Announcing … The Escape from Cubicle Nation Community

Happy Friday to you all!

I am thrilled to officially announce that as of yesterday, nestled inside this very blog, there is a membership site called The Escape from Cubicle Nation Community.

This is a paid private area where you can network with your peers, work on business plans, share ideas, cook up joint venture ideas, and get expert advice on all aspects of leaving your corporate job to start a business.

Highlights include:

• A rich library of videos, audios and articles contributed by Pam and the Trusted Advisor Council specifically for the Community.
• A networking forum where you can meet other emerging entrepreneurs and get support, ideas, feedback and motivation to start and grow your business
• Coaching calls with Pam to get specific answers to your specific questions
• Expert advice calls with the Trusted Advisor Council on topics like:
  -Legal and Financial Startup Basics
  -Small Business Marketing Tips
  -Small Business Technology Basics
  -How to Write an Effective Business Plan
  -Using Social Media to Build Your Business
  -Maintaining Creative Momentum and Overcoming Blocks
  -How to Get Reasonably Priced Health Insurance
  -How to Get Outside Help at a Reasonable Cost
  -And many more!
• Connections and exposure to new markets and people, through Pam and the bright, vibrant Community members

We already have a nice crew enrolled, and I expect that it will steadily grow as word gets out about the amazing people in there.

Details and sign up information are here: https://escapefromcubiclenation.com/join-the-community/

The Trusted Advisor Council

Perhaps my favorite part of the Community is the rock-solid Trusted Advisor Council standing behind it. This council is made up of people I have known, worked with, and trusted for a long time. They have expertise in all the critical areas of leaving a corporate job and starting a business. Here is the complete posse:

Charlie Gilkey will focus on Momentum. He helps creative entrepreneurs and small businesses get and keep momentum in their business. If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out how to convert a Big Idea into an actionable plan, he’s your guy. www.productiveflourishing.com.

Desiree Adaway will focus on Social Enterprise. She is a consultant, strategist , coach, storyteller and explorer. She has designed and administered more than 150 global programs to engage 500,000 people into action directly and almost 1 million indirectly through creation of global strategy. www.desireeadaway.com

Jill Hubbard Bowman will focus on Intellectual Property. She is an intellectual property attorney with more than ten years of experience in protecting, enforcing and licensing intellectual property rights. Jill is a specialist in representing startup companies and teaches entrepreneurs how to strategically protect their intellectual property through the use of trade secret, trademark, copyright, and patent law. Jill is a registered patent attorney and a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Jill publishes the legal blog for entrepreneurs, www.IPLawForStartups.com.

Kyle Durand will focus on Business and Financial Systems and Tax Law. He is a business designer and experienced entrepreneur with a post-doctorate degree in tax law and an affinity for creating and optimizing business processes that are understandable, easy to maintain and allow entrepreneurs to concentrate on the things they do best. www.artofbusiness.com

Lea Woodward will focus on Location Independence. She quit the corporate rat race and became a personal trainer & holistic health coach. When her husband, Jonathan, was then laid off they unwittingly discovered the concept of location independence and sold everything they owned to run their own business from lower cost countries around the world. Having lived in and run their business from countries in North, Central & South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, they now run Kinetiva to help other people create businesses based upon their passions and create the life of freedom they want. www.locationindependent.com

Laurie Foley will focus on Branding. She created the Branding From the Inside Out process to help entrepreneurs get clear, get noticed, and get clients. A successful independent consultant and coach since 1995, she leads you through the challenges of creating a compelling brand strategy using tools and experience that reveal the powerful essence of you and your business. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, teen son and Mocha the Love Mutt. When not reading or writing, you’ll find her knitting socks on tiny needles and watching film noir. Laurie is at http://www.lauriefoley.com

Manisha Thakor will focus on Personal Finance. She is the founder of the Women’s Financial Literacy Initiative and co-author of two critically acclaimed personal finance books for women: ON MY OWN TWO FEET and GET FINANCIALLY NAKED. Manisha blogs about personal finance at Forbes, teaches an innovative online personal finance course called “Money Rules… For Women,” and is a Financial Fellow at Wellesley College. Find her at http://manishathakor.com/

Shama Kabani will focus on Marketing and Social Media. She is a Web TV show host, bestselling author and international speaker. She is the award-winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group – a global digital marketing firm. Shama is the face of the digital world, and represents the best her generation has to offer. She has been dubbed the “master millennial of the universe” and “an online marketing shaman” by Fast Company.com. Find Shama at http://www.marketingzen.com

Tim Berry will focus on Business Planning and Venture Capital. He is President and founder of Palo Alto Software, co-founder of Borland International, founder of bplans.com, author of books and software, a teacher of entrepreneurship, a blogger, and a Stanford MBA. Pam calls him the “Obi Wan of Business Plans.” His main blog is Planning Startups Stories; he also does Up and Running at Entrepreneur.com, and appears on several other blogs. www.timberry.com

Tina Forsyth will focus on Growing a Great Team. She is a leading authority on building virtual teams to help your business thrive. As the author of Becoming an Online Business Manager and the CEO of the International Association of Online Business Managers she specializes in maximizing business growth potential by coaching business owners and virtual teams on revenue streams, operations management and team development.  www.onlinebusinessmanager.com

Willie Jackson will focus on Technology. He is the CTO of The Domino Project, a new publishing venture by Seth Godin that’s powered by Amazon. Employed as a miserable IT Consultant for three years before transitioning to independent technology consulting (WordPress design, development, hosting, and optimization), Willie said goodbye to an unfulfilled existence in April of 2010 following the first LiftOff retreat. www.williejackson.com

With these kinds of resources available to the Community, I know we are going to do great things this year, and launch a ton of new business ventures.

Won’t you join us? https://escapefromcubiclenation.com/join-the-community/