Beth Schillaci

Soles of Love in the Garden: The Kitten Heel Sponsors Continue

July 29, 2017 by Julie Gaver

Our next set of Kitten Heel Sponsors includes some new faces to Soles of Love. How exciting that our community continues to grow!

Brenda Johnson

Brenda Johnson is probably the closest thing I have to a PR agent. 😉 I am humbled by her willingness to support the many causes I believe in but especially all that she has done to promote my quest to provide new shoes for our local children in need. A fellow MUMC (Middletown United Methodist Church) goer, Brenda is one of those people who just makes you feel good. There is no doubt that the “Fruit of the Spirit” lives deeply within her.

Whether it’s collecting bags of shoes, applauding and supporting charities of many kinds, or sharing good news, one thing is certain, my life is better with Brenda in it. And yours will be too. I hope you will take the time to seek her out at next Friday’s party. She’s making our party a mother-daughter night out. You’ll know her by all the women smiling in her presence.Thanks, my friend, for all you’ve done to make this world a better place.

Brian Laurich, Vintage Sign Co.

Vintage Sign Co., owned by Brian Laurich is back again in support of Soles of Love. I have to admit, I’m especially excited to host next year’s party at Meadow Branch Farm because you will be welcomed, first hand, by Brian’s exquisite work. He created the sign which holds court at the entrance to our farm. Working with him on that project was a delight. In fact, once the renovations are complete on the property, Brian will be creating additional signs to add just the right touch of vintage to our fully restored property.

An artist by profession, Brian left the graphics art field to begin his business, having created unique, authentic pieces for Polo Ralph Lauren, NBC Universal, and the History Channel, to name a few. His work is of the highest quality and he goes to exteme lengths to help clients visualize the final product before his work begins. His wife, Christine, will represent Vintage Sign Co. once again at this year’s party, and I always appreciate their support.

Love and Dishes Catering

I became obsessed with Minda Metz of Love and Dishes Catering when she owned The Buzz, a unique bakery/cafe in Monrovia. The food was always spectacular but my crush lies in the creativity and wit she brings to the presentation… and as they say…. it’s all in the presentation.

Love and Dishes caters the Must Love Shoes Book Club events and I’m amazed at her ability to tie her menu offering to the theme of the book we are discussing. Because of Minda, our book club meetings are called “events” because she raised the bar–they truly are a party! If you want to experience the delicious talent of Love and Dishes, you’ll want to check out our next book club event on September 20th at McClintock Distilling. (But more about that later….)

Weddings, corporate events, private dinner parties….. Minda and her staff do it all and one thing is certain. (And I know this from experience) People will be talking about Love and Dishes long after the party is over. Thanks, Minda, for becoming a Soles Sister!

Beth Schillaci: Inner Child

Inner Child Home Fragrances is owned by Beth and Julia Schillaci, my favorite mother-daughter team. The story of how this company came into existence is one you’ll just have to read on their website because it will make you want to pack your bags and start traveling. Inner Child was inspired by a surreal, evocative experience Beth had during a trip to Hawaii. The sense of smell can be a powerful thing and the memory of what Beth experienced became the springboard for her first home fragrance.

Always the teacher, Beth is continually teaching her mini-entrepreneur Julia about what to do with a great idea. Her philosophy is always that entrepreneurialship is built on passion and that work must be fun. As testimony to the life lessons she teaches, here are a few of their corporate core values:

At Inner Child, we believe in: growing older but not up; being kind; having fun; making “me” time; Ohana; everyone is creative; learning new things; coloring books have always been for kids and adults; making memories; scent evokes memories; spending as much time in your “happy place” as possible; celebrating little victories.

You’ll get to experience a little of your own “Inner Child” on August 4th. If you smell a lucious fruit aroma coming from some of the candles on our tables at Soles of Love, thank Beth Schillaci for acting on her intuition.

Must Love Shoes: Meet “Platform” Sponsor VillageWorks

July 13, 2014 by admin

Beth Schillaci, owner of VillageWorks Communications has been an important member of the “Must Love Shoes” team since it began in 2009. Her most recent effort has been to convert SHOES into e-books. Yes, I succumbed to societal pressure although I stand by my resolve to not personally own a Kindle. 🙂 I think of it as just trying to play well with others. Beth is the one making all of this happen. And she is also a Platform Sponsor for this year’s charity event so I am especially loving her right now.

Beth Schillaci has been helping business with their Marketing efforts for over fifteen years. That was back in the day when the internet was the latest and greatest marketing tool of choice. So we’re not saying my friend Beth is old, but let’s put it this way…. would you rather have a surgeon who’s performed thousands of your procedure….. or five? Exactly! She knows her stuff!

Beth helps organizations grow their business and become more marketing savvy by advising them on issues related to Social Media, Email Marketing, and E-commerce. Helping others define their overall marketing strategy and carving out a niche is how she spends her day. Beth believes that Marketing is Storytelling and knowing which tools best help a business tell their story.

She is the author of the book Your Social Media Roadmap and a frequent speaker on Social Media and related Marketing topics. Look for her niche and storytelling workshop this fall.

A couple of other cool things you should know about this Platform Sponsor. She is the mom to the ever-so-famous Julia who was awarded the Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. She also drives a real Jeep, likes football, and loves craft beer. That makes her the coolest woman around in my husband’s eyes!

Thanks for your support Beth!

Soles of Love in the Garden- Meet “Wedge” Sponsor: Little J Creations

July 25, 2013 by admin

She may be only 4 ft. 6 inches tall, weighing in at sixty pounds, but nine year old Julia Schillaci already embodies the spirit of a “Must Love Shoes” woman. She’s smart, feisty, creative, and driven. You don’t often hear people describe nine-year-olds as driven, but while other kids her age were watching the Cartoon Network, Julia was watching Shark Tank and dreaming of starting a”business.”

With the expert guidance of her parents, Beth and John, both successful entrepreneurs, Julia turned play time into pay time when she started Little J Creations. Her business consists of two product lines: Soap Prizes and Inner Child..

SoapPrizes makes fun soaps for kids and the young at heart. They focus on party favor soaps and soaps with toys inside. Think of them as the Cracker Jacks of the soap world! These darling treasures have adorned all my holiday gifts for my nieces the past few years.

Inner Child is a new line of home fragrances coming this fall and I know will be equally fun!

Little Ms. Julia is quite the celebrity as well. Honored as the 2012 Youth Entrepreneur of the Year by the Entrepreneurial Council of Frederick County, this budding businesswoman was also a featured interview on the Frederick County Chamber’s Chamber TV. Watch Julia in action!

Little J Creations is not only a proud sponsor of “Soles of Love in the Garden” but Little J just celebrated her birthday last week and instead of presents, she asked people to donate shoes for our cause.

Smart, feisty, creative, driven! Guess you’d better add philanthropic to that mix as well. Remember her name. We’ll most likely be working for her some day!

*****

Only one day left to register for Soles of Love in the Garden. Go to garden party to sign up for our August 2nd event.

“Everything I’ve learned about life, I learned from Social Media.”

July 6, 2011 by admin

I love learning new things! Recently, the object of my obsession has become Social Media. In my experience, if you want to learn to do something right, find yourself a guru. I found Beth Schillaci. I call her my guru even though she does not dress the part or chant and meditate when we are together, but she is definitely all-knowing. And anyone who can train THIS girl on the wonderful world of all-things-internet is worthy of the title.

In addition to the fact that she has been successful at keeping me on task and increasing my Social Media savvy, she wrote a book, Your Social Media Roadmap: Navigating New Strategies for Small Businesses, www.yoursocialmediaroadmap.com. I highly recommend it. I’d loan you mine but I’ve been writing in it. So get your own.

Of all the new tools I’m now using (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogging), Facebook is the one that intrigues and entertains me the most. Below are a few things I’ve noticed or continue to wonder about. (Please feel free to add your own!)

• Birthdays are immensely better once you’re on Facebook. If you wanted to, you could spend the entire day thanking the hundreds of people who wish you well on your special day. This leads me to an etiquette question: Should you thank each person individually, like many do, or just do one big shout out THANKS at the end of the day? My friend Andrew had the funniest post-birthday comment EVER and it continues to make me giggle. “Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. For those of you who forgot, you’re dead to me.” Still laughing!

• Why do spouses carry on conversations with each other on Facebook? And particularly, why do some engage in sexy talk? Call me old fashioned but if I want to talk to my hubby of almost 32 years, I march myself downstairs, grab the remote control out of his hand and say “HEY BABY… I had FUN with you last night.”

• Why do some people feel compelled to post when they’re angry, bitter, depressed, or carrying a Hatfields & McCoys vendetta against someone? When I was growing up, they called that “writing in your diary.” Some things were meant to stay private. Just sayin’.

So what do YOU wonder about? I’m sure my guru has an answer for you. Meanwhile, I’m going to show her what I’ve learned and add this post!

Watch Your Audience Come to Life!