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Catch & Release—Ready to Launch!

By |2017-07-10T09:42:33-05:00July 6th, 2017|Blog|

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Want to understand the heart of Girl Authentic and how together we can bring about a new work equilibrium? Read on.

I have always wanted Girl Authentic to serve three purposes:

  1. Talk to women about building their own businesses and building a different model for all of us to work in
  2. Help women shape their business ideas and approach
  3. Invest in women-led business development

Today I get to share how, for the first time, Girl Authentic has provided support in all three ways.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of Catch & Release, created by Jennifer Cook. Jennifer took an idea she’s had for a long time, believed in it, and believed in herself enough to make it a reality.

Are you wondering what her idea was? Jennifer is an outdoor enthusiast. Her activities mostly revolve around fishing, boating, and camping, as well as other outdoor activities she and her kids do. From this love, she decided to create a way for outdoor enthusiasts to exchange their equipment and accessories directly – thus, Catch & Release.

I am so proud of Jennifer. She never gave up—she just kept quietly working on her idea, continued working her “day job,” found support where she needed it, and made it happen.

I know this is just the beginning of a very exciting venture for Jennifer and the community that will begin to take shape as they buy and sell their equipment and accessories through her business. Look for Catch & Release to become THE place to find the best equipment available.

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I also have a purely selfish reason to be excited, too, since Catch & Release represents the first time Girl Authentic has provided the comprehensive support I noted above. It’s what I have always hoped Girl Authentic would become in the long term—much sooner than I ever thought I would have the opportunity.

Jennifer told me how supportive and helpful she found the GA blogs—and then she shared her idea. I knew right way she was going to make this a success. Her passion made it feel right. She used words like love and committed and community and confident. I am proud to be a part of Jennifer’s story and will be supporting her in her continued success.

So…here she is—almost a year after she first started working on Catch & Release to launch a new way for outdoor enthusiasts to create a marketplace exclusively for their needs. Please join us. If you have a need to sell something or want to try something new using top equipment without plunking down top dollar, 1) download the app, 2) put your wares up for sale or search for what you want, and 3) tell your friends. The app will let you buy and sell directly with easy payment options so you don’t have to figure out how to get paid or pay someone else.

Jennifer envisioned her dream and then put in the hard work to make it reality. Catch & Release is the real deal, and Girl Authentic is happy to support another business building work equilibrium!

 

Rerouting: Is It Possible to Reach Two Destinations Simultaneously?

By |2016-07-19T09:20:30-05:00July 18th, 2016|Blog|

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In our GPS world, getting from one place to another is easy: you input your destination, and you’re on your way. But what if you want to arrive at two places at once? Is it possible? Can we both work within a culture and change it at the same time?

I am newly faced with this struggle, as my work life has recently taken a turn into the corporate world. I find myself wondering if I will continue to be able to strive for feminine equilibrium in the workplace while at the same time working within it.

This shift in my work life has occurred amidst many other life transformations. Since I last wrote, I traveled to Japan for two weeks and completed Module 3 of SourcePoint Therapy (an energy healing modality that focuses on healing and health). I packed up my house and am living between two temporary locations in Colorado and Chicago. I closed on a new home in Chicago, but since it needs work done, I haven’t yet moved in. My daughter graduated from high school and turned 18 two weeks later. And as I’ve alluded to…I started a new job.

After years of charting my own territory, I recently accepted a job as a Director at PwC in their Supply Chain Management consulting practice based in Chicago. With my move to Chicago already in the works, a professional colleague and friend connected me to PwC in early April, and lo and behold…by the middle of the month, it was a done deal.

 

I’m as surprised as anyone about this rerouting back to the big corporate world. However, as I have learned, you must be very specific with what you ask for because the universe will provide exactly that. To illustrate, earlier this spring I asked for:

  • A supportive way to transition to Chicago
  • Nice people to work with
  • A way to build a foundation and network in Chicago
  • Some stability in my income situation so I could meet upcoming financial obligations
  • A way to help replenish the coffers
  • A way to meet the right people to help me build my next company

Notice that “work in a corporate environment” is not on this list, yet for some reason, PwC feels like the job I am meant to do right now. Everything I have done so far positions me perfectly for this.

I have had numerous friends comment on how it is beshert (meant to be) and karma (helping others over the years coming back around), and I believe that, too—but it still feels like a rerouting because I have to figure out how to continue the GirlAuthentic conversation in a different environment.

Maybe that is why I’m back in a large corporate environment. Maybe it is a case of “what you resist persists.” I have resisted the idea that large corporate structures can actually operate in a way that fully supports women (and men) and removes the old patriarchal structures that so many resist changing because of the power shifts it will cause. Can they really let them go? I have my doubts.

But I have hope, too. Before joining PwC, I did my research. They have consistently been voted one of the best places to work, their track record and percentages of women in leadership are well above many of their peers and other industries, they actively support the UN HeforShe program, and they have meaningful programs within PwC that reflect this. They focus actively and directly on diversity, and their results are visible and considerable. They are doing good work, and I am excited to be a new team member.

While this latest step fulfills much of what I was looking for, I still have many questions. What does it look like to continue working for equality for women from this new platform? How will my next business idea take shape, and when and who will partner with me?  Will I be able to do both? Can I work within a global corporate platform and strive to transform things on a larger scale? What will that look like? And at the same time, will I be able to build a company led by women that demonstrates all these ideas?

Though I don’t yet know the answers, and this move may be unexpected, it feels right. I’m excited that this rerouting has me looking toward new horizons and given me different opportunities to make a difference. And while I’m not certain I will be able to arrive at both “destinations,” I am eager to continue the journey.

A podcast with Leaders of Transformation

By |2016-03-11T09:50:49-06:00November 20th, 2015|Blog|

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I met Nicole Jansen from Leaders of Transformation at a Small Satellite Conference. Nicole interviews successful Leaders of Transformation to help you gain the inspiration, education, resources, and leadership skills to transform your life and the world around you. I was thrilled with the opportunity to meet with her and talk about bringing forth the feminine in the workplace. It’s podcast #28 on her site. 

[button colour=”accent” type=”squarearrow” size=”large” link=”http://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast-2/” target=”_blank”]Head over to Nicole’s site to listen![/button]

Do you trust your instincts when they tell you to walk away?

By |2015-10-12T14:55:12-05:00October 12th, 2015|Blog|

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This is my first post since May because the last few months have been so crazy-busy. I’ve essentially been working two jobs: First, continuing to pay the bills as a supply-chain management consultant, and second, getting a lot in place for Morf3D, the additive manufacturing business I’ve been developing with a business partner for the last two years.

So much was accomplished for Morf3D over the summer: Key agreements completed with equipment and service partners, a lease negotiated for a terrific new California location, and several major conferences attended to support business development.

Best of all, our new Chief Technical Officer found us. I’ve said from the very beginning that I wanted Morf3D to have a female CTO – and I must admit, I had doubts that we would ever find one. Then Melissa Orme sent us a letter telling us she wanted to join Morf3D. I couldn’t believe it! After years of hoping, here she is – and she is amazing.

Then, in late August, I walked away from it all.

An event occurred that caused a moment of complete clarity and absolute knowing for me – I’m out. There was actually a series of events that happened, all the previous ones of which I ignored, or reasoned away, or doubted my instincts. This one however, I chose not to ignore. I could not ignore that feeling of absolute knowing.

Have you ever had a moment like that, when you just know – no matter how it looks from the outside – that something isn’t right?

It might seem obvious to go with the option to avoid something that looks disappointing from the outside. Normally, to make things work, and do what would be expected, I can go into what a good friend of mine calls “Tetris mode” – I can spend my days constantly working to fit all the pieces together, trying to fix what I know in my heart cannot be fixed. This option can be quite seductive for me, since I’m really good at it. I know, because I have done it for decades. I know how to keep fitting pieces together. But I also know it’s a game that never ends.

That’s why, this time, I chose a different option. As soon as I knew clearly what was right for me, I chose to go with what I knew. And there was complete relief and calm in that. There was nothing to fix. I went with the option that works on the inside.

I invested a tremendous amount of personal, intellectual, and monetary capital in building Morf3D. And I got a great return for my investment: I met some of the industry’s leading executives. I learned a ton about a fascinating new industry. I met some terrific people I hope to come across again and pursue new ideas with in the future.

It just wasn’t going to work any more. So I chose happiness instead of what I knew was coming – that feeling of always having to make it work, make it right, when I knew it was wrong. That was going to leave me completely out of alignment and out of integrity with myself and with what I wanted Morf3D to represent. That, I couldn’t do.

It might seem unusual to walk away from my two years of effort. But I’m happy knowing it’s exactly the right thing to do.

I’m happy to be walking away. And I’m walking away to be happy.

 

 

GA Oct15 blog

Betwixt and Between

By |2015-05-22T19:55:22-05:00May 19th, 2015|Blog|

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How do you get from where you are to where you want to be?

I’ve written a lot on this blog about the need for women to build new businesses – different kinds of businesses – if we hope to achieve a better balance in our workplaces and in our lives. But how does that happen? How do you live well in the world you have, even as you work to make a better one?

You live betwixt and between.

That’s what I’ve been doing. I spend my days moving between two worlds. First is what I have begun to call my “old world” – working independently to provide supply-chain management and large-program management consulting services, the way I’ve earned my living for a long time. Second is my “new world” – that of building Morf3D, a company of the type I’ve proposed women build in my GirlAuthentic blogs.

I’m spending 24-40 hours a week providing supply-chain and ERP implementation work, supporting a wonderful client I have worked with multiple times. I am also traveling and meeting with potential new partners and clients to help build Morf3D. It’s a common story you hear about many others who have started a new business: You use the current work to keep paying the bills and help fund the new business, “burning the candle at both ends.”

Living in both worlds leaves me feeling I’m not doing either very well. I am constantly working on one area while being asked to do something for the other, or thinking about the other. Some days it is exciting; other days it is exhausting.

And I’ve come to a conclusion: I just have to get comfortable with being in transition.

I know this will be part of the “story” of building Morf3D that I can share in the future with other women and men who I hope will also make the leap to build the kinds of companies we want to work in – companies that are involved in changing the world, in making our workplaces places we all want to be. But I also I have a feeling the anxiety, stress, and excitement of building Morf3D is going to be around for a while.  So, I better figure out ways to be with it.

And that’s not easy! Prior to this level of activity with Morf3D, I felt I was pretty good at quieting my mind, being still, relaxing. Now, I realize I have a lot more to learn about how to do this. Stillness has been a struggle – at a time when I need it the most.

But I realize something else too: Building Morf3D feels right. This is our chance to build what we have said we wanted to see in this world in terms of the opportunities we want to create and the type of company we want to give people a chance to work for. This is just the beginning of this journey.

It might be a lifetime journey. Does anyone who is involved in building something new ever feel “done”? Or do they just get comfortable continually building, knowing they are never done? Are we here only for the finish line – or is “betwixt and between” exactly where we ought to be?

What do you think?

What the world needs now is more wealthy women

By |2015-05-19T14:43:14-05:00March 13th, 2015|Blog|

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What do Silicon Valley, the Catholic Church and the nation of Germany all have in common? If the articles I’m reading lately are any guide, the answer is an under-representation of women in leadership.

Germany has taken the strongest action this month, actually passing a law a few weeks ago requiring its major firms to allot at least 30% of the seats on non-executive boards to women. The same can’t be said about Silicon Valley, where a recent gender discrimination lawsuit is shining a light on a longstanding tradition of VC firms not including women in leadership (or funding them, for that matter). Meanwhile, the Catholic Church – despite some nice commentary from the Pope – may be the most entrenched organization of all. It’s unlikely to change its stance on women in leadership for centuries.

This matters. We need more visible women in leadership – because balance at work begets balance in life.

We will all experience more balance in our families, our social structures, our communities, our businesses when we first learn as individuals to value a balance of the masculine and feminine. We’ll learn that individual balance when we value and include women in every pursuit.

And we’ll value women more, when they have more wealth.

You read that right! Women having wealth is good for all of us. It changes social structures for the better. Women having wealth changes…

  • How our families operate
  • How we spend money
  • How our children are educated
  • Our business policies
  • Our political policies and approaches

There is a lot of resistance to change in most of our current corporate and political (and family and social) structures. More and more women are attaining leadership at Fortune 500 companies, for example – but the pace is far too slow. At our current rate of progress, we’ll reach parity – 250 female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies – in 411 years. I’m not that patient.

Putting more wealth in the hands of women brings the change we want. So how do we have women have wealth quickly?

  • Encourage them to start businesses – the willingness to trade creates prosperity
  • Encourage these businesses to focus on the long-term and the greater good
  • Encourage these businesses to seek a balance of the masculine and feminine – these will look, feel, and operate differently from what many of us know today
  • Match these business ideas with funding – from other women

Am I saying that wealth is the only way we can measure whether women are valued?  No. But it is a wonderful leveler of the playing field. Money knows no gender – some peoples’ money even has pictures of women on it.  Imagine that.

You want a horse? Go get a horse.

By |2015-05-19T14:42:30-05:00August 12th, 2014|Blog|

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I wasn’t even 6 years old when I discovered something I really wanted: My own horse. My family had just moved to a much more rural area where EVERYONE had horses  – well, except me. I knew I wanted a horse.

My parents got me lessons at the local stables, and many of the neighbors were kind enough to introduce us to their horses and let us ride. But, I refused to stop bugging my parents. So my dad came up with a deal he figured would put off the need to get a horse for quite a while. He told me, “When you can saddle and bridle a horse all by yourself, I will get you a horse.”

Six months later I showed up in the yard with my friend Debbie’s horse all saddled and bridled. My dad asked, “Why do you have Debbie’s horse?”

“You told me when I could saddle and bridle a horse by myself, you’d get me a horse,” I told him. “So I got him ready all by myself and rode him over here.”

My dad just looked at me. “I did say that, didn’t I?” he finally said. And I had my own horse not long after that.

I was only 7 years old, and I knew what it meant to be authentically powerful as a girl. I wasn’t questioning my abilities or worrying about how others would respond to what I said and did. I knew what I wanted and what I was capable of. It felt natural. It felt like me.

Remember that? That’s “GirlAuthentic.”

Every once in a while someone will ask me about the name “GirlAuthentic.” They might have noticed the dual meaning in our logo (tie, dress) or our tag line (Equilibrium at Work; Equilibrium at work). Then they often move on to our name – because words do have power, and do shape things.

For me, “GirlAuthentic” is a call to remember.

For working women of all ages, or for those still in college or younger, it’s a challenge to never forget what it feels like to be authentically powerful as a girl. The workplace needs more of the feminine, not less. So “GirlAuthentic” is a challenge not to hide or mask what comes so naturally to you – no matter what well intentioned coaching, (but bad advice), you might receive to do the opposite.

For others, like myself, “GirlAuthentic” is a challenge to remember what we have forgotten. Today, too many women are trying to be empowered through a masculine vibration, not a feminine vibration. Some of us have gotten very good at it! But there’s a price we pay for doing so.

Three years ago, as I was reading Barbara Marciniak’s “Earth,” I realized that I had mastered the masculine vibration. But I had lost my own true voice along the way. In fact, my “success” was so complete that I am having difficulty finding that authentically powerful girl. I’m having to work to bring her back.

But I know I will. She’s in here, somewhere. I remember her.

And she wants a lot more than a horse.

When do you remember feeling authentically powerful?

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