Wednesday Wisdom: Motivated To Do More

Do you ever wonder how non-for-profit organizations get started? Similar to entrepreneurial ventures, there is someone with a vision to create a company using their skills, expertise and knowledge to provide a service or product to the marketplace and solve a problem; just glance at any corporate mission statement to discover the reason for doing business.

Slightly different from entrepreneurial enterprises, creators of most non-profit organizations are moved emotionally by something near and dear to their heart, self or a loved one or to shed light on a community issue. One woman in our organization created a breast cancer support non-profit agency after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Another woman in Women TIES established a different cancer support organization after losing her sister to ovarian cancer.

Some women start non-profit organizations to get government or charity funds to support a worthy plight like Mothers Against Drunk Driving did years ago to stop the useless deaths caused by alcohol related accidents happening to their sons and daughters. Some non-profit agencies are schools, fire departments, and sport associations. All of them started with one or more people who believed officially forming an entity would help them promote, advance and support a cause.

Tomorrow on August 8th, I will begin my 24th year as a woman entrepreneur. My two companies have been for-profit structures with Women TIES behaving much more like a non-profit in mission and feminist spirit. I have not hit some of the big revenue goals but I have touched more lives and interacted, promoted and connected thousands of women over two decades, a number so much larger than I ever imagined. I don’t care if my bank account doesn’t show a million dollars because in my heart the number of women I have served, inspired and met since 1995 is what counts most. They are worth more than a million dollars.

On September 8th, one of my son’s friends, Ryley Shackleton, will host Cuts for a Cure to raise funds for me to get a new wig (his idea not mine) and the National Alopecia Foundation. Ryley owns his own Barber Shop in Camillus but has many past and current Syracuse University athletes as customers. He and a couple of other barbers are donating their earnings that day to cut hair in exchange for monetary donations. I never knew I touched this young man’s life. Sometimes we don’t know who we touch and our impact on someone outside our business circles.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you that your life impacts more people than you imagine. People watch from afar observing your contributions to the community and society as a woman entrepreneur and as a person. If you are lucky enough to have someone notice, you might end up on the giving end of business. There is more kindness in the world than we see in social media or on television. Don’t underestimate your positive impact in your own corner of the world.