I have no idea where that term came from but I know it has been around for most of my career.  If you are unsure what it means, product development people use this term when developing a new product.  They use it to describe the Alpha phase where you force yourself to use your own product first. 

Well, last Monday I stepped by into Corporate Life.  With me back in full gear, my son finishing up high school and working a job and my sweet hubby teaching high school Math.  Life in our house is like frappe.  You know the setting on a mixing blender - the highest level.  :-)

It is hard to keep up with everyone's schedule and keep coordinated life.  So, I've started myself using My Family Cloud every day and feeding back issues that I find or enhancements that would make it better.  We have rolled it out to a few families to begin gathering feedback.  

If you signed up already, you will be received a notification to get started with the Alpha phase.  I'm extremely excited about this journey of a dream becoming realized.

Thank you for going on the journey with us and helping us create what is the best possible solution in helping families!

​-Kerri  

I am lucky that I've had some of the same neighbors for  almost 20 years now.  Tracey and Brandon have been in our lives since before Brandon was born.  It has be an honor and joy to share life together as it means double joy and half sorrow.  Life is hard and we go through many things that sometimes we just need a helping hand, a friend to smile or give us big hugs.  Also, I kind of think that Brandon enjoys coming over for a meal because every time he walks through my back door, I'm always asking him what he would like to eat.  Yes, I am that Mom who wants to feed everyone and of course I love it when people take me up on the offer to cook for them.  I am also very grateful for my neighbors!  Tracey and Brandon both are helping to test out My Family Cloud app and the extra bonus is they are styling our T-Shirts! 

We are so excited about getting the opportunity to bring a little fun to family life with our T-Shirts.  If you do purchase some shirts from us, we would love to get a picture of your family wearing the shirts.  We would love to share a little bit about your story on our blog too!  Thank you all for going on this journey with us.  We are so excited about the future.  If you signed up for a prerelease of the app, you should received an email from us by September 25th.  

​Looking forward to many years of double joy and half sorrows with our Family Cloud Customers!

​Best Regards,
--Kerri

It is always so exciting to see your vision come to life.  We have been on this journey for little over a year.  I finally understand what was meant in the Startup World, if you make it 5 years you've made it!  What a roller coaster ride when your plans sometimes get rewritten on the fly.  But what makes the wild ride worth it is perseverance to the end of a delivery cycle.  You feel accomplished and look back with what journey!  

What a journey it has been just to get art work in the right format for the shirts to be designed.  We worked with several vendors and found one that can deliver.  We are so excited to offer these shirts.
Why sell the shirts?  Because we are more than a SW Company.  We are a group of people who have a passion in making family life easier.  Some of us really struggle managing aging parents, careers and our children's crazy schedules.  The simple things in life get missed because we are on to the next thing in our list.  Our shirts are a reminder that during those stressful times, take a moment and love your family.  Time spent goes by way too fast with the people who love you the most - please don't waste it.

We are setting out our journey to pause and take pictures in shirts.  If you would like to join us in the journey, you can order shirts here.  

The money from shirt sales will fold directly back into the company for the cost of the shirts and accelerating development efforts.  Orders are processed through Square Processing so we never have access to your credit card information.  

If you purchase the shirts, be sure to send it to our Facebook Page or tag us on Twitter/Instagram.
Thank you again for going on the journey with us!  We are excited about the up coming months!

As always, remember to enjoy the journey!

Part of the development process includes breakfast at Panera.  Hugh and I like to meet there to go over details of User Experience.  The folks at InVisionApp love the fact that I keep sharing the awesomeness of their tool with all of the Developers I meet.  Why?  Because it is such a great tool that I've loved from the first day of using it.  The tool is easy to use.  I can create concept ideas in power point, convert into sketch files and drop them in.  We create a workflow instantly and start to bring the concepts into real life.  Because I'm such a fan of their tool, they sent me this cool t-shirt and coffee mug.  Thank you InVisionApp for helping us develop the right product for families!

We are definitely excited about the journey as we have the right team in place.  We are thrilled with the way things are coming together for helping families.  Thank you for going on the journey with us.

!Hello Everyone!  It has been a long journey for us as we changed directions from our original MVP approach.  Per a few early testers of our product, we didn't have enough functional content in the first release.  We had other struggles as well including filing for taxes for the first time as a business.  What a process and oh so much to learn!  

Good news is that we made it through.  As part of that journey we partnered up with a fabulous designer and developer.  I've enjoyed getting to learn so much from Hugh especially considering he has that design eye.  He put together the logo for us to help us launch into the "I love My Family" campaign.  It truly represents the fabric of who we are.  Family is at the core of our hearts.  Our mission is to help remove stresses of family life, so that families have the opportunity to enjoy the short time that we have to spend together .  

We have been so fortunate to be connected with an amazing group of Twitter followers.  Some of which have great tips on parenting including supporting your parents as they age.  Check them out  My Family Cloud

Thank you for going with us on this journey.  We are excited that things are finally able to move forward.  Thanks again for all the support!  Be on the look out for the roll out of our "I love My Family" Campaign.

From our hearts to yours, we wish you joy and happiness over the holidays!
We hope as you wrap up the year and look towards 2016, that your hearts are encouraged.  During this down time, we wish you all a joyful time with your families and friends.  If you need some recipe ideas, check out NC's Whisk Company.  But of course to shed some of the delicious calories, Jazzercise is a great place to dance, exercise and meet supportive friends.  In Cary/Apex area of NC, I would recommend Cary Jazzercise.  The instructors are very friendly and helpful.  Plus, the people that attend are welcoming.   If you are traveling, remember to check on weather conditions before venturing out to ensure safely arriving at your destination.

Finally, we leave with you encouragement about your reSOLUTIONS for 2016.  A dear friend, Diane Adams is always encouraging those around her to live life with intentions.  With goal setting and a theme for each year, Diane divides them into the following categories: intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical.  You can read her perspective here.

Thank you again for making 2015 great!  Here's to a future of success in 2016!

Happy Holidays,
Kerri Patterson
Teri Brigham

What an exiting journey we've been on since forming the company in March!  We are quickly approaching the 1 year mark.  Thank you all for making it the BEST!  We have so much to be thankful for!

If we stayed glued to the news these days, it would be real easy to get depressed and feel like there is no hope in this world.  However, when we take a step back and reflect what has gone well in our lives that we are grateful for, I think we will see that there really is hope.  One of Michael Jackson's songs makes me think about we are only given this day or this moment.  His song "Man in the Mirror" tells us that if we want real change it begins with me aka the person we see in the mirror.  Happiness and hope comes from within.  We can't fix the world around us, we can only fix ourselves and our attitudes.  My goal is to inspire hope that life does get better especially to families who feel like they live from crisis to crisis.

Today reflect on am I better person today than I was yesterday and am I changing myself to focus on being a better person for tomorrow?  In order to help me focus, I like to look up inspirational quotes, take those to my heart and spur myself on to better things.  For you, I leave you with this article on Inspiring Gratitude Quotes in Inc. Magazine.

Enjoy the holiday with your family and friends.  Let each other know how much they are appreciated and loved.

We, at My Family Cloud, are grateful to all of you!   There are no words to truly express our gratitude as our success is a reflection of your support.

Sending you a warm thank you and blessings from our families to yours.  

Thankful for the journey!
-Kerri & Teri

The Startup journey and family life are very similar to that of climbing Mount Everest.  To understand the journey of Mount Everest, check out Alison Levine's Lessons Learned.
​

First things first...What is the main goal for the assault on Mount Everest?  Per Alison, it is "reaching the top is optional, getting back down alive is mandatory. "  This really spoke to me because through the difficult times in life as well as in the startup journey, I'm learning more about who I am internally.  I believe the same is true with the assault on Mount Everest.  Per Alison's journey she describes about the struggles she had personally in pushing herself to take the next step.  I can tell you there are moments when you feel like you are all alone and want to give up.  What you don't see sometimes are the people behind you who are following along in your footsteps.  

Startups and Families are HARD.  They both require a lot of inward reflection to learn from the journey: the fun, the scary and the oh so hairy moments to yes - we are moving in the right direction.  From Alison's journey I pulled a few things that spoke to me that I hope will encourage you for your journey.

1) You must have a Base Camp.   In Mount Everest this is required for the basic needs of food, shelter, hydration and strength.  In life "Base Camp" is the group of people that are your emotional and business support.  They bring you encouragement, connections, confidence, celebration and give back.  Family life truly is your emotional support required to make it through the hard times and celebrate all your successes both big and small.  It is where you should feel you belong, are valued and most importantly loved no matter what.  

2) Complacency will get you into trouble.  Per Alison, her experience on the ice is that when the sun came up the ice was melting that caused the boulders, which are the size of houses, to shift around.  That meant you had to pay attention to the boulders shifting and take your steps carefully.  The future is unknown, therefore you must be keenly aware of what is happening around you in order to keep moving in a direction that doesn't kill you.  The goal is to survive the journey not die in it prematurely.  

3) Be flexible as change is guaranteed.    You can set forth the plans you want to accomplish, but you never know what life will present to you in a day.  Instead of focusing on the situation at hand and how you do not like it, keep looking for ways around or over the issue by pressing forward.  In other words, don't get your heart set on the specific way you want to accomplish something because sometimes things happen that prevents that way.  Instead, focus on the end goal of getting it done.   Keep your eyes open for plan B just in case plan A isn't successful.  Attitude is critical to flexibility.  You have to be willing to go with the journey in order to learn a lesson that makes you stronger in the end.

4) Storms are temporary.  Weather or Mother Nature is the most unpredictable event we face from volcanos, earth quakes, twisters to flooding.  Devastation can be at your door in an instant.  Know that storms will come.  No one really enjoys them, but these are the moments that force us sometimes in a different direction be it back down the hill instead of up.  But that doesn't mean that you have to stay going backwards as this is only a temporary condition.   I believe storms are the #1 reason we search within ourselves to dig deep and bring out who we are at the core.  As we adjust to the storm and take cover, as we do learn something.  These lessons are the nuggets we learn along the journey to hold on to as they remind us of the good does come from hard times.

5) Keep going step by step.  For me personally I like to have things all at once.  But the process of life is step by step.  We can look at our circumstances and become overwhelmed by it.  But there are a few old phrases that tell us success is a step by step process: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time", "How do you move a mountain? One stone at a time".  The key in both examples is one at a time.  To reach the top of the mountain, one step at a time.  Set small milestones and celebrate those successes.  Eventually you will achieve what you set out to accomplish. 

6) Critical decisions are not always made with total clarity.  Unfortunately this is so true.  You can analyze things to where potentially the moment of opportunity is gone.  Or you can make a decision with a specific outcome expected only to find out a term called unintended consequences.  Here is where I think your core values truly shine.  When there isn't enough information to make a well informed decision but we have to make it, be true to who you are.  If nothing else, you will learn a lot about who you are.  

If I can inspire you at all, I hope it is this...
Keep your eyes focused towards your goal.  Don't let the challenges that come your way be your enemy.  Embrace them because they help you see you for who you really are.  Can't never could so look for another way to achieve what you are after.  Don't go it alone but always have a "base camp".  It is worth it in the end to see that you are more than your realized and you do have great people around you.

Teri and I had a the privileged to go to NYC again.  Then I headed to the Lone Star State (Texas) to get refreshed from my "Base Camp" friends.  Here are a few snip it pictures of those moments.

Enjoy the journey!
​--Kerri

At My Family Cloud, we look at families as micro enterprises.  If you look at the complexities and challenges that families face, you can see the similarities emerge.  We all have a budget to live under, we have skills that are leveraged to get things done, we have things to maintain as well as things to create and we all are wanting a positive experience through our journey.  

As we look at families and micro enterprises - one thing is obvious we know that family is the most valuable enterprise we are a part of.  Family life is meant to be lived as a team.  It is not a predefined you can only do these list of chores and I can only do those things.  We are a unit together creating the best life we can for our families to thrive in.  In our families just like enterprises, we need each other functioning for the greater good.  

In order to inspire you with motivating your family to be a team, here are a few videos:
​Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation
​

The Center of Economic Development puts on a technology conference once a year.  This year we had 100 Startups connect up with Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.  What makes the event even more fun is to meet up with others who are going on the Startup journey with you.  Here are a few of our friends that were at the conference and a little about them:

Farmzie
Check out their video to learn more about what they are doing to connect small farmers to consumers.
https://vimeo.com/120735386

AllElements

[RE:Activ] Designs
Did you know that there is a new clothing line that leverages new technology?
You can read up on the clinical trials results with this technology.  Gamers are excited about this product to help their energy levels while in tournaments.  Some of us are hoping people in the gym would be required to wear this product and reduce that body smell.  :-)  We are honored to watch them grow their business on this journey!  Great connection made at 1 Million Cups.

My Family Cloud
We are humbled and appreciative of these and many more people who have helped make this journey great!  The relationships and partnerships are what helps you be successful.  The startup journey is not meant be done solo.  It is meant to be shared with those who are facing the challenges you are.  There are many folks who have helped us along the way.  We've included a picture here of our friends at HQ Raleigh.  Our very first pitch at Startup Weekend happened there.  We so appreciate Liz Tracy who checks in with us, provides helpful tips and invites us back from time to time.  The other is Cisco.  I've always enjoyed connecting with people at Cisco because their mindset is we can make it happen.  Our picture story would not be complete without us.  We are celebrating great friendship, partnership and journey - better together!