Girls Rule!

I have 4 boys and a sexy man/boy/husband, so I hate to brag about women but WE ARE AWESOME!!! We Rock!

I just read in Ikea's newsletter that (and I am going to plagerize here, cause it will just take me too long to try to say it differently and I'll lose all of my enthusiam):
While it doesn't often make the news, business isn't slowing down for American women. They hold the majority ownership of 7.7 million small businesses and, including co-ownerships with men, own 10.4 million, or nearly half of all businesses, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. Employing almost 13 million and producing $1.9 trillion in sales, women-owned businesses have grown almost twice as fast as all firms in the past decade, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

How many times have you "saved the day" for your family? Again, the women save the day; but this time it's for the country!
So,on March 13th, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls. The mission of the council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families.

Yeah baby! We're awesome! WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS are changing the world!

Celebrate Your Small Victories

Work at home moms, entrepreneur women, this is a hilarious illustration of the need to celebrate your own success! Even when you're losing, even when things aren't going your way, you should celebrate the smallest victory. That ONE little, bitty victory is a sign that things are on the way up!

What Makes U So Great?

I was recently asked what's the difference between "a business coach" and "a business coach for moms"? "What makes you so great?"

Glad you asked!

1. I realize that Mompreneurs have to be handled with cotton gloves. As much as we love business, feel "called" to the business or need to make money with the buiness, if it occupies too much time away from the children or too much money from the family budget we start backpeddling with Mom-Guilt. So I encourage, guide, push and motivate as if I'm coxing a powerful and beautiful lioness out of her cage and into the jungle. She can handle the jungle, but she doesn't know it yet. I don't want her to turn back to the safety and confines of the cage.

2. I email my Mommy clients an outline of our discussions, including the list of goals with the agreed upon dates of completion. This is to help the lioness stay focused. There are many distractions calling her; the cubs back in the cage and many other business ideas in the jungle. My follow-up email is printed and hung in her home office to be her visual anchor.

3. I also set my coaching hours to accomandate Mommy hours. Most Moms can't get to the phone during the 9-5 hours. The zoo is too busy. We come out of our cage to explore the JungleBusiness after hours. I talk with many of my clients either early in the a.m. or very late at night. This works well for me too because I also live in a zoo. I talk with my business coach at 3pm every other week. She is wonderful but not a mom-God bless her childless soul-so I drive down the street and sit in a church parking lot just to have a focused, uninterrupted conversation. How many coaches will schedule 11:00pm as your weekly appointment?

4. I request/demand that my clients come to the meeting as a Business Woman not a Business Mommy. In other words she cannot talk to me while fixing lunch, or doing laundry. The only thing that I will tolerate is breastfeeding her infant. This is to remind her to honor her business. Most moms are not always able to give her business full attention and many aren't taken seriously. During our sessions she has someone on the phone who honors her business and honors her as a business woman. This gives her the permission to do the same. In order to hunt successfully in the jungle she has to see herself as the true lioness that she is; this lioness is proud to hold up the mirror.

For the sake of time I won't go into all of my other "greatness" secrets. If you're interested in being coached by someone who loves building and supporting moms in their entrepreneurial pursuits, email me at LadyT@TheBusinessCoachforMoms.com

Aren't You Tired of Bad News?

I don't watch the news. People (namely my mother and father)are always trying to convince me that I need to know what's going on in the world. I don't think that knowing a baby was placed in the microwave by its mother, or Brittney Spears' latest drama or how many people were bombed in Baghdad serves me. Those are things outside my sphere of control and they don't really affect my life. Those stories add to the prevalent sense of fear that is palpable in our society.

To know how many people lost their jobs and how bad the economy is, help me to be sympathic toward people and their loss, but too much of that information becomes a distraction on how I run my business. I can't coach and encourage WAHM to success if I'm also thinking of the "failing" economy. And the mom entrepreneurs that I've coached have gone on to do great things despite the "bad" economy. Why? Because we never entertain the conversation.

If you're tired of the bad news check out happynews.com. Great information that will make you smile and keep you encouraged!

Free Stuff

Blogging, by linking other people's articles, feels a little like I'm cheating. Don't I owe it to my oh-so-many-followers to give them my thoughts, opinions, ideas and tips about women and entrepreneurship and business coaching.

But I decided to get over it. There's so much great info on the net and this article is one of them. She lists many places on the web where you can get things for free. Read it here: http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/53/how-to-find-free-stuff.html

Which is Bigger: Your Problem or You?

After having coached an absolutely powerful woman this morning, I hung up the phone-well, I actually closed up the phone-amazed, again, that someone can be so talented, so gifted, so powerful, so called to do what she does and still struggle with doubt and negativity.

To help her move along, we refocused on her target market, mission and vision statements. I talked her through a visualization activity that reminded her of her strengths and gave her a nightly assignment. Once reminded of her potency she was ready to resume the pursuit of her weekly goals.

But once again I was reminded of how our minds can make life, troubles, our weaknesses, seem so much bigger then they truly are.

Then I found this video. The card trick is a great visual of that point. Adrian Law also addresses how to deal with the negative thinking and the benefit of a coach.

LOL!

When was the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurted?

In this fast-paced, busy, go-go world, it's easy for mom entrepreneurs to get stressed-out by our committments, children and challenges. It's easy to forget that life is suppose to be fun and exciting. Our children remind us of this all the time, but we're "too busy". They're "too silly". And excitment makes "too much of a mess."

Mommy, here is a great tip to remember: laughter is a precious gift for a crazed society. The mental and physcial benefits are numerous! When you laugh endorphins and adrenaline are released into your blood stream. This helps build your immune system, remove stress hormones, and gives you a natural high. Laughter tightens your stomach muscles. It improves blood circulation and increases blood oxygenation. It lowers blood pressure. It is LITERALLY, medicine.

Laughter also improves memory by helping us to retain information; something that great teachers and advertisers always capitalize on. It boosts our emotional state of mind allowing us to see things in a different light. This opens up our creativity and problem-solving abilities.

It's free, natural and culturally acceptable for both men and women. Go ahead laugh until your belly aches! LOL!

You are UNLIMITED!

You have unlimited resources. You have unlimited potential. You have unlimited opportunities. So why are you still crying? Why are you still worried? Why are you still wondering how it's going to work out?

If you can but tap into your Unlimited Creator who created all things, this will take care of your fears, doubts and worries.

You say, "But Lady T, I have tapped into the Unlimited Creator, I know him personally through Jesus Christ, or Budda or by reading The Koran."

I say, then why are you still crying? Why are you still worried? Why are you still wondering how it's going to work out?

Help Yourself!

For every day that we whine and cry about the lack of support that we haven't received, we could be working on our businesses. To be honest, NO ONE HAS TO SUPPORT YOU. That includes parents, spouse and children. The only one responsible for supporting you and your business ideas is YOU! If you're not supporting yourself don't expect anyone else to do it.

How do you know when you're not supporting yourself?

If you are:

• unwilling to put in the time-you can say, "I'm too tired because I have the children and I have to walk the monkey and clean off the picture frames..." or "I can't because my husband won't paint the windows or babysit the gorilla ...", or whatever the excuse; if you are spending more time talking about that, then looking for ways around that, then you're not supporting yourself.
• unwilling to spend money because you're afraid that, "the business won't work". Or "it will be something else that I start and don't finish"...or whatever the excuse; if you're afraid that it won't work then it won't and you can't expect someone else to support you in an endeavour that you are afraid to support.

"Whatever shall I do Lady T?"

I'll gladly tell you. You have two options:

1. Be honest with yourself about your fears and doubts and then GET TO WORK.

OR

2. Be honest with yourself about your fears and doubts and step away from the business until you have dealt with your fears and doubts.

If you need help with either one then feel free to email me LadyT@TheBusinessCoachforMoms.com.

ARE U CRZY!

I have been asked by several clients, all over the age of 35, if it's really necessary to have a website? My answer is always a polite ARE U CRZY?
Listen and read up all entrepreneur women over the age of 35: You absolutely, must, without a shadow of a doubt, unequivocally, definitly, H to the ECKY yeah, gotta have a website!!!

The business card use to be the item that told the world that one is serious about his business. Now it's the website. You will not be taken seriously without one.

I know that means a whole new set of learning skills and another expense but it's not that bad. There are FREE, people-friendly, sites available out there. Do a search or just go to Weebly and get started. If you're a Mommy entreprenuer, wanting to grow your business and taking so seriously by your customers that they'll pay you money, then you must have a website.