Floricane LLC

Reining in Domestic Violence in Powhatan

I try to stay current with the work of my clients, and The James House is a great example of that in many regards. The James House works to help people impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault in seven communities in the Tri-Cities, and I continue to be struck by the magnitude of their day-to-day challenges.

I was pleased to see in this morning's Times-Dispatch that Powhatan County has taken steps to more actively reduce domestic violence:

Statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence show that 85 percent of domestic violence victims are women, Murphy said.

The group also reports that one out of every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, and the residents of Powhatan are no exception, Murphy said.

Eventually, Murphy said, her office will be able to help families in crisis and may be able to head off some of the tensions that contributed to the domestic disputes the county has seen recently.

"Certainly there are families in turmoil and use violence to resolve conflict," Murphy said.

Murphy said Powhatan's Victim/Witness Assistance Program director, Wendy McClellan, reported that in fiscal 2008, her office provided direct services to 77 victims of domestic violence in the county.

"It's everywhere," Murphy said. "It happens everywhere to people with very diverse backgrounds regardless of education, economic status [or] religious background."

"It happens to a lot of people. They just don't talk about it."

Simplicity Rules in the World of Personal Vision Statements

Last summer, I pushed and pulled and cajoled a group of 70+ participants in a monthly leadership development program through the process of writing their own personal vision statements. I found myself going along for the ride.

I found two things along the way -- that it is very easy to overload such statements with jargon, especially jargon that you think other people want you to represent; and, that simple is beautiful.

An example.

A manager in my former organization is a highly engaged, high-energy, creative whirlwind. She's been that way for as long as I've worked with her -- 12 years -- and that forward-leaning, extroverted energy was her trademark.

She came to one of the first sessions focused on personal vision statements with one word: Serenity.

At first, people thought she was joking. Or crazy. If she embraced serenity, she'd lose her essence!

It turns out, of course, that nothing could be farther from the truth. She had simply realized -- through the collision of a variety of deeply personal discoveries -- that she couldn't maintain the energy in her life is she was spinning out of control deep within. The more she could understand, embrace and breath serenity into her life, the more effective she would be in those moments of deep velocity.

A second participant had a vision statement that absolutely aligned with the essence of who he was. It was also fairly simple -- helping individuals make the change they want to make in their lives.

Because this participant also happens to be one of my closest friends, I was particularly elated by his understated vision -- and the countless ways it played out in his life as he went about the business of being a good father, husband, son, neighbor, friend.

He did some wordsmithing on his vision recently. It's not substantially different, and yet I can't help but feel he's lost something in the process.

I can't say it much better than Leonardo da Vinci: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Floricane's Newsletter Updates and Successful Storytelling

I officially launched Floricane as a business on January 1, and have attempted over the past five months to keep my growing network of friends, colleagues, supporters and clients plugged into the work -- without turning my updates into absurd marketing screeds. Hopefully, I've been successful in that regard. (Thank you, Constant Contact.)

My mother recently emailed me. After telling me how proud she was of my successes, she remarked how strange she found it that I was so open and transparent about my business -- and about the overlap between my work, my community activities and my personal life. "Is this something new?" she wrote. "When I was working, it just wasn't appropriate to share so much."

I'm not sure I'm unique, but I would argue -- and did as recently as this morning -- that what has helped me be successful in this new business is that I am able to bring my whole self to every engagement, regardless of whether it is for profit, for pleasure or for the social good. I'm fortunate, also, that almost everything I've done to this point delivers on at least two of those three ways of engaging.

Storytelling -- using narrative to make sense of our work and our world, and to connect us with broader communities of people -- is not new to the business world. What is new, I'd suggest, are the types of stories we tell, the ways in which we tell them and (quite often) who is allowed to tell the stories in any given organization.

Technology allows everyone to be a storyteller -- and to find the voice and style that suits them, and to be as rote or as creative or as powerful as their voice and style allow. Historians have commented for centuries that history is written by the winners. Everyone gets to be a winner when technology levels the playing field.

I was fortunate in my last job that no one seemed to care that I had a very public voice with my weblog Buttermilk & Molasses (and with Garden of Words, North Richmond News and a half-dozen other transitory weblogs). Maybe it was because I never talked shop. Maybe it was because there was simply an expectation in that corporate space that I was always going to be a bit of an outlier.

But it was the voice and the style of Buttermilk & Molasses that connected me to the very worlds that are helping my business be successful today. The relationships I developed with the business community, with the increasingly dynamic weblog community, with a host of nonprofit and corporate leaders and with my own neighborhood has helped to establish the Floricane brand.

Interestingly enough, I did some work with a group of leaders at Luck Stone in the months before my departure on the creation of an individual vision and brand. As best I recall it, mine was to be a catalyst in my communities for conversations that would not happen otherwise.

That's as a good a definition of storyteller as any, I suppose.

Floricane's May Update: Life Is Crazy!

Download Floricane May Update

I have only good things to say about the insanity of living your passion in the May edition of the Floricane newsletter, but I've also had more than one person comment today that they can't quite understand how I have managed to keep my head above water.

Interestingly enough, I'm busier than I've ever been and have been working harder than I've ever worked, and I'm still spending more time with Nikole and Thea than I did when I was working a corporate job. Funny how chasing your passion, being focused about the work and remaining intentional about the things you value most can surprise you.

At any rate, the May issue recaps a host of events and projects -- a retreat with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development; a summary of the visual strategy session with architect Peter Fraser and designer Ansel Olson; a summary of a grassroots conversation I convened in March; a recap of "An Evening at Morton's" and more. It also touches on some exciting cultural initiatives I've found myself engaged around -- a regional cultural calendar and a periodic weblog roundtable, for starters.

I rushed to get this issue out (late) because I had about three more initiatives hitting the gates in the next week -- and wanted to have something to cover in June.

Floricane's April Update

Download Floricane April Update

The April Floricane newsletter introduces The James House, a nonprofit client in Hopewell working with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; invites the community to a creative strategy session delivered with architect Peter Fraser and designer Ansel Olsen; frames up "An Evening at Morton's" community conversation and a recent engagement at Collegiate School; and offers updates on a handful of other Floricane activities.

Floricane's Monthly Updates

Every month since launching Floricane as a business, I've tried to keep my growing community of friends, colleagues, business partners and clients connected to my journey, my life and my work. Here are the first four updates, which track the creation of the Floricane name, brand, logo and website; the business launch party; and the first pieces of work I delivered.

Download Floricane January Update
Download Floricane February Update
Download Floricane March Party Update
Download Floricane March Update

I'll upload the April and May updates separately, and will post each monthly update as it is circulated.