Wednesday Wisdom: Your Teams
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
Like many of you, I have been a solo entrepreneur for years, motivating myself daily in entrepreneurial goals, tasks, and events. I’ve never minded it, in fact enjoyed the ability to work when I wanted, at what I wanted, anytime I wanted. Freedom is a signature feeling most women desire when they start their own enterprise – freedom to make their own decisions and live their lives the way they want.
As the sun sparkled over Keuka Lake on Saturday morning, I was not alone; rather accompanied by seven other businesswomen, two female coaches, and fifteen twenty-year-old female athletes. We gathered to learn from each other and play individually and as teams. Instruction taught by the youthful ones to the middle-aged women started first. It’s not typical for nineteen- old-girls to be more schooled in something than fifty-year-old ladies, but they were, in this instance gleeful to undertake the leadership role. We in returned listened, tried, both succeeded and failed, and in the end learned not only athletic skills but an essential teamwork mindset. Reminding me how important collaboration is.
Then it was our turn to teach career and business lessons, in an open-square- table format nibbling on warm pizza and gooey cupcakes, as the girls listened soaking up our advice for current and future personal success. They were in full attention mode intrigued by our stories and wisdom, never bored, but conscientious endearing them more to me. I know for a fact the future is bright pink after being around them.
As you gather next week around your own team of family members and friends sharing food, stories, smiles, and love, remember what it feels like to be part of your own team of sorts. Whether family, friends, spouses, children, grandchildren, or neighbors, you belong to a unit of people taking any emptiness out of your life if only for a day.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you to bask in the oneness of being with a sorted group of individuals sharing knowledge, moments, and memories with each other to fill up your heart so when you return to working by yourself you remember you are part of a team of dear people. Life brings us lessons in many forms, through diverse people so relish the faces, discussions, and happiness that illuminate the table you sit around.
I am fortunate to be able to bring the cheerful faces and actions of exuberant young female athletes to my thanksgiving prayers this year, along with all of you who read and respond to my blog posts.
Tuesday Thoughts: Women Playing in a Wolfpack
Tuesday, Tuesday Thoughts, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Female Athletes
Arriving on the lakeside campus reminded me of my youth growing up on a lake and making my heart sing. Nestled in the Finger Lakes, about an hour and a half from my home, is the quaint campus of Keuka College my sports destination for the day. Mesmerized by its charm, I parked my car behind the Recreation Center, went inside to find one of the most likeable coaches I’ve ever met – Erika Profenno smiling and ready to make learning Field Hockey my goal for the day.
Seven business women, some with field hockey experience or moms of some of the Keuka College Wolverines Women’s Field Hockey team, arrived and started networking. We met there to caravan to the field where the players were eager to teach us this historic game. You might not know but field hockey’s origins started in the 18th-century making it one of the oldest team sports in history. Some of the business women brought field hockey sticks, goalie pads, and shin guards to uniform up for the game.
As we arrived at the field looking over the campus and lake, the stars of the show greeted us. They were giggly, exuberant team players ranked from freshman to seniors who play for Coach Erika. They were well- trained, well-behaved, and excited to teach a bunch of middle-aged women how to play the sport they loved on a brisk Saturday morning. As a college student, I cherished Saturday mornings so I can’t imagine being this happy myself if I had to rise and instruct a bunch of 50-year-old women.
Led by Senior Captain Makaela Mills, we learned how to “flick”, “strike”, “drive,” and “defend.” I easily perfected the drive motion since my energy level was high, but flicking the round compact ball, that fit in the palm of my hand although larger than a golf or lacrosse ball, was a tougher move for me. My friend Jill Bates said, “I keep thinking I’m driving a golf ball and raising my arms too high behind me.” Coach Profenno came to our rescue giving us detailed guidance. If there is one thing I’ve learned being taught so many different sports in a small span of time it’s that it is easy to confuse strokes and movements between them.
Soon we were assigned to two different teams, a mix of women and players, and lined up for two 8-minute halves for a scrimmage. FUN! I was put on the offensive line so I could score a goal. Behind me was a line of middies and then defenders and our goalie, a non-goalie player from the team who wanted to try out goal for once (she did great by the way). I made both teams name themselves – we were called F2 – the Feminist Field Hockey Team and the other team chose the name Plan A. (check out our TikTok Video of the scrimmage at this link).
As we ran wildly chasing the ball with our sticks in front of us, we laughed and laughed and tried our best to score. I must admit I didn’t score and our team didn’t win but kudos to Plan A for their expertise and 2 goal win. At the end of the scrimmage, which I wish went longer, we gathered for a huddle, sticks in the air, and smiles on our faces for a large group photo.
We headed back to the Recreation Center to have a pizza networking party complete with a career and business discussion for us to give back to these sharp students. I gifted them each a Chicken Soup for the Soul “Running for Good” book that held my Boston Marathon story to inspire them further in life to play and give. To my surprise, they gifted me with my very own Keuka College Wolverine Jersey #24 which I absolutely love.
The experience was truly amazing. It was fun sport to learn and play – especially if you like running and being on a team. On this Monday morning, I am so proud to now be a part of the Wolf Pack – a Wolverine in heart and spirit.
Wednesday Wisdom: Grab a Marathon Mentality
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Female Athletes
You enter the race one person, you leave it another,” is one of my favorite quotes from Kathrine V. Switzer, my friend, mentor and first woman to officially register and run in the Boston Marathon. As I watched thousands of women and men run Sunday’s New York City Marathon, I was reminded not only of that quote from Kathrine but also the one, “The best of humankind is seen on and besides a marathon race.”
Consider the multitude of hours and commitment a person puts into training for a 26.2-mile race. It took me six months of running and training in all-weather to do one. Envision a father pushing his paralyzed son in a race bike carriage the entire way to give him the thrill of being in a marathon because he can’t walk. Think about how many marathon runners raise anywhere between $3,000 – $10,000 in donations for charities to be able to run in a marathon if they aren’t fast enough to qualify for one. I raised $8,000 for my Boston run to support 261Fearless, a global women’s running organization.
Then envision the sidewalks of the streets of major cities being lined with people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds standing for hours to yell support, give out water bottles, hold up signs, cheer until their throats are sore, to inspire a stranger running in a race. Some give out orange slices, others give hugs, and others a single moment of encouragement – the kind needed to keep going when the going gets tough.
The best of the best run in marathons – the elite women, the para-athletes in their wheelchairs using their arms, and elite males. Then the best of the best of humankind shows up on the sidelines in joyous energy to transmit to those running the hard race. Forget the world where the media paints crime, violence, fighting politicians, arguing neighbors as your focal point and look at a marathon to judge our world. You’ll see a very different one, I promise.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom, the day after another nasty election cycle, is to remind you that there is good in the world and really good people who do things to help others. November is the month of giving and thanksgiving and if there is one thing I wish you this month, is to take a marathon’s view at the world, your world, and our world together. It is full of much more joy than hatred. Look for it and participate in it that way.
By living inspired through other people’s actions on and off the roads, fills us up with an abundance of love so there isn’t room for anything else. Become a marathoner or spectator of a marathon to feel the sweet harmony of the world and the pure will and spirit of doing something hard and generous and entwine it into your life or business outlook today.
Wednesday Wisdom: Dig Deep to Uncover Pricing Issues
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
November is both a month of remembrance and thanksgiving wrapped into thirty days. As the bare tree limbs, now stark against the grey clouds look sad without their deep green or blazing red leaves, so does the first few days of this month for Catholics who celebrate All Souls Day and the passing of loved ones. But by month’s end, gathering with family members and friends will remind us of what we have, not what we lost, like the trees leafless now.
Three days ago, a woman entrepreneur with an exceptional pastry business announced her immediate closing stating with a “saddened heart” she was closing her company due to spiking costs of supplies and ingredients explaining how the simple cost of a case of eggs rose from $19 to $65 – a 30% increase. Looking for instant buyers for all her kitchen ware, she wrote, “Honestly this is immensely painful for me and my family. I just need to move forward. I just need to save my home.”
If we’ve been in business long enough, we empathize with this woman who gave it her all to succeed. She couldn’t have predicted Covid-19 and its economic impacts on her business, pricing, sales trends, or customer’s decisions to save rather than spend. I always booked her for our Rochester events every time we had one to support her and because her pastries were heavenly. But having the best tasting or priced products in town doesn’t always make for a success story. Outside elements play negatively with our companies at times.
So what is a woman who owns her own business to do? Dig deep, I say. Dig deep into the mathematical calculations of your business. There is always time for marketing and networking, but we must know our figures, bottom line, revenue projections, marketing factors, and customers’ “appetite” to buy from us more than once-in-awhile. If looking at your hard cold cash facts is difficult for you, find someone to review them with you to make it easier, but don’t ignore what you must know to succeed and flourish.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom lays the truth as bare as the limbs on the November trees, get to know the black and white of your company’s numbers better. Make adjustments where you need to, change your projections, search for cheaper vendors, workup pricing models, do market research, and try to lower expenses if they are too high. Make deals. Work hard to stop any slides in revenue. Consider revising your holiday marketing and pricing plans. Take advantage of your niche in the market.
We can’t put the leaves back on the trees until spring, a good five months away, but you can do something today to strengthen your five month financial plan if you take the time to dig deep.
Women in Sports: Get Your Fattie on Mountain Biking
Thursday Thoughts for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Female Adventures
“Get on your fattie, Tracy,” my friend Patti Giancola said to me. At first, I thought she was referencing my tush but soon looked down at the tires on the mountain bike to see they were especially fat tires. Fatties are slang for flat tire bikes used for mountain biking, and they are much larger than my regular bicycle.
I had seen these fat-tired bikes before but typically in February when I’m still riding my regular bike in Central New York being extra careful not to slide off the trails. I thought fat-tired bikes were simply winter tires that bicyclists put on in the winter to ride, similar to snow tires. I was wrong. What I also learned quickly was how bouncy they were, like riding in a car whose shocks were worn out. The bounce made the ride really interesting and extra fun.
As we set out under and over the crunchy, blaze orange-leafed trees in Green Lakes State Park since it was mid-October in Upstate New York, the surroundings were stunning. I soon noticed riding on a mountain bike meant easily being able to ride from dirt trail over stones, sideways up onto grass or over weeds, on more small stone gravel, and in fields, all without feeling the change or being nervous about falling making the terrain changes. Cool.
Although we were on mountain bikes, we weren’t in the mountains biking, but on dedicated mountain bike trails in Green Lakes State Park winding in and out of trees and up and down hills. After trying motor cross this year, I likened fat-tire biking to more of the thrill of motor cross plus the access to natural beauty like cross country skiing in the winter between trees in all of nature’s beauty. Mountain biking allows one to bike in nature, not just on a paved pathway in or around nature. It was different and really enjoyable since I’m a nature lover.
Another benefit of biking with an old client is getting a chance to catch up with them. Patti now loves the freedom of running her own Cabi business instead of her previous career in fundraising, where I first met her. Tucked in her warm house are seasonal lines of clothing to try on. So, if you want to have a party with her or go to one of her open houses, click here for more information. Who says women can’t network while biking, like men network while golfing?
I was lucky to be using Patti’s husband’s bike, since mountain bikes are much more expensive than regular bikes, but I could see why. The bikes fit in the back of big SUVs or on regular bike racks. In fact, Patti owns different bikes for different occasions so if you like regular bike riding, see if you can rent a mountain bike and give it a whirl. I think you’ll fall in love with the fattie and your own tush won’t mind the ride either.
Wednesday Wisdom: Marketing Surprise
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
A brown box arrived in my roadside mailbox with only my name on it. There was no mention of a sender. My birthday was a couple weeks away so I assumed one of my sons or friends mailed me something from Amazon where sender’s information is typically missing. I brought the box inside, sure it wasn’t Anthrax, and opened it up.
“Surprise!” was on top of the Kate Spade letterhead accompanied by bright pink earrings and pink earring pouch. Still thinking someone who knows I wear pink to represent women sent it to me, I kept reading the letter which said, “Thank you for shopping with us. xoxo Your Kate Spade New York Team.” I thought silently to myself, did the company actually send me this beautiful gift?
When my husband came home, I asked him if he sent it as an early gift. He has always been the one to purchase me pink Kate Spade purses. “No,” he said. As I re-looked at the letterhead I saw something else that said, “Please visit the customer care pages of surprise.katespade.com to review our complete return policy.” I typed the website address into my computer and sure enough it was a Kate Spade website to order other items. Cool, I thought to myself knowing the promotional pink earrings and pouch were a true customer service gift – one I loved.
This unique selling and marketing strategy was something too original to not share with other women entrepreneurs. We might not have the money Kate Spade has as a company, but the gift wasn’t anything expensive just really endearing and fun to receive on a random Monday. Surprises are that – unexpected or astonishing things that usually lighten the heart of the receiver.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom might have you pondering what you can do to surprise a few of your big customers in the same “fashion.” It doesn’t have to be a big ticket item, but rather a nice, small reminder, hooked into a website page or new social media account to direct favorite buyers back into your favors. We often forget that repeat customers are the best customers we have. Why not put together a plan to surprise them before or at this holiday season with something unique that helps them remember you.
I’m off to wear my bright pink earrings feeling pretty darn happy about Kate Spade – a woman entrepreneur whose company lives on without her in meaningful ways.
Perfection on Ice – Check Out Curling
Inspiration, Motivation for Women Interested in New Sports, Female Athletes
Envision the games of Archery and Darts, with their colored circles to pierce on a horizontal stand at a distance away from you, and put those same circles on a sheet of ice similar to a very long rectangular bowling lane, then get down in a squat position balancing yourself perfectly on a round “stone” and push the stone forward and you got Curling! Sound difficult? It was for me; the one sport so far that gave me some instant purple bruises on my knees mainly because my core wasn’t strong enough at times to not fall on the ice once I pushed the stone.
7 women gathered with me in a perfectly frozen arena, in the oldest Curling Club East of the Mississippi on an extra warm, 80-degree-day in Upstate New York to learn the sport. Curling, unlike other sports, is a team sport and not one I could learn on my own, I needed some sisters in business to join me. After learning the Club was established in 1868, the same years the 14th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote, tells you how long this sport has been around in our region and how much people love it.
Before the Utica Curling Club was housed in a beautiful indoor facility, curling was played years before 1868 on the Erie Canal and other plentiful waterways in the region. It was a statistic I had no idea of even though I was born in the Mohawk Valley area of New York State. I grew up on a lake where I ice skated or played hockey with family and friends, but never “curled a stone” down a straight line to concentric circles with team mates “sweeping” the ice in front of the stone to get it to go (aka curl) where we wanted. An engineer had to design this sport, I thought to myself after trying it. Precision, analytics, and science all played a role in creating this popular year-round activity.
Divided into teams of four, after we put on our rubber grippers over our shoes so we could stand on the ice without falling, we learned the art of placing our feet in the “hacks” to push off of, similar to a track block for forward motion. As we balanced one hand on the stone made of granite with its handle positioned where our “Skip” wanted the stone to slide down the 45 meter long, 5 meter width sheet, into the “House” or bullseye if you will, to score points or knock out competitors’ rocks to gain points to win the match.
We learned the game and competed against each other all in two hours. I wouldn’t say any of us perfected the sport since it takes between 5-6 lessons to be good but we sure gave it the ole girl’s try. Here are some of the comments from our curling team to enlighten you further:
* It was much harder than we thought it would be.
* Getting over the feeling you will slip or fall on the ice is a must to play it.
* Patience and balance is needed pushing the stone, speed is needed to sweep the stone.
* Shouting is necessary to communicate with teammates on opposite ends of the ice – so if you don’t like silence you’ll like this sport.
* There is way more thinking to this sport than other sports.
* Learning to work with a team is a benefit of this special fitness activity.
Half of the women who went with me said they’d try it again and half said they wouldn’t. I would try it again although I’m a sports girl who likes full on speed; but there is something to say about playing with others, using your brains and body at the same time, and participating in a sport that has been tested over time. I highly suggest learning more about Curling and looking into Curling Clubs in your region and find a way to try it or join a beginner’s league, which many have.
Then call me when you need a fourth person to play!
Follow Tracy’s Sports Adventures on TikTok @tracychigginbotham or the website http://www.tracyhigginbotham.com
Wednesday Wisdom: Lifetime Work Takes Action
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses
Where’s Waldo is the title to a 1987 book where its main character is dressed in a red and white striped shirt and hat carrying objects to help him on his travels. You have seen many renditions of Waldo hidden in puzzles, books, and magazines in this fun find-it game.
But my business question for the day isn’t Where is Waldo but “Where and what does women’s entrepreneurship look like around the World today as it relates to gender equality?”
I was in search of an answer after listening to a few online conferences with staggering statistics. Here is what I’ve discovered according to a July 2022 article at WeForum.org
* In 2021, women started 49% of new businesses in the US, up from 28% in 2019.
* Women and entrepreneurs of color are leading the boom in new business creation in USA.
* More than 5.4 million new businesses were created in 2021, setting a new record in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic.
* Women entrepreneurship is growing around the world, but many obstacles remain and men still outnumber women by 3-1 in ownership.
* Outside of the agricultural sector, about a third of women around the world are self-employed in informal work which tends to be home-based, small scale and focused on sectors like retail and service.
* The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report in 2022 shows more women than men continue to be impacted by the pandemic.
Unless Waldo becomes a working woman, turning his red striped shirt into a pink one, my interest in him disappears as easily as he does, because it isn’t related to the population I support the most – women entrepreneurs. It’s been 30 years since I became one and sometimes I only notice small positive changes in our progress forward and upward.
Recently talking to someone about foremother Susan B. Anthony brought up the fact, she never got to vote, even though she worked a majority of her life fighting for women’s suffrage. She would have needed to live 14 years pass 1906 to see the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Can you imagine working that hard to not see fruition on something? The popular quote “The journey, not the end goal, is life’s true reward?” But is it?
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant to rouse up the fire in your belly about working harder and faster on the things, projects, and business missions that mean the most to you to change in this world because we don’t have forever and time doesn’t wait. We can stare at statistics as long as we want hoping for them to change, but they won’t unless we truly focus on how to make a larger impact and speedier resolution to issues important to us.
We have to stop wondering where Waldo is and focus instead on where women are making gains in equality, status, money, and business to keep them climbing upward.
Friday Vibes: Hold On Tomorrow is Here
Inspiration, Wisdom for Women, Female Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports
The clouds were pitch black and collecting steam as they grew wider and taller at the same time. In the foreground golden leaves were perched upon tree limbs making the contrast quite startling. The feeling of knowing what Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz felt as she rushed home to beat the storm came into vision. Luckily I was in my driveway preparing for a jog up my road when wisdom shouted louder than my running legs and led me back inside the house. Disappointed I couldn’t exercise was nothing compared to the torrential rain and wind that soon lashed at my windows.
How many times in life or business do we get our hopes up only to have them dashed by something other than our own doings? We mostly feel we have 100% control over decisions, thoughts, actions, and elements, when really we don’t. As a longtime event planner I know one thing for sure, weather isn’t anything you can control so getting use to its wildness is all we can predict. The only thing we have control over is the way we accept disappointment.
“97% of the things you worry about don’t happen,” is a statistic I think about often when anxiety brews and bubbles up like yesterday’s storm clouds. When I’m disappointed in a planned event not happening, I also think of Scarlett O’Hara’s last line in the movie Gone with the Wind, “After all, tomorrow is another day.”
Standing at the end of my driveway 24-hours-later, the sky is as blue as she gets and the air free of any humidity or rain. Even though it was tough putting my energetic exercise mood on hold yesterday, it is raring to go today. When we find ourselves disappointed we must rest our minds and eager souls and think of Scarlett’s words understanding their truth to be real.
The next time your plans are postponed unexpectedly or you worry too much about something you planned not going right, I hope you consider my two favorite quotes and move on with the flow and confidence that all things come to pass, the skies lighten, the worry dissolves, and soon enough tomorrow will be here ready to greet you in all her sunshine and optimism.
Wednesday Wisdom: Noticeable Change
Wednesday Wisdom, Hump Day, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
The mesmerizing orange, crimson, and golden hues peeking through my window over my desk computer reminds me of one essential part of life – change. Sometimes we change internally and no one knows and we might not even recognize the alterations. Other times we purposely change like decreasing our calorie intake and increasing our fitness routine to change physically. In some cases, we don’t notice changes in our health, appearance, and psyche, but others notice.
Nature and humans aren’t the only things that morph either naturally or purposefully. Businesses begin and prosper to a stage where intentional planning and additions permanently make it stronger to handle more customers and sales. Other times, like Hurricane Ian or the Covid-19 Pandemic, the economic climate deteriorates the strongest of companies making them succumb to unforecasted adjustments they didn’t see coming.
The question for today is whether we are changing brilliantly like the once green leaves now golden or whether we are withering on the vine because we can’t face change?
Most times change feels like an uncontrollable entity making us incapable of contending with it; but that is a fallacy because each of us has the ability to notice change as it is happening if we want to. Quiet reflective observation is what is needed. It might not be as easy as glancing out the window at brilliant autumn leaves or feeling colder temperatures. It might take dedicated time in meditation, a planning retreat, a quiet walk amongst the trees, or an appointed, undisrupted weekday to sit and review. Typically change doesn’t occur in the noise, but in the silence.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to motivate you to set aside a reflective period to notice what has changed in your business or life that you haven’t paid attention to. Has green revenue turned into golden piles of cash that can be reinvested or dwindling brown levels of lack? Is your health vibrant and sizzling like the crimson leaves or frosted over like the pumpkins on the vine? What do you notice? What can you do about it? Do you want to do something about it? Once you discover what is lacking or needed, it is up to you, and you alone, to make noticeable changes.
I hope the next few days, when the colder temperatures of fall are pushed off a bit, you get outside before or during your work hours to stare at the beautiful leaves and notice what they truly represent in your own journey and make some plans to address them. Remember change happens in the silence, bring it to the autumn light and get working.
Women TIES 