By Jamie Hooker

When you Google the word “empowerment” (because no one uses paper dictionaries anymore), it is defined as “measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities in order to enable them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way.” This is a bit clunky for our taste, so we want to define it ourselves.

This is the first of six posts in our blog series surrounding empowerment, especially women’s empowerment. Jenna Oltersdorf, principal of Snackbox, was recently featured in Austin Woman Magazine as she spoke to “The Age of Empowerment,” what she loves about empowering others and what makes her feel empowered herself. Snackbox has a lot to say on the subject, and we want to share our wealth of knowledge with you. You’re welcome!

To Snackbox, empowerment means providing resources to ensure success. It means working together as a team to conquer a task (#TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork). It means showing support for each person when they need it, whether it surrounds work or their personal lives.

So why the heck is empowerment so important? In this day and age, women especially need to feel empowered. There are far fewer women than men in C-suite positions in our country, and far fewer running the country as well. It’s important for women to feel like they can take it upon themselves in getting to the job they want and speaking up when they want. We’ll talk more about how to empower women later in the series.

If you’re normal and like to keep up with what’s going on in the world, you probably watch/read/scroll through the news. There are quite a few outlets that work to publish empowering pieces. Huffington Post’s Women’s Empowerment section features articles that raise women up, highlight extraordinary women business leaders, etc. A recent piece by Bustle lists things you can do to be empowered for all of 2017.  Another recent article by Aljazeera surrounds teaching empowerment, and how prison education in Kenya helps inmates learn how to read and write.

Empowerment can be done in many ways. Through this blog series, we’ll talk about some of those ways and how Snackbox has worked to empower its employees and the community.

By Jamie Hooker

In November this year, I had the pleasure of being one of more than 7,000 women to become more empowered at the Texas Conference for Women.

This year’s keynote speakers included Diane von Furstenburg, philanthropist and fashion designer; Annie Clark, co-founder and executive director of the national non-profit End Rape On Campus (EROC); Linda Cliatt-Wayman, principal of Strawberry Mansion and champion of helping all students succeed; and Amal Clooney, an international human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice.  

Along with the keynote speeches were “Breakout Sessions” and “Social Media Round Tables,” where panelists and experts spoke and gave tips based on their personal experiences in their field. It was nearly impossible to choose which breakout sessions to attend (they all seemed amazing), but I went to “The Art of Branding: Positioning Yourself for Your Future,” and “Innovative Women Pushing the Boundaries: Sharing Strategies for Risk-Taking and Success.”

I wish I could type a full transcript of the entire conference because every word spoke to me, but here are my four big takeaways:

Everything speaks! Your actions are your brand.

Although it has a lot to do with it, social media is not the only thing that factors into your personal brand. From daily interactions with co-workers and strangers, to what you decide to wear in the morning, it all speaks on some level. Kristen Nolte, SVP of brand and integrated marketing at HomeAway, said, “Be yourself, because you can’t fake that.” It’s easiest to brand yourself when you don’t put on acts or pretend to be something you aren’t. 

Have a passion for gaining knowledge.

To be hungry for information and willing to take advice is so important. Often, asking questions and learning more about your field can lead to the “why” in what you do.

Don’t think about what could go wrong, but what could go right.

One panelist explained that in general, if a woman isn’t 110 percent sure she will succeed at something then she won’t go for it, even if she is qualified to do so. Don’t be afraid to take risks or go for something you want, because the regret will be worse than not trying at all.

Women: Stand up for each other!

Amal Clooney said, “As women, we may not be a minority, but there is a bond that we all share. It’s not a bond of geography… of culture, or religion, it’s a bond of shared experience.” Women should stick up for other women and choose to protect and celebrate each other instead of competing or criticizing.

“Because if we are united, and we keep up the fight for each other’s rights, I believe there is no limit to what we can do.” 

By: Nicolette Wagner

Before writing this blog post, October held no special place in my heart. It has always been just another month with a holiday at the end of it where I shamelessly dress up as another kitschy Wes Anderson movie character. To think, all these years, I’ve overlooked the food holiday pinnacle. Not only is October the national month of pizza, pasta, and pretzels, there’s even a national ‘kegger’ weekend hidden in there!

Check out the list below to see why October is the best excuse to eat all the snacks people usually make you feel guilty for!

October 1

National Pumpkin Spice Day

October 4 

National Taco Day

October 8

National Fluffernutter Day

October 9

Submarine-Hoagy-Hero-Grinder Day

October 12

National Pumpkin Pie Day

October 14

National Dessert Day

October 17 

National Pasta Day

October 21

National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

October 25

National Greasy Foods Day

October 27

National Potato Day

October 31

National Caramel Apple Day

For a full list of reasons to break your diet, click here.

 

By: Jamie Hooker

We’re shared our favorite Austin, Texas-based newsletters, now we want to share our favorite newsletters that surround one of our favorite things… food! There are countless newsletters over this broad topic, but here are a few we subscribe to here at Snackbox.

FMI dailyLead

The Food Marketing Institute is “The Voice of Food Retail”.  We like their once-a-day newsletter because it focuses on the marketing news of the food world and leans towards the business side of food retailers, such as Walmart, Kroger and Whole Foods. FMI discusses food safety, research, government relations and more. Overall, the dailyLead gives you a look at what goes on behind the scenes with retail superpowers.

Eater

We chose Eater Austin as one of our favorite Austin, Texas-based newsletters, and we’re standing behind their parent website, Eater, as one of our favorite general food newsletters too. It offers lighter, more fun material than FMI does, but also gives you great information. Although the newsletters are similar, we recommend subscribing to both the Eater Austin and Eater newsletters. Eater gives you more national news and industry trends, while Eater Austin keeps it local.

QSR

QSR Magazine is a business-to-business magazine for fast-food businesses, fast-casual dining, snack shops, convenience stores, and other limited-service restaurants. Their four-times-a-week newsletter A.M. Jolt directs you to the majority of stories published on their website. We like this newsletter because it serves as inspiration for pitching and lets us know what’s being covered from a magazine perspective.

By: Jamie Hooker

We’re fans of newsletters here at Snackbox. Not only do they keep us in the loop in specific industries, but they also serve as inspiration when it comes to pitching and writing for social media. With the ability to sign up through email, they’re one of the easiest ways to keep connected. Since Snackbox is based in Austin, Texas, we like to keep up with our hometown outlets especially.  Here are some of our favorite newsletters from our city:

Eater Austin 

Obviously we love food here, so if we can learn about what’s happening with new restaurants, who serves the best brunch or where the new food truck is located all in once place, that is ideal. Eater Austin sends a morning briefing each day to highlight the biggest news, and then another one around 5:00 p.m. with a feature story. Their newsletter is always relevant and includes great info on all things food in Austin, Texas.

Crain’s Austin

Crain’s primarily sends business-related news. What we love about this newsletter is you get to choose what industry interests you and tailor the newsletter you receive each morning to your needs. Another thing we love about Crain’s is that along with local news, it includes a few national news stories also relevant to your interests. And at the bottom of each newsletter is the “Up Late” section, where it features a clip from one of the late-night shows from the night before. “Did you see Mariah Carey on Jimmy Kimmel last night?” Why yes, I did!

CultureMap Austin

As you can tell from it’s name, the CultureMap Austin newsletter revolves around the Austin, Texas culture, covering food, entertainment, and even real estate. If you’re looking for lighter reading than Crain’s, it’s a good balance of fun reads while still being newsworthy.  The pieces are usually quick, five minute reads, so it’s a good newsletter to catch up on before you dive into work that day. CultureMap has a Digest (daily news and events), Dining Report (restaurant and bar news), and a Promo Alert (special offers and invites), and you have the option of signing up for one or all of them.

We want to keep people up to date on what’s happening with Snackbox, too, so look out for a Snackbox Newsletter coming soon!