Close Connections A Must in Entrepreneurship
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners and Small Businesses
As the bright sun landed squarely on my eyes, I adjusted my computer camera sitting on top of my laptop at the window’s edge. I promised myself I’d work all winter long in the cold pool house using it as a respite from my traditional workstation in my warm and cozy house. With a scarf slung around my neck and snow boots on my feet, I turned up the heaters and prepared for my Facebook Live interview. Half joking I said, “Sure, Syracuse finally has sunshine when I have an interview.”
As the interviewer, a woman entrepreneur named Dale L’Ecuyer, appeared on the screen, she admitted having to pull curtains closed to shut out the light. We were both excited to literally see each other since it had been a while due to my medical sabbatical. A lot changes in a year and a half, as we discovered talking about changes in our lives and businesses. Dale was now taping a successful Facebook Live series called “Create Your Best Life” expanding her network of customers, viewers, and interviewees. Because of this success, Dale agreed to be a speaker at our December 12th Saratoga and Albany event sharing how using Facebook Live was growing her business.
As I wore my “Women Supporting Women” rose-colored hat, we talked about lessons learned from my medical sabbatical to enrich other listener’s lives. Some of the pointers included staying in touch with customers on a face-to-face basis, using new technologies to communicate differently, and being transparent about being away from business. Although I couldn’t see who was listening to the interview, I hoped it was making a difference.
To sum up the experience, Dale and I were two women entrepreneurs cross-promoting and cross collaborating on new technology to widen both circles and drive attention to our business services and products. We could do it because we were connected electronically. But to be honest with you, we are both more excited to see each other in person the following week when a friendly hug allows us to enjoy each other’s company.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is simply to remind you that as glorious as technology is in today’s business world, nothing can replace the heart-warming, face-to-face experiences we have with other humans in the same room at an event, at a meeting or sharing lunch. Women entrepreneurs must remember to use both forms of communication to stay connected to valuable people in their circles.
With technology, we are quickly in touch with people hundreds of miles away, but in person, we literally come in touch with others immediately enjoying a more in-depth experience. Don’t forget how that feels and the impact it makes in the short and long term.
Interested in attending the Women TIES Saratoga and Albany Event – Click here.
Interested in buying Tracy’s new book “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” – Click here.
Marketing Monday, Cyber Monday and Book Launches
Marketing Monday, Cyber Monday and Book Launch Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
A quarter-of-a-century after starting my first business, I would have bet this aging woman entrepreneur would have known most topics related to running a small enterprise, but I was wrong. Being wrong sometimes is the best thing about entrepreneurship because we learn and learning helps us and others as we share lessons with them. Women entrepreneurs are awesome at sharing failures, unsuccessful attempts, and wounds from the brave life of running a company with other women. It is one of our strengths.
Launching my first book, “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” on Amazon, with the help of a knowledgeable book consultant, has been an eye-opening experience. I couldn’t have imagined cooking a Thanksgiving turkey for my family would correlate with checking the status of my brand new book’s ranking on Amazon. At one point I reconciled the fact, I couldn’t do both things at the same time and enjoy the day so family came first…..and checking the rankings came later while the family was watching football.
It’s been six days since my book launched. Never knowing an Amazon bestseller means hitting a certain ranking within seven days of a book launch, when 5500 books are published on Amazon daily, means I am learning valuable lessons to share with my membership of women entrepreneurs. Having a “book launch team” is something new to me too but 30 of my family, friends, and members jumped on board and have been sharing my book link with their network. This is even more wisdom for me to share with the next woman entrepreneur launching her own book.
Another fascinating factor in this new process of launching a book is the new creative marketing and advertising technology to create advertisements, social media marketing posts and book images to use to market a book. Small business owners don’t have time to take marketing courses so launching a new product, like a book, takes one out of their comfort zone and into a new educational curve to enhance their business knowledge for future endeavors.
On this Marketing Monday, which is also Cyber Monday, consider ways to increase your marketing knowledge to advance your business through increased studies, experiments, and conversations. If you’d like to support my new book on Amazon, please click on this link. If you need an answer to anything I posted today, feel free to leave a comment and I promise to share my knowledge with you because that’s how it works in small business today.
Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Women Entrepreneurs
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom, Thanksgiving Message for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses
Several summers ago my youngest sister decided to chronicle one side of our family’s history. Much to our surprise, our grandmother’s descendants traveled from England on the Mayflower. As my sister traced our grandmother’s paternal lineage she discovered distant relatives lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York; never moving past the east coast and deciding to stay where the winds took them.
Somewhere in photos from a hundred years ago was an Indian woman dressed in white standing next to a gentleman in a military dress in a grassy knoll. Never able to jog our grandmother’s memory about who the Indian princess was, we assumed part of our history included Native American connections. My grandmother was a dark-haired, dark-skinned woman with some facial attributes of Native Americans. Equally my grandmother’s two brothers and my father have distinctive-looking facial features and skin as our country’s first inhabitants.
Discovering my grandmother’s history makes tomorrow’s holiday sparkle in new ways as I contemplate the brave journey of the pilgrims who crossed a vast ocean not knowing what waited on the shore. Their fearlessness and adventurous spirit, handed down through genes, rest inside their descendants. Could it be my entrepreneurial spirit was based on the bravery of these descendants who took risks to enjoy a different way of life?
The pilgrim’s trek reminds me of the recent travels of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, who sailed across the ocean waves on a zero-emissions craft to enlighten the world about the damage of greenhouse gases. There is still so much discovery to be made in this great world of ours. Every day as new women start their own businesses or seasoned female business owners offer new products and services to engage and help their customers, we sense a similar tinge of excitement as our country’s founders.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to keep being fearless, adventuresome and tenacious in your entrepreneurial endeavors. Remember most of us came from pilgrims who sailed across the ocean blue with hope in their hearts for a better way to live. Their spirit lives on in us and girls like Greta Thunberg. Smooth sailing isn’t for the faint of heart and either is trying to change the world through a passionate business mission.
Buckle in and take on some new endeavors with a hopeful heart, intrigued spirit and eager attitude to see how your life can change by setting sail on new waters towards a different horizon. I bet you discover and experience new wonders you haven’t imagined before.
Anticipation of A First Book
Monday Motivation and Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Writers, Women in Business
Each year as our family gathers on Christmas Eve, my niece and nephew follow Google’s Santa Tracker. Eager to know when jolly St. Nick will arrive and where in the world he is at the moment, they periodically consult their mother’s iPhone to check on Santa’s status. Back in the 1970s when my sister and I waited for Santa, we didn’t have the luxury of knowing whether or not he was on his way, we only hoped he was. We had to wait until the wee morning hours to discover he made it down our 1700s chimney.
I feel like a kid again today as I track the UPS truck that has the final proof of my first book. It will be delivered by a man dressed in a brown suit, not quite as festive as Santa’s suit, in the daylight via brown truck. Internally, I am as excited for his arrival as most kids are for Kris Kringle’s arrival. I’ve been tracking the truck on a Google map UPS gives to expecting customers. I never knew two hours could go by so slowly, reminding me I’m an impatient person at the heart of my calm demeanor.
Checking again, I see the truck is even closer than a few minutes ago. I suspect it will be here in 15 minutes if there aren’t a lot of other people on the route. I’ve toyed with asking the driver to take a photo of me holding the box so I can share it with my social media marketing world. I know I love marketing but this feels like I’m experiencing it at another new level.
Hold on as I check again……yup – the truck is closer. It should arrive at any moment with a box with precious content – my first book. My publishing consultant said, “Don’t underestimate the moment it arrives. It’s like having your first baby. The moment is new and fresh and exhilarating and you can’t have a first baby ever again so enjoy it and don’t rush through opening the box without being grateful for the experience that led up to writing your story.”
The past year and a half, as I watched my hair fall out of my head faster and faster until I was a bald woman by the age of 54, led me up to this unexpectant moment. I never suspected a book would come out of the trauma of losing my identity as a woman and woman entrepreneur but it did. From the lessons of kindness and compassion from so many strangers who have embraced me, along with the conviction and love of my family, friends, and members, I found my way to meet this life-altering change face on – by writing a book about the experience with a universal lesson of love and kindness.
My interest in sharing my story centers on moving people from perceptions of hate and divisiveness to one of compassion and acceptance. Our country needs it. The world needs it. We each need it. I hope you’ll buy a copy and share it with those you love……as soon as I proof it when the brown UPS truck rolls up my driveway.
Legal Lessons for Women Entrepreneurs
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom, Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business, Small Businesses
As I create this week’s inspirational wisdom, I am also listening to the public impeachment hearings. Political affiliation aside, I find the entire process both fascinating and educational. Never one interested in college courses related to history, law or government instead leaning towards science, math and business classes, the proceedings are opening my brain to new information, verbiage and policies. Be assured they have not motivated me to get a law degree.
Having taken only one required law course to get my business degree, I leave most legal issues as a woman entrepreneur to my attorney, but it doesn’t mean I have ignored opportunities to gain education on legal issues facing a small business owner. I learned early on in my career to create vital business contracts before conducting business with customers, negotiating fees and services with vendors and gaining trademark ownership for corporate logos. Anything else that goes above and beyond my knowledge or deemed serious enough to seek counsel is given to a professional.
There is a common myth that people use only 10 percent of their brains. However recently neurologists disagree with this notion stating silent regions of our brain are involved with our ability to plan, make decisions, adapt to evolving situations and reason. At any moment, we may use 16 percent of our brain. I truly enjoy learning new information to stimulate those other parts of my brain whether its about entrepreneurship, women’s rights, or politics. In doing so, I am enlarging my knowledge making me feel good even if today’s politics don’t.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you that education is truly a key to a successful life – especially the life of a business owner. There is a wealth of new technical and technological programs to learn to advance our businesses, communication systems to connect us globally to potential clients and knowledge in other business sectors that enhance our ability to network and connect with others. We can’t shy away from new useful knowledge even if it intimidates us. We must remain intrigued in advancing our brains as much as we do our businesses.
I hope before the year ends you compile a list of three subjects you need or want more education in and tell us about it so we can plan some useful educational programs for you in 2020 and also seek conferences, online courses or day-long classes that school you in topics of interest. We owe it to ourselves to stay on top of new, relevant information to advance ourselves and our enterprises.
Monday Motivation: Start Your Writing Career Today
Marketing Monday, Inspiration, Wisdom for women entrepreneurs, women in business, small businesses
January 15, 2009 was the day I was convinced to start writing for my business. The inspiration came high above Cayuga Lake on the Heights near Ithaca College where a local female bar owner presented “Blogging for Business – The Hottest Marketing Tool for 2009” to my audience of 30 women entrepreneurs. I’ve produced hundreds of events in my career so not all of them resonate and linger in my memory, but that one did.
My second business was only 4 years old with most of my marketing budget spent on creating it; so like other women entrepreneurs I was looking for hot marketing trends to promote my business and myself. Distinctively I remember Amelia Sauter said, “You don’t have to write a blog post every day to be successful; start with one post a month if you must but get writing.” It sounded easy since every week I was writing an inspirational “Wednesday Wisdom” for my state-wide audience of businesswomen. I knew minimally I could post once a week using the wisdom in my new blog.
I learned quickly I was forming a habit by writing weekly. As experts say, “Habit formation is the process by which new behavior becomes automatic like someone who instinctively reaches for a cup of coffee after waking up has a habit.” Call it duty or loyalty to a commitment, I wrote my Wednesday Wisdom every single Wednesday and have for 15 years straight, making it a habit. The funny thing about habits, they become really enjoyable and so it was with me and writing.
So when it came time to write my first book, “Under the Rose-Colored Hat,” I thought it would be natural since I was a proven, gifted writer for fifteen years. Well, the funny thing about writing a non-fiction book on my personal story of growing up with inspirational, well dressed and kind women, the pain of losing my identity with alopecia and discovering the kindness and compassion of others in the process, was it was hard. Words didn’t flow as easily as they do on any given Wednesday morning. I had to really think, write, re-write, proof, edit and read again for months before the book went for final layout (the state it is in now).
For once in my life, I had some writer’s block because I was detailing my own life’s experience with an important lesson to share. Never being a narcissist, it was difficult to know what to include or keep out of my copy. I had to stay the course, seek advice and finish the book accepting it as it was until I ready to launch another one.
Today’s marketing advice to fellow entrepreneurs is to get writing, even if its short, sweet weekly blog posts to inspire or educate your customers. You’ll discover an interest in working up to articles and eventually books, increasing your pace and commitment to writing. There are fantastic publicists and writing consultants to help you move onward if writing a book is a goal. Believe you can do it if you commit to the task of writing, making it a habit you can’t live without and helping to boost your marketing exposure at the same time.
Under the Rose-Colored Hat comes out December 2019 – learn more about it at this link. A special thank you to Kathrine Switzer, Founder of 261Fearless, for writing the testimonial.
Eyeing the Right Vendors
Inspiration, Success Strategies, Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners and Small Businesses
It was a dark, rainy night traversing the highway to seek help. Cars were driving slower than normal because of the time change, weather conditions and deer standing next to the road ready to pounce into the fast-paced traffic lanes. It was the third time in a week the trip was necessary. Wishing it was mid-June, when light and warmth abound, deer joyfully bucking in the forest and highway speeds normal, I rode patiently in the automobile as my husband drove.
At the end of the ride, we pulled into a well-lit parking lot damp from the freezing drizzle. A warm glow radiated from the beautiful office windows welcoming me into its interior. With one eye open and the other one swollen from shingles, I could see well enough to find my way to the front desk where a cheerful receptionist remembered my name and welcomed me back. “Take a seat,” she said with a smile on her face. The warming colors of the room enveloped me in comfort as I waited to see the doctor.
All of a sudden my reflective mood was jolted by the sound of a kazoo followed by the infamous “Happy Birthday” song coming from behind the receptionist counter. The sudden festivity of the moment made me smile and grateful for traveling so far for the appointment. Not everyone wants to spend their birthday at a doctor’s office so when it happens, it’s a pleasant surprise to be elevated with song and smiles.
The ophthalmologist was squeezing me in since the shingles developed on my eyeball so I had to wait patiently for her appearance in my room. The office manager, a familiar woman to me since this practice is a long-time member of my organization, came in to keep me company. My nerves settled as we spoke about life, business and family matters. Once the doctor appeared, the diagnosis was expertly made and I left trusting my eye sight would improve.
Settling back into the car for the same drive home, I said to my husband, “That visit was so worth the trip because I love the way that business welcomes their customers, the expert advice they give and the trust in their services.” I don’t think he rolled his eyes because I couldn’t see anyways but he knows I believe so strongly in my corporate mission of supporting women entrepreneurs regionally that he agreed and drove me home in the dark, rainy night.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you some of the best customer service you’ll receive will be from female entrepreneurs because women care. Women stay in business longer than men because they are natural caregivers and providers for others. In my opinion, they understand what other women need and deliver better practices and services. It could have been the kazoo that moved me to feel this way but I believe it was entire positive interactions in the visit.
Take a look at your customer service policy today and ramp it up a bit if you think you could be doing better for your clients. They are our companies’ life-blood. We want to think they’d drive an hour each way on a dark, formidable night to seek our help. If we are doing our job right, they will.
In Love With My Community
Friday Feeling, Inspiration, and Appreciation
Ever wake up one morning realizing you are part of a loving world? Perhaps that morning was the one after your wedding or after giving birth to a child, receiving an unexpected promotion at work with a big raise or finishing a marathon where you were carried to the finish line with cheers from the crowd? As a feeling of overwhelming peace and happiness embraces you that dawn, life is so beautiful.
This is the way I woke up today, the day after my 55th birthday. It was only seven months ago I appeared on the front page of my local newspaper in an article and photograph of my bald head and health condition. When the editors approached me about sharing my Alopecia diagnosis, I said “yes” immediately if it would help others know someone else had the disease in the community and to educate the masses about the condition. I wasn’t in it for the recognition and certainly not for a beauty contest! I made the decision from my heart, putting ego aside.
As $800 trickled in all day yesterday on my Facebook birthday fundraiser, with 100% of the donations going to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation to help find a cure for this disease that affects 6.8 million people globally, I realized I was living that kind of day that led to this morning when my heart has grown even larger.
Combined with another $4,500 raised in September at a local “Cuts for a Cure” by The Barber Shack, makes the current amount of money raised by friends and family at $5,300 in two months. I am deeply grateful for the people who have showed enormous love and affection to me and my cause the past few months. I am in awe of the abundance of good people in my circle.
In a few weeks, I’ll join a local family in speaking with two New York State Senators staff to ask for their support of a bipartisan bill to get passed in the House of Representatives and Senate to make wigs medical expenses and covered by insurance companies for people suffering from alopecia and cancer treatments. I plan on joiningthe National Alopecia Areata Foundation’s legislative volunteer committee to help with this endeavor.
Because of the support of so many people who have inspired me during this time in my life, I am equally inspired to help others with this disease and spread the good news of compassion, love and kindness in the world in a new book called “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” coming out later this month! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone. You are loved by me.
November Can Bring Out the Best In Us
Monday Motivation, Inspiration, Empowerment for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Female Business Owners
November is known as the month of Thanksgiving. Most of us think of this month full of sage-smelling aromas, bright cranberry sides, dark green earthy vegetables and American turkey. Besides loving this month because my birthday falls in the beginning of it, I have loved it for the warm-hearted spirit it produces in our nation. We pause to recognize our blessings both big and small.
This morning when I read the news and saw the photo of NYPD widow Lisa Tuozzolo who completed the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon in honor of her slain husband, I paused. The 43 year old woman lost her husband three and a half years ago in the line of duty. To honor him this year, Lisa ran not only for him, but to raise money for the Silver Shield Foundation, a charity that gives education funds to children of fallen officers.
The best part of the story for me wasn’t the fact this stoic woman ran her first marathon, because many of us do and I can speak of its power to finish one, but to raise money to help others. At each mile mark, a couple NYPD policemen got in and ran with her providing energy and love. Joining their mom at the finish line were sons Austin and Joseph ages 7 and 6 to make it extra special.
The world doesn’t show its kindness in this way all the time so soaking up this New York Post story made me realize how amazing most people are – like Lisa, her brave husband and his fellow policeman. I have witnessed this kind of loving support when I ran the 2017 Boston Marathon with Team 261 Fearless, during my fundraising efforts to eradicate alopecia in the form of many fundraisers like the one I have going now on Facebook at this link, and in everyday life. Goodness is all around us if you look for it.
During this month of November, why not pledge to do something really good for someone else, an organization, community members in need or someone in your family who is struggling. My new book “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” will soon be printed and focused on part of this theme. I hope it helps change the world from my vantage point this November because I am so thankful for the women entrepreneurs who stuck by me, family and friends who supported me and strangers who hugged me based on my baldness. The world is so much better than we hear on the news – unless they are producing a story like Lisa Tuozzolo’s.
P.S. In case you didn’t know, many major city marathons give charity bibs to non-profit organizations to help them raise money for their cause. Runners who wouldn’t typically time-qualify for a major marathon can run by “donating money” to get a bib and support a cause near and dear to their heart. Check it out and sign up for one!
Using Humor in Business
Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners and Female Entrepreneurs
Zig Zilar said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” Thinking back to business class syllabuses, I don’t remember “Humor in Business” as a mandatory course. But some of the greatest corporate icons use humor to talk business. “I choose the lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it,” says Bill Gates.
Blessed with a keen sense of wit, and sometimes slap-stick humor from my parents, I use humor at events and writing to bring a chuckle, smile or spark in someone’s eye. I love levity, especially in the serious matters of life and entrepreneurship. How else does a woman business owner get through rejected proposals, unruly clients, shifting economic environments and mercury retrogrades (aka tech problems)?
As evident by tomorrow’s date, consider the funny or light hearted costumes you or other people wear on Halloween to express their witty side. My favorite costume in 1975 wasn’t the Big Fig Newton (that was my sister’s); it was the Statue of Liberty. Even young, I had to put on a good “public” face in the crowd. How much more noble than the Statue of Liberty can you get? Halloween allows people once in the year to walk around in apparel to spread laughter to others.
This year I will be dressed up as a bald, one eye patched feminist pirate to complement my current alopecia baldness with the new shingles diagnosis on the right eye and side of my head. A lovely combination at that! One worthy of leading and educating a prestigious group of highly successful New York State women entrepreneurs – wouldn’t you say? As if being bald hasn’t wiped out my physical identification as a women entrepreneur, a patch over my right eye sure does!
The “beauty” of today’s insight is to be honest with you about my current situation hoping if you are facing a bad spot in business or life, you know you aren’t alone. 24 years of supporting women in business means sharing the very best and worst of times knowing we are sisters in this journey. Remember, I’m always here to help.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you to periodically look at difficult work days with some levity of your own. When harsh realities of life strike, realize it could impact your business life and that’s okay. We are not perfect business women 100% of the time. There are such things as vacation and sick days we can employ just like our corporate friends. If a situation removes you from duties longer than expected, simply communicate your situation or timeline with customers so they are aware. Use a sense of humor if it helps.
Remember if you see any typos in today’s post, it’s because I’m typing with only one eye to get this message to you on time, Never stop laughing!
Women TIES 