Lensmistress- Shonika Proctor aka The Nika'Nator 

I help demolish drama and build dreams.

Meet the Original Renegade CEO's 

Without them....there would be no me.

These are "my babies", and yes, I spoil them!!! Like most young people, they have dealt with some of the most incredible and extraordinary challenges and hardships in their life (and to think none of them are even legal drinking age). Yet, time and time again they have been relentless, resilient and continue to break through barriers and come out on top EVERY DAY in EVERY WAY! (at right, Mercedes & DaeQuaan with Dr. Farrah Gray, Author of Reallionaire & Get Real, Get Rich)

Part of this drive comes from our pact that we have in the Renegade CEO family (our virtual relatives and extended family members like you included). It essentially says oftentimes you have to sell the dream based on your own reality. While it is by no means 'fun' when by no choice of your own you have to live through drama and struggles everyday, but if you hang in there long enough, it is an ever so powerful thing when you are able to demolish all that drama and build your dreams in its place.

Indeed we each have a story to tell....alas it will be told over and over again in time. But for now, let's all have fun making predictions but realize and understand that we won't know how the story will truly play out until we get to the end of the book ;-)

Never Underestimate the Power of a Teenager 

And if you do...you best read this book.

A self-made millionaire by age 14...who rose from poverty no less. Need I say more? Actually, I will-- On March 1, 2008 I had the pleasure to hear him speak and meet him personally. Words cannot describe the experience but I will say that I was so moved by his experience, I gave him my personal word and commitment to organize all the youth entrepeneurs from MD, DC and VA. Once I have them altogether- who knows what I will do??!?! eerrrr, we'll see. LOL.

Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out

by Farrah Gray, Fran Harris

Dr. Farrah Gray is leading the movement of the upcoming generation of youth entrepreneurs.

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/25/2008)

Scene in the Underground... 

Here Are Some Vids Created by the Renegades

Renegade Workout

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Haruhi's Report Card

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Shonika Proctor "the IT girl", Renegade CEOs needs your help

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Rizon Esthetics

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Scar is Crazy

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Don't Follow History... 

Create It!

Realize that history belongs to those who write it. The most ineffective way to share important information that will help to improve your business over time is through the spoken word. While interacting face to face is obviously more personable (and in some cases necessary) when you are trying to grow a company and build on ideas, simply venting and talking about it and even purely marketing via telephone cold-calling is very counterproductive. Writing allows you to share your thoughts with many people, all over the world if you like, and you can look back, reflect and see your growth and progress and how you dealt with issues in the past. If you don't think you are very good at writing, then here are some things you can do to improve it:

1. Read More. When you read more your vocabulary expands, hence as you write, the words start to come easier. On this lens we are going to provide you with a variety of reading material that covers everything from literary classics to doo doo head and fart books and of course, your good old entrepreneurial success books. Why the variety? Because entrepreneurs are visionary people. And the most successful ones often look outside of their industry and their 'immediate environment' for fresh ideas.

2. Read Aloud to a Friend Reading aloud to a friend (same as reading to a child) helps you with reading comprehension. Yes, even as a 30 something adult, I still do this all the time. By 'hearing yourself read' and discussing different sections throughout the book, you will be able to think things through, formulate thoughts and better express yourself (in both the written word and the spoken one). This in turns will help build self-confidence when speaking in a public setting or with a group of people.

3. Rant or Doodle. Express yourself through tangents, random rants or stick figures - because reality is sometimes you never have the right words to 'say' what you mean.

4. Carry a digital recorder. Record important thoughts, challenging situations and reflective moments throughout the day and transcribe them later.

5. Journal. Whether via a blog aka digital diary or through a good old fashioned notebook, jot down a quick thought at the end of each day. In time you will start writing more.

The 4 Hour Work Week... 

Or if you are a pessimist, how to save 4 hours in your work week.

Quit your 9-5'er, outsource your life (personal and professional) and travel the world via your mini vacations well before you hit retirement. Ironically you don't even need to be a millionaire to enjoy the quality of life that many of them often don't anyway. Tim Ferris shares with us how he became the ultimate vagabond entrepreneur and walks us through step by step how we can do the same. While I know that you will love this book, even if you don't, the resources are invaluable and will easily give you back at minimum 4 hours of your life per week.

The 4-Hour work Week: Esc...

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things... 

Can you believe, I never saw the Sound of Music until I was an adult?

Evan Carmichael

We LOVE Evan Carmichael actually. His site is so chock full of resources, templates, tips and tricks and he has a nice lively forum there as well.

Did You Capture Me Today?

With over 100 million websites on the internet, just because I visited your site once, doesn't mean that I will visit again. So make sure you 'capture' me on at least one of your many sites that I visit.

Ryan P. Allis is a successful young CEO and best selling author. He currently runs icontact which is an email list management company. Never mind he is only 23 and his company has more than 80 employees and does over $10 million dollars in annual revenue sales.

I am a proud longstanding client of icontact. And when building your online presence and information marketing empire, I hope that you will highly consider them as the provider of choice for your email list management services.

Note to Self: The BIG $$$ is in your list.

Close the Digital Divide...

Often when you heard people talk about 'Closing the Digital Divide' it meant the disproportionate amount of people minorities vs. non minorities who had access to a computer/technology.

But let me tell you my dear friends, today as it stands, that meaning has never been more inaccurate.

Closing the Digital Divide to an entrepreneur in the 21st Century means the disproportionate percentage of people who understand this small window of time we have to leverage our brand and build global domination for our mom & pop shop or solopreneur venture on the web verses people who spend 3/4 of their days, getting 'friends'. There is a special way of building your website (some people say it is SEO or Search Engine Optimization, but it is A LOT more to it than that). So the easy as pie program found on the link above does it all for you. In just 60 days of setting up my corporate website, my site was ranked in www.alexa.com in the Top 30% of all sites on the web. While the original website I built 3 years prior had never even had enough data to get 'ranked'. Note: The website program is offered as a template version or an html version based on your experience.

Not to mention this company that sells this website program has a tremendously supportive and knowledeable online community to help you with your web site building questions. The support community is priceless!

So, if you want to close the digital divide, it starts with building an online presence i.e. a blog, a squidoo lens, your website. When youa are ready to pony up the money to build a website, don't just build an online brochure, build a weblopedia of the most passionate obscure thing that you know more about than anybody else. Having a brain cramp? See: Weapon Masters My friend Chad is the Co-Host of this show on the Discovery Channel.

Domains for $6.99/year

But not only will you get a domain, check this- you will get free forwarding of your domain and email addresses you can use until you get around to building your site.

Here comes the SuN

Run by the Sloane Brothers, Start Up Nation (SuN) is another great forum and web community for small business owners and solopreneurs. Be sure to check out their Top 10 Quick Start guide to starting a business.

The Nika'Nators Business Coach

If you want to become a powerful person, you must empower others.

You will hear me say this, time and time again.

My life is indebted to my coach, Robert Moment, who got me started on the path to selling my mind not my time.

The greatest thing you can do for yourself (personally and professionally) is to always be open to helping others....including yourself!

And Zen Again... 

Feeling in a Rut...

These books help to rejuvenate your mind, spirit and soul from personal to professional development and address some of the most difficult challenges that each of us deal with from 'creativity' to 'marketing' to 'what is my purpose here'.

Release. Relax. Reflect.

And then explore your world from the inside out with one of these great books:

Oh, the Places You'll Go!...

Slowing Down to the Speed...

Tuesdays with Morrie: An...

Get Clients Now!(TM): A 2...

Free to Be.... 

[insert your '....' here or skip it altogether]

You are Free to Be...

....whatever, however, whenever. It doesn't matter to us one way or another because we are all about quality of life and well-being. Our bodies, mind and spirit has its own natural rhythm of checks and balances. It is why we sometimes laugh and sometimes cry, are sometimes scared and sometimes bold, sometimes embarrassed and other times like who gives a damn. It is NATURAL to be helpful when you feel like it or 'deviant' (this can be an extreme range from a thought to an action) when you want to upset your environment. Reasonable people do not seek to alter their environment, unreasonable people do. All progress is made by unreasonable people (unknown). It is important that if YOU are curious about something (the key word is YOU...not bc of peer pressure but because of your own natural curiosity) then if it is good, go for it right away and if it is naughty, think about it first, then consider your consequences before you decide to actually go through with it. Side note: If you are thinking about doing something naughty be sure to consult our 'rules' of engagement before doing so. Otherwise it won't be easy to divorce the drama after you have said I DO.

Anyone Who Has to Be Led Into Temptation Does Not Deserve to Enjoy It
The reason why you should follow YOUR natural instinct (emphasis on YOU once again) and curiosity even long after you are 18 years of age is because if you don't let your body and mind partake in the pleasure of doing both the good and sometimes 'naughty' things, as you grow older you will forever be curious about what you might have missed out on. In turn this usually leads to MAJOR emotional issues (insecurity and immaturity to name a few), remorsefulness, addiction (trying to play catch up for all the missed years) and radical 'unexpected behavior'. i.e. They seemed like a nice person who was quiet and kept to themselves. We would have never expected this of them. [hmmm, you don't say???]

Laugh When You Are Happy, Cry When You Are Sad
Alas, this is why the mantra of the Renegade CEO is 'Free to Be...' because one can never know their true potential unless they challenge themselves to go from one extreme to the other. This means sometimes going deep down inside ourselves to unexplored and dark places. And reality is it may remind you a lot like a garage or a shed. You are sure to find lots of broken things, some unused things tossed to the side, new packaged things that have never been open, stuff from your past that you kept but you don't quite know why. And who knows what else you might find in there? Just try to think of it like a psychological thriller. Rummaging through some things might be a little suspenseful and make you scream like bloody hell when you see them, but after you have seen it about the 3rd time, you find that you can actually laugh about it. And if it still freaks you out, then do an 'Office Space' remix. Take that old wretched thing out to an open field somewhere with a sledgehammer and beat the crap out of it. Work out all that bent up frustration-because I surely don't want to be in a public space with you the day you decide to go off the deep end ;-)

The Movement Is Coming
Remember, if you got something good in mind (the intention is good), then do it on instinct. Even if other people cannot see the good in it initially, stay your path. As you progress, resources, answers, relationships, help, whatever you need will emerge and 'be there' when you get there. If you are introverted/shy or a chicken little, just find some hard core over the top I ain't afraid of a god d@%^ thing soul who will help coax you along.

Get a Life
In the meantime and in between time, for those young people out there struggling with whatever and have parents badgering you who think you are a cuckoo and need a 'life coach', realize that they are the ones who probably need a life. So just hang on for a lil' longer. We will rescue you sooner than later :) If you are really stressed out and are looking for a general support network, might I recommend, Teen Help? It is a forum and website that is very supportive and it has lots of options other than....you know.....flatlining. That is so not cool. Trust me if you are feeling some strong feelings about all that, it is a phase and in time you WILL get past it. I have felt this way at times in my life and well, it will soon past. You have to trust me on this. So don't 'do that' to us because we need you to join our movement and it really helps if you are -- ALIVE--Hell-o!!! Ok- big virtual hugs and smiles to you.

On that note, realize that technology knows NO age, gender, race, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status. The Creative Age is coming and youth will rule that world. So ask your parents/guardians....

Are they in their 'right' mind? ;-)">

Think And Grow Rich... 

Because you can!

Classics never go out of style. I collect old and rare books. I have a version of this book that was a 3rd reprint from 1937. It is a hardback book and is approximately 7" high and "5 inches across and the text is written in such a way that you focus on certain things because of the font style and the way it is laid out. The newer books cannot compare. If you want to pony up a couple hundred bucks for one of these books, I say it is so worth it. What is very cool with my book is that it has a printed coupon (I will have to scan it for you) that basically states 'there are so many ways you may have acquired this book and the only way you can be sure to get the most timely and accurate information from the source is to mail in your name and you will get updates and a special newsletter". Funny thing, huh? As 70 years later we are still doing it, but in the form of ezines ;-). It is exactly why if I want to learn about proven techniques in business I buy a book from 50+ years ago. If it worked back then and is still working today (even in some modern format) indeed it is proven. Nuff said.

Think and Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill

Because classics never go out of style.

Amazon Price: (as of 07/25/2008)

Operate From a Modular Office, Not a Mobile One? 

I'm terribly sorry to hear.

Ceramic Skateboard Bearings & More From Lazer 

These Ceramic Skateboard Bearings Were Designed by Lazer

Lazer Skateboards designs ceramic skateboard bearings and absolutely loves building custom longboards, trick boards, and old school deck setups. Our boards let you to unleash your inner trick & carve animal and are powered with lazer ceramic skate bearings. Here you can find skateboard wheels, bearings, decks, trucks, accessories etc.

Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by

To Sell or Be Sold... 

That's the Question

These books explore the many facets of sales, from how to be the ultimate salesperson, how a homeless person sold everyone on her dream and how not to sell in the 21st century.

Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness

by Jeffrey Gitomer

The best salespeople mock the ways of Jeffrey Gitomer. Not to mention he is funny as hell.

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/25/2008)

How I Retired at 26! A Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Your Freedom and Wealth at Any Age

by Asha Tyson

Because sometimes you have to sell the 'dream' based on your own reality.

Amazon Price: $13.60 (as of 07/25/2008)

Never Cold Call Again: Achieve Sales Greatness Without Cold Calling

by Frank J. Rumbauskas Jr.

Because marketing by phone is so 20th century.

Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 07/25/2008)

Screw Gambling in Macau and Las Vegas... 

...Go the extreme and make a bet with the devil instead!

But before you do so better make sure 'alles in seinem Ort' (all is in order).

Goethe's Faust

by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Alles in seinem Ort

Amazon Price: $8.76 (as of 07/25/2008)

Shonika's BIO....The Long Version 

Because you just had to ask!

Shonika Proctor is a Generation X Creative Thought Leader and Teen Business Coach.

In 1993 she took a summer job at her neighborhood cellular wireless company helping people to fix their wireless problems. Little did she know that 15 years later she would still be working in the industry, but instead helping to fix people with wireless [addiction] problems :). Her understanding of the method to the madness and uncanny knack for quickly creating effective and resourceful right brain solutions for the most challenging left brained problems led to the creation of her Signature 'Ebb & Flow On the Go' Training Series. This series of training programs covered all kinds of offbeat but practical and holistic topics from "How to Detox From Your BlackBerry" to "And Zen Again", How to Develop Rhythm and Chemisty Between the Wireless Technology in Your Body and the Wireless Technology in Your Hand.

If you want to become a powerful person, you must empower others
In the meantime and in between time to detox from her high tech lifestyle she started mentoring some youth who had completed an entrepreneurship program from NFTE (National Foundation For Teaching Entrepreneurship). They were out in the real world away from their secure network and entrepreneurship teachers wondering what to do next. She started working with 1 (local urban) youth entrepreneur, which turned to 2, which turned to 5, which turned to 8 (nationwide)! Yikes :) Needless to say it became confusing and overwhelming working with multiple students in multiple geographic areas in multiple stages of their businesses so they collectively began to brainstorm ways to simplify and better organize their mentoring sessions. What started as email and phone conversations evolved to e-mentoring Skype via webcam with Focus Lists & Templates to eventually a full all out Teen Business Coaching Program. Realizing that the needs of teens and young people from economically challenged neighborhoods (her primary market) were vastly different of most self-sufficient adults and/or working professionals, the group was affectionately named the 'Renegade CEO's' with their tagline being 'Challenge not the limits of society but the limits of onself.'

The project originally started as a hobby. But the work ethic, enthusiasm and commitment to the project over just 3 short months impressed, amazed and overwhelmed Shonika so much that she gave up all her clients except one (bound by contract) to give her plenty of time to help her youth to market, brand and grow their respective businesses.

And So the Story Goes...
The young people that Shonika worth with believe and often say she has this 'magical gift' of bringing hope to a seemingly hopeless situations and that her work will inspire, motivate and empower aspiring and emerging youth entrepreneurs worldwide....we'll see ;-)

It's All in Your Mind... 

Tomorrow when you wake up- what will you be?

This is a relatively short read (55 pages long) but a heavy and dark story that is unfortunately reflective of many of our lives. The lead character Gregor wakes up one day realizing that he has turned into a gigantic roach or insect or other. But the reality that you will discover as the story plays out is that Gregor had long become an insect in his mind. Everyday he did the things he absolutely despised just to appease those around him and 'keep peace' or not be a burden for lack of a better term.

On the flip side he could have become something completely different if he had made up his mind to do. So what will you become? Read the story because I know that EVERYONE can very much identify with it.

The Metamorphosis (Bantam Classics)

by Franz Kafka

Choose YOUR Own Way.

Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 07/25/2008)

Love It Or Leave It 

It's up to you.

The Earth's most precious natural resource is truly a rare find. As it changes by the second, it is that of our time.
-The Nika'Nator

While we realize that we may not always agree on things, being challenged and looking outside of 'our space' is how we learn and grow. The least we can do is try to understand and respect the other's opinion and we promise to do that.

We very much appreciate and respect your time. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts with us today (complimentary or 'constructive'...not to be confused with destructive, thank you).

BFuniv.com Let's hope a lot of young renegades accept your challenge to acquire their most audacious dreams. Their choice is always between what they want to do, and what they want to become. Great stuff, thank you. Posted May 02, 2008