2013-05-22T23:16:19-04:00 Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=dessislava-bell Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Dessislava Bell Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3292275 2013-05-17T09:18:57-04:00 2013-05-19T14:08:10-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
In my view, positive traits are positive traits, and regardless of how they have historically been assigned, the sooner we all start applying them to our professional lives, the sooner both men and women will benefit.

But how do we do that? The question of how we prepare to work in that future economy is a very relevant one that it's never too soon to ponder.

Technological knowledge and concrete, vocation-based skills will, of course, always be important, and those skills will also constantly evolve. The digital and high tech spheres will help Britain compete in the global economy and capture global virtual consumers in new ways that haven't even been invented yet.

But given the fast pace of change, the ability to deconstruct problems across industries will be the most vital skill in the future. In the increasingly intricate technology economy that we operate in today and will for years to come, complex problem solving and lateral thinking will become more important than ever.

I've seen this fundamental concept play out in my own professional experience: my years in investment banking taught me that nothing is unachievable as long as you break down your objective into constituent parts and attack them one by one.

At the same time, this key skill is the centre of a constellation of skills that we don't have to wait for the future to discover. Women and men should continue to harness many of the skills that are requisite in the traditional economy: honing management skills, increasing their own exposure and nurturing an inbuilt capacity for connecting with people which is so important in the ever more open digital consumer economy.

And to rise higher, they should also focus on relentless prioritisation, hard work and, on a practical note, outsourcing things that are not priorities.

An interesting addendum to this future we're all preparing for is that the people who form it are changing too: a 2010 report by Policy Exchange forecasts that by 2013, the UK will become the third country (after Canada and the US) to have a workforce that is more than 50% female.

The reality today is that women with career and family ambitions need to be as disciplined as or even more so than male counterparts. Investing time and effort into acquiring skills that will drive their business and career forward and foregoing all else is key in making the time and getting what one needs to succeed.

This doesn't mean that climbing the career ladder is a game that women need to beat men at, though. Anyone who wants to succeed needs to be first class personally and professionally. Most importantly, they need to make sure their accomplishments are recognised by voicing their own achievements. Women are not as good as men in the second aspect but I see this improving as the nature of the workplace changes. As Sheryl Sandberg points out in her book Lean In, women are often the ones that hold themselves back for a variety of reasons.

When I start out as a naïve but ambitious 21-year-old investment banker, I was very lucky to have two supportive parents who had always told me that I was just as good as anyone else. As a result, I wasn't afraid to work hard and put myself forward for great opportunities. I have full faith that the women who will come of age professionally in a generation's time will have a level of confidence that we often see absent - or not acknowledged - today.

In the meantime, though, women and men alike should be forward-thinking with their skills base so that they can more confidently grow into whatever roles the future economy holds.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3152751 2013-04-25T04:33:18-04:00 2013-04-25T10:40:49-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
Many are already achieving this with new forms of integration. For example, take real estate wellness. Bloomberg reported last month that twin brothers and former Goldman SVPs Paul and Peter Scialla are leaving to run their real estate firm Delos, which builds offices, hotels, and homes that literally imbue physical structures with wellness properties. With board members including wellness mega guru Deepak Chopra; Nicholas LaRusso, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation; and Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic, their mission of enhancing the spaces we inhabit has serious clout behind it.

The spa sector is another niche that is increasingly diversifying its wellness offerings, with more and more personalised medical treatments that blur the line between medicine and beauty. By taking medical treatment out of the hospital and incorporating it into a more holistic vision of health and wellness, they are also capitalising on the increasingly mainstream view that a healthy body is not just illness-free.

Real estate and spa wellness of course appeal to an affluent demographic that can afford to spend money on state-of-the-art flats and spa breaks, but the growth of these sectors reflects a general trend toward the awareness that everything we touch and interact with affects us. They embody the proactive wellness - the aim to improve one's quality of life and health - that more and more people are practicing on an individual level with their calorie tracker apps, YouTube yoga tutorials, and vegan shoes.

Collectively, the market catering to both groups is vast. An SRI report published in 2010 estimated (conservatively) that the global wellness industry is worth almost $2 trillion. They valued the Fitness & Mind-Body sector alone at $390.1 billion and estimated that there are 289 million wellness consumers in the 30 most industrialized and richest countries.

With such a massive industry and audience, there is plenty of opportunity for companies to get involved. And with wellness touching every corner of their clients' and employees' lives, there is no excuse not to.

When I came up with the idea for what would become my company's flagship product -technology-enhanced running shorts -in 2008, I really wanted to harness the wealth of technological advances out there to improve my ability to be physically active, and get results in the process.

Today, my team is constantly on the hunt for smart technologies and materials that make people's lives healthier and their time more efficient. There's plenty of regular (and lovely looking) workout apparel and yoga pants on the high street, but people are looking for something different that will give them a boost and create some space in their time-poor schedules.

Yet while all of this technology may seem like a good thing, research suggests a decided ambivalence in the minds of consumers. In January the Huffington Post reported on a study showing that people are divided on the role of technology in wellness: while 54% of people believe it can benefit health, 46% think it hurts it. That is a substantial number of doubters.

So how can companies balance consumer fears with industry momentum? By being transparent with them and listening to what they want. The fitness apparel I create may be less invasive than a laser eye procedure, but both share a simple collective purpose: helping people feel healthier and happier. They have to use sound materials and methods to achieve that purpose and win the trust of the people investing their hard-earned money in it.

For a surface glimpse of consumer psychology around this subject, look at some of the trends projected for wellness in 2013. The health blog Well And Good NYC's choices show how they're all about making wellness solutions natural (such as juicing and the increased use of plant-based body oils) and accessible (the proliferation of online fitness studios). This tells me that consumers are embracing technology in wellness, but on their own terms. It's in the interest of business owners to meet those terms and then exceed expectations with transparently sourced and engineered wellness solutions that live up to the promises they make.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2971935 2013-03-28T11:46:20-04:00 2013-04-01T13:09:59-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
Although public opinion still seems to hold higher education in greater regard than apprenticeships, evidence suggests this is partly due to the lack of information people receive. With careers advice website Notgoingtouni.co.uk finding that 76% of young people weren't informed during school about apprenticeships as alternatives to university, and that 54% said they would have gone the apprenticeship route if they did know about it, it's clear that a detailed map of each possible road to a fulfilling career is needed. Inform teenagers about jobs and schemes that they don't know exist - in-demand ones at that-- and they might just pursue them. I'd imagine research suggesting that apprentices earn around £150,000 more during their career than the average graduate, according to the Department for Higher Education, would be another strong source of motivation.

That map will also help counter missteps that Lucy Kellaway's recent FT column about British teenagers' dream jobs identifies. She observes (with plenty of tongue-in-cheek commentary) that a UK Commission for Employment and Skills report that British teenagers age 13-17 want to work in increasingly unemployable sectors sets up a dangerous fantasy. It's not the answers themselves she find dangerous, but the method: asking teens the question in the first place implies that a 'dream job' exists, rather than being honest with them about the not-so rose-tinted nature of reality.

When it implicates the health of the UK job market, Kellaway's belief in the "trial-and-error" approach is one that I share. By giving schemes like apprenticeships the resources they deserve, we'll be better able to avoid the disappointment gap in the many young people who enter adulthood dreaming of a job in a sector with rapidly diminishing prospects only to find they need to readjust their thinking. And the specific training or knowledge that's often required to do that can take substantial time and money.

That's why I encourage all small business owners to start thinking about establishing apprenticeships of their own, and about ways in which the government can help. The Department for Education and Department for Business Innovation and Skills's response to the Richard Review - a list of questions directed to employers about apprenticeships - is a good place to begin. They've initiated a conversation and it is to our advantage to enter it. If small businesses can help the government fast track the relationship between potential employees and the employers who need them, we'll all benefit.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2906119 2013-03-19T07:25:24-04:00 2013-05-19T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
The government has already done quite a lot to support young businesses. In recent years, a number of schemes have been introduced, including the Enterprise Capital Fund, which aimed to address a market weakness in the provision of equity finance to SMEs, and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, which provided a series of tax reliefs designed to encourage investments into SMEs. The government has also introduced the Funding for Lending and Enterprise Finance Guarantee schemes, which were both designed to boost lending to the economy.

These schemes have met with mixed success. For example, whilst banks have drawn on about a fifth of the £70bn made available by the government for the Funding for Lending Scheme, the Bank of England recently announced that net lending fell by £2.4bn in the final quarter of last year compared with the previous three months. That fact, however, seems to be due more to lack of demand for credit, particularly from small businesses (as indicated in BoE's latest "Trends in Lending" paper published this January), than to lack of credit itself. Credit appears to be improving for businesses and individuals of all sizes (mortgage approvals have generally been on the rise). But all signs show that the FLS will be extended, with a recent admission from the deputy Prime Minister that the scheme needs to be put "on steroids".

On the consumer side, however, recent signs have been encouraging. They've shown that consumer confidence is improving, with modest upticks in the last couple of months, as well as the fastest like for like retails sales growth in 4 years last month. However, despite this, consumer confidence remains fragile and I hope to see measures within the budget to address this.

Consumer behaviour is something I observe from a particular perspective. My business is purely e-retail and the spate of failures on the high street in recent months (Comet, HMV, and Jessops, to name but a few of the 54 retailers that failed last year) highlights the trend away from high street sales to online sales.

In 2011, 12% of UK sales were made online - the highest rate in Europe, up from 8.6% in 2008 - and this upward trend is expected to continue. The cost of running retail premises is hefty, with retailers spending over £14 billion in rent every year and, incredibly, one in seven UK shops lying empty. This number is also expected to rise in 2013. Online retail does carry running costs, although these are small in comparison. As ecommerce growth continues, more stores may be forced to close in favour of this more financially viable option.

Nevertheless, ecommerce companies will need an empowered and skilled workforce to flourish as well as the financial tools to invest in their own growth. So on Wednesday I will be paying especially close attention to what the government is doing in three areas that could promote a healthier labour market and enable SMEs to manage their capital more effectively.

1. Encourage more apprenticeships

Whether this is in the form of potential NI breaks or other support, getting young people to work will help chip away at the 20.8% of 16 - 24 year olds who were unemployed in the last three months of 2012. This will also help SMEs fill skills gaps, improve the bottom line and, equally importantly, help motivate the workforce. Apprentices are with your business because they want to be - they have actively made a choice to learn on the job and commit to a specific career. Businesses, on the other hand, are required to invest both time and money training young people and helping them build their futures.

2. Close the unemployment gap between men and women

Unemployment rates amongst women for all three main age groups between ages 18-49 are higher than those of men (the rate is more than two points higher in the 18-24 cohort). Policies which target and promote their employability will bring much needed skills to the UK labour force as well as have the added benefit of bolstering the UK households' finances, which have deteriorated in the last year.

3. Create new tools for more effective capital management

According to both a BoE survey published in Jan 2013 and a Q4 2012 Aldermore survey, small businesses either do not want to borrow in a period of uncertainty or are sitting on healthy cash piles that are not being invested (investment across the economy is down about 17% on historic averages). In tough times it is not reasonable to assume that debt finance would be the financing tool of choice as businesses generally are keen to de-lever and de-risk.

The relative tax advantage of debt financing vs. equity is something that the Government could address by treating the cost of equity as tax deductible, just like the cost of debt. This move, coupled with an extension of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme to companies which are older than 2 years, may increase the availability of and demand for equity financing, thus de-risking businesses and encouraging the greater cross participation of various players in the economy.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2874162 2013-03-14T05:29:42-04:00 2013-05-14T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/ Lean In has been making waves for weeks, but the turbulent waters of opinion surrounding its publication obscure the positive actions we can be taking to address the issues it raises. I'm not as interested in joining the debate about the merits of Sandberg's ideas - and her right to make them in the first place - as I am in exploring how we can use the truth in her arguments to make some real progress toward equal opportunity.

In Lean In, Sandberg expands upon her famous TED Talk to further unpack the lack of women in leadership positions. She cites the stagnating numbers of women in positions of professional and political leadership to suggest that, despite record numbers of women getting more degrees than men, those numbers are not bearing out in boardrooms, corner offices, and halls of parliament. Women's share of senior management, for example, has hovered around 20% for 10 years.

The reasons for these statistics are complex, so solutions to the leadership gap are clearly not simple. The aspect that Sandberg is so concerned with - what the individual can do - does, though, suggest some clear answers.

These answers boil down to one thing: confidence.

If women want to find strength within themselves to project the confidence that men do, they can begin with the lessons other parts of life have already taught them about excelling.

One of the best sources of such lessons is something that we're all familiar with: sport. Sport teaches confidence, decisiveness, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills.

As Christiane Amanpour notes in the book The Person Who Changed My Life, it was the challenges she encountered riding horses at just five years old that sustained her throughout her legendary reporting career.

Studies by the Women's Sports Foundation have shown a strong connection between participation in sport and success in later life. One study found that 80% of Fortune 500 female executives played sports growing up.

This statistic is a glaring indicator that laying the groundwork of equality of professional opportunity for women should start when they're girls. You can't ignore the lifetime of psychological development and social influence that give a woman her unique mentality on self-promotion in the workplace. Sandberg recognises this, but more can be done at an earlier age to build self-esteem instead of relying on women to have a revolution in self-confidence 30 years later. It's not that easy.

One of my goals with Zaggora, my sportswear company, is to team up with a school to launch a sport and leadership programme for girls. Our ethos is about taking steps to get active so that you can lead a happier and healthier life, a similar lesson to the ones we see in Lean In. With the natural leadership skills sport can build, girls will be equipped with even more confidence and self-motivation to pursue their dreams later in life - traits Sandberg is seeking in the adult selves that wait just outside the boardroom.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2836450 2013-03-08T09:30:53-05:00 2013-05-08T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
But it's easy to forget that Mothering Sunday was originally a much different occasion. The fourth Sunday of Lent became a day to make a pilgrimage to your 'mother' church, which also meant that domestic servants returning home could see their mothers. The tradition evolved from there to focus entirely on mothers themselves (and the modern gift bonanza).

First of all, luckily times have changed and I can see my mother more often than a few times a year! Secondly, a much overlooked but essential practice should be to reflect on upon its roots. There is something quite evocative about the idea of returning to the place where you came from. In a figurative sense, Mothering Sunday is about re-centring yourself.

I'm of the opinion that this concept can only be a good thing, for mothers and for children. Think about it in terms of your own childhood. So much of what mattered to me growing up was not what my mother and father provided for me in the way of material possessions, but how they centred me. They gave me a loving and amazing home to grow up in, taught me the value of money, and showed me I could do anything as long as I put my mind to it.

Mums form the bedrock of Zaggora's clientele - many of our first customers and supporters were mums, and they are very loyal. I've noticed that so many of them respond to our message because they want to be healthy for themselves, more so even than for their children and families. I've heard from more than a few women who have started getting back into shape after 'losing themselves' in the all-consuming job of being a mum for so many years.

So as wonderful as a dinner out with the offspring can be, consider something a little different this year. Give your mum a gift that she can use to re-centre herself: a meditation class, a massage, a weekend away (yes, from you!).

Rediscovering Mother's Day's original spirit can teach an invaluable lesson: never pass up the chance to centre and rejuvenate yourself.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2788571 2013-03-01T08:05:03-05:00 2013-05-01T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
Both of these things, though, are not completely our own in 2013. Apps, devices, and programmes do everything from measure calorie intake to record and analyse the brain's activity during sleep. The idea may be scary to some, but I think of the vast amount of scientific data out there as an exciting opportunity to find out more about ourselves and what makes us tick.

When I wrote several weeks ago about my challenge to get 10 million women working out, I touched briefly on the three aspects of healthy living I'll be exploring more in the next few weeks. I want to outline my relationship to all of them today.

Fitness

I'm very goal-oriented when it comes to fitness (a big one--my wedding--even led to the idea for my business), and my 100-day challenge is the latest fitness goal I've set. Setting targets works well for me, but it's important to make your goals realistic and not put too much pressure on yourself.

Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan wrote a motivating blog for the Huffington Post this week about staying relaxed with your weight loss goals. In addition to his points, for me, the key is to be strategic about how you challenge your body, but at the same time recognise that everyone has a unique chemistry and physiology that will not react identically. Be patient with yourself.

Nutrition

I love to cook and to eat (who doesn't?), so nutrition has special emphasis for me. I grew up in Bulgaria and then moved to the UK when I was 14 years old. When I did, my main change in diet was from eating largely my grandmother's amazing cooking to fast food and school meals, which quickly resulted in me putting on quite a bit of weight over the next few years. Trying to get back to my regular size was what sparked my original interest in exercise and nutrition.

Eating well isn't just a physical exercise; it's also a psychological one. A great deal of research has been done on the neurological effects of salt, sugar, fat on the brain; all the more reason to pay close attention to what we are buying, making, and ordering in restaurants.

It's common knowledge at this point, but learning to reconnect with all-natural ingredients is a love affair we should all invest energy in. Chew your favourite leafy green vegetable slowly and you'll appreciate its savoury taste in a new and more satisfying.

Mindfulness

I discovered meditation a few years ago and have never gone back. Before I founded Zaggora, I was logging long hours at a demanding job in the City and didn't even register mindfulness as an important element of general health. I found it hard enough to find the time to exercise, let alone meditate.

But when tiredness and stress got too much and I found it difficult to drift off at night, I began to research it more closely. The science behind the benefits of meditation are quite spectacular, and the more I read, the more convinced I became that it was something I needed to incorporate into my life.

I've tried every kind of meditation out there, but I'm currently hooked on Headspace, a digital meditation service that uses scientific research as the basis of its approach (I'll discuss science's relation to meditation in more depth in a later post). I download their podcasts, pop in my earphones, and get into my own head for 20 minutes every morning.

Andy Puddicombe's approach to meditation as a necessity for daily life is totally infectious and the accessibility with which the service is designed makes it a very compelling proposition for modern urban life. After a morning meditation session I feel clearheaded, relaxed and hugely productive, and the difference on "off days" is plain to see.

With all of the technology and knowledge at our disposal, the actions we need to take to guard our health are clearer than ever. But it still comes down how we feel and how that guides us. Let your own mind and body be your health's greatest assets.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2723567 2013-02-20T07:36:34-05:00 2013-04-22T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
Both essentially involve people who go out and do: who create their own niche and pursue it wholeheartedly.

First is the latest big news in fashion blogging: the Business of Fashion's seed investment of $2.1 million, with an impressive list of investors that includes LVMH. The passion project of a former McKinsey consultant is description enough to set it apart from the countless fashion blogs out there, and it's clearly had an effect. The fact that its analytical and informative approach to fashion business has won such a massive following (reportedly 150,000 users a month) says a lot about how hungry people are for smart content that gives them the full picture of an industry, beyond the cool colours, fabrics and cuts.

Consumers are savvy and increasingly demand more with so much other information at their fingertips. We've learned this at Zaggora, where we work hard to make the reason and process behind everything we do clear to our fans. As brands, products and materials become more complex, it's important for us to communicate our message wisely.

The second event is London's first plus-size fashion show: this weekend, the Official British Plus Size Fashion Weekend was held at Shoreditch Town Hall. The Weekend represents more than a fashion counter-culture creating its own space, though.

The call for plus sizes and for shapes and styles to fit the diversity of body types is one that I hear loud and clear in my own work. It's exciting to see founder Remi Ray and her team spotlighting fashion that helps expand the definition of haute couture and the women who wear it.

The ability to find and grow a niche in fashion is something I really admire, and I'm looking forward to watching both of these enterprises flourish.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2661785 2013-02-11T09:47:41-05:00 2013-04-13T05:12:01-04:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/ started a 100 Day Challenge to really dedicate myself to living the lifestyle that I champion in my sportswear business. I've exercised six days a week since then, embraced the sweat and endorphins, and found lots of new exercises that I like - running stairs, for one (don't knock it until you've tried it!).

This Challenge, though, was to myself. Now I want to pose one that's a little bigger.

I'm not only a big proponent of personal fitness but also of nutrition and mindfulness (i.e. a healthy and nurtured mind). I think that when you've balanced this three-part equation, the chemistry can be electric.

I spend my professional life finding new and accessible ways to encourage women to get active and exercise. Health and fitness isn't a business for everyone, but it is (and should be) a personal reality. And thanks to the Twitters and Blogspots of the digital world, a personal challenge can become a global phenomenon in a surprisingly brief time. I've seen the collective power of positive goal-setting on Zaggora's Facebook community.

That's why I think that that my challenge--to get 10 million women working out--is completely possible.

In my experience (and in my own life), women are enthusiastic communicators and encouragers. If they like a product or service, they tell friends about it. And if they don't, they tell even more. I want to apply that same word-of-mouth principle that I see with Zaggora to the mission that our concept promotes: working out and ultimately getting fit, healthy and happy.

So how can you help? Set your own personal challenge. It doesn't have to be 'achieve a full body transformation in five days' or 'stop eating sweets forever'. Think of an incremental and digestible step that can move you in the direction you'd like to go.

Also think holistically. I find that once one aspect of healthy living kicks into gear, I naturally want to improve the others. Your challenge could involve exercise (jog twice a week), nutrition (eat two green vegetables every day), or mindfulness (take a meditation class). Or all three. Live a little!

I'll be blogging a series about these three aspects of healthy living - physical fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness - in the next few weeks. In the meantime, think of the ways that you can make small changes to your own health and fitness. Become one of the 10 million with me.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2328043 2012-12-19T04:42:06-05:00 2013-02-17T05:12:01-05:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
It's too bad, because the end of year is the perfect time to live in the moment and reflect on the path that led you to it. This is true not just on a personal level but on a professional one as well. As tempting as it may be to charge ahead with plans and strategies for the New Year - especially in the fitness and wellness industries, when those New Year's resolutions begin in earnest in mere weeks - the holidays are an ideal time to sit back and take stock as a business (the newer you are, the more essential this is). Where have you gone in 2012, and where are you now? Where did you want to be 1 year ago?

I recently started a personal fitness challenge with a friend and colleague of mine. To make it at least sound official, we christened it the 100 Day Challenge. The number may be daunting, but the premise is simple: do something at least 1 hour a day for 6 days a week that gets you sweating. Pretty much everything counts as exercise as long as you are keeping your heart rate up.

Some days we do not have the time to go to the gym so we literally put our gear on and do a workout in the office. It's amazing what you can get up to with a bit of imagination. (I have to say the best cardio and toning for legs I have ever done is running up and down the stairs - absolutely fabulous.)

Fitness tips aside, the mentality we adopt to keep ourselves motivated is remarkably similar to the mentality any business owner should adopt during the Twilight Zone that can be the December holiday craze. Someone on a workout regimen often has theirs eyes on a target of some mystery future date but doesn't stop enough to look at where they are in the here and now. Reflection can be immensely beneficial for reaching that ultimate goal.

On that note, here are my personal fitness mantras for the modern entrepreneur:

1. Have fun - Collaboration and perspective are key. Don't isolate yourself or your thought process.

2. Keep things simple - Don't get distracted and second-guess yourself by overcomplicating things. When in doubt remember the reason you began in the first place.

3. Embrace the moment - If it's tough, appreciate that you'll learn some concrete lessons at the end of it. If it's sweet, relish it.

4. Remember it's a marathon, not a race - Don't expect immediate results or burn yourself out too quickly. The most effective and lasting fitness transformations are achieved slowly.

5. Keep the challenge fresh - Don't rest on your laurels when you reach a goal. Push yourself to the next one...and always have a few more set for good measure.

My goals for the 100 Day Challenge are to be fitter, happier and healthier. What are yours this holiday season?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2163943 2012-11-20T07:04:47-05:00 2013-01-20T05:12:01-05:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
Awards are all about motivation: motivation to nominate yourself or someone else and motivation to feel that sense of achievement if you are lucky enough to be crowned a winner.

To get there, however, comes down to motivation again. Motivation to work hard and keep working hard. The ability to motivate your team to believe in your vision and bring their own drive to the game. And ultimately, the ability to motivate customers to invest in your products, to use them and to spread the word for you.

At the same time, motivation comes from truly loving what you do and believing that it has a higher purpose beyond the mechanics of the daily grind. As Steve Jobs said, "the only way to do great work is to love what you do".

This week my company, Zaggora, launched our signature product, HotPants, in the top 200 Boots stores in the UK. Transitioning from a single retail channel to multiple channels has shown us more than ever the importance of social interaction and feedback and the power of motivation. In the interconnected world we live in - where we shop online, communicate online and live our lives staring at computer screens - it's easy to forget the importance of leaving the office and speaking to people face-to-face, and the sheer enjoyment that brings.

Yet, despite the fact that we seem to live our lives predominantly online, close to 80% of retail is conducted predominantly offline. In this ultra-busy consumer retail environment, engaging people who can help you transmit your message is crucial. The visits I made to Boots stores this week were probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of what I do. Being on the retail floor, getting to know the staff selling our products, and educating them about how we aim to help women reach their goals is one of the most energising experiences I have had.

At Zaggora our mission is to provide people with technology-enabled products that motivate them to lead more active, healthier and happier lives. Our belief in this bigger picture spurred us to visit these hundreds of staff in person and talk to them about our products. And we had a clear effect. Case in point: by the time we emerged from one of the larger Boots, five store advisors were planning to purchase our product and tell every customer they spoke to about it.

The current scarcity of employment for young kids coming out of school or university, compared to years past, has provided an incentive for many to strike out on their own. Many of them come to us for advice or funding for their ideas. What always strikes me is the stark difference in the persuasiveness and inspired, innovative thinking between those who have the vision and motivation and those who do not. Put simply, their motivation comes back to the love Jobs identified: those who absolutely love what they do and those who only love a quick buck.

I am not a proponent of blind love. At the end of the day, love and money go hand-in-hand in business. But with the right motivation, they have the best chance of a successful marriage.


Dessi Bell is a shortlister of the 2012 Women of The Future Awards. She can be contacted on Twitter @dessinka and on LinkedIn.


The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 20 November and is hosted by Real Business in association with Shell.

For further information click here.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2087113 2012-11-07T05:28:11-05:00 2013-01-07T05:12:01-05:00

Dessislava Bell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dessislava-bell/
This reality is why we knew that social media would have to play an instrumental part if Zaggora, the lifestyle company I founded in July 2011, had any chance of getting off the ground. Zaggora is geared toward women who are looking for smarter solutions to getting in shape and staying active, and while we had faith that our exercise wear, which is engineered with a unique fabric technology to boost the effects of your workout, could strike a chord, there's a cacophony of noise out there around fitness, activity, and wellness more generally. So to gather some initial research, we eschewed more traditional market research routes and went straight to the consumer instead. We tweeted like mad, asking women all over the Twittersphere if they would test-drive our inaugural product, HotPants, for two weeks and report back to us with their results. When 500 agreed, we were on our way, destination unknown but hopeful.

Whilst the feedback was fantastic, and we knew we were onto something, I believe that our Twitter experiment did much more than simply excite some women who would get to trial a new pair of exercise shorts for free. Women are savvy and discerning buyers - even more so in our recession era - and paying heed to their time and financial decisions is crucial. In a world where more household purchasing decisions are made by women, engaging with the decision makers is a necessity for any business.

Respect and transparency toward its customers have been Zaggora's ethos from the beginning, and the relationship we forged with women via social media has without a doubt been the driving force behind our success 16 months later. Our Facebook page is the hub of the Zaggora community, where we solicit feedback on new and existing products and share behind-the-scenes news from our community of 321,000 fans. Further, cultivating this community has also given us a built-in focus group that's 321,000 strong - and growing. They tell us what products they want to see next, in what split we should purchase our inventory, and how we can keep improving. (Case in point: a simple question we posted, "Zip or no zip on our new top?", received more than 3,800 comments, an all-time Zaggora record.) That's just one side of the coin, though. On the other are these women's journeys toward being happy with their bodies and with their place in life, journeys they share openly, frequently and enthusiastically with us on Facebook, Twitter and beyond.

Transparency breeds trust, and trust breeds positive word-of-mouth. The Zaggora.com homepage features a live feed from our Facebook wall, so the first thing you see when you visit our site is comments by fans and curious women from around the virtual globe. It's no coincidence that in a survey we did with 11,000 of our customers, 67% said it was this "social proof" from other women that led them to buy a Zaggora product.

Zaggora aims to make smart products for smart women and create an environment where savvy and time-strapped buyers take control of the information available to them, ultimately driving their own purchasing decisions. The support of bodies like the Women of the Future Awards, in association with Shell, enables us to further this vision. All too often, businesses view social media platforms as yet another channel to deliver a one-way monologue to consumers about their latest products and offers without being brave enough to open the floor to a two-way conversation about what those consumers really want. To do that as a business, you have to be prepared to let consumers speak and, most importantly, listen to what they have to say and act on it. Astute consumers are very good at telling you what they want.

None of us likes a friend who only talks about themselves, so why should our conversations with consumers be any different?

Dessi Bell is a shortlister of the 2012 Women of The Future Awards.

For further information click here.

The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 20 November and is hosted by Real Business in association with Shell.]]>