Wednesday Wisdom: Expect Exceptional Moments
Wednesday Wisdom, Wednesday Morning, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners

Twinkle lights intertwined with live greenery hung from the old rope factory beams setting the stage for the New Year’s Eve Wedding Celebration as guests gathered under these ‘stars’ finding their seats in brilliant white chairs. Right on cue the expert wedding planner directed the bridal party down the aisle in step with the processional music provided by a popular wedding disc jockey. The pastor, chosen for the occasion, waited patiently, smiling until the bride arrived in front of him unlinking arms with her father as both their matching dimples radiated the joy of the moment.

After the personal exchange of vows made the audience laugh and smile, while making the bride and groom tear up, they were proclaimed husband and wife and strolled down the aisle to begin their first dance while others joined in immediately. Afterwards exquisite passed hors d’oeuvres and the signature drink “Rosemary Manhattans” were delivered by an exceptional catering company. Food, drinks, frivolity followed until I found myself on the dance floor with my son, the groom.

Our brown eyes matching, with hands held tightly, we danced in each other’s joy to the song “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You” by James Taylor, a song I used to dance to with him as his once tiny legs clutched around my waist on days I wasn’t working. Now my 6’4” son and I smiled with a deep and resonating love as 150 people watched in awe. I believe my heart burst on the dance floor during those three minutes.

As the reception continued with guests dancing the night away in New York City at this special New Year’s Eve Wedding, and as the Times Square Ball dropped across the East River, champagne Jello shots were distributed in time for “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. As the last dance happened at 1 a.m. the full dance floor moaned not wanting to end the night.

Today’s first Wednesday Wisdom of 2023 is to remind you to find deep joy in what you do this year. It doesn’t take a formal wedding celebration overlooking the Manhattan skyline to feel the emotion. Sometimes all it takes is living in all our moments 100% of the time and seeking the joy from them. As a woman entrepreneur, I know for a fact stellar vendors can also make a significant difference in the lasting memories of our entrepreneurial experiences. Never short yourself on hiring the right people or company to support your efforts.

As I unwind from the thrill of this amazing event, know that I will soon be planning more events – perhaps, not as fancy or significant as my son’s wedding, to bring women in business, sports, and equality together to celebrate their own passions and joy. Happy 2023 – may it be bright!
Wednesday Wisdom: To Plan or Not to Plan
Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Companies

As another year closes its doors and opens another one Sunday, we might be pressured to construct the best New Year’s Resolution list we’ve ever had for our lives and companies. But what I learned in 2022, four months into the year, as I flew from a flying trapeze high above the ground in Rochester, was a big new goal can be hatched in the most unusual spaces at any time.

I liken what happened to me on the trapeze to one of Harry S. Truman’s quotes, “You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can’t possibly foresee now.” Most of us aren’t seers or cradle crystal balls in our hands to gaze upon the next year and see what unfolds, all we have is our imagination.
In the past, only 25% of my annual resolutions or goals came true when I reviewed them even though it was exhilarating imagining myself 20 pounds lighter, running another marathon, traveling abroad, increasing my membership numbers, and seeing myself with a full head of hair again. But honestly it was equally exciting remembering the places I went, people I saw, and things I accomplished unexpectedly as they popped up during the year.

So today as you ponder this last Wednesday Wisdom of 2022, I ask you to consider whether you want to plan and set goals for the new year or let life take you for a ride? Maybe you can plan for your business, but let your personal life just flow or vice versa. If you are anxious about not having a plan, then do one and realize that every quarter you should look at it and cross off what you’ve accomplished or add new goals that have bubbled up due to your interest or outside circumstances.
If you are like me, you might want to let life just happen best you can and embrace the unexpected moments. As Stephen King said, “You Can. You Should. And If You are Brave Enough to Start. You will.”
May 2023 bring you unexpected pleasures and successes you couldn’t have imagined today.
Monday Motivation: Enduring Friendships
When I reviewed our blog statistics, I discovered our most popular post was about enduring friendships and not business wisdom. I think it proves that life is about relationships and not entities or philosophies. On this last Tuesday of 2022, I hope you re-read this 2,000-view inspiration and let it soak in as you ponder business and life relationships in 2023. People matter. How you treat people matter. Strong “ties” stand the test of time. Build that into your business plan for the New Year.
Monday Motivation, Monday Morning, Inspiration, Motivation

Orange and black balloons decorated a special wall at the venue. Pictured between them was an enlarged yearbook photo of a football team from 1981. Former members of the team were swirling around in the room mixing with non-football players, cheerleaders and former fans of the team. Pride in our high school’s athletics program was just one staple of our class of 1982’s gathering.
Although everyone in the room graduated from one combined high school, one of two junior high schools, and numerous elementary schools all over our city, which swelled with Griffis Air Force Base families at times in addition to homegrown generations, we were one. So what makes our alma mater, formed in 1860 and one of the first public schools in upstate New York, with an impressive 600+ graduates, return decade after decade to be together for…
View original post 319 more words
Wednesday Wisdom: Counting Down Pink
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners

Growing up Catholic meant watching purple and rose candles being lit each Sunday of Advent in church. After having sons who made green and red construction paper loops intertwined, our counting down included tearing off one loop each day until the string was gone meaning it was Christmas. Watching Jewish friends light Menorah Candles signified their celebration once it began. Don’t forget the Twelve Days of Christmas song listing numerical items, like 5 golden rings, as the holiday closes in. People like counting down.
No matter what your religion or tradition, as a woman entrepreneur with buying power in your pink purse or credit card, consider counting down in a significant way with actions the next ten days to help our sister business owners achieve some success during this powerful purchasing time of year.

1. Earmark a certain percentage of the rest of your holiday spending budget on items sold by female business owners.
2. When you see a product being sold by a woman you know on social media, repost the items on your own pages so more people see the listing.
3. Stop by three woman-owned businesses in your town to buy something from them even if it means stocking stuffers.
4. Invite a friend to join you at a woman-owned restaurant or café for holiday eggnog.
5. Donate to an organization that supports women or girls.
6. Signup now for a female organized self-care program or retreat in 2023.
7. Buy books written by female authors.
8. If you are catering a home event, hire a female catering company.
9. Looking ahead to 2023 travel plans, hire a woman who owns her own travel business.
10. Share this message with everyone you know so more people remember to buy from women this holiday season.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is an important reminder that we have power in our purses to support other women financially this holiday season. Women still need us to help them sustain and grow their companies. We might not have thousands of dollars to spend, but sometimes the smallest purchase can make a difference, especially if every woman thinks and acts with pink intention.
If you use my suggested countdown the next ten days, you are personally adding to a Pink Holiday Season for women like you and me who appreciate and depend on other women’s purchases. Do your part and think pink and buy from women first and foremost in the time remaining in 2022.

Wednesday Wisdom: The Value of Trainers in Business
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Advice for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Women in Sports

In 2005 after starting Women TIES, LLC, I knew I needed an online marketing tool to communicate with new and potential members on a weekly basis. In those days, technology was brand new and didn’t have tutorials like some have today. What was a non-techy woman entrepreneur to do?
Well, I hired another woman who had advanced technology skills at that time, with a focus on graphic design, to train me. I told her I’d pay her hourly rate if she could sit with me and help me set up my corporate brand images, load email addresses, and walk me through how to use other tools in Constant Contact. It was the best money I ever spent as evident by still using Constant Contact 17 years later.

Business and life provide us with unique opportunities to hire a trainer to get us to a goal. Trainers aren’t necessarily coaches but rather people who can educate us on specific topics. When I decided to run the Boston Marathon, I needed a trainer, specifically another woman who had run marathons, to create a plan for me to use daily to be ready for my big race six months away. Without her training plan, I couldn’t have finished the Boston marathon.
Think about it, even our children and grandchildren don’t learn how to eat, go to the bathroom, or ride a bike without parents as trainers.
When you look up the word “trainer” online, it shows
* a person or thing that trains
* a person who trains an athlete
* a simulated aircraft use to train aircrew members
I don’t see a place where it says a woman entrepreneur trains another female business owner on essential business knowledge in the description, but I’ve used more trainers than coaches during my 3-decade history in business. Sometimes I take classes – online or in person – but that is different from what I’m talking about. I’ve gotten over more hurdles in business by hiring a personal “trainer” to lend knowledge in a subject I’m stuck on or new to.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant to motivate you to consider finding another woman entrepreneur you can hire to train you in her specialty or assist you with knowledge she has, that you don’t. It could be a CPA, a CEO with experience in trademark or copyright, an author or publisher, and even another artist. Make sure you insist on paying for her time.
Women are eager to teach, and women are eager to learn. Don’t forget you can reach out and ask to pay someone for their expertise to make you wiser and more successful.
We Need Female Changemakers in Sports and Business
Thursday Thoughts, Inspiration, Motivation for Women in Business, Women in Sports, Females

As the wind howled out my window, I prayed my Internet and electricity would stay on. It was one of those rare, but bountiful days, when the opportunity to listen to four females in the athletic world came to my doorstep – or my computer screen. The Town Hall discussion was on Title IX and the future for Women Coaches and Leaders. Not yet a coach, but born of two coaches, and a woman determined to see equality across the board for all women, I tuned in.
I know people are tired of Zoom presentations but I love them especially when someone like Muffet McGraw, one of the leading female basketball coaches of all time, is virtually sitting 12 inches from your face inspiring and educating you. Thanks to the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King, programs like this exist and work to expand women’s equality in sports, besides pleura of other initiatives.

Joining Muffet McGraw was Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports, Kristen Bourne, Cross Country Skier and USA D Team Coach, Gloria Nevarez, Commissioner of the WCC. Each woman had broken barriers to get to their positions. Listening to them reminded me that women – whether women in business, advancement or sports – still face strong barriers to gain high levels of administration and leadership opportunities in male-dominated industries. The glass is cracking but very slowly.
The biggest takeaway for me after listening for an hour is that every woman needs to believe that women can lead. We need networks of other women to help us. We need women ahead of us to help us advance. We need to be confident and show our competence. We have to try for positions we don’t think we can get, and be prepared in the interviews to land them. Women can’t back down. We must push ahead if anything is to change.
Do you want to be a change maker?

Wednesday Wisdom: Ride the Marketing Wave
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday are successful marketing campaigns aimed at consumers to expend money for deals, sales, and good causes. In the 1960s, Philadelphia was the origin city of Black Friday, where a huge number of shoppers gave police and cab drivers headaches trying to keep up with the traffic and pedestrian crowds. It also stood for changing red ink to black ink profits making it a financially successful day for businesses.
As time and technology progressed, Cyber Monday became a hot marketing tool in 2005 to create customer excitement over the internet. Small Business Saturday followed in 2010 when corporate giant American Express desired a way to support small businesses and their community efforts. AMEX’s smart thinking generated a 23% increase in transactions for itself while inspiring 103 million Americans to support the small business community.

With all the greed and attention aimed at commercial enterprises, it made sense in 2012 that the simple idea of people doing good for others was created – Giving Tuesday. There are now 80 countries that participate in the cause on a random Tuesday in November with an estimated $2.7 billion donated in the United States alone. Pure proof an amazing marketing campaign can change the world.
On this Wednesday, how can you as a woman entrepreneur learn from the marketing success of these campaigns? First, you need to be creative, always thinking of something that could spur your customers to buy from you or the marketplace to come to your store or website. Second, actively promote these extremely popular advertising campaigns and get involved by participating, offering specials, and letting local media know what we are doing to get highlighted. Third, be inspired by these concepts and create your own unique marketing campaigns during the year – maybe around the launch date of our business – to entice the public to spend with you.

We can ride the wave of success of global and national marketing movements. It isn’t hard to do so grab your 2023 calendar now and start plotting your course.