Best Selling Author, Motivational Speaker and Mommy Karen Salmansohn is the author of dozens (and dozens) of books including titles like Be Happy, Dammit: A Cynics Guide to Spiritual Happiness and The Bounce Back Book: How to Thrive in the Face of Adversity, Setbacks and Losses. I’m also fortunate to call Karen a friend which is cool because I was a fan of her books long before I knew her personally.
Currently, Karen is creating daily Posters/Inspiratonal Flashcards on her site at notsalmon.com – which super quickly remind people (with strong attention-getting visuals and pithy/powerful headlines) what they need to know, be and do to live their happiest, highest potential life. Often, she receives favorite quotes from fans on her Facebook Page that she uses to morph into posters for them!
Karen loves what she does because she is a big believer that much of our happiness in life comes from growing, connecting with others, plus finding meaning and purpose. She gets to tap into all that good stuff every day writing books, articles and designing her Inspirational Flashcards! Her mission is to wake up sleepy minds, hearts, and spirits – and inspire people to live their happiest, highest potential lives!
Her personal life is spent with her baby boy Ari who comes first and foremost every day! She tells him every night at bedtime how her favorite part of her day is the time spent with him – and she means it! When not mommying, you can find her drinking far too much coffee while brainstorming up new ideas for books, articles, Inspirational Flashcards, twittering, facebooking. Or she’s brand-storming for others! She has many clients (individuals and companies) who hire her to help them discover their blindspots and better understand how to drill down and better define and express their expertise and passions – so they can translate their expertise and passions into a fulfilling, profitable business!
One last thing Karen shared with me was that she named her son Ari not only because she loves that name, but as a wink to her fave philosopher buddy Aristotle – who she writea about often. Aristotle believed that the reason why so many people are unhappy is because they confuse pleasure with happiness. The difference? Pleasure is about immediate gratification — stimulating your body or your ego with things like shopping, eating, drinking, casual sex, etc. Happiness, in contrast, is about seeking long term growth for yourself as a thriving individual. It’s about nourishing your soul/core self by surrounding yourself with people, habits, experiences, and insights which inspire you and challenge you to become your highest potential. She loves and believes in this definition for happiness. As Karen said, “With this in mind, whenever life throws us a surprise challenge, it’s up to us to choose to view it as an opportunity to grow into our strongest, wisest self — thereby finding true happiness through life’s challenges. Happiness is not for namby pambies. It takes daily work. Happiness is very much a choice we need to choose daily. We need to choose to add insight to injury. We need to choose to forgive others and ourselves by viewing everything that happens to us in our lives as an assignment- with lessons to learn to grow us into our strongest, highest potential self.” If Karen was to sum up her philosophy for aiming yourself towards living a happy life – this would be it!
Well, with all that said, let’s take a Style Minute with Karen Salmansohn to see what’s going on with her style!
My closet: is an array of flouncy feminine dresses and casual jeans. Ilike wearing both. (But not at the same time! :))
Favorite thing to wear: Ever since I had a baby, I’m more likely to put on Lululemon gear and sneakers first thing in the morning. By dressing like this, I’m more likely to go to the gym – plus I love how comfortable it feels, and the bright happy colors. Even if I don’t go to the gym, I can still wear it to meeting with the clients I coach and consult with. They know I often show up in this yoga-type gear. If I do dress up, it’s likely to be feminine dresses – from designers like Nicole Fahri, Donna Karan, or Kathlin Argiro.
Favorite shoes: Before the pregnancy, anything Christian Laboutin. After my pregnancy, anything sneakers. My feet actually gained weight from the pregnancy. Weird, huh? Plus these days I dont like to risk carrying my little boy while wearing Laboutins! Oh – and I just discovered Donald J. Pliner shoes – which are both beautiful and comfortable!
Favorite store: Lululemon. I love wearing comfy clothes during my work day. Nordstrom Rack – which is in my hood – and offers splurge items at non-splurge prices!
Most regrettable fashion purchase: All those Laboutins I once bought! Hey – anyone out there wear a size 7 1/2 and want to buy mine at a discount? 🙂
I know I look good when: Taxi drivers are extra nice to me – and turn off the meter before we even get to my destination.
If I was attending the Oscars I would wear: Dries Van Noten
Favorite magazine: Dwell. I love home design.
Favorite Color: Orange for designing projects – but not to wear.
Most prized accessory: A Cathy Waterman necklace I got many years ago– which I still love!
Shopping is: Something I do from my sofa these day – since my baby boy was born. And I mostly buy things for Ari, not me.
Last purchase: A fun blue car as a walker for my son Ari.
Favorite clothing era: Whatever’s to come. I love experimenting and evolving.
My inspiration: I like mixing vintage looks with modern clothes. In home furnishings I also like mixing vintage furniture with modern furniture. Hmm – and I’m both an old soul and young spirit. I notice a trend here!
My style: Bohemian Princess
