"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." Jane Howard
One of the easiest mistakes most women make in business is going at it alone and trying to satisfy everyone. The truth is the longer we go without support and sisterhood, the worse we begin to feel and the harder we work.
I had the pleasure of interviewing three highly successful business women who have figured out how to activate their mission by solving the exact same problem that they were once challenged with. These women have built companies that deal with their ideal market, and they created a business model, services and products to serve that ideal market.
You should consider doing the same. Quit trying to do and be everything to everyone. Focus on building the change you wish to see.
Meet Kadena Tate
Author. Speaker.Business Acceleration Alchemist. Thought provoker. Helping service based entrepreneurs productize and monetize their expertise. Founder of 50ShadesofPaid.com
Tell us about the work you do.
Dear female entrepreneur, you can't scale your business just by thinking about it~ Kadena Tate will show you how to figure out what you want more of, how big you want to go, how much time, money, and energy you're willing to invest to make it happen, and act on all that information.
Why is your work and expertise so important?
I believe that you have unique gifts, talents, strengths, abilities and the lessons that you've learned from your life experiences that can heal the world. My mission is to teach you - a female association executive, author, writer, coach, consultant, speaker and/or trainer - how to take who you are and what you know and package that into multiple offerings (audio, visual, multi-media, etc.)
Let's talk about setting goals, staying productive and positive in the process.
I believe that there are 4 ways that you, an entrepreneurial woman can set goals and stay productive: (1) through owning your desires (both personal and professional) and writing them down; through sound (music, crying, laughter, screaming, etc.); through honoring your emotions (both the sacred and the profane); and through movement (writing, marketing, exercise, yoga, dance, etc.)
What makes your heart smile?
Meeting women bold enough to elevate the voice of their intuition over the voice of societal conformity and fear.
Who is your favorite author and why?
Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts by Regena Thomashauer
She taught me how to design a life that allows me to create time and space for pleasure, bliss and self-care.
Do you have a special mantra that you live by?
I am love, loved, loving and lovable.
What's the #1 message you would give to purpose driven women?
The world is waiting for the gift that only you can give.
Why do you Activate?
To remind myself and every woman that she is worthy and deserving of perfect health, lavish wealth, loving, harmonious relationships and the freedom of creative self-expression.
Meet Vanessa Coppes
Author. Lifestyle Blogger. Social Entrepreneur. Catalyst for women's empowerment. Social and Digital Media Strategist @bellanycmag, Co-Founder @ETTWomen.
What is your mission?
My personal mission is to connect women to one another in support of each other. When I found myself suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of my first child, I had a moment of grace.
After showing up to a women's group my church held for new mothers, I realized that I wasn't alone in many of the struggles I was facing. I had always kept a journal but when I learned about blogging almost 8 years ago, I began documenting the lessons I was learning as I raised my new baby and grew my jewelry business. The response from other women who were also walking in my shoes made me realize the power not just in my words, but in social media. I knew I was onto something and my gut kept telling me, keep writing and keep sharing.
What is your niche market and area of expertise?
I have a degree in design, education, human development and I am also certified in social and digital media. As grateful as I am for the education I've received and as much as that knowledge has helped me advance professionally, nothing is clearer to me than the ability I have of bringing people together for a specific task. I live and operate from a space of collaboration and community.
How do you stay productive in this noisy world?
I've always said that productivity is your life made visible. I have sacred early morning rituals from Monday- Friday that keep me in check: after coffee, I meditate and pray, then I journal. Vision boards are a huge part of my annual/daily goal setting process too. In high school, I was taught the importance of keeping a planner and the power in writing things down. There's actually scientific proof of how that mere act sets you up for productivity.
What makes you happy?
I believe happiness is a choice. As a depression manager, I've learned to take every day as it comes and choose to pursue the best possible outcome. Opening my eyes every morning makes me happy, taking a breath...reaching out and feeling my children cuddled up next to me, that makes me happy. I've learned to see the blessings in the little yet important things in life, that makes me happy. Seeing other women succeed in their personal and professional endeavors and then reaching back and bringing others up, that is literally happy juice for me.
What is your favorite author?
I have many, but if I had to pick one it would be "The Alchemist" by Paulo Cohelo. When I first read the words, "And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it," almost 23 years ago, I believed it and still live by those words.
Do you have a personal mantra?
Everything happens for a reason.
What's the #1 message you would give to purpose driven women?
Everything you need to succeed is within you, not in someone or something else.
Why do you Activate?
I have the responsibility of showing others the power of Faith and God's grace.
Meet Vallori Thomas
Forthcoming Author, Founder and ICF-certified coach of WOW Coaching and Consulting.
Tell us about your mission.
One's perception of self is a key factor in their achievement and quality of life, especially in women. However, there are hidden or underlying beliefs that influences one's self-perception that either empowers or deflates their experience in life. I'm a "Possibilitarian" my mission is to help, guide and assist others to see themselves as a possibility and experience their lives full on in line with their heartfelt commitments.
What is your area of expertise?
Personal and Professional Development through Coaching, Leadership and Business Development training.
As women with all the work and responsibility that comes with being a woman in this day and age, our self-awareness, and self-perception is the absolute difference in our success.
How do you set goals?
I set goals from a clear space of possibility void of circumstances, history or evidence.
Goals are based upon what hasn't happened yet devoid of anything we know/possess. That's why we get butterflies in our stomach when we decide on a goal. For myself once I decide on a goal, I then look to what it will take, who I need to be (urgent, confident, networking, etc.) then what I need to do to actually have it turn out. I look at what obstacles/challenges might exist that could stand in the way of accomplishing goal; then create options to resolve the challenge. It puts me out in front of my goal. I set my intention and stay in action committed to the outcome and not the circumstances.
What makes you happy?
I create my happiness! I am in love with life and living. I actively pursue and participate in those things that give me joy, ignite and inspire my spirit on a regular basis. I pursue it wholeheartedly with gratitude and awe. NO one, no matter how hard they may try, can make me or anyone else on the planet happy. Happiness is a right and choice available to everyone. We create happy.
What is your favorite book?
The Alchemist
It is a very old and wise book about life and living. The book provided me access to self-awareness, and values that allowed me to redefine my relationship with every part of my life. The key for me was uncovering on a deeper level how my choices around my perceptions determined the quality of my life on every single level.
Do you have a special mantra that you live by?
It's a great day to be amazing! There is no day that should pass without you celebrating what is working in your life!
What's the #1 message you would give to purpose driven women?
You are a divine masterpiece. God knew what he was doing when he created Women. Allow yourself Grace with yourself, each and every part of you. What works as well as what doesn't simply because you are far more powerful than you think or allow. Choose self-perceptions that work and forward you. One's that allow you to experience your greatness vs one's that create separation and indifference. Know that you have a unique advantage... there's no one else like you!
Why do you Activate?
Activating is the only way to live an empowered life. When you activate it puts in you in the driver seat of your life as a co-creator. You are "cause" in the matter vs. life happening to you. When I activate it makes me the navigator of my GPS "General Perception of Self" and ignites my experience.