2010 November | Kyle Hepp

November 23, 2010

Thanks to American Express for sponsoring my writing today about small businesses. American Express is presenting Small Business Saturday, a way to honor the local merchants who are the backbone of the economy, this Saturday, November 27. They’re offering statement credits to people who shop at small businesses, advertising for small-business owners, and donations to Girls Inc. for “Likes” of the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook. Join the celebration by clicking the “Like” button and then visiting the Facebook page to learn more about the program and read the terms and conditions that apply.

Yes, this is a sponsored post. But, I am actually pretty excited about the topic because I myself am a small business owner. It’s absolutely harder than I ever imagined, but also very rewarding. You see, the thing is, as a small business owner, you have to be a little bit of everything — marketer, manager, creative, tech support, customer service, etc. It gets overwhelmingly stressful at times — i.e., if I don’t answer this email NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT. But you know what? That makes even the littlest victories turn into something huge — I can’t believe that I figured out the code to change the text color in my website! I am A MASTER!

So today I’m writing about a small business called Epiphanie Bags. They’re purses for female photographers — aka stylish camera bags, aka previously unheard of in the photography world.

Photo credit: Epiphanie Bags.

Maile Wilson found a niche that wasn’t being satisfied and she went for it.. Now her line has 5 gorgeous bags and has become extremely popular among pro and hobbyist photographers, or basically anyone who wants to take their DSLR camera out of the house without having to carry a manish ugly looking camera bag. I’m sure she was scared to start this small business. I’m sure she probably knew nothing about designing a bag. But she did it anyways. And today her business is flourishing!

If you want to support small businesses this year, check out the Epiphanie website and buy something pretty for the photographer in your life. And if I happen to be the photographer in your life, that’s cool. My personal favorite is the Clover style

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

3 Comments

November 22, 2010

Stuff Chilean People Like, Original Post

Stuff Chilean People Like, Part II

It’s time to give Stuff Chilean People Like another go round. This time our topic is Stuff Chilean People Like: Overdressing for the Weather. Chilean, feel free to write your counter-post to this – Stuff Gringos Like: Underdressing for the Weather alternatively titled, Stuff (Manly) Gringos LOVE: Wearing Shorts in the Middle of the Michigan Winter Like Idiots.

This topic came to the forefront of my mind when I saw a woman take her baby on the metro the day before we left, completely swaddled. It wasn’t cold out at all. I won’t go so far as to say it was hot outside, but it was definitely hot enough for me to be sweating in a light dress and sandals. The baby was screaming at the top of it’s little lungs and the whole time I was on the metro with it, in my head I was screaming, “For the love of all that is holy, unswaddle it! It’s too hot! That’s why it’s screaming!”

But I’m sure the woman would never unswaddle her baby, no matter how high the temperature in the metro, because Stuff Chilean People Like also includes Inventing Unscientific Reasons for Catching the Common Cold. And one of those unscientific reasons is going from hot temperatures to cold temperatures suddenly. In the winter that could equal pneumonia. In the summer you will certainly resfriar (catch a cold) if you go from air conditioning to the warm streets of Santiago. I seriously don’t know how many times I’ve told Seba’s family that colds are caused by germs/viruses. And how many times they’ve looked at me like, “Silly gringa, *going barefoot* will make you so violently ill that YOU WILL DIE. How do you not know that yet?” *Or replace going barefoot with any other number of these scenarios: wet hair, the hot to cold theory, not wearing a scarf if the temperatures get below 70 degrees, etc. I’d probably get laughed all the way back to Estacion Central if I suggested to a Chilean that his cold was caused by not washing his hands after getting off the metro.

Stuff Chilean People Also Like: Telling Complete Strangers On the Street How Sick They’ll Get Because of Said Unscientific Reasons for Catching the Common Cold. If I had a penny for every time I’ve been out with wet hair and some well-meaning vieja (old lady) stopped me to tell me I should go inside and dry my hair, I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d definitely have a very large handful of pennies, at the very least.

Related Stuff Chilean People Like: Trying to Cure Any and All Ailments With “Aguita,” and Sniffling One Time and Declaring “I Have a Cold!”

Please leave a comment with anything else you can think of to add to this. The comments are absolutely the best part of these posts.

16 Comments

November 21, 2010

We arrived safe and soundly in Miami this morning, however, my dad’s internet is out! AHH, I got a nap, ate some fruit in the afternoon, and then went to check my emails. Lo and behold, I couldn’t get a signal. Meaning, my three basic needs have not been met. I’m currently blogging courtesy of a 24 hour Dunk’n Donuts and their free wi-fi. I’m crossing my fingers that weefeee (wi-fi, pronounced Chilean style) will be back on Chez Hepp manana! In the mean time, if I’m not as speedy about getting back to your email, please forgive me.

So photos. Pretty people. Because I know that’s really why you’re all here.

Tricia and I met online (in which I continue to reveal my extreme inner geek). Oddly enough, our first contact was in some Chile forum that I signed up for, logged into once, made contact with Tricia and never went back to the site for any other reason. Talk about fate bringing us together! She’s awesome. Because that’s just the way all Canadians are — seriously, have you EVER met a Canadian you don’t like? Anyway, not only is Tricia awesome, she’s also pregnant. Shortly into our friendship she debuted a baby bump. I may not be the most baby-gaga person in the world but I was so excited for her!

Because this year has been a big one for Tricia and Cristian. I mean a BIG one. Tricia moved to Chile to be with the love of her life, they got engaged, and now they’re having a baby. Holy excitement, Batman! It took me six years alone to do the first two items on that life list and it’ll be probably 15 when all is said and done, before I accomplish all three. Tricia is a rockstar. Most people stress out like crazy with moving or wedding madness or baby madness, but she’s taken all three in stride, never losing that beautiful smile and happy aura that surrounds her, and makes us all love her.

We photographed this maternity session at Santuario de la Naturaleza. Tricia wanted a nice natural feel to the photos and this was the greenest place in Santiago that I could think of. Except it’s not really in Santiago, it’s basically in Argentina