Creating a Powerful Personal and Business Legacy

Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

It was the first day of my son’s clinical rounds as a second year Physician Assistant student. His first round is with a local Oncology and Hematology practice where he met 25 terminal cancer patients. When he walked in our kitchen after work, he unloaded his briefcase, sat down at the table and shared his experience with me. I asked him what the biggest lesson was from the day and he said, “How short life can be for some people.”

His experience reminded me of this year’s Women TIES Retreat keynote speaker, Trisha Torrey, who was diagnosed with a rare, fatal form of lymphoma in 2004 and told she had a few months to live. Instead of accepting the diagnosis, which her intuition told her was not right; she searched for alternatives to the diagnosis. Fortunately her gut feeling was correct and she discovered she did not have a fatal cancer condition.

Based on her belief that everything happens for a reason, Trisha changed careers and devoted herself full time to teaching others to improve their chances for better medical outcomes. Eleven years later Trisha has created a powerful national and international legacy after creating her company Every Patient’s Advocate. She has also authored six books and developed an online directory of private, independent patient advocates called AdvoConnection.com with 600 members in 9 countries around the world.

My son might not be able to be more than a compassionate care taker and adviser for the patients he is seeing in his current rotation but women like Trisha Torrey have taken the lead in creating a lasting legacy for themselves and others by the work they do as entrepreneurs.

Today think about the legacy you are leaving as a business owner. You don’t have to be diagnosed with a fatal illness or create a company that saves lives to have an impact, you need to have a personal and corporate mission you live purposefully with each day. I know my mission for the past 20 years has been motivated by the inequality pay issue there by allowing me to help women entrepreneurs become more financially successful by promoting and connecting them with other women they can do business with. Creating a stronger financial legacy for women is what I have dedicated my life to for two decades. Today write down what you want your legacy to be. Create a mission statement. Set goals. Establish a timeline. Be inspired by others. Do and be more. Make a difference.

As my son witnessed, “Life can be too short for some people” but what we decide to do with our lives can positively impact the world and create our own powerful legacy so when our lives are over whether that is in a couple months or decades away, we have created our own powerful legacy that tells our tale and improves the world for the better.