Life After College Giveaway Week FTW!* (Part One)

I'm excited today. I have free stuff to give away to you wonderful people this week, and that just makes me really happy! I also want to express a very heartfelt thank you for all of the love you poured into this corner of cyberspace in response to last week's Open Letter to Love post. I published on Tuesday night (waking up to nervously edit at 3am) thinking I'd want to hide under the covers all day dodging verbal "you're gonna be a crazy cat lady!" stones (okay, so that's a slight exaggeration but I was feeling quite vulnerable). Instead, you completely lifted me up once again and reminded me that I have the best readers on the planet.

And so, my friends, I am thrilled to share some free stuff as a token of my appreciation! So let's get it on. Err, get on with it.

Giveaway #1 - Drawing for a copy of Chris Guillebeau's new book, The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World

"When faced with uncertainty about taking a leap of faith, take the leap. You'll regret the things you didn't do much more than anything you did, so you might as well try new things." —Excerpt from Chris's book

Note: This book review is going to be VERY biased, because it is hard for me to put into words how much Chris means to me as a friend and mentor.

Two years ago, when my parents and friends were my only blog subscribers and I had no clue how to ask for a mentor, Chris (whose blog was one of the first I ever followed) sent me a note and told me he wanted to be the founding member of the Jenny Blake Advisory Board.

I (figuratively) looked over both shoulders and thought...who, me?! I was so blown away that I barely knew how to accept his generous offer. Many "big fish" will kindly help or advise when you ask them to. Few go out of their way to proactively make it happen the way Chris did.

Since that time, Chris has been a great resource and supporter for me and countless others. His generosity and commitment to his "small army of remarkable people" is unwavering. After I signed my book contract, I came home to find four-dozen cookies delivered via UPS, addressed to "Author Jenny Blake." He makes himself available for book questions in the middle of his ridiculously awesome book tour, and continues to be a model for authentic, kick-ass living.

Chris's book, which shot up to #8 on Amazon during its debut last week, delivers straightforward and inspiring advice to help you "live on your own terms" and "embrace life as a constant adventure." As the very smallest token of my appreciation, I bought an extra copy of Chris's book to give away to one of you.

Giveaway #2 - Free 60 Minute Coaching Sessions with the Fabulous ChaChanna Simpson

ChaChanna is an inspiration to me and one of my first friends in the blogosphere. She runs Twentity.com, is the author of her own Life After College book, and is in the process of completing coach training.

ChaChanna is working on a goal to do 50 free sessions over the next three months (ambitious and awesome!) - and I couldn't be happier to help out. The way I see it, it's a win/win - ChaChanna gets closer to her goal, and you get free coaching! She says, "If you are willing to stretch yourself to create the life you want, the relationship you want, and the career you want, I can help you close the gap between the life have and the one you really want."

  • How to sign-up: If you're interested in signing up for a free 60 minute coaching session, email chachanna@twentity.com

Stay tuned for two more giveaways in Part Two of this post...coming later this week!

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*FTW means "For the Win" in geeky Internet speak. Incidentally, it does not mean a triumphant "F*** the World!" as I used to incorrectly believe.