culture – Page 5

30 Stories: Auburn Foodie Sisters

Posted on August 12, 2020August 12, 2020 by Nirmal Thapa

@auburnfoodiesisters Story by @thestorieshub

We are two sisters from Auburn who love everything related to food.

Auburn, Alabama is our home, where we grew up, and very close to our hearts. From our early days of tailgating while eating barbecue before football games, grabbing a quick bite at Chick-fil-A before attending classes, to drinking lemonade at Toomer’s Corner while relaxing on Samford Lawn, we have watched the culinary landscape in Auburn grow tremendously throughout the years.

We decided to share our love of food and Auburn with you through our Instagram page. As the town’s culinary scene got larger, so did our appetites to discover, highlight, and share the best food spots. Join us on our food journey to tell the world about Auburn’s amazing eats, while supporting local Auburn and Opelika businesses.

Bio: Auburnfoodiesisters is an Instagram page started by two sisters covering amazing eats around Auburn while supporting local businesses. Follow their food journey @auburnfoodiesisters

Image credit: Auburnfoodiesisters Instagram

This story was first published on https://www.instagram.com/thestorieshub/

30 Stories. 30 Days.

Posted on July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 by Nirmal Thapa

From August 1st to August 30th, The Stories Hub is going to feature stories of individuals and brands that represent inspiration, authenticity, creativity, innovation, and are making a difference (locally, nationally and globally).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stories Hub (@thestorieshub)

If you know of individuals and brands that meet the above criteria, do share with The Stories Hub. That story could be one of the 30 stories.

Please share this blog post with your network. Stories Hub wants to hear, highlight, and share the amazing stories. One of them could be your story. Let the stories begin!!!

Our town is going to make jeans again

Posted on March 18, 2020March 18, 2020 by Nirmal Thapa

I love this story.

From Hiut Denim Co.’s website:

Cardigan is a small town of 4,000 good people. 400 of them used to make jeans. They made 35,000 pairs a week. For three decades.

Then one day the factory closed. It left town. But all that skill and knowhow remained. Without any way of showing the world what they could do.

That’s why we have started The Hiut Denim Company. To bring manufacturing back home. To use all that skill on our doorstep. And to breathe new life into our town.

As one of the Grand Masters said to me when I was interviewing: “This is what I know how to do. This is what I do best.” I just sat there thinking I have to make this work.

So yes, our town is going to make jeans again.

Here goes.

Some good podcasts…

Posted on December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

I love podcasts.

There are thousands of podcasts out there covering every topic that one can imagine. Some of the good podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis are:

Akimbo – https://www.akimbo.link

The Tim Ferriss Show – https://tim.blog/podcast/

The Knowledge Project – https://fs.blog/the-knowledge-project/

If you’re looking for a wider selection of podcasts, here are more:

The 50 Best Podcasts to Listen to Right Now

34 of the best podcasts in tech, culture, politics and more

The Best Podcasts Of The Year (So Far)

War Eagle. Auburn Football.

Posted on December 1, 2019January 23, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Life Lessons from the Youngest Person to Travel to Every Country

Posted on November 18, 2019November 18, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Some of my favorite Nepali brands

Posted on November 10, 2019November 10, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Here are a few of my favorite Nepali brands (brands that started in Nepal that cater to the domestic or international market or both) in random order:

Himalayan Java – Love the ambience, food/coffee, and service

Mheecha – Love the simplistic design, look, and style. I have two Mheecha backpacks.

RedMud Coffee – Love the burgers, coffee, and overall vibe

Dulla – Love the look, color, and style of their hand made leather products. I have a
Satchel office laptop bag from Dulla.

What are some of your favorite Nepali brands?

What is the default culture?

Posted on October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them as a collective.

There is a culture within families, places, companies, societies etc. Everything cannot be covered in a “culture” document or a manual. There will be many things that won’t be covered and it’s essential to have a compass to guide decisions when needed. That’s where the culture is most tested. When there are no rules, manuals, or guidebooks, it’s you making the decisions within a certain environment. If the culture within the company or place is built around trust, cooperation, and accountability, it will function much differently than a culture built around fear, hierarchy, and free will. The default culture carries over from the culture you have set in the first place and will be helpful when there are new circumstances/choices/decisions to be made.

What is your default culture set to?

Chief Review Officer

Posted on October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Each startup or business should now have a Chief Review Officer.

The Chief Review Officer will need to look after all reviews that the company gets in their websites, social media pages, and any other public platforms. The officer will need to correspond with the right person/department as needed and address the customers’ concern/queries. As businesses face an ever increasing amount of customer feedback and love/hate messages on their platforms, it’s important to be proactive, prompt and professional in replying to them. These days a lot of people read reviews of a particular business before deciding to spend their money or time or both in it. When businesses spend more time creating new posts/stories and not enough time on replying to the customers’ queries, then the trust and businesses’ reputation will wane in the coming days/months/years.

Does your business have a Chief Review Officer?

Google Project Oxygen findings

Posted on October 24, 2019October 24, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Google Project Oxygen is their internal mission to build better bosses.

The findings showed that a high-scoring manager:

1. Is a good coach

2. Empowers team and does not micromanage

3. Creates an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being

4. Is productive and results-oriented

5. Is a good communicator – listens and shares information

6. Supports career development and discusses performance

7. Has a clear vision/strategy for the team

8. Has key technical skills to help advise the team

9. Collaborates across Google

10. Is a strong decision maker

Taken from re:Work with Google

Choices and customers

Posted on October 12, 2019October 12, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

In a good business environment, the customers have a lot of product/service options to choose from. Whether customers are shopping for groceries, fashion, gadgets to cars, houses, boats, there are a plethora of product/service providers. As choices become abundant, the customers make decisions based on many things. Some things that make customers choose your brand are price, service, reputation, availability to name a few.

Other factors that are less than obvious which make customers choose only your brand are how much does your brand seem to care about the customers, how is the overall customer buying experience, can the customers trust you, can you deliver what you promised in your marketing, what is the first interaction like with your brand. These are some things to consider as choices are aplenty for the customers.

Travel to me…

Posted on October 8, 2019June 9, 2024 by Nirmal Thapa

Travel to me means to discover

Discover new food, places, people and culture

Cultures of people, customs, traditions, and how they live

Lives of people in different places makes me interested and curious

Curious to learn more about the new destination and myself

Myself is an evolving body and that’s why I love to travel

Dashain Tihar – Sugam Pokharel

Posted on October 7, 2019October 7, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Happy Dashain and Tihar 2076!!!

Why change?

Posted on October 1, 2019October 5, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Why not change?

Why not evolve?

If we are going to get better, why not become one?

If the circumstances are going to be much better, why not take the chance?

Why stay stagnant when things are moving fast?

Why not you?

Why not all of us?

Company culture

Posted on September 28, 2019September 28, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

What is company culture?

Do we want to have a certain company culture?

If we do, what values should we aspire to have?

Who will be responsible to uphold those values?

What if those values are not followed then what happens?

It’s important to ask the right questions before setting out to “build” company culture.

Is there such thing as too much press in business?

Posted on September 27, 2019September 27, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Yes, there is!

I used to believe that getting a lot of press coverage for any business would be good. It would be great to create more buzz, more people would would know about it, more people would be ready to purchase the product, and ultimately there would be more sales. What could be wrong with that right? Well now, I have started to think that it depends where you are in the business stage (startup, survival, sustainable, growth and scale).

For a startup, getting buzz creates hype and excitement towards the company. That buzz can create demand for the product or service, get market feedback, attract talent to the company among others. Yet I have started to see the pressures and repercussion of too much press early in the business stage. First time founders are really excited and passionate about their idea and want to get it out there. It’s hard to resist getting that coverage when it is coming your way. However, when the idea is out in the media, more resource equipped people and companies can easily change their strategies and almost destroy that upcoming new business. Also, if the founder(s) don’t move fast in the market, the weight of the early press coverage/even awards can hold them back. The team dynamics and egos of various people can also be affected if not taken care properly.

It sounds almost counter-intuitive to not get too much press coverage and recognition early. This is definitely not the case for all businesses. However, I’m starting to feel and believe that for startups in Nepal that want to make an impact domestically and internationally, it’s best to extremely focus on your product/service (and resist press/other coverage until you are ready). The time will come when you need to market it, generate press, and grow your company.

Managing vehicle traffic in Nepal

Posted on September 22, 2019September 22, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

Kathmandu faces an acute traffic congestion problem. News of traffic congestion worsening are not rare. The population density is increasing, more vehicles are being added on the road, construction happening almost everywhere etc. We can’t just wait for Dashain holidays to be able to drive comfortably in our capital when most people go to their homes to celebrate the festival. The problem needs solutions right now.

I started researching on how cities around the world are tackling traffic. A good overview can be found on World Economic Forum’s Seven ways cities around the world are tackling traffic. From electronic road pricing, electronic journey planner to integrative public transport model and active traffic management approach, big cities around the world are managing traffic and creating ways to increase their revenue while providing a better quality of life for their citizens/visitors.

Nepal government, concerned government and city agencies, private sector and all other stakeholders should proactively start working on solutions to improve traffic management in our capital. Better late than never.

just be YOU!

Posted on September 21, 2019September 21, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

The best way to build a personal brand is to be yourself.

Being authentic is the most prized asset in today’s world. For people who want to become a personal brand or have their company connect with the customers, the decision is simple: be authentic. Your audience can easily see right through when you are not being authentic. It’s far more easier to just be yourself than trying to be someone else.

Here’s a good read on 4 Ways To Be A More Authentic Person

Riding the wave

Posted on September 16, 2019September 16, 2019 by Nirmal Thapa

There will be times when the tide changes and things move in a certain direction. Sometimes you know when the wave is coming; other times we don’t know when the wave comes. Once in a while we see an established institution recognize the incoming changes, promptly address it, and adapt with it.

Kudos to NBC for getting on the wave that is now. All the best to Lilly Singh for her late-night talk show, “A Little Late with Lilly Singh.” Read more at NBC Taps Lilly Singh to Replace Carson Daly in Late Night.

Category: culture