhere…from the streets of Calcutta, to our own families and neighborhoods…or our Facebook pages even. 😉

You can go listen to Father Lauer’s talk on this subject over at our LENTEN page.

Step 1 Day 6: Combining Martha and Mary

The world is filled with Marthas, or at least mine seems to be. They are powerhouse women who can do it all. My mom was such a woman, as are most of the women of my own culture. I must admit I’m more like Mary, I’m a contemplative and like nothing better than to just sit by Jesus’ feet…I don’t need much in the way of material things, so it’s easy for me to just stay. So if you are like me, the Lord is speaking to us today. We live in the world and still have much to do here. Yes we need to fill up our core, but then we need to start stepping into it!

We contemplatives need a little more oomph to get us going. Our steps need to be fueled by passion…Holy Spirit passion! We need to do everything as if working for the Lord. Our focus needs to be narrow like a laser beam, which isn’t always an easy thing for those of us who are easily distracted. We need to have a mission to work towards. It seems that everywhere we turn everyone has an agenda, a purpose for what they do…usually it’s to make money, or get power…what if we turned that upside down and started having an agenda too…to do God’s will, to glorify Him!

You may be thinking, “well I don’t even know what I want to do and I’m not hearing from God at the moment so how do I set my agenda?” Well…look at your current commitments. In today’s talk, Fr. Lauer states that our power comes through our vows. What kind of promises have you already made? Honor those. Then step up and listen to what the Lord is leading you into next and commit to THAT! It’s in our faithfulness to little things that more is then given us.

Don’t be afraid of commitment if it is something that the Lord is bringing you to, just be careful that it’s not something of your own making that could possibly land you in a heap of trouble like the example of Samson that Father gives in his talk.

Please listen to Fr. Lauer’s talk over at our LENTEN page.

Have a blessed day everybody. <3

Step 1: Day 5: Conviction not SHAME

Yesterday we took a look at creation and how God brought order out of chaos. We learned that He can still do the same today in our own lives. But, just as creation didn’t stay impeccable in the beginning, it won’t stay that way for us either. We too will continuously sin and fall short of our goals, as Adam and Eve did even in the earliest days of our history. We are like little children, stumbling constantly. What determines the outcome is what we do about it. Let’s take a look at the garden again prior to the fall, Adam and Eve were naked and knew no shame…but after they ate the apple, they ran away when God called them. They then put on animal skins to hide from their shame. We too have hiding mechanisms, the Lenten season is a good time to try to identify some of them by the way.

How may it have turned out differently if they had turned to God instead of running away from Him? Well, we’ll never know for sure. But one thing we know is that God offers conviction which shows us the way and leads us to healing, the world however is all about condemnation which leads to shame, hiding, further sin and self hatred. You’re not convinced? Take a look at all the shaming that takes place in the public sphere, social networks being a good gauge of the goings on. What is laughable is what they choose to shame people about. This is totally the work of the enemy. The world goes by what is in ‘fashion’, which is what is socially acceptable at the moment…not by any real convictions…so it changes from day to day. Christians are called higher, to go by standards that don’t change. How we interpret those standards may evolve over time, but only to reveal it further, never to contradict it. Such is a life built on God’s truths. So in a sense we are true REBELS. We are called to be in the world but not of it.

Ok so I’ve delivered the bad news, that spanking brand new creation that you’ve been handed is not going to stay that way. Chaos will break out again…and again…and again. If you didn’t already know this, then I’m very sorry to be the one to tell you. However, I also bring you GOOD NEWS. 😉 As many times as you fall…you can get back up. Jesus offers us a ‘reset button’. It is called Reconciliation! No shame, no condemnation…just healing and grace to try again.

Now please go listen to Fr. Lauer’s talk today at my LENTEN page. Please don’t miss this one, it’s really powerful.

Step 1 DAY 4: Order out of Chaos

Today we will take a look at the more practical side of obedience.

In the beginning God brought forth order out of chaos, He set about creating and ultimately made male and female in His own image. The original plan was for Adam and Eve and their descendants to be in constant relationship with Him. Everything that they ever could need was set before them in the garden. Their only desire was for the One who could truly satisfy them, all they wanted was to be near Him and to do His will. Then sin entered in. The relationship was broken, and as if a spell was put on humanity, a sin induced haze came upon us. We forgot whose we were. We still had desires that needed to be fulfilled…where before the desire itself was focused, with this great breech it seemed to splinter…so many wants and yet no idea of how to fulfill them. We have inherited this great ache. Generation after generation still yearns for something they can’t quite comprehend. We’ve started making ‘gods’ out of things that can never fully satisfy us. Money, sex, power and on and on. But our hearts were created for one thing and one thing alone. God Himself.

If you are like me, sitting there right now with a particular area of your life in chaos…or maybe even multiple areas. There is hope! Jesus is God’s answer to this monumental disarray. Yesterday we saw how obedience to God shows faith in action. That principle applies even to the smallest, most mundane areas of our lives. God doesn’t want to be left out of what is happening with us and to be relegated to Sunday morning visits only. No…remember that He wants a personal and intimate relationship with us. So obedience even in the smallest things, releases our faith and prepares the way for amazing things to take place. He covers us with His grace! Will things always work out the way we want them to, of course not, we don’t always know best. But we trust that He does and that what He allows is indeed for our best.

So the first thing in step 1 in caring for SELF, the temple of the Holy Spirit, is to become aware of the chaos areas of our lives especially as it pertains to our bodies. Are we nourishing our bodies properly, do we get enough exercise, how about rest? If we don’t take good care of ourselves then we might find that the enemy can get at us a lot easier. The acronym HALT, tells us what to be aware of. It suggests that we should never allow ourselves to get too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely, or too Tired. The Lord can’t bring healing to an area that we are trying to hide from Him or from ourselves. We need to glance at the messes only to acknowledge them and then we must move on. We don’t dwell there, if we are tempted to do so, we know it is coming from the enemy. We move on by giving that area of our lives to the One who best knows how to handle it. We offer it up. We ask for discernment on what steps if any we need to take. Once we get some clarity, then we act on it. That is practical obedience.

Have a blessed day everybody.

Please go listen to Fr. Lauer’s talk for today.