Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneur’

What Do You REALLY Know?

Posted: July 1, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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>The other evening I was chatting with my best girl friend about our lives, and a revelation hit me. As a woman, especially, I can get so stuck on preparing for the future and what I am supposed to do that I can miss the major point of it all. When I was younger, I looked at what I wanted to do with my life, what degree I was going to get, who I was going to marry, if I was going to marry, etc.

I got older, went to school learning about subjects I loved, married and had children. Now it’s not just about what I am going to do, but what does the future look like for my children. I spend my days preparing:

  • I prepare/plan for at least 3 meals every day – if you add snacks in, half my day is just in planning meals! (okay, truth by told, I’m somewhat lying here. My husband happens to be an incredible cook and oftentimes it’s him preparing and cooking. However, that doesn’t help my point here. Which I’ll get to, eventually)
  • I clean the house to prepare for guests and to put myself at ease. (let’s face it – I’m a clean freak. But it makes me feel good to know that 90% of the time I can have drop-in company come over and I’m not focusing on how filthy my house is)
  • I work from home and a key focus is on product/web development. I have to think about everything we do and how it affects the future of the business.
  • I get myself cleaned up and ready for every day – I prep myself for what the day will bring.

I could go on and on about all the many things we all do to prepare for the future. Sometimes, however, the stress of not being able to anticipate the plan dominates your ability to take on the plan. Imagine packing for a trip and having no idea whether you need evening wear or hiking boots and a sweater. This, however, is sometimes how life goes…because, overall, we don’t know what the weather is going to be.

For example, the wife of an entrepreneur. A beginning entrepreneur oftentimes lives a “feast or famine” lifestyle. All businesses have their ups and downs, and when you’re calling all the shots, the downs tend to affect you in a personal way. It can be scary to not know how the future is going to play out, and I see many stay-at-home moms who are in this supportive role, yet are terrified of how the plan will play out. They stress over all the little plans of life because they are uncertain the “big plan” of the business will thrive. They crave to be able to dot their i’s and be the “hostess with the mostess” who has things under control.

Sometimes, when you’re not calling the shots in one area you feel is vital (i.e. family breadwinner) you seek to control as many other areas as possible. It gets difficult if your partner is unable to give you a play-by-play of how life is going to go!

So how do you cope? How do I cope, not being 100% on our business ventures and whether it will guarantee me the income I’d like this year? I’ll tell you what – focus on who you are vs. what your plan is. Like most of you know, 48 Days focuses on the fact that 85% of the process of finding the work you love is by looking inward. Think about this – why the focus on yourself?

The more you understand who you are, the better you are able to manage life in general. You identify your strengths, you get resources for your weaknesses. You know what is most important, and you focus on those in times of uncertainty.

I don’t know if my girls will turn on me in their teenage years. But I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they feel my love for them, and that they know every single day that I will listen to what they have to say.

I don’t know if working in a family business will be the best venture for my whole life. But I do know that no matter how much I love my work, family comes first, and if that is ever challenged by working together, I will find a new job.

I don’t know if my husband will be in as perfect health in his 70s as he is right now. But I do know that he is my absolute best friend and I will be by his side regardless of physical circumstance.

I don’t know if we’ll be in the same house/city/lifestyle five years from now. But I do know that no matter where I am, I’m with the people that matter most to me, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

We don’t know every curve in the road of our lives, so of course, we need to figure out how to also enjoy the journey. My challenge to you is to remember who you are. Remember what is important, and rely on that – you are beautiful. You are happy. You are relishing the moment as it is. You are wonderful, radiant you. Take life by the horns and ride on, knowing that no matter what life brings, you’ll be giving it your best self.

What is your best attribute that helps you embrace life?

We Believe…In living deeply, laughing often, and loving always.

Posted: January 27, 2011 in Mama Says Namaste
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Each week I want to address one line from our Family Creed.  The first line states “We believe in living deeply, laughing often, and loving always.”  The key element to me in this post is that second action–laughing often.  Laughter does so much more than just feel good on the inside.  It lifts any heaviness in the air, it allows you to reset your attitude, and it’s just plain fun to do.

When you live life full of passion–when you truly “live deeply”, you embrace the moment.  Back in college I read Eckhardt Tolle’s The Power of Now.  It talked about savoring the moment–truly living in the present and not wallowing in the past, or spending so much time focusing on the future that we forget about today.  It’s easy to do, especially with kids…you spend so much time planning…what to cook for dinner, where do kids need to go tomorrow, what work project is due next, what vacations are we going to do and what can we budget to handle next month, etc., etc.  Why is it that we only allow ourselves to live deeply and savor the moment when we’re on a scheduled vacation? What if we took a “mini vacation” every day…taking a moment to breathe deeply…and truly live deeply.

So, going back to laughing often.  If we are living deeply…with passion and gusto, if we allow ourselves to feel the present moment, we then have a choice.  How are those moments going to affect us?  When the kids are cranky, the bills are stacked up, and there are 300 emails to answer (maybe this is just me), how can we cope and actually enjoy ourselves?  It’s the old cliche- when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Whatever you want to say, the bottom line is, give a little.  Figure out how to make yourself laugh.  When I have the days where kids basically prevent me from accomplishing anything else, I figure “what the heck- let’s have some fun.”  And those are days I choose to laugh.  Often.  About anything.  Even if I have to force it at first, I need to let go and understand that some days you just have to let things slide.  Sometimes it’s not worth the battle.  Sometimes you have to remember that living deeply isn’t always about cramming everything into every moment…sometimes it’s about letting some stuff slide so you can truly enjoy the things that matter.  The things you love.  The people you love.  The people, that no matter what, you choose to love always.  So embrace them, both literally and figuratively.  Let go of the nit-picky details, order a pizza, laugh a lot, and go back to the family you love.  Always.

Do You Really Know What You’re Doing?

Posted: April 20, 2009 in Mama Says Namaste
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I was driving today listening to NPR and heard an interesting piece on Fair Trade in Africa. Of course this piqued my interest as my brother lives in Rwanda and has founded one of the best platforms for social entrepreneurship I’ve seen. His company’s mission statement is this:

KEZA is dedicated to developing sustainable fashion businesses from existing women’s cooperatives in Africa. We will ensure sustainability, integrity, efficiency and quality from all of our KEZA partners. We will empower our partners to own their own businesses and work autonomously from KEZA. We will help establish Africa’s position in the luxury fashion industry and bring much needed income and careers to those in need. We will no longer speak of “those Africans” living in poverty. KEZA is where “they” become “we”, and together we will strive to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

 

So going back to the story on fair trade that I heard on the radio…they talked about how the understanding of fair trade has to be more than us just supporting places in Africa–we have to empower the people to know what they are doing and why. I was shocked to hear that the people in Uganda harvesting coffee originally had never tasted the stuff, and some actually thought they were growing bullets for the civil war. Talk about being disconnected with your work!

This got me thinking…how many of us take the moment to really stop and think about what we do each day? This applies for your work, but also emcompasses all the other areas of your life: spirituality, family, social, physical, mental and emotional. What things do we do on a regular basis? What is their significance? Why do we go to work in the morning? Why do we make dinner for the family at night? What’s the point?

Today, take a moment to evaluate all you did this past week–your attitude, your work, you personal walk, and how you interacted with others. What was the significance of all you did? Look at your common habits–do you criticize a lot? Do you drive to work day in and day out and worry in the car? Do you just go through the motions of cleaning the house and making the meals?

Look at your life with significance. I heard a man once say “Don’t confuse success with significance.” Just being productive in life–bringing home a paycheck, making sure kids are dressed and fed, or keeping track of daily needs–this may seem like you accomplished success, but have you really addressed the significance of what you are doing?

Going back to fair trade, the whole point is to value every aspect of the business, from giving the often overlooked and developing countries an opportunity to earn a fair wage to bringing great products and a new insight to the more developed countries. Fair trade is set up to give opportunities for business to areas that otherwise may be overlooked. With KEZA, the women of BURANGA who make the beautiful necklaces you see online work hard on every necklace. The KEZA team doesn’t just pay the women for the necklaces; they teach the women about the business. They explain the numbers and how quality really sells. They don’t tell the women how it is; they lay out the facts and allow the women to grasp and retain the understanding of what true quality products are. The women don’t just go about the process of creating each bead by hand in a robot-like manner. They know the business of it–they understand the audience that purchase the necklaces in the US and UK, and they know where every penny of the profits go–to create a living for them where they do more than just survive, they thrive, and to pay for tuition for their children to attend school, to pay for materials and rent for the business, and for health insurance and counseling for them and their families.


The KEZA business understands significance. They understand that what you do every day has to have meaning, and you have to have passion in life. This first group of women came from living a life of mere survival–from just living in sheer existence. They survived the Rwandan genocide, they survived rape and prostitution, family murders and ravaging AIDS victims. They had existed for long enough. Now they embrace significance. They embrace a life where every action has a consequence, and they can stand with heads held high, knowing their role in life is important to their children and to the world.

Let’s take note of it, and see how we make our own mark in this story that is our life. And if you are craving for more, check out this video for some little ways to make a signficant mark in the world: http://www.everymondaymovie.com/

What does the "Good Life" mean to you?

Posted: April 15, 2009 in Mama Says Namaste
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A few weeks ago, I was asked for an interview. Wow–now why would someone want to interview me? Kendra Tilman, founder of http://www.goodlifediva.com/ has come to know me because of 48 Days, and she’s read my blogs on the NET. She asked to interview me as a work-from-home mom…it was so much fun to do, and I was able to give great props to both 48 Days and KEZA. The name of her website is Good Life Diva, and their mission is this: Our purpose at Good Life is to help mothers match their calling and their careers and obtain a quality of life that meets their family’s personal needs. Mothers all over the world need support and role models in this area.

Wow–what an honor. It meant a lot that she asked me for an interview…and once again, as I sat there as a role model for other moms, I was reminded myself about how much I, too should always be open to learn and grow. It’s so much easier to give advice to others than it is to live it yourself! As I heard myself talking about how to manage working from home and prioritize your life, I was thinking in the back of my head “if only I could do this better!”
I can’t say my life is perfect. I certainly can’t say that working from home is for every mom, or that it’s even easy for me. I have hard days, and I have days where I desperately reach out for family or friends to help with Clara because I have too much work to do. I have other days where I simply have to put work aside and focus on my child and our home. But, when Kendra asked what what the “Good Life” was to me, I was happy to say “I’m living it!”
The “Good Life”, to me, doesn’t mean that every day is perfect, that I’m basking in sunshine, or that I’m rolling in dough. It doesn’t mean that my house is spotless and not a drop of yuckiness comes out of some orifice on Clara’s face. But it means that I’m really, really happy. When I look at the overall path my life has taken, I’m happy with where I am. I couldn’t ask for a better life–I’m in love with my husband and he loves me back, I have a daughter that needs to “hold” me and tells me “I give you hug and kiss” every day. I have a roof over my head, and warm bed at night, and peace in my heart. I have a supportive family–both through blood and through marriage–that is involved in my life and in my daughter’s life. I’m blessed beyond measure in the things that stay close to my heart.

The weather changes, income levels may come and go, health is sometimes good, sometime not. I get stressed, tired, cranky and upset. So does my husband, and so does our daughter. But overall, we have love. And being in the present moment–embracing our good times, and knowing our trials will always pass–it makes me relish this good life I get to call mine.
Please take a moment to watch the interview, and please comment with what insights you may have for me and/or for others!
The interview is broken into two 10 minute segments–hope you can watch it!
Here is straight from her newsletter:
Hello, Good Life DIVAS! My interview with Ashley Logsdon of 48 Days.com is now online! As a WAHM (work at home mom) she understands the demands of having both a career and a family. In addition to discussing her family and work life, she also talks about an amazing organization she volunteers with that is impacting the lives of mothers in Rwanda. Watch her interview. I guarantee it will be worth your time. I know you know other women who could use the resources we provide on our site. SHARE them with all the mothers in your life who are or want to live the Good Life!