December 20, 1977 my father was awakened by my mother telling him it was time to go! Since this would have been my father’s 4th child and it was still four weeks until the actual due date, he ignored her and went back to sleep.

But I was anxiously ready to get this party started and kept pushing my mom to get a move on! She made her last request to my dad, either join her or miss out! Still unconvinced, he pulled himself out of bed and got us both to the hospital.

And there I was, baby number four. Early to the event (nothing new) and weighing in at only 4lbs 5oz.(always been little). To everyone’s surprise I was NOT a boy, and my poor mom thought getting my dad out of bed to make it to the delivery room was a challenge, coming up with another girl’s name was even worse!

Gretchen, Ali, Jennie and, hmmmmm. What to name this little baby?!?

My sister Ali wanted a brother named Joey, she would speak to me when I was in my mom’s belly, calling me Joey. So my name stemmed from this. Joey/Jodi….Ali wouldn’t know the difference right?!?

Our parents gave us such a gift, the opportunity to be raised in a small community. The place where we could ride our bikes all over without supervision, play for hours outdoors and just be wild child’s!

Gretchen, Ali, Jennie & Joey…ooops, I meant Jodi

Our community is called Skaneateles. It sits pretty in upstate NY. Today it has less than 5,000 people living in the village and 38% of us have children. Part of the Finger Lakes, Skaneateles is the cleanest lake in all of New York. It is a hot spot in the summer and fall seasons and we have celebrities like the Baldwins and the Clinton’s who make frequent visits to the village for vacation. Gee, I remember back when Bill was in office and he made a visit to the village. My family owned a diner back then and before he came in for breakfast one morning the secret service called to inform us that once he comes into the diner, nobody comes in or out! My grandmother still honors those secret service buttons they gave her on that day he visited. Just like she honors Mickey Mouse

Those were the days….

And then it happened. I grew up and flew away, far away. And I stayed away for 16 years. But I always knew deep down inside that one day, I would be back.

There I was in the summer of 2010, 32 and exhausted! I traveled the world that year, Milan to Vancouver and over to Dublin. The same message played in my head that July…I kept telling myself you barely know your own son, you missed his second birthday and all for a business deal that went bad! I was at my wits end. And what set me over the edge was the news of my father moving into a nursing home, suffering from dementia. I finally crumbled. I gave in and began to cry. I said to Steven, I…want…to…go…home!

Just four days before that Christmas I had my car packed with Noah and the dogs and off we went, homeward bound.

To my surprise I arrived to the worse winter the village had experienced in decades! But, what the heck did I know? I hadn’t experienced snow in 16 years, so anything was pretty bad to me. Yup, that was me spinning around the streets, my car didn’t have snow tires (yet). I bought boots that weren’t water proof and had to carry Noah everywhere because he wouldn’t wear boots! By the spring I had made friends with the rest of the mommies and some even confessed, “ I knew you were new in town. You were always wearing the wrong clothes! Tshirts in the winter?!?”

Hitting that brick wall in the summer of 2010 was the best thing that could have ever happened to me and my family. The move back home has been brilliant! I spent time with my father and was able to get the message to my sisters when I noticed him slipping deeper into the disease. They had their chance to hug him before he passed this September. Words can’t describe how incredible that has made me feel.

I’ve built an amazing connection with Noah and even Steven found a job that is 100% better than his last gig in Atlanta. And let’s not forget about Peter and Abby. They run around the neighborhood each day chasing rabbits and love the snow!

In Skaneateles I’ve bonded with so many amazing people who all have small children and days full of activity, just like me. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I’ve officially become, a soccer mom.

This year I’ve learned…

Community is everything when raising a child and/or family. Trust me, I know. I tried raising Noah in the city and taking on the fast paced career and it sucked! And now that I’ve got my head out of my a$$ I can see into the depth of the truth, that my son will pass things down to his own children one day, this is something I’ll have zero control over. But what I do have control over is what I instill into him, the things he will want to give his own children. And Skaneateles is the best gift I can give to my son. Just like my mom and dad gave to us girls.

But I must remain honest here, there are somethings that will never change. Come on, did you really think I would stop working…what a waste that would be! I’m now ‘that girl’ who sits at the coffee house everyday typing obnoxiously on her laptop…and I can hear the whispers from the old people who sip on their coffee…

“Pssst Pssst I hear she is planning some show in SPAIN!!!!!”

“She tried telling me what she does, but I still don’t quite get it….something with the internet, I think she owns google or something”

One of my favorite SNL skits is The Computer Guy with Jimmy Falon. And ever since I’ve moved back home I’ve had a few moments when I felt that very same, impossible how could you not know this, synergy rush through my body.

Like on Saturdays when I meet my grandma and some friends for lunch up at the diner. There are around 3-5 of us ladies who catch up and gossip, we’ll go around the table sharing the highlights of our week. Grandma starts off by explaining how Thursday was Spaghetti day at school so the pans were hard to clean. Diane tells us about watching soap opera’s on her computer at work or the ducks were in the driveway again and then I explain my week. And that’s when my grandmother asks, “what planet do you come from? You are the smartest person I have ever met!”

Folks I’m rambling off words like designing, fresh content, excellent search results and google. So I just roll my eyes (Computer Guy Synergy) and explain to grandma that it’s normal stuff and I’m not really a genius.

I get that a lot up here. Not all to that level of unfamiliarity but its all quite relevant to me. And now that I’m overseeing online marketing projects I see it immediately when observing a business. Reminds me of the first time I plucked my eye brows. Man I totally sound like a chick right now but that moment in my life changed the way I looked at peoples faces, I looked right to their eye brows first! So, when I’m introduced to a new business I MUST see their website, and this tells me quickly how relevant they are. For an example.

Lets come back to my hometown, there’s a store called Pomadoro Too. Naturally, you would think their website would be www.pomadorotoo.com, right? Wrong. Their site is called www.Pomadoro-invitations.com. Pomadorotoo must be taken!?! Ummm, no. It’s available for $10. Wait…here it comes…Computer Guy Synergy! Ahhhhh.

So, when people ask me what I do, I play it safe and keep my answers simple. I’m a Endomolecularbiologist.

Oh, and just for the record..I am a genius but only on Saturdays and from 12 until 1.

Famous Family Sayings That Have Given Me The Computer Man Synergy..
*My grandmother asked me if I could go on Spacebook to tell….
*Yes Mom, I have skype….

….love you mom:)

This afternoon two adorable little ladies opened up a lemonade stand right across the street from our home. The stand was a basic card table and they offered two different kinds of lemonade, Yellow & Pink! They had advertisement in place, using a large poster board were the writing was visible from the street and their price was right, 50 cents.The girls had everything going for them except they left out one very important piece to their business, location.

Our neighborhood is quiet and during the weekday afternoons its almost non existent. How did they plan to make any sales? I drove by and immediately began thinking of how many people start businesses but leave out key ingredients that would help them succeed. Then I said to myself oh come on already did I really think these young ladies wanted to make any money off their summer business, well come to think of it, yeah!

When I was a young girl my business idea was selling shows. My BFF Leslie and I would go door to door asking the stay at home mom’s if they would like to buy a ticket to our show. Most of them said no and then some of them said, where is it at? We replied, at your home and right now! Believe it or not one lady laughed and said sure. We hopped around her living room for an entire afternoon dancing to Bon Jovi and Cyndia Lauper. We also had a lemonade stand however we set it up right by the corner store, this way we would have what they call today TRAFFIC!

Does business sense start from a young age and if so are these two adorable young ladies doomed for failure?!? Good thing they live in Skaneateles and will most likely go to Cornell or Harvard

I’m always searching for inspiration so last Friday I decided to watch a documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Yup this one will go down in the top things that inspired Jodi Chamberlain!

In this documentary the author decides it’s time to fast and I don’t mean hoping into a sports car and hitting the pedal. Joe Cross, a 40 something year old has led the last 10 years of his life living, well rather recklessly. Successful financially but a huge failure when it came to caring for his body. Joe partied like it was 1999 and ate…and ate until his weight went over 300lbs! Yuck.

He was on several different medications, popping pills everyday. Visited 6 different doctors just searching for the cure to his pain. And this is when he finally realized, he was the one making himself this sick. His lifestyle was corrupting his immune system and it was seriously time to pay the price for his personal crime.

Now, let me just take a moment and say…don’t we all see ourselves in this man?!? I’m not even 3lbs overweight however I’m well aware of some disturbing habits I have, the type that over time will create problems. For an example, my teeth. I love coffee and I mean LOVE IT!! But my poor teeth are really paying the price for this addiction. Or what about the soreness I’ve been experiencing in my left breast? The last two years I’ve been feeling it get better and then go to being sore again. It seems to re appear when I drink too much or when I began to carry stress. It does go away but then again it does come back. Everyone has something they’re doing to their bodies that could be the main source of their pain/s. And like Joe mentions in the film, our bodies heal themselves. We just need to leave it ALONE long enough to give them that chance.

Joe’s plan is to only drink juices for the next 60 days. These are the juices that you watched me make months ago on The Cute Side, veggies and fruits squeezed into a glass and when it’s all done it looks like you’re drinking green goo! Joe never cheated and in 60 days he lost over 80lbs and six weeks after this he was able to completely get off all his medication.

Throughout this process he learned that it’s a lifestyle that can make you or break you. And this lifestyle is a decision made only by you. Today Joe enjoys eating healthier, exercising and spending more time with his family because before, he never had the energy to do so.

So, starting the evening of July 10 I’m going on a 10 day fast! And by now folks you should know this means I’m controlling what I eat. Ten days of juicing it!! So far I’ve got 4 other people joining me so if anyone else wants to jump in please do! I recommend watching the movie first and then going to the store to get your food together. Clean out your fridge and restock it with the fruits and veggies. I will keep a video diary and write frequent articles about my daily experiences in hopes this helps to inspire and motivate you also.

It’s time to leave our bodies alone, let’s give it a chance to catch up and heal anything that needs it!

I saw this video on Facebook today and it reminded me of how fortunate we all are to be doing business in the internet world!

Just yesterday I was explaining to the partners how important show’s are that networking is the key to my success. If I were to win an award the very first thing I would be grateful for would be the networking events. Some think you have to be dressed up professionally, purchase a $50,000 booth display, hand out business cards, scan name badges etc….but really folks the BEST business is always in environments like displayed in this video.

Tony Robbins taught me if you want to succeed start hanging around people who have already obtained the success your reaching for. And then if you want to learn, place yourself in a fun environment. As children we learned so much in such a short amount of time and it was through fun and games. What these guys are doing is absolutely brilliant!

In September I’ll be attending the Dn Cruise, Chef Patrick’s event. The partners didn’t agree 100% on this event because of the atmosphere, it’s a freakin cruise for peeps sake?!? But they met me half way on this event knowing that the ship is filled with potential business and some of our already existing clients will be attending. To me it’s a no brainer. Have you seen the agenda yet folks? Day 1 scuba diving with Frank Schilling and having lunch with him after wards. Yes, you read this right. The boat will pull up to the Cayman Islands and awaiting us will be Frank, “hey friends, want to go scuba diving!”:)

Domainers get this. Through the years I’ve watched them slowly merge together and began creating some substantial business opportunities. I’ve listened to men call upon each other asking one to invest in their business or look at a BP they’ve been working on. These men trust one another due to the real time they’ve invested with each other. A domain show doesn’t end at 11pm. These guys will hang with each other till 4am-6am. Its this magnetic pull they get that sends them home with the craziest energy, the kind that makes you feel like you can tackle the world!

This generation of internet prince and princesses don’t do business on the golf course, it’s in tight niched circles at social events that are packed with other internet busy bee’s. And I get that our bosses think we’re off partying but in all good reality we’re drinking with ourselves. We finally get to relax and talk about the one thing we stare at all day with others who do the very same thing.

Since I’ve moved back to Upstate NY I’ve noticed something. I’m either glued to my computer or out with Noah. Each time I go out I NEVER get to talk about my real world. The mommies just don’t get it. My grandmother thinks I’m the smartest thing walking this planet because I use words like, internet marketing and buying traffic. She says, “where did you come from?!?” Events are important for someone like me. And the events where we are not in a hurry, don’t have to stand in one spot for 7 hours, we can move and groove with other geeks this is what will take us above and beyond our very own dreams!

Booth babes, blahhhhh! Each time I hear someone say you should get a booth babe I want to vomit! That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Be smart and go place yourself in a circle with other people who are just like you. You’ll see you when you first started, you where you are now and you where you continuously challenge yourself to be! That’s the key to successful business building my friends. I promise.

One of my favorite business men is Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com.

Many of you already know this and have watched my admiration for him mature. Last year I met him at DomainFest and took a picture with Tony, it was indeed a very special moment for me.

What I admire most about Tony is his ability to keep things simple and easy. As he began to invest into Zappos he realized it was time to become a full time player and paid himself only $35K a year, when most CEO’s make at least 150K. He also decided to sit in the middle of the office, not behind some closed door, keeping himself in the center of the company culture and this was just one simple move after another that made his company not just a success but a trend setter!

Customer service is what they decided to put their energy towards, and let me tell you it worked! They have a level of service that’s indescribable, it’s unheard of in today’s world. Think about your day and the moments when your given a service, paying for something. May it be the grocery store, gas station, sandwich at lunch, coffee, picking your kids up from daycare…

Rarely do we walk away from using these mini services feeling like, WOW! Or laughing, smiling and looking forward to coming back. So, Tony decides to sell shoe’s but not just any shoe, you get a box of shoe’s and with a smile!

Think about it guys, when was the last time service was this good that you walked away floored by the experience?!? I travel often and always choose Delta airlines as my carrier because they reward me for being a frequent flier. I get free luggage, first right onto the plane and free upgrades to business class. There are so many others to choose from but I always go to Delta for my itinerary. Smart business strategy on their end. It’s a shame their entire team couldn’t have the Zappos attitude, an airline with the best intentions at all times and for all passengers. Gee, wouldn’t that be something?!?

As I manage a company today I think to myself, what’s the level of service we provide. And when there is a moment when a client is looking for explanation, how well do we handle their concerns? Do they walk away feeling like a champion and things are being handled. I find myself always saying, WWTD (What Would Tony Do).

Since we’ve been back in NY I have taken a front row seat and watched how the earth naturally changes from….winter into spring!

I’ve spoken about change in past posts and I can’t stress enough how important it is for one’s personal growth. I am reminded of this more and more as the weather here in NY has gone from winter into spring. The earth magically shifts into a major change going from cold and white to warm and fluorescent! Earth changes without hesitation and as some of the shifts appear to be ugly such as a horrible storm what waits on the other side is always such beauty…

Change in our own lives is the very same way. Very few of us trust change and we find ourselves unhappy, over weight, dependent upon drugs or alcohol and the list goes on and on. It’s time to begin exploring ourselves and learning when our seasons change. Embracing the time to shift and riding along that wave into the next chapter!

I’ll use myself as an example here…back in my twenties I would change my cars every 2.5 years. Yup, I was one of those. Just as I was getting ready to pay one off I would hop back into a new payment plan. But that didn’t matter to me, what mattered to me was the NEW car I would be singing in. I’ve had convertibles, Jeeps, 5 Speeds, sports cars…Another biggie for me was moving the furniture around in my apartment. Back then I wasn’t into interior design like I am now however you could walk into my place and find the couch relocated to another wall or even the clothes in my closet were re organized. And the same with boys. I would find myself in a 3-9 month relationship and then taking a break for 4-6 months. That was me, always changing things up.

Change is constant. And I just feel it deep within my bones when its about to come, sometimes it burns. But I’m happy to say that I know the feeling, I can identify what time it is. This is when my ability to dig deep within comes into play. I’ll begin to take longer walks, listen to zen music and even close myself off from the world for a little while. I’ll be very careful of exchanging conversation with weak people, those who nag often or have no control of their own minds. It’s easy for me to get caught in their web’s and those can be very dangerous for me at a sensitive time, such as transformation.

Many wonder why I call Steven my partner. Well, this is out of respect for change. When we became pregnant we both new getting married was an option but I knew of my ability of change. We both agreed its better to be partners, a relationship that would focus on building a foundation that our son would rest upon. A place where he could be safe at all times, loved by both and he would be first on the list. Steven and I have changed numerous times in these last 5 years and feel we’re a step ahead of the game. Our very own belief system has been the key to a very successful partnership! Change comes knocking on our door we just keep handing it a glass of wine and say, cheers!

Change is key! If you don’t believe me then let your car run without ever getting an oil CHANGE. Yup, don’t give it oil and don’t CHANGE it. Let me know how that works out for you.

Here’s to change

So I’ve been thinking about taking up smoking. The last few weeks I’ve been learning all about the neat things that come along with smoking, like for an example the new friends I could possibly meet when I step outside to light one up!

They say a cigarette lasts for just about a minute, so you can imagine the deep conversations I’ll be able to partake in. I can learn about where people live, what they do and maybe even why they’re stressed. I’ve been learning that many people smoke because they’re stressed.

Another intriguing thing about smoking is that cough. Noah, my son tends to get a cough every few months so perhaps if I start smoking we might get a cough at the same time. How cool! Mommy and son doctor visits. Maybe if I smoke in the car with the window barely cracked this would help time our sickness, hmmm that’s a good idea!

Yellow has always been one of my favorite colors. They say if I smoke long enough my teeth and my nails will be yellow. God I LOVE yellow…

Now this is what really sold me on the idea of smoking, lung cancer. Look at this photo:

Tell me the lung on the right hand side looks so much better than the lung on the left. The right looks just like BBQ, YUMMY!! The left so boring and raw like. They say if I smoke enough there is a big risk of cancer, isn’t cancer like the new thing to be diagnosed with?!? They meant to say I might get LUCKY and have cancer, I’m sure the risk was a typo…

I know what you’re all thinking, my god it looks like so much fun being a smoker. Cool conversations with other smokers, you get to visit the doctor more often, no need for car air freshener you’ll now have the fresh scent of smoke…and I am sure you’re going to freak out when you see this possibility;

Oxygen tank!!!! Finally I will be able to sound like Darth Vador…..”Luke….I am your father!!”

So, I’m close to making the decision on picking up the habit. As you can see this is a really tuff decision, so I’ll need just a bit more time to figure out, why not!?!?!

My grandmother told me the night before I left for Thailand to make sure I see and do everything I wanted, make sure to be safe and have a good time. So, when Michael’s father asked me on day one what I wanted to do, I quickly said…”see elephants!”

Lynn took me yesterday to the Sanctuary of Truth, built in 1981 in honor of the four elements; Wind, Fire, Water and Earth. The larger than life Sanctuary is built on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand. After the tour of the wooden beauty we headed over to see the elephants.

The two huge mammals were gentle giants. We purchased banana’s to feed them and that was quite neat! They use their trunks to grab the banana from your hand then they bring it to their mouths. Hungry, they were quick to tell you they would like some more!

We sat on the back of the elephant, just like a horseback carriage ride although this was an elephant. The little Thai man sat on the elephants head, gently tapping on his temples with the heals of his feet and guiding him towards the sanctuary. He also uses a tool to control the mammal. It looks a lot like a dentist tool.

The experience was perfect! My elephant friends were nice to me and their size didn’t freak me out. The only thing that made me sound like a girl was when their trunks would get too close to me and they we’re a little wet, ewwww! But overall the moment was mutual between me and the elephants and I realized they are probably safer at the Sanctuary of Truth then they would be free in the wild! (Bob Parsons)

Six weeks after I had Noah my business trips picked up again. And since then I’ve been traveling around the world trying to stay on the front end of my career!

As Noah get’s older he understands what the suitcase means. Now I actually prepare him for my journeys explaining days before I leave, where I am going and how he needs to act while I’m away. Be nice to your Da da, please take care of Abby and Peter and be a GOOD boy!!!

This trip I hired two friends to watch him, this way they could learn HIS routine in hopes this would help him cope with my disappearance. Here is a letter I woke up to this morning…

Jodi,
Just a few pics from our day yesterday that I’d thought you’d enjoy. We went to the zoo with another 3 1/2 yr old named Anna. They had a blast together! He was fascinated with the lions, monkeys and elephant. He also liked the blind underground mole-like creatures you’ll see in pic 2794. He absolutely passed out in the car on the way to school and then was very pleasant waking back up and playing again. Such a trooper! In the afternoon we went for a walk with my dogs in the cemetery. He loved them! I have a video that’s too big to attach here of him playing with Shadow. Then back home for a nice pillow fight, which Steve walked in on! He he…in the video you’ll see Noah pretending that I’ve just nailed him hard with the pillow and him being goofy and falling to the floor. The first time he did that I absolutely cracked up laughing! He’s such a funny boy!
We had sooo much fun together, Jodi. He was an absolute joy to be around. When I left, he even started to cry! I’ll take that as a good sign!

Hope everything is going well for you. Have a massage for me!

Mary

Amazing way to start my day! Thank you Mary and Alicia for being such dependable friends. I am happy that Noah is being such a good boy for you both and know words can’t explain grateful we are to have your support with our son!