As many of you may not have noticed my absence, I know that I have missed all of you!  The past few months I have been in a funk.  I know that I am not the only one that may have experienced the sting of the economy, and I don't mind sharing that I was hit hard emotionally. 

Finally realizing that I won't get far in this business if I continue to feel what I was feeling (and knowing full-well that staging is my heart & soul), I plugged into lots of reading, re-working my business plan, recording realistic goals and re-visiting my vision board (which is proudly displayed as the wallpaper on my laptop, as shown below). 

I finally finished this last night.  Keeping some photos from my previous board and adding new, updated photos... getting rid of many that I had put on there last year... I am very happy with my new board. 

After studying my new vision, it occured to me that my previous board did not concentrate on my business as much!  I had pictures of money, but the money was small, mostly in penny form.  I had too many pictures that involved my self-image (notice I have one "perfect bikini body" picture here, instead of the 3 or 4 that I had on my last one!)  I had pictures of my boyfriend and I at home in PJs... we didn't get out AT ALL this past year.  So, in my new board, I have a picture of him & I in Carmel (traveling) and out at the VMA Making a Difference Holiday party (being social).   I also have pictures of places I'd like to travel to frequently, like Cabo, Waikiki and on a cruise ship somewhere.

When it comes to Aloha Staging, I only had a picture of myself and my business partner, Kahai Tate, at one of our booths for the Toll Brothers.  In the one you see above, I have that same picture, then a picture of our Power Point presentation in paper form (to symbolize more presentations/marketing), a picture of our booth at another show, a picture of a handshake (from a female's perspective, like I was giving the handshake) to show that I will make a lot of business transactions this year.  I also have a few pictures of my cottage, clean and staged, to show my love for my home as well as my talent, and of course those pictures surround myself & my son, ensuring my home will continue to provide happiness & comfort for us throughout the year.

You may also see me sitting in my "new car"... my boyfriend and I went to the car show earlier this month in San Francisco at the Moscone Center and I KNEW I wanted a picture of me sitting in my brand new Subaru Forester for my vision board.  (I suggest if you have a car in mind, go test drive it and GET A PICTURE OF YOU IN IT!  The more you can create that feeling of owning that dream car, the more likely you will soon bring that car home!)

You may also notice in the upper-right hand corner, I have a Pre-Paid Legal logo.  To keep me from falling out of business, I joined this amazing company in August as a side-business, and I've gotta tell you, I have learned so much about myself & have been applying the new knowledge to how I approach Aloha Staging.  If you are looking to make additional income (RESIDUAL even) or just looking for legal coverage & identity theft shield for your family or business (or both) check out my website at www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/lachellejohnson.  There are 5 minute presentations & information to read all about what Pre-Paid Legal can offer you.  (Had to plug it!  I know as you are all business owners yourselves, you understand!)

I know you may have also noticed the $100,000 check made out to me... stratigically placed between Aloha Staging & Pre-Paid Legal.  It is my goal to hit this income this year between the two companies.

I would really like to thank Stephanie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) for getting me back into hard-core reading.  I have been switching on & off between fiction & business/personal development books since reading Twilight, which is why I have a big stack of books on my board.  I stopped reading for too long, and I must say that it's been especially helpful to grow personally, which I know will help grow my businesses.

Well, as I did not expect this blog to be this long, I'll end it with my original intention of writing all that I did:

WHY WAIT UNTIL THE NEW YEAR WHEN YOU CAN START RIGHT NOW?!

I studied my vision board last night before I went to bed (as it's advised to study & meditate on a few minutes at least 3 times a day:  morning, noon & night).  I especially studied Kahai & I at our Toll Brothers booth in San Jose and the Toll Brothers logo, knowing that I will have work coming from them soon and being grateful that they are a happy client of ours.

THIS MORNING I get a phone call from their Project Director!!  We chopped it up about how our holidays went and he said they were ready for us to come down & re-design one of their model homes.  I had done a similar job for them that finished in September on a floor-plan that wasn't selling. 

After setting our appointment, I hung up the phone OVERLY ecstatic. 

So, why are you waiting on YOUR dreams?!  Go out and get ahead of 2009 and start RIGHT NOW! 

Happy New Year!!

Lachelle Johnson, CSP, RESA, ASPM

Aloha Staging

2661 Alvarado St, Unit 41, San Leandro, CA

Serving the entire San Francisco bay area with focus on Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.

Because of my excitement of the show's premier tonight in the USA, I thought I'd check out the HGTV website for some sneak-peaks and fun facts.

I found a quiz!  So, I thought it would be fun to see what kind of questions would be asked and wasted a bit of time this morning taking this quiz... It seems like the answers are obvious, but is that only because staging is my profession?

Find the quiz here:  http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hstag

What Kind of a Stager Are You?

Results

You're a super stager!

Congratulations! You're as savvy as the pros - sure you're not one?

 256 Cherrywood Avenue, San Leandro, CA 94577

I wanted to share some WONDERFUL news!  The sellers at this home painted the interior, removed old draperies and made the necessary repairs before we came into the property to stage it.  I received this email yesterday:

Lachelle,

Pending, pending!!!  And you really can't count 4^th of July weekend, since that's when it went on the market, so only 2 weeks total (7/3 to 7/17).  Great job staging!!!

Katherine Couture

Keller Williams Tri-Valley Realty

There is still hope in this market!  Price it right, clean it up and stage it right so that the property can be marketed as a top-notch property.  Buyers want a property that is well maintained and move-in ready.  Staging helps buyers see this and the potential that a property has to offer! 

When we get the news that it's pending, we jump for joy and look towards the journey that this sale has brought us (Sellers, Realtors and Stagers alike!).  Best of luck to you on your journey...

Aloha Staging is a full service staging company that serves the entire Bay Area including Alameda and Santa Clara counties.

So, I was posting a response to Kathleen Lordbock's blog about Favorite Comfort foods and realized that I'd like to start a post about one of my favorite places to eat! 

They have 3 locations in the East Bay Area (Oakland, Berkeley and San Ramon) and I am MADLY in love with their product (as are many others).  They have won over 100 awards, including countless from the Zagat Survey as the best pizza around! 

I first experienced Zachary's with a few friends just 3 or 4 years ago.  They are famous for their deep-dish "stuffed" pizza, so we ordered a large stuffed pepperoni.  Boy, did that first bite send me to heaven!  "Oowey, goowey, crispy and chewy."  I couldn't believe my taste buds... and I've been hooked ever since.  My favorite toppings are pepperoni and garlic, YUMMY!  (Huge garlic fan here!)  I also like ordering pineapple and jalapenos, or when it's just my girlfriends and I, we order pesto, garlic and cherry tomatoes, in addition to the chunky, stewed tomato topping.  Their pizzas are made in layers... so you have the crust, cheese, meat, another layer of dough, cheese, chunky tomato and spices topping with any veggies you may have ordered (garlic, jalapenos, olives, pineapple... okay not a veggie, but you get the idea).  This, in turn, makes for the best deep dish pizza pie EVER!  Even if you searched high and low in Chicago, customers of Zachary's say that they haven't found a pizzeria to make a better pie.  They even have an article in the Wall Street Journal, who interviewed a few patrons, including a man who flies 3 hours out here every Wednesday, just for a massage and a stuffed pizza!

People from all over come to enjoy Zachary's Pizza.  I live in Oakland and visit the Rockridge neighborhood quite frequently, always seeing a line out the door full of loyal customers.  I have even called to order a pizza for dinner, hitting redial for almost AN HOUR before getting through.  (Yes, when I get a craving for Zachary's, I have to have it, and many others feel the same way!)  This is why they offer half-baked pizzas, so that you may order earlier in the day (or a day in advance for Super Bowl Sunday) and then finish baking it at home.  And the nice thing about it being busy when you want to dine-in, is that they allow you to order your pizza (which typcially takes anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes to bake) WHILE you wait for your table!  Drink a pint with your friends in the waiting area and take in the scenery of new art on the walls (done by customers who LOVE Zachary's) while your pizza bakes... couldn't be more perfect!  Anyone here agree with me??

I know some of you may have seen me around AR commenting here and there but never really taking the time to fully "dance in the rain".  Well, here I am, dancing, can you see me?!  I just came out of a CSP training course with a group of fabulous ladies and I was given the opportunity to work with a few of you here on AR. Did you guess it?  That's right, you've sold me on getting on here and really jumping in.  So, I just wanted to introduce myself; even though my profile has been up for about a year, I'm really a newbie at this!  And now that my business partner, Kahai, has written her first blog, I've gotta get going as well!  So, a big ALOOOOHA to all!  You'll see me with more to write very soon.

Aloha,

Lachelle Johnson, CSP, RESA, ASPM