CremeMagnolia has Partnered with experts and emerging experts – read all about them in our Magnolia Partners section. Feel free to contact our Partners, check out their websites & blogs and best of all, if you see a business that compliments yours or can fill a need – by all means, please support our Partners. Doing business with a referral is always better than a cold relationship!

Magnolia Minds is THE place to find great articles and information on many subjects. These sections are updated almost daily to bring our readers cutting edge information. Magnolia Freebies are downloadable documents intended to help business women by putting the information you need right on your desktop. If you would like CremeMagnolia to feature you or your company, don’t forget to download “I want to be a CremeMagnolia Partner.”

Magnolia Money is the best place to find business opportunities! We have done the due diligence on every company or opportunity listed in this section. We have not been paid for our recommendations! Our goal is to provide resources for women who may want to start a new business and not know what the best opportunities are – also; we want to prevent our readers from falling victim to charlatans who are all too willing to take your hard earned dollars! If you need to supplement your income, work from home, or start a new business during this difficult economic time, without hesitation we recommend the companies and business opportunities in Magnolia Money.

Magnolia Raves contain the absolute best goods, products and services on the internet (in our opinion)! CremeMagnolia, our partners, and our network of contacts have all provided referrals for the companies represented in Raves. If you are looking for the best prices; authentic green enterprise; cool and unusual products; best office and business resources; research materials; home, health and more – Please check them out. Every Magnolia Rave is harmonious with the Magnolia Mission!

If you are like many Magnolia Partners, you may have 4-legged business partners or family members. Magnolia Pets is the place to find articles to keep your pet happy and healthy – naturally. Our DVM Partner is an internationally recognized authority on the holistic approach to veterinary medicine and provides wonderful insight and recommendations. Stornoway Communications of Toronto Canada, broadcaster for The Pet Network provides helpful and entertaining video.

It’s been said that “art” is food for the soul and we are happy to feature Magnolia Partners who feed that need. The best way to add original décor to your home, or find unique handmade jewelry – is to know the artists themselves. And speaking of soul, Magnolia Inspiration is all about Pay it Forward! Read about people who do good things with no strings attached.

Magnolia Mission- Legacy of the Founder

What does it mean to make a positive impact during our stay on the planet?  Is it how many possessions we acquire, how much money we make, the THINGS we leave behind; or more specifically is it ALL the lives we touch over a lifetime that creates our legacy?

As life deals its hand and we endure the inevitable challenges it presents hopefully we acquire wisdom along the way.   Wisdom to me means being kinder to myself, forgiveness for all my mistakes; and doing all I can on a daily basis to avoid regret.  When I was young I thought wisdom was more complicated but today I know it’s really quite uncomplicated.

When I began the journey of creating CremeMagnolia it was as though an unseen force was guiding my mind, creative self and energy.  Clarity seemed to be dolled-out in small measures – when the timing was right I was able to completely conceptualize the inspiration.  And I must admit in retrospect, inspiration has come from unlikely sources and at unexpected times.  These events have changed my life to the extent I hardly recognize my former self; dissolving from my memory like melting snow flakes and the new me forming like mist.

The CremeMagnolia project began as any other “career” change – and I would know, as I seem to have reinvented myself every ten-years or so.  However, this project from the beginning had a mission that removed “me” from the equation to be replaced with “we.”  My task to use God given talent and experience to help women start and grow their business, while lofty seemed inadequate.  It seemed my undertaking was ill-formed, possibly incomplete, or potentially flawed in some way.  And one afternoon it occurred to me I could do more than provide a forum that is completely interactive, open and free.  I knew at that moment I can personally work with each and every woman one on one and beyond dolling out advice (how arrogant to assume I’m an expert in all things business), I can make use or share the resources I have accumulated over a 30 year career.  This community is about giving freely with no expectation of return – pay it forward.

To date I have personally funded the CremeMagnolia project and will continue to do so.  Ultimately CremeMagnolia will comprise six websites, (dot.net, com, info, biz, org, and US), each with its own personality, platform and original content.  However, every CremeMagnolia site will have one mission in common; to help women in business.  The CremeMagnolia community today is open and free and only comes with one responsibility – contribution to help others and in so doing we become stronger and more successful.

Our community will never be riddled with useless Google ads or outrageous claims from unknown companies.  Ultimately, advertisers will be hand selected, thoroughly checked-out or specifically chosen from past relationships.  My intention from the onset has never been about money – but realistically, it is money that provides the sustenance we all need to survive.

Income from advertiser revenues will be used to fund Magnolia Mission – a Foundation to provide seed-capital or expansion capital for women-owned businesses.  We are in discussions with for-profit organizations to “match” our funds to build liquidity as quickly as possible.   Magnolia Mission has applied for 501c-3 status and it is our hope we will begin making grants mid 2010.  That said, especially in this economy, we cannot stop spending.  While we are all watching our budgets, if you are going to spend the dollars anyway – we urge you to support our advertisers and in so doing you are paying it forward!

If you know of any companies who provide goods, services or products that would benefit the members of the CremeMagnolia Community – please let us know – it would be my pleasure to add them to our website.  Contact karenmager@crememagnolia.net Founder and Publisher