Éva Raposa Éva Raposa

Homeschooling Calendar

Find a free homeschool attendance calendar on this page, for homeschool friends! :)

This one’s for homeschooling friends. :-)

Downloadable CALENDAR for tracking attendance:

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Éva Raposa Éva Raposa

Y'all, we can do SOMETHING!

We are NOT drops in the ocean!!!!!!!! This is about what we really are… it’s so much better than that!

I admit to feeling overwhelmed sometimes.

I’m obsessed with sunflowers and have been since I remember field after field in the countryside of Hungary as a kid. Do you see the huge number of seeds in the close up of these one?! ONE SUNFLOWER = SO MANY SEEDS!!!!!!

I’m obsessed with sunflowers and have been since I remember field after field in the countryside of Hungary as a kid. Do you see the huge number of seeds in the close up of these one?! ONE SUNFLOWER = SO MANY SEEDS!!!!!!

Like there’s SO MUCH to be up against, and there are so many challenges in the world. And on top of it, sometimes it just feels like we’re tiny drops in a huge ocean.

Although there are billions of humans on this planet, I have finally seen that we are NOT AT ALL tiny drops in a huge ocean!!

We’re more like…

Dominoes

ready to bump our fellow Dominoes into action! BOOM!

Seeds

ready to grow then bloom then multiply with the power of more seeds spreading, for generations to come!

Matches

ready to ignite a giant fire! YESSS!

I mean… why not…?

In September of 2019, I decided to start the co-op. We started with a handful of members. NOW, more than 100 member families are regularly making use of the co-op to buy food that’s in truly backyard compostable bags (not plastic!!). As a group, we’ve been responsible for preventing THOUSANDS of plastic bags from going to landfills. Plus, the foods are organic, and we get better prices than pretty much anywhere. We work in a tiny space, but it’s big enough to make an impact!

And isn’t this how all projects and businesses go?

We have an idea, and it starts small then GROWS.

Dominoes. Seeds. Matches!

One step today, more tomorrow, and the next thing you know you’re getting somewhere!

So no matter how crazy things are… no matter how big challenges seem… no matter how royally screwed up something is…

What seems so big? HA! It’s big, but the results of our actions can be big too!

We can start “small” today and manage to make a HUGE impact!

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Éva Raposa Éva Raposa

Anyone else need a white pill?

Boy, have I needed a white pill sometimes. This is the one I’m dosing myself with. Maybe it can be helpful to another friend out there…?

Hi friends,

Things were already weird, but boy did they get extra weird in March of 2020. When seemingly outlandish conspiracy theories come true and the dominoes fall one after one, dang it can really be disheartening!

Photo courtesy of Diana Polekhina

So this is the white pill* I'm dosing myself with as I ponder all the logic defying mandates and more:

The Berlin Wall eventually fell. The Gulags eventually closed. The Cold War eventually ended. The Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed. Roman Empire too. Really... all the empires... eventually are replaced. The markets that crashed and burned came back to life. Children become adults. Every ding dang thing will change because that's how things work!

YES, IT FEELS EXTRA CRAZY RIGHT NOW. BUT...

We can resist madness. We can remember what's real. We can honor that everything in life is temporary, even life. "This too shall pass."

I cannot allow myself to be black pilled by the insanity. There is a reason I don't own a TV or use a SMART phone or trust the oh-so-lame news media!

I'm making a vow right now to really live my best life. To act with faith, not live in fear. My thoughts, my choices, my body... they are MINE and MINE ALONE. To self medicate with enough white pills needed that I find hope in the insanity. Like visiting the well to refill my jug, as often I needed, if that makes sense.

THERE IS ALWAYS MORE HOPE TO BE FOUND! Today is a new day, and God willing, tomorrow will be another new day too...

I’m sharing here b/c I've been needing to remember this. Maybe I'm not the only one?!

With faith, hope, ‘n love,
Éva

P.S. *Taking a white pill is essentially another way to say that you’re dosing yourself up with something that fills you with hope. Taking a black pill, by contrast, is when you see the crummy-appearing things in the world and feel similarly crummy.

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Invite + Peek into our Homeschooling Fun!

Homeschooling fun with the postcard project and more!

 Hi friends,

Click the photo to peek with more detail…

We want your help with our Epic Postcard Project, and this felt like a nice moment to share a few things we’re working on in our homeschooling world…

MATH. We’re loving the “Learn Math Fast” series and work with it daily. I love that we use real life objects to bring it to life! I had a happy homeschooling moment today when Lilla got 100% correct on a timed quiz and had to be SUPER LIGHTNING FAST answers… She aced it then turned to me and said, “Math is fun!”

MORE MATH (What we call “Monopoly Math”, to be precise!). Lilla’s our fabulous banker, and we use the Monopoly and Vineyardopoly sets from the local thrift shop to have FUN building math skills and playing together. There are so many math opportunities in Monopoly!

READING For about 7-10 years old, the Magic Tree House series can be fun to read. I feel like Lilla will grow out of it by next year, but we’ll see. They’re also fun for lessons and continuing the learning from the books!

READING/WRITING/GEOGRAPHY! (Epic Worldwide Postcard Project!) So. We just started this project last week, and we do it in a super fun and learning friendly way. We’re aiming to do the following:

  • Send and receive a postcard to every state in the USA! Plus other countries too… the more the merrier!

  • As we go, enjoy a mini-lesson about that location’s weather, tidbits, and geography. We pull out the Atlas and everything every time!

  • Lilla’s doing all the writing, so it’s great practice to write our address and the addresses in other locations.

  • When we have the nice treat to mail another country, we’re learning or practicing simple greetings in their language. (France was fun; shout out and thanks for getting us your address and giving the language lesson, Rebecca!! Câlins et Bisous!!)

⁉️Invite: WANT TO JOIN
OUR POSTCARD PROJECT⁉️

CLICK HERE or the button below to give us your address (and maybe even answer a few optional questions about where you live), and we’ll add you to our Postcard Love List!

For friends who are homeschooling or have kids who would love to learn with you (or who would like to postcard swap!!), I hope you’ll find something in this post to bless you!

With Heaps of Love,
Éva

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Pinterest Tips, Tools, and TASTE from my board!

After 8-ish years away, I’ve been playing with Pinterest again. Here is a SUPER helpful (I hope!) 5-minute video sharing what I’m doing to dive back in!!

Hi Friends,

As you may or may not know, I have had some struggles with some parts of social media being misaligned. Alignment is super important in my world! So I’ve felt that Pinterest could be a GREAT tool for me. It’s social, YES, but it’s mostly a search engine of sorts.

So after about eight years off of Pinterest, I’m reviving my old profile and want to be super transparent about it. In the 5-minute video below I share some SUPER cool tools and tips. #Truth ~ I’m not sure what will work well, but I’ve been learning and experimenting, and this feels good for my start!

Note: Below the video, you’ll find some links and references from the video. Hope it’s a help to you if this is something you’d also like to dive into! Feel free to comment on this post if you have comments or questions OR if you’d like to share your Pinterest page so we can connect there!

 
 

References & Notes from the Video

  • Find me on <<Pinterest @Uncooking101

  • <<CANVA>> is the super simple design software I used.

  • You can find my <<FIRST NEW PIN here>>.

  • Not mentioned in the video: THANK YOU to Rebecca H for your/her rock star sidekick support on helping prep the first pin template! Sometimes (often!) “it takes teamwork to make the dream work!”

  • Profile image size that worked well: 1200px wide x 700px tall

  • Pin image size that worked well: 800px wide x 1200px tall

  • Hashtags used: #rawvegan #rawfood #rawveganrecipe #rawfoodrecipe

An ask!

As I shared in my video, I am learning as I go on this journey. I’m not by any means a Pinterest Pro at this point, so if you have great tips, I’d be absolutely delighted if you shared them! THANK YOU!!!! xxo

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Why & How I'm Going "Friendsless" on Facebook

I’m on the process of going “Friendsless on Facebook”. Here’s more about why and how. Giddy up!!!!

Dear Friends,

Have you ever landed in the Black Hole version of Facebook, where you arrive to do one thing (like: reply to a message, post to your Facebook business page, look for a piece of information)… but… you do many other things instead?

LOOK, A SQUIRREL!

And then, just like that, you have fallen into what my friend J* calls “the Black Hole that is Facebook”. (*Note: At the time of sharing this, I don’t know yet if “J” wants to be quoted, but I do want to honor that she is the one who said this to me. It really resonated!!)

And then in life, you seem to not “have enough time” to do important things on your to-do list and Life List?

It’s a less-than-stellar combo to spend any amount of time on Facebook, if you have important life stuff that’s not getting done! Because we have the time to accomplish all that we desire. The question is really about how we are using that time. Are we using that time to piddle away on Facebook? Or to do what is important? Side note: CEOs have the time to build their organizations through perseverance, focus, and delegation (often passion, too!); I’m aiming to step fully into the role of CEO both in life and in business.

Separately but very related: I don’t want to be one of Zucker’s Suckers. Seriously, the whole premise of the data-driven organizations like Facebook is that WE ARE THEIR ASSETS. On our end, our data is shared with the intention of connecting with friends, family, and clients or others. And then Facebook mines that data to create a file about us, which has been shown to be leaked on previous occasions and is being used for their benefit. But basically our info — our personal details — are being bought, rented, and sold. And we know that; it’s no secret.

Ya’ll, that’s some weird $***.

Yet, Facebook is a tool that is currently useful because so many friends and family are on it. So I see it as a tool that a friend once said is like “using the Devil’s tools to do the work of angels”. It can be helpful to build business that positively affects both people and planet! I’ve helped other businesses to build million$ via Facebook, and I can tell you 100% that it has helped the growth of our co-op. It can definitely be useful!

And so what in the kale do we do?! Just walk away, despite the value. MAYBE. (That could be my next step, personally.)

But what if there is another way to make use of Facebook that’s a compromise?

I’ve been learning all that I can about going Friends-less on Facebook, and this is why I’m aiming to finalize it within days (so, Facebook fam, it’s time for us to build a new bridge to each other, because this one is full of poachers and time suckers and other unsavory bits).

Giddy up, let’s dive into this, shall we?

SOME OF MY REASONS TO GO FRIENDS-LESS ON FACEBOOK

  • Stop feeding the data machine tolls. If I am limited, focused, and intentional about the ways I use Facebook, I’m using it instead of them using me.

  • Burn the bridge of distraction. I know about apps you can use with Chrome* that eliminate the news feed. But I’d rather not go that route. *Note: Chrome is a Google product. And if you know me well, you know that I don’t use Google when I can avoid it. Ecosia is my go-to, and some others prefer DuckDuckGo for searching. But Google? NAH. My preferred browser is Firefox for the sake of digital privacy amongst other reasons.

  • Can we just be honest about whether we’re seeking a friend or a client, people of Facebook?! I personally don’t resonate with using my Facebook Friends List as a way to dig into hearts and squeeze business out, on the sly. I’d rather friends who want to connect on business, to get in touch or otherwise opt in to that. Some business coaches out there suggest friending potential clients as a way to get closer and then make a move. If that’s for you, great. But, um, since I’m about to take the “friendsless on Facebook”, I’m opting out of that too, which is great because personally I find that if feels slimy AF.

  • Business Support & Other Local Groups. I’m part of more than one business group I’ve joined to receive support on programs I have paid to be part of. Eventually, I may find that I’d rather use the other avenues of support, but for now, that feels aligned IFF I’m using Facebook in that way.

  • It’s the best alternative I’ve found to just up and leaving. Because I still want to be part of the groups mentioned above, as well as to manage the business pages I manage. For now, anyways!

  • If you really want to contact me, I’m not hard to find. While I don’t check email every minute of every day, I do have my contact page right on a website (this one!) that is literally my name.

  • I’d like to use other means as primary ways to connect with friends and family. Despite all the C-related mainstream media messages, loved ones’ reactions, and new regulations, I whole heartedly and 100% believe that it is healthy and ideal to connect with humans in the flesh. Zoom, blogs, and email are great tools to connect both individually and in groups outside of Facebook. And really, those are just a few options of many.

HOW I’M TRANSITIONING TO THE FRIENDS-LESS WAY

  1. Saving data where possible. Some friends wouldn’t be easy to find again. That is one of the challenges. I could still be found! So at least there is that. But for this reason, I’m in the process of creating a very simple spreadsheet with friends’ names and profile links. I suspect that it will mostly gather dust. But for the FOMO part of me that is concerned I’ll never find them again, I have that.

  2. Adding team members to help manage Facebook pages, where appropriate

  3. Sharing w/ Facebook friends via recent posts. This, or leaving Facebook, has been coming for months.

  4. Downloading my files from Facebook, the easy way.

  5. Making old posts ALL private. I will go back through and decide individually, on my time, which shares are appropriate to be publicly available.

Another name I like for this: Facebook LIGHT!

It really does feel lighter, for me personally. None of the options out there are perfect, so this is what I’ve found.

Related Resources:

Questions? Thoughts?

I genuinely would be thrilled to hear from you. You can comment here or drop me a note anytime…

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Éva Raposa Éva Raposa

A Love Note

A little update :-)

[This is written for my Love List email subscribers, but I’m posting it here too…]

Hello friends,

It’s been a hot minute since I landed in your inbox.

But, here we are. Hi! ::waving::

After heaps of soul searching, I’m relaunching the Green Chef Academy soon. Yes, it’s still plant-based… but more clearly built on foundations of freedom, flavor, freshness, and CONNECTION rather than rules and dogma.

So, no raw food police, but raw foods are still celebrated and very much featured. But with cooked options ::gasp:: in the mix too. And maybe even some eggs ::double gasp:: from happy chickens as an OPTION in some recipes (like my cooked gluten-free pizza recipe which is no-junk, SO GOOD, and can be made either vegan or with eggs).

while I’m here, I’d love to clarify where I stand on two important MATTERS.

  1. Black Lives Matter.

    • My 100% aim is to be anti-racist.

    • I'm learning more everyday through this process. As I learn and share and (hopefully!) grow, I'd be grateful to hear about your experiences and learnings too.

    • Friends who are BIPOC*: You deserve a safe and kind world where you are celebrated for who you are. [*Note: In case any readers haven’t come across this acronym, BIPOC refers to friends who are Black, Indigenous, and all People of Color.]

    • I’m actively investing in Black-owned businesses,

    • And… I’m not sharing this to follow a trend or score points.

    • I truly and deeply hope to be part of a new paradigm during THIS LIFETIME.

    • I don’t force my own beliefs on Lilla but instead lead by example and sharing resources that facilitate learning. She understands the idea of anti-racism and also beautifully agrees that Black Lives Matter. Without any prompting, she recently started creating art where you can see “Black Lives Matter” on signs and t-shirts… it’s seriously the sweetest. I have a picture I want to share but haven’t yet received her permission. If she OK’s it, I will add that here… [updated: ADDED BELOW!]

  2. I love you and wish you the best.

    If you’re home or out, masked or unmasked, I love you and wish you all the peace and wellness you desire and hope the best for you and your loved ones. This is a challenging moment for many of us, regardless of where we stand. So I just want to say that from my heart: I love you and really do wish you the very best.

It feels like we are a step closer to caught up.

If you still feel aligned and connected, I hope to see you soon, in one place or another!

((( virtual hugs )))

Love,
Éva

 
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My "New Normal"

Hello friends, I’m taking a few minutes to redefine “new normal” for myself, in a way that feels entirely aligned. This is a note to reach out, share that, and touch base with a quick note from my heart…

 Hi friends,

I hope daily Ugga Muggas will be a FOREVER part of my “new normal”! Photo with Lilla by Josiane Rodrigues Fotografias

I hope daily Ugga Muggas will be a FOREVER part of my “new normal”! Photo with Lilla by Josiane Rodrigues Fotografias

Spring cleaning is in full swing, the world is full of change, and it feels like we’re being forced to define our own “new normal,” especially if we don’t accept a “new normal” as defined by the mainstream media. So, here we are. I’ve been quiet in recent weeks, and I legitimately don’t even know where to begin. It feels like everything happening deserves more time and focus than I have to give today, so for this moment I’m reaching out and touching base with a quick note from my heart.

This is what I'm accepting as MY new normal:

🌻 I'm hearing anti-racist commitments all around, which seem to be genuine. WOW. So beautiful!!

🌻 Things are NOT business as usual. It's a time of learning how to be more thoughtful about how words and ideas might land. Kind and loving intentions are lovely, but in my new normal it's even better to deeply consider allll the other angles. I’ve never so actively looked for blind spots in my life, and I’m embracing that as a permanent change.

🌻 I've gone weeks without a SMART phone and am re-learning how to be in the present moment. By this weekend, I'll have a flip phone in my hands. Yeah! This is part of why I have been so quiet. I’m literally just not connected in the same way.

🌻 Gratitude has taken a new level. I’m grateful for every little thing. Examples: I can go inside your store and buy things from you? I can enter a store to buy food? We can continue the co-op, outdoors? I got a project done? HUGE CELEBRATIONS, for All The Things that I once took for granted!

🌻 It's been months since I could take on new clients because my client load is FULL. I'm prioritizing existing clients until further notice. They're keeping me busy! (Another reason for my quiet in recent weeks)

🌻 As I find spaces in my schedule, I'm planning what is right to share for my next group program. TOP PRIORITIES: it makes a positive difference, doesn't feel like "work", and truly, deeply, especially feels like it's a soul-led kinda thing. Because without checking all the boxes, NAH, just don’t have the bandwidth for anything remotely soul-sucking.

🌻 I'm releasing the need to share every wonderful little thing on Facebook. I’m releasing the need for validation.

🌻 Special moments are shared individually and with full-on celebration. Some things just don’t have to be shared with the whole world.

🌻 I'm sharing and collecting hugs from loved ones who are willing and able to do so. Every hug is so special. HUGS ARE LIKE GOLD!

🌻 When I don't have child care but have things to do, Lilla and I are taking turns like two Lady Bosses. We alternate 100% attention on her, 100% attention on business while she reads or writes or draws or plays nearby without needing me to be alllll up in her space. Because she is a growing and amazing young lady!

🌻 I CONTINUE TO ASK QUESTIONS. Living with curiosity, rather than just thinking as I am told to think, is my forever normal!

I hope you’re finding your needs met out there… that you’re receiving what you need to grow… that you are feeling loved and safe.

With Love,
Eva

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25 Musts for Digital Privacy & Security

Current events (“contact tracing” and other surveillance) have me pondering digital privacy even more than usual. I don’t have any wrong-doing to hide; yet, I believe that it is my right to keep my private life private. Just as it is also my right to share the things I feel comfortable with sharing! These digital privacy musts are a GREAT start for friends who do not wish to live in 1984! xxo >>>

Eva-Privacy (1).png

I want to say first that protecting your privacy doesn’t mean you have things to hide, or that you are doing something “wrong”! Not at all! But you have the right to your privacy, and you absolutely do not have to opt into giant tech companies or Big Brother conducting surveillance without your consent!

The Basic Checklist
✅ Access the internet using VPN connection (I like NordVPN personally; DO NOT USE TOR!!)
✅ Cover the camera on your phone and/or computer
✅ Use Ecosia or DuckDuckGo for internet searches
✅ Use Proton Mail rather than Google for emailing
✅ Eliminate social media apps on phone
✅ SSL certificate on websites
✅ Use an old-school flip-type phone without apps
✅ Use an app (on your computer!) to send and receive text messages. My favorite is Grasshopper, they rock!
✅ Use a tool like CryptPad rather than Google Drive for documents, sheets, passwords, etc.
✅ Keep phone off & away when not in use
✅ Don't share where you *ARE*... share where you *WERE*
✅ Use Mozilla Firefox when online, not Google Chrome.
✅ Basically avoid all things by Google (this is in progress for me, working on it!)
✅ And avoid things by Microsoft
✅ Do NOT, for the love of all things good, use Face ID technology to access your iPhone!
✅ Rather than use the same password for everything, use a different, hard-to-guess, and distinct password for each account you access.
✅ Use encrypted online storage for sensitive files, rather than software like DropBox and Google Drive. I’m personally using PCloud, which offers the option to encrypt some or all files at a fee.
✅ Do NOT click on links in emails unless you 100,000% trust the sender and can verify that the sender is who they say they are! Especially not emails that say they are PayPal, Squarespace, or other companies that might be asking you to log in! Go directly to the website in question, instead.
✅ Do NOT connect to public WiFi!
✅ Your best bet for internet connection, when possible, is to connect directly via a cable modem or the like. If that isn’t an option, your next best bet is to use a password-protected network.
✅ Clear your cookies. OFTEN.
✅ Do NOT save passwords or card numbers in your browser or automatically.
✅ Make sure all devices are password-protected — such as phones, computers, and iPads

Other Things to Do:
(that I’m working on myself!)
💩 Get off Facebook or HUGELY reduce the frequency I’m on it
💩 Finish cutting off Google - Google Drive, Mail, alllll the things
💩 I wonder what else I could do that I haven’t yet…

Other Non-Digital Privacy Items
✅ Use a UPS or PO box, not your home address, for your mailing address.
✅ If you drive to and from certain places regularly and want to keep your home location private, change up your routes rather than going straight home in the same way everyday.
✅ Shred any paperwork with your birth date or other identifying info.

Note: I have been doing many of these for years, but a few of these ideas came from friends who were generous with their tips. :-) Feel free to share any tips with me that aren’t listed here!!

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The Mainstream Media & Some Unfiltered Thoughts

Today I can’t help but share some unfiltered thoughts about how I’m feeling about the mainstream media. HINT: I’m not a fan of fear-mongering and imbalanced reporting. I also believe in Radical Responsibility for our own livelihood and wellbeing, should we so choose to avoid victimhood and embrace our everyday superpowers! xxo >>>

Eva-Phone-Heart.png

Friends, I'm tired of being quiet. These are my thoughts for the moment. Take them or leave them. Take me or leave me. We can have mutual interests but don't have to be "friends".

My take on the mainstream media (as a general rule, with space for some rare & shining exceptions): That perpetual $hit-hole AIMS to continually fuel and fan the flames of fear. They're using psychological manipulation tactics to suck innocent friends into their billionaire-funded mind games.

My response to the messed up monstrosity that is the MSM: NO THANK YOU. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE. You can take your "programming" and put it where the sun don't shine. And I'm not talking about INDOORS where you want people to stay for the rest of eternity. ;-)

We are SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL than "they" want us to think!

I started to FINALLY get that I have power around the same time I saw that the "boob tube" is not a friend to healthy humans. I remember when I used to go to a doctor Every Freaking Month for my prescription drugs! I never got better! Until I took things into my own hands!

So it was one day -- Valentine's Day 2007 to be exact -- I started to search for a natural cure to my seemingly never ending health issues. I knew that there was freedom to be had! And so I searched. The very day I heard about the idea of only eating FOODS FROM THE EARTH, I "went raw".

As soon as I stopped eating "food" that was processed garbage, I felt better! But a surprise was that I started to FEEL more feelings, I wanted to EXPRESS myself. I felt JOY and ANGER and everything in between. Nothing was “wrong” to feel, it was mostly good that I FELT THE THINGS. This is when I regularly started to cry HAPPY tears! I found a deeper capacity for JOY on the other side of self-expression and release!

But… RUH ROH… it was right after after I went raw that Carlos bought a big flat screen TV from off island without any kind of family discussion! And then I wanted to TALK about things. Ha! But he didn't want to talk, didn't have time to work through allll my previously stuffed feelings that were finally seeing the light of day.

And that dang TV. I will never forget the moment I took a hammer to our family’s brand new flat-screen TV. To this day, I cannot believe I took a hammer to a TV. But I did. I hated that TV, and I wanted to have meaningful conversation. (Side note: it didn't smash to pieces, just had these little dents in it. Curious thing, those flat screen TVs!)

Through some kind of miracle, by the next year that blasted(!) TV was finally gone. Through some other kind of miracle, we as a couple are still together growing as humans.

WITHOUT A FREAKING TV. You wanna know why? What is true for me every day of the year?

I refuse to live in fear, I'm not here to be programmed... I CAN THINK FOR MYSELF. So we don't need a TV. And thank heavens Carlos is OK with that. And phew -- good relief that I don't all that pent-up anger waiting to be released. It comes and goes. Feelings can come on out to be as they are and make their way through.

And this is life.

BUT RIGHT NOW FRIENDS ARE BEING PRACTICALLY CRUCIFIED FOR GOING AGAINST THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S MESSAGING.

WHAT. THE. FU**!

As far as I can tell, the mainstream media has NEVER truly been our friends. They are not here to help us feel empowered, keep us safe, or make life better for humanity!

This is the time to take radical responsibility for your well-being.

We must PIVOT as needed in life, or else we play victim! Pivoting is how you get your needs met regardless of the suffocating freedom-hating rules being dished out by pseudo dictators.

Time to SPEAK UP. To BE WHO YOU ARE. And to FEEL HOW YOU FEEL.

For me... today... I'm choosing love. And one way I love myself is by being REAL.

As always, take me or leave me. I don't need to filter who I am or how I feel to make you like me or feel comfortable. That's your thing.

xxo

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Tips, Stats, & Lessons from my first webinar…!

My hope is that these tips are a help to other friends who might be considering hosting your first webinar one day soon! I’ve peeled back the curtains to share the good, the boring, and the lessons. xxo >>>

Eva-Webinar (1).png

So. WHEW! As you may know, I hosted my first webinar this week. And you know what? I could have been all along, bombed it with tech difficulties, or seen ZERO sign-ups.

None of my worst fears were real. It turned out well enough, even if I did learn some lessons along the way. 

LET’S START WITH GRATITUDE!

Completing my first webinar means that I know now the things I want to do differently for the next one. And, it’s done. How about one more “WHEW”?! haha! Seriously tho. At the end, I was giddy but exhausted that it was done.

WEBINAR TOPIC

✦  Triple Your SOUL Business, Even While Working Part-Time Hours

MY GOALS

  1. Sell spots in my ongoing mastermind, the Soul Business Circle

  2. Grow my email list

  3. Share something of value, even for those who don’t join the Circle

  4. See what worked well + I could do better for next time

MY ATTITUDE GOING IN - THIS WAS SO HELPFUL

In pretty much every program I offer on food, wellness, and business, I present the idea of being the “detective not the judge”. Being here to learn, means that there is no “wrong”.

I committed to be the detective attitude going in, and it was a lifesaver. Every challenge, I was there taking notes rather than shaming myself. 

TOOLS/SOFTWARE + RELATED BUSINESS EXPENSES:

✦ TickCounter.com for countdown until time of webinar (FREE)
✦ MailChimp for email confirmation (FREE for up to 2,000 subscribers) 
✦ PayPal for payment processing ($30/month for the pro plan and about 3% for credit card fees)
✦ Teachable to host the Soul Business Vault and Soul Business Circle ($39/month for the basic plan, although there are also options for a free plan and a $99/month plan that could work for what I’m doing…!)
✦ Squarespace for the opt-in page, webinar details, and thank-you page ($31.88/month, which I already pay for my main website at http://evaraposa.com)
✦ Zoom to host the webinar ($15.93/month, and I already use this with client Q&A sessions.)
✦ MindMeister used for the MindMap I created to share the ideas. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! ($3.99/month, which is paid 2x/year. FYI - the cost varies by country + it’s definitely cheaper in Brazil than in the USA!)

TOTAL RELATED MONTHLY BUSINESS EXPENSES: $125.80

(Note: this includes what I pay already that was helpful for the webinar but not the webinar-specific extra costs.)

WEBINAR-SPECIFIC EXTRA COSTS: $48.47

✦ GoDaddy vanity domain for http://tripleyoursoulbusiness.com - ($8.47/year)
✦ $40 on two Facebook boosts, which didn’t seem to result in sign-ups from what I can tell in the stats (so interesting…!)

HOW I PROMOTED IT

✦ By email to existing subscribers interested in business

✦ Facebook event + inviting almost 500 people I know who I genuinely thought would be interested

✦ 2 posts on my Facebook business page

✦ I wouldn’t call this promotion because it wasn’t intended as “promotion”, but I did share about the webinar in two business groups I’m in (celebrating it + asking for feedback). I’m mentioning it here because a few people signed up as a direct result, which was a fun surprise. :-)

✦ And that was mostly it… [Note: In the “what I’ll do differently next time” section, I’ll share what will be different for the next time!!]

OVERALL STATS (SO FAR)

✦ My list size went from 23 to 122(!)

——> NOTE: I have two very different lists right now because I started a new business last month. One has thousands of subscribers but is focused on raw foods and building a wellness-based business. The other list is the new one and totally separate (Soul Business Weekly); that was the one at 23 subscribers. Mind you, with only 23 subscribers I managed to have a waiting list for 1-on-1 client work(!) in my new business. This is the power of focus on what will BUILD your business! But I know that it’s simply not sustainable to grow LONG-TERM without an engaged email list.

✦ About 11 people were on live (less than I expected; my fault because I missed sending reminder emails!!), and not all of those stayed for the whole time

✦ 1 person signed up directly on the webinar (someone I particularly hoped would sign up, so that was special and exciting!)

✦ As of today (2 days after the webinar) we have 7 total Circle members, but I know that not all of them are directly a result of the webinar.

✦ I haven’t sent a single follow-up email, so I’m sure there will be more folks signed up in the next couple days!!

MY BIGGEST CHALLENGES

✦ I prefer to work part-time hours, and I already have client work and things outside of this webinar, so it was a lot to do every single thing in a week… from idea to build to promotion to planning to hosting to follow-up. 

✦ Challenge + Confession: I ended up getting extra child care to get it all done, and I’m pretty sure this was my first full-time work week in years (WHOAH!). If I had it to do over, I actually would have given myself 14 or 21 days rather than 7 days for the first webinar.

✦ I dropped the ball on follow-up and have been slow to share the replay.

✦ I didn’t plan ahead to have the “tomorrow’s the day!”, “we start in an hour” AND “starting now!” emails sending out. This would have increased the number of people on live, I’m sure!

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