Ladies Who Launch: Strategic Hook Ups

As Ladies Who Launch covers the topic of partnerships in our magazine this month, I found myself thinking about how key all of our strategic alliances are. In business, without partnering with other businesses who share a similar vision, you're only talking to a fraction of your audience. Small businesses can benefit from this in titanic ways because they need only find other platforms to spread their message, and viola, more traffic, sales or customers are born! This is truly the secret weapon of entrepreneurship....shack up with good partners, reach more people, expand your message and enjoy the benefits of polygamy. Afterall, you can "marry" so many at one time, so why not? check out Scentient Beings founder Susan Reimer-Torn's take on this. She really knows the art of the hook up.

Amy Swift
Editor in Chief
www.ladieswholaunch.com

*****

Social Entrepreneurs: Finding The Perfect Partner

By Susan Reimer-Torn
Incubator: New York City
Business: Scentient Beings Ld.
Web site: www.scentientbeings.com
Email: [e-mail]

I didn't know that I was looking for it. But when I found it, I knew it could change everything.

I met Katherine at a dinner party while unwinding from a hectic business trip to San Francisco. I had been introducing my new line of breathable essential oils to upscale spas and felt needy of some down time. Katherine began telling me of her efforts to bring yoga to inner-city schools. It was immediately apparent that her approach was about far more than exercise.

Katherine uses yoga to address some of young people's most challenging issues: concentration, focus, self-esteem, and motivation, resisting stress, substance abuse and peer pressure.

My own company, Scentient Beings, offers conscious breathing with essential oils to achieve those same goals, even if designed for burned out adults rather than disadvantaged kids. It was clear I could learn something from this young woman seated by my side. Her excitement was contagious and I wanted to hear more.

Katherine's students begin class with quiet "time-in" but not before they hang their anxieties on the "worry tree" outside. Balancing poses are opportunities to distinguish between attitudes that serve a purpose and those that do not. Katherine always reminds the kids to check in with themselves and make choices that lead to best results.

Katherine was seeking to develop "a hybrid model of social entrepreneurship" for her non-profit company, Headstand. That meant she was looking for "a Headstand related product" that could be sold with proceeds going to support yoga in inner city schools.

I hadn't come out to the West Coast looking for Katherine. I had come to sell my product and program to upscale spas. To be honest, I envied Katherine's sense of purpose. Yes, I offered driven people ways to lower the high cost of success; I was eager to offer Type A's my techniques for short-circuiting the stress cycle. But too often I found myself staring into the lifeless eyes of well-heeled women who were no longer open to true self-renewal.

I asked Katherine if the addition of breathable aromatherapy might be an asset in the classroom. She was more than open so I donated enough inhalers for her classes and awaited the result.

The kids love them!

Katherine and I are both overjoyed at our perfect fit. We keep coming up with more ways in which aromatherapy enhances Headstand's mission of letting these kids be their best selves. Scentient Beings' association with Headstand keeps me energized. Our shared intention is to co-develop a kids' line of breathable oils. Profits will fund the inner city work and allow Scentient Beings to keep donating product to Headstand.

The press and event planners are expressing keen interest in this novel alliance of yoga and aromatherapy. The "accidental partnership" has taken on a life of its own.

Katherine and I share a vision and a certainty: stopping to take a few conscious breaths can ease even the most complex social issues. Mind/body awareness expands choices and leads to more positive results. These are the core teachings of both Scentient Beings and Headstand. These approaches are as meaningful in residential spas as in inner city schools.

I went out to the West Coast to sign on a few more spas. Instead, I chanced upon a partnership that makes it all seem worthwhile.

Partnering for a Hybrid Model of Entrepreneurship

* Adding a social entrepreneur component to a business venture gives the whole deeper purpose resulting in increased energy and inspiration.

* A hybrid model that grows out of, or complements, your core product, service or program is most coherent and satisfying.

* Don't apologize for enjoying the perks and benefits of your good actions: press and visibility naturally result from the pursuit of worthwhile causes.

* Keep an open mind but don't force it. The right partner for a perfect hybrid model is out there somewhere. Patience and discernment will bring it your way.

Susan Reimer-Torn

After a successful career as a journalist and communication consultant in France, Susan earned master certification from the International Association of Coaching in 2003. She has a thriving private practice and conducts popular workshops here and abroad. Her Visibility Project offers women new tools for self-direction in the second phase of adulthood. Susan was quoted as an expert on midlife renewal in a May, 2005 TIME cover story "A Female Midlife Crisis."

Additional training in hypnosis and aromatherapy inspired Susan to create Scentient Beings. The company offers product and programs for breathing with essential oils as a support for self development. She is a pioneer in the area of "spa meets spirit" and is pleased to inaugurate her new blog at WomanandSpirituality.net sponsored by Alive Mind Media.