For the past few years, SUNY Adirondack has invited to speak to MicroEnterprise Assistance Program students on what it's like to be a business owner. I was an attendee at the first MAP session back in 2010 or so, right as I was launching Advokate. I consider the...
Upstate New York crafter Jeanne Nivard of Jeanne's Bags is one of the early adopters of Amazon.com's new venture, “Handmade at Amazon.” This new online store, which has the internet buzzing about whether it's the nail in Etsy's coffin, launched in October 2015. Many Etsy...
Here is a presentation I prepared for the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Adirondack Class of 2015-2016. I just gave this talk today at Gracenote! I was so nervous going in, but everyone had a good sense of humor and laughed with me (and,...
t's always rough going back to the daily grind after the holidays — and can you imagine if January meant the first official back-to-work day in nearly two months? That was today. Our sweet baby Daniel was born on November 10, and I had been...
Hello! This is Cory, Kate Austin-Avon's husband. We are writing to let you know that our second child, Daniel Robert Kenneth Austin-Avon, was just born on November 10! This means that Advokate is taking two weeks off while we tend to our new little guy....
We are anxiously expecting a new addition to our family soon! His due date is November 8, and so here we are on the edge of maternity leave. Here's how this is going to work: When Baby Two arrives, Advokate will take two weeks off while...
Philip Morris, CEO of Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, spoke to a group of people at LARAC yesterday about how the arts can revitalize a community. I was glad to be there. The dude is brilliant. I had no idea what Proctors did for Schenectady, and...
This morning I delivered this presentation on Developing Your Brand at SUNY Adirondack for the Adirondack Business Development Partnership and the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce. The most important thing to remember is brand consistency — figure out what sets you apart from the others, make it...
Sign up for the Advokate Branding Presentation, free to members of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, this Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at SUNY Adirondack! It's the new buzz word of Business: Branding. The question remains, what is it and how does it relate to your business? Join...
I grew up in rural Killington, Vermont. While my sister and I did our fair share of stuff straight out of the Berenstain Bears — playing in the woods, going to friends' houses and biking down to the Rec. Center — the country life lent itself...
