Since filming Southern Belles: Louisville, I have received loads of wonderful messages and emails from all over the country.

Southern Belles is now airing in reruns, but my main focus is now getting my company off the ground and my next TV project. While it is so easy to get caught up in our own selfish desires, this email was a firm reminder to me of how strongly our actions can affect other people. It’s from a young woman who was impacted by watching the show.

Whether it is providing inspiration on a national TV show, or simply letting someone over in the turning lane of traffic, I am a firm believer in the ripple effect.

“I am so passionate about your show. I was a daughter of a 30 yr marriage and as i was watching you show i found out at 25 that my parents were getting a divorce and at the lowest of lows you trully made me believe in myself and helped me. i really love you from you show and wish i could get the chance to meet you one day even tho its far from possible.

Thank you for your show when i was in need of a real down to earth person.”

The entire season of Southern Belles: Louisville is available to watch for free here on our Hulu page.

We all know the saying what goes around, comes around. I personally think everything comes into full circle in this world. What you put out, you get back. Historians talk about how history repeats itself. As the world spins and we evolve, everything that happens is a cause of something else that has already happened.

Recorded Future is a new software that Google is investing in (I don’t want to think about the possibilities.) It predicts the future based on the patterns of previously recorded events. No need to hire a fortune teller, just request an invite from the company in the video below.

BTW – I still should mention, I think the all time best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.

My favorite web browser that I have ever used is Google Chrome. I even sent it as an email gift to several friends and family last year for Christmas. It is the fastest, most efficient browser that I have ever used. It translates foreign websites for me. It has easy to access widget applications (similar to apps you download on a cell phone). It makes my browsing experience extremely personalized and the most productive. Life is too short to wait for a webpage to load!

Just how fast is this browser? The video puts it to the test. It took me awhile to figure out what exactly is going on, but they test the Chrome loading speed against a potato getting mashed into fries, the speed of sound, and the speed of lightening. I can’t help but wonder what this advertising team was on when they conceptualized this campaign. Watch the video to see what I mean:

Get your version of Google Chrome for free here.

Tonight I was searching for a girlfriend’s video on YouTube and came across this video advertisement embedded in the site’s homepage advertising banner. It is a music video/commercial for the Toyota Sienna SUV. Think of it like a hipper, funnier, mini-informercial.

While the media and advertising worlds are in chaos, I believe the future is going to bring more content and advertising mashed up together. No longer are the two mutually exclusive. In the age of TIVO, where if something is boring we will zip by it, advertising has NO CHOICE but to become content you want to see. In the banner, Toyota markets the vehicle as the “Swagger Wagon.” And oddly enough, many shots are totally inspired by Jay-Z’s “On To The Next One” video:

The video above reiterates the post I did a few days ago strongly suggesting that Every Company Is Now A Media Company. Why shouldn’t Nike hire TV reporters to do stories on athletes they endorse? Why not produce cooking demonstrations to show off a restaurant? We are going to see more music videos that look like commercials (product placement galore) and more commercials that look like music videos or short films. Kudos to Toyota for being ahead of the curve.

Last Fall, I was chatting with Trey Songz, frustrated at him because he had such a buzz in the urban market of R&B music, but I was eager for his career to become mainstream so the rest of the world could enjoy and appreciate his talent. A lot of people don’t realize that beyond the celebrity, he is amazingly smart and very philosophical. During our conversation, Trey told me: “Emily, driving fast only gets you to where you were already going with the greater risk of crashing.” It was some of the best advice anyone has EVER given me.

Today he is dominating the charts, has several chart topping songs, was nominated for a Grammy, is on MTV covering Kings of Leon, and just wrapped up touring the country with the legendary Jay-Z!

Today, I am taking his advice this week with a nice visit to Louisville. Custom to the urgency of technology and flashing lights, it is so nice to retreat and relax. While visiting family, friends and gearing up for the Kentucky Derby… I am enjoying less urgency, more conversation, and people who have known me for a LONG time. It is great soul rejuvenation. It is so nice to stop and smell the roses, or in Kentucky’s case… grass!

I have realized that, sometimes the fastest thing you can do to become successful is to drive in the slow lane of life for a little bit. It is important to make sure you are strapped in correctly, have the right passengers, enjoying the ride itself and the scenery present.

Here are a few pics I have snapped in recent visits… I didn’t realize how much I missed grass!! Kentucky is hands down one of the prettiest states in our country:

Driving in Prospect….

The view of Waterfront Park from Shea’s house….

The Louisville skyline at dusk…

By the way, here is video I took of Trey Songz and Jay-Z’s sold out show in Vegas:

Consider this a wake up call. A warning. Words of wisdom from someone whose career has been dramatically affected by technology. This is exciting, scary and frankly I don’t think anyone knows what to make of whats about to happen to how we all do business.

Every company is now a media company.  The sooner traditional media companies embrace this statement, the better off they will be, and the sooner EVERY company embraces it, the more profitable they will be.

I’m just beginning to learn the ends and outs of running a business (I am only four months deep in beta mode), however one thing I know VERY WELL is MEDIA. Not too long ago I wrote a blog about how Search Is The New Media… but it’s a lot deeper than that.

My thoughts and advice on what is below: Traditional media companies are going to have to get A LOT more creative, and start being proactive instead of reactive, if you want to save your ship from sinking. Last week I was speaking to a very successful pioneer of the Internet, who flat out told me “Hollywood has no idea what is coming for them.” So, embrace a technologist, or several, or an army of them. If you are any business outside the industry, hire a journalist, preferably one with lots of interactive experience. (Trust me there are lots who need a job!) And if you are a budding entrepreneur, GO FOR IT! You have more opportunities than ever before to make a big splash. The global economy is here. It is about to be a wild, competitive, extraordinary ride.

Tom Foremski, a former journalist at Financial Times, runs a great site about the intersection of technology and media. He recently wrote a BRILLIANT post about how “Every Company Is A Media Company.” Here are the highlights (and there are a lot):

“The world has suddenly become very complicated…. We used to have “mass media” where a small set of media companies and channels, in TV, radio, newspapers, trade press — hosted much of our media communications…… Those days are gone. The reality is we now live in a multi-platform, multi-channel, micro- media world, and the trend is moving towards ever greater media fragmentation — vidcasts, podcasts, blogs, micro-blogging, Twitter, etc.

It is no longer possible to operate a business the old way — such as sending out a news release on Businesswire and briefing a handful of journalists, and sitting back….. Sitting back is not an option. If your competitor captures that media pole position of thought leadership in your market, you are in trouble. When every company is a media company this changes more than just a company’s PR/communications department.”

(Emily Note: So what all does this affect in your organization? NEARLY EVERY ASPECT. Let’s take a look at what Foremski suggests…)

“- It changes how you recruit staff, using your own social networks.

- It changes how you provide customer support.

- It changes how you market/advertise your products and services.

- It changes how you develop products and services.

- It changes your IT infrastructure, what type of computers and software you need.

- It changes entire business processes and how they are executed.

- It changes a company’s internal skills set and what types of people it needs to employ or train.

- It changes how you measure progress.

- It changes management and how it runs the company.

- It changes internal team organization.

- It unlocks a massive amount of internal and external resources.

…Every company is affected… Every Company is a Media Company (EC=MC) is the most important business transformation of our times because every company is affected. This will provide new opportunities like never before…. Companies need help in mastering the best practices of being a media company. Management needs help in implementing the new business processes and in measuring progress. Companies will need new IT equipment, new software, new types of services… Everyone is part of this transformation… It will lead to tremendous disruption… Not every company is going to make it. We are dealing with disruptive technologies…and they key thing about disruptive technologies is that they disrupt.”

(Emily Note: IT IS MORE THAN SOCIAL MEDIA! Twitter, Facebook, etc., are just tools. There are new ones daily. THE ENTIRE WEB IS A SOCIAL EXPERIENCE. Foremski continues…)

“Companies have to focus on their entire media strategy, it becomes integral to their core business strategy. You have to be involved… The challenge for a company’s leadership is that many of these media trends cannot be fully understood unless you are immersed within them……You can’t ‘get it’ unless you are in it.”

*Phew.* Good luck. I think we all need it.

It is hard to explain to my friends what exactly is going on with the TV industry, or why the jobs aren’t as available or rightfully paying as they once were. I have written several posts about the future of media and the content overload, cloud chaos amongst us. Here is a video that describes one of the many threats to come:

The question is… will you trust a cartoon animation? We spend billions of dollars watching them on movies and such. Family Guy and The Simpsons are some of the most popular shows on television, although they aren’t computer generated.  Frankly, I prefer the good old-fashioned human approach. We are more unpredictable. Besides, people (like my awesome mom) watch Bill O’Reilly for Bill O’Reilly — What is he going to say? What is he going to do?  I think, and would hope, most people don’t watch O’Reilly for the absolute latest, most accurate and objective information possible. The O’Reilly Factor is insight, opinion, commentary, all of which are things many people crave.

My conclusion is this: If you want the truth, watch a computer. If you want an experience, watch a human. Besides, predictable is boring. Most of the television I watch is just to see what other people are doing, wearing, and saying. I get most of my inspiration and ideas from observing other people, that is what life is about. I am not sure how much of that an algorithm can do.

What happened to the post offices, music industry, travel industry, and now television, will happen to pretty much every other industry as well… it is cost effective, and frankly probably more accurate and error proof. This digital revolution is just getting started. Each industry will adapt, and make adjustments as we continue to become a leaner, faster, more competitive global economy. What I often wonder is… when computers start replacing our positions, where are all these people going to go? I guess the government could always do their role and create jobs. (ahem!)

My dad is a Facebook newbie and really growing keen on all this digital stuff, I told him tonight that I think he is in one of the safest industries out there. His company, Atlas Machine & Supply (www.atlasmachine.com) specializes in industrial machinery and services. They help industrial plants run more effectively and more smoothly. Luckily, everything you look at is either grown, mined or made. Those needs are not going anywhere. I think he is safe…. for the time being. When the algorithms figure out how to properly repair custom machinery that weigh two tons, then we will really have something to worry about.

Here is a story I read yesterday that really helped my prospective on life. I have spent the past five months really working hard on starting my own company, anxious to share it with the world. It is not an easy task! Yesterday, I literally had a nervous breakdown with the stresses of my career path, financial strains, and multitude of decisions and issues in front of me. These challenges were overwhelming me and starting to affect me physically!

I try to do everything with meaning, passion and purpose in my life and I often take everything WAY too seriously.  This story brings a lot in to prospective for me.  I realize that life is not about always increasing its speed. True success is time well spent, with those who appreciate you as much as you appreciate them. Luxury is a lifestyle of living stress free, not what is in your bank account. Happiness is in your heart and not your hedge fund. Read the story below to see what I mean. It is worth your time.

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while.”

The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

Happy Birthday to my long time friend Roberto Alfonso Felipe! Every once in awhile you meet a friend that just fits. They just get it. Felipe is such a cheerleader of living life well, constantly wanting to encourage, support and uplift those around him!

Never mind that we rarely see each other, because we currently live on opposite sides of the country. He is honest, consistent and thoughtful. He also serves as a regular reminder to me that little things make all the difference in life.

Felipe spends many of his days discreetly jet-setting around the world, discreetly designing and fitting suits for the most successful people alive. Check out his blog for a blog here for more on his life and thoughts.

His success and approach to business inspires me. The scary part is, at just 26, he is just getting started. Happy Birthday Felipe!

I have read a lot about how US television companies, such as Discovery Communications, are beginning to focus on countries in Asia and Middle East. As we continue to merge to a global economy, I truly believe the future of television and content is international.

Tomorrow I am attending the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas. One of the partners for the event is India. Watch the video below to understand the content opportunities that await:

As someone who has worked in media for 10 years, and is now starting a company, my wheels are spinning about how I can take advantage of this!

Btw, check out the amazing speakers lined up for NAB available here. I am really excited to chat about content, technology, and convergence over the next few days with such fascinating people!