Wednesday Wisdom: Failure Leads to Success
Inspiration and Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs and Females
“If you don’t try you can’t fail and if you fail, get back up and try again,” has been my personal motto for the past four decades. If anything is worth trying in the first place, then it is worth attempting again if defeated in the quest for success.
This quote has been alive in my mind and spirit when I sought leadership roles in high school, when I sent in resumes for professional jobs, every day as a woman entrepreneur and in easy and hard running races. I can comfortably tell you I have fallen many times but I have always gotten back up again even if it took me longer than other times to try again.
I have never regretted putting my support behind women running their own businesses or for political offices or buying from International women owned companies or lemonade from girls selling on country roads. Last November I attended two fantastic events. The first was the annual state NOW (National Organization of Women) conference in Rochester and the second was the last event for the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in New York State. I listened to panels at each event of women who had succeeded in running for political office. They each spoke about their passion to try again when their first run failed. Many have been in office many years now.
Fast forward to Syracuse in January 2018 at the Women TIES CNY Women Rising Weekend 2018: Women’s Business Networking and Empowerment Event entitled “Fall Forward in the New Year” to mark the one year anniversary of the Women’s March in Washington DC. After our speakers concluded, I sat down with Juanita Perez Williams, a woman I supported for Syracuse Mayor in 2017 who lost the bid, to ask her how she was doing. As you can imagine, working 24-7 every day for months to win a political office and make a difference in your community can be exhausting so Juanita’s response was totally acceptable – she wasn’t sure if she would run again or not. She needed more time to think about it.
I told her about the elected women I listened to on two panels who said they wouldn’t be in government today if they stopped after running and losing in their first race. I hoped it would put a positive thought in her mind to run again someday because I truly believe she is qualified to do the work with her long personal and professional resume. I have also seen her interact at events with volunteers and the community and like what I see. All I can say, is I am proud she is running again just like I would be proud of any woman I know trying again once they failed especially if they are qualified and passionate.
Women need to support women running for office so more women’s issues can be forefront and supported to help all women. If you are a democrat living in Onondaga, Cayuga, Wayne, and Southwestern Oswego County, make sure you cast your right to vote on June 26th for Juanita Perez Williams for Congress. If she wins, she will run against John Katko in November.
I hope this Wednesday Wisdom inspires you to think back on your own personal or professional failures and how you chose to raise up and try again. Whether you failed or succeeded doesn’t matter; what matters is you tried! I also hope you think about the passion you have in your life, the ideas you support, and the issues your care most about and continue to fight for.
Remember one person can make a difference and that person just might be you! Never underestimate your tenacity and ability to try again.
When “Trying” Is Good Enough
Inspiration and Wisdom for women entrepreneurs and female business owners
When I hear someone say they are “trying” to accomplish something the word speaks more softly in my ears than the official definition.
The Merriam-Webster definition of “trying” is “severely straining the powers of endurance,” and in the Oxford Dictionary “trying” is “difficult or annoying; hard to endure.” The toughness of these definitions make me think about trying to accomplish the Boston Marathon more than trying to write 500 words a day. I’m not sure the sweat and tears approach to the definition fits in every instance.
So when I heard myself tell my new dermatologist I have been “trying to grow my hair” to repair the alopecia areata damage on my scalp by eating super healthy, exercising, sleeping more, and doing less stressful activities, I didn’t feel I have been severely straining to take care of myself. What I’ve been trying to do is be gentler with my body so it can repair itself and let me get back to work and life the way it used to be.
I admit it gets harder and harder to look in the mirror and notice the lack of hair. Luckily for me my balding white head is turning a beautiful color tan like the summer wheat that turns as it ages in the sunlight. I am thankful for my Italian and French heritages that give me golden skin when the sun shines – especially this summer when I run and swim without a wig on because it is too hot.
When I appeared at a special dinner before the International All Women’s Marathon in England a couple weeks ago, I wore my wig and no one knew it was not my hair until I told them I would only have an itsy-bitsy ponytail the following day since I couldn’t run with the wig on. I wanted to be honest and bold with them and myself. I had come to run and I was not going to let being mostly bald stop me.
To be honest with you, I wear the wig for other people not for myself. As a sporty girl, I’m very comfortable wearing my bright pink baseball hat or Boston Marathon hat when I go out. I would rather appear to be myself than hide what is happening to my appearance. I’m “trying” to accept what I’ve been given knowing I’m blessed not to be diagnosed with anything that could shorten my life – only my hair.
So although the dictionary believes to “try” is annoying, I don’t. I think its positive action built around hope and dreams. I hope you think of that description next time you are “trying” to accomplish anything in your business or personal life.
Step Into a New Light By Networking
Inspiration for women entrepreneurs, businesswomen, and small businesses
Melissa Gardiner with Dave Matthews. The Syracuse trombonist played with the Dave Matthews Band Tuesday night. (provided photo found on Syracuse.com)
Tuesday night I was reminded of the power of networking as a business tool for new and existing entrepreneurs in all aspects of their career including attending conferences and industry programs. How was I inspired on this topic Tuesday night?
It was when female trombonist, Melissa Gardiner of Liverpool, New York appeared on the St. Joseph’s Hospital Amphitheater in Syracuse, New York with the Dave Matthews Band. Melissa met DMB trumpet player Rashawn Ross at a jazz education conference and another industry program and became friends. Her connection with Ross gave her access to perform on the stage doing a stellar job as Dave Matthews himself smiled widely and seemed impressed along with the audience. Gardiner is one of the only female instrumentalists to play onstage with the Dave Matthews Band, if not the first. You rocked Melissa!
The truth is you never know who you are going to meet anywhere you go to open doors for your professional career or business. I heard of a woman business owner who sat next to a publisher on a plane home from a personal trip only to land a business card and access to his professional network to get her book published. It started with a simple airplane seat conversation and ended up opening the door to her publishing career.
Networking can get a bad rap when you think of attending an event where everyone walks up to you, says their name and hands you a card and then walks away with asking you a thing about you or your profession. They don’t spend enough time asking questions to find out more about you or how they could help you with access, a solution to a problem or introductions to their network. The best networking happens when two people converse, get to know each other more than just one time and follow-up after the chance meeting. Fate can also be essential to success in networking.
One day as I was looking for a keynote speaker for my annual fall conference, I typed in the word “fearless” only to see an article written about Kathrine Switzer by a Denver acquaintance I had only met one time. She connected me to Kathrine after I asked and from the moment Kathrine and I spoke we connected and a door was open for me to join a new global organization called 261 Fearless which has been a part of my professional and personal life for the past three years. I have more global friends that I can count and my life has expanded in many ways because fate and Google had a hand in the introduction.
So the next time you are invited to a business networking event, industry conference or personal invitation, instead of thinking it will be a waste of time or boring, think of Melissa playing with one of the most popular bands of the past two decades on a stage in her community opening her talent for the world to see and hopefully a talent agent to do something about advancing her career. You just never know who you’ll meet where and what that connection (or as I like to call it ‘tie’) will do for you someday. Say YES to networking and explore the next stage of your career.
Wednesday Wisdom: One Sweet World
Inspiration and Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs and Female Business Owners
It all began one day when my 18 year old sister was traveling west by van with her boyfriend after high school graduation. Being the oldest of her sisters, I worried as you can imagine as she set out for California. Off she drove into the sunset one afternoon to return a couple months later after the adventure was over. One of her stories involved seeing a new rock band named the “Dave Matthews Band” while in San Francisco. Next thing I knew Woodstock 1999 was happening in my hometown of Rome, New York and the Dave Matthews Band was one of the groups performing. I wanted to be a really cool older sister (we are 15 years apart in age) so I bought tickets to Woodstock and headed out for an epic day.
The moment I heard DMB, as they are known to their fans, perform I fell in love with their sound. It was a hot July day bopping to tunes with 400,000+ hippies and joyous people. At that event, I became a passionate Dave Matthews Band groupie just because I was trying to be a chill sister. Last night as DMB performed in Syracuse, I attended my 25th concert with great VIP seats and a much closer view than I had the first time I saw the band play. I was as happy listening to them last night as I was when I was 33.
(circa 2012) Through the years as my sons grew, my husband and I brought them to the concerts. We even celebrated my son’s 21st birthday at the Boston Garden in the Pit standing for hours. I would also take one of them individually with me as a special treat. Their passion for the band has grown too. I definitely exceeded the love for Dave Matthews past my sister who only listens to them periodically and never saw them perform live again in concert. At the moment, I am listening to a live concert of theirs and I’ll run to their music in my ears later today. They just simply make me happy. I can’t imagine my life without their music. I used to joke with my husband saying I’m “taking Dave” on the trip with me to Boston to pick up our son. I take “Dave” everywhere.
My passion for being an event planner and starting my first business was born in 1995 about the same time as my passion for running started. I not only created a second human but a business and a love for fitness. I never thought I would be a runner or run a business but the passion arose from years of watching others do those things. I suppose the message in today’s writing is whether you are consciously thinking about something new that’s starting to burst in your heart might have existed there for awhile just waiting for the right time to appear?
Many of the Women TIES members are women in their second stages of life as emptynesters, grandparents, or recovering from menopause with a new lease on life (and maybe a few more pounds and energy to burn). Perhaps our current passion continues as we move forward but maybe new passions start tugging at the heart strings. I have learned it is okay to embrace the deep knowing of your heart and let what lies within it grow anew.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is a contemplative one. Are you still passionate about your life and business? Do you have new desires fueling your heart? Has your life changed enough that it warrants re-looking at your personal and business plans? Do you need to surround yourself with women experiencing similar experiences and common passions?
One of my favorite Dave Matthews Band songs is “One Sweet World” which Dave actually played last night in concert. I believe we create for our own lives if we constantly listen to our passions, take ‘notes’ from those around us and allow our spirits to grow as we do. circa 2011
Inspiration for women entrepreneurs, female business owners, women runners and women in sports
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.
But there I was having traveled safe across the pond with my youngest son Adam to open horizons for my sake and his future dreams of traveling. I knew if I could be fearless and fly over the ocean with him, I could let him fly on his own one day not gripped with fear. Sometimes we just have to live a fearful experience to be free from it. As my son hugged me good luck on my 7 mile leg of the marathon relay team, I was proud of my decision to take yet one more risk and travel to run in an unfamiliar place at a new distance with women I didn’t know but who joined me in the experience. The organization 261 Fearless has an influential way of inspiring women to join a community of other women across the globe and in their own communities through the love and fitness of running. I am so grateful to them for that gift.
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.
The Scale Game for Women Entrepreneurs
Inspiration and Wednesday Wisdom
Are you happy? It is a question I often ask my sons. They give me the acceptable “yes” nod without uttering a word. I realize I need to be more specific. I rephrase my question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “OMG, I hate my life” to 10 being “I’m living the life of my dreams!” give me your answer again. They both answer with scores of 9. Fantastic! I now have a clear vision of their happiness odometer. This exercise always reminds me how much I loved statistics and math in school.
So today when I read this interesting fact, in a Guidant Financial online article about women entrepreneurs regarding their happiness level, I liked the response. The report showed, “When asked about their happiness as business owners, both male and female respondents reported an average 8 out of 10, with almost 40% of women rating their happiness as 10 out of 10.” The article continued, “A recent study showed a 12 percent increase in year-over-year revenue for women-owned businesses with signs pointing to the fact the world and economy could use a few more businesses with women at the top.” Really? I’ve known that a long time and way before seeing this study results.
Therefore my question for you today is, “How happy are you with your business?” I’d like to know on a scale of 1-10 with 1 equaling “Holy Hell Batwoman, why did I ever start this enterprise?” and 10 meaning, “I’m popping another bottle of expensive champagne, do you want a glass?” I don’t want you to base the answer on exactly how you feel today because we experience good and bad days regularly like a roller coaster as a woman entrepreneur; but rather how you feel since May 2017 to today or May 2013 to today and even May 2008 until today giving a ten year scale reading. Sometimes assigning a number to any formal or informal survey clarifies results.
This is a reason consumers see 1-5 star customer ratings on Facebook pages, travel websites and restaurant reviews. It can quickly identify the reality behind a general comment or critique. If a hotel review says “fine” in writing but the star rating is a “1”, I’m not booking it. The numbers tell the real story and I’m fussy when it comes to quality when dealing with food, hotels or business vendors.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom requires you to answer this important question “How happy are you running your business?” On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with it? Once you have the number, figure out what makes the rating high or low. Be specific about the best and worst of the company or experience as an entrepreneur. The low numbered areas are the ones that need fixing and then changing. The high response categories are the areas that bring pride and can be used as selling points in sales pitches. Soak in the results and list actions to make your scale 10 out of 10 all the way around your entrepreneurial entity and life.
Next week while I travel to England and France to run in an all women’s marathon in a relay race with 261 Fearless teammates from three countries, stay in 4 star hotels, eat whatever non-gluten free food I can at any star restaurant, I will be happy taking my mind off my medical situation and enjoy a week with my son since this trip was planned a long time ago and couldn’t be cancelled. I’ll share some of my experiences in rating format when I return so you can get a clear sense what was really great about this trip, food and experience. I’m hoping for a 10 out of 10 rating (and tea with the Queen)!
Inspiration for women and women entrepreneurs
“Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You” is the bumper sticker I have in a frame along with my Boston Marathon bib signed by Kathrine Switzer and finish photo with the Boston Marathon medal around my neck and my arms around my two supporters my husband Scott and son Adam. I keep the frame next to my work desk to inspire me to try something new that scares me. It might be something new in business, fight for women’s equality, sports or life.
This week I will live that bumper sticker motto again as I travel overseas to England to run in the “Women Can Marathon” with the relatively new global organization called 261 Fearless, a global supportive social running network which empowers women to connect and take control of their lives through the freedom gained by running. Through a series of non-competitive running clubs, a unique education program and private communication channels, 261 Fearless provides networking, healthy running support and a sisterhood to women all over the world.
I’ll let you in on one of my deep secrets, I have been scared to fly over the ocean since the Pan Am 103 Flight crash December 21, 1993 when one of my good friends was suppose to be on the flight coming home from studying abroad. Lucky for her, she changed her flight a month before leaving to the following day and missed the tragic flight although a couple of her friends perished on route home. Sometimes news images and stories can settle in logical minds changing them to doubtful. I know 1993 was a long time ago but the memory has always stuck with me.
So last December on a brave moment in my life, I called my son and asked him if he would accompany me to England for a week so I could run in the Women Can Marathon with my 261 Fearless global friends. He said “yes” immediately and I booked our flights. We take off Thursday for this adventure. I am very excited by realize I may feel some anxiety as the flight dates approach. It’s a reason the bumper sticker’s message is a perfect for me the next couple weeks.
On this Monday Motivation, I ask you to join me this week in setting aside one of your fears in business, life or sports and say yes to something you have wanted to do but are afraid to try or conquer. I am positive there is something that immediately comes to mind when you think about what you have always wanted to do but stopped yourself from doing. What is it? Why has it stopped you? Won’t you feel better if you conquer and succeed at it?
Iconic runner and founder of 261 Fearless Kathrine Switzer said to me once, “Tracy, when you are fearless, you are free!” So embrace the potential of doing something that will open your horizons. I’ll update you on my grand adventure when I return in June. Until then, “do one thing today that scares you” and then give yourself a high-five.
Inspiration and Wisdom for Women Dealing with Challenges
Today started out with the intention of running. It is May 17th 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 until July. 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 myself 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 Michaels 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 NOW! 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. Now I have run that pool route before even though I don’t admit it to most people because it is longer than a treadmill and outside in the elements so it acts 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 on the deck landing on my back, scrapping my leg and almost tearing up my hands. I lay there for a moment and screamed, “I give up! I give up!” as if everyone in the world could hear me. I lay there for about 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 like my brother-in-law, who has been mostly bald for some time, 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.
Essential Guides In Running A Small Business
Inspiration and Wednesday Wisdom for women entrepreneurs, female business owners and small businesses
The guide that shows you what others only tell you,” caught my attention. It was printed on the DK Eyewitness Travel 2018 London edition my son sent me for Mother’s Day. It’s a beautiful, descriptive travel guide to a new city I will visit in ten days. Inside were 400 pages of suggestions, maps, inspirational venues, historical museums and beautiful parks to visit. Since my son knows we’re traveling to Paris too, I received the same guide in the Paris edition.
Over the past week I started sharing the Women TIES 32 PR Tool Document (aka guide) to members on our private Facebook group. Each day I focus on one marketing benefit they can use throughout the year to elevate their name and give their company exposure to brand their name and increase marketing opportunities. I never considered the document a “guide” until I received my travel books. Similar to the travel guide, the posts should motivate members and direct them to services they might have forgotten about to use freely as paid associates.
Although our document is not as fancy or nearly as colorful as the travel guide, it does have a similar mission in highlighting the best of services we offer members to encourage them to visit our website more often to update their profile, hire another woman, utilize our 13 year marketing platform to advertise or channel them through the list of social media marketing links they can use to share news. No, we don’t have photo of Big Ben within our documents but we do have sites to remember.
When I worked as an employee in higher education for nine years before becoming an entrepreneur, staff were given “guides” to educate us on human resource policies. We also created “guides” for our sixty member alumni association board of directors to utilize as they governed. Although most woman owned businesses are relatively small and might not warrant such guides, perhaps creating a point of services for your customers would be helpful for them.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to provoke the thought of whether you need to create or update any guides in your business? Do your customers always ask for a list of services and prices? If so, why not print them in a guide format. If you have a small number of employees or essential vendors, can they refer to a document to give useful employment, privacy or corporate policies to follow? If not, one summer day might be the perfect day to work at home and produce one. Have you updated your corporate business plan yet this year? If not, consider doing so since it is an essential tool to leading you forward on your business “trip.”
Your “guide” doesn’t have to be a glossy, 400 page descriptive with beautiful photos and glossaries; it can be a simple, logical and important document needed to run your company better and inform potential customers and current employees.
Google Alerts, Bravery and Baldness
Inspiration and Wisdom for Women, Women Entrepreneurs and Females in Business
Every day as I face another unknown day facing my medical condition alopecia areata, I find interesting articles appearing through Google Alerts. Google Alerts is available through your Gmail account and helps you read information on any topic that interests you that appears online. I traditionally have Google Alerts on my name, my company names and entrepreneurial and female focused subjects since this is my expertise area. I suggest every woman entrepreneur do the same.
When my hair started falling out again in January with a condition known as Alopecia Areta I created Google Alerts related to Alopecia and Autoimmune Conditions. Every day my Gmail account gives me links to articles to read. I found this one article today especially helpful. I have only showed a few people in my family the status of my hair to which everyone says, “Oh!” and that’s it. I am positive they are as shocked as I am about the condition but don’t know what to say which is fine with me. I look in disbelief at times too rendered speechless.
When today’s Google Alert article appeared, “What’s Its Really Like to Have Alopecia” which shares the stories of seven women’s personal struggle with the relentless and ever changing disease, I felt a sisterhood immediately. Except for my brother who suffers from the disease on a more limited basis as a PhD candidate when he drinks too much coffee, eats too much gluten or stresses about oral exams, I don’t have anyone to share this experience with.
When I felt alone in business the day I opened my first company, Five Star Events, I had the same feeling. I didn’t know exactly what to do to get through the ups and downs of being a new business owner so I surrounded myself with other women in the same situation. Luckily for me entrepreneurship was a just starting to become a viable career option for women and more women were talking about it so I found a group to join. The benefits of that group helped me incredibly so I started my second company Women TIES to do the same thing as the organization did but for women in other parts of New York State not just Central New York.
Every conversation I have had with thousands of women over my 23 entrepreneurial careers has helped me and my businesses. Not one statement or presentation or meeting hasn’t given me morsels of information and support I needed to survive and thrive as a female entrepreneur. This is why I am trying so hard to not let my alopecia diagnosis stop me from running my business although for the moment it has slowed me down as I try to get healthier, stress less and tend to new medicine and life habits.
The lesson in today’s post is to inspire you, if you are facing difficulty in your personal or entrepreneurial life to find groups, associations or other individuals to talk to or share stories with so you can belong to a group of people that understand. There are millions of people on this globe dealing with similar circumstances as we are; it is up to us to find the strength to reach out and seek the support. I know I couldn’t be where I am today without the friendship, sharing and knowledge of the women I have met during my professional career. I hope the same for you no matter what you are facing.
Women TIES 