A select group of Good Ones headed out to Beacon Hill to mingle, shop and meet some amazing founders at Follain.

The name Follain is Gaelic for “healthy, wholesome and sound”.

There aren’t a lot of restrictions in the beauty industry in the United States. Follain carries only the highest quality healthy beauty products available.

Check out this list of brands that they carry.

Tau Zaman and Dr. Nada Milosavljevic  (founder SageTonic.com) checking out the Sage Tonic mobile app. From the website:

The Sage Tonic mobile app is a modern sensory platform, which supports common mind-body conditions with the touch of your finger. Whether you are on the road, or at home, you can login on your mobile device to create a customized treatment just right for you. 

Our sensory platform provides a sense specific therapy to target common symptoms such as stress, fatigue, poor focus, etc. Each of your senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch can be engaged in a personalized session you help to design. Based on your sensory selections a program is created to target your current condition.

Sage Tonic is an innovative hollistic program for wellness. The products are specially formulated, all natural and non GMO. High quality teas and tisanes include: Relax – lemon balm and passion flower; Happiness – green tea and St. John’s wort; Sleep – lavender and valerian; Clear Head – cinnamon and peppermint; Energy – black tea and grapefruit; and Focus – green tea and ginseng. They also have a line of essential oil towelettes. The line includes: Relax – lavender and neroli; Happiness – bergamot and clary sage;  Sleep – lavender and patchouli; Clear Head – peppermint and geranium; Energy – grapefruit and lime and Focus – basil and rosemary. I was lucky enough to take home a sample of the Relax towelettes and it was like having a spa moment on the go. You open up the packet and release the essential oils and breathe it all in – you can feel the stress melting away!

Ali Jawin, Adrian Wong (owner of Beta Burger), Suvd Tsolmon​. Check out my recent review of Beta Burger here.

Dr. Nada Milosavljevic and Christina Wang, Founder of Six Tomatoes, an international strategy and business development company providing strategic advice to clients in food & beverage, education, and non-profit sectors.

Katie Dolaher​, Jenni, Iva.

On left and right (Founders of Organic Bath Co.), Jay ​& Gianne, center is Follain Brand Ambassador.

Organic Bath Co makes a full line of body scrubs, body butter, body oil, body wash and more. When I’m looking for something scented, I love the “Stress Less” organic body scrub, made with almond, apricot, sunflower and calming lavender oils. When I’m just in the mood for the scrub, without the scent, they have a “naked” body scrub that is unscented but still exfoliates and hydrates, leaving your skin super smooth.

Matthew Tambiah​, Jen Burney (Founder Amber Blue)​. Amber Blue is an environmentally friendly organic skincare line. Jen is a master herbalist and aromatherapist – she makes all of the products in small batches and packages everything by hand.

Regan Cleminson and Dr. Nada.

Steve Osemwenkhae, the Good Ones super talented videographer, who is currently working on a no makeup series.

Dr. Nada​, Tara Foley, founder ShopFollain.com​, Carolyn, founder thegoodones.co.

Want to join the Good Ones in 2016? Check out their website: https://thegoodones.co

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Guest gathered on Sunday at Grill 23 for a Good Ones celebration featuring some notable guests in the non profit sector. The weather was cool and rainy – the kind of weather that makes you want to stay on your couch under lots of blankets. Despite the weather, there was a great turn out and I’m glad I was able to attend because I left feeling really inspired. I met Nurys early in the evening, she is outgoing, animated and passionate when she talks about her work. She has a full time job in addition to running the Chica Project, and frankly, I wonder when she has the time to sleep! But when you love something so much, it’s worth it. With the holiday season upon us, I encourage everyone to consider volunteering some of your time at a worthy organization.

Scroll down to meet some of the fabulous guests in attendance:

(L-R) Featured guests Marian Brown, Nurys Camargo, José E. Valenzuela.

Marian Brown is the founder of Arts Connect International, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to cultivate & connect leaders in the arts field committed to cultural inclusion and social equity on a global scale. ACI runs a year-long international Artist-in-Residence program for emerging leaders.

Nurys is the founder of Chica Project, a social enterprise dedicated to closing the opportunity divide for young Latinas in Boston, Lawrence, Springfield and Holyoke by empowering them with the skills, confidence and network necessary to thrive personally and professionally. Most recently Camargo was recognized by Boston Business Journal, Boston Magazine, Latina Magazine, Ethnic Media Online and the Red Cross of Eastern MA for her passion to build inter-generational pipelines of woman of color.

José E. Valenzuela works with Boston Youth Wrestling, an organization committed to youth development in Boston through the sport of wrestling. Originally from the Dominican Republic, José has been a proud resident of Boston for more than 20 years. As a classroom teacher in the Boston Public Schools, he has spent the last eight years working with youth, empowering them to think critically about the world we live in today. As the founder of Boston Youth Wrestling, which works to promote youth development in inner city Boston by inspiring personal, academic, and athletic success, José has been able to expand his reach through his work in 15 schools and community centers in Boston, Chelsea, and Lynn, working with over 200 youth in the last year alone.

(L-R) Janet Wu, Heloisa Fitzgerald.

Janet is a woman who needs no introduction. You have most likely seen her on channel 7 news or emceeing an event around town, she is a talented journalist and an adjunct professor at Emerson College.

Heloisa is a talented jewelry designer and is coming out with a new line called Blingtec that will be debuting next week. I encourage you to check out the Blingtec Facebook page – you can see a preview of the line that personalizes your fitness monitors and makes them fashionable. You can wear the pieces multiple ways and they are designed to work with Jawbone and Fitbit.

(L-R) Marian Brown, Andrew Sobel, Jennifer Brooke, ​Rachel Friedman​, featured guest Zev Steinmetz.

Featured guest Zev Steinmetz of the Jewish New Fund: Water Renewal, Forestry and Green Innovations, Community Building, Research and Development, Disabilities and Special Needs.

(L-R) Jed Hammel​, José E. Valenzuela.

Jed is a talented director, producer and editor at Volta Visual. He produced a film, Waiting for you, that won Best Drama Short and Best Woman Filmmaker for October’s Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Fest. Jed directed World Spins Madly On that has received praise. Read what people are saying about the film: “Writer-director Jeremy Jed Hammel taps into that feeling every “hopeless romantic” has had at one point or another that a single meeting can lead to the start of a new path for the rest of your life.” – Sonic Cinema

(L-R) Jeta Kaziu, ​Adam Parshall​, Sheila Erimez.

Adam is the content manager at Do617, an online comprehensive list of local events that tells you what to do on any given night out: music, nightlife, you name it!

(L-R) Matthew Tambia, Ryan Wittig.

Ryan was a featured guest at the November 19th Faces of Fashion // Business Media event at Liquid Art House. Ryan was born and raised in rural Indiana. He came to attend school at Boston University’s School of Management and has called Boston home ever since. He started his technology sales career at RICOH cold calling small businesses and was promoted into a major account role in two years selling to large healthcare providers.

For more information or to request a membership, check out the Good One’s website.

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Good Ones headed out last Thursday to ’47 Brand on Newbury Street, donned in sports gear for a “47 people at ’47 Brand” party. Guest mingled with local professional athletes and checked out some cool sports gear from their favorite teams.

’47 Brand is a sports lifestyle brand based out of Boston. Started by two twin brothers and a single street cart in 1947, the company has grown to be a licensed partner with the MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL, as well as over 650 colleges.

They have all the latest baseball hats, winter hats and apparel.

Featured guest ​Erik Smith (left), was the first Air Force player to be drafted to Major League Lacrosse and plays on the Cannons. Featured guest Kelyn Rowe, right, plays for the New England Revolution.

Check out Erik’s highlight reel above. And for more on Keylan, check out this fun interview where he talks about his favorite places to eat around Boston.

Check out the some of the Good Ones below.

(L-R) ​Curtis Colly, Iman Rezaei, Scott Weiman.

​Lily Fidea​.

​Arun Kumar​.

(L-R) ​Patricia Johnson, ​Antonio Aniello, Kristin Khederian.

(L-R) ​Amanda Souvannaseng, Steve Tsolakis, ​Muideen Ogunmola, Jenn Studaker.

Featured guest Muideen Ogunmola (aka Blocknation) is a headwear designer for 47 Brand. He has been commissed to do illustrations for NESN, ESPN, New Balance, adidas, Sports Illustrated, and Reebok.

(L-R) ​​Joe Hunter​, Jennifer Brooke, Peihu Wang​ (model).

​(L-R) Joe Hunter​, Joe Malaika​ (fashion designer)​.

’47 Brand is located at 286 Newbury Street in Boston. Check out their website here.

For more information about the Good Ones and to inquire about a membership, check out their website.

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The Thursday before Halloween, the Good Ones came together for an epic Monopoly inspired party. The event took place at BOND restaurant | lounge  in the Langham Hotel. The space was originally the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston so it fit perfectly with tonight’s theme. Best costume of the night for me was Ron Bembry as Mr. Monopoly! Guest enjoyed Belvedere vodka infused drinks (with the first round sponsored by The Cocktailist) and light bites (fun passed apps served in Chinese food take out boxes!).

Featured guest Lorenzo Geraci was creating his signature piece “The One” on site. A little bit about Lorenzo:

My name is Lorenzo Geraci (LOR3nzo), I was born a few decades ago in Siena (Italy), the cradle of the Renaissance, and now, after a long hiatus as an “adult”, I’m back at making Art, playing with materials, shapes, forms, function, words, colors, textures and the perception of time.

I am trying to make the world a better place, one piece of Art at a time; and I believe that Life itself is the utmost expression of Art. I love creating experiences with my Art, experiences that are visceral in nature where everyone can find their own meaning to my visual language. Through my Art, I tell my stories. Stories of my Life, or stories of impossible DayDreams, anchoring each piece of Art with one or few details to capture the Individual’s imagination and make it soar to their own Impossible DayDreams.

I try to explore, exploit, merge and highlight the boundaries of 2D and 3D Art, painting and writing, conceptual and fine Art, and I am constantly thinking about expending Street Art above and beyond graffiti.

As an introvert (INFJ) I see patterns, connections, and parallels in unseeingly different things. I draw my inspiration from Nature, Arts & Artists and everyday Life. I am equally inspired by Picasso’s prolific output and experimentation and by Einstein’s philosophy of simplicity. I also get inspired by Individuals from all walks of life who take pride in their work; be they scientists who every single day are able to get up and go to their lab to conduct minuscule variations and permutations of the same experiment over and over like a dog chewing on a bone; or be they bartenders who break the rules without sacrificing on quality and craft personalized multi-sensorial experiences for discriminating customers; and everyone else in between and beyond.

From his website:

“The ONE” is my attempt to re-interpret Street Art, mixing it up with a touch of Conceptual Art, and a double helping of Performance Art.

Physically, The ONE is a series of 2.5″ x 6″ paintings, the familiar size of the U.S. dollar bill.  Each The ONE is bartered with, or gifted to, individuals from all walks all life.  So far it has involved street performers, espresso in coffee shops (Chinatown Coffee Company – DC et al), Art for Art, photo ops, Museums (MIT’s List Art Center, ICA Boston, MFA Boston, HirshHorn Museum DC, National Gallery of Art DC), drinks in bars, food in restaurants, friendship (that’s priceless) . . . and the list continues.
The ONE has been adopted in Boston, Washington DC, San Diego, Canada, Italy, France, UK, Poland, and Romania.

Each The ONE is hand painted and one of a kind, numbered in series, and signed on the back. It features the motto Fuck It! as well as the inscription The ONE. The ONE refers to the receiver since s/he is The ONE fulfilling the performance that makes the Art possible by accepting the barter or the gift.

In addition the the live art, Izzy VanHall and Ray Borg were on site to do an amazing live AcroYoga performance. Izzy and Ray recently began a Video Project ​(  https://youtu.be/sJ1oM_AEoNM  ) to inspire and spread a new way of looking at connection. Their desire is for people who view their videos to be experience the beauty of yoga without having to go to a tropical island or be a supermodel to practice. Ray is a scientist who has always been involved with fitness through weight lifting. Once he began his yoga and meditation practice he gravitated towards AcroYoga and met Izzy. She is an artist and has taught Yoga and AcroYoga globally and locally for the last 7 years. Enjoy their creative performing and watch their Urban Acro on Youtube.​

Check out the Who’s Who:

David Bisceglia, Jennifer Brooke, Maggie Ying​

Jeremy Hefter, Sonia Brown

Megha Vadula, Eiei Khin​, Samantha Pappin (Red Monopoly House Costumes)

Megan Hartney and Iva Nikolau ​(Minions)​

​Greg Curran, Amanda Matthews, ​Davide Marini, Jennifer Brooke, Brian Massa

Leslie Heirtzler​, Dan McCarthy​

​Ashley Higgins, ​Vivian Ramos

Mitul Parekh​, Amanda Tambling, ​​Vicki Attar​, ​Vaselika Koci

​Alex Merrifield, Iya Khalil, Amrit Chaudhuri, Nai Ko

Mannish Ghorai (middle), Ian Venskus (right)

Alexa Curtis, Brian Massa

Who gets your vote for best costume?

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I make it a practice to use my own photos on my blog, but I wanted to do a “spotlight” piece on my friend Anastasia and showcase some of her amazing work. I met Anastasia maybe a year ago and we see each other at some of the Good Ones events. I take photos for my blog and for fun, but Anastasia is a professional photographer. She has a way with light and she has this amazing gift of catching beautiful candid moments. I had a chance to ask her a few questions, I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I have! You can check out more of her work on her website: http://anastasiasierra.photoshelter.com

How long have you been a photographer? 

I got into photography eight years ago and have been doing it full time for about three years.

How did you start off taking photos? 

I had a few photographer friends whose work I admired but never thought I could do it myself — I tried shooting film but didn’t have a very good idea of what I wanted to shoot and the pictures were turning out terribly boring, and everything was taking forever, so I quickly got discouraged. A few years later I signed up for a language course at an adult education center (I was working in the translation industry back then), but the class didn’t fill up and I saw photography on the list and decided to try it. That prompted me to buy a digital camera, which worked much better for my levels of patience than film. I started taking my camera everywhere – dance lessons, parties, road trips, the beach, often annoying my friends, because the only thing I could see and think of were potential pictures I could make. I make a living with that now (and pay more attention to my friends).

How do you stay inspired? 

I keep working! I think the important part is to start, and I have been lucky to stay naturally busy with commissioned work, so I have this responsibility to produce good work and having this responsibility inspires me. A lot of inspiration comes from the people I work with – in portraiture and fashion a lot is about collaboration, and I think it is important to create an atmosphere where everyone on the team is at their best and is enjoying the process. I try to keep the projects interesting for the people I work with, and they keep them interesting for me in return.

And of course, exposing yourself to beautiful things and experiences is always inspiring — music, books, people and places you love are part of you, and so is your work, so it’s all one thing.

You do fashion photography, what designers inspire you?

McQueen was incredible, Yves Saint Laurent. I have an appreciation for many different styles, but tend to lean towards either something edgy and dramatic, or something very simple and minimalistic. My recent happy discovery was Christophe Lemaire (thanks to the Uniqlo collaboration) – I love the simple elegance that still lets you see the person behind the outfit.

What was your favorite Good Ones event to shoot? 

They are always fun to shoot – I love the color themes for the guests and the fact that there are local designers at nearly every event! I think my favorite one was the Greek Party. (Check out my recap of the Greek Party here.)

When you’re not behind the camera, what are you doing?  

Most of the time, either editing or planning my next shoot!  I do try to make time for other things that I enjoy – friends, love, music, reading and travelling.

What is on your wish list to photograph (person, place etc).

I don’t really have a wish list – most people I photograph have something interesting about them, as well as places. In my opinion you don’t need to go to exotic places to find interesting subjects, although having a “fresh” eye often helps.

Pictured, Featured Guest Becca Samaan.

My name is Becca Samaan. I am 27. I have a Masters in International Development & Social Justice, and an undergraduate degree in Global Humanitarian Peace & Justice Studies. I have worked as a humanitarian for over 10 years abroad (with UNICEF in India, and at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO) in Rome). I have worked with Burmese refugees in Thailand; with women freed from human trafficking in India; in slum schools, with lepers and gypsies. I moved back to the USA last summer when I spent a year working at the Boston Rescue Mission, a shelter in downtown Boston. This summer I started my own business where I design clothing and jewelry handmade by different non-profits and artists from around the world. Artists include women freed from human trafficking and Burmese refugees, in an effort to raise awareness of the suffering endured by those in the developing worlds, to those in the USA. The proceeds support the artists / non-profits, and an additional 10% goes to a children’s home in India. I hula hoop for fun.

Pictured, Mike Giardi.

Pictured, Melissa Williams.

Pictured, Zev Steinmetz.

Pictured, Alie Sockol.

For more information on the Good Ones, or to join the waitlist, check out their website.

The post Good Ones: Spotlight on Anastasia Sierra appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

On Friday, Good Ones gathered at Liquid Art House‘s new private dining space for a Filmmakers: Men of Hollywood party. In attendance: Paparazzi, CEOs, Usual Suspects, Scientists (who are curing cancer), Fashion Designers, Biotech Beasts, Urban Legends, CollegeStudents, Entrepreneurs, Architects, Editors, Journalists, Ivy League Professors, TV Personalities, and Social Butterflies… flitting around. Guests showed up in their most fashionable LA attire.

Light bites were provided by Chef Rachel Klein who will be opening her own restaurant, RFK Kitchen in Needham in the spring. My favorite beverage, Motto, a sparkling matcha tea, was a sponsor along with Justin’s, Avanti Salon and Moroccanoil.

(L-R) Featured Guest, Gus Cooney – ​Gus is a social psychologist at Harvard University where he’s currently working on his Ph.D. He spends most of his time thinking about happiness, decision-making, and why we so often make decisions that don’t turn out as good as we thought they would. Gus is also the Director of Research at Broad Green Pictures, a feature film company based in Los Angeles, where he tries to use data to inform all stages of the production and marketing process. Dan McCarthy – wrote that infamous article about a one night stand during the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, the rights of which have since been sold to an independent production studio in Hollywood.

(L-R) Pamela Vargas – Miss. Colombia USA 2008 and active board member of My Life, My Choice, an organization in Boston that works to empower girls to find their voice and create a positive life path for themselves.​ Isabela Leo Lemos.

Northeastern students (L-R): Victor Brailoiu – Finance, Court Chapman – Chemical Engineering, Aakash Sinha –  Entrepreneurship, Alex Moss-Bolanos – Business Administration, Erik Ryde – Mechanical Engineering.

(L-R) Ashley Higgins – Associate Buyer at Reebok​, Yasmin Ashraf-Khan.

(L-R) Alessandra Maahs, Northeastern student – Neuroscience and English and Court Chapman, Chemical Engineering student.

Sofia Vargas​ (right) – Public Relations.

​(L-R) Victoria Barnaby – Interactive Marketing Manager at ’47 Brand, Marcos Rocha​ – Marketing & Sales at GroveLabs.io​, Brian Massa – United States Air Force.

​(L-R) Amy Qiu – Morgan Stanley, Brianne Lefebvre​ – www.onehippo.com

The artwork displayed this evening was the work of our very own #GoodOne, Jennifer Brooke. She was commissioned by the Dexter family to do this amazing piece – this photo doesn’t do it justice, the texture of the paint was amazing!

(L-R) ​Heloisa Fitzgerald – Designer + Entrepreneur, Iya Khalil – ​Data Scientist and Co-founder of​ GNS Healthcare & Via Science.

(L-R) Carolyn Kim and Mark Andrus.

(L-R) Jared Morris – Creative Director at Milkman TV, Gillian Janus – Supervising Producer at Milkman TV, Eran Lobel – CEO / Executive Producer – Milkman TV, Featured Guest – SeanBaker Carter, ​Featured Guest – Gus Cooney​.

SeanBaker Carter has been making television for nearly 15 years captivating audiences with unscripted shows like Swab Stories (VH1) and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo) — engaging viewers with fascinating infotainment like Dogs/Cats 101 (Animal Planet) and Best in the Business (Discovery). Most recently he has joined forces with Eran Lobel to found MILKMAN – taking tv into the world of digital.

(L-R) Barrett Stowell – Designer​ of display furniture and modules for​ Sak’s Fifth Ave. and ​ Bloomingdale’s and President of Bear Bird, ​Heloisa Fitzgerald​.

(L-R) Kayte D​arling, Jay Psaros – Songwriter and Producer at Jay Psaros Music​

(L-R) Kimberly Giardino – Ac​t​ress, Featured Guest – Kris Meyer.

In 1997, Kris Meyer began working as an assistant to the Farrelly Brothers on the comedy There’s Something About Mary (1998). In 2000 and 2001, he continued his work with the Farrelly Brothers as an associate producer on films Me, Myself & Irene and Shallow Hal. Meyer then co-produced Stuck On You (2003), Fever Pitch (2005), The Heartbreak Kid (2007) and Hall Pass (2011). Meyer has worked on many independent projects. In 2007, he worked as a producer on the independent film On Broadway. Most recently, Meyer served as the executive producer on the documentary Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself.

While filming Fever Pitch in 2004, Meyer met Luis Tiant. Tiant shared with Meyer his dream to return to Cuba, Tiant’s birth country. Tiant had been trying to return on his own. Meyer offered to help Tiant with hopes that a film crew could travel with him and film the journey. Under the guise of a goodwill baseball team, Tiant and the crew entered Cuba.[3] The documentary, The Lost Son of Havana premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2009, and was nominated by The National Academy of Arts and Television Sciences for a 2010 Sports Emmy Award.

In 2011, Meyer co-produced The Three Stooges—a Farrelly Brothers adaptation of the classic shorts—in Atlanta. Production wrapped in late July 2011.

In 2014, Meyer was an executive producer for Dumb and Dumber To. The film was a sequel to the 1994 smash hit, Dumb and Dumber. It would go on to gross around $170 million internationally.

​(L-R) Traci Bingham – American actress, model, and television personality who is best known for playing Jordan Tate on the television series Baywatch between 1996 and 1998.​ ​Ruta Laukien – founder of Liquid Art House, the first gallery/restaurant hybrid to open in Boston​. ​Devin Hill – Executive Director, ​JP Morgan, ​James Rowe – Digital Media Solutions Entrepreneur​.

(L-R) Carolyn Kim, Belén Cusi – Classic Pianist and Singer/songwriter, ​Meredith Farley – VP of Product at Brafton.

(L-R) SeanBaker Carter, Sam Slater, Gus Cooney, Eran Lobel.

Featured guest Sam Slater is a principal of Tremont Asset Management LLC, which owns and manages over 3,000 Class A apartments, office properties, and agricultural properties throughout the United States and Canada. His role at the company includes oversight of all acquisitions, developments, financing, and operational activities.

Sam is also Co-President and founder of Burn Later Productions. His most recent film, “Results” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Magnolia Pictures and will be released in May of 2015. Sam also serves as a producer on “Adult Beginners”, starring Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, and Bobby Cannavale, which will be in theaters April 2015 through it’s distributor Radius- The Weinstein Company and Universal. His film, “Drinking Buddies”, which stars Olivia Wilde, Jake M. Johnson, and Anna Kendrick, had its world premiere at South by Southwest 2013, was acquired by Magnolia pictures and Sony Worldwide, and was theatrically released in August 2013.

Sam is a Board Member and Development Chair at The Lenny Zakim Fund and serves as Chairman of The Slater Foundation. He is also a Board Member for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston. In 2012, Sam was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Board of Directors of The Massachusetts Cultural Council, the state agency which funds cultural, arts, and interpretive science programs. Sam previously served on the finance committees for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

He graduated from George Washington University with a degree in History and is earning his Master’s in Public Administration at Suffolk University.

Featured guest David Binder is an award-winning photojournalist, documentary filmmaker and commercial photographer. His stories and pictures connect with audiences across mediums, from public health campaigns, portraiture, and photojournalism to documentary film. Binder began working at a newspaper when he was 15 and continued his photojournalism career for 25 years working at various publications, including the Boston Globe. Sensing an imminent shift in print media, Binder began his film work in 2003. He released his first documentary, “Calling My Children” to great acclaim in 2009. The film has been seen by millions on PBS and has won numerous film festival awards, as well as the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle. In addition to his film work, Binder continues to be a successful commercial photographer based in Boston. He also works as an educator in photography and visual arts, and is affiliated with Contact Press Images.

Want to attend the next Good Ones event? Check out the Good Ones website and join the waitlist.

The post Good Ones: FilmMakers – Men of Hollywood appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

I always enjoy hanging out with the Good Ones – every event is a guaranteed good time. Some events really stand out and this past Sunday at the Liberty Hotel was one of them. It was a beautiful fall afternoon, the weather was just perfect, and we were treated to an afternoon of live music. Meet Nigel Tay and Tim Reynolds.

Nigel (pictured above) and Tim (pictured below) are recent graduates of Berklee College of Music. They are talented musicians with a super smooth sound. While we didn’t get to hear it, Nigel is also a talented vocalist, he has an amazing range – check him out on YouTube. Nigel will be heading off to LA soon, but rumor has it that he will make one more appearance at a Good Ones party before he leaves!

Tim is one of those people who you love to watch perform – check out the video on my Instagram page. You can also see a cool cover Tim did of “Go Put Your Records On” on YouTube – it will make you hungry for more videos!

The theme for today’s event was hats and parasols.

Jennifer Brooke, Co-Founder of the Good Ones.

Good One, Iva Nikolau.

Phillip Sull, Co-Founder of FilmFish.

Gustavo Leon, Managing Editor/Creative for Print and Web at the Boston Herald (left) and Lizzie Schultz Mcguire, Senior event Coordinator at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (center).

Talented fashion designer Kinda Touma (center) and Gustavo Leon (right).

Jennifer Brooke, Co-Founder of the Good Ones, Kinda Touma, Gustavo Leon, Carolyn Kim, Co-Founder of the Good Ones.

Gustavo Leon, Lejda Hodaj, Jeta Kaziu.

Nathan Botelho, Student, Founder of Temper and Forge.

Sammy, Partner at McKinsey & Company.

Wayne Chang, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor.

The Good Ones have events that are designed to introduce you to new people and spark interesting conversations. Good people attract good people, don’t you want to surround yourself with something positive?

To be added to the waitlist, check out their website.

The post Good Ones: Liberty Hotel appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

The Good Ones held their signature event of the month at the W Hotel. The theme was Candy Land. Guests arrived in bright colors and enjoyed the works of two local artists. Pictured above is Christy Chow’s “lollipops”, thin forms on the inside, layered with liquid sugar to ultimately form these zaftig women doing head stands. The pieces are 3,000 calories each! Christy was born and raised in Hong Kong and until recently she was based in Boston (now she is based in NY). Christy transforms mundane and tacky objects through mismatch of materials, tools and processes to create surprises and new definitions concerning humanity, sustainability and social justice. Her practice is interdisciplinary and involves video installations, interactive sculptures and performances. Chow holds a BA from The University of Hong Kong, a BFA from RMIT University and a MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Local artist Markus Sebastiano was at the event, getting interactive by creating this piece live! Markus is a mixed media artist who specializes in exclusive large scale installations in restaurants, hotels, commercial spaces and homes. His latest works can be seen in The Gallows, Tavern Road, Crudo and Banyan. His mediums include a blend of multidimensional elements and textures with the incorporation of reclaimed materials as often as possible. Check out his website to see him in action. It was amazing to watch him work.

The evening’s sponsors were Corn and Co. and Bixby Bars. Corn and Co is one of my favorite brands, they are a local company (based in Lowell) that makes flavors like birthday cake, s’mores, caramel, dill pickle and pizza (don’t worry they have your classic flavors as well!). Bixby Bars are reinvented premium chocolate bars. Each bar contains a handcrafted, artisan blend of organic chocolate, fruit, nuts, spices, and brown rice crisps creating a light and truly unique indulgence for the health-conscious consumer. All Bixby Bars are non GMO certified, vegan verified, earth kosher certified and gluten free. Basically guilt free chocolate right? Bixby Bars come in delicious flavors like crystalized ginger and pecan, goji berry cardamom, bing cherry chipotle pepper peanut, and blueberry black pepper walnut. Check out their website for all their delicious flavors. The W was serving two specialty cocktails, Skittles, Stoli raspberry, citrus vodka, triple sec, apple liquor and red bull; and a lychee bellini, sparkling wine, lychee and raspberry puree.

(L-R) Carolyn Meenan, Co-Founder of the Good Ones; ​Ben Uyeda, Founder,  HomeMade-Modern.com, which has reached over 10 million people worldwide; Tania Green, Founder, PMS Bites​. You can pre-order Ben’s new book, hitting shelves on November 17th!

(L-R) Carolyn Meenan, Co-Founder of the Good Ones; Wayne Chang,  serial entrepreneur and angel investor; Jennifer Brooke, Co-Founder of the Good Ones; Giuseppe Stuto, Co-Founder at http://www.smackhigh.com and Mentor.

Good One, Iva Nikolau.

(L-R) Deerdra Cetoute, Student and Dancer; Djenaba Takahashi, Head of Marketing at OneGigCo.com.

(L-R) Marisa Lopez and Ayesha Wilson, both Teacher Counselors for The Work Force Program, a youth serving after school program of the Cambridge Housing Authority. ​

(L-R) Sarah Friedman, Customer Success Manager at Millward Brown; Jennifer Brooke, Co-Founder of the Good Ones, Alessandra Maahs, Scientific Writer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Alessandra in her “arm candy” outfit and Jennifer in her “Peppermint Patty” outfit!

(L-R) Alessandra; Sean Wan, Portfolio Analyst, Trader at Convexity Capital Management; Nathan Green, Product Manager, GMAT/GRE at the Princeton Review.

(L-R) Steve Osemwenkhae, Photographer and Filmmaker (check out his recent piece on the Good Ones); Iva Nikolau, Good One; ​Kupah James. Kupah is the owner of Klass Universal Entertainment (you can catch him at Highball Lounge), but so much more than that. He works at Equinox, as a trainer and he teaches cardio dance fusion, You may recognize him, as he was cast on Season 11 of The Bachelorette, and voted by STUFF magazine as one of Boston’s Sexiest (2011).

Interested in attending an event? Join the waitlist!

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(L-R) Jennifer Brooke, Co-founder of the Good Ones, Jonathan Mendez, Entrepreneur; Featured Guest, George Papachristos, Attorney; Carolyn Meenan, Co-founder of the Good Ones.

Monday night the Good Ones gathered together at The Yard at the Liberty Hotel for a party featuring all things Greek. Attorneys, Entrepreneurs, food bloggers, animal lovers and fashionistas mingled all night with Aperol spritzers and other custom cocktails.

(L-R) Carolyn Meenan, Co-founder of the Good Ones; Jennifer Brooke, Co-founder of the Good Ones; Alessandra Maahs, Good One and Scientific Writer of Research & Communications at Harvard Medical School, Biomedical Research Institute, BWH​.

(L-R) Robert Whynott, Attorney; Jonathan Mendez, Entrepreneur; Featured Guest, George Papachristos, Attorney.

(L-R) Paul Kotakis, Director of Annual and Alumni Programs at the MFA; Janet Wu, Reporter/Anchor at WHDH-TV, Adjunct Professor at Emerson College; Kennedy Elsey, Voice of Mix 104 Radio.

Janet turned Kennedy on to fostering dogs for the Great Dog Rescue New England, check out the cute puppy that is available for adoption in the photo above.

(L-R) Daniella Messler; Tau Zaman, Good One.

(L-R) Brianna Garland, Marketing Communications Specialist; Featured Guest, Allison Daroie, Founder at Paridaez; Elena Kollarova, Research Associate. Hair and makeup for Brianna and Elena by Viselli Salon.

Paridaez is an amazing company with transformative pieces that can each be worn a variety of ways. For instance, the “bird of paradise” top on Brianna on the left can be worn with the cutout on the front or the back. Brianna’s skirt, the “hummingbird” can be worn 4 ways, as a skirt (shown), a shawl, a scarf or a hood. The “albatross” skirt that Allison is wearing can be worn 3 ways – Elena is wearing it as a dress!

From the website: “The name “Paridaez” is as transformative as our clothing… stemming from an ancient Persian word meaning a walled enclosure or garden and later adopted by the Greeks, interpreted as the Garden of Eden and at times translated to mean heaven.  The sound and spelling was later changed and adopted into English to mean paradise.”

Pictured, Janet Wu.

This puppy is available for adoption, for more information, click here.

(L-R) Alessandra Maahs; Oksana Barchuk, Business Development at Educatius International.

These ladies brought their A game with the red dress code!

(L-R) Taniya Nayak, Interior Designer/Television Host HGTV; Jonathan Mendez, Entrepreneur; Robert Whynott, Attorney.

(L-R) Elena, Brianna, Tau.

Elena and Sofie. Follow Sofie on Instagram!

Kinda Touma, fashion designer, and Sofie.

Brianna; Greg Ux, founder of Deluxe Life Fitness; Kinda; Lance Morrison, Professional Boat Man and  proud father of Sofie the mini husky; Elena.

Alessandra is the newest member of the Good Ones!

Interested in becoming a Good One? Join the waitlist for membership. Membership includes access to three events each month.

And just to give you a taste of next week’s party, it will have a Candy Land theme and the featured guests will be Markus Sebastiano, a mixed media artist who specializes in exclusive large-scale art installations in restaurants, hotels, commercial spaces, and homes; and Christy Chow.

Hope to see you at a Good Ones event soon!

The post Good Ones: The Yard at the Liberty Hotel appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Last week, the Good Ones hosted a fabulous honey themed party at Cafe Art Science in Cambridge. The restaurant is the brainchild of Harvard science professor David Edwards, inventor of the WikiPearl. Check out their bar for some really cool drinks – think uniquely flavored ice cubes and vapor drinks!

The evening included passed appetizers, specialty cocktails, a fun instagram backdrop and a question on the whiteboard to get the conversation started. When was your first kiss?

Tonight’s featured guest was Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D., Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, The Best Bees Company. I met Noah at a honey dinner a while back at Cuisine en Locale, where he invited me to come down and check out his bees. I love chatting with Noah, every time I learn something new about bees – they are fascinating!

Noah brought a few friends with him to chat with (and educate) guests about bees. Pictured above, Sophie Chaney with The Best Bees Company.

Sam Jennings with The Best Bees Company.

(Pictured L-R) Lillian Harden (featured artist) and Steve Osemwenkhae (featured videographer). Lillian was showcasing her kissing booth, where guests could make their own magnetic kissing video!

(Pictured L-R) Iva Nikolau (VP of Business and Development at The Good Ones) Scott Weiman (PhD candidate at Harvard University).

The dress code for this month’s signature party was yellow and white to go with the honeycomb theme!

(Pictured L-R) Eric Kramer, Vice President at B&L Associates and Lizzie Schultz Mcguire, Senior Event Coordinator at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

A Good Ones membership gives you access to 3 social experiences each month. It’s a great opportunity to get out there and meet some interesting new people!

Ben Raynak – Contracts Manager at Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.

So…who are the Good Ones? Members are musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, students and  professionals! The conversations are always interesting and the events are at the hottest spots in Boston.

Lubia Semirog, Freelance Marketing Consultant.

The Good Ones was started by Co-Founders Carolyn Meenan and Jennifer Brooke. They have a formula for introducing people who have common interests.  Let them introduce you to someone new at their next event!

(Pictured L-R) Janet Wu, Carolyn Meenan, Josh Butkus.

So how are these events different than other “networking” events? Well, first off, there aren’t any weird, awkward moments with Bob from accounting. There are no name tags, members are from all different professions and have a wide range of interests. Maybe you work in Advertising and John is an artist, but you both have a love for rock climbing, The Real Housewives and scotch!

Amy Qiu, Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley.

What kinds of events do the Good Ones have? There is something for everyone: lunch time power hours, scotch tastings after work, chef battles on Sundays and more. Check out some of my previous coverage of the Good Ones events by using the search bar to the right.

Pictured above, Chulli Ulloa.

Be yourself. Be open minded. Meet some amazing new people (I certainly have). Are you a Good One?

(Pictured L-R) Eric Kramer and Janet Wu, Anchor at WHDH-TV.

For more information or to join the wait list, check out the Good Ones website.

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