If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that one of my big themes is choice.  The choice is yours to lead whatever life you want, to be the person you want to be, and go for whatever YOU define as success (not someone else’s definition).  Next to the “How do you do it all?” question, people often want to know who inspires me.

So, I wanted to share a few of my choices for inspiring women that I find smart, interesting and just plain fun to follow. That doesn’t mean they haven’t hit roadblocks or made compromises, either.  But as far as I can tell, that hasn’t stopped them from living life on their terms, and I get a charge out of that.

Wow Woman #1: Kristi Colvin.

Let’s start with her @KrisColvin Twitter bio: Chief Mischief Maker, Fresh ID. Creator of Intefy (Twitterface.) Opinionated user/brand experience designer & customer advocate. See, she already speaks my lingo.  You can learn more by checking out her blog, or going to her VisualCV which goes in depth about her extensive expertise in brand, user and customer experience.  In a sentence: Kris is one cool, capable chick with what seems like endless energy and drive. But what’s really terrific is that she is deeply engaged, she’s funny, and cares. That shines through in all the ways she interacts, and that’s what caught my attention. So, I chatted with Kris to find out what makes her tick, what she gets excited about, and probed for her secrets to packing so much into a day.

Me:  What are you currently working on that has you excited about what you do?

Kris: A couple of things, actually. We do a lot of design and development projects, and those phases of creativity and execution are always fun… but we have two unique things going on right now that are very exciting. The first is our own product, Intefy, which is a live event platform that began life as a Twitter client and has morphed into an aggregator of real-time media that we are using to let people virtually attend real events. We are making some product improvements and as a user experience girl at heart, I’m always excited about product design, but what really fascinates me are these live events that you can attend virtually. It is so fun and educational, to be able to attend conferences and see people who are my online friends, though I may be in my jammies at home or working in my office. I really enjoy attending as much as helping to manage the events for the people tuning in.

The second thing that’s a bit different for us, is a new client, WineChannelTV.com. They have hired us to do social media marketing and help with their star Jess Altieri’s branding, and it is so much fun working with Jess and the team. We’ve done a fair amount of social media work, but Jess has opportunities with television, retail sponsorship, vineyards and with a younger demographic.  That is going to stretch us beyond what we know today. I love anything that forces me to learn new information and challenges me to go to that next level, and she is the kind of client that does that.

Me:  How has your industry changed in the past 5 years and what do you see as the big opportunities?

Kris: My industry feels totally different! As a print designer since 1993 and self-taught web designer since 1995, I am used to a lot of technology changes and improvements.  The phenomenon of “social media” has completely changed my business. Word of mouth referrals still come, but often from people I’ve never met in person, which wasn’t the case five years ago. The sheer amount of intelligence and access to smart people I consume on a daily basis can’t be measured – if I have a problem, I go to Twitter, and 99% of the time it’s solved that day or within the hour. On top of every waking hour taking into account Twitter, Facebook, etc., our clients and prospects have such a need for social communications “stuff” that virtually every proposal and 9 out of 10 jobs we do now involves social tools, a social strategy, site socialization or a social marketing campaign. Our web strategies encompass much more than they used to.

Me: What’s a typical day like for you?

Kris: That depends. Much of the week I’m in the city, but I live in the country an hour and a half away from my downtown Kansas City office on the weekend. Mondays and Fridays I drive back and forth. So now that we’ve narrowed a typical day down to Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday… I get up between 6-7:00 am, try to get myself to run on the trail a mile or two, head home to bathe, change and put on office clothes, then hit Starbucks on the way to downtown. I catch up with emails, check the calendar and attempt to get some design or writing done but it’s very hard when in the office – especially if everyone is in, as there are numerous things to discuss, plot and plan. So the daytime is mostly about phone calls, taking meetings and communicating or researching online.  We eat lunch at our desks – I have to stop by the store at some point during the week and get groceries for everyone. I go to outdoor boot camp at 5:00 pm Monday-Thursday and it takes an hour to get there in traffic. I do boot camp until 7:00 pm, tweet about it, then grab a healthy dinner at a restaurant or grocery deli and go back to my city house or sometimes the office to work for a few hours.  I end up doing any serious writing, design or software product work on the weekends in the country, when alone and not needed by clients or staff. If I need focused time away from all the activity, I usually don’t go to the city/office or work from home a day or two, to get caught up. I love long holiday weekends because I get a lot of design work done. I also have to fit in all my high-maintenance personal chores in somewhere each week… often on Fridays on the way home. We always eat out Friday nights, but I try to cook healthy meals during the weekend and work out a few times. Sometimes it’s kind of exhausting. People get kind of frustrated I don’t do more socially in Kansas City, but it’s hard to add that in at this time.

Question:  How do you tweet so much yet accomplish so much in a single day?

Kris: I have trained clients, prospects, staff and contractors to reach me on Twitter. I actually make everyone who works for us tweet, during work. It’s what we do – it’s important to me. Actually, because of what I just described, short bursts of communication are easy for me during the day, when I am mostly juggling projects, people and things to do. I like to read (fast) and am constantly thinking about work – there is just so much more I would like to do than I can get done. A lot of friends have seen me on Facebook more lately and were excited because they think I might start liking it more. What they don’t realize is that I am usually there because a portion of my work involves Twitter and Facebook, as applications, so it’s hard not to be on them. I do need a bit more time to design and to write, but have to be alone to do that well – I need more time to think than I sometimes have in a day, whereas sending a quick message or retweeting something interesting requires less focus.  We’re in a very fortunate position of having plenty to do, but need some more help to get things done faster and more efficiently.

Me: There seems to be no end to your creative energy and fresh ideas, so it’s fun to follow you. Who do you admire? Who inspires you?

Kris: Well, I appreciate that. I do have a lot of ideas of things I want to do or that I want my company to do – more than we can execute on. I am not sure where that comes from, but I’ve been in the creative industry a long time now, so it may partially be a habit. I get inspired from various sources, that change all the time. The other day I went on an online shopping spree and found several sites that are cheaper than Anthropologie, my favorite store, but have similar things. I got in the zone and spent several hours doing this, and was making a mental list of how I think we need to improve e-commerce sites, and writing blog posts in my head! Another day, I might get embroiled in some fascinating social media or neuromarketing-oriented conversation that sparks my synapses, and then just as quickly go on a healthy cooking tangent and seek and respond to people talking about that. I am inspired by lots of people, living or dead (from books) in a moment in time. That’s why I follow so many people on Twitter.

Me:  It’s a great time to be a woman — the media reports, we’re role models in many ways — whether to our children or our colleagues.  What do you think the challenges are for today’s working woman?

Kris: Sitting here tired and working at 8:00 pm, with only a precious Labrador for a child, I cannot imagine how mothers of multiple children cope. I wanted children badly but it hasn’t worked out. I think for both parents and non-parents, time to think and do our best work is desperately needed. So childcare considerations, more money for what we do, more time to do our work and take care of ourselves and our families are pretty big concerns right now. I don’t see a lot of areas where women can’t go. If you have drive and ambition and are willing to get up and do some hard work and take some hard knocks, you can break down the door where you want to. It may not be the exact company you want, or in the exact town, but if you are passionate about what you’re doing, you’ll command attention and be able to find challenging, rewarding work to do. We should never be resigned or think we have to endure “our lot in life” as I know some people feel. We can always improve things, even if only in small increments over time. I am having to do that now with my health and fitness, after being too lax since I moved to Kansas, away from my familiar lifestyle, food sources and gyms. I just look at it like every day we can make smart choices or not-so-smart ones, and I choose what’s smart and right for me. But it takes deliberate focus, which can be hard to maintain when faced with battling priorities.

Me:  What’s your smartest piece of advice you ever got?

Kris: Actually, I saw something recently, written by a friend of mine to another friend who wants to lose weight. Olivier Blanchard said:

You can do it.
You can DO it.
YOU can do it.

I don’t think I will forget that – it can be applied to so many things I have insecurities about, or self-doubt, or when I am just feeling lame, as a person. I’ve taken that advice for myself – never be afraid to steal great advice meant for others!

Me:  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Kris: I have NO idea. Five years ago I could never have predicted I’d be living in Kansas, married to an ex-motorcyle racing oilman with a house in a town of only 3500 people (I like the city life!) What I hope is that our business will do well, I’ll be able to travel more eventually and go to Greece, England and France regularly so I can experience the people, places and things that call to me, and that I’ll make a spot of difference for the people and companies that I influence. That would be enough.

With a daily dose of inspiration from Kris, I feel like I can do anything!

Know inspiring, awesome women like Kristi Colvin? Join the conversation! I’d love to hear from you. And watch this space for more Wow Women we can all learn from.