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Model, Singer, Author is Model Citizen! 2007 

Mother-Daughter Team Release Book for Charities

Alexi Panos, the 5’11” bronze-skinned, white smiled, 23 year-old Greek-beauty is not only gorgeous on the outside, but a beautiful person within. The 2001 Atlantic City High School graduate, singer who toured the world with Grammy-award winning, HipHop artist, JaRule; and current runway/showroom/print model in NYC, just successfully brought a very large, fresh water well to the village of Kawe in Tanzania, Africa.

Alexi toured for the first time through Africa with JaRule when she was 19 years old. She remembers pulling away in the tour bus and swearing to herself that she would return to do something to help the sick and dying orphan children and the families there. She immediately sponsored a little boy through the “Save the Children” organization when she came home, but felt she had to do more.

Originally, Alexi thought if “she made it big in singing” then she would have enough money to “really do something huge.” But as time when on, and the JaRule-50 Cent Hip Hop wars escalated in the singing industry, she was turned off to what she saw. “Too many people sell their soul to “make it” and I wasn’t willing to do that. I turned down my offer from Murder, Inc. and focused on starting my charity E.P.I.C.” Every Day People Initiating Change is what E.P.I.C. stands for – and Alexi sees herself as just “an every day person who CAN make a difference in the world.”

Riana Milne, Alexi’s mother, a psychotherapist who lives in Egg Harbor Township, NJ; then asked Alexi to co-author the book she was writing “Watch Me! The Bold, New Motivational Attitude for Personal Success.” Riana wanted her book to have a Higher Purpose and relate to those ages 13 and up, and already had decided to have a majority of the proceeds go to her Scholarship Fund for the Performing Arts, for students in grades 8 through 12th. She told Alexi if she was willing to write about her experience of how she used the Watch Me! Attitude taught to her since being a young child to “make her dreams and goals come true” that it could help raise some of the funds that E.P.I.C. needed with book sales. Alexi loved the idea, and now the book benefits both charities equally. The book came out fall of 2006, and can be found on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. The majority of proceeds go to these two charities, and the book retails for $16.95.

Within a year and a half, Alexi and her E.P.I.C. co-founder Tennille DeFratis earned enough money to go to the Kawe village for one month in August 2006 to assess their biggest need and to volunteer to teach in the primary school. Living amongst the villagers in their homes with no running water or steady electricity, Alexi and Tennille returned with amazing film coverage of her experience there (www.epicthemovement.org). The girls found that children had to walk up to 5 miles a day to fetch a pail of ocean water that their families used as drinking and cooking water. There was no running water or toilets in the school – merely a hole in the ground that the children had to squat over. Many were dying from drinking the tainted ocean or lake water.

“The Ripples Project” was then born – in their first year; the girls earned enough money with various projects to have an engineering firm put a huge well in the center of the village – right near the school. Just 6 months later, Alexi got word that the “well hit water” and the entire village was celebrating!

Alexi and Tennille returned to the village in late August 2007, and during that trip made a presentation to the UN about the importance of the E.P.I.C. project. The villagers of Kawe now have fresh water that is easily accessible from a pump, and have since completed the second well, and are busy raising funds for the third water well! Pictures and film coverage of their three African trips can be seen on the E.P.I.C. web site.

The most exciting recent news is that Quicksilver Women’s Organic Clothing line is donating 3% of their sales to the E.P.I.C. Fund. Alexi and Tennille really hope this will get the word out in a big way – the importance of E.P.IC. and the water project.

The girls have taken their message into various schools. Alexi said, “I love coming and talking with students – they relate to me because I am young and have experience in the fashion and entertainment business; and the administration likes that I was a talented and gifted student who teaches the importance of working hard in school.” Alexi was able to exempt 11th grade, and graduated Atlantic City HS with a 4.0 average, while modeling most of that year in Philadelphia with the Reinhard agency and with QVC. She has been modeling since the age of 4, and started with her mom’s company, Riana’s Model and Talent School and Agency that she originated in Erie, PA.

Alexi has recently done speaking presentations at Pepperdine University of CA, and with her mom Riana in the Vineland and Margate Schools. Riana was a Student Assistance Counselor at Winslow school, and taught the Character Education classes in her school to 4-5th grades. “I tie in the E.P.I.C. program with Character Education, Anti-bullying/violence education, and it also meets core-curriculum standards for a geography presentation,” said Riana. She also started a Talent Show Club, where the students raise money from show tickets to give to the needy families within their school – all in the spirit of E.P.I.C. “These young people are thrilled they can help others through the use of their talents!”

“Both in the schools and at my therapy practice, Therapy by the Sea, LLC, I work with troubled children and teenagers. Letting them see how truly blessed they are to have their homes and families in America is a real eye-opener when they see how the children live in Tanzania. Suddenly, those expensive designer clothes and new video game or ipod is not so important. They gain a new perspective of what is truly valuable in life – good health, family, a quality education, and being a good friend.”

As a team, Riana and Alexi aren’t only excellent authors, but great motivational speakers. Riana has BA degree in Broadcasting, a 3-part Masters degree in Applied Clinical and Counseling Psychology, is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Life & Relationship Coach, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, an Inter-faith Minister, a teacher for future counselors at Stockton College, and runs the Atlantic City Singles Networking Group. She also had written a local Advice column, Single by the Sea, and had three radio therapy call-in shows, “Night Moods with Riana Milne” on KOOL 98.3 FM, “Talk Therapy with Riana Milne” on Talk radio WOND 1400 AM, and “Talk to Me AC” at WJAM FM in Atlantic City.

Alexi has learned the power of giving back to the world through her mother. “Help your self by Helping Others” was always Riana’s motto. “It is when you are helping others that you feel happiest with yourself,” she explains. “And then, your whole world just comes together – in work, relationships, and in the quality of life.”

Riana and Alexi can be contacted at the By the Sea Books Publishing Company at Publishing@rianamilne.com or through Riana’s web site: www.RianaMilne.com.

For Immediate Release - August 2006

Let this dynamic and accomplished mother-daughter team show you how to reach your goals, dreams, and higher purpose in Watch Me! The Bold, New Motivational Attitude for Personal Success

Outskirts Press, Inc. and By the Sea Books Publishing Company are pleased to introduce Riana Milne, a successful psychotherapist, motivational speaker, and advice columnist; and her daughter Alexi D. Panos, a successful model, actor, singer, dancer and businesswoman. Their new book Watch Me! provides a holistic, spiritual, and motivational program that will help students of all ages reach their life’s dreams and goals. How do we know it works? Riana and Alexi are living proof, experiencing success and personal fulfillment at the very top of their fields.

Are You Tired of Being Doubted, Put Down, or Told You’re Just Not Good Enough?

Most of us can think of a time when our loved ones doubted us or never thought we would accomplish much; or we have a critical inner voice that creates low self-esteem and sabotages our dreams. Determined to triumph in the face of her own difficult transitions and challenges, Riana Milne developed her “Watch Me!” Attitude, a series of motivational techniques for reaching personal success that has worked for her, her daughters, and for all those whom she has coached and counseled over the past 25 years. Riana is a Triple Master’s Psychotherapist with a thriving family counseling practice. She was a model and talent agent who’s Creative Arts School successfully placed actors and models world-wide, winning three International Awards for Model & Talent School of the Year & Educational Excellence.

In Watch Me! The Bold, New Motivational Attitude for Personal Success, the reader will learn how to gain confidence, achieve balance in life, and develop a sense of spirituality for mood control and a keen inner focus to achieve extraordinary results, no matter the circumstances, age, or profession. Separate chapters are included for Couples, Parents, and Teens. In the "It Works for Young People Too" chapter, co-author Alexi D. Panos tells her own story of how the “Watch Me!” Attitude helped to launch her to great success in both the performing arts and business world. By practicing the techniques outlined in Watch Me! The Bold, New Motivational Attitude for Personal Success, you too can learn to reach your highest purpose and authentic, best self, reaching all your personal and professional goals. Live the life you were meant to live!

About the Authors:
Terriana (Riana) Milne (www.RianaMilne.com) is the embodiment of the modern woman. A Psychotherapist, Inter-faith minister, advice columnist, school counselor, and published author, Milne has also worked as a life and motivational coach, radio and TV personality, public speaker, marketing and public relations pro, and teacher. Whew! There is nothing this mother of two won’t tackle!

Alexi D. Panos (www.AlexiPanos.com) can be heard on three multi-platinum music CDs and has appeared in over 17 fashion magazines and in 12 music videos. Alexi has been a guest of CNN’s Showbiz Tonight, has appeared in several TV pilots, and now runs her own successful charity, E.P.I.C. (Everyday People Initiating Change - www.epicthemovement.org).  Oh, and did we mention she’s only 22?

ISBN: 0978596501
Format: 6.14 x 9.21 Paperback
Retail Price: $16.95
Trade Discount: 40%
Page Count: 248

7028 Ridge Ave, Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234   Ph: (609) 601-7884 Email: Publishing@rianamilne.com  

Watch Me! The Bold New Motivational Attitude for Personal Success
by Terriana (Riana) Milne & Alexi D. Panos

Availability: Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com
ISBN: 0-9785965-0-1; 978-0-9785965-0-7, $16.95 (40% distribution discount), 6x9 paperback, 226 pages, MSA NE USA

Contact Information
Riana Milne, MA, LPC
c/o By the Sea Books-Publishing Co.  7028 Ridge Ave.,  Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234 

Alexi D. Panos - www.AlexiPanos.com, www.epicthemovement.org

Publishing@rianamilne.com  
(609) 601-7884 / Cell: (201) 281-7887

Riana and Alexi are donating partial proceeds from Watch Me! to the E.P.I.C. Charity and the Riana Milne Scholarship Fund for the Performing Arts.