Friday Work Plan for Women Entrepreneurs
Friday Work Plan and Friday Feelings for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business, Small Business Owners
Troubled by too many tasks I wanted to do this Friday morning, I took off in my wind gear walking briskly up my country road with a blue and white dotted sky above me. At times the wind was so strong I thought I’d be carried off the road into muddy cornfields. Getting in a work out of some sorts was top of my morning list along with going to church to pray the rosary for my son’s safe trip to Italy tonight. You can tell right there I’m a faithful, Italian Catholic girl raised on strong beliefs trusting God to help me through life. I’m touched my son is visiting the birthplace of my Italian Grandfather tomorrow when he arrives in Rome, Italy but my motherly worries for a safe flight can’t be ignored.
So I did what any intelligent busy woman entrepreneur would do, I decided to say my novena as I walked up the road. Health and faith led the way. I counted rosary prayers on my fingers as I got blown around. I lost track a couple of times and asked God to forgive me for this very rustic way to pray. Thinking my devotion wasn’t going well, I remembered a visiting priest once say, “God hears your prayers always, no matter where you are praying.” When the sun kept coming out behind the clouds, I knew he was listening.
Sometimes Friday is the perfect day for women entrepreneurs to combine personal and business activities. Most of us put in long hours this week only to face another long work week after the weekend. I learned coming back from my medical sabbatical to take my Friday’s off to balance my mind and body to stay as healthy as I could while still healing. If we are successful women business owners, we know there are days for grinding out projects, sales calls and plans producing ten hour work days so why not allow a Friday here and there to be a day to take it easy combining work and pleasure along with nature and faith?
Monday morning will arrive like it always does like the strong gusty wind trying to blow me off my path. It comes no matter if we work hard or take it easy on Friday so lighten up today and give yourself a break, rest or more pleasurable activities like I did this morning to give yourself peace of mind, relaxation and good health. I look forward to seeing you Monday rearing to go again!
My Answer Is Yes!
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom and Motivation for women entrepreneurs, women in sports, female business owners
Lately the word “yes” has been appearing in my life in ways of invitations, communication, and opportunities to step out of my comfortable boundaries. I might not be as nervous as Punxsutawney Phil was four days ago rising from comfortable digs to a crowd of media waiting to take my photo but I’ve been making my own brave moves of late and encouraging other women to follow suit.
I shared my personal story and struggle with alopecia to an intimate group of women at a local event placing myself in a vulnerable situation. I accepted two speaking engagements during Women’s History Month. I invited 20 women to become panelists at one of those events inspiring college females in the STEAM fields. I invited local media to cover today’s Women’s Athletic Network meeting on the 33rd National Women and Girls in Sports Day. Will they show? I’m not sure but I’m trying anyways. I also communicated with Coca Cola via Twitter about highlighting the women in my organization since they had a fantastic Super Bowl advertisement that inspired me to ask. They did respond with more information.
Is it hard to ask people or companies to say “yes” to a proposal or proposition you are offering? It sure can be at times. Some days we are brazen and courageous willing to take the risk and other days we aren’t. Who knows if it is how well we slept or if the sun is shining or if we were pumped up by a victory in another place in life. Other times, we aren’t prepared to receive a “no” even if we know it isn’t a personal decision on someone else’s part. Maybe it’s raining out or we just got bad health news that makes us not willing to get rejected or hear “no.”
Periodically we say to ourselves, “I’ll wait until I feel better to ask” or “I just don’t want to be rejected today.” Sometimes we say “no” when asked to contribute to something beneficial due to the time commitment or other priorities. Well I can tell you one thing, there has been 1 or 2 times in my business life when saying “yes” was a really poor decision and I’ve been in business for 24 years. Less than 1% of the time I have made the wrong decision in taking the affirmative when asked. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me. I bet if you thought about it, your percentage would be similar so what are you waiting for?
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to challenge you to say “yes” more often to opportunities that come your way. When asked to speak, speak. When asked to attend events, attend more than you think are necessary. When faced with propositions out of your comfort zone, consider wisely and then say yes. If we don’t challenge ourselves to accept new adventures every year, we don’t know what we could learn, who we could meet or how the experience opens the door to the next best step professionally or personally.
Yes, it is hard to commit but I bet if you do, you’ll find a brave new woman standing in your shoes followed by a great new experience she couldn’t have imagined. Honestly what do you have to lose? If it isn’t much, take the chance and say “YES” or maybe even “Hell Yeah!”
Women Are Getting Featured In Super Bowl Prime Time
Inspiration for Women in Sports, Women Entrepreneurs, Female Athletes, Female Fans
I sure did sit down yesterday to watch the Super Bowl like millions of people. I am a female football lover thanks to my father who was a high school football coach and taught me how to throw the perfect spiral pass. I also tried out and made the “powder puff football team” in high school playing safety. I am especially fond of that position. My two best friends were running backs and great athletes.
Typical of his time, my dad was a big Dallas Cowboy fan. He never convinced me to become a fan of them because I was too precocious and wanted my own team. I liked the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings and eventually the Denver Broncos when John Elway was playing quarterback in the early 1980s. I became a big Patrick Mahomes fan when he was playing for Texas Tech because my girlfriend’s son was playing with him and we caught all the games together on Saturday’s from a distance texting back and forth. I do love football.
But what I loved most about Super Bowl LIII was not the fast paced game, but seeing five females in prominent moments before, during and after the game. It began with the coin toss and watching Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King’s daughter followed by Gladys Knight. Both accomplished women who brightened the pre-football stage.
During the game, I saw Antoinette “Toni” Harris, a free safety (just like my position) for East Los Angeles College take part in a Super Bowl Commercial. Toni has fought to play the sport at every level and continues to battle for the dream to play in the NFL. Then Sam Gordon, appeared in the NFL legends Super Bowl commercial. Gordon is an award-winning football player who won the Inaugural NFL Game Changer Award Winner and campaigns for Girl’s Tackle Football in Utah High Schools.
Following the game, I watched Tracy Wolfson, American Sportscaster, maintain her position during an encroaching media swarm, to get Tom Brady’s first post-game interview. I may be partial because her name is Tracy just like mine, but I loved her tenacity to stick in there and claim the interview prize.
Did you know women comprise 45 percent of the National Football League fan base? I’m one of millions of women who love the sport and sports in general. It’s why it’s essential for the NFL and other major league professional teams to count women in to both big and small games and let us take part in the festivities besides just making the guacamole for the house parties.
As NBC News reported online, “A massive cultural shift in the portrayal of women in advertising is evident at this year’s Super Bowl because of increased social activism, the #MeToo Movement and companies looking at gender equality to have had an effect on decision-making in marketing departments and creative agencies.”
If I was younger, I would go back like Toni or Sam and try to play football but instead I can support any girl or woman who wants to achieve her big sports dream, support female athletes and band together with other females to make sure our love for sports is heard by the big leagues.
Make sure to celebrate the 33rd Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Wednesday, February 6, 2019! Our Women’s Athletic Network will meet that day in Syracuse for any women interested in joining us! Go to http://www.womensathleticnetwork.com -Thank you.
Live Positive Women Entrepreneurs!
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Sports, Business Women, Entrepreneurs
What possibly could inspire you to work on such a frigid day with the Polar Vortex in our vicinity? What I have witnessed taking photos of nature to add to my creative writing is how crystal clear outside images appear on 4 degree days. The sun never looks so bright or the snow so sparkly then on cold mornings. The trees look especially rustic and the blue grey pines on a blue spruce tree get more contrasting with snow on their branches. Different hues of blue and grey color the skies and the red barn outside my window is the most beautiful rich color on cold mornings. Why is that? It is clarity at its best.
Before you join other people clamoring about the conditions, why not consider the gifts a cold morning can bring to your professional life. The clearness of this morning might accompany a morning meditation for clarity in your business goals. The beautiful yellow-orange sunrise rays might trigger a warm feeling in your heart to reach out to customers and say hello. The green tints of spruce branches might inspire you to do sales calls because green is a color all women entrepreneurs like in their bank accounts. One cold day is not a mandate to stay in bed or complain but quite the opposite.
Someone on my Twitter feed living in a year round warm climate said, “Every day seems like the same day when the warmth is all around you. I miss the changes in season.” A refreshing reminder for us that the grass might literally be greener on the other side of world, but is life as impactful, colorful, challenging, glorious and palpable as it is right now? Don’t call me an optimist but rather someone who chooses to look outside her window to see the beauty and gifts life presents. It is similar to the philosophy of looking at a glass half empty or half full. Which way do you choose to see your world?
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is a gentle reminder that you control how you feel and whether you see the elements, conditions or circumstances in your life from a positive or negative perspective. Does your perception shape your outlook on business duties, feelings or action? If you choose to see the negative in this Polar Vortex day, what will you accomplish or miss accomplishing focusing on the circumstances you cannot change? Check in with your mood this morning and readjust it if it’s needed.
I can tell you as a bald woman now, instead of whimpering about having a really cold head, I go to my favorite drawer of pink hats and plop one on my head as I listen to my 15 year old cousin Jake’s piano recital, drink my dad’s favorite coffee, prepare for my Syracuse event tomorrow were I will see women I love and write from the depth of my heart to inspire women like you. Live as positive as you can! You have the choice.
Monday Motivation for Entrepreneurs – Planning for the Unexpected
Monday Motivation, Inspiration and Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses, Women in Business
“No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected” is the quote on my inspirational calendar this morning. The quote was said by Julius Caesar. The saying resonated with me as a woman entrepreneur, 30 year event planner, female athlete, and 54 year old bald woman dealing with Alopecia. It is impossible to plan for the unexpected so planning is imperative to survive when unexpected situations arise.
This may not sound like the perfect Monday Motivation topic you were looking for to lift your spirits but the point is most days are uneventful and taken for granted until something arises we aren’t prepared for that interrupts our lives with a sudden change of plans. As a woman entrepreneur with the freedom to alter her schedule when she wants, there are still times when something unexpected takes me off track interrupting my best laid plans.
As a thirty year event planner, I know I can plan for everything but the unexpected occurrences that always arise in the scheme of planning events. I’ve faced challenges when a gym holding 500 people lost its lights at night darkening the room and panicking the audience or having a thunderstorm approach as a bride walks down an outside wedding aisle. If you have planned everything perfectly then the only thing you can do when an emergency occurs is have the mental ability to handle the challenge. Mental toughness is hard to teach unless you’ve experienced enough difficult situations.
I needed to take a break from my business only four times in my two decade career. Twice when faced with Alopecia that stripped me of all my hair, once when my father had a massive stroke in Maine and died six days later and when my stepmother entered hospice care a year ago. I had to retreat from work to deal with personal situations I could not ignore. With a clear communications plan aided by great technology today, understanding customers and a tenacious work ethic proving I was not taking time away for anything more than an emergency, I survived in business with no regrets for the time I took away from my desk.
Sanibel Island, Florida photograph by Tracy C. Higginbotham
Note: If you are a woman entrepreneur working and living in Central New York or Syracuse, I am presenting on this topic of “Taking a Pause in Your Business” sponsored by Pathfinder Bank this Thursday, January 31st from 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Cafe 407 in Liverpool, NY. More information is at this link.
3 Examples on How Electronic Communication Can Engage Customers
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Women in Business, Females in Sports
Yesterday I was fascinated watching New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul presides over an important vote in the New York State Capitol Building in Albany sitting at my desk. I never watched a Senate session in person so having a chance to watch it streaming live was captivating. Each New York State Senator had the opportunity to not only cast their vote but also explain their reasoning behind their decision. I only took one political science class in college and never witnessed laws passed in a live session.
When Twitter announced the New York State Senate vote on the Women’s Reproductive Health Act, I turned it on. Before I lose you thinking this is an editorial on a woman’s right to choose, it is not. It is to enlighten you as you start a new business year how you can participate in live events when you can’t be someplace or how you can bring that technology and services to your constituents so they can participate electronically from afar.
Just before turning on the live Senate session, I was already on my computer being educated for an hour by a woman entrepreneur through Zoom, demonstrating how I could use the products and services she sells. Honestly, if she didn’t demonstrate the products and services to me online, I might not have signed up for it. Having seen it, I did.
Earlier in the day, I saw another tweet about applying for a TCS New York City Marathon’s free entry drawing. The New York City Marathon, like some other marathons, offers giveaway entries to people who don’t have qualifying times to enter on their own or who aren’t running with a charity allowing them to obtain a bib like I did running the 2017 Boston Marathon. By raising money for non-profit organizations, interested marathoners can enter a race under a non-for profit bib helping their organization raise necessary funds to support their services.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom gives you three descriptive examples how organizations, companies and entrepreneurs engage, enlighten, and educate viewers from afar by using video technology. Is 2019 the year you need to learn more about using live streaming, Zoom, and online applications to advance yourself and your business further? All women are not technologically equal. It is perfectly fine to admit it and then take necessarily steps to become more educated through online live seminars, hiring someone to teach you one-on-one or attending seminars in person.
I will not forget witnessing male senators wearing ties and pink scarves yesterday as they voted affirmative for passing this women’s bill or how excited I am to have a chance to run in the New York City Marathon if my entry is chosen or how I bought from a woman entrepreneur from the comfort of my own office. Now it is your turn to use electronic communication for your own and your customer’s benefit.
My Dream – In Honor of Martin Luther King’s Dream
Inspiration on Martin Luther King Day for women, women entrepreneurs, women in sports, equality
Photos, videos and memories from two years ago marching side-by-side with thousands of sisters in solidarity for women’s rights awoke me this morning as Facebook shared my memories. There is something powerful about video over photos because you hear words, witness moving reactions, see faces changes, chants being said and feel the palpable feelings. Marching in DC with 110 women was one of my top memories of a lifetime. https://www.facebook.com/tracy.higginbotham.7/videos/10211026117383849/
Why was it so moving? What made it such a high moment in my life? It was what I mentioned above – the positive energy of thousands of people there in unison with one purpose and cause. The pure energy of a crowd there for the same reasons ignites a part of your memory never to be forgotten. To witness some of my memories, watch the short interview ESPNW took of me at the March speaking about pay equality.
It is also Martin Luther King Day today and although I am not an African American, I am thankful to him for taking hundreds of people with him on marches and having the words to share with people who marched for what he marched for which changed the world. People have been gathering for marches for a centuries and the activity touches the soul of each participant as well as a nation.
Today I want to share my own “dream” again with my viewers since it was inspired by MLK’s dream speech and to honor all the women and men who keep marching for change in this great country of ours. Marches and words can carry us forward with action and inspire others to join us in our pursuit for equality.
Today I have my own feminist dream called “The Pink Globe”
I see a world where all females are treated equal to men.
I view our globe changing from green and blue only to radiating pink from empowered women.
I witness a day when my five nieces are paid an equal wage to my four nephews.
I notice women protecting young girls when predators are close.
I observe enthusiastic packed stadiums of spectators watching female athletes compete in sports.
I notice women buying from businesswomen first investing in a stronger financial circle for females.
I smell home cooked food of women sharing meals served with love for hungry females.
I see women hugging each other during times of defeat and celebration no matter their color, age, heritage, religion, sexual identification or economic status.
I hear soft whispers of prayers as women pray for their sisters living with a poor health diagnosis lifting them to wellbeing.
I see a government where 50% of elected officials are women lending a female perspective to law making.
I eavesdrop on motivational words of experienced career women to young professional females ensuring they ask for a higher salary and aid in propelling them higher in their careers.
I notice women sharing their personal #MeToo moments to protect the next generation.
I view only empowering, loving voices lifting up young girls as they develop.
I witness more women achieving higher goals in sports and the media sharing it with their viewers.
I watch women climb taller mountains with the peaks filled with women supporting each other’s climb.
I dream equality for all things woman.
It is possible.
Thank you Dr. King and the women who marched this weekend for human and women’s rights which are also human rights, we honor and applaud you. https://www.facebook.com/tracy.higginbotham.7/videos/10211018492633235/
I Have A Dream for All Women
Inspiration for the Women’s Marches, feminists, women entrepreneurs, women in sports
Today I have my own dream.
It is not as profound as Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ but it is a dream as I passionately connect spiritually with the Women’s Marches across the USA and globe today. My pink spirit needs to share this dream because it has been embedded in my spirit for a long time and accentuated in 2017 when I took 110 women to the Women’s March on Washington and last year bringing 1,000 people together for a “CNY Women Rising March” with two other local feminists. This dream has also fueled my 24 year career of supporting, advocating and uniting women entrepreneurs in New York State.
Here is my Feminist dream:
I see a world where all females are treated equal to men.
I view our globe changing from green and blue only to radiating pink from empowered women.
I witness a day when my five nieces are paid an equal wage to my four nephews.
I notice women protecting young girls when predators are close.
I observe enthusiastic packed stadiums of spectators watching female athletes compete in sports.
I notice women buying from businesswomen first investing in a stronger financial circle for females.
I smell home cooked food of women sharing meals served with love for hungry females.
I see women hugging each other during times of defeat and celebration no matter their color, age, heritage, religion, sexual identification or economic status.
I hear soft whispers of prayers as women pray for their sisters living with a poor health diagnosis lifting them to wellbeing.
I see a government where 50% of elected officials are women lending a female perspective to law making.
I eavesdrop on motivational words of experienced career women to young professional females ensuring they ask for a higher salary and aid in propelling them higher in their careers.
I notice women sharing their personal #MeToo moments to protect the next generation.
I view only empowering, loving voices lifting up young girls as they develop.
I witness more women achieving higher goals in sports and the media sharing it with their viewers.
I watch women climb taller mountains with the peaks filled with women supporting each other’s climb.
I dream equality for all things woman.
It is possible.
In entrepreneurial, athletic and feminist spirit,
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham
President, Women TIES, LLC
Founder, Women’s Athletic Network
315-708-4288
Women Entrepreneurs: Retreat Within To Find Direction in 2019
Wednesday Wisdom, inspiration, motivation for women entrepreneurs, women in business, women in sports
Nestled in the tall pines and crystal clear mountain air inside a log lodge with floor to ceiling windows sixteen women sat, shared and listened to each other’s place in the world. The event was a weekend retreat to let go of the past, stand in the present and set intentions for the future. Each woman had to be willing to be honest with herself acknowledging any pain or circumstances that brought her to this quiet, deep place in bottomless blue skies absent of clouds or wind where the below zero temperatures and Adirondack beauty took ones breath away only allowing for vital internal conversations with self. Magical is a word to describe the setting and experience.
Each woman was there to expose themselves to a deep truth resting in their spirit which was allowed through the space held for them by the other women in the experience. Fate drew the women experiencing the weekend together as if they were woven together in a colorful fabric of healing, hope and dreams. Trusting the experience, gifted facilitator and women in the room was paramount to leaving the weekend with the one lesson that needed to emerge from within.
There was time for quiet walks in stunning nature views, gentle laughter near open fire, comfortable space in private bedrooms that looked out on Blue Mountain Lake and gathering circles for everyone to meditate, envision, and share what they needed most to move forward. There were either bright lit rooms for brilliant crafting of vision boards, goal sheets and plans or dimmed rooms in the evening for hands on each other’s back, candlelight, and deep immersion into the gentle words spoken from each woman to another. Both scenes illuminated the experience.
By the time the weekend was over each woman was washed in self love, deep female friendship and an alert understanding of where they are in the moment looking forward with clarity to the future. It was hard to have the weekend conclude and say goodbye with long lasting hugs to the women within the experience but possible through the internal awareness and light we gleaned from the experience. We were ready to leave and embark on a new path.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to commit to a deep retreat sometime this year when you can give yourself a similar experience of letting go of the past, standing in the present and envisioning your future. You can experience a retreat through someone who plans one or an organization that offers them or simply by taking yourself away into the woods or near the beach. Its only January so you have plenty of time to set a date in your calendar to give yourself the gift of a retreat in which you let go of the past and move into the truth of now with brighter eyes for your personal and entrepreneurial future.
I wish this experience for you and hope to bring some of the healing thoughts, great insights and beautiful visions into some of our Women TIES programs. I hope you will join me in the events and experiences we will set for you.
Remember Time’s Up and #MeToo This Weekend
Inspiration and motivation for women entrepreneurs, women in sports, feminists, sisters in solidarity
In big red letters in the middle of the envelope were the words, “Time’s Up!” The words struck me as I remembered this weekend hundreds of Women’s Marches are happening across the globe. “Me Too” was the original mantra and movement that sparked the “Time’s Up” Movement a year afterward. If you don’t remember #MeToo is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault. “Time’s Up” is a movement against sexual harassment founded by Los Angeles stars in response to allegations against Harvey Weinstein and in support of the #MeToo Movement. Female celebrities wore black to major award ceremonies and Time’sUp buttons to share their experiences and end sexual wrongdoings in Hollywood.
Just before taking 150 women with me to the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, I publically acknowledged for the first time I was a #MeToo survivor in two cases. I grew up next to a pedophile, which is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. He never touched us but displayed his body parts to us many times. My sister and I only spoke of this to each other and never to an adult because we simply didn’t know what to say. We were in elementary school.
When I was 22 years old, I was sexually harassed by a prominent client of my male boss who was a Vice President at an Investment Banking firm in Philadelphia. The man would call me “sweet hips,” bring me gifts and relentlessly ask me to go to Spain with him on trips even though he was married. My male boss knew what was happening but only said to me, “Tracy, you will not offend him and you will be nice to him, he is my largest client,” to which I replied, “Fine, but I am not doing anything with him or going anywhere with him!” I left my job within four months because I could not stand the pressure.
It wasn’t until women started sharing their stories about sexual abuse and sexual harassment on our bus trip to DC that I remembered both these experiences and felt a need to share it with other women. In revealing my story I was invited to Governor Cuomo’s 2018 State of the State Address to sit with the #MeToo Founder and other survivors. My #MeToo story is not shared often although it is a part of my history and something I am willing to share with others. My experience is most likely is the reason I am a feminist in spirit and in solidarity with women first and foremost in all aspects of life, business and sports.
This weekend if you join one of the Women’s Marches, you may be marching to stand in solidarity with other women with past hurts, scary situations or wrongdoings they still face today – like pay inequality, glass ceiling issues or sexual harassment in the workplace. Realize you are not alone as you march shoulder to shoulder with other women who care about you and females in our generation. Women are strong. Women are one. Women will survive and thrive as we move forward together with #MeToo and #TimesUp at our side.
I share my stories so my five nieces, aged 17 to 5, will not face the same issues I faced at their age or when they enter the workplace. We owe it to them to change the world for the better for women.
Women TIES 