Olympic Sports Fever – Get Trying Them!
Thursday Thoughts, Inspiration, Motivation for Women in Sports, Female Athletes, Sports Fans
When I set a goal to try every sport once in my lifetime, I meant it. I knew it would take being fearless, finding people to invite me into their sport and help me try it, and perhaps risk pain too.
The goal is not to be perfect at every sport I try, but to rather just try it, invite other women to join me, and write or blog about the experience inspiring others to give different sports a try. I have loved it and others have loved the concept by asking me many questions like “What has been your favorite one so far?” or “What haven’t you liked to date?”
With the Olympics residing in Primetime TV and the news for two weeks, social media is a buzz with everyone watching and learning about different sports like Water Polo, Rugby, Fencing, Archery, Shooting, Crewing, and more. But when the coverage is over, will the public consider trying these sports for themselves? I have tried every one of those above and I can tell you learn a lot about a sport in a short two-hour span.
The women who know me, know I am happy to try any regular or adventure sport with them if they ask. I still have 50% of sports to go to hit my goal and I’m 59. So, I encourage anyone reading this blog post today to go to my sports website at www.tracyhigginbotham.com and scan my list of sports I still have to try and invite me to join you.
Let’s not let the excitement of the Summer Games end when the flame is extinguished in Paris. We have a lifetime to bring that same type of sports enthusiasm into our lives.
Here are some websites to find some of these organizations offering to try their sport:
Uticuse Women’s Rugby: https://www.facebook.com/UticuseRugby
CNY Roller Derby: https://www.facebook.com/CentralNewYorkRollerDerby
Syracuse Musketeers Fencing Center: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057115132351
Stand-Up Paddleboard Yoga: https://www.rocyogarevolution.com/
Bobsledding in Lake Placid: https://www.lakeplacid.com/attractions/bobsled-rides-olympic-sports-complex
Wednesday Wisdom: Expanding Social Circles
| There I was in a literal circle of people dancing on a mid-summer day in a downtown Syracuse bar dressed in a Halloween costume. I was there helping a female screenwriter and producer who asked for costume extras for a scene in her film. After the sweltering summer heat mostly filled with sports, an air-conditioned artistic gig supporting another woman inspired me to dress as a suffragette wearing a printed sash “Votes for Women” and head to the city for five hours. |
| Within this new artistic circle was a woman I met from another new social sports circle six months earlier. I was introduced to her by another new friend I met at an information session at a Liverpool park where Kathrine Switzer was appearing. The park full of women was mostly new to me but I immediately clicked with one of them who started this Run & Write Club. I have attended her club sessions to support her too. |
| So, there I was dancing with a new female friend I met through a new female friend while supporting an even newer female friend – all in different, yet new social circles. I felt like I was in a mathematics class visualizing the intersection of three circles not for a test but for a visual on how social networking works. If I hadn’t attended the Kathrine Switzer event, I wouldn’t have met Julie B. Hughes. If I didn’t attend Julie’s events, I wouldn’t have met Syl. If I hadn’t agreed to be an extra in Sally Monaco Moore’s movie “The Amazing Mary Jane Watson” (Spiderman’s girlfriend), I wouldn’t have known anyone except Syl who I got to know even better. |
| This visual also proves that networking outside one’s typical circle of friends can enhance our personal and career environment. It is similar to how LinkedIn can work where your first set of friends, have their own set of friends, who have their own set of friends and someone in that third set of friends might have someone important to connect with to help your business or personal interests. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom should inspire you to expand the number of new circles you are a part of. Second, look at your closest connections and ask them to invite you to something new they are doing or to meet a different group of people they know. Third, get outside your comfort zone to learn something new and you instantly create a new circle. |
| I can tell you from all my social networking experiences that you always find the right set of people to hang out with for a while and some of them can lead you to new and diverse opportunities that add a different type of zest to your life. |
Monday Motivation: Be an Extra in a Movie
Monday Mood, Monday Motivation for Women, Female Entrepreneurs
It’s not often a Halloween Dance party is held at the end of July, although it probably could if you take a hint from retail stores that have filled shelves with candy corn, masks, and black decorations. The extreme promotion of the next selling season is ever-present in today’s retail world. I was happy about it this year though, since the Halloween Dance party required a costume and I was all about dressing up even though it was 90 degrees outside.
As I entered the darkened backroom of the Press Room, a popular bar in Syracuse, the staff already had spider webs, orange pumpkins, and strobe lights up and running. A witch, werewolf, robots, ravens, and Michael Myers masked men in black stood around chatting. Mary Jane, Spiderman’s girlfriend played by Sally LoMonaco Moore, the star and producer of this Indie film, greeted me with a hug appreciating my appearance as a Suffragette.
Once everyone arrived and all the entranceways and windows were darkened for the taping of a Halloween Party scene for the movie, the action began. I was one of many extras playing attendees of the party, dancing to a repetitive score like being at a rave. The music would play and we would dance around the main character or as a backdrop through a window scene until the music stopped playing to allow silence needed for the actor’s lines but we kept dancing in silence. Everyone was into it and did a great job turning on and off their best Saturday Night Live moves. The beat is still in my head today.
Not only was I there because I love supporting females, like Sally, in any career role, but because I believe trying new things and saying YES to new experiences enriches one’s life. If we constantly say no to opportunities, we never walk through a new door – in this case, a cobwebbed door – to meet new people, add new credentials to our resume, or just have a great time we wouldn’t otherwise wouldn’t have.
My mother started a Children’s Performing Arts Company a couple decades ago after being a dance teacher for the deaf, so theater, dance, and singing were always around me, I just didn’t choose to follow in her footsteps, choosing sports and business instead. But I am positive deep down inside of me the spirit to agree to be an extra on two local indie films this year, the other one being The Sentinel by Joe Barnes, has something to do with that influence.
My suggestion today is to agree to more opportunities you haven’t tried before to expand your horizons. You might see, hear, or learn something that leads you onto a cool new area of life. It is also fascinating to see how films are directed, photographed, and acted, along with being an extra, gives me a new lens into any movie I watch in the future – especially Halloween movies with dance scenes.
Bike Lesson: Stop Wagging Your Fingers
Inspiration, Words of Wisdom, Thursday Thoughts
It is one of those stellar summer days in Upstate New York with a crystal blue sky, warm breeze, swaying maple tree branches, and wildflowers happily showing their colors. I took my trusty bike out for my typical 9-mile bike ride along Onondaga Lake on the West Trail where I bike year long, every season, in all kinds of weather, with all sorts of people. They usually smile especially when I bike without a hat on showing off my alopecia, bald-head that’s just trying to catch some rays.
Halfway through the bike ride today, I saw a man wagging his finger at me as I ascended a hill near the Empower Amphitheater. I assumed he meant the trail was closed ahead due to a concert but when I looked at his scowl, I realized he was shunning me for not wearing a helmet. Wikipedia says wagging a finger at another is a nonverbal way of scolding someone telling them they have done something wrong.
Since losing all my hair to alopecia six years ago, it took me half that time to get comfortable just walking across my street without a hat on to hide my baldness. I was embarrassed. Little by little, day by day, letting go of something hiding my hair loss gave me strength and quiet confidence. In fact, most people gently smile at me when they see me ride past them bald assuming I have cancer. In fact, today I was wearing my Dana-Farber Cancer Institute shirt after raising $2,000 for cancer. This man’s shameful gesture made me angry for the rest of my ride. How did he know I didn’t have cancer and was simply trying to enjoy my life.
“How about some compassion,” I thought to myself. He doesn’t know why I ride bald. “Who is he to reprimand me since my decision to ride helmet-free is my choice and my choice alone,” I heard myself say. “What a rude thing to do to someone who is just minding their own business on a beautiful summer day,” I continued not letting the emotion go.
If you know me well, you understand I live to the beat of my own drum. I know what is the best thing to do for safety, but I choose otherwise. I also choose to try risking sports when most women won’t. I started and ran two businesses successfully for 30 years. I’ve even tried risky drugs to try to grow my hair back to no avail. I understand risk, believe me. This dude doesn’t know my story, reasonings, or anything about me and my decisions, so finger-wagging is totally inappropriate.
As we brace for the 2024 Election, I see men wagging their fingers at Kamala Harris, women’s rights, women’s right to choose, and women’s passion to elect the first female president. Hey guys, there isn’t a need to do that because we already have been down this “bike road” before. We understand what you think, and what we, as women, think. Just keep biking on and leave us to bike where we want, freely, without your disapproval. You go down your path. We’ll go down ours. We’ll see where we end up.
Wednesday Wisdom: Women’s March 2.0
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women, Females, Women Entrepreneurs
| Today seemed the perfect time to repost the Wednesday Wisdom I wrote and shared on January 23, 2017, recapping my trip with 110 women to the Women’s March on DC. I organized two buses and invited any woman to go with me to remind the new President that women make up 52% of the population. It was a peaceful and significant event in our 110 lives. This week’s announcement of Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic Presidential nominee inspired me to share this with you again. #WomenRising. |
| January 23, 2017: “She believed she could, so she did,” is the saying on the bracelet on my left arm given to me by a friend, worn to the Women’s March on DC and back. Not only did I believe but so did the 110 women who traveled with me via bus with a friendly bus driver who performed a light show for us as we sang Donna Summer songs when the trip got long. |
| After landing in Fredrick Maryland for the night before the March, I threw a dinner reception for all these women who did not know each other. Some were in their 70s, a few in their 20s, some African American and some white, a few were Jewish and others Catholic but we instantly bonded over one cause, one heartbeat and in unity. A dance party broke out which most women took part in until the hotel manager made me shut it down. Only women would dance together in song so joyously. |
| The father of two girls and his wife in the next room, told me they were marching for women’s rights and asked if their family could join us. Next thing I knew I was dancing with 12- and 9-year-old sisters smack dab in the middle of our big dance circle. “Y.M.C.A.” played and the two girls happily danced in the center of the circle of grown-up women. In the end, I gave them both shirts and told them to continue to fight for what they believe in from this age forward. They hugged me three times and hopped off to bed because they were getting up at 4 a.m. to go to the march. You would have thought Santa Claus was coming to town. |
| The next morning after boarding a train to DC at the end of the Shady Grove Metro line, I had a conversation with two twenty-year-old college students from Maryland traveling in to stand up for “human rights”. We shared our hopes and dreams during the 30-minute train ride. They became new sisters in solidarity. |
| Then we stood, marched, held up signs, and spoke to old women, young women, young girls, and men all with different reasons for attending. We witnessed a group holding a 6’ long pink yarn uterus for a woman’s right to choose. We shouted to a Canadian woman in the tree with her daughter telling us we could move to Canada if things didn’t work out in the USA. We broke into chants, songs, hymns, and hugs with people we did not know. |
| In front of the Capitol Building, I ran into my ESPNW contact and was interviewed about the importance of supporting female athletes and why equal pay for women counts. Later that night the video was aired. In it you’ll see the enthusiasm that jumped into the interview with me – other women. I embraced it. It was about sisterhood – energetic, happy, sisterhood. |
| On the train ride home, I sat with a young transgender youth who proudly told me she had changed her gender. He was 15. Next to him was a young girl in the arts. They both told me about why they marched on Washington and their dreams. They shared photos with me. We hugged as we departed and I told them to keep up their dreams and fights. They thanked me and went on their way. My heart was changed forever at that moment. People are good. Children are good. Our future will be good because of them. |
| I returned home with a much larger pink heart than I ever had before – and that is saying something after 22 years of serving, promoting, and inspiring women in New York State – and a new urgency to create a larger company that has four distinct divisions – one for business, one for sports, one for equality and one for life – all for women. I will hire women to help me so we can spread our message louder from this day forward. I know I can do it because, “I believe and I will.” |
Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration, Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners
| As a goldfinch dipped and soared over tall grasses and summer flowers surrounding the trail, I thought about the adage, “The early bird catches the worm.” I felt like this beautiful yellow bird catching the worm by seeing her fly to my right, watching the sun glisten on the lake to my left, and feeling a subtle breeze warming my face in early dawn. With it expected to be another hot day, getting up early to exercise was essential. |
| The lazy days of summer are upon us and once again as this time of year arrives, we have a question to ask ourselves, “Will we enjoy the peace of the mornings or not?” Peace to some of us means sleeping a bit longer, pouring an iced coffee and sitting by a pool, walking in the dew, or catching up on emails and work duties while others sleep. It isn’t so much what we do with this special time but how it makes us feel. |
| When my sons were young, summer meant driving them all over to sporting camps, so the hours before we left the house was when I got my correspondence done. When I watched them play lacrosse, I stayed sitting on grassy knolls while watching them with one eye and glancing down at my notepad of event duties with the other eye. Afterward, when they were hot, I put down work and swam in the pool with them only to start work again at my desk when they watched a movie to relax. It was hectic but lovely. |
| Whether you are an early riser or not, the middle of summer offers you the chance to catch the proverbial worm in your business or personal life. It isn’t a time to work non-stop or to play around the clock, but rather to create a balanced day that lifts you, makes you feel accomplished, and highlights the extra time you have to enjoy a bit more of the good life. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom inspires you to think about what you want to do with morning’s golden hours when the birds are out catching the worms. Do you want to be awake with the sunrise working when the house is quiet? Do you want to be creatively writing during the morning hush? Is planning your business day, week, or quarter, what moves you in the a.m.? Or do you just want to “be” since this is the best time to do that? |
| There are no right or wrong answers to the questions, just a reminder that you can make your summer mornings as productive or relaxing as you want them to be. You have the power just like the goldfinch to soar in the areas that please you – especially in summertime. |
Election 2024: Hear My Story, Vote XX
2024 Election, Motivation, Inspiration for Women
I never joined a debate team. I didn’t enjoy discussing opposing views with other people. I liked believing what I believed. I didn’t have an agenda to change anyone’s mind. I didn’t keep my thoughts to myself but didn’t argue with them. I lived true to my beliefs and how those beliefs grew from experience.
I came from a divorced household where fighting could be a norm some days. I also experienced multiple parental divorces after the first one. There isn’t a way to leave a love relationship without fighting and breaking the original tie. Yelling, harsh words, sadness, and loss were part of my parental experience for over fifty years. I don’t like to fight. I don’t like it when others fight.
This does not mean I don’t share my opinion when it is important. I am not asking anyone to agree or disagree with me. I’m stating what I know, the wisdom I have as a 59-year-old woman with many life experiences including being a #MeToo survivor.
I registered as a Republican as an 18-year-old because I was a business major in college and because business people backed Republicans. I voted for Ronald Regan. Only after being sexually harassed at an influential stock market company at the age of 21 years old, where my boss told me “To treat his high paying client the right way” it disgusted me, rose the feminist spirit in me, and made me leave the world of businessmen.
My next job was in Institutional Advancement in an organization with five other women where we treated each other fairly. I was promoted because I was sharp and mature becoming the youngest board member of the organization. After becoming a mother, I started a business and led a women’s only business group giving me more time and leadership in surrounding myself and promoting women. I thrived in the role.
Ten years later, I opened a company dedicated primarily to women supporting women in business, sports, and equality issues while also taking 120 women to the March on Washington to show the new Trump administration we had numbers and weren’t going anywhere. The year was 2017. We marched peacefully. It was another feminist moment in my career and personal growth although I lost two best friends because of the decision.
I became a Democrat after meeting Hillary Clinton in Syracuse. I wanted a female president to represent businesswomen, #MeToo survivors, and my nieces in the future. I believe that only women can bring forth the right platform for women. After her loss, I became dedicated to supporting other women running for office or any male candidate who truly supported women’s causes.
As the 2024 election approaches with all the horrible negativity and fighting associated with it, I don’t want to fight with people who want to vote the way they want to vote but rather lend my personal opinion to any individual woman still undecided in the race. I ask you to not elect a convicted rapist.
From my personal experience, this could be the worst decision made for women today and in the future. Women make up 52% of the population. Vote with XX in mind. Thank you.
Friday Vibe: Promote Others on Your Stage
Inspiration, Motivation, and Business Advice for Entrepreneurs
The crowd grew thick as a teaser note came from the Empower Amphitheater nestled along Onondaga Lake’s west shore. Although most attendees were there to listen to the main act, headliner Jason Aldean, they first could enjoy the sounds of three upcoming country musicians.
If you go to any country music shows, you know you’ll be entertained by musicians who the main stars believe can make it big one day. Less than a decade ago, we were introduced to Kane Brown and Cole Swindell who now rock their own shows with others exciting the crowd before their main act.
As a woman entrepreneur for decades, I did something similar asking other emerging female business owners to speak at my events giving them exceptional promotion, visibility, and opportunity to gain new fans and hopefully customers. It wasn’t hard to do all I needed to know was that I believed in their potential and authenticity before “backing” them as part of my entourage.
Today I invite you to start inviting, promoting, and sharing news about others in your industry who might not get the air time or promotion they need to excel. Sometimes it takes a simple reference, chance, or spotlight to propel them into success in front of your trusted audience. It is simple, doesn’t cost much money, and produces wonderful rewards.
The next time you listen to music of any genre think of how that artist rose to fame. I bet you find they needed others believing in them first and giving them a stage to start hitting it big. Be a part of their rising – an agent of sorts – and you won’t regret it.
Wednesday Wisdom: What’s Your Great Story
Inspiration, Wednesday Wisdom, Motivation For Women, Women Entrepreneurs
| When I first saw a button with the words “Live a Great Story” I was with a group of women entrepreneurs in my hometown region. The button was given to us by the leader of a beautiful outdoor retreat in a park I frequented with my parents in my childhood. The location took me back in time. The button made me trace my footsteps in life from that very locale to the present day. I asked myself, “Have I lived a great story the past 50 years?” |
| Like in chapter books, some parts of the story are wonderful, and others challenging. The chapters string together, peppered with good and sad, easy and hard, with lessons and just being. For the majority of my life, my story has been great. I have been blessed even with setbacks because everyone has them. No one is free from despair, adversities, and struggle over their life span. |
| But the button for me meant, “Are you living a great story in light of those setbacks?” I answered yes. Even without hair and the loss of self-identity, I found a better bald life through sports which continues to empower me even though I wish I looked the same as I did for fifty years. The truth is none of us look the same after fifty years so why should baldness lead to one not living a great story? |
| Women entrepreneurs live great stories every day they turn on their office lights, greet clients, accept new challenges, add new services, and delete unwanted ones. We also live great stories by sharing our news, meeting other like-minded women business owners, taking new classes, embarking on business trips, and keeping the mission we set. Great stories don’t have to be epic; they can be regular, consistent happiness in daily doings. |
| Because I believe so much in the line “Live a Great Story,” I am now representing the brand as an ambassador hoping the mission emboldens other women to take just one more step into the unknown to make their story even greater. You can buy wearables to publicly share your message with the world and embolden others you meet on your journey. |
| Today’s Wednesday Wisdom reminds you that you have only one life to live, let it be great. By great, I mean whatever “great” means for you. Perhaps it isn’t so much about living a great business story as it is a great personal story. If you have the positivity of a good life, share it with others who might need your example. Sharing a button or sticker with them, changing their perspective, and wearing the brand could lead you to a more positive outlook on life as well. |
| The link to my “Live a Great Story” page, which is opening soon, and gives you a discount on anything you purchase, is here. Tell or show me what you get so we can do a sport together, walk, enjoy a coffee, or simply meet to “live a great story together.” |
Ending a Business Love Story
Inspiration, Motivation, Questions to Ponder for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners
Sticking with tradition, I handed out white surveys to our guests. The survey wasn’t formal with many questions, but a short one with seven basic ones. The questions included date, time, length, weight, hair color and amount, and name; along with the person’s name and phone number to text them if they won the exciting Dunkin & Donuts $25 gift card prize.
The survey was given to men and women at the “Baby Girl Higgy Pool Party and Shower” we threw to gather loved ones and friends to celebrate the upcoming birth of our first grandchild, a girl, due August 6th. As a three-decade event planner, it was fun to use my planning, decorating, cooking, and hosting skills for a personal event decked out in my favorite color pink.
When I chose the date I thought my granddaughter might be delivered on the survey, I said, “August 8” as the date rang a bell in my mind. 8/8/1995 was the date I became a female entrepreneur, choosing the date due to its repetitive numbers. Later I would choose 3/3/2005 as my second company’s birthdate.
When I created my first company, Five Star Events on August 8, 1995, I was still employed with two young sons who I wanted to be with full-time and still earn money so entrepreneurship became my new career in the dawn of work-at-home entrepreneurial mothers and it was a decision I have never regretted over 30 years.
The question that befalls me now with my first granddaughter on her way and my company mostly retired from events, is whether I should choose 8/8 to officially close the LLC or to keep it viable longer so I can still be hired by other companies as an independent contractor and use the legal coverage if I still invite women to do athletic events with me. I never dreamed of ending my company when I started it like most other female business owners.
Today’s blog post isn’t filled with as much wisdom as I would like to give you on this topic since it is new to me. Perhaps today you can send me your thoughts on the best way to end my entrepreneurial love story. You might have the insight, I don’t have on what to do and when. If there is one thing I know for certain after being surrounded by thousands of smart women over the decades the answer lies with someone if you just ask.
As August 6th approaches, I will be focused on the birth of not only my granddaughter but the birth of my entrepreneurial venture that has led me to run two successful companies which opened doors to meeting the most amazing women I’ve ever met. Is there still time for me to do more or do I sail into the sunset with my bundle of pink in my arms? I welcome your thoughts.
Women TIES 