To say Crista Luedtke is a renaissance woman is an understatement. She’s all over the place. She is a successful mortgage broker who runs the successful boon hotel + spa, boon eat + drink and big bottom market. The hotel, restaurant and market are all in the Northern California town of Guerneville. She works her mortgage mojo in San Francisco. She splits her time between the two, in between her travel adventures.

She took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to share the secrets of her success.

What do you do and why?
I always wanted to have my own restaurant. Growing up, my family was in the business so we grew up knowing and doing everything related to it. I couldn’t get it out of my blood. One day, I told my mom that I wanted to open my own. She said, “Are you crazy? Didn’t you learn anything? It’s a 24/7 job. Maybe you should do a BnB or something.”

What did you do before you started your company?
Prior to starting the hotel, I worked first as a regional sales manager in Biotech, then as mortgage broker at a small firm in San Francisco. In fact, I still do mortgages today for friends, past clients and their referrals. It helps keep the other side of my brain happy. I needed to hold on to the day job for the first few years until my businesses were able to cash flow more comfortably. Now, I do it because I have loyal clients I can’t turn down and it’s fun.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

When I first started the hotel, I interviewed several hotel owners in the area. There was a couple from England who were so helpful and supportive they said to me “the bread is in the bed.” I took it to heart. I really heard them and decided to do whatever I could to make the beds the most important feature. People are paying for a place to sleep, make it the best night ever and they will be back.

It worked. As for the restaurant scene, it was to keep it simple and use the best quality ingredients.

For young entrepreneurs, I would say talk to people in the business, but not just anyone, talk to the successful ones. Ask a lot of questions. Find out what works and what doesn’t and where to focus first.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?
I think the biggest surprise of being a business owner was how much time you dedicate to dealing with employees and employee issues. From hiring to training to firing to other people’s personal problems now becoming your own, this was definitely more than I had planned for. I feel like a therapist at times dealing with it all. It’s both a blessing and a curse to be so involved at such an level. I have about 35 employees right now. They are all like family to me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?
I wanted to create a spaces that people just really felt relaxed, really enjoyed being away from wherever they came from, and for them to connect with the food and the place. I see people form friendships over a meal sitting next to each other at tables or sitting around my pool. It’s so fun. It makes me so happy when I hear people “ooh” and “ahh” about the food or rave about the hotel or when locals to say that I changed the town. It feels really good and it makes me want to keep doing it day after day. It’s really rewarding seeing what I dreamed up become such a success on many levels.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years? Hopes / dreams / plans?

I still have a few concepts of my own that I would love to open, but I actually have begun consulting with other business to help them create brands, open restaurants and hotels, etc. That’s the direction I’m heading. I love the creative start up phase and I want to do more of it.

I am working on a few concepts of my own as well in other parts of California and Mexico. I’m still undecided as to which is next, but i get anxious if I don’t have 50 balls in the air at any given time. I love to be busy.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?
Do your research. Get as much information as you can. Work in the industry first either as an intern, apprentice or anything. Remember, it’s your dream but it’s still work. You need to love it.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?
Good employees. You can’t do it alone. Everyone who wants to be a business owner needs a strong team to support them and to keep the vision going. I am blessed with really amazing people who I hand picked or who found me because they loved the vision. It also helps to ensure that the work will continue to be fun when you are surrounded by people you like and who share your goals.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?
Being over budget. It’s hard to start with less working capital than you plan. I had to really scramble in the beginning. I also hit a bunch of unknowns.

Luedtke is offering Lesbian.com readers a 10 percent discount at her stunning hotel for Sunday through Thursday visits until the end of 2014. Use the code LESB2014 when calling to book.

Do you know an enterprising woman who you would like to see featured on Lesbian.com? Just drop us a line at info@lesbian.com with the name of the business, the entrepreneur and her email address and we’ll get to work on it.

The post Enterprising women: Crista Luedtke, Boon hotel + spa first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Frustrated at not finding sex toys designed for lesbians, Alice DeRock decided to design her own and launched Wet for Her.

What do you do and why?

I am the founder, creator and owner of Wet For Her, a sex toy company that designs and manufactures products specifically for women. Why? I was inspired and motivated to launch Wet For Her once I discovered that the majority of the sex toys available on the market were not only designed by men but also mostly created to replace the one organ we women do not have, namely the penis. Our goal was to invent sex toys that would enhance a woman’s pleasure, particularly between lesbian couples. We are women who love women and we know what makes us feel good. We felt that we needed to fill a gap in our sex-toys life.

What did you do before you started your company?

I was a Room Division Manager in the luxury hotel industry. I was managing 250 peoples and taking care of all the VIPs. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and create products. The world is so big and there are so many ideas. What made me choose Wet For Her was that my desire to bring something different and new and do something for my community. WetForHer gathers all those elements.
It was important for me to create a business where I would have an undisputed legitimacy and credibility.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were looking for sex toys and all we found were realistic ones with this thing that we hated: a ball sac. We really wanted to find something that was designed and manufactured by lesbians for lesbians. After some extensive research, we were surprised to see that there actually was no sex toys made by and for lesbians … and that’s how we found our new professional careers.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

The most important advice is that without money and/or sales you don’t go anywhere. You need to create products that innovate. If you can’t sell easily your products or create the demand it will be hard to establish longevity. When we see a successful company we think that they did it very quickly. More often than not, it actually requires years to reach a comfortable level of success, not to mention a lot of financial investment and hard work.

Another important advice was listening to customers’ feedback. You have to learn quickly from good or back feedback to adjust your strategies. And lastly, you have to enjoy the process of being an entrepreneur and be willing to put in long hours and persevere.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?

At the beginning I have to say that although I knew I was going to have to do it all, I just had no idea what “doing it all” really meant.

Handling everything from the designing, the shipping of orders, mounting the website, supervising sales and trades, etc, was extremely taxing. Once I got the routine down, then came another challenge: Having to answer thousands of questions from customers who were interested in learning more about the company and the products.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

The most rewarding aspect of running your own business is to have happy customers, to see your business grow and going where you want to take it without changing your mission statement.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years? Hopes / dreams / plans?

In five years, I hope Wet For Her will be known and recognize worldwide as the best and the No. 1 lesbian sex toys designer and manufacturer.

My goal is also to have released on the market additional new and unique products for lesbian couples so they have fun in bed and never fall into a dreadful sex routine or worse, the mythical lesbian bed death.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

I would highly recommend reading books from successful entrepreneurs, such as Donald Trump or Anthony Robbins. Personally, I also follow one motto, which is F.O.C.U.S (follow one course until you succeed).

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

Don’t rush. Be patient and grow slowly. We always think that when you grow to soaring heights you make more cash, but this is wrong. To grow costs a lot because you constantly have the re-invest in your business, and you need to have a very good cash flow. So yes, my advice is grow slowly.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?

Being in the adult industry, I had to face lot of denials from banks, insurance, website payment process, etc. They don’t want their name to be associated with the adult industry, much less a sex-toy company. What helped me were my existing business industry relationships. Other established business owners can easily recommend you to people with whom they work. That definitely made it easier to get my foot through the door.

Learn more about Wet for Her.

The post Enterprising Women: Alice DeRock, Wet for Her first appeared on Lesbian.com.

A Photo by Brian Harkin/Getty Images

BY CANDY PARKER
Lesbian.com

Anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace is alive and well in corporate America. That may not exactly be news to most of us, but now there is new data to back up what we already knew.

The Equal Rights Center and Freedom to Work recently released the results of a one-year study in which fake resumes were submitted to eight different federal contracting firms. In total, resumes were submitted in response to 100 different job postings listed by ExxonMobil, General Electric, L-3 Communications, AmerisourceBergen, Supreme Group Holding SARL, L-3 Communications, Fluor and URS.

In each instance, a pair of similar resumes was submitted in response to a job listing. The resumes were virtually identical in almost every regard, with one notable exception – one resume hinted that the applicant may be a member of the LGBT community via a reference to a leadership position in an LGBT rights group. In each case, the resume with the LGBT reference also included stronger credentials, as shown in the example below featuring two fictitious resumes presented to ExxonMobil.

The study revealed that the better qualified LGBT-related applicants were 23 percent less likely to receive a call in response to their resume submission than their fictitious less suitable counterpart.

“Despite significant progress in advancing civil rights and equality, employment discrimination remains a persistent barrier for the LGBT community,” said Melvina Ford, executive director of the Equal Rights Center.

Tico Almeida, president and founder of Freedom to Work added, “As much progress as our LGBT community has made in freedom to marry, there’s still a lot to be done to make sure our LGBT community has the freedom to work without discrimination.”

The study was initiated in December 2012, prompted by President Obama’s indication that he wouldn’t be signing an executive order prohibiting federal government contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equal Rights Center and Freedom to Work concluded their experiment in December 2013, releasing the results shortly after the President’s Pride month announcement that he intends to move forward with the executive order which will require companies like ExxonMobil and other federal contractors, which employ approximately 20 percent of the total U.S. workforce, to adopt LGBT workplace protections.

LGBT rights advocates have urged the President to take action as 29 states still allow employers to fire or deny employment to an individual based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Taxpayers should never have to subsidize the kind of anti-LGBT discrimination that was uncovered during this year-long study of contractors with inadequate LGBT workplace protections,” said Almeida. “President Obama’s upcoming executive order will send a strong message that government contracts should be staffed with the highest qualified job candidates, and nobody should ever lose out on a career opportunity just because of who they are or whom they love. President Obama’s executive action to protect LGBT workers confirms that he has advanced fairness for LGBT Americans more than all of his predecessors combined.”

The post Study reveals anti-LGBT bias by major federal contractors first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Kristin and Missy Koefod

BY LESBIAN.COM

Atlanta’s Old 4th Ward neighborhood has seen a lot of new construction, and with that an influx of new business. Missy and Kristin Koefod are part of that new business influx with the introduction of their 18.21 Bitters Company. The duo is manufacturing small batch, handcrafted bitters and Prohibition Era cocktail mixers at Irwin Street Market’s commercial kitchen incubator.

What are these two up to? Well, Missy, a former bar owner, and Kristin, a culinary and craft cocktail enthusiast, decided it was high time that Atlanta produced a local, small batch and high-quality handcrafted product aimed at crafting a better cocktail. They are manufacturing a line of bitters, tinctures, simple syrups and shrubs (a prohibition era cocktail mixer) as well as ginger beer and tonics and expect the products to hit the market later this month. They have launched a Kickstarter campaign and begun manufacturing.

You can find Kristin and Missy at farmers markets and festivals across the Atlanta area this summer and their product will be in several local shops and restaurants. They will also be at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans from July 16-20 and will be participating in several local pop-up shops in and around Atlanta.

Tell us a little bit about your business.
We manufacture bitters and prohibition era cocktail mixers. Our line includes bitters, tinctures, shrubs, syrups, ginger beer and tonic. We are based in the Old 4th Ward neighborhood of Atlanta, Ga.

What was the inspiration for your business?
I (Missy) am a former bar owner and Kristin is a foodie and craft cocktail enthusiast. We also have a thing for New Orleans which happens to be the birthplace of the cocktail. We always enjoy drinking prohibition era cocktails there and wanted to put a modern spin on old cocktails.

Did you have another career/other careers before you started your business?
Kristin is a designer and I am an attorney.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?
I think one of the biggest obstacles was finding the time to start and run the business when both of us were working 60 hours a week on our day jobs. It was tough to find time for everything, especially each other. Luckily we are both passionate about the company so any time spent working on it never feels like work and we are in it together and make a pretty good team. Funding is always a challenge for any new business. We are utilizing Kickstarter not only for those purposes but also to get the word out and have seen a very warm reception.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company?
Talk to everyone about it. I think that it can be hard to sell yourself and talk about yourself especially when we are raised to be modest. It almost feels bad — like bragging — until you realize that, hey, this is a great product, we do a great job, it tastes good and we want to share it with people. We want people to taste our products because they are good, we love them and we know they will too!

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?
The time — the hours and hours you put into every detail of making your business succeed. We have never ordered so much Chinese food in our lives. There is no time to cook.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?
Doing something we care about and doing it well is really great. Seeing the results of your hard work pay off is probably the most rewarding aspect of running your own business.

Do you use social media to engage your customers? If so, does it play a key role in your marketing efforts?
We do. Currently, social media and word of mouth is our only form of advertising.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?
Find a mentor — reach out to someone who has done it before, made the mistakes and is willing to share with you what not to do. It is so much easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes than to make them yourself. We are always happy to speak with young entrepreneurs.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?
Passion and drive. You have to love what you are doing because you are going to be working longer hours than you ever have before and you will always be on; always thinking about your business. We can be laying on the beach and Kristin and I will be thinking of new flavors.

Is there anything we didn’t ask you about that you’d like to share with the Lesbian.com audience?
We love meeting our customers! Kristin and I are always happy to enjoy a cocktail on the town for any customers that happen to be visiting Atlanta. We are so excited about what we do and love to share it!

Missy and Kristin are offering Lesbian.com readers a special gift opportunity. If you back the 18.21 Bitters Kickstarter campaign on any level and complete the questionnaire you receive after doing so, mentioning Lesbian.com in your response, then you’ll receive a special gift from the company.

Keep up with 18.21 Bitters on Facebook and Twitter and stop by their website to see where their products are available.

The post Enterprising women: Missy and Kristin Koefod, 18.21 Bitters first appeared on Lesbian.com.

“Pursue your passion and you’ll never work on your passion a full day in your life.”

Wait — that’s not how the old adage goes, is it? Isn’t it true that you if you work on something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life? What’s this about not being able to work on your passion?

Well the truth is, while there are benefits in pursuing your avocation as a vocation – you’re not going to have too much time to work on that passion when it becomes a business. You don’t get paid for just pursuing your hobby! You get paid for distributing and selling your passion.

Read more at Project Eve

Project Eve challenges and inspires a new breed of innovative and creative women who are actively reinventing their careers and with it the future of business. With engaging articles and interactive tools, Project Eve motivates women to think beyond traditional boundaries, support one another, embrace change and view challenges as opportunities.

The post Pursuing your passion: The entrepreneurial reality first appeared on Lesbian.com.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a new YouTube video designed to provide useful tax tips to married same-sex couples. While it may look like it’s something the 80s left behind and doesn’t want back, could this new tool actually be useful?

According to the news release we received from the White House Office of Communications, the video is the latest addition to an online library featuring short IRS instructional videos covering more than 100 topics ranging from tips for victims of identity theft to taking advantage of the new simplified home office deduction. These videos have been viewed more than seven million times.

Read more at TheSeattleLesbian.com

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

The post IRS releases video for same-sex couples first appeared on Lesbian.com.

You all know her. She is the most difficult manager in the office. She is self-centered, unhappy in her personal life and impossible to please. You also all know him. You love him, but sometimes his inability to get to the dry-cleaner on time or control his emotions when his team looses drives you crazy. What do you do when confronted with a moody colleague, client or loved one?

There is no balm we can apply to guard against unpleasant moods of those we interact with — by choice or necessity — on a daily basis. But, there are some things we can do to manage how others’ sour moods impact our state of mind.

As a consultant, it is my job to soothe clients and help them wade through whatever muck has hit the fan on any given day. It is also my job to remain calm and offer strategic recommendations on how to fix challenging situations.

Read more at Project Eve

Project Eve challenges and inspires a new breed of innovative and creative women who are actively reinventing their careers and with it the future of business. With engaging articles and interactive tools, Project Eve motivates women to think beyond traditional boundaries, support one another, embrace change and view challenges as opportunities.

The post 5 ways to protect yourself from cranky co-workers first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY MORGAN WELCH

Want to raise money for pro-LGBT causes every time you shop? There’s a credit card for that.

Philanthropy Ventures LLC has launched the new EqualityCard, a credit card start-up designed to raise funds for LGBT non-profit organizations all over the nation. Individuals and businesses will generate tax-deductible donations that equal 1 percent of their purchases with the card that are donated to select LGBT charities of their own choosing, at no cost to them.

New cardholders can look over affiliates  and choose up to three to which their donations will be directed, Affiliates include Immigration Equality, Athlete Ally, The New York City Anti-Violence Project, Campus Pride, PFLAG, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the NYC LGBT Center, The Transgender Law Center, Family Equality Council and The Pride Network. It is expected that dozens of additional nonprofits will sign on during EqualityCard’s first year.

Read more at dot429.com

The post New ‘EqualityCard’ supports LGBTQ causes as you shop first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Twitter and smart career decisions usually don’t mix.

Remember that public relations executive who lost her job over a racist tweet she made just before going on vacation? By the time her plane landed, she was out of a job.

And hers isn’t the only horror story. People have lost jobs because they’ve tweeted everything from insensitive jokes to complaints about a potential employer to — gulp! — expletives from a corporate account, assuming it was a personal one.

Read more at LearnVest

LearnVest is the leading personal finance site for women. Our free Money Center will help you create a budget. Our free bootcamps will help you take control of your money, cut your costs or get out of debt. And our premium financial plans–managed by LearnVest Certified Financial Planners–can help you chart a course for the future you want.

The post 4 ways to use Twitter to land your next #job first appeared on Lesbian.com.

While it’s said that taxes are one of only two things in life of which we can be certain, an associated inevitability are the mistakes made by taxpayers each year when filing their returns. Many errors result from ignorance, some from carelessness, while others are just plain stupid. To ensure your return is trouble-free and your refund prompt, review your filing package against this list of the most common tax-filing blunders.

1. Missing/incorrect social security numbers

The IRS used to include your social security number on the pre-printed label provided with your tax package; however, this practice was discontinued due to privacy concerns. So be sure to enter your nine-digit identifier accurately to avoid processing delays and possible disallowance of tax credits.

2. Wrong filing status

If you’re single, check the criteria for filing as Head of Household. If you pay more than 50 percent of the household costs for a dependant child or parent, you may qualify for Head of Household filing status, a money saver when the time comes to compute your tax.

3. Math/computation errors

Each year thousands of taxpayers receive correction notices from the IRS due to bad math or inconsistent computations between the 1040 and supporting forms. In the best scenario, these errors delay any potential refund. In the worst, they can result in an unwelcome surprise in the form of additional tax due. Put some new batteries in the calculator and check your math carefully when reviewing your tax return.

4. Wrong tax table

With so many figures jammed so closely together, it can be easy to lose your place when determining your total tax amount. In this case, disorientation can be costly. Keep your focus when matching your income range to your filing status and use the correct column when referencing the tax table.

5. Inaccurate direct deposit information

The good news is that your refund can find its way into your bank account faster than ever thanks to the IRS’s direct deposit option (Form 8888). The bad news is that entering the wrong account or routing numbers could cause your refund to be lost entirely. This is a situation where an ounce of prevention is worth far more than a pound of cure — verify your bank information carefully.

6. Failing to sign the return

An unsigned return is an invalid return. Avoid potential delays or late filing penalties by ensuring your John Hancock is affixed prior to finalizing your tax package.

7. Using the IRS as a savings account

You’ve completed your return and are due a hefty refund – is this cause for celebration or sorrow? It’s great to know you don’t owe any tax, but having too much withheld throughout the year is not a sound approach to savings. The IRS doesn’t pay interest on over-payments, so lower your withholdings and invest your extra take-home pay.

8. Failing to file if you owe money

Perhaps one of the more costly errors you can make as a taxpayer is not filing your return because you don’t have the money to pay. The IRS assesses penalties separately for both failure to file and non-payment, so tender your tax return on time to avoid unnecessary penalties. Contact the IRS right away to let them know you can’t pay the amount due and explore payment options. As the IRS assesses interest on the unpaid tax, remit whatever amount you can afford when you file your return.

9. Missing the deadline

With the glut of tax preparation-related commercials and reminders in the form of grousing by friends and family regarding the dreaded April 15th deadline, it’s hard to believe that anyone could miss the filing date, but each year many taxpayers do. If you can’t meet the April 15th deadline, request an automatic six-month extension by filing Form 4868 to avoid costly failure to file penalties and interest charges.

All referenced IRS forms and other taxpayer tips are available at the official IRS website.

The post 9 mistakes to avoid when filing your taxes first appeared on Lesbian.com.