2010 February | Kyle Chowning

Do you want to be the boss, or the leader?

February 27, 2010 By Kyle 1 Comment

I ran across this quote the other day and it struck a chord with me. Perhaps it will with you too.

The boss drives group members; the leader coaches them.
The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will.
The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’
The boss assigns the task, the leader sets the pace.
The boss says, ‘Get there on time’; the leader gets there ahead of time.
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.
The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes it a game.
The boss says, ‘Go’; the leader says, ‘Let’s go.’
– Author unknown

Filed Under: Leadership

What is Halogen?

February 19, 2010 By Kyle 3 Comments

In case you’ve wondered what Halogen is, here’s a great video we just did to highlight the highlights.

Filed Under: Videos

Why are nursery rhymes so violent?

February 14, 2010 By Kyle 2 Comments

Every night that I put my 2 year-old to sleep, I look forward to a really sweet time of hugs, laughs, kisses and singing. My songs consists of those that are short, easy to sing and hopefully, easy to remember so one day, she’ll sing them with me. But seriously, have you considered the content in nursery rhymes?

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

All sad and violent endings to otherwise great beginnings.

Does anybody else wonder why we sing these songs to our kids?

Filed Under: Misc

Tweet Toffee Giveaway

February 8, 2010 By Kyle 5 Comments

Update: I’m giving away 1/2lb of Toffee to the first 5 people to place an order and leave a comment on this post.

Today, I am launching a new series called Entrepreneur Spotlight. It’s where I will highlight a brand, company or idea that I’ve stumbled upon along the way that I want you, my readers, to know about. Having been an entrepreneur for over 10 years, so I know how much it has meant to me to get a push or a mention here and there from a friend or colleague. With that being said, I introduce…

Tweet Toffee

Six months ago, Ben & Sarah Tweet found themselves in between jobs and needed a way to make ends meet. After writing down dozens of different ideas, they landed on what they thought would be a sweet idea…toffee. Fast forward to today, they’ve built a thriving small business and now offer eight different types of toffee: (if you’re looking for the giveaway, jump to the bottom.)

Mocha Bianca – White chocolate covered Tweet Toffee and topped with chopped dark roasted coffee beans which are expertly matched with chocolate
Toffeopia with Almonds – Dark chocolate covered Tweet Toffee drizzled with white chocolate and caramel, then set off with a smattering of crushed malted milk balls and chopped almonds
Toffeopia with Coffee – Dark chocolate covered Tweet Toffee drizzled with white chocolate and caramel, then set off with a smattering of crushed malted milk balls and perfectly matched coffee beans
Peanut Butter Toffee – Peanut butter swirled in milk chocolate with a smattering of chopped peanut butter cups atop our famous toffee
Coffee Toffee – Dark chocolate mixed with perfectly paired coffee beans
Classic Milk – Our Classic Milk Chocolate Toffee features delicious sliced dry toasted almonds atop wonderful Milk Chocolate
Classic Dark – Our Classic Dark Chocolate Toffee features delicious diced and toasted pecans on top of decadent Dark Chocolate and is one of our fan favorites!
Notta Nut - Classic Milk Chocolate Toffee features delicious dry toasted almonds and is one of our favorites!

What I love about this story is that they took something that they were were passionate about, gave it a name and started marketing it.

Want to try some yourself? I know there are a lot of options so if you need a place to start, do yourself a favor and order Toffeopia with Coffee right now. If you can’t choose just one, then take advantage of their Sweet Sampler. Seriously, you’ll thank me.

The best part is that my friends at Tweet Toffee have extended a 10% discount to my readers. To take advantage of this discount, use the promotional code “kylechowning” when checking out. Don’t wait too long. the offer expires in 60 days.

To get the party started, I’m giving away five (5), 1/2lb packages of toffee to the first five people who place an order. To enter, leave a comment on this post with your name, email address, what kind(s) you ordered what date & time you placed your order. All orders will be verified.

And there you have Tweet Toffee. A sweet story, from some sweet friends to please your sweet tooth.

Filed Under: Featured, Social Change Tagged With: entrepreneur spotlight, toffeopia, tweet toffee

How to swap Twitter Usernames without losing Followers

February 7, 2010 By Kyle 11 Comments

Earlier last week, I made the move from using my Twitter username “chownage” to “kylechowning.” As to why, my main motivation is because people will know me before they’ll know chownage. Moreover, there are SEO (search engine optimization) benefits and overall, it just makes it easier for people to recall and reference.

After making the change, I got a few questions asking me how I did it and if there were any negative ramifications from doing so. The short answer is, it was easy and there weren’t any problems. However, the challenge that I encountered was that I had already registered the “kylechowning” username a year or so ago and there were pre-existing friends on that account. Because I didn’t want to start from scratch on either accounts, I had to get creative on making the swap.

By the way, if your new username of choice is not already taken, here are simple instructions on how to change your username. These instructions focus on swapping usernames of two currently existing accounts.

The following steps use the example of changing my main account chownage to kylechowning.

Log in to Twitter
In the upper right hand navigation bar, click Settings
Change Username from chownage to chownage2 – This will temporarily free up your current username
Log out of Twitter
Log in to your other Twitter account; in this case, kylechowning
Click Settings
Change Username from kylechowning to chownage – Now the username kylechowning is available
Log out of Twitter
Log in to Twitter using your chownage2 settings
Click Settings
Change Username from chownage2 to kylechowning

And your done! Due to the way that Twitter has setup the usernames, you don’t have to change anything within Twitter. All references to your name will change in non-cached Twitter feeds.

If you’ve integrated your Twitter account with any social networks or blogs, you’ll need to change your username so your updates are posted. Finally, don’t forget to change your settings on your favorite Twitter app(s).

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: twitter

I think I figured out the parallel plot lines in LOST

February 4, 2010 By Kyle 13 Comments

So I was thinking about LOST today and probably like you, I’ve been wondering why the dual plot lines. One moment, Jack and crew are still on the island. On another, he’s landed safe in LAX. But why? Here’s my conclusion so far.

In the end, they will go back in time, blow up the shaft again, and the show will end with Jack and the crew landing in LAX. As to the reason why Jack had vague recognition to the other passengers has to do something with him being the hero. At some point, he will have to lead the way and separate himself from the rest resulting in them living a normal life and Jack having recollection.

There. It may be right. It may be wrong. What do you think? (comment below)

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: lost, season 6

The Choice of Change

February 3, 2010 By Kyle 3 Comments

Remember when you went on a roller coaster for the first time? You stood in a line full of people who couldn’t wait to get on. Excitement dominated the air and the expectation of thrill was just around the corner. Your mind raced to wonder what it was going to be like. With every step closer, there was a collective increase in anticipation. People smiled. You smiled back. You talked about what it was going to be like; giddy like you just ate 10 donuts.

As you got closer to the end, you’re presented an opportunity; where to sit? It’s not as if there is a bad seat on the ride. It’s a matter of which perspective do you want to have? Is it best to sit in the very front? Or the very back? Either way, those are prime seats and you’re gonna have to wait in line a little longer. There’s something special about those seats. However, no less fun are the seats in between. In fact, no matter where you sit, you still get to experience the thrill of the ride.

Yet, for some the ride will be terrifying. The rider alone, interprets the experience.

This, is what change is like.

If you want the best, you’ll have to wait a little longer than others. Those opportunities are in high demand and they require a sacrifice to get to them.

If you want to get on the ride, you can and you’ll have to wait, but not as long. It’s still a fun ride and you’ll have a blast.

Then, there’s the experience of the ride. You have two choices:

1) Throw your hands up at every drop, scream like a little kid and run to the back of the line to do it again.

2) You embrace the fear of the ride where every drop, loop and corner is absolutely terrifying and you’ll walk away hating it and never wanting to ride again.

Your choice. The ride is perfectly safe. It’s up to you to decide if it’s thrilling or terrifying.

Herein lies the crossroad in which change is embraced or rejected.

What will you decide?

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: change, Leadership

It’s okay. I know it’s not perfect.

February 2, 2010 By Kyle 9 Comments

Monday’s are great aren’t they. It’s the beginning of a new week where we get a fresh start to embrace the new and betters that we set out for ourselves. Maybe it’s the goal to blog every day…to workout…eat better…watch less TV…the list could go on, and on. But let’s be real, rarely do we stick to the guns, right? I mean come on, this topic is so close to our own stories that I’m willing to bet that this post doesn’t get but one or two comments. Oh, and I’m going to start commenting more on other people’s blogs too.

Over the weekend I was catching up on some reading and I stumbled upon a recent post by Seth Godin called “Modern Procrastination.” It’s a great read and worth the 3 minutes it’ll take you to do so. However one sentence stood out that’s worth mentioning…

“Busy does not equal important. Measured doesn’t mean mattered.”

My buddy Jim Cowart had also written a post on a very similar topic called, “Try not to think about it” where he dives into the concept of what we put our minds to, gets our focus and energy; that can be success, accomplishments, education, procrastination, frustration, disappointment, failure…you name it.

What I realized is that those of us who are often hindered by what we can’t do and almost always overlook what strengths we do bring to the table. If we would set our sights on those things, then we would not only be able to imagine a different world, we would actually live in it.

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: jim cowart, procrastination