This is my desk at mah new job. Slick, eh?

My apologies for just telling you guys that I accepted a new job and then never updating you again after that.

Well, I’m now on my second week here at rAVe [pubs] and I love it! Everyone keeps asking, “So? How’s the new job? What are you doing? Do you like it?” etc. etc.

It’s great, I really like it so far, and I’m still figuring it all out. I feel a little bit like an infant. Yes, like the baby kind. You know, in that I’m new to this world, but like, I have a small sense of how to navigate my way around, I’m just learning how to speak the language and walk in such a way that I don’t bump into things.

Side note: Don’t you love how like little kids and toddlers who are just learning to walk are like drunk people? They just sort of aimlessly walk around and bump into things. Hilarious. Cracks me up every time. Toddlers and babies that is, not drunk people.

Back on track.

I also just wanted to give you guys a quick update and let you know that you can also follow my many musings on the rAVe [pubs] blog. Yes! I have a blog there, too. I’m writing about the AV industry, my experiences here at the company, and well, just my every day thoughts in general about, well, every day things.

Just thought I’d let you know.

Back to work.

All for now and much love.

My dear friends and family,

I just wanted to do a little post to let you all know that I am all packed up and I am about to head to the airport for my mission trip to Kenya! Ahh! I can’t believe this day is already here.

I want to Thank all of you SO much for your encouragement, your support, your prayers, and everything in between. It really does mean the world to me.

We fly out today (Thursday, July 28th) at 6:15pm from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and we head to London / Heathrow. We then have a three or so hour layover and then head from Heathrow to Nairobi. We will arrive in Nairobi sometime around dinner time EST time tomorrow (Friday, July 28th). Kenya is 7 hours ahead of EST, so you do the math. We return late in the day on Saturday, August 6th (pending our flights are on time and whatnot).

Here’s how you can keep up with us throughout the trip:

I will PERSONALLY be blogging (if I can get internet access) right here on my website: http://www.themollybuckley.com
You can follow our TEAM blog here: http://hmi-nc.blogspot.com/
Here is a link to the team members and their individual prayer requests: http://hmi-nc.blogspot.com/2011/07/2011-kenya-travel-team-members-and.html

Thank you all again so much for being so amazing. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.

All for now.

<3Molly

Most of you know by now that in addition to being extremely passionate about writing and social media, I am a comedian. I have always loved comedy. I can remember as a kid staying awake way past my bedtime, just so I could watch Saturday Night Live. I would watch old clips of Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin and think to myself, “Wow, I want to do that.”

I'll admit it. I'm a ham.

Comedy has influenced my entire life.

One of my earliest memories that I have is: I was two years old, sitting at my kitchen table eating dry cheerios and I stopped to look around. My mom said to me, “Honey what’s wrong?” I said, “Mom, where are the cameras?” This was a completely honest and heartfelt question. I honestly believed that my life was like an episode of The Truman Show (Even though that movie hadn’t even been made yet, that’s what I thought my life was. I thought I was on T.V. and on stage all the time).

I began acting in elementary school, and always played the comic relief. I started writing sketches and bits and putting on little plays for my parents or my friends. When I was in drama in middle and high school, I would always write a sort of “sketch revue” and try to have one of my sketches featured at an assembly or something like that. I performed all the time.

Then it came time to choose a college. I had been offered golf scholarships to a couple of large division-1 schools. [CONFESSION: Yes, I have played golf my entire life. Yes, I was the only girl on the golf team for a long time. No, I am not a loser. No, I am not better than Michelle Wie.] Well, I knew that golf wasn’t my true passion… comedy was (is). I went to visit Christopher Newport University and I heard they had a sketch comedy troupe. I went to see a show and fell in love. I was not going to go to another school. I WAS going to go to CNU and join CNU TONiGHT and be a writer and performer and be awesome. And I did.

Then in college, I took my first class in improvisation at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater in New York City, NY. I got bit by the improv bug. The feeling of ultimate positivity, being totally in the moment, and completely without a script was the most freeing thing I have ever done – and I have never looked back. I even moved to North Carolina to take classes at the DSI Comedy Theater. Improv is addictive.

I share this with you because of all these experiences (and the ones I have yet to experience) have helped to shape who I am and shape my perspective. Maybe it will help you understand me more. Maybe it’s just a good story. Maybe this is a waste of your time. Who knows?

But as I have come to love comedy and love writing and LOVE improvisation, I have come to totally and utterly admire these two women: Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch. They are incredible writers, incredible performers, and incredible women. They have truly influenced the entire industry to prove that YES, women ARE funny.

[I also totally love and admire Amy Poehler, but she isn't in this video. But it's okay. SIDE NOTE: I met Amy Poehler the summer after I graduated from college when I was taking comedy classes in NYC (PICTURE PROOF HERE). I think I was able to say a total of ten words to her. I totally froze. I suck.]

I haven’t seen this video in a long time! This is an awesome clip from an ABC news interview with Tina and Rachel from A LONG time ago. In the interview, they talk about their hilarious two-woman sketch show “Dratch & Fey.” Thanks @callmeKP for the link. They also talk about the stigma that comes with being a woman in comedy and how they have worked to combat that stigma. If you can’t see the video, click here. We can learn a lot from these women, no matter what field of “expertise” we are in.

QUESTION: Do you think that the battle that many women have had to face in comedy is similar to a battle women have had to face in business? Do you think the “male-dominated comedy business” and “male-dominated business-business” are changing? What progress have we made? Women in the United States STILL only make 78 cents to every man’s dollar for the same position and same work. I want to hear your thoughts.

Word.

UPDATE: Within 10 minutes of posting this blog entry, Twitter Lists came back. Ahhh, gotta love the ever-changing immediacy of technology.

I finally saw my familiar friend – the Twitter #FailWhale. Maybe my earlier blog post was like a mating call, or an S.O.S. and he knew he needed to pay me a visit. I missed his face.

BUT something else left. Twitter Lists. As you probably can tell, Twitter lists are temporarily disabled.

But no worries, guys. Twitter posted this on their status blog:

“Starting about 10 minutes ago, we began experiencing a very high rate of errors and we are working on the underlying problem. Update (1:30p): We are now recovering from this unexpected downtime. The Lists feature is temporarily unavailable as we diagnose the cause of the outage.”

So don’t worry, peeps. Twitter lists are NOT gone forever – they will be back soon. Just like my beloved #FailWhale came back, lists will come back soon, too.

Word.

UPDATE: Thank you to @RobLaughter for explaining the technical stuff to me. Apparently the #FailWhale shows up for HTTP 503 errors (over capacity). All other errors get the “something is technically wrong” robot. Well, I feel silly. But it’s okay, because I still haven’t seen the WHALE in a while and I kind of miss him. Is it weird that I want Twitter to be unreliable for ONCE so that I can see the whale again? Anywho. You can still enjoy my Twitter bits…

Where did my Twitter #Fail Whale go? I love the Twitter Fail Whale. It rhymes, it rolls off the tongue, and I got one painted on my face. Did Twitter get rid of the Fail Whale?

It seems they have replaced the Fail Whale with the “something is technically wrong robot.” That just doesn’t sound right to me – too many words and no rhyme-age. BUT, I do have to say that the little bugger is cute. I mean, look at him, with his awkwardly lanky arms, missing hand, and LeVar-Burton-from-Star-Trek glasses. Someone get this guy a hook!

You know what Twitter should do? Get rid of the “something is technically wrong robot” and instate the “Hey, LeVar Burton from Star Trek thinks something went wrong. Don’t worry. He’s channelling some space technicians from the Enterprise and everything will be back to normal momentarily… robot.” Sure, that’s a lot more words than “something is technically wrong robot,” but it’s a lot clearer and who wouldn’t want to see a debonaire LeVar Burton when Twitter fails?

Do you know what happened to the Fail Whale? Am I the only one not seeing it anymore? Or is this old news and my computer is just awesome and never fails so I just hadn’t seen it yet? Fill me in.

Word.

I’ve been hiding this from the world. Not many know this about me. For a long time, my parents didn’t even know. Well, my mom didn’t know, but my dad, deep down, he knew. My sister knew, because I’m close with her. My best friends knew, because they confronted me when I wasn’t cheering for their team. The more I’ve thought about it, the more it has eaten me up inside. And it’s time that I told EVERYONE.

I ALWAYS banked on Bernie.

That’s right, people. I’m… a CLEVELAND BROWNS FAN. Phew! I feel so much better now. Man, does it feel GOOD to get that off my chest! I’ve been afraid for a very long time to admit to the entire WORLD that I’m a Browns fan. Those closest to me always knew that I LOVE me some Bernie Kosar. (By the way, we need him back. I don’t care if he is like 50 something now. He was the best thing to ever happen. to us. ever.). I love me some Brown and Orange. I love me some Dog Pound. I hate me some Ravens.

You know, people have asked me, “Molly, when did you know?” And I say, “I’ve always known.” I’ve been a Browns fan since the day I was born. It’s not in my control. There have been Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, where I have sat home crying by myself wishing I loved another team. But I don’t, I can’t. No matter how much I beg God to change me, he won’t. I love a horrible football team. It’s in my blood.

We weren’t always horrible. In fact, before the damn Super Bowl existed, we were good. REALLY good. How good? This is how good:

We were DIVISION Champions:

• AAFC Western Division: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
• NFL Century Division: 1967, 1968, 1969

(and when we had the BERNIE, we were good!):

• AFC Central Division Champs: 1971, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989

We were even CONFERENCE Champions:

• NFL Eastern Conference: 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
• NFL American Conference: 1950, 1951, 1952

And then, there were the NFL Championships (this was the equivalent of the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl existed):

• AAFC Champions: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949
• NFL Champions: 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964

We’ve, of course, been to the playoffs. But that’s neither here, nor there.

You know, there was even a time when I couldn’t love any team. I call those the DARK AGES. From 1996-1999 when the evil, EVIL, Art Moddell SOLD my beloved Browns to Baltimore to make an even more evil thing, THE BALTIMORE RAVENS. This is why I hate the Ravens, Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, seafood, piers, and Baltimore at large. They stole my team. My players. And then they even won the Super Bowl with them. Have the Browns won a Super Bowl? No.

I don’t want to talk about that.

[*SIDE NOTE: By the way, I put up with the Ravens now because a good friend and sorority sister of mine from college is now a Ravenette. Yes, I know an actual Ravenette. So I deal. ]

But now, we’re back. We (the BROWNS) came back in 1999. And we came back not strong. In the 10 years we’ve been back, we’ve had 6 coaches, like 18 offensive coordinators, and a gazillion quarterbacks. We’ve been to the playoffs ONCE since we’ve been back, and that was a lucky shot. I think the Steelers had jaundice that day or something – so that was like beating a kitten in a poker game.

And that leaves me to where I am today. Loving a team that nobody loves. Well, my dad loves them, and this random guy I knew in college loves them. But it’s hard. It’s like being married to a crack addict. You know that they need to get off the crack, and it tears you up inside, but you can’t leave them. … Man, that is a horrible analogy.

You know what I mean. We are heading into Week 7 and the Browns are 1-5. Great.

But I don’t care. I’m going to sport my vintage KOSAR jersey and be proud of who I am and who I love.

Nothing can stop me.

Not even you, Chris Cooley. You sexy Redskin.

All for now.

He’s phony, she’s fake
That’s the type of people I hate
If you real and you know it clap your hands [clap clap]
If you real and you know it clap your hands [clap clap]

-Jadakiss “Who’s Real”

Alright, the lyrics to the above song speak to my thoughts for today. It’s not the best song in the world, but it’s true.

As I work to expand my brand and forge new relationships, I seem to have started fighting this civil war within me. A battle between the organized, visionary, professional Molly and the fun-loving, outgoing, spunky, comedian Molly. I felt for the longest time that I had to keep the two parts of me completely separate. That I couldn’t let both Molly’s meet each other — it was like I was cheating on one side of myself with the other. And then I realized that I wasn’t happy. I felt that when I was being one Molly and pushing back the other, that I wasn’t being myself, or that I was being a phony version of myself.

This made me  realize a few things:

1. If I’m not truly happy or comfortable with a certain part of myself, then everything else that I interact with will be affected.
2. If I’m not showing my true self to my clients or people that I network with, then I am cheating them.
3. People can see through the phony — I only want to be seen as an authentic, honest version of myself.
4. One-sided Molly is BORING.

Finally, I realized that both sides of my personality are what make me unique. Why should I try to hide or stifle one aspect because I think that someone won’t like it, or won’t accept it, or will judge it? So I came to terms with this idea of: If I’m being the best and most honest version of myself at all times, and I’m happy with it, why won’t others accept me for who I am? The quality of my work won’t be affected. In fact, if I’m happy being the 100% version of myself – spunky + professional side and all, then you know what, the quality of my work will probably IMPROVE. Clients and those that I am working with or for will know that they have my full attention and that they are working with some one who is dedicated to her purpose and her visions.

As I fought all of this within me, someone gave me a copy of an excerpt from Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book “CRUSH IT” - and the chapter was on authenticity and being real. Every word in that chapter spoke to exactly the battle I was fighting within myself — worrying what other people will think. And it only emphasized what I felt: I cannot be anything other than 100% myself, or else I will eventually get frustrated, disheartened, and lose interest in what I’m doing and what I’m working towards. This forced me to write down facts about myself to put it into a more visual and “out-there” perspective. Here’s what I came up with:

Here are the FACTS about me:

1. I’m 24.
2. I’m a professional.
3. I am smart.
4. I am driven.
5. I am visionary.
6. I am successful.
7. I have worked for big names and startups.
8. I often change clothes more than twice a day.
9. I volunteer.
10. I am spunky.
11. I love my dog.
12. I often enjoy mindless television.
13. I love rap music [note: the Jadakiss lyrics at the top of this entry]
14. I LOVE Chipotle & Diet Coke.
15. I am an improviser and a comedian.
16. I love to break into dance in the car.
17. I am a writer.
18. I am a teacher.
19. I am honest and authentic.
20. But most of all, I get the MOST joy out of making people LAUGH & SMILE.

What I do in both the comedy world and the social media world is work to make something better. Whether it be making someone’s day better or improving the presence of someone’s brand. In the end, both sides of “Molly” are working to make a positive impact. And I love that. By accepting who I am and embracing all sides of my personality, I am able to serve others to the best of my ability.

Therefore, I’ve come up with a term for what I am: a SOCIAL COMEDIAN. I put the media in comedian. Get it? You see? OK, I thought of that at like 3AM. I think it’s clever.

What are your thoughts on authenticity and being real in both your personal and business life?

[Below is a visual example of what I'm talking about.]

With Governor Timothy M. Kaine

That SAME day. AFTER meeting with Governor Timothy M. Kaine.

Same day. Same Molly. Both equally awesome.

All for now.

It’s here. Oh man, am I excited or what?! I am honored to be teaming up with John O’Neill from Thinkhaus design for this seminar. It’s going to be awesome. John and I have been working on ironing out the details of this event to make it as incredible, informative, and fun as possible for the past two months and we are pumped to finally roll it out. If you have questions, feel free to email me ANYTIME or let me know. (mollybuckley [at] yahoo [dot] com -or- BEsocialworkshop [at] gmail [dot] com)

Also, if you are thinking about the workshop, but you’re saying to yourself, “I don’t know, I’m not sure if it’s going to be worth my time.” Then you NEED to come to the FREE haustalk event sponsored by Thinkhaus on Wednesday, July 29th at 7pm at Gallery5 in Richmond, Va. Check the Facebook event for that HERE. I will be presenting at this event talking about my experiences and giving a “preview” into what the workshop is going to feature. It’s also going to be a great opportunity for people to meet and network with other individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations.  Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell everyone. See you there!

++++

The besocial, bemarketable, bebranded seminar, presented by Thinkhaus and Molly Buckley, is geared towards taking away that uneasiness which is associated with the unfamiliar realm of social media and branding by presenting new, exciting, and innovative techniques in a fun and interactive way.

Participants will learn better communication, unconditional positivity, and the interconnectivity between good branding and social media practices, more specifically the “Triumvirate” of social media: Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere. By seeing, hearing, and doing what works, participants will walk away with a concrete knowledge of how to implement good branding and social media techniques into their own businesses and lives to ultimately gain credibility, visibility, and sustainability among the global community.

Seminar Pricing (PRICES REDUCED!!!!)
BEFORE August 5th:

• $50 for ALL Non-Profit Organizations
• $75 for ALL individuals/businesses

AFTER August 5th:

• $75 for ALL Non-Profit Organizations
• $100 for ALL individuals/businesses

The three-hour workshop will highlight a variety of topics.

Topics covered include:

• Good branding (presented by Thinkhaus)
• How to incorporate socially conscious practices into your organization or business (presented by Thinkhaus)
• The “Triumvirate” of Social Media (presented by Molly Buckley) 

Facebook
• What exactly is Facebook?
• How to set your Facebook up to succeed at the highest level
• Advantages and benefits
• Drawbacks
• Do’s and Don’t’s

Twitter
• What exactly is Twitter?
• How to set Twitter up to succeed at the highest level
• Advantages and benefits
• Drawbacks
• Do’s and Don’ts

The blogosphere
• What exactly is blogging?
• Benefits of blogging
• “How often should I blog?”
• “What should I blog about?”
• “How long should my blog posts be?”
• How to promote and sustain your blog with solid readership
• Social networks that may benefit you!
• How ALL of these things work together.

Each participant will also walk away with a tangible packet of information that highlights all the information discussed on each of the topics covered in the workshop.

If you would like to register for the course, please email us at BEsocialworkshop@gmail.com with the FOLLOWING information:

• Name:
• Email:
• Contact Number:
• Company:
• Type of business:
• Are you a non-profit?:
• Experience with social media:

After we have received your email for pre-registration, you will receive an invoice via PayPalto pay for the workshop and to hold your place. Questions? Let us know. Email us at BEsocialworkshop@gmail.com.

On behalf of Thinkhaus and Molly Buckley, we thank you and we can’t wait to work with you!

Oh, and check out the new WORKSHOPS link right here on my webpage! http://mollybuckley.wordpress.com/socialmediaworkshops/

Britain’s Got Talent has been figuratively dishing the talent out lately. First, Susan Boyle, then Shaheen Jafargholi, now there’s DJ Talent. You’d think he’d be able to live up to his name: DJ Talent. Oh, and he does. DJ Talent spits rhymes? and one of the “catchiest” tunes I’ve heard in a long while. 

The lyrics are as follows:

As we roll! It’s Britain’s Got Talent. It’s DJ Talent
It’s Britain’s Got Talent MAKE SOME NOISE!

I say Britain, you say TALENT, Britain’s Got Talent, It’s the DJ Talent
I say Britain, you say TALENT, Britain’s Got Talent, It’s the DJ Talent
They got north, south, east, and west. I’ve been roll’n with this, DJ Talent roll out the mix!
I say Britain, you say TALENT, Britain’s Got Talent, It’s the DJ Talent
I say Britain, you say TALENT, Britain’s Got Talent, It’s the DJ Talent!

Man, if that doesn’t land this guy a spot on the Billboard charts, I don’t know what will. After receiving 4 X’s by the judges, immediately followed by 4 “Yes’s” [I haven't seem anyone flip-flop that much since Anne Heche and her sexuality of the late 1990's] – DJ Talent scores again by winning a date with guest judge Kelly Brooke. He even offers to take her to dinner, get her a nice salad and a bit o’ chicken. 

I also LOVE his teeth. Who wouldn’t?

If Susan Boyle is the next Elaine Paige, then DJ Talent will have “No Problem”** becoming the next Lil Scrappy. 

All for now.

**For those of you who don’t know, “No Problem” is a song by rap artist Lil Scrappy that was released in February of 2004. It’s a pun.