Hasta La Gadget!

The Takata air bags issue is still happening, and as of today both Nissan and Toyota have initiated a massive recall with a combined total of 6.56 million cars globally. The recall is the latest to be initiated over the Takata air bags, which are prone to malfunction due to moisture seeping into the components. More than 10 car manufacturers … Continue reading

When starting and growing a business, staying in the right frame of mind is vital to your success. Let there be no doubt that living your dream requires effort that you’ll sometimes have to pull out of nowhere. Your attitude will constantly adjust between creative thinking and serious self-doubt. When you become your own boss, you wear many hats and perform many tasks – some of which will be frustrating and will require patience as you learn how to run your business. In order to stay focused, you’ll need to set your determination on overdrive, learn to be flexible and find the strength to remain steadfast to see your dream of being a business owner come to life. Here are seven habits to nurture a small business state of mind.

Set appropriate goals.

Goal setting is another way you can push yourself forward, but remember the quality of your goals must be high. Do not settle for simply setting goals with no follow through. If you want to, for example, set the goal of finding a mentor, ask yourself: what does it take to accomplish that objective? Break it down into tasks like “reach out to 2 potential mentors each month” or “attend 3 networking events each month” so that you break down that goal into manageable activities.

Follow through.

If you’ve ever attended a networking event and met people who promised to call you about a potential partnership, then never did, you see the lost opportunity of not following through. Think of following through as grabbing an opportunity. You never know which one of your efforts will succeed, so following through is just another way of being proactive. Take care of things as soon as possible — call people back, say thank you, reach out to colleagues, send the letter, et cetera. as soon as possible.

Keep a positive attitude.

Having a positive attitude is not about pie-in-the-sky promises or a maintaining a Pollyanna-ish attitude. It is about seeing things in perspective and framing things in a positive light. Rather than asking yourself “What can I do to avoid this situation,” ask yourself “What can I do to correct this situation?” The right attitude embraces challenges, always looking for the lesson buried in the difficulties.

Seek to stand out.

Entrepreneurs embrace their uniqueness. As children, we tended to want to blend in rather than be blatantly different. However, now I suggest that you embrace what makes you unique. When you celebrate that which makes you and your company distinct, you stand out from the crowd and differentiate from your competitors. 

Learn from failure and move on.

Disappointments can be difficult, but they are also great opportunities to learn. Instead of being ashamed of the mishaps and blunders you’ve made, seek the lesson you can learn from your mistakes. By learning from your defeats, you grow stronger. Each one of those experiences helped shape you as an individual, so look for the deeper meaning.

Embrace life-long learning.

The quickest way to stagnation is to reject new modes of thinking. Entrepreneurs are defined by their ability to embrace new technology, new theories and new practices. The entrepreneurial mindset is fed by that unending appetite for new learning and it will help you expand your skills and grow your business. 

Pace yourself.

Yes, you have a lot you need to accomplish to reach the top of that mountain, but patience and perseverance define successful entrepreneurs. You need to pace yourself as you climb to financial and business success. Pushing yourself is an admirable quality, but ultimately it is unsustainable. It is healthy to prepare for those times when you’ll need to work demanding hours, but don’t define yourself by your ability to do that and only that, or you’ll soon burn out.

In order to succeed in business, the most effective moguls work to safeguard their mindset, as they would use diet and exercise to stay physically fit. Follow through with these seven habits and you will accomplish your goal of becoming your own boss.

This article was originally published under the title How to Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Mindset at www.succeedasyourownboss.com

Melinda F. Emerson, SmallBizLady  is America’s #1 small business expert. She is an author, speaker and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. She writes a weekly column for the New York Times, publishes a resource blog, www.succeedasyourownboss.com which is syndicated through The Huffington Post. She also hosts a weekly talk show on Twitter called #SmallBizChat for small business owners. As a brand, she reaches 1.5 million entrepreneurs a week on the internet. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. Forbes Magazine named Melinda Emerson one of the #1 Woman for Entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. Melinda has been featured on MSNBC, Fox News, NBC Nightly News and in Fortune, The Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Black Enterprise. She is the bestselling author of “Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works,” and the ebook How to Become a Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online.

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Brittany Snow has a message for anyone who feels like they’re struggling with their emotions: Talk about it.

The “Pitch Perfect 2” actress sat down with HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani to discuss the simple yet powerful reason we need to address mental health issues through bigger platforms like social media.

“I think the stigma surrounding mental illness, and also the stigma surrounding self-esteem issues or insecurities or just even feeling different is something that doesn’t really get enough attention,” Snow said. “Everybody struggles with feeling alone or that they are going through something they don’t quite understand.”

Those feelings are exactly why Snow says she helped create Love is Louder, a project with the Jed Foundation that encourages young adults to talk about their emotional health online.

“This was a place I wanted to start online where people really had a chance to connect with other people who were going through similar things to feel like they’re not going crazy, they’re not alone,” she said. “You really are more connected to people than you probably think.”

Watch the full HuffPost Live clip above to hear Snow chat more about the Love is Louder movement.

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Herbert Bail Orchestra is a fusion of past and present, frontier and adventure, psyche and soul. Full sounds and powerful live performances pull listeners into their timeless dimension. With 6 core members and several guest musicians, they are truly an orchestral experience. In my exclusive interview with Anthony Frattolillo, singer-songwriter and guitarist of Herbert Bail Orchestra, I discover the band’s spirit animal, story, inception, upcoming ambitions and much more.

Morena: How did you accumulate such a large ensemble of talented musicians?

Anthony: I told my best friend Katz I wrote some songs and we were starting a band, and there was some gold in a cave and a dragon and anyone who was willing to brave the journey with us could share in the spoils.

Morena: What a magical journey! Tell me about your music video trilogy. How did director Björn Rühmann become a part of the journey?

Anthony: Well, you need a day job. I’m a writer and a director, Katz is an art director and production designer. That’s how we came to meet award-winning director Björn and his wife Kerstin. It’s been an amazing experience to collaborate with Björn and Kertsin on this epic cinematic vision. The music video trilogy has been two years in the making. Watch Part I: The Nature of Things exclusive release on Nowness and Vimeo Staff Pick. Part II: The Big Sound is coming out early this summer.

Morena: I’ve heard your music referred to as a “journey into the American psyche.” How does the narrative of your music reflect the American psyche?

Anthony: It’s like the line from John Ford’s last great American western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, the newspaperman Maxwell Scott says at the end of the film, “No sir, this is the West! When the legend becomes fact… print the legend.” The name of the band itself echoes from an era past; Herbert Bail was my grandfather’s name at birth. He went on to assume many lives, under many other names.

Morena: Your music tells a story sonically and lyrically. What is the inspiration behind the narrative of your sound?

Anthony: I think we all lead many lives. There are no single truths. For me, the untold story of my family legacy inspired the narrative of our sound.

Morena: What has been one of your most memorable live performances?

Anthony: At The Grand Artique Stage at Lighting in a Bottle when the audience was singing the harmony along with us to “You Are Beautiful” (our new single coming out soon) and one young woman sauntered towards stage and put her arms around one of the monitors at our feet, hugging and cuddling the loud speaker smiling and grooving along to the music.

Morena: I love that story. Are there any festivals or countries at which you hope to perform?

Anthony: Katz has some family in Calabria, Italy. It would be cool to play down there. Anyone know any cool festivals in Southern Italy?

Morena: Not yet, but let me know what festivals you discover! What animal, would you say, represents the spirit of the Herbert Bail Orchestra?

Anthony: The meerkat.

Morena: Perfect. What can we expect from the Herbert Bail Orchestra in 2015?

Anthony: We’ve been in the studio with our producer Chris Rondinella at Heritage Recording co-working on a collection of new songs. We got a new single, “You Are Beautiful,” coming out this month! Sign up for our mailing list to get a free download of the new tune when it’s released. Wednesday, May 20th at The Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles, we’re having a release show followed by a California spring tour with performances Sunday, May 24th at The Grand Artique’s Frontierville stage at Lighting in a Bottle and Saturday, June 6th at SubZero Fest in San Jose.

Stay tuned for Part II and Part III of their epic music video trilogy coming out this summer as well as their newest single, “You Are Beautiful.”

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
Wednesday May 20th – The Bootleg Theater | Los Angeles, CA
Sunday May 24th – Lighting in a Bottle | Bradley, CA
Saturday May 30th – Lost on Main | Chico, CA
Saturday June 6th – SubZero Festival | San Jose, CA

Herbert Bail Orchestra – The Nature of Things from Furlined on Vimeo.

Website: http://www.herbertbail.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/herbertbail
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Herbert-Bail-Orchestra/211301845584026?fref=ts

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One year after the U.S. Department of Justice accused student loan giant Navient Corp. of intentionally cheating active-duty troops on private and federal student loans, the Education Department is likely to effectively clear the company of lawbreaking.

Separate investigations into Navient’s conduct by Education Department staff and Ernst & Young, an outside audit firm the department hired to double-check its own staff’s work, found that the company largely complied with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the law the Justice Department exactly one year ago accused Navient of violating, when dealing with troops’ federal student loans, according to two people familiar with the inquiries.

Acceptance of the findings by senior Education Department officials would stand in sharp contrast to a May 2014 lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleging that Navient, and its former owner, SLM Corp., or Sallie Mae, had overcharged troops on their federal student loans in violation of the servicemembers law and made it difficult for troops to access other benefits under the provision. The law has capped interest rates on federal student loans for active-duty troops at 6 percent since 2008.

Clearing Navient also would raise questions about the strength of various federal investigations into the company’s conduct. Student loan activists have encouraged the Education Department to take a harder line against corporate wrongdoing and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), among other congressional Democrats, have criticized the department’s lax supervision of contractors.

Education Department staff outside Washington also concluded the department’s other loan servicers complied with the servicemembers’ law. Those investigators determined the contractors acted within the department’s interpretation of the servicemembers law, which called for troops to specifically request the law’s benefits in writing and to provide a copy of military orders for active duty.

In many instances, these sources said, the loan contractors were too generous to military borrowers by allowing them, for example, to postpone payments without requiring certain paperwork.

The Education Department has yet to announce the results of its investigation, originally due in September 2014. The deadline was moved to May 1, which the department also missed. The results, sources said, aren’t final and could change now that they’re in the hands of Washington-based Education Department officials. The Huffington Post reported in October 2014 that the department’s investigators had cleared Navient and other student loan companies of wrongdoing, but hadn’t publicly announced the results. The department then hired Ernst ​& Young.

Denise Horn, an Education Department spokeswoman, didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. Dena Iverson, a Justice Department spokeswoman, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Also failing to reply to requests for comment were representatives of other major Education Department loan servicers: Patricia Christel of Navient; Keith New of Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, commonly known as FedLoan Servicing; Ben Kiser of Nelnet Inc.; and Brett Lindquist of Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. & Affiliates.

Federal authorities said in May 2014 that Navient broke the law in multiple ways: The company failed to honor troops’ requests after receiving them, did not follow up with troops whose documents may have been deficient, failed to inform troops of the 6 percent cap when they requested other benefits under the law, and improperly told service members that they must be deployed in order to receive benefits.

According to the Justice Department, an audit of the company’s systems revealed that just 7 percent of troops on active duty who had student loans with interest rates above 6 percent, and whose loans had a special military identification code in the companies’ computer systems, had their rates capped under the law. The remaining 93 percent paid much more than they should have under the law.

Federal prosecutors said the company’s conduct was “intentional, willful, and taken in disregard for the rights of servicemembers.”

Many of the aggrieved troops’ student loans were owned by the Education Department. Federal prosecutors said a majority of troops gave Sallie Mae and Navient paperwork that made clear they were eligible for the servicemembers law’s protections.

“This type of conduct is more than just inappropriate. It is inexcusable and it will not be tolerated,” then-Attorney General Eric Holder said a year ago.

Federal prosecutors’ allegations suggested that Navient had violated its loan servicing contract with the Education Department. The contract prohibits companies from violating relevant federal and state laws, such as the servicemembers provision.

The Justice Department allowed Navient to settle the claims without admitting or denying wrongdoing, funding an account with $60 million that would be used to refund some 60,000 aggrieved troops. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced what he described as a “thorough” review to determine the company’s guilt or innocence.

The Education Department used its own staff to probe the company’s compliance with the law, then hired an outside audit firm to further investigate — bringing the total number of inquiries into the matter to at least five, which includes a brief Consumer Financial Protection Bureau review, the company’s own internal investigation and the Justice Department’s probe.

After a year of probes, the Education Department’s findings suggest that Navient will keep its contract to collect borrowers’ monthly payments and counsel them on their repayment options.

Borrower advocates, including the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, had urged the department to cancel the company’s contract in the wake of the Justice Department’s lawsuit. The American Legion, the influential veterans organization, criticized the Education Department for dragging out its probe of Navient, and publicly speculated that the department appeared more interested in protecting its contractor than service members.

At the root of the Education Department’s inquiry was a fundamental disagreement with the Justice Department over how to judge lawbreaking, sources said.

The Education Department interpreted the servicemembers law in a manner that put a heavy burden on troops. For example, they had to specifically request the interest rate cap in writing, and they had to provide a copy of their military orders that had to include the end dates of their active-duty tours — even though officers in the military often don’t have end dates on their orders.

Until recently, the websites for all four of the department’s major loan servicers — Navient, FedLoan, Nelnet and Great Lakes — directed service members to submit their requests in writing, along with a copy of their military orders.

In contrast, the Justice Department, which enforces the law, has taken a more troop-friendly interpretation. For example, Navient was accused of breaking the law in part because it didn’t tell troops about the interest rate benefit when they requested other benefits under the servicemembers law.

The Education Department judged its contractors’ compliance according to its interpretation of the statute, rather than the Justice Department’s. The Education Department has since relaxed its standards after Justice Department pressure to make it easier for troops.

Navient agreed to refund aggrieved troops as part of its settlement with the Justice Department. It’s unclear whether the Education Department has required its other servicers to compensate aggrieved troops.

With one glaring exception — the Education Department stopped sending a Navient subsidiary new accounts under its debt collection contract — the department has largely treated Navient more as a trusted ally than as a regulated entity, consumer advocates said.

For example, a few weeks after the Justice Department settlement, and a related news conference in which Duncan threatened the company’s lucrative loan servicing contract, the Education Department quietly renewed the contract. It has since sent the company more accounts under that contract and increased its pay.

The department also has yet to recoup some $22 million in alleged overpayments to the company its inspector general recommended it collect in 2009, according to the company’s most recent quarterly report to investors. Navient also is still in the running for the department’s new debt collection contract.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in 2013 said that the Education Department risked becoming a “lapdog” as a result of its lackluster policing of student loan companies such as Navient.

“When students and families take out loans, they should be able to trust that the Education Department’s servicers are following the law and delivering quality customer service to all of our borrowers,” Duncan said last May.

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