All I wanted to know was, ‘What the fuck is a disaster plan??’ It was impossible to find that answer. Every disaster prep website was so convoluted and boring (or super right wing) they made me want to gouge my eyes out.

And so I took matters into my own hands. My team and I spent years researching and developing a disaster planning system that’s appealing and fun. The result? The Here Comes the Apocalypse website and family of disaster preparedness tools.

Status: Start-up
Date Established: November 2019
Pinnacle of Success:
Depth of Despair: The harsh realities about our current world that I face with eyes wide open. Did you know that the average number of US disasters causing a billion or more dollars in damage annually has almost tripled, from 6.7 per year to 18 per year since the 2000s? Better start preparing today.

Now almost 15 years old, Artsy Geek is my bread and butter. It’s grown and shrunk over the years and is now kept alive by the sheer momentum a business can build up in that many years. We partner with our clients to create a stellar brand presence, meticulously manicured customer experience and a tricked out digital environment that gives the user a journey that matches the individual’s expectations.

Status: Profitable
Date Established: November 2010
Pinnacle of Success: Achieving top rankings as San Francisco branding and digital agency by Clutch.co.
Depth of Despair: Oh so many! Which one was the lowest? Was it the former client who threatened a lawsuit, the time I had to let go of one of my closest friends, the other time when I had to dissolve a business partnership with another one of my closest friends or the time I came back from a two week vacation to discover that a particularly challenging client had still not paid her large, overdue bill? Your call, I guess.

Gift Chameleon offers a right-brained shopping experience in a left-brained world. Browse curated gift ideas by color and find the perfect gift for anyone on your list.

Status: Profitable
Date Established: October 2012
Pinnacle of Success: Due to our strong search engine optimization, Gift Chameleon requires very little maintenance, receives regular traffic and I receive regular (though small) direct deposits from Amazon.com. Yes!!
Depth of Despair: The only way the site makes money is through Amazon (and other) affiliate sales. In 2015 we discovered that Amazon had sent an e-mail asking us to prove something or other or risk being cut off. I didn’t check that email account…and we got cut off, losing a solid year of sales.

The eternal social network, Eterna.ly offers digital tools that make end-of-life planning bearable and easier on our loved ones while ensuring that we are remembered the way we want to be.

At Eterna.ly, we know that peace of mind comes with preparedness for the unexpected. Help us make this possible.

Status: Accepting Investors!
Date Established: January 2014
Pinnacle of Success: None, yet. It’s a complicated concept, but I guarantee that someone will step in to offer this service if we don’t get on it.
Depth of Despair: Having to shelve the idea for lack of funding. It’s so good!

Baby’s Love creates natural, organic unscented soap products designed for little ones, but equally great for big ones with sensitivities to harsh scents and detergents.

Status: Accepting Investors!
Date Established: February 2015
Pinnacle of Success: Creating a fun brand and securing a manufacturer and formula for our first product: an organic baby wash.
Depth of Despair: Lacking funding for inventory.

I partnered with Erin Levine, one of our clients at Artsy Geek and a kick ass family law attorney, to launch Hello Divorce. And then she bailed on our contract and made it clear that she would rather pay her attorney any amount of money than settle with me. So that just goes to show that you should never partner with lawyers.

Status: Unknown
Date Established: March 2017
Depth of Despair: Realizing someone I thought was a friend was actually a shitty human being and that all the years work I had put in had come to nothing.

I’m a Leo and it matters a lot. I previously partnered with Shannon Murray, a gifted astrologer, to learn to live with the moon in the summer of 2015 and immediately saw the benefits in my day-to-day life. I partnered with her to expand Lunar Ladies to help more women leverage their monthly cycles to align with more flow & ease, achieve their goals, and understand themselves on a deeper level. I gave up my ownership to pursue other projects in 2021.

Status: Unknown
Date Established: January 2017
Pinnacle of Success: Hearing awesome testimonials from our members right off the bat!
Depth of Despair: Launching about four months later than we’d hoped and realizing that right away we had to pay the California LLC tax. Paying that tax is always a bummer, but especially when you’re just getting started.

Back in 2013, it was impossible to find any stock photography with any personality. Though there are now some players offering more engaging, less polished photography, there is still a need for stock photos featuring our local, urban communities. The vision for UrbnPix was to partner with indie artists and photographers to offer stock photography and art that represents the true nature of urban life.

Status: Never Launched
Date (Not) Established: January 2013
Pinnacle of Success: Hearing “Yes, that’s needed!” whenever we shared the idea.
Depth of Despair: Having to shelve the idea for lack of funding.

Lushes in Love was a cocktail blog that Will and I created to share our love for gin and mixology. Truth be told, we were looking for an excuse to deduct our booze purchases. To achieve that, we also offered cocktail consulting where we would create a custom cocktail for weddings or other events. No one ever took advantage of our services but that didn’t stop us from enjoying many a cocktail.

Status: Live But Not Maintained
Date Established: July 2010
Pinnacle of Success: Receiving a box of booze free of charge for us to review!
Depth of Despair: Having to taste and then review some of the worst booze we’d ever tasted.

Van Gogh My Pet was born when I wanted to buy a portrait for my best feline friend, the Guster, but didn’t have the cash. Instead I painted one using oil pastels. It looked (somewhat) like a Van Gogh and the business was born.

Status: Live But Not Maintained
Date Established: January 2009
Pinnacle of Success: Creating a social media contest that drew more than 1200 daily visitors to the site!
Depth of Despair: Not selling a single portrait despite 1200 daily visitors to the site.

Hangoverville is not a literal place but a state of being. Sometimes you’re so far downtown Hangoverville that you can’t even get the bus out.

Hangoverville.com was to be a user-generated blog of tales from Hangoverville.

Status: Dead and Gone
Date Established: February 2009
Pinnacle of Success: Launching! It was one of my first projects and just getting it up — and accepting user-generated input — was a triumph.
Depth of Despair: Realizing that the last thing anyone wants to do when they’re hungover is… write about how hungover they are.

My sister and I were out to take over the world…Tupperware-style. For some reason no one was really selling Tupperware online and we were going to fix that. We spent months creating fun, retro graphics and a silly website to peddle the original food storage containers.

Status: Dead and Gone
Date Established: July 2006
Pinnacle of Success: Selling Tupperware to my co-workers. Again and again.
Depth of Despair: The realization that the very domain name “tupperwaresisters.com” was in violation of Tupperware’s terms and conditions for sales reps.