IN HER SHOES: Aphro Chic

The logo above really shows how important branding is to your company. The second I saw it I immediately thought this business owner must be stylish, chic and professional. I knew that her product had to be awesome.

Of course her product didn't disappoint. Jeanine designs pillows with a global feel that are still modern, eco-friendly and offer you a high-end look that won't break the bank.



I've loved seeing her pillows pop up in different blogs and publications and was totally shocked to find out that Aphro Chic is her 2nd full time job. That's right this amazing women works her 9-5 and then goes home and takes care of her line and blog. Talk about multi-tasking. Of course I had to email her and see how she does it.

Take a look...


7:00 am. The alarm starts to go off. Snooze. Snooze. Snooze.

8:10am. Ok, I have to get up. Time for a shower. Getting a little more dressed up than usual. I’m going to the Kelly Wearstler book signing this evening at Gump’s! Super excited!

9:00 am. Off to take my morning walk with the hubs. Piece of toast in hand for “breakfast.” Most important meal of the day, right? It’s very rare I have time for something more substantial, but I can’t get started without something in my tummy. Morning conversation is about politics, culture and the African Diaspora. We like to keep it lively, and it gets my brain ready for work.

9:30 am. On the bus and on the way to the day job. Rocking out to my Pandora Mariah Carey playlist and multi-tasking. Checking AphroChic emails, blog submissions and the twitter account on my Blackberry. Oooh! An email from my friends at Nesting Newbies. Having dinner with them on Saturday. Can't wait!



10:00 am. Arrive at day job. A non-profit where I do public policy work. Time for some decaf before I start the day. That's the second half of breakfast. I'm sure I'll be starving by noon.

11:00 am. First conference call of the day. Working on an initiative to prevent dating violence and sexual assault on college campuses.



11:55 am. Call is over and I'm officially hungry but I need to head over to the printer to pick up fabric swatches for a potential interior design client. Lunch will have to wait. Anyway, I can't wait to see how the fabric turned out!



12:30 pm. Finally it’s time to grab some lunch at Whole Foods. Pasta salad, yogurt and an apple. Taking the rest of my lunch break to tweet and read some blogs. So relaxing.

1:30 pm. Back to work. Doing the daily activity of answering emails, reviewing reports and writing memos for the day job. I did sneak in a coca cola today. I try to keep the caffeine to a minimum, but some days it’s just necessary.



3:00 pm. Time for a 15 minute coffee break to check in on AphroChic emails. Some great news about gift guides and press inquiries! Scheduling some time on the calendar to prep products for gift guides and set a reminder to drop items off on Monday morning before I head to work.



4:50 pm. Making sure I have plenty of business cards for tonight's event. Pulling out the blue cardi for a more dressed look. Lips glossed, hair in place. Ready to meet Kelly!

5:15 pm. Stuck in major traffic while on the bus. Isn’t that always the way? The event ends at 6:00 and I don’t think I’ll get there until 5:30. Hope I can get in line for Kelly to sign my book.




5:30 pm. Made it to Gump’s. A little winded from running to the event (whew!) but still looking together. More importantly, I made it in time! Say hi to my friend Carmen and now I need to go buy a book at the register. Kelly is wonderful in person. She is taking the time to talk to everyone. So happy that I got a chance to let her know about my design work and what an inspiration she is to me. I tried to take a pic with her with my Blackberry, but they did a picture instead with the pro photographer. So no pictures to share (yet!).

6:00 pm. Waiting to meet up with my husband at Gump’s. We’re going for a nice long walk home. Feeling pretty smart because I remembered to pack a pair of sneakers in my bag. Heels are definitely overrated.

6:45 pm. Get home and find out some really great news - we have made it into Interior Design Magazine’s Fall Market Tabloid! Time to celebrate with a nice dinner.

9:00 pm. Been a full day, but there’s still a bit more work to do. Take some time to answer a few questions for a couple of interviews that are due this weekend. Catch up on my tweeting (always a must), and let people know about the magazine feature on Facebook.

10:00 pm. Getting ready to write tomorrow’s blog post. Searching through my inbox to find photos from the Culinarium event last month. Why are these things never where you leave them? Checking my Igoogle calendar for the rest of the post details. Thank God for online calendars (and smart phone schedulers, and day planners, and good old fashioned wall-mounted flip calendars).



11:00 pm. Wrapping myself up in the snuggy, getting ready to spend some time with a cup of tea while enjoying my new book. It’s been a long, and really fun day. And for once, it looks like I’m going to get to bed before 1:00 am. Fantastic!

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A big thanks to Jeanine for sharing her day with us. She got so much accomplished. So jealous that her hubby gets home at a normal time. Jon normally gets in at 8:45 sometimes 9!

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