Dear Diary

It’s been a while since I took a moment to reflect. It’s the New Year so let’s put some things down on “paper” and clarify my acitivites for myself as I look forward.

2010 was a tremendous and yet challenging year for me.  I moved back to the States after a 3 year stint in Belgium and probably one of the stressful times ever experienced.  Coming off of Fitness America in Nov 2009, traveling for 6 weeks straight from Paris, Milan, Antwerp, Los Angeles, Florida, then back to LA (working as a photog and model), experiencing reverse culture shock being on the West Coast (felt like I was on another planet compared to Europe), getting my business and network established by pounding the pavement at all of the fitness shows, finally having a business breakthrough in August and balls to the wall busy since.

As some of you may know, I was supposed to move to Beijing for 4 months in 2011 but it has since been called off due to negotiations. Blessing in disguise since I’m happy to share with you my business deal struck with Powertec that definitely supercedes the Beijing opportunity.

In Q4 I connected with Powertec, the World’s #1 Free Weight home fitness gym equipment company, and found that we had similar views about the fitness industry and expansion, and have since come on board as a full time Marketing Consultant to create their 2011 catalog, viral videos, advertising materials, strategic marketing plans, product and pricing analysis, you name it.   My previous corporate life in Treasury was awesome but to be able to combine my passions in fitness, modeling, photography, my educational background, and grow my strategic skills makes 2011 an exciting year for me.

2011 will be another heavy travel year as I plan on hitting the following shows –

• January 29-30: Los Angeles Fitness Expo, Los Angeles Convention Center
• March 3-6: Arnold Classic, Columbus, Ohio
• March 8-11: Winter Music Conference, Miami, Florida
• June 2011: Musclemania Fitness Universe, Miami, Florida
• September 16-17: Olympia, Las Vegas, Nevada
• November 19-20 – Fitness America, Las Vegas, Nevada

FIBO Germany is tentative, crossing my fingers to cross the pond and see friends 🙂

Concurrently, I will continue to grow my multimedia business with new redesigned websites forthcoming, continual training of staff, investing in infrastructure, and partnering up with other professionals in order to offer a wide breadth of services.

2010 Web Accomplishment: This site, Natalie Minh Lifestyle Mag, was launched in 2010 Q4 and has already earned an Alexa rating of being a top 500,000 site in the world and top 110,000 site in America.  Thanks to my team, great work!

My photography has a great 2011 kickoff as well.  I’ve been informed that my FMI athlete images will be published in Ironman Mag and World Physique Mag in Q1.  The 2011 Powertec Catalog has a global distribution and will be an online flip magazine format as well.

On the model side of things, I have a mag shoot coming up shortly and soooo, back on diet!  It would be great if I could hold condition all year long and keep myself in the game (last year I made 110% effort on my business).  So, I’m putting this out there as a goal.

There’s something to be said about being in the right place and I’m so happy that I’ve chosen LA as my home base. It’s the center of the media universe and at the cutting edge of trends, most people in this city migrate here from other areas so the culture is incredibly diverse, the fitness capital of the world with all of the movers and shakers making their way throughout the year, and the fact that you are rubbing shoulders with the top tier makes you visible for business opportunities much like working at a company headquarters vs. a satellite office.

I’m so motivated for the new year, many big plans coming up with the backing of large corporate clients that I can’t mention specifically but generate great buzz once the launches are ready.  Let’s get excited!!! 😉 WHOOP!