Wednesday Wisdom: Stepping Up To Support All Things Women

You see, I only see pink, and have for a very long time. Sometimes as in this case, it is literally the color pink but mostly it is figuratively pink because I am so passionate about supporting women’s issues. It started being born the oldest of five sisters and two brothers, surrounded by bold older women who were board presidents and female entrepreneurs and then the “sisters” I gained being a female business owner for 23 years and runner for 20 years. Women have always been at my side, in front of me leading the way and beside me on paved and rocky paths. I would not be who I am with women in my life.

I believe we are all born destined to make an indelible impact on the world. We don’t necessarily know what that impact is when we open our eyes as a newborn, as we grow into young women and even enter middle age, but one day the “aha moment” finds us because buried deep in our heart and inner voice we know what we were meant to do if we stop and listen long enough or as we look back at the natural paths of our lives. We see it. We know it. We must claim it.

When I started my company Women TIES, LLC 13 years ago, it was purely to strengthen the economic ties between women living across New York State, to provide a marketing platform for women entrepreneurs to promote themselves and businesses to other women so they could and would do business together since women don’t make as much money as men. It was my way of “passing legislation” to help level the monetary playing field. What I discovered is as much as that is still my number one passion, I also want to and must support women in sports and women’s equality issues. I suppose I lived out my destiny when my friend Maria DeSantis introduced me once as “Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham, all things women,” because its the truth.

After taking over 100 women to the Women’s March on Washington in 2017, my political voice has gotten stronger, although it has always been there since running for President of my student class in 1979 with an all girls slate. I have always tried to stay as non-political as I could within the context of my business world because I invite women of all faiths, backgrounds, sexual identity and incomes into my company because “women are women” to me no matter who they are; but the stakes coming up this fall are just go high to ignore anymore and I want to use my strong feminine voice to also talk about why women must get out there and vote and support women’s issues.

American women are 52% of the population and our voices must rise to be at every table, legislative branch, community organization, boardroom and business to support women’s rights. As much as I love men – my father, brothers, husband and sons – they don’t understand the true struggles women have because they are not women. It is not their fault for not deeply being rooted in what womanhood means with its glories and defeats, so we – women – must stand up for ourselves and make sure women get an equal share of what is ours.

Before I opened my eyes this morning I saw pink. As I type I see pink. As I watch the news I see pink. As I decide who to do business with today I see pink. My hope for you is to see more pink and act on supporting women that are in business, sports, politics, and equality issues. Women must see start seeing pink all the time to change the world for the better.