Wednesday Wisdom: Brand Name Bonus
| Wednesday Morning, Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, and Small Businesses |
| Stepping inside these well-known establishments one sees merchandise of all varieties with the star or company’s brand names, logos, and more etched or screen printed on them so customers can carry home a piece of the brand. Shirts, mugs, shot glasses, bumper stickers, bottled spirits, packaged food, and more get distributed to other parts of the USA after a visit to this Country Music hub helping develop a company’s name further. #BrandName |
| Even our side trip to Buffalo Trace, a legendary bourbon whiskey distillery for over 200 years, and still functioning as the oldest continuous operating distillery in America, with its brand taste already savored by our taste buds, spoke brand. Brand smells, brand tastes, brand cocktails, and brand spirits to learn about and taste on our one-hour distillery tour. If you didn’t love Buffalo Trace before you arrived, you sure did when you left with $300 worth of their brand loaded in a cardboard box. #BrandName |
| This post is not to alarm you as to my family’s drinking style (besides I’m a vodka girl), but to impress you, like I was, at how tradition, brand name, long-time products, and corporate image, can sear themselves into your entrepreneurial brain like the hickory smoke rising from the barbecue joints like Hattie B’s, (known for the best Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches), where the lines were also long. All I wondered everywhere I went was, “How the heck did these businesses garner such loyalty and sales?” The answer #Brandname. |
| So, today’s Wednesday Wisdom is not meant to send you on a road trip to Tennessee or to turn you into a whiskey drinker, but rather to make you think hard about your company’s brand. What is it? Do others know it when they hear your name or your business? Do they speak it often as though others already know about it? Do you sell merchandise or give away items with your brand image on it? Does your website speak it? Do your social media brands also speak it? How consistent are you in marketing it? You get the point. |
| We might not have the national appeal or marketing bucks of big-time country stars of century-old distilleries, but we do have our unique brand that needs to be shared as often as we can promote, advertise, and market it. These country stars aren’t shy about marketing, marketing, marketing, and then marketing some more. So why shouldn’t you? |
| P.S. There needs to be more female country stars sharing their brand and opening their own bars so we can all spend more money with them! |
Wednesday Wisdom, Advice, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses, Female Business Owners
| The map was lit up in red, orange, and yellow indicating severe weather with the line of storms directly in our driving path. My husband called to ask me to try to cancel our hotel reservations even though the cancellation time was two days past. I wasn’t sure a national hotel chain would allow the cancellation but I tried. |
| I understand cancellation policies having planned and hosted hundreds of events over my 30 years as an event planner. No one can predict the future, especially the weather’s future when setting an important calendar date. It is the one unexpected event management element you must deal with periodically. |
| When women were not coming to my events due to changes in their calendars, not because of the weather, I had to institute stronger cancellation policies so I didn’t literally eat their salads that were made in anticipation of their attendance. If an emergency came up, I could work with them and if it was weather-related, we had a discussion, and a decision was made based on the conversation and circumstance. |
| So, when 3 phone calls and 30 minutes later, the customer service department of the hotel chain allowed us to cancel the reservation based on the severe weather, I was grateful. I knew their policy. I didn’t buy insurance. I just explained the fact we had no way of knowing there was going to be a Tornado Warning in the hotel’s location. I also used the nicest voice I could find to state my case. |
| A combination of their bending their customer service policy, my tenacity to get the cancellation, and my pleasant demeanor helped to make the situation work in our favor. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is for you to consider ways you react to unexpected customer service issues. Are you steadfast in what you state, never changing your policy when someone asks you to change it? Are you more lenient depending on specific situations? Are you more likely to help a client if they are pleasant? Does your staff know your policies and how to make the right decisions when asked to go against what is printed? |
| As I thanked all three hotel employees I spoke with for their time, even making one laugh about not wanting to end up in Kansas instead of Ohio if we ran into a tornado trying to get to their hotel, I felt good about my approach and thankful for their leniency. |
Wednesday Wisdom: Combining Passions in Business
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Athletes, Woman-Owned Companies
| Ode to March “Splashing Lake water questioning, is it spring yet Robin sings the truth” |
| This Haiku was produced by a group of seven women who showed up to enjoy the “Run To Write Club” hosted by Julie B. Hughes in the quaint village of Liverpool on Monday where bright blue skies and a chilly wind greeted us as we ran or walked for thirty minutes before learning how to write this form of poetry. It was a brilliant experience, as my British friends say. |
| Sometimes entrepreneurial endeavors spring up from a desire to combine two passions in life, not just one. In Julie’s case, her love for running and writing, as an author of numerous books, and a long-distance runner, combined to produce this entrepreneurial idea since running typically produces creative moments amid the activity. |
| The women who gathered around the table after the run, with a hot java in hand, learned how to write a Haiku for their future writing goals. Julie asked us to write the Haiku together out loud and base it on the morning run experience. Yes, we saw bubbling water on Onondaga Lake, viewed fat robins along the trail, and dressed warmer than normal because it was still cold outside for an early March Spring morning. It was a wonderful creative bonding experience for all. |
| The hour-and-a-half event left me with new friends, education, pink cheeks, a new t-shirt and journal, and a love for all things women since women are such wonderful humans who light up my soul and smile no matter where I am or what I do. How fortunate to be invited to join this special group which will continue with these events every Monday morning for a while (so join us). |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom encourages you to look at your business or organization and see if it combines one or more of your passions. If not, why not see if you can create a new division, service, or product that does? You might find something that makes perfect sense to add to your repertoire. |
| Our Women’s Athletic Network, a division of Women TIES, LLC, wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for women in business telling me they were interested in sports, and deciding an easy way to add this request and offerings to my existing company. Maybe you have something perfect to add to yours, during this Spring season. |
Monday Motivation: Touche, I say!
Monday Motivation, Inspiration, and Passion for Trying New Sports
The use of swords dates back to prehistoric times with ancient civilizations engaging in swordplay. Fencing as we know it today became an organized sport at the end of the 19th century and became an Olympic sport for men in 1896 and for women much later.
Walking into the Syracuse Musketeers Fencing Center in East Syracuse to try this ancient sport required comfortable clothes, gym shoes or sneakers, and an aptitude to try. I hadn’t watched any YouTube videos on the sport, which I have done in the past, to acquaint myself with what I might learn in a new sport. All I knew was one sword called an epee from a crossword puzzle solution I had to look up. So, I went into this experience with my eyes wide open.
At the door Lubomir Kalpaktchiev, the owner greeted me with a warm smile, which stayed on this face the entire time he taught. Lubo was born in Bulgaria and is a 25-year veteran instructor and qualifying competitor in international fencing, winning the gold medal eight times from 1993 to 2005 in regional and international tournaments.
Shortly after arriving, we were introduced to swords – epee, foil, and saber for attack and defense. We learned footwork, and sword strokes, and quickly tried both out on a wall with targets before facing each other in duels. Outfitted in special white protective shirts and helmets, with electrical cords going up our arm sleeves so they could attach to our epee to record our hits against our duel mates, we were ready to go.
Fencing requires assertive, well-timed action as you try to hit your competitor in special places on their bodies. Each sword has different parts of the body you can attack. The epee sword allows the most hit locations on the body which was perfect for us, four beginners. Each competitor begins behind a yellow line and advances front and back as they duel. Depending on your plan, you either go forth with gusto, like I did or wait to stop the advancement. I admit, that my over-eager attitude made me lose more duels than win, so I think waiting and defending while contemplating where you want to target your sword is smarter.
Since four women were trying this new sport, we dueled each other once giving us three matches each and multiple times to advance and retreat. It is a very aerobic sport and we were sweating before too long. It was also fun, invigorating, and for competitors, really interesting, to try to win a point. Most of my guests thought fencing was ‘fun!” I agree with that description. I think next time I try fencing I will be less aggressive and more defensive in my approach.
This is a sport I would highly recommend trying and Lubo is the perfect instructor. He offers women (and men) the chance to try the sport and coaches students, collegians, and even athletes inspired to go to the Olympics. He also hosts kids’ parties which I know my sons would have loved trying. In July, when the 2024 Summer Olympics are shown on television, watch a fencing match if you can.
I don’t think I’ll look at a 3 Musketeer bar or say “Touche” without thinking back to trying out this great sport. I say “parry” on (a fencing term we learned).
Wednesday Wisdom: Support Systems
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, and Female Athletes
| Just when you think you might falter in a goal, something, or sometimes someone shows up at the exact moment to inspire you. It happened to me on the Manhattan Bridge in the New York City Half Marathon at Mile Marker 5 as my legs felt heavy from the upward ascent to the top of the bridge. For a moment, one brief moment, I was going to stop and walk a bit. |
| Then ahead of me, I witnessed two neon yellow shirts, one with a rope attached to a man in a black shirt with the words “Blind” in white print on his back. Just like in the 2017 Boston Marathon, I was running near a blind athlete and in awe of him and the two women helping him achieve his goal. Zap went my energy rising high again as I witnessed this incredible feat and act of selfless support of two humans to another person. |
| As I passed them, I looked to my right over the East River to see a man running with a silver leg from his knee down to his shoe. He was striding faster than I was. The beautiful sunshine and sparkles on the river sprang around him as if he was being carried by magic or a spirit from above. He was just like the man I ran next to in Boston as well. I have never forgotten the images of the blind and handicapped men I passed in 2017, simply amazed by their fortitude. |
| As I entered Times Square, I heard my name being screamed from behind the ropes by my husband, son, and daughter-in-law, there to cheer me on at Mile Marker 11. A video they shot of me waving my arms in pure joy and excitement as I saw them there, will remain in my memory forever. They were there to support me. I never asked for it feeling it was selfish to make them wait two and a half hours to see me appear somewhere on the course. But there they were to motivate my spirit and tired legs through the rest of the race. |
| Nearing the finish line, I thought to myself that support in any form is a gift – support from loved ones, help from strangers, words of encouragement, or pieces of advice, are more important than money in the bank or blue-skyed days. We need support in all areas of life, especially as women entrepreneurs, female athletes, and women in this world of so many inequalities. We also must be supports to others. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you of your personal and business support systems who lift you up when you need it or don’t expect it. Sometimes strangers play this role too. Other times only those closest to us lend what we need. Be inspired today to write a list of people, systems, strangers, and organizations who have carried your through rough patches, over steep hills, on flat byways, and even on the fun, and fast-paced exciting times in your daily and yearly life. You need them. You have them. Make sure they know you appreciate them. |
| Cheers to all the people who supported me before, during, and after the New York City Half Marathon the past few months. I couldn’t have run it without the love and backing. |
Monday Motivation: Full Circle Magical Moments
Monday Motivation, Inspiration, Female Runners, New York City Half Marathon Moments, Ode to #261Fearless.org
As I ran across the Manhattan Bridge, finally going faster than traffic on the other side of the road, a voice was reading from her book “Marathon Woman.” She said, “I trained every day running alongside the East River after work.” At that exact moment, I looked to my right at Mile 5 of the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon and saw the East River. It was a full-circle moment.
I met the one and only Kathrine V. Switzer in New York City in November 2015, invited down to join her, Edith Zuschmann, and 13 other women from around the globe as first advisors for the new global organization #261Fearless. The name was based on Kathrine’s bib number in the 1967 Boston Marathon where she was the first woman to officially register and run in it. Please check out this link if you don’t know who she is or her story.
The weekend Kathrine and I met was a few days away from the New York City Marathon, and some women were running in it. I was not. I was only a 2-mile-a-day runner and wondered why I was with this amazing group of female marathoners, one of them just returning from running the Antarctic marathon. It must have been my daily dedication to running and my Women’s Athletic Network ties that got me there – or fate.
As a group we ran the streets of NYC, through Central Park, down to the Morning Show, getting to know each other, waving at other famous runners, and creating a lasting bond that changed my life. After leaving NYC that weekend, I wondered if this amazing group of women would remain in my life and if I had changed. I did in fact change; when I ran with them and Kathrine in the 2017 Boston Marathon. My first-ever marathon two years after being inspired by my new running friends.
Yesterday I ran the NYC Half Marathon with one of those women Debra Halliday Mills, whom I met in November 2015, and have since run the Boston Half Marathon, the Women Can Marathon in England, the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon 5K, the 2017 Boston Marathon, and now the NYC Half Marathon, as if she was my running bestie for life, I thought how blessed my life has been since saying yes to Kathrine’s invitation to help #261Fearless that autumn day 8 years ago.
What made it a full circle moment for me was the fact, that I was there running the streets of Manhattan by myself being inspired for the past 8 years by Kathrine’s story, the friends I met in 2015, and the belief in myself as a runner no matter my age, weight, or speed. It is what #261Fearless is built on and has expanded nationally and globally.
The East River will never look the same to me again when I visit my son Adam who lives in Manhattan, or Times Square, since I ran through it yesterday. All these moments that make life so worth living were all based on saying “Yes” to one special woman because we clicked on the phone one day and made a plan to support each other. In doing so, my world is full of magical moments, magical women from around the globe and a belief in the magic of running.
Wednesday Wisdom: Marketing Ripple Effects
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
| Why is it that when we meet some people, they become indelibly part of our lives, and a majority of people we meet simply fade? It is funny how I can remember meeting certain women at specific events even if it was 20 years ago. I remember where they sat, and what we talked about, and instantly felt a deeper connection the moment our eyes or hands met. Is it for some fateful reason? |
| When I was just starting in business in 1995, I joined the Junior League of Syracuse hoping to make connections with important women in the community who might hire me to plan their children’s wedding, organize a fundraising event or golf tournament at another one of their favorite community associations, or to help with personal events. I knew the women of the Junior League were women I didn’t know, but should, especially at the age of 30. |
| One woman stood out based on her friendly disposition. Her name is Judy Winslow. Somehow our personalities clicked and we formed a warm bond. Judy was one of the first women to join Women TIES, LLC when I created it and remained a member throughout its tenure. She and I run into each other periodically and she’d be the first woman I’d call if I was selling my house. She is just fantastic and always has been. |
| To my surprise a couple of weeks ago, Judy’s marketing assistant emailed me telling me Judy wanted to feature me and my new sports endeavor on her social media channels for no apparent reason except to be the supportive person she has always been. Never one to turn down a marketing opportunity, I agreed and like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, my heart grew three times more that day thinking of Judy’s out-of-the-blue gesture. Sure enough, the post appeared as promised, endearing Judy to me a bit more. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to demonstrate how simple it is to re-enter into someone else life and remind them of your relationship. Not only was Judy’s marketing action kind, but cost-effective, clever, and easy to do, it was also smart because I shared her posts of me all over my networks hopefully giving her some advertising exposure in return. Think about this action and see if there is something similar you can do to brighten up another female entrepreneur’s day while strengthening your economic ties and heartstrings. |
| You could also consider doing this marketing action for favorite vendors, sponsors, and other corporate supporters. Our direct marketing connections have their own direct marketing connections, who could need our products or services one day if they knew about us. Remember, you can have the best business in the world but if no one knows about it, you won’t flourish. |
| In resharing Judy’s posts, she benefited as well, and I’m glad she did. Sometimes a simple act of kindness has ripple effects – marketing ripple effects. Try it. |
“Even in Failure, There is a Lesson”
Friday Feelings, Inspiration, Motivation for Female Athletes, Women
Unexpectedly in November, I earned entrance into a race in a city I dreamed about running in one day. I hadn’t planned on running another half marathon only four months after my last one at the age of 59, but with the chance to finally run the streets of the Big Apple, I started training all over again and said to myself, “I can do it! I’m still young enough.”
They say the real work of a marathon or half marathon happens the training months leading up to race day. Once you are at the start, you must celebrate what you’ve done to get there, not worry about the run ahead no matter the weather or circumstances. Better yet, I wanted to run this race in New York City because my sons lived there and it was St. Patrick’s Day. I knew my husband would love drinking some green beer with our sons as I ran past them, Plus, I wanted to impress them.
I was on schedule, running my half marathon plan even in the very cold weather of January and February feeling pretty good until my last 12-mile test run when I changed my stride as a young whipper-snapper ran by me with a much more gracious stride and pace. Little did I know in doing so, I re-injured my right hip just trying to run faster – even though my mile paces were faster than my Boston half marathon times.
My mother said to me recently, “No matter how old you are, you always learn new lessons.” She was talking about her life, not knowing this statement was perfect for my own scenario. I planned on ramping down my running, eating right, and getting ready for the big day when my hips just wouldn’t let me run a short four miles without pain, and then another 1 mile in bad pain three days after the last one. I can tolerate pain, but this type of pain was the stop-your-running type of pain, not you are sore or tired today feelings. You know when you know. Right?
I consulted my smart Orthopedic PA son and was told to stop running, take Advil, ice it, and be patient until three days before the race to defer my bib for 2025 if the pain persisted. So, I’ve been getting massages, sitting in hot tubs, taking Advil religiously, drinking lots of water, allowing my overactive zest for sports and life to settle down, and telling myself to respect the advice and my knowing of the situation.
A quote came across my desk at the same time I was contemplating my decision. It said, “Even in failure, there’s a lesson. It continued, “If you are facing a setback, don’t despair. Instead use wisdom and energy to rise again, stronger and more resolved than ever. Lean into the pain of your missteps and failures – acknowledge them, learn from them, and finally use those experiences to re-strategize, rebuild, and relaunch yourself.”
The last line of the quote says, “Your failures do not define you; they refine you.” Aah, that’s a grand statement.
So, for now, I’m taking five more days of rest until I decide to defer or run. No matter what I know I will get to NY to run this half marathon either in nine days or next year. “Patience Tracy,” I said, “Listen to the lesson.”
Monday Motivation, Wisdom, Inspiration, Women’s History Month
On March 3, 2005, I parked my car at the curb and walked inside the city office with excitement in my eyes. With $50, identification, and a name for my second company, I filled out paperwork for my new company, Women T.I.E.S. – Women Together Inspiring Entrepreneurial Success. Those words were carefully chosen to reflect what I envisioned would happen as I connected, united, promoted, and marketed women entrepreneurs across New York State so they could open up their marketplace and revenue potential. I saw it. I believed in it.
I was already running a 10-year-old event planning and management company called Five Star Events. The difference was with that company I was planning events for clients, organizations, and corporations instead of for myself. I loved it. It opened doors, but it didn’t have an important enough mission. I wanted to change the world in some way – my world and community of females – in some positive way. Women TIES was the perfect vehicle to do this as female business ownership was on the rise as the calendar changed into the 2000s.
There were already excellent female-focused business organizations like the Mohawk Valley Women’s Business Network (MVWBN) based in Utica and the Rochester Women’s Network (RWN) running successfully in Rochester, but they weren’t trying to connect women along the Thruway to do business together they were locally focused. I wanted women to travel Route 90 and conduct business with other women first, before hiring a man in their locale, to create a stronger financial buying platform for women since they make less pay than men.
It was a novel concept at the time. No one thought a feminist-focused buying mission would work. “Women don’t earn enough money to buy from other women and they don’t like spending money,” said a male advisor at a local university who was hosting events for female business owners. I wondered why he was in the “business” to begin with a bad attitude like that. You know what I learned early on, women must be the ones changing the world for women, not men. They can’t really sense the dire need for equality in certain areas.
Eventually, I was asked by women to bring Women TIES, LLC to their community. We hosted events in Oswego, Watertown, Ithaca, Auburn, Skaneateles, Binghamton, Owego, Cortland, Utica, Rome, Little Falls, Albany, Saratoga Springs, Canandaigua, and Rochester. We also created 9 Annual Retreats called “Women Inspiring Success: The Women TIES Retreat”. Women TIES grew larger than I imagined on March 3, 2005, all because of the women who believed in what we were doing and offering.
I never looked back from that thought not including men as speakers, members, or sponsors. I wanted women to be first and center at my events to make sure they were the ones walking away with the money. I didn’t need to create a monetary platform for men., they already had one which excluded women for centuries. I received a phone call one day from a man asking to attend an event. I turned him down. He said to me, “Well, I am going to start a company called Men TIES then,” to which I replied, “Good for you. Good luck.” I meant it.
As Women TIES celebrated its 19th birthday yesterday, on my father’s birthday, my husband and sons celebrated with me. They know I love men but that I was put on this earth to help women entrepreneurs and women in business make more money through my connections, events, programs, and words. Without all the amazing women who have crossed my path, attended events, monetarily supported the company, shared our news, invited others to check us out, or bought from other women, the ultimate gift back to me, I would not be sharing this post today.
Women are amazing. They remain the center of my heart in all things business and sports. Without them, without each other, we couldn’t have done anything positive to change the world for the better. Keep rocking on women; we will get there…together.
Why Women’s History Month?
Women’s History Month Motivation and History
Last year I shared history on the beginnings and reasons for Women’s History Month and it was a popular post, so I thought I’d share it again.
Now more than ever before – during Women’s History Month or after – women must stand up for women and try to change the world in a positive way to lift women up and even the business and world playing field for them. The 2024 election is a vital one where two differing candidates stand in opposition to how they treat women and the rights they want to keep or take away from them. Make sure you vote this year no matter what so there STILL is a Women’s History Month next year.
In feminist spirit,
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham
Women TIES & Women’s Athletic Network
Women TIES 