Inspiration, Monday Motivation and Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Women in Business
A couple years ago I learned a really important lesson about committing to sports and the elements as I trained for the 2017 Boston Marathon. Training for my first marathon began in the crisp beautiful running weather of the Northeast autumn after hot, humid summer breezes and chilly, dry winter’s coat. I had six months to advance from being a two mile daily runner to a 26.2 mile runner. The beginning of the longer runs came in the peak of winter when one had to embrace the elements to get in a training run. It was a vital lesson.
With hands frozen and my body draped in layers of clothes to brace for the cold, I was sweating from the increase in metabolism generated from putting in a nine mile run. I wanted to quit running but told myself I had to endure the elements to be ready for Boston in April. I remember a woman saying to me as I stopped to get water, “You must be training for some big race to be out here in these conditions,” she remarked. “Yes, I am training for the Boston Marathon,” I said in reply. “Good luck! Keep running I know you can do it.” I could tell she was a coach or PE teacher by her attitude. Steely resolve overcomes a marathoner. It has to in order to finish the race.
Yoga was another mental and physical exercise that helped me train for Boston. In Yoga, one has to hold still in poses as legs burn and the mind wanders. Only through deep focus and fortitude can one complete a difficult yoga routine walking away more peaceful, prepared and focused on work ahead. Resolute determination is the other gift of marathon training.
When people ask me “How did you ever run the Boston Marathon,” I simply reply, “I put in the miles and hours needed to know I could do it; if I never trained through hot, cold, rainy, and sunny conditions, I couldn’t have accomplished it because I wouldn’t have believed I could.” Yesterday, as my husband and I stood out in a heavy rain storm for to finish blasting the top coat of our deck because the machine had to be returned this morning, I simply “gave into the elements” just like in marathon training, and seriously enjoyed the feeling of once again accomplishing something most people wouldn’t do in those circumstances. “It makes me mentally stronger,” I acknowledged to my husband. I’m willing to get my hands dirty if I need to – another personal and business motto of mine.
As you face another Monday, why not give in to the elements that are forcing you to conduct work to hit a big money or corporate goal? Just like in marathon training, only by handling and finishing difficult tasks can success come closer. Nothing in life is accomplished only on sunny, perfect days; instead our life is rewarded internally when pushed beyond limits and succeeding in one’s actions and goals.
Inspiration, Thursday Thoughts, Thursday Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business, Small Business
Sitting comfortably in my Boston Marathon jacket, hat and shirt, I turned on my computer to listen to 3 back to back online programs. The first video was created by Jennifer Rust, a Women TIES member, who shared her knowledge about creating larger profits for retailers. She also used the presentation to practice for a live speaking event in a couple weeks. I thought the idea was brilliant in terms of working out the kinks in the presentation and experiencing a new way of sharing her expertise.
The second video was given by Deepak Chopra who I typically absorb by listening to his podcasts and not through a video presentation. He had a special guest with him so the cross promotion is excellent for this other person who is not as well known as Deepak. It also allows Deepak’s audience, who might prefer learning through watching videos rather than listening, a better experience. I ended up in a quick peaceful meditation where a deep golden glow entered my body. I had therapy sitting at my desk for free – an unexpected surprise.
The final online program was a two hour educational seminar on using Facebook. Although, I’m very experienced in Facebook, I watched the online seminar to glimpse new strategies and witness how the presentation actually works. The New York Women’s Business Center coordinated the free presentation as they implement more online programs since event attendance everywhere is dropping as people access online technology for learning.
Technology is fascinating and offers certain services current business services can’t present; but I still miss the human interaction with other individuals that can only happen at “live events” where people gather. Like everything, we need to straddle old ways of doing business with new ways to stay both relevant and satisfied.
I was grateful for the wisdom gleaned watching the online presentations but also look forward to my next event where I can hug, speak and interact with women in person to keep the human experience alive and well.
Overflowing Revenue Streams
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom and Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business and Women in Sports
On the shores of Lake Ontario in a small protected cove, the windy, wild and wet spring waters covered the docks where men, women and children stand or fish during Memorial Day Weekend. The skies were bright blue, without a cloud in the sky, but the banks were flooded indicating rain clouds had emptied themselves numerous times to wash away shorelines, walkways and front lawns of local residents and businesses.
Additional streams of water had forged new paths over the cove’s shore. The scene reminded me that no matter what the season – wet or dry, cold or warm – women entrepreneurs can create their own additional “streams of income” similar to Mother Nature. These extra streams of income may come from an overabundant request for services or products we don’t produce or innovative ideas inside us ready to be brought to the light.
Three years ago a Women TIES member came to my house to perform services when she noticed my pool house, pool and beautiful view. She said, “Do you rent that out for others to use? If not, you should.” It was her idea since she regularly reserves special places to create, envision and write for her business. I wouldn’t have thought about renting out my space although I’ve used VRBO, Airbnb and HomeAway repeatedly for personal use. Ironically, the pool house looks over a beautiful pond which currently is brimming with too much water and streaming slowly over its edge.
Whoever created these “rent-by-owner” places developed a new industry that rivals fancy hotels and old fashion lodges for their money. Innovative ideas may appear difficult to non-creative thinkers, but each of us has the ability to observe, listen and create. There is money to be made everywhere at every moment of the day for an entrepreneurial spirited woman who needs new or additional revenue.
I finally enacted the vision my member saw three years ago by officially starting today to rent my beautiful pool house, pool and stunning view to any woman associated with me or Women TIES including Wednesday Wisdom readers and event attendees. The venue is there for the taking, the price is reasonable, the view outstanding and the revenue beneficial as I regain my financial footing after a long medical sabbatical.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant to get your ideas flowing, like the flooded lake water, on ways you can bring in additional revenue through new, changed or enhanced services or products. Business is about offering something someone else desires or needs with good service and quality. Have you been asked numerous times about providing something that could be a new source of revenue? Do you have a talent or strength that should be shared in addition to your company? Perhaps you even have a beautiful space to rent out for the summer or year?
Let your creative juices flow like the abundant lakes and streams and see what new money-making opportunities you create to help others.
Inspiration for women entrepreneurs, female business owners and women in sports
Today’s blog post recaptures the pure joy and excitement of traveling to England to run with International women in the all women’s marathon called “Women Can.” I learned so many new lessons during this adventure. I hope you read the post and especially the lessons towards the bottom.
There I was standing in an English field with deep green fresh grass, humid sea air and a hilly terrain in front of me. I was shoulder to shoulder with mostly women I had never met or ever run with in an all women’s marathon in a country I never visited before. In fact for two decades I had been nervous to fly over the ocean after the Pan Am 103 bombing that almost took the life of a best friend. My sons urged me to let them fly to Europe as their friends started traveling abroad to which I always answered “no” in fear of their safety. Logically I knew traveling would be safe but I just couldn’t get the image of the Lockerbie, Scotland plane photo with a young man’s leg dangling from his airplane seat out of my mind. I wish I never saw that photo.
Tracy and Adam Higginbotham in Devon, England
As I took off on the first leg of the relay, I was hugged by my international teammates – Tanja Butcher of Switzerland, Jo Moseley of Northern England and Melissa Stringer from Kansas City in the USA who joined us when Josie Cessar of Malta had to back out due to a family emergency. Running mostly by a river through knee high grassy trails, pass cows in pastures, lambs dotting distant hills and muddy inclines and descents, I took in every moment I could running. I wanted to stop and take photos but heard myself say, “Take in the images with your eyes and soul so they stay with you forever.”
The 7 miles by far were not my fastest run because trail running is so different than anything I had run before but it was glorious in so many ways. My asthma was kicking in throughout the run but I just kept going until I saw my son and two teammates waiting for me at a quaint bridge where I would pass the race onto my new friend Jo. Teammate Tanja and my son Adam joined me in the last bit of mileage over the bridge. It was a memory I won’t forget especially since my son ran with me for a short bit.
At the finish line tent, I waited with 261 Fearless friends enjoying homemade English tarts, gluten free brownies, and tea! The English love their tea even if they just finished running a full marathon. As each of my teammates finished their legs, they joined me in the tent until we our last runner was approaching the finish line where we joined her running hand in hand to the finish line!
The entire 261 Fearless running team then sat down in the spring sunshine to enjoy a celebratory glass of Prosecco, an Italian wine my English teammates love. My son joined us since he volunteered while I ran and deserved a glass of bubbly himself. Then him and I headed off to the coast to dip our feet in the English Channel in Sidmouth.
I discovered some real truths while traveling abroad and running in this race to inspire you today:
* Women are wonderful no matter where you go. We warm up to each other quickly creating instant friendship. Women love other women’s spirits. Make sure to meet as many new women as you can.
* Any fear can be erased from your mind if you have the bravery to face what scares you. Only in tackling our fright, can we be free to live.
* When you are diagnosed with a health situation you can’t solve, don’t let it keep you from believing you can still participate in life.
* To truly enjoy life, you must live new experiences. If you can’t face a new experience alone, invite someone to join you. It makes it easier and more pleasurable.
* The world is a fascinating place with a million vistas to see. Make sure you travel enough in your lifetime to witness new destinations.
* Anything you experience in personal life is applicable to our professional life. Meet more women to open your business horizons, conquer entrepreneurial fear by trying something that makes you nervous, say “yes” to more opportunities, and visit more places to meet more people to connect with globally at conferences, events and even races.
I hope you have time soon to take up a run on a muddy trail past animals, streams and hilly vistas enjoying every moment and allowing the experience to change you forever in the most positive light
Wednesday Wisdom: Life Is A Playground
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Women in Sports
Sitting in the morning sunlight, I opened up Outlook Express to see a message from my bank. It wasn’t a standard notification about my account but rather an announcement for a unique marketing opportunity they were hosting in conjunction with a professional sports team. As the bright yellow rays from the sun poured onto my keyboard warming my chilly fingers, I clicked open the announcement, read it and immediately started applying for it. Why not take a chance to brand my company name, mission and one of its divisions to a massive audience.
After two hours on the submission, I wondered if I had too much coffee in my system or too many endomorphins from completing yoga a few minutes earlier that made me jump at this opportunity. Then I walked to my pool sat down and meditated on the importance of my life work supporting women and decided the 120 minute investment was well worth the potential reward. I’ve always been an optimistic person so my positive attitude might be more emotional than logical when it comes to winning a large marketing package to take my company further.
After submitting the proposal, I remembered seeing a social media marketing post a couple days earlier from exhilarated Women TIES member Deborah Cabral, The DeClutter Coach. Deb was in Washington, D.C. attending an event to see her idol Oprah Winfrey. Deb and I have shared our personal Oprah stories so I knew how excited she was traveling far to see her again. Her excitement alone might have been the fuel that inspired me to submit a proposal for this big opportunity. One woman’s excitement is enough to fuel another woman’s enthusiasm. Deb has always dreamed big and moved fast making her a very successful woman in business with her own television show and multiple corporate divisions.
A woman might not suspect how motivational another woman’s success story is to their own dreams. I have always believed women entrepreneurs love being inspired by other women. It’s one of the reasons “women….together….inspiring… entrepreneurial….success” are in Women TIES acronym. I know women need each other to ignite each other’s big and small dreams. We depend on it to catapult us into the stratosphere for larger achievement goals.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom hopefully encourages you to soak in the extraordinary success of other women in business so it fuels you. Our egos can help but our insecurities can also hold us back. What would happen if you spent two hours applying for a really big time opportunity or spent two days in the company of a female business icon? The worst that could happen would be wasting some time. The best that would occur is motivation to try something new expanding your hope and horizons and even accumulating something grander.
“If you don’t try, you can fail; and if you fail, you can always get back up again,” is my personal motto. It is what I have lived by using courage, guts and faith to help me attain big goals. I hope today you are inspired to live this motto alongside me because my friends life is a playground and we need to enjoy it!
Wednesday Wisdom: Women Need Self-Love
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business, Women in Sports
I heard myself say, “Where do I begin?” Those words sparked a memory of a popular song when I was 6 years old. In a silky baritone voice Andy Williams sang, “Where do I begin to tell a story of how great a love can be? The sweet love story that is older than the sea. The simple truth about the love she brings to me. Where do I start?”
Those lines were the beginning of an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story after the film’s distributor rejected the first set of lyrics. Andy Williams eventually recorded new lyrics. The first four words of the song stuck in my head as I tried to put pen to paper forcing myself to write a speech for a future event. Instead as usual, this tidbit of random thinking led me to today’s Wednesday Wisdom just like last week’s quote on my t-shirt inspired that editorial. It doesn’t take much to get my creative writing mind flowing.
Although the song’s lyrics are about a relationship between two people, it reflected a new truth in my life – a new self-love – adjusting to life without hair, refocusing on my business and members and getting back to myself after a year of loss, worry and coping with a medical condition. I knew it was essential to visit the best experts in the medical field to get the final diagnosis and answers to questions so I could move on. A week after that trip, I have new joy realizing I accept the medical condition and advice given as well as my decision to delay treatments, with both risks and rewards, until I am ready.
As my friend Teresa Huggins and I discuss all the time, our medical journeys have been “empowered medical journeys” because we refuse to settle for what society, reports and initial health care providers told us about our conditions and futures. We believe now we are healthy. It is a mindset; a joyful way of looking at black and white results and concluding there is more to do to change the world with our presence.
Could we be too positive for our own good? The two of us have had many conversations about this but in the end we choose to live zestful lives full of adventure, faith and positivity knowing we are called to do more for people we serve. We didn’t necessarily need a medical diagnosis to cement this in our minds but it has given us a more vibrant outlook worth sharing.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant for you to ask yourself if you choose to live your life with joy and zest no matter the circumstances or if you choose pessimistic thoughts to rule your thoughts and actions. You have a choice. You choose how to live. You choose if you want to run in the rain or stay inside hoping for the grey to pass. You decide to take your business up a notch or stay the course. Rewards come if you risk or not; but risking makes the rewards sweeter.
At this moment in time, I might just be the most joyful, bald-headed woman you know because I believe strongly in a deeper love of myself than a year ago. Andy Williams said it well, “Where do I begin to tell a story of how great a love can be?” This great love can be self-love. My hope is for you to love yourself enough to be the best woman and woman entrepreneur you can be no matter the circumstances.
Friday Feeling: Never Give Up
Inspiration for women, women in sports, women entrepreneurs and females with alopecia
Today’s blog post is a written piece from last year that I never shared. I was inspired to share it with you. I hope you find a message and inspiration in the post. This short post has motivated me to write a full speech on the wisdom learned from my Alopecia journey and become a paid speaker. I hope you enjoy the humor and meaning in this personal piece.
Today started out with the intention of running. It is May 17, 2018 in Syracuse, New York, the snow has melted and the maple trees fully in bloom. A light humid breeze is swirling in the air making me feel like I’m waking up in Florida. I decide to start the day on an athletic note instead of work since I’m on a medical sabbatical. Some days it is harder than others to focus on “time off” because my mind still wants to work behind a desk promoting my company Women TIES or marketing the women entrepreneurs who are members. Many of them have applauded my decision to take care of myself. It shows what self-love looks like in the hectic world of business ownership.
I hear the voices of the women who are following me through this time period and decide to run to prepare for the Women Can Marathon next weekend in England. I re-read information about the course and the words “hilly off-course, rugged terrain” set off an alarm in my mind. I’m use to running on fairly flat roads. As I put on my bright pink NAVY hat so the tractors and cars don’t hit me while I run my farm road, I am excited to take off and let the warm humid air carry me up and over peaks, alongside horses and near farm land with small plants peeking out of the soil.
Sometimes best laid plans are unexpectedly halted because one can’t foresee what’s on the mind of others. Half way up the first big hill, a huge tractor carrying liquid cow manure went by me. If the wheels didn’t almost knock me off the road, the pungent smell of the contents sure did. After it passed twice, I turned around and returned home. I have a commitment in Devon, England and a stinky tractor wasn’t going to deter me from that trip and I’m positive no one would believe me if I told them I couldn’t come because I was hit by a manure truck.
After my return home, I decided to pick my second choice of exercise and walked down to my beautiful pool house that also acts as an aerobics studio and Jillian Michels workout pad. I was going to pump some iron, flatten my stomach and give my legs a different workout. I was determined to exercise before working in my office. As I went to grab the handle of the pool house door, a snake jumped out at me having found a warm place in the crevice of the door to literally “hang out” in the sun. Holy Batman is all I can tell you I said as I ran away from the door. My second fitness routine wasn’t possible since the snake went into the pool house.
All of a sudden I turned around and saw my beautiful pool, with pool water around 60 degrees and thought to myself, “should I dare?” After stepping on the first pool step, I retreated and said, “Tracy, you need to be hot before you get in that Maine temperature water;” but I didn’t want to run on the road or drive my car somewhere else to run. I just want to run immediately! I sounded like the bratty girl in the Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie! My creative mind set in because around my long pool is a beautiful “track” of decking which my eyes selected as my running route for the day. It was flat, unlike what I would be running in England, but I could just take off and so I did. I ran around the pool like a crazed woman who needed a fix. I have run that pool route before even though I don’t admit it to most people. The pool track is longer than a treadmill and outside so it works as a last resort if needed. I was at the last resort!
I started running, around and around, feeling pretty gleeful that the manure and snake did not stop my determination. I was acting pretty smug if I say so myself, when the next thing I know I’m doing a somersault half air born and onto the deck landing on my back, scrapping my leg and almost tearing up my hands. I lay there for a moment and yelled, “I give up! I give up!” as if everyone in the world could hear me. I lay there for 2 minutes and then sat up. Stood up and started running again with blood running down my right leg because I was not going to be stopped from doing what I set out to do on a glorious Central New York morning!
I ran 3.5 miles on that pool deck and ended my run with a jump in the cool waters followed by some water aerobics to Don McLean’s “American Pie!” Let me tell you, accomplishing a goal through trials is a feeling you can’t explain! I stayed in the water longer than I wanted getting some more leg work in and then sat on the stairs, right next to where I tripped, and smiled at the sun saying, “Good Job!”
The moment felt like a defining moment for me because I realize I don’t give up easily. When it comes to battling alopecia, with its own daily drawbacks, I think and act the same way as I do about running this morning. The moment I think I see some hair grow in, another strand falls out. When I think my hair is coming in, my doctor tells me she is disappointed in the progress of the treatment. When I step out confidently without my eyebrows penciled in above my eye, someone asks me what’s wrong and when I tell them about having alopecia and all they say is, “Oh!” Those setbacks don’t stop me or define me, they propel me forward.
Sitting on those swimming pool steps with the same warm breeze swirling through the very few wisps of hair I still have on my head, I grab the sunscreen rub it on my head to hopefully turn my scalp into a lovely tan to match my remaining hair – instant make-up I hope. Then I listen one more time to American Pie, smile at the sky, say some prayers and jump back in the water one more time to SIMPLY rejoice in accepting the trials and tribulations that come from a simple morning run, confronting a snake and discovering how deep my well runs when it comes to life and its trials. I know I might not conquer this disease but I also know it has picked one bad-ass, potentially bald woman, to test.
P.S. Life is meant to be shared.
Commitment – The Key To Every Success
Inspiration, Thursday Thoughts and Motivation for Women, Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports
As I read my Twitter feed this morning, two women I follow spoke about commitment – one about a personal commitment to obtain her PhD and the other committed to running a new long distance. The readings were followed by a phone call with a trusted nutritionist where I agreed to commit to a 100% healthy food intake to aid my body with an autoimmune disease. I vowed not only to myself but to her that I was ready to commit as my last option in this health journey with Alopecia.
I know I can do it because I’m a woman of commitment when I look at celebrating my 30th wedding anniversary in September or beginning my 24th year as a woman entrepreneur. I also see commitment to motherhood having two successful professional sons working in New York City after raising them while running a home-based business in the mid-1990s before technology made it easy and home based businesses were acceptable. I witnessed commitment when I trained for and ran the 2017 Boston Marathon. Yes, I can commit. I have proof.
So why is it so hard for women like me, with a track record of successful commitments, to start a new journey where commitment seems difficult? Shouldn’t two decades of experience, proof and tenacity prove strength and loyalty to a cause when we begin again? I think it is because women are doubtful of their own success no matter how many times they prove it to themselves. I know this happens in the business world as well as any career field. We doubt ourselves until we prove to ourselves we did it.
What can a doubtful woman or woman entrepreneur do to shore up her belief in herself? I have a few suggestions:
1. Look inside yourself and “feel” the commitment. You know when you are internally moved to try something challenging. It’s an instinct and knowing. If the thought to try something different or hard comes up time and again, act on it understanding it’s your own voice urging you to try and succeed.
2. Support your action by reading, watching or following someone who has accomplished similar challenges – whether it’s a woman who tripled her income in a year or a female who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Soak in their motivation, steps and strategies to accomplish your new big undertaking.
3. Write down the goal. Set a timeframe to it. Set action steps. Announce it to the world. Keep your plan close by and then do it! Start. Begin. Believe. Know.
“You Got This!” is a phrase I’ve heard throughout the years when I publicly acknowledged a new big feat. Announcing goals is a positive way to begin accountability and support from those who follow you. Be committed. Stay the course. Begin. Go do it!
Business Is For Participating Not Spectating
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation, Advice for women entrepreneurs, women in business, women in sports
These wise words of fatherly advice fell on the ears of a twelve year old girl, “Life is for participating, not spectating.” This resounding statement guided the tenacious girl through fifty years of her life leading her to an iconic status in her field. This statement is appropriate for every girl, boy, man and woman – especially women entrepreneurs.
In Kirsten Gillibrand’s “Off the Sidelines,” the now 2020 Presidential Candidate and New York State Senator recounts her personal journey in public service and galvanizes women to make a meaningful difference in the world around them. Similar to Kathrine Switzer’s father’s advice, Gillibrand empowers women to participate in government instead of being a public spectator.
Women who start their own companies understand these two pieces of advice because they took the leap of faith to become entrepreneurs thus entering the marketplace instead of taking the corporate route or just buying from others. They may or may not had someone advise them to get off the sidelines or stop spectating; but they jumped in boldly.
Entrepreneurship should never be a career of spectating but rather one of moderate changes and challenges. A woman can’t run a company the same way for 5, 10 or 20 years and not dismount the familiar sideline and re-enter once time, opportunities and economic factors demand it. Part of being a smart entrepreneur is acknowledging when one has sat on the sidelines too long, keeping services and products status quo, thus needing to make a splash back into the marketplace in a new way.
Sometimes the test for a solo business woman is understanding when too much time has passed before making a new move in their journey. Just when they get a certain level of comfort with what they sell and customers they serve, it might be time to innovate to keep from sitting on the sidelines too long again.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to provoke thoughts on whether you are spectating or participating to the best of your abilities in your industry and marketplace. If you feel you have been sitting on the sidelines too long, what can you do to re-enter or make new changes? Does attending an industry conference, learning new skills, finding a new economic advisor or pairing up with another business, excite you to start making changes?
Take today to think about what you could be doing differently and then begin with an action plan and new fire in your heart.
Monday Motivation, Inspiration and Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Women with Health Issues
Last Tuesday morning my commute to “work” was quite unusual. Driving with windows down, under billowing palm trees with humid sea water oozing in my windows, on a busy five lane highway, I found myself in the midst of Florida traffic on my way to one of the world’s best medical facilities – the Mayo Clinic. Not only did salty sea dew drops enter my airways, but a hope for answers to a current health crisis I had been living with for a year. Comfortable asking for help in the medical field because of my family connections, I approached the beautiful medical campus with my personal Physician Assistant by my side, my son Thomas, an orthopedic surgical PA from another top notch medical facility, HHS – Hospital for Special Surgery, based in New York City.
Excitement grew knowing I would visit with six specialists and have blood drawn in this high end clinic. My Upstate doctors didn’t suggest I go for second opinions but I knew I needed to move on with my life as a busy woman entrepreneur. I needed to ensure I had all the answers and latest medical advice to deal with this unexpected chapter in my life and return to living and working. The warm, bright sunshine led me straight to the parking garage and into the pristine complex of buildings with personable staff and highly educated doctors. If I couldn’t find my answers here, I wouldn’t find them anywhere.
As I continue with this blog post, I direct it to my members, friends and followers who are interested in the discoveries I learned at the Mayo Clinic last week to update them.
* My condition truly is an autoimmune condition called Alopecia Universalis with no other contributing factors. All five experts gave me a clean bill of health telling me except for my “baldness”, I’m quite healthy.
*My liver, which has suffered from years of Prednisone, is getting healthier which means if I decide, I can try one more round of steroids to try to grow my hair back if my liver is monitored through the treatment. Good news since my local doctors warned me to not go on them again. I’m trusting the expert advice of one of the best liver transplant doctors (a female at that) to proceed with steroids if I choose.
The decision that faces me now is whether I take another 6 week or 3 month supply of steroids which will increase cataracts, add another ten pounds of weight and potentially hurt my liver, and take me away from my public events again to regrow my hair? It is a difficult decision and one I’m not certain of taking quite yet. What would you do?
Life hands us unexpected difficulties which can pause our direction and challenge our confidence. Lessons learned along the journey opens us up to new ways of thinking and reprioritizing life and career. I know I am not done with this health challenge completely although I feel stronger each day in my new identity. I can’t simply wish to return to who I used to be but rather to accept who I am and move forward. I also hope women entrepreneurs who are faced with business challenges, aren’t afraid to seek expert advice to aid their decisions. We all need educated wisdom in our entrepreneurial and personal lives.
My deep affection for my Women TIES members, friends and family can never be measured. If I didn’t find a solution to growing hair, I definitely discovered people who sustain, lift and support me. My hair loss has led me to a deeper love for the people in my life and the women entrepreneurs and females I continue to serve. They have been the wind beneath my wings along.
Women TIES 