One Swell Shell

I first met Shelli, her husband, Aaron, and their son, Rory at the pediatricians office. Their son was two months old at the time (he's now two and a half) and mine was 8 months.

They had that exhausted, just been hit by a Mack truck air that new parents have about them, but they were very cheerful and seemed way cool. In the course the conversation we struck up, they suggested, " We should exchange numbers and get together sometime." "Yeah, we should," I replied just before heading into the doctor's office with my husband, Robert, and my son Max.

Here I admit for the first time my initial thought when I meet someone here in Los Angeles and they say "We should exchange numbers and get together" which is... I don't believe them. I've encountered many insincere people here, and to me, "we should exchange numbers" seems to be a polite way of saying, "Hey, it was nice talking with you. We will never talk again, but here's an easy way to end our conversation." And I'm sure there's also an element of just plain forgetting. As parents we get so busy that if something's not staring us in the face, it just won't get addressed.

So when we came out of our appointment, I was surprised to see Aaron come smiling towards us holding a little slip of paper with their contact info.

Wanting to call them on their "bluff" right away, I phoned up the next afternoon and said, "So, would you like to get together in the next couple of days?" That way it wouldn't be on me if nothing came of our conversation.

Shelli called back right away, a good sign, but I didn't have the opportunity to call her back right away.

I should digress for one moment and say here that Max was a severely poor sleeper and the first two years of his life were a real challenge for my husband and me... No lie, no exaggeration, from the time he was born till just a couple of months ago, Max would wake up screaming, and I do mean screaming, anywhere from between 10 to 30 times a night. My husband had a history of night terrors, and Max appears to have inherited this gene.

We tried everything, EVERYTHING, but all to no avail.

I thank God for a dear friend of mine whose son went through the exact same thing. She told me I needed to hang on until Max was about 2 and a half to 3 years old before I would start to get relief. And she was spot on. I am positively relishing getting 6 hours of sleep in a row now.

But back when I met Shelli, I was still mired in the excrutiating hell of exhaustion from Max's sleep problem. So, I didn't return her call right away.

She called me a couple of days later to ostensibly find out how we were (now she admits she was hormonal and just plain wanted to find out why we weren't calling her back) but I was really impressed that she persisted, so we agreed to get together the next evening.

We went to their house, right down the street from ours, for dinner.

In that getting to know you phase, I mentioned to Shelli that my husband and I were very excited about a job of his. We'd just read the CEO's book and were all jazzed by what he'd written and we were looking forward to seeing how Robert was going to progress in the company. He was starting out as an assistant manager.

Shelli asked me where he was working, and I said, "He's with Starbucks."

Shelli called Aaron on in to the living room and asked, "Do you know where Robert's working?"

And Aaron just replied, "I just heard from Robert." (Apparently they were doing the same getting to know you thing, while Aaron prepared dinner)

Then Shelli turned to me and Robert who'd followed Aaron into the room and said," That's my store!" Turns out Shelli was the regional director for Starbucks and was one of Robert's superiors. He'd heard of one of the directors being out for maternity leave, and here we were right in her house.

I was really intrigued to know more about her. I've never had much contact with anyone who'd had a corporate career and I thought it was really impressive that she'd been with the company for fourteen years and risen through the ranks to her current position.

As our relationship with the Taylors deepened, I found myself getting more and more impressed. When Shelli returned to work after her leave, I got to hear what her career was like and what some of her accomplishments were... again, we'll have a bio up at One Wee World for her, and everything she shared with me spoke to me of how much integrity, drive, and commitment she pours into her work.

Being around her, I could see that she brought all of those attributes to how she parents as well. It's clear that in everything she does, Rory is the light of her life. Her commitment to growth as a parent was as much a priority to her as mine is to me, and I gravitated toward that.

Shelli's no-nonsense attitude, her sharp intellect, and her desire to really impact the world in a positive way creates this presence about her that lets you know that if you've got her on your team, you are well on your way to success.

And getting Shelli onto the Wee team as our advisor was an incredible stroke of good fortune. I got the idea for One Wee World just two weeks before Shelli was scheduled to take a sabbatical to focus on spending time with Rory.

When I approached her and Aaron to ask for their help, I was greeted with a wonderfully enthusiastic response to my idea. They thought it was great.

But I wasn't in the clear yet. Shelli was committed to spending the year with her son, so she felt very conflicted about getting involved in our start-up project in any capacity. Luckily for me, Shelli decided that she'd like to be a part of the company in the role of advisor. We could come to her for help in creating our business plan and crafting a marketing strategy.

Whoo-hooo!!!!!!! JACKPOT!

Her advice has been just invaluable, and I'm grateful to the core for her generosity in sharing her expertise with us. SHELLI ROCKS!

But maybe not as much as her husband, Aaron. : ) On any given day you can walk up to their house and hear some rockin' rockabilly music blaring through the windows. So Aaron "rocks" in his own unique way, which has already helped ensure One Wee World's future success.

My next post'll be about our belovedest friend and business partner, the one, the only, Aaron Taylor.

Measure of a Person

I have always fully believed that if you want to know a person, really, really know who they are and what they believe, you take a look at their friends. What are they like, what do they hold dear, how do they behave?

As I'm writing this, I realize that I'm actually going to be giving myself some pretty lovely compliments because my friends are among some of the most stellar human beings on this planet.

And speaking of stellar leads me to my friend, Bruce Locke. Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, my spiritual big brother, Bruce. I first heard of Bruce when my husband walked into our cheap hotel room in Orlando and said, "I met one of your co-stars. He's outside trying to open a couple of bottles by hooking the caps on the edge of the curb. Then he's stomping them with his foot. I think he's coming over in a couple of minutes."

A few moments later, a polite knock sounded at the door. I opened it and there was Bruce. I asked him, "Are you the one that's going to smack me tomorrow?" and our friendship was born.

We were brought together by a tv show called Mortal Kombat Conquest. On our very first day, he had to "hit" me, and if you want to talk about an instant trust builder, think about walking up to a stranger and ask them to pretend to belt you, but that they must miss your face by mere millimeters.

If you'd like to see pictures of us, throw our names into a search engine along with the name of the show. I would post them myself, but I actually feel kind of shy about posting how I looked in my costume. I cannot believe I had the body, and quite frankly, the audacity, to run around in that piece of green dental floss!!! Ahhh, youth...

Both Bruce and I were villains, which always strikes me as hi-lar-i-ous with respect to Bruce, not because he's a bad actor. On the contrary, he's great, but because as a person, he is the complete opposite of villain. My husband's family has this phrase about "art, class, and perfection" and to me, Bruce is all that, most especially, pure class.

I have a lot to thank Bruce for. One of the greatest things is the very home our family is living in. He advised me and my husband to buy a house here in L.A. six years ago when real estate in this area was still relatively affordable. Thanks to his encouragement, we purchased a home whose equity has helped us to finance three of my dreams. One, to have a lovely, cozy home we consider our own personal Shangri-La. Two, to stay home with my son for the first two years of his life, and three, to invest in One Wee World.

This is something for which Bruce will always have my gratitude. His complete support of One Wee World. He has thrown himself, body, mind, and soul into this project and it has meant so much to me. Bruce is one of the members of the Wee team who will be handling the "business" end of things, while pitching in on the "creative" side. Our website will be up soon and you'll be able to view his bio there. You'll see why I'm so excited to be partnered with him on this, our contribution to the nourishment of hope and peace in the world.

My next post'll be about the business advisor to the Wee Team. Through an incredible stroke of synchronicity, One Wee World will reap untold benefits from a woman whose business acumen has won her many awards and whose personal attributes have made her a cherished friend.

The Idea

So, one day my husband and I were tossing around ideas about how we could generate some extra income. We've made some money as freelance writers and have really liked flexing our creative muscles while earning a paycheck at the same time.

We'd received some literature about writing children's books and thought that the field seemed like a good fit for us.

I made a suggestion about some cookbooks for toddlers I thought I'd like to see. My husband was less than thrilled with the idea and said, "You know what I'd like to do? I'd like to do some kid's books about other countries. There aren't any picture books for young kids about other cultures and I think that'd be cool."

I thought for a moment and realized he was right. (I should explain here that I am a children's book hound. Since Max was about 6 months old, we've checked out 20 books every two weeks from the library, and since he is 3 years old now, that's over 1000 books! Public Libraries Rock!!! And I am always on the hunt at thrift stores for great kids' books. So when I say I realized he was right, I just want you to know that I know what I'm talking about.) Save for the errant book here or there, usually done in the late 70s or early 80s, no picture books about other cultures exist for babies or toddlers.

That idea was good enough, but then lightning struck.

"No!" I told him, "We're not just going to do just children's books... we're going to do children's books and DVD's. A baby's first travel show!"

From that moment on the ideas for our program content flew fast and furious. We would share certain elements from each country like their music, folklore, gorgeous footage of the landscape, nursery rhymes, artwork, and dance to name just a few.

The name even came to me easily, "One Wee World." And our invitation to parents, teachers, and caregivers, to "Globe-Trot with Your Tot" followed within minutes.

Even now, just writing this, I get so filled with energy and excitement and passion. I've never felt this way before about anything and I feel like I've been given a real gift to try and bring this idea to life.

And equally valuable gifts I've been given to make this happen are my friends, who are now my friends and business partners. My next post will be about my incredible friends who have already done incredible work to manifest our dreams.

In the Beginning

The reason I am starting this blog is very simple. I'm starting a new adventure in life, and I think it'd be fun to document it.

I've founded a company called "One Wee World" and our mission is to end racism, ignorance, and fear of others. We'd like to help each and every child cultivate a deep appreciation and respect for cultures different than their own. We will celebrate diversity.

The way we're going to do this is through a series of DVDs. The concept is very simple. One DVD, one country.

Right this moment we are in production on our first program, "One Wee World Celebrates Mexico." The reason I am saying "celebrates" instead of "presents" is that I understand that I do possess an inherent Western filter through which I learn about life. So instead of claiming to represent the country, I am saying that we are doing the best we can to celebrate its rich heritage, culture, and history.

My husband's in Mexico right now, as a matter of fact, just left this morning. He's going to be shooting footage for us starting in Teotihuacan and then moving on to Jalapa, the flower garden of Mexico, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Campeche, Merida, and ending up in Cancun and Tulum. Lucky son of a gun.... how is it that I was the one that got the idea and he's the one that gets to pop on over to Mexico for a drive through the Yucatan?

...oh yeah, our three year old, Max, who would implode if he had to spend more than an hour a day strapped into what he seems to perceive to be a torture device expressly created to enslave his soul, otherwise known as his carseat.

But I can't get too angry at him. After all, if it weren't for Max, I wouldn't have come up with the idea at all, and then, where would I be? (Quite frankly, I really don't know since I feel like One Wee World is what I was put on this earth to do)

But, it's 11:oopm and I've got to hit the hay for now. More later on how this all came about and what we hope to do. I've got a really good feeling about this...