I can’t believe I’ve been sharing posts here for 2 1/2 years. Seriously…where did the time go?

I hope it’s obvious that I love writing and sharing it with you each week. Otherwise, it would have gone the way of other experiments (Facebook and TikTok, to name two), long ago.

And now it’s time for a change…. I’m moving to Substack.

Last week, I shared my “one out of ten” approach to creating lasting change in your team members (and yourself). What I didn’t share then is that this approach was implemented in a “culture of ownership.”

That was the foundational element that made the process work and one of the reasons it was so effective.

What I mean by “ownership”.

Many (many) moons ago, I managed a team of 12 direct reports at a Fortune 500 company.

In that position, I was charged with making sure this team delivered in a way that delighted our customers, both internal and external.

This meant developing processes and systems to minimize errors, ensure products were delivered on time, create programs that helped our partners sell, etc.

As a business coach and strategist, I encourage my clients to uncover their “why.”

We discuss the importance of knowing your “why” and the positive impact it can have on your business growth, your overall life trajectory, and life satisfaction.

It’s one of the key elements we use to help you move forward in your business and life.

As a business owner, I’ve never felt compelled to pick a “word of the year.”

I’m not sure why that is. But this year's different. As 2023 closed out, I felt the pull to pick not only one word for 2024 but two.

Because who made the rule of one word? And why on earth do we need to follow it?

I know you want rave reviews. For the reviews themselves, yes.

But also because you want to delight your clients and customers. You want them to be excited by all you deliver that is beyond their expectations.

Here are some questions to inspire you:

• What do you promise when you market and sell your offerings?

• What is your onboarding or delivery process?

One of the benefits of travel is that it puts you outside of your comfort zone.

It forces you to be in a new place with new customs, food, driving patterns, and quite possibly a different language, to name a few of the ways life gets shaken up when you leave your home territory

It forces you to get uncomfortable with discomfort. Which really is the only way to experience anything new, in business and life.

A short story on the value of persistence in small business and life.

This is another travel story. The other, real side that doesn’t make glossy Instagram posts.

After a beautiful vacation week in Ischia (highly recommended!), I set out for Salerno on the southern end of the Amalfi Coast. It’s a trip that should have taken 4 hours door-to-door. It didn’t.

Do you, like me, often find yourself rushing through, well, everything Rushing to get onto the next thing out of urgency or anxiety?

I ask this question because I was so busy “going fast” that I didn’t realize it. It wasn’t until someone uttered the words my father used to say to us when we were kids, “piano, piano” or “slowly, slowly” that I began to be aware of this tendency. And that it needed to change.

For two weeks late this summer, I allowed myself to indulge in tennis - a lot of tennis. It was the U.S. Open.

I even checked off a bucket list item — attending the night session for two quarterfinal matches.

As I shared back In July, when the major in play was Wimbledon and the story was the run of American Christopher Eubanks, there are business lessons in tennis.

When it comes to business coaching, it's the behind-the-scenes work, the soft stuff, that often makes the difference.

You can have the best idea for your business or plan to bring a new offering into the world. But...

— if you can't see how you're getting in your own way

— if you're getting bogged down or held back by perceived limitations

we can create the best strategy for you, but you'll never execute to the level you're meant to, at the level at which you're capable.

Almost every female founder I’ve spoken to recently has said that they’re overwhelmed. They’ve used that exact word.

And with the overwhelm has come an inability to think about their situation and make decisions about what to do (or not).

When everything is urgent, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s most important, what truly needs to be done.

They call it “paying attention” for a reason. As a woman business owner, there is a value attached to your attention in terms of:

1. Your time;

2. The information you take in; and

3. By default, the activities you are then choosing not to do and information you’re not letting in.

Your attention is one of your most valuable resources.

As a female business owner, you have two resources available to make your magic and grow your business...

Time + Money.

Yes, you have your talent - your unique blend of expertise, experience, and passion that makes you, you - but to fully realize that in service of your vision, you need to effectively manage these two commodities.

Here’s why knowing this matters.

There are business lessons for small business owners everywhere you look if you look hard enough. This includes tennis.

I am a big fan of Grand Slam Tennis, which once each summer, means Wimbledon.

Every year, there is one breakout player — a highly unlikely competitor who breaks through for the first time. This year that player was the 27-year-old American, Christopher Eubanks.

Call me what you want ... a business coach, advisor, strategist, consultant. The work is the same.

We start with your vision -- the ideas you have for the next phase of your business --and everything on your must-do list to make it happen.

Then, we develop the right sequencing and generate your tailored action plan, so you know what to do now, next, and later (and sometimes never).

Almost 20 years ago, I decided I needed to go back to school. Literally.

My undergraduate degree was in Chemical Engineering — big on math and chemistry, but literature, not so much. Having started to take writing classes at the time, I realized I was woefully under-read. And this bothered me — a lot.

So much so, that I began researching truncated Master’s programs that would round out my education in the way I desired, and further, do so in a place I wanted to live (read: abroad).

One of my favorite business podcasts is “How to Fail with Elizabeth Day.” In each episode, she normalizes failure on the path to success with guests from every walk of life.

She’s on Season 17. Clearly, if you’re a female founder and you’ve failed anywhere along the way, you’re in good company. Why so many seasons and so many failures? Because the truth is nobody knows, with 100% certainty, what will work (and what won’t) until they try.

Here’s how to get comfortable with this more positive approach to failure.

There is only one you. And you need to own it.

Recently, I needed to remind myself of this fact because as a female solopreneur, this is a case of “the cobbler’s children have no shoes.” Let me explain.

Fifteen months ago, I wrote a blog post titled, “Female entrepreneurs, you are unique.” In it, I talked about clients who think the market is crowded and wonder why they should bother, as it’s already been done before, likely better than they ever could.

Learning to say “no” is key to running a successful business.

I recently witnessed one of the most positive outcomes possible with a client I have the privilege to be working with … I watched them walk away from potential business.

Maybe it’s not what you would expect me to share here, but there’s a reason I’m doing so. As there is a lesson here:

Not all business is good business. Really. Truly.