I am excited to introduce to all of you three very inspiring people who are making it big on their own terms through the use of social media. All three are active bloggers and tweeters (twitteraties? tweople? twits? still haven’t quite figured out the correct term for twitter users yet ) among other web 2.0 tools that they use to promote themselves.

Carla Ivette Yashiro: A Creative Director, Broadcast, and Social Media Consultant

http://gatheryourcrowd.com

I met Carla at Stanford University while attending a professional development class on web 2.0 and its business applications. I was instantly drawn to Carla because of her radiating passion and positive energy. Soon after our class ended, she became her own boss and started a social media consultancy Gather Your Crowd with Cherie Del Carlo, one of our classmates. Gather Your Crowd works with self marketers and small to medium-sized businesses to utilize social media platforms as a business tool.

Carla’s Background

Carla graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Radio, TV and Film (Hurray! Carla is a fellow Bachelor of Arts graduate!). She has since earned more accolades than I can count with my two hands. She is an Emmy® Award Winning Producer with 12 years of experience developing and implementing image-based marketing plans on traditional and non-traditional media, public relations programs, and advertising campaigns. Her work experience includes project manager, producer, art director (graphics and motion graphics), writer, and non-linear editor. Her specialties are branding and identity, web development & management, multiplatform campaigns, Event direction and organization, TV Show production and direction, guerrilla marketing, budgeting, and project management. Carla has also recorded the voice over Spanish tour of several national museums such as the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Immigration and LA Zoo.

How Carla Utilizes Social Media to Grow Her Business so She Can Afford her Unconventional Lifestyle

Carla is active on all of the most popular social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Meetup.com. She also attends and hosts networking as well as professional development workshops, seminars, and events all around the bay area. Here is a schedule of upcoming workshops and seminars that Gather Your Crowd is hosting.

Chris Guillebeau: Entrepeneur, World Traveler and Blogger of “Art of Non-Conformity”

http://www.chrisguillebeau.com

One of my friends sent me Chris’s “A Brief Guide to World Domination” when he started to consider quitting his job and traveling the world. In case you’re wondering, my friend did in fact quit his job and is indeed traveling abroad as I’m typing this blog entry. Chris, on the other hand, has been doing this most of his adult life and is the master of the unconventional lifestyle. His writing offers unconventional ideas through personal experience, including both failures and successes. He is currently on a 5-year quest to visit every country in the world.

Chris’s Background

Chris has an MA in International Studies from the University of Washington. He served as a volunteer executive for a medical charity in West Africa from 2002-2006 and according to him “learned far more in those four years than anything [he] learned in college.”

How Chris Funds his Traveling and Unconventional Lifestyle

Chris has been self-employed for his entire adult life, having successfully avoided the dreaded “real job” for more than a decade. His entrepreneurial history has ranged from importing coffee from Jamaica, search engine optimization in its early days, Google Adwords and Adsense arbitrage, and building a small publishing company while volunteering in Africa. He now writes and sells products on his website, as well as writes for the Oregonian newspaper, the Hugffington Post, and Anderson Cooper’s 360 site. As for how he built his online persona and became an “overnight sucess,” read it for yourself here.

Katie Sokoler: Freelance Photographer, Street Artist and Blogger

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com

Her blog is one of my favorite finds this year! Go to her blog to check out her social art projects that evoke a Peter Pan-like dreaminess and playfulness. She is also intimately involved in Improve Everywhere, a group that “causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places,” perhaps most renowned for its No Pants Subway Ride and the Invisble Dogs missions.

Katie’s Background

Katie studied photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Although she claims that she learned most of what she knows by just going out and shooting photographs. She also spent most of her 4 years of college looking for unpaid photo jobs and internships on craigslist so that she could get as much experience as possible.

How Katie Can Afford Her Unconventional Lifestyle

As a freelance photographer, Katie works a number of jobs. She shoots for Gothamist, Improve Everywhere, various events around NYC, portraits and weddings. Many of her images are also used in books, newspapers, and magazines.