Portland News

March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Grimes Jokes She is Creating a “Lesbian Space Commune” After Split with Elon Musk

Source: Grimes’ official Instagram account

Popstar Grimes recently made headlines when she made a joke about starting a lesbian space commune following her split with her partner of three years, billionaire Elon Musk. 

“I’ll be colonizing [one of Jupiter’s moons] Europa separately from Elon for the lesbian space commune,” Grimes jokingly told Page Six via email. 

The “Oblivion” singer is not only a talented music artist, but she also has a deep sense of humor. Her joke seems to be alluding to Musk’s $178 million contract with NASA through SpaceX, which aims to reach Jupiter’s ice-crusted moon called Europa to see if it can sustain life. Europa is one of Jupiter’s 79 moons

Despite their recent breakup, the two are committed to co-parenting their son X Æ A-Xii. The 50-year-old Tesla and SpaceX founder confirmed the breakup in a statement but has nothing but love for the mother of his child. 

“We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms,” Musk confirmed. “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas, and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now, and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

The last time that the two were seen together was during the Met Gala early this September. This is also the same fashion event where they first confirmed their relationship three years ago. Grimes was seen walking the red carpet alone, but she was later joined by Musk inside during dinner. He also hosted an after-party at Zero Bond, a private members-only club. 

At present, Musk is focused on his business based in Texas. The 33-year-old Grimes, on the other hand, started taping for an upcoming competition show for Fox in Los Angeles called Alter Ego. Grimes serves as one of the judges. 

Born Claire Elise Boucher, Grimes is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her distinct musical style, which is a combination of various genres, including dream pop, art pop, electronic, synth-pop, R&B, and hip-hop, to mention a few. In 2010, she released her album Halfaxa, which was followed by Visions in 2012. From there, she went on to release Art Angels in 2015, which featured a touch of country and metal to her usual genres. Her songwriting is mostly about science fiction, personal experiences, feminism, and other pressing social issues that need to come to light. 

Prior to launching her music career, she studied neuroscience at McGill University. A year later, she began creating her own songs. After a series of independent gigs, she was signed by 4AD that released her debut album for the label, Visions. She recorded her songs in just a span of a few weeks in her Montreal apartment. The album garnered the Juno Award for the Electronic Album of the Year. In 2013, she was signed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation talent management company and released the hit single “Go” in June 2014.

Nicki Minaj Draws Attention on Twitter for Her Comments on Vaccines

Source: NBC

Music artist Nicki Minaj has been drawing a lot of attention on Twitter the past few days as a result of her comments related to vaccines. If anything, she attracted the ire of people on Twitterverse for hinting at her hesitation to get vaccinated.

On September 14, 2021, she tweeted, “They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated, it won’t be for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime, my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with two strings that grip your head and face. Not that loose one.” This single tweet invited numerous comments, some of which were laced with sarcasm and discontent.  

On the same day, she made another claim that shocked health authorities all the way in her home country in Trinidad and Tobago. She tweeted, “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married; now, the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it and make sure you’re comfortable with your decision, not bullied.”

Trinidad and Tobago health minister Terrence Deyalsingh said officials “take all claims seriously.” The misinformation Minaj posted on Twitter triggered an international backlash amidst a worldwide effort to give every citizen of the world access to safe vaccines to fight COVID-19. Senior health officials from the U.S. and Great Britain condemned the music artist’s claim as it is not backed by scientific data. If anything, the tweet created unnecessary confusion and fear among her fans who have yet to get vaccinated.

“As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad…and none that we know of anywhere in the world,” Deyalsingh said in a press conference last Wednesday.

Her “swollen testicles” tweet became even more pronounced when England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, caught wind of her claim. Professor Whitty confidently said that Minaj “should be ashamed” when he was asked about the misinformation.

“There are a number of myths that fly around,” Professor Whitty added. “Some of which are just clearly ridiculous and some of which are clearly designed just to scare. That happens to be one of them. That is untrue.”

The U.K. health secretary Sajid Javid was also asked to comment on Nicki Minaj and the swollen testicles tweet. “When it comes to something as lifesaving as vaccines—in this country, there are 112,000 fewer deaths we estimate because of our vaccine program—they should be really careful about what they say and not spread untruths,” he shared with BBC Breakfast.

“People that are in the public eye, whether they are a celebrity or a politician or whoever they are, should be very careful with their language and certainly shouldn’t be spreading untruths,” he said to Sky News.

Health authorities and other government leaders have been on constant watch to counter any misinformation spreading online about COVID-19 vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Apparently, there have been a lot of unfounded conspiracy theories and baseless claims from several online sites, social media users, and even influential people. Getting the right kind of information out there is a current priority to help people make informed decisions when it comes to getting the protection they need against COVID-19.

Robots Were Installed at Heathrow Airport That Disinfects Virus

Image commercially licensed from: Unsplash

Robots and Technology are limitless today. As the earth revolves, a new breed of innovation was introduced in the world, especially during the pandemic. London’s Heathrow Airport deploys UV cleaning robots, to secure the anti-viral measures, and to eradicate the possible risks of contracting Covid-19 as the UK lifts the travel restrictions today.

The U.K., with almost 300,000 affirmed coronavirus cases and in excess of 45,000 deaths, lifted isolate on-appearance governs a week ago for passengers arriving from 74 nations and territories. Heathrow said Monday that the quantity of passengers going through the airport was down 95% in June from a year.

The UK’s largest airport proudly presents the new breed of cleaning robots that utilizes ultraviolet rays to “quickly and efficiently kill viruses and bacteria”. The airport has deploys two disinfecting robots, and they being utlized to deeply and thorough clean the toilets at the airport.

Heathrow Airport is presenting cleaning robots and different measures to attempt to decrease the danger of infection transmission at the U.K. aeronautics center point as the nation facilitates travel limitations. The robots use bright beams to murder infections and microscopic organisms around evening time, as per an announcement from the air terminal, which didn’t state what number of  machine were being sent.

Heathrow Airport is one of the airports around the world that are utilizing disinfecting robots in the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, including Singapore Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport .

The airport additionally reveals various cleaning measures with an end goal to decrease the danger of contracting or transmitting Covid-19 at the airport. These new measures incorporate introducing UV handrail innovation on elevators to ““ensure continuous disinfection of the moving handrails” and fitting security, lift catches, streetcar and entryway handles with self-cleaning against viral wraps to give “dependable assurance from Covid-19”. The wraps work by covering high-contact surfaces in a material with enduring enemy of viral assurance, said the air terminal in an announcement posted on its site.

Heathrow stated that they are also retraining 100 colleagues to serve as “hygiene-technicians” who will deeply disinfect the airport and answer passenger queries about the health measures to

These highly trained technicians will ensure the monitoring and the effectiveness of these newly introduced innovative robots and helps inform plans to eradicate the contracting of the coronavirus.

Passengers will also be disinfected and Heathrow will also see “Fly Safe Pit Stops”, which the airport says are points where travellers can acquire face masks, anti-viral wipes and hand sanitizer that are given for free. 

“Teams at the airport are also reviewing technologies which could remove the need for passengers to touch self-service check in machines, allowing them to control the kiosks from their phones,” says the airport.

The new measures imposed as UK holidaymakers can now travel between low-risk countries without the need to isolate on return. As per the BBC, the UK has named nations as either golden (travellers from the UK won’t need to isolate on appearance), green (low degrees of coronavirus and have limitations for UK appearances), or red (limitations stay set up) in light of the seriousness of Covid-19 in every goal.

In an announcement posted on its site, Heathrow says “more work needs to safely restore Britain’s long-haul network. With a long country exclusion list, over half of Heathrow’s network remains grounded, closing off vital trading and economic routes during a time when the UK needs them most”

“We have reviewed the entire Heathrow airport experience to ensure that our passengers and colleagues are kept safe as travel resumes to “green” and “amber” countries. Now we need the Government to safely restore Britain’s long-haul connections as the country prepares for life outside the EU, with Common International Standards for Covid testing from “red” countries,” said Heathrow CEO, John Holland Kaye.

Ways to Reduce Stress and Motivate Yourself

Stress can come anytime in our lives like a blitzkrieg.  Sometimes, too much stress causes us to breakdown and gives up. We have different ways to handle our stress but here’s the list that may help you to save yourself from drowning of too much stress

1. Know Your Purpose 

Before you commit to something or someone, know your purpose. it’s critical to ensure you’ve picked a worth that genuinely leaves a positive impact on you. Hayes focuses on the significance of abstaining from picking certain qualities that you possess. For instance, if your mom incredibly values convention, yet you esteem freedom, try to finish what you accept — not with what will satisfy others. 

Moreover, Hayes urges against choosing values you believe you should have — that will only create internal distress. “Values are chosen out of emotional avoidance or entangled ‘have to’ thoughts push you down rather than lift you,” he tells Thrive. “True values are something you seek — they are not methods of running away.”

Also, know your purpose and make sure your value integrates naturally into everything you do. “The ones that work best are intrinsic to being and doing, such as behaving honestly or lovingly,” Hayes says. “Values like that protect you from stress reactivity and burnout.”

2. Choose your Battles 

Stress can come anytime in any shape and form. A couple of regular models incorporate pictures, adornments, or even a Post-It note, Hayes notes. He likewise proposes utilizing progressively elusive things, for example, a mantra or ringtone. Greenbaum proposes showing cites in your office or making an email signature that is significant to you, to fill in as day by day tokens of your guiding principle. 

The key here is picking something that fits normally into your day by day life. Set yourself up for progress by making association with your worth trigger inescapable. “If you want to be reminded of the values you bring to your home life, pick a trigger, like the keys of your car, that you will have to interact with before you go home,” Hayes says. “If you take your wedding ring off at night, use that little moment of putting it back on in the morning to think about the kind of spouse you want to be that day.”

Numerous individuals as of now heft around esteem triggers without acknowledging it: pictures of friends and family in your wallet or around your work area, wedding bands, or grant endorsements holding tight your office dividers. The stunt is utilizing that trigger. 

3. Create Your Anti-Stress Ritual

To get the greatest advantage, you need to make a propensity for discovering significance in your worth triggers, Greenbaum notes. Ceremonies can upgrade an individual’s restraint, and permit them to concentrate on what’s generally significant. Representatives should begin their workdays reminding themselves about their qualities, and how they’ll maintain those qualities for the day, she says. 

4. Reflect and Meditate 

Stay careful about what is important and never underestimate self-esteem. The two specialists underline the significance of profound reflection all through the way toward picking and using esteem triggers. 

Pondering qualities normally permits you to consistently decide their significance in your life. “Put forth a deliberate attempt to think about your qualities before entering a circumstance where those qualities might be tested,” says Greenbaum. “By effectively and deliberately pondering the utilization of your qualities, they will end up being a necessary piece of how you work — as opposed to something that you go to just when it is helpful.” 

What’s more, don’t be hesitant to rethink your qualities as the need emerges. Individuals change after some time, thus do their qualities. By rethinking, you can ensure that the worth you decide to organize consistently coordinate with where you are. “It’s alright if your qualities change. The thought isn’t to locate the ‘perfect’ esteem, however, to be effectively occupied with the way toward discovering what makes a difference most to you.

8 Effective Tips to Achieve Flat Stomach Easily

Exercise alone is not sufficient. A healthy diet and lifestyle will greatly help you to achieve your body goals! Self-discipline is a must but also you have to enjoy it to make it last. If you want to get tighter abs and flat stomach, here are the tips that will help you to achieve your body goals during the quarantine. 

1. Eat Nutritious Food

If you eat healthy, achieving a flat stomach would be easy. You need to change your diet and eat more healthy foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and cut down on junk food, like candy, chips, and fast food. Just by making this simple switch, you’ll see a world of difference to your stomach. Add beans, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, healthy fats, low-sodium foods and avoid MSG.

2. Avoid Midnight Snacks

As you sleep, your body slows which will prevent your body from digesting the food in your stomach properly. You are also much less active in the evenings and at night, which means that your body is more likely to store the calories you consume late at night as fat, rather than burning them as energy.

3. Monitor your plate always

Eating too much the right food is also not good.  You should eat just enough until you feel full, then stop. Use smaller plates and chew slowly when you eat. Take small breaks in between every bite of food when eating. The extra time will give your stomach a chance to realize that it’s full, thus preventing you from over-eating.

4. Eat low-glycemic index foods and lessen your sugar intake. 

These items take longer to digest, so you feel full longer. Your body will slowly absorb the nutrients so you’ll avoid any spikes or drops in your blood sugar until your next meal. Some of the best low-GI foods are:

  • Cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, zucchini, dark leaf lettuce, onions, peas, tomatoes, watercress, broccoli, bananas, apples, and berries are all good foods to eat.

5. Eat a protein-rich snack between 3 and 4 p.m.

According to experts, eating a protein-rich snack at the magic hour between three and four in the afternoon will boost your metabolism and balance your blood sugar. A protein bar, pumpkin seeds, and low-fat cheese are also good.

6. Eat small, frequent meals.

Replace your usual system of eating three large meals a day, with eating smaller, more regular meals. Many people make the mistake of eating nothing at all between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, especially when they are trying to lose weight.

7. Cut down on alcohol.

Alcohol, particularly wine and beer, is full of calories (scary fact: one 750 ml bottle of wine contains roughly 600 calories). Alcohol consumption also releases estrogen into the system, which is undesirable, as excess estrogen causes the body to retain weight. Perhaps more importantly, alcohol stimulates appetite and causes willpower to melt away, making you much more likely to binge on all the things you’ve been depriving yourself of, like burgers, fries, pizza, chocolate, and potato chips.

9. Drink plenty of water.

You should replace all your regular beverages with water, especially soda and sugared drinks which are full of empty calories and will cause your stomach to bloat. Take water with you wherever you exercise or do strenuous activity and take water breaks during hot or heavy workouts. Drinking lots of water will help to flush toxins out of your system and keep your bowels moving, both of which are essential for a flat stomach.

Everything You Need to Know About Bad Breath

Bad breath could be a common downside that may cause important psychological distress and therefore the common reason is lack of oral hygiene. It is the third most typical reason that folks ask for care when cavity and gum are unhealthy. Home remedies and lifestyle changes, like improved dental hygiene and quitting smoking, will typically take away the problem. If unhealthy breath persists, however, it’s prescribed to a doctor to see for underlying causes.

These are the potential causes of bad breath:


• Tobacco

Tobacco products cause mouth odor. Also, they increase the possibilities of gum problems which might additionally cause unhealthy breath.


• Food

The breakdown of food particles stuck within the teeth will cause odors. Some foods like onions and garlic may cause unhealthy breath. when they’re digestible, their breakdown product area unit carried within the blood to the lungs wherever they will affect the breath.


• Dry mouth

Saliva cleans the mouth. If the mouth is dry this leads to a selected problem, like xerotes, odors will build up.


• Dental hygiene

Brushing and flossing make sure the removal of tiny particles of food that may build up and slowly break down. Bacteria that builds plaque if brushing isn’t regular. This plaque will irritate the gums and cause inflammation between the teeth and gums known as periodontal disease. Dentures that aren’t cleaned frequently or properly may harbor bacteria that cause bad breath.


• Crash diets

Abstinence and low-carbohydrate ingestion programs will turn out bad breath. This can cause the breakdown of fats producing chemicals known as ketones. These ketones produce odors


• Drugs

Alternative medicine will turn out odors as they breakdown and unleash chemicals within the breath. Examples embody nitrates wont to treat angina, some therapy chemicals, and a few tranquillizers, like phenothiazines. People who take sustenance supplements in giant doses may be at risk.


• Mouth, nose, and throat conditions

Typically, small, bacteria-covered stones will type on the tonsils at the rear of the throat and turn out the odor. Also, infections or inflammation within the nose, throat, or sinuses will cause bad breath.


• Diseases

Some cancers, liver failure, and alternative metabolic diseases will cause bad breath, caused by chemicals. of abdomen acids.

Other Causes:

Rarer causes of unhealthy breath include:


• Ketoacidosis 

Ketones are toxic and cause bad breath. Diabetic acidosis could be a serious and doubtless grave condition.


• Bowel obstruction

Breath will smell bad if there has been a chronic amount of forcing out, particularly if an internal organ obstruction occurs.


• Bronchiectasis

This can lead to bad breath by causing airways to become wider than traditional, giving a build-up of numerous bacteria that results in bad breath.


• Pneumonia

A swelling or infection within the lungs or airways which results in eupnoeic vomit, saliva, food, or liquids.


Home remedies

Other lifestyle changes and home remedies for unhealthy breath include:


• Brush the teeth

make sure to brush your teeth daily, ideally after every meal.


• Floss

Flossing reduces the build-up of food particles and plaque from between the teeth. Brushing solely cleans around sixty percent of the surface of the teeth.


• Clean dentures

bacteria goes into your mouth, as well as dentures, a bridge, or a mouth guard, ought to be cleansed as counselled on each day. cleansing prevents. 


• Brush tongue

Bacteria, food, and dead cells unremarkably build odor to the tongue, particularly in smokers or those dehydrated.


• Avoid dry mouth

Drink lots of water. Avoid alcohol and tobacco.


• Diet

Avoid onions, garlic, and spicy food. sweet foods cause you to pile up the bacteria.

Advantages of Collaborating Digital Marketing Agency

Digital marketing is a type of marketing that involves devices like televisions, computers, and mobile phones. Digital marketing also includes emails, SMS messages, content marketing, and computer program optimization (SEO).

A digital marketing agency uses these strategies to assist businesses to build their brand and generate leads. They use channels like social media, videos, and blogs to succeed in potential clients. Over the past few years, the digital marketing industry has grown exponentially. In 2018, the market reached $192 billion worldwide. In the U.S. alone, it’s expected to achieve $120 billion by 2021. There are now thousands of digital marketing jobs out there, with eager professionals waiting to fill them. With something that important to your business’s success, there are several reasons you must consider hiring a professional.

As a business owner, you’re always learning new things. There’s an honest chance that if you wanted to, you’ll become an expert on digital marketing. Doing so would require time, effort, and money, however, and there are already full-service digital marketing agencies that will help.

Agencies have whole teams of pros who focus on different strategies. They include designers, copywriters, and social media gurus. all of those experts have significant experiences with their specific job. They know what works and what doesn’t.

Digital marketing specialists even have experience in several channels. They know what quite tactics work best for a TV commercial, a social media post, or your business’s website.

Learning all of those strategies yourself would take years, but with the workplace, you’ll be able to instantly have access to a high level of experience.


A Specialized Set of Tools

Digital technology is continually evolving. For digital marketing agencies, maintaining the most recent tools is an element of the work. They need the budget to get new software and hardware once they need it. For tiny businesses, on the opposite hand, buying those tools can easily overwhelm your budget.

If you choose to buy new marketing software, you’ll have to find out how it works. You would possibly even have to coach your employees. Agencies have the resources to confirm their teams can use any new tools.

Most marketing software aims to supply data about customer activity. These programs can show what percentage people visit your website and whether or not they click any links, for instance. This is often all valuable information, but it’s useless if you don’t understand how to interpret and apply it to your marketing strategies. The office knows exactly the way to use their tools for the simplest possible return on investment.

Potential Disadvantages of Hiring A Digital Marketing Agency
There are some downsides you’ll encounter if you choose to rent the bureau. It’s important to require these possible issues into consideration if you decide to proceed.

Keep in mind that if one agency doesn’t see, you don’t should return to doing everything yourself. it’d take research and a few trial-and-error to search out the correct fit.



Agencies May Lack of Your Industry Knowledge

Some agencies concentrate on a specific industry or vertical. Most, however, work with clients in an exceeding sort of market. Meaning that they won’t have the extent of data you’ve got about your products or services. It’s also possible that a corporation hasn’t worked in your field the least bit before.

Even the bureau that has worked with a range of clients will need time to know your customers’ needs. Each market is different, and what works well for one business might be a miscalculation for an additional. You don’t want to waste money on a campaign that winds up turning potential customers away.

To counteract a scarcity of industry knowledge, you’ll be able to hire a firm with proven leads to your field. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be ready to find one.

Familiarity isn’t a fast Study

A reputable agency will make sure that it’s aware of your clients and what they’re trying to find. However, this process takes time. The agency also has to make certain they understand your brand voice and image.

When you first start working with a marketing firm, you won’t be able to hand responsibilities immediately. You’ll have to take time to review your goals and former marketing efforts with their team. It’s also crucial that you’re comfortable with the direction the agency is headed, which means open communication and frequent check-ins, which take time.

Once a campaign has been completed, the agency will want your feedback. This is often an important step so that they can adjust and improve going forward. Again, it’ll take a while, and a hands-off approach won’t generate the simplest results.

The Power of Women in the Business World

Women are dominating the world of business as per the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, four out of each 10 businesses are owned by women. Believe it or not, women started about 1,821 new businesses daily between 2017 and 2018. These days, they employ 9.2 million people or 8 percent of the entire private workforce.

Besides, the report revealed that almost all women own service-based businesses in fields like hair care, pet care, and skincare. A number of them specialize in healthcare and national assistance, providing child daycare and residential healthcare services. Professional services like bookkeeping, legal, promotional material and accounting are widely seen in women-owned businesses moreover. 

Traits of Successful Women Entrepreneurs

If you think about the successful women entrepreneurs we’ve discussed moreover because of the many others that exist, you’ll find that they share the subsequent traits.

Greater Control

There’s no denying that the gender pay gap continues to be a difficulty. Women who own their own business can charge with their worth and may avoid the gap. they’ll also choose who they work with and which projects they tackle.

Ambition

Successful women know what they need and work for it. You’ll never find them daydreaming because they’re focused on taking actions to assist turn them into realities.

Flexibility

When it involves taking care of youngsters or senior parents, women are often the first caregivers. By owning their own business, they will balance their family needs with work. They find that working a standard 8 to five job makes it difficult for them to satisfy all of their responsibilities.

Positive Outlooks

Positive business owners are more likely to succeed than pessimistic people. an honest attitude, even when times are tough, can steer toward them toward the proper path.

Passion

You’ll rarely find a female entrepreneur who began business in an industry she doesn’t enjoy. Most of them are obsessed with the products and services they provide further as their customers.

Confidence

Successful businesswomen are confident. They believe themselves and never second guess what they’re doing. You’ll notice that they speak magisterially and are happy with who they’re and where they’re going.

Organized

Female entrepreneurs wear many hats, especially when they’re just stars. people who are organized are more likely to be more productive and reap the advantages of their efforts. They know the way to search out peace within the midst of the chaos.

Hardworking

Women business owners are successful thanks to the diligence they’ve put into their ventures. They know they can’t depend upon luck to grow their businesses. Instead, they’re going the additional mile to realize their goals.

Creativity

Creativity goes a protracted way when it involves owning a business. Women who achieve business understand how to think out-of-the-box. They create a singular product or offer a one-of-a-kind service that pulls customers.


There are countless samples of successful women-owned businesses.  You’ll find one in precisely every industry and geographic region. Here are some examples:

SD3IT

Based in Florida, SD3IT may be a cybersecurity consulting company that helps the U.S. government and commercial clients solve various business issues through technology.

The organization offers numerous services, including IT Transition, Advanced Threat Analysis and Mitigation, and marketing research for network or cybersecurity needs. They’re HUBZone certified and strive to support organizations with government guidelines and strategic business advantages.

SD3IT was founded in 2014 by husband and wife, Sara and David Dimlich. Throughout the years, they’ve hired a sturdy team of PMP project managers, solution architects, customer service representatives, and lots of others. Their team uses equipment from Mitel, HP, Great Bay, and other vendors to develop custom solutions that make life easier for his or her clients.

Sara is extremely happy with SD3IT’s fast growth. However, what gets her excited is that the support her business gave to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma and Maria. They donated generators and extra supplies to those in need. Giving back are some things she’s addicted to, and being a female entrepreneur allows her to try and do just that.

Skinny Dipped

Seattle-based Skinny Dipped makes bags of chocolate dipped almonds. it had been started in 2013 by CEO Breezy Griffith and her mother, Val. The mother-daughter team began making snacks in their apartment kitchen for fun and sold them at the local farmers’ markets.

Since then, the corporate has grown into an operation with over 21 employees. Today, Skinny Dipped may be found online and at numerous retailers including Kroger, Sprouts, and Target.

Skinny Dipped Almonds are minimally processed, gluten-free, and PPO free. to form them, Breezy skinny-dips whole almonds into a skinny layer of bittersweet chocolate and finishes them with raspberry, espresso, or cocoa. Breezy and her team taste-test every batch to confirm the nuts are roasted to the letter and topped with the perfect amount of chocolate.

Breezy explains that one amongst the explanations Skinny Dipped has been so successful is because she hired the proper those who are obsessed with the merchandise. She’s fostered a collaborative environment where everyone’s ideas are heard. Her team consists of the many women who she is either associated with or friends with and he or she enjoys working with those she knows and loves.


It is now known that women are dominating the corporate world. Women empowerment is on the lead, let it be. 

7 Time Management Tips for Entrepreneurs

Time is gold if your business is just getting back from scratch. If you can master the art of time management techniques, it would be easy for you to take control of your time, making your working ho productive, efficient, and less hassle. The following time management tips will help you to get your work done for you to have ample time to take a break from work. 

1. Set Priorities

Stephen Covey—author of the classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective which advice to evaluate your priorities, placing each task into one of the following buckets:

Important and urgent: You should accomplish it right away and don’t jump to the tasks that do not require a small amount of time and urgency. 

Important but not urgent: These are tasks that may appear important but can be postponed or to be done later. 

Urgent but not important: Tasks that do not require urgent actions or can be done after you can accomplish your main tasks. 

Not urgent and not important: Low-priority stuff and can be done if you have ample time. 

2. Be Goal-Centered

Identifying and setting your goals can be crucial at first. You need to define those goals in terms if they are clear, specific, and attainable. Focus on how “to grow your business,” to avoid confusion and overhyped of your goals. 

Your business goals should be “Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound,” SMART goals will help you to do the step-by-step process of goal making.

If you can achieve your SMART goals, it would be easy for you to make your plans possible and attainable. Consistency is also important for you to be goal-centered to make everything smooth and feasible.

3. Learn to Say NO

You have every right to say no to requests or demands if you can see that is unnecessary and too much time to invest. The same goes for any projects or activities that have no direction for your business. Be prepared to accept criticisms upon rejecting an activity and move on to the most productive task. 

4. Eliminate distractions

Start paying attention to the number of times someone interrupts you when you’re in the midst of an important task. Track self-induced interruptions, too, particularly those of the social media variety. Your smartphone is extremely useful, but it’s also highly addictive and among the most insidious time-wasters known to man.

It may take a massive exercise in will power, but shut the door and turn off your phone to maximize your time. Instead of being “always-on,” plan a break in the day to catch up on email, make phone calls, talk with staff, etc.

5. Plan ahead

Jumping from one task to another will give you a headache. Planning ahead of time will give you more focus to accomplish a certain task and it would save you from wasting time jumping from one thing to the next.  Be a smart and hard worker but it depends on the working personality.

Before going to sleep, take 15 minutes to clear your mind and plan the next day’s most pressing works. Having a detailed plan first thing in the morning will improve your efficacy and productivity upon doing the task. 

6. Delegate your Team

Do not underestimate the power of delegation, If you are lucky enough to have the dedicated employees, empathetic delegation and understanding is the key. Running a successful small business depends on the positive outlook of the owner and keep abreast of what lies ahead in the future of business and the people behind. Instruct your team and be concise in giving orders. Help them the best way you can. 

7. Track your time

Tracking your time in completing a certain task is important. If you can see the pace of your movements and sense of urgency, your task will be done smoothly.  With a simple timesheet tracker, you can quickly and easily clock in the different operations in your business every day. 

There are many mobile time tracking app or track time directly from your desktop or mobile phones. Then assess on which task takes you so much time — and where it’s being wasted. On the other hand, it will give you clarity on which task needs extra time to accomplish. 

How to Scale your Business

In the period of transition, then you’ll be quickly acquiring new customers and generating additional revenue. As a result, you’ll adjust your current systems and team to accommodate this new wave of business.

The problem is, your business will eventually reach a degree where it’s at capacity. Your current business infrastructure can’t do the best way to earn new customers in your target market. When that happens, the standard of your work can suffer and your churn rate might increase.

In scaling your business, you increase your business’ demographics to serve customers and perform under pressure and demanding workload. By utilizing technology and workflows, you’ll be able to increase your revenue without massively increasing your production costs. Scaling allows your business to work more efficiently while you’re growing your revenue. And you still earn over you’re spending to urge new customers into your business.

Business Processes

A process may be a series of steps you’re taking to realize the desired conclusion. And whether or not they know it or not, the general public has processes in situ for nearly every task they complete.

The problem is, most people’s processes are inefficient and time-consuming. and infrequently, these processes create more problems than they solve. As a business owner, your goals should be to continually improve and refine your processes. additionally, improving your processes is what’s visiting liberate it slow and permit your business to eventually scale.

The best thanks to improving your processes are by thinking of the steps that move into delivering your product or service to the customer. Who’s involved during this process, and what do they are doing at each point?

Starting documenting the varied processes that happen in your business. From there, you’ll find ways you’ll be able to improve and streamline these systems.

Fixing Business Matters

Before you start, you would like to contemplate your current business. Namely, does one have a proven business model? is that the demand for your product or service increasing? does one have a solid income and predictable monthly sales?

Even if you have got the financial pieces in situ, you continue to must consider whether you’ve got the team in situ to scale. Are there any new roles that you just must fill, and which of them are the foremost crucial? does one have to hire more full-time staff, or could certain jobs be handled by a freelancer?

Also, you must confirm that your current team is prepared. When a business is trying to scale, it can put everyone within the company under lots of additional pressure.

Make sure you frequently sign in together with your team and see how they’re handling the business growth and their increased responsibilities. this can facilitate you avoid losing talented employees to burnout and stress.

The Fusion of IT and Architecture

It’s important to possess the correct technology and infrastructure in situ before you try to scale. the correct infrastructure will allow you to forsake of repetitive, low-value tasks and target the items which will bring the foremost value to your business.

Before scaling, you must explore ways to automate or outsource activities in your business. Fortunately, technology makes scaling your business easier and fewer expensive.

Having the proper infrastructure in situ will allow you to scale with less friction because each step will hinge on one another. for example, your operational tools should eliminate any bottlenecks, allowing your employees to try to their best work. this permits your business to control without you eager to constantly step in and sort things.



Scaling is a very important milestone for any company. after you scale, you substantially increase your revenue without increasing your costs at an identical rate. Your business operates more efficiently and you earn more for each sale you create.

It’s important to attend to scale until your business is prepared. Trying to try and do it too early or too late can have negative consequences for your customers, your team, and your business.

It’s not always immediately apparent whether your business is prepared to scale. By evaluating your systems, your team, and your infrastructure, you must be ready to determine if your business is prepared for this next step.