50/50 Equality Elevates Itself Today
Wednesday Wisdom, advice and inspiration for women, women entrepreneurs and female owned businesses
As I start this sunny day thinking of the meaning of 50/50 day – which is an international movement on May 10th, my mind filled with images of half-n-half cookies, a glass half full of water, the ying and yang symbol on a ring I own and the image of a half moon in the sky with one side in light and the other in the dark. There are hundreds of ways to envision something that is half of a whole. It could be how your heart feels when you are away from your partner, how your stomach senses the beginning of a diet or when your sales list is half crossed off as the day ends. Some days we accomplish our “whole” to do list and other times not.
Today you don’t have to contemplate what type of day it is because the founders of 50/50 Day say today is focused on getting to a 50/50 world. Today is a global initiative with over 11,000 events happening in 65 countries and all 50 states thousands of organizations, companies, schools, museums, libraries and homes – anywhere people already gather – in a global conversation about what it will take to get to a more gender-balanced world in all sectors of society including business, politics, culture, home, and more. Women TIES is hosting one of those 11,000 events in their home office pool house at 4:30 p.m. to be a part of the discussion and movement.
Women TIES has always been about equality in business because it is our mission to help balance the business and money world for women and destructing the pay inequality issue by encouraging women to spend their money and give their business to women first and foremost until we increase our revenue enough to match men 50/50.
Women TIES with our division the Women’s Athletic Network is also trying to change the world on how women see female athletes and supporting them by showing up at their events, supporting young girls in sports and doing more sporting events together to do “business” while we recreate. We need more than 50% of women’s sporting events filled with spectators – female spectators.
Envision looking out a pair of sunglasses with only pink lenses, like I do all the time, you will witness where inequality exists by counting the number of times women are equally represented in government, speaking opportunities, awards, in leadership roles or even number of successful businesses awards.
It is not a 50/50 world yet, but we each can make it more starting today.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to encourage you to promise the rest of this month of May to intentionally look for 50/50 situations where women are equally represented or not and take notice of it and then say something or do something to help correct the statistic. This could be a concept you apply to your business, personal life or in your community. It starts with every single woman speaking up to create more 50/50 situations and changes.
We start today to create this change in the Women TIES Pool House along with 10,999 of our friends from around the USA and globe. What will you commit to do today for a more 50/50 world?
Sometimes you can change the world with one phone call. It begins somewhere with someone. You might not believe you have the individual power to make a difference but herstory proves a movement can start with one person making a decision.
As the government votes today on repealing the Affordable Care Act, I made that call to my representative’s office to speak up for every woman I know who is battling, battled or passed away from breast cancer. Every year at least 4 women in my organization are diagnosed with the disease. I see how it affects them and their work. I try to champion them through showing my support. But my support would not be enough to save them or keep them out of pain, if they didn’t have medical coverage – affordable medical coverage.
I am fortunate to come from a family of doctors and my son is now a Physician Assistant. I see them make the decision to be in the medical field to help others. Their frustrations come from insurance limitations that harness their power to heal and protect their patients. They want to do the work they were chosen to do without restrictions in laws or having their hands tied behind their backs due to patients not being able to afford their care.
After taking 110 women to the Women’s March on Washington, I realized the power of 1 person joining another person and another one until eventually there were almost one million of us marching for women’s rights and human rights. Today if every person calls their representative, the phone lines will be flooded, our voices heard and hopefully medical coverage for all will remain.
Inspiration, Wisdom and Advice for Women, Women Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners
As the speaker approached the stage with a cane and Seeing Eye dog by his side accompanied by one of my friends, I watched in awe as he navigated the stairs, walked towards the podium and arrived at it with a big smile on his face. Ready to greet his audience, Tim Conners, “America’s Ambassador of Hope,” is a sightless visionary who became blind at the age of 15 and has redefined what was possible in his life which includes climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa in a few weeks.
“Going blind from cancer actually opened up my eyes to what was right in front of me,” Tim explained. He continued by saying, “I believe I can move mountains so remember no matter what barriers lie in your way, with the right mindset nothing can stop you.” Words I felt I lived when I was able to finish the 26.2 mile run in Boston and raising $8,000 for Team 261Fearless only 2 weeks ago. I knew what Tim was talking about because I had just spent 9 months believing I could move my own mountain and complete my goal. I also was blessed to witness a blind woman running in the marathon next to me on Heartbreak Hill.
Life lessons can produce parallel business lessons if we live within the place of possibility amid the right mindset and goals. Although we are not blind, we need to open our eyes to see what is right in front of us creating desire and opportunity. To run a successful business we know we need a business plan to guide us, similar to a blind person needing a cane and dog to lead them. Other times we need to lift our eyes away from the black and white plan, and see with our heart what is right in front of us and make a new decision to embark.
In 1995 when I started running to lose weight and then in 2005 when I started my second business to connect women across New York State and once again in 2017 when I took 110 women to the Women’s March on Washington to stand for equality, I listened to a voice within me, saw with my eyes a need, and trusted my wisdom to get me started and succeeding. As Tim said, it really does begin with the idea that we can ‘move mountains’ by our own will and focus.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to stop for a couple minutes and think about what is right in front of you – opportunities, people, ideas – that you need to grab a hold of and start experiencing. It could be something that repetitively shows up in your life, someone or a few people who you keep intersecting with by accident or a gut feeling you haven’t taken serious enough to investigate. Sometimes we need a leap of faith to get moving on a new path in entrepreneurship and life.
I’m not suggesting you start training to hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro or run a marathon, but I want you to think about that inkling in your heart or hunch in your gut to do something new or different in your personal, business or community life. It just might be time to start climbing.
Inspiration and wisdom for women, women entrepreneurs, female business owners and small businesses
After six months off the road, we tried to start an older car for my son as he returns from college. The once active, robust automobile barely made a sound as we turned on the ignition. It stalled out completely after a few attempts. How could a once vibrant car be acting this way? Did we ignore it too long? Should we have jump started the engine sooner? Was it our fault for not paying enough attention to keep it running well?
Our businesses can become like stalled cars in our garage. The once active, moving, exhilarating hum of it working can fall quiet if it is left idle too long. By the time we realize we have to start the engines and get it back on the road in roaring condition, the energy has been depleted and we have to resurrect it.
How many times as women business owners have we ignored our companies a little too long because we were tired, lost focus or interest? Maybe we needed a break so we walked away for a short time only to return to find it lifeless. A vibrant business or even one humming along at a steady pace can’t be ignored for any period of time before it becomes similar to a dead car battery which then requires new energy to get it moving again.
What I love about some of the women I have spoken to over my two decade career, is their willingness to seek support on reinventing their companies. Many of us don’t reach out to industry icons for that type of support but I have known a few women who have. It takes humility, hard work and willingness to jump start a business again to bring it back to life and back to an even stronger position it was before. We all have that ability to jump start a piece of our business or life like dieting, starting to run, or going back to school, no matter how long we’ve overlooked it. Entrepreneurs can always find support from local and regional consultants, government agencies and other female business owners. You just have to ask.
Today’s blog post is to remind you that if you feel like your business is like the dead car in the garage, ignored a little too long, it’s never too late to refocus, restart and rejuvenate it. It will take hard work and a willingness to review, reform and renew key components to breathe it full of life. It might also take admitting you need help and being humble enough to seek advice.
The lesson we learned in our garage was to never ignore our car that long again even if someone isn’t using it. Some parts of life and business demand attention. We know what they are. We have to believe we can return anything we’ve worked hard at possessing back to full verve and vitality.
Inspiration for women entrepreneurs, females, women runners
Pure and simple I am joyful at this moment and because I’m content I feel like sharing this positive energy with others because joy can be contagious. Whether it is the super sticky balmy air outside which envelopes me in warmth and makes me dream of Florida, the high I felt after running or simply thinking about seeing my oldest son in 11 days, joy has completely depleted my discontent and replaced it.
Yesterday I was reminded how tough life can be for people with cancer. I went to a three hour inspirational event to support a cause I love and felt myself getting more intense as the beautiful program went on. It had nothing to do with the performances, readings or actions of the producers but my feeling of sadness for all of the people I saw on the stage who have suffered through pain. Today I realize I was overwhelmed with the inability to help people tormented by a terminal disease which unfortunately also includes my stepmother who has Alzheimer’s disease.
I was also recently reminded of some very difficult times in my entrepreneurial life when others didn’t trust the person I was or my business. Since I have always believed actions speak louder than words, I pushed forward as confident as I could be with the knowledge that someday my actions would prove the honest person I am. When you come face to face with a couple people who have been your worst “cheerleader,” it reminds you that believing in yourself is the only way to live.
As usual a run with some of my favorite music on turned a sour conversation into bliss reminding me that if I step away from someone else’s criticism for only 30 minutes and do something specifically that brings me happiness, the negative slips away into thin air. Running today brought me back to memories of the 2017 Boston Marathon where I ran my longest run with Team 261Fearless. Getting rid of negativity and replacing it with positivity is one of the best reasons for running and why I will never give it up.
I hope the next time you aren’t feeling a lot of joy, you stop for 30 minutes and go do something that brings you back to your happy place and confident self. You deserve it; and because in the scheme of life we have many reasons to be joyful when others don’t.
Uplifting Reasons to Support Non-Profit Businesses
Words of Wisdom, Wednesday Wisdom for women, women entrepreneurs and small businesses
The words of last week’s Wednesday Wisdom rang in my mind this week talking to two women entrepreneurs who created 501C3 organizations to help others who suffer like they once did. The quote read, “In the end, I realized how much people really care about others. The world news does not speak about this world that appears on the everyday streets that make up America – or Boston – or other great USA cities. People do believe in each other. We want to love others. We show our love the best we can. We are there in service and support from the smallest of us to the oldest.” I would also add “in the streets of Syracuse,” too.
Since I have dedicated my life to helping women entrepreneurs and women in general, it makes perfect sense I would be highly aware of the health risks women in particular face like breast cancer. They say 1 in 4 women you know face a breast cancer risk. This week I heard about 2 women I know who are suffering from this disease with a very poor prognosis for recovery. Besides placing them in my prayers, I also support 
Positively Pink Packages, one of Women TIES non-for-profits, created by Jennifer Tom after she went through her own diagnosis in her late twenties. I try not to miss her annual “Kentucky Derby” fundraiser every May to give to her cause and enjoy a special event.
Yesterday as I sat at the WISE Conference with another one of our members Susan Bertrand, who created Maureen’s Hope Foundation which helps anyone with cancer particularly children at Golisano Children’s Hospital, we talked about her inspirational event “iBelieve” on April 30th in Syracuse that is purely meant to deliver inspiration to our community. It’s an afternoon affair with 6 speakers and performers delivering pure inspiration to lighten others lives.
Not all businesses or non-profit businesses have uplifting reasons for their existence but many do. We must remember to support women owned non-for-profit organizations as much as we do female owned businesses because they operate and struggle with funding and marketing exposure like profit companies.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to remind you that many non-profit-organizations are created by women who are making wonderful positive contributions with this type of business entity. Just as important as it is to support woman owned business to help put money in the hands of women and create a stronger buying circle, remember discovering and supporting a non-profit created by a woman is as important. You can make a tremendous difference giving to one of our non-profits and help change the world for a woman with breast cancer or a child suffering with cancer.
When you do give then you too will be making our world full of love and compassion just like I found on the streets of Boston last week.
Monday Motivation: So What Do We Do Now?
Monday Motivation, inspiration and wisdom for women and women entrepreneurs
As the crystal blue sky greeted me this morning with lemon lime baby leaves dotting the dark brown maple tree limbs, I glanced up at the foliage knowing what’s in store for them. Soon the leaves will expand, darken in color and fill the empty spaces between the limbs with deep green leaves until they fade into orange in September. Sometimes we just know what is next…..other times we might not.
Not knowing the next stage or phase in your business, life or even sporting endeavors can be natural. Sometimes we need to entrench ourselves in the current moment before we envision the future. Other times we understand the logical progression. Whether we know what comes next or not can be a combination of destiny, logic or emotion.
I sometimes wonder if life is a series of distinct opening and closing of doors or a continuum like the rainbow where colors lead and fade into the next. Perhaps it can be both over a lifetime as we grow, age and transform. Lately transitioning to becoming an empty nester, watching my stepmother suffer through Alzheimer’s Disease, finishing a marathon dream and entering my 22nd year as an entrepreneur are examples of how life is more a progression of colors than endings and beginnings.
If we understand this thought to be true than we can face any time in our life, when it feels like a door has opened or closed, with the emotion that life really isn’t about distinct endings and a beginnings but rather a beautiful rainbow of hues that can illuminate a sunless day anytime we choose to shine a positive light on our future.
Changed Forever at the Boston Marathon Thanks to Kathrine Switzer and Team261Fearless
Boston Marathon Wednesday Wisdom and Inspiration for women and women entrepreneurs
“The person who starts the race is not the same person who finishes the race,” is a quote once seen on a marathon supporter sign on the side of a road. I remember reading this quote and wondering who I would be once I crossed the historic Boston Marathon line on Boylston Street. What would change, what moments would influence me for the rest of my life, what moments along the 26.2 miles would stay in my soul forever? I have the answers and I really want to share them with you today so this is a long and unique “Wednesday Wisdom” blog post. I hope you don’t mind.
The journey of a marathon starts long before the starting gun goes off jumpstarting your heart and legs for this tremendous adventure. The journey starts when you ask yourself, “Can I complete a marathon? Do I want to complete a marathon? What the heck does it take to finish a marathon?” Having always been inspired by women the motivation to run a marathon came in November 2015 sitting around a table of 13 international and American women in the brownstone rental Kathrine Switzer had arranged for the very first 261Fearless.org team meeting. I would have never known that one simple candle lit dinner with wine and homemade food would spark something I never knew existed within me.
Landmannalaugar, West-Island, Island * Landmannalaugar, West-Island, Island.
Digital Photo;
Copyright: Klaus Fengler.
Then came time to listen to the inspirational words of Kathrine Switzer, the hostess who brought us together within her dream to create 261Fearless.org and what it would mean for women globally if we could get involved and believe in her concept helping to launch it in our own cities and countries. It is hard to say “no” to Kathrine because she is the most wonderful, warm, amazing woman I have ever met. She is electric and gracious all rolled into one.
After bonding with these 13 women I left New York City changed, wishing I could stay with my new international friends forever and wanting to help Kathrine anyway I could. I knew I had to help women know more about KV Switzer what she had done in 1967 and what she planned to do so I arrived back to Syracuse ready to stay involved and we did when I landed her a speaking gig at my alma mater SUNY Oswego and she repaid the favor speaking at a Women TIES event in April 2016.
In the late summer of 2016, I received an unexpected email asking for women to apply to run in the Boston Marathon with Kathrine on the 50th anniversary of her gender barrier breaking moment in history. My hands shook as I contemplated the decision and then I said, “No way could I run a marathon” and closed the email. Next thing I knew my NYC 261Fearless roommate from Louisiana (the other non-marathoner) posted a YouTube video saying in her southern drawl, “I’m doing this,” and next thing I knew I opened the invitation, filled out the application and sent it in! I knew I had to train, raise $7,261 dollars and then run it – which was going to be harder I wondered?
9 months later, on April 17, 2017, as I walked excitedly towards the start line in the Hopkinton, Massachusetts where our Boston Marathon start was to begin, Dawn, my NYC roommate was at my side, fatefully put there again, to start this once in a life time experience. As we walked up behind Kathrine with 110 other excited women (and a few men), we looked at each other grabbed hands and said a prayer that we would each finish. Boom the gun went off and we ran our separate ways.
You see as much as you think you will run alongside someone to experience the Boston Marathon together, you can’t. As distinctively as our own personalities, we uniquely have to travel the 26.2 hilly miles from Hopkinton through Wellesley past Boston College and onto Boylston Street by ourselves with our own mantras, pace, spirit and depth of commitment. You can’t live someone else’s moment; you must live your own.
I felt great looking ahead at the colored hats and shirts of thousands of runners. The energy of the crowd sweeps you up for the first 7 miles as you run downhill and uphill with tons of people cheering you on. Then you start feeling the tightness in your legs, the slowing down of your pace and the reality you have 19 more miles to go. I was not discouraged on how I was feeling because I had trained for this thanks to my coach Reem Jishi, and knew it would take every ounce of tenacity to pull through.
I started thinking of the 110 people who donated to my 261Fearless.org charity raising $8,000 and I knew there was nothing that was going to stop me from finishing that race even if I had to walk and run to get there. The generosity of my donors fueled me in the doubtful moments. As I approached the beginning of HeartBreak Hill near my beloved Boston College, a blind woman and her coach ran by me on the left and a man with blade feet came up on me to the right, and my spirit raged as I witnessed these two individuals.
Heartbreak Hill is a long hill but it was “Heartful Hill” for me because my oldest son Thomas had gone to Boston College for four years and when I drove into visit him that was the last hill until his dorm. I loved that hill! BC Students were cheered me on as I yelled, “I love Boston College!” I stopped to have a 14 year old girl fix my iPod music and she said, “I love your bracelet which said ‘She believed she could, and so she did,’ a gift from my friend Susan Bertrand of Maureen’s Hope Foundation. I took it off and gave it to her as a thank you. She hugged me. I was energized once again.
Just as I came down the hill on “The Haunted Mile,” a flat part of the race in Newton, my husband and son hugged me and off I went until a mile later when Jill Bates, a Women TIES member from Rochester and her sister-in-law, an Ironwoman who I had donated to for her Hawaiian race, hugged me and gave me one last push to finish my last 3 miles. You see you receive if you give. Off I went, knowing the end was near.
Down the hill and the big left turn on Boylston Street, the crowd noise was louder than a Boston Red Sox victory over the Yankees. I couldn’t believe how loud that crowd was and how many people stayed to cheer us on. The elite athletes had finished hours before. Kathrine Switzer had finished an hour before at the age of 70 finalizing her big dream. You wouldn’t know you were a charity runner when you heard that crowd. I heard someone say, ‘Tracy….I turned around to see my roommate Dawn from Louisiana call my name. We had miraculously caught up to each other at the .2 mile of the 26.2 mile race. Was it fate? I say it was our prayers that we crossed the finish line.
At the end of the race I was a different person, a changed person. I realized that during the race I tried to give back to the crowd as much as they gave to me. I stopped took photos, danced for them, acknowledged them, shook their hands, gave hugs to people who held up “Do You Need A Hug” sign, slapped as many little girls hands as I could to make them happy, and slowed down to bask in the true “LOVE OF BOSTON.”
In the end, I realized how much people really care about others. The world news does not speak about this world that appears on the everyday streets that make up America – or Boston – or other great USA cities. People do believe in each other. We want to love others. We show our love the best we can. We are there in service and support from the smallest of us to the oldest.
I am changed forever by the love every single person in the Women TIES community, my family and my new Boston family showed me. I don’t know what to do with all this love but I sure do plan on giving away as much as I can to repay every person who believed in me. Come to a Women TIES event and I’ll give you a hug to share it.
Although the bracelet is on the wrist of a 14 year old girl, I remember what it said, “She believed and so she did!” What I know for sure is if I can run the Boston Marathon, then any woman I know including my favorite women entrepreneurs, can do anything they believe they can!
Final Note: If you love this story, please help me continue to raise funds for 261Fearless.org by donating on my Boston Marathon donation page by clicking on this link! Thank you so much. Love, Tracy
Inspiration: Thankful and Fearless
Inspiration, Gratitude and Wisdom
This is a very different blog post but I know how far and wide my blog posts are read and it was important to share this message.
In the words and tunes of the DropKick Murphys “I’m Shipping Off to Boston” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-64CaD8GXw tomorrow!
I am setting out on my last 50 minute run to dream about the 2017 Boston Marathon and all the people who have shown their support. Whether you donated money, sent me encouragement or kept me in your thoughts, I am grateful.
This was the largest undertaking of my life more so than starting two businesses. I have gained wisdom and focus and will be sharing more of that insight with you when I return so you can use it your everyday business life. It is amazing how setting a really big goal can be achieved with dedication, training, support and tenacity. If I can run Boston, you can do anything you want too.
I’m still fundraising for 261Fearless – especially on a morning where the artist of the bull in NYC wants the new “fearless girl” moved somewhere else. I feel like the bull is my 26.2 miles in Boston and I’m the fearless statue staring it down! I leave for Boston tomorrow morning! Please pray for me to have strength, tenacity and spirit to carry me to the finish line.
In entrepreneurial, athletic and feminist spirit,
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham
Women TIES, LLC
Inspiring a Magical Business
Wisdom, inspiration and advice for women entrepreneurs and female business owners
It’s a magical time of year when suddenly green buds appear on tree branches, the yellow heads of daffodils pop up out of the ground, the once quiet cold air rings of bird chirping and from stinging our faces to basking them in warmth. Magic, enchantment, or delightful are what those of us in the Northeast feel when the grips of winter start fading.
Besides being a season of positive climatic change, spring is filled with new beginnings and celebrations like baptisms, communions, college graduations and of course special holidays like Mother’s Day. I can look outside, view the size of tree buds and tell how close my son’s birthday is since he was born the end of April. Magic continues as we dream of summer vacations, family celebrations, and attending sporting events like the Boston Marathon.
Now is the perfect time to also contemplate whether you still feel the magic about your business? Does it enchant you still? Is it as exciting to get up every morning plan your day, communicate with your customers and fuel growth? Do your customers still feel magical to you and would they say the same about their relationship with you?
If there is one thing that this beautiful season of spring gives us is the sense of rebirth, revival and resurrection. Perhaps your business has been dormant in producing new ideas, creative communication or exciting events to provide the magical touch your customers need to remember why they are affiliated with you and your company.
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to think about the magic you are or are not producing and make a plan to bring something special back into your company. Look outside for inspiration, take time to walk in the warm air, pick some flowers and let creativity, passion and magic in. Enlighten and illuminate the ways you conduct business, talk to customers, handle problems or treat staff and then take action to make your ordinary ways extraordinary.
As Harry Potter author JK Rowlings states, “It is important to remember that we all have magic inside us.” I wish you an especially magical season of spring personally and professionally.
Women TIES 