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BuzzFeed...

7/24/2015

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The other day I was bombarded with emails and text messages from friends and customers about my invention - the award-winning patemm pad.  They were all congratulating me for being mentioned in BuzzFeed.  I honestly had no idea what they were referring to until I looked it up myself.  To my surprise, my patemm pad was named one of 19 Brilliant Parent-Invented Products To Make Your Life Easier. 

Wow, what an honor!  I was beyond THRILLED!  My product has been around for over 11 years and being included in this "Brilliant" list truly made my day!  Thank you, BuzzFeed for including my product.
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My Dad:  The Accidental Entrepreneur Who Paved The Way For My Future

6/21/2015

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My dad and hero - Alfeo M. Rodriguez - is an incredible man!  He and my mom raised 3 daughters and taught us all to be strong, hard-working individuals.  Education was always a top priority in our family and it was discussed often at home.  Getting good grades and being a good student was basically a norm in our household.  And, the dream of becoming a doctor or lawyer was always the topic of conversation for our future careers.

This is common with immigrant families.  My parents are from Bicol, Philippines. They, like many immigrants, who came to U.S. had the same idea - America was the land of opportunity.  My parents didn't have a lot when they came to the U.S. but they knew and were determined to raise a family and provide a better life for their children.

My dad worked hard in the insurance business but eventually became an accidental entrepreneur.  He and my mom bought real estate in Philadelphia, owned a jewelry store, and even owned very popular pizzaria - Spruce Pizza.  I remember back in the day, my parents worked long, hard hours at the pizza shop and even tried to make my sisters and I work there as well.  We, on the other hand, were not thrilled about it but we helped anyway.

As time past, my sisters and I were preparing to attend college and my parents went through many financial struggles, like many families and entrepreneurs do.  It was tough on them but they persevered - through hard work and with many, many prayers. 

Fast forward, decades later, I am not a doctor or a lawyer but I am an entrepreneur.  I remember after I graduated from New York University, I told myself that all I wanted to do is work for a corporation.  The thought of becoming an entrepreneur never crossed my mind.  Well, look at me now - I am a wife, a mom to 4 kids, and have 2 businesses - patemm inc and (g}Collaborative.  I guess becoming an entrepreneur was always in my DNA.  Thank you, Dad for becoming an accidental entrepreneur and showing me the way.  Your hard work, determination, and entrepreneurial "gene" is clearly in me...

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  Thank you for your continued love, support, and guidance.


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Outsourcing:  Better Now Than Later...

6/19/2015

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Entrepreneurs wear many hats - it is part of the life we lead when starting / running your own business.  When I started with my first company - patemm inc  back in 2004 - it was as if I was having another baby.  I was responsible for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  I loved it, I was in control, and I was happy.  I worked my butt off to make sure my business was NOT going to fail especially in the beginning after I launched the company website.

As my business grew, so did the responsibilities.  Believe me, I have had my share of sleepless nights, anxiety, and a whole lot of stress.  Could I be supermom, raise my family, and continue to build my business?  I knew I could and thank goodness for my husband Marty and my parents to help out whenever possible.  However, even with their incredible love and support, there was so much adding to my plate of responsibilities with a growing business.  Everyone was telling me to get some help to ease the stress.  I didn't listen and take action until years later...

During an early growth spurt at patemm, we were so busy with sales, fulfillment, manufacturing, retail inquiries, and all of the media attention, it was hard to keep up.  I was overwhelmed and stressed. My strength in the business - Public Relations and Marketing - were slowly taking a back seat as the "other" mundane business responsibilities that I had took over.  Sound familiar? 

After a lot of convincing from my family and my mentors, and coming to the realization that something needed to be done ASAP, I finally decided to outsource many of the day-to-day responsibilities so I could focus on my strengths within the business.  More importantly, re-focus the #1 priority in my life - my family.

Seriously, what was I thinking and why didn't I do this sooner?  I was stubborn and I thought I could do it all.  Well, I was wrong.  This was a big lesson for me as an entrepreneur:  "Master your Strengths...Outsource your Weaknesses."



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Spring check-in!

4/25/2015

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It finally feels like Spring around here!  We had a tough, long New England winter and this is what I have been looking forward to for months - putting the winter gear away, sunshine, longer days, and doing some major spring cleaning.  It is always this time of year that I do a personal check-in for myself.  I examine my personal goals that I set in the beginning of the year and so far, I am on track and I even added a new goal for this fall.  I will be running my second marathon this November - The Philadelphia Marathon.  I am pretty excited (yet nervous) about running 26.2 miles in my hometown.  My official training begins at the end of May and I am already mentally preparing myself as I have been keeping up with my daily 5-7 mile runs.

The family is well and the kids are thrilled about the weather we have been having lately - minus the allergies! Although we still have some brisk days, we are taking advantage of those 60+ degree temp days.  Seriously, this past winter was flat-out dreadful...My family and I have never shoveled so much snow before!

My businesses have been keeping me quite busy these days.  patemm just launched our new patemm prints and our new, limited edition summer print - The Vintage Americana Momma is now available online at:  www.patemm.com.  I have been traveling to Manhattan weekly for {g}Collaborative. I am working with a few new, fun, and emerging businesses. I am also mentoring at my alma mater - NYU, attending pitch sessions and various Marketing / PR events throughout the city.

So, when I look at where I am right now in terms of my goals, I am on track.  I am hoping to keep the momentum going but as we approach the summer months, I will need to do another check-in as summers for me, my family, and my businesses take on a whole different game plan.

Wish me luck...





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The 2015 NYU Entrepreneurs Festival (NYU EF) / #launchyourstory

3/12/2015

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I  spent this past week-end at my old stomping grounds - my alma mater - New York University - at the 2015 NYU Entrepreneurs Festival / NYU EF in New York City.  Wow, it felt great to be back! So much has changed since I graduated back in 1990 especially with all of the new buildings that are around Washington Square Park.

As I walked around the snowy campus, it brought back so many fond memories of my time spent at NYU and around Washington Square Park.  During that time, I often wondered what I would be doing after I left this place.  Oddly enough, I am doing exactly what I thought I would never be doing...I am an entrepreneur with 2 businesses.

I had an interesting journey at NYU.  I started at the Tisch School of the Arts in Dance and a year later I transferred to Washington Square College and University (WSUC) - now called College of Arts and Science (CAS).  I majored in Latin American Studies / Cultural Anthropology.  After I graduated, I decided to move to the west coast to San Francisco, California to continue graduate studies at Cal Berkeley.  It never happened...

I worked for an architectural and design firm and later met my husband and had 4 kids.  After my 2nd child was born, I had an idea for a baby product...and I did something about it.   I designed it,
I made a prototype out of a piece of construction paper, built a website, marketed it, and launched my patented, award-winning baby product / invention called a patemm pad in 2004 within a few months.

Fast forward to 2014, I launched my 2nd business - {g}Collaborative - a boutique marketing, publicity, and launch consulting agency.

This is what I talked about during the festival and LOVED every second of it.  As a NYU mentor, I shared my ups and downs, my failures and successes, lessons learned, and the possible future of it all.  It was fun to share my knowledge and experiences with students, alum, and faculty.  They all seemed to enjoy my entrepreneurial journey especially the motherhood part of it - running 2 businesses and raising a family.  Yes, it is do-able!

The 2-day festival brought the NYU community together to connect, collaborate, and celebrate entrepreneurs from across the University.  It was organized around a series of keynote talks, panels, start-up roundtables, workshops, and a venture showcase.  They even added "The Pitch" where several NYU student start-up teams had the opportunity to present their ventures to a panel of venture capitalists. #launchyourstory

The festival was run by an organizing committee which included student volunteers, faculty, and alum.  I really enjoyed spending time with the aspiring student entrepreneurs that I had the opportunity to meet one-on-one. Many of them just chuckled when I told them that I graduated from NYU in 1990 because a majority of them were born that same year.  Ok, I am dating myself here...

I am looking forward to participating and attending next year's Festival in 2016 as well continue my involvement with NYU!  I  love the entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and mindset - to see and be around future aspiring entrepreneurs is really something special...and exciting! 


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    Wife, mom to 4 kids, inventor, entrepreneur,  + educational advocate. 

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