Last Friday I had the joy of going to the beautiful Glen Cove mansion as a guest speaker along with my friend and fellow entrepreneur Ouigi, of The Brooklyn Circus to spread the light on building a brand and the heart and sole that goes into it. We had a great time and it was great hanging out with The Future (students at FIT). Don’t underestimate the power of Generation Y.

On Friday I had the good fortune once again of being a guest speaker at FIT for the How to Style, Plan, and Merchandise A Fashion Line class. It is always a lot of fun getting to share my experiences the good and the bad with folks beginnng their foray into fashion or product design. The class was full of intelligent creatives bursting with questions and feedback. I shared the spotlight with friend and boutique owner Ouigi of the Brooklyn Circus. Great time had for all. I also discovered that the Spring FIT brochures are out, and yours truly will be teaching a workshop on viral marketing this Spring. If you are in the need of spreading a buzz or learning more about how to generate a following using the internet hit up the Continuing Ed Department and sign up for SXF115 Viral Marketing with the Laidback Chick.

Anyone enrolled at FIT (NYC) for the “How to Style, Design and Merchandise a Collection” class for either fashion or home products will get to check Laidback out close and personal. Tonight in the fashion class and tomorrow in the home products I will be talking about the design process, what it takes to create and market a line such as Laidback and fielding questions and offering insight on bringing your own product lines to fruition. See you in class.

For any Oprah heads out there, she is on this whole paying it forward vibe. Which generally means how are you using your gifts and resources to uplift, help, or gift someone else. Last night I had the opportunity to be a guest lecturer at FIT for a design to retail class. This is the third class that I have done and it is really a great experience. Class ran over 40 minutes because they wanted to pick my brain. I offered tips on marketing and networking, as well as lessons that I have learned that they can avoid (unless you really like living on the edge)Laidback is paying it forward, look out for our newest effort “Changing the World One Pillow At A Time” and see how we are really giving back.