Author: Colleen Newvine Tebeau
Since arriving in New Orleans Friday, several people have asked us what our goal is for the next six weeks here. Depending on who it is, I might quip back that my goal is to have no goals — to just be, which is the opposite of hyper-achievement oriented New York. But that’s not actually true. My biggest goal is…
When I recently returned from South by Southwest Interactive, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why the 20,000-person tech festival fires me up so much. Sure, there’s a lot going on — compelling speakers, rockin’ parties, huge crowds on the sidewalks. But for a woman who lives in New York, it’s not like I couldn’t access those things any…
When I started piano lessons last spring, my approaching 40th birthday was a big motivator. Something about a milestone birthday triggered my deadline response, and I thought I’d like to be able to play at least one song by my 40th. Turns out I can do a decent job at several songs, including Scarborough Fair and My Cherie Amour. Not…
A few days ago I offered a list of Newvine Growing’s greatest hits — the posts I’ve written in the last two years that have gotten the most traffic. Today I’ll do the opposite and serve up a list of some of the least-read posts. I’m curating these to look for posts I actually liked that never got traction, as…
I’ll be in Austin for the next several days at the geek spring break known as South by Southwest Interactive — all manner of people interested in the Web, mobile, social media and video games, among other things, descend on a city with the unofficial motto “Keep Austin Weird.” It’s an excellent experience because you almost can’t help but have…
I’m a little kid about birthdays — I enjoy making a fuss about other people’s birthdays and I love celebrating mine. Yes, even as a suit-wearing executive with an MBA, I have been known to take a box of cupcakes to work on my birthday, just like you might have in elementary school. As part of that, we don’t just…
I have always been a girl with a plan. I lived life like a chess game, thinking through how my current move will ripple through three moves ahead: Getting good grades in high school would help me get into college Doing internships during college would help me land a job after graduation Taking a job at a small newspaper would…
My new friend Patti seems to be a kindred spirit on many things, especially food and societal needs, so when she urged me to check out Krista Tippett, that was enough for me. In Tippett’s 16-minute TED talk titled “Reconnecting with Compassion,” she argues that compassion has a public relations problem. She explains that tolerance is not a virtue, it’s…
I’m not the biggest sports fan but I do think sports offers some excellent life lessons. For example, I’ve always liked the saying “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Babe Ruth, considered one of the best baseball players of all time, hit 60 home runs in 1927, breaking his own record as the all-time single-season HR…
This has been a week of a deep dive into farmers, farming and the food supply — I spent Monday-Friday in Baltimore at the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association convention, then Saturday watching the live stream of TEDxManhattan, an all-day seminar called “Changing the Way We Eat.” This is all education in support of launching my new marketing…
Food writer Mark Bittman recently ended his long-running Minimalist column in the New York Times to shift into a new role as an opinion writer for the Times. This change of perspective, that food is about so much more than filling our bellies, is apparent in his book “Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating.” Bittman wrote in the announcement…
Earlier this week I wrote a post headlined “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” about not letting fear limit our decisions. I’ve been reflecting on major forks in the road in my life and how often I have self limited by taking the conservative path — what my husband, John, calls being a good girl. If a…
“Feel the fear and do it anyway” ~ Susan Jeffers I’m blessed to have some fabulous people in my life, including career coach Kim Ann Curtin. Kim met with me recently to help me strategize about where my career is headed and how to get there. As we talked about various possibilities, Kim asked what I was afraid of. My…
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back — concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.…
Now you have to know I’d love a story that starts like this one in the Brooklyn Paper recently: Mavis Staples is the queen of reinvention. The Chicago-based singer and civil rights icon has been a staple on the gospel circuit for over 50 years, making her name foremost in spirituals with her family’s group, the Staple Singers, who added…
This is an encore for one of the very first posts I wrote on this blog, reflecting on January 2001 — 10 years ago this month. One day I was laid off, the next my mom was diagnosed with cancer, which would kill her six months later. My mom has been in my dreams a lot lately, I think reminding…
After talking about it for years, I finally started beginner piano lessons last spring, in part because the approach of my 40th birthday felt like a good deadline. I fantasized about learning a song that I’d be comfortable playing in public, maybe even hosting a big 40th birthday bash with New Orleans Bingo Show headlining and with me playing my…
It’s easy to see why Four-Hour Workweek is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestseller – working four hours a week and having a comfortable lifestyle is just short of winning the lottery in terms of fantasy freedom. After I heard author Tim Ferriss speak at MediaBistro Circus, where he shared many of the ways he’d marketed…
We took our Christmas tree down last weekend, and I think that’s got to be one of the saddest rituals of the year. When we decorate the tree in December, we’re preparing for a fun-filled season of celebrations. Taking the tree down is not only a less fun chore, it’s also the physical reminder that all that socializing and holiday…