Sunday, March 6, 2011
How does a girl from Martinsville, Indiana survive in a bigger pond?
Honestly, I am not sure that I ever did. Survive in that bigger pond, I mean. When I was growing up we moved so much. I've said in my book that it was part of my parent's plan to keep us upwardly mobile. I say it jokingly, and I know they kept creating change in our lives because they wanted all of us, including themselves, to have a good life.
I'm about to say something here that I have never written. Because of my particular life's journey, certainly we all have our own stories to tell, don't we? I'd love to hear yours. But, you see, I had gone to 15 different schools before I turned 14 years old. But when our family landed in the small town of Martinsville, Indiana we finally stuck. I was there from mid 7th grade through high school and then on to college. I can truly say that it was probably the time in my life when I felt I belonged the most. It was fleeting. And as I look back now as a mature woman, I wonder if I belonged then. Other high school girl friends have stayed close. I tried, but lost out. I see old friends on facebook, that's cool. But I feel isolated even then.
I cannot be alone when I say that I never really quite felt like I fit in. Has anyone else lived years and years without a sense of connection to a group? I have realized after years the moving around we did, the making new friends, the role of the new girl in school that I so many times portrayed, wore on me overtime. And as a defense for this I many times did not give completely give of myself to anyone. I just assumed I'd be moving on again soon. This was reflected later in my adult relationships.
But this crazy self-psychoanalyis of who I was and how I am brings me to the reason that Business Women Connect and my work with writing and speaking to women has become my life's work. The reason for my passion for motivating and inspiring women, for creating support and resources, for at times taking on my shoulders the problems of others is really so that I can create a sense of belonging for me, too. And along with creating my own sense of belonging, I bring other women along the way who perhaps have felt misplaced, like me.
And I want women just like me, women who are my sisters in striving to find their place, to understand that I created Business Women Connect for us. Successful or not, it is one of few things in my life that I have been completely committed to. It is my love and my passion to encourage and support and assist one find her power and live it.
On my way to this 10 years of BWC I've had lots of learning to do, lots of stances to take against people who said I couldn't do it...friends and critics who still say I haven't done it. I have very little encouragement but I stay the course. And I've made some fabulous new friends, have brought into my tribe women who "get it" whom I love and respect.
My story continues with the financing for this crazy website, the times I was told to stop and the great women who stood by my vision. Thanks for reading my personal rant...Next time...
I'm about to say something here that I have never written. Because of my particular life's journey, certainly we all have our own stories to tell, don't we? I'd love to hear yours. But, you see, I had gone to 15 different schools before I turned 14 years old. But when our family landed in the small town of Martinsville, Indiana we finally stuck. I was there from mid 7th grade through high school and then on to college. I can truly say that it was probably the time in my life when I felt I belonged the most. It was fleeting. And as I look back now as a mature woman, I wonder if I belonged then. Other high school girl friends have stayed close. I tried, but lost out. I see old friends on facebook, that's cool. But I feel isolated even then.
I cannot be alone when I say that I never really quite felt like I fit in. Has anyone else lived years and years without a sense of connection to a group? I have realized after years the moving around we did, the making new friends, the role of the new girl in school that I so many times portrayed, wore on me overtime. And as a defense for this I many times did not give completely give of myself to anyone. I just assumed I'd be moving on again soon. This was reflected later in my adult relationships.
But this crazy self-psychoanalyis of who I was and how I am brings me to the reason that Business Women Connect and my work with writing and speaking to women has become my life's work. The reason for my passion for motivating and inspiring women, for creating support and resources, for at times taking on my shoulders the problems of others is really so that I can create a sense of belonging for me, too. And along with creating my own sense of belonging, I bring other women along the way who perhaps have felt misplaced, like me.
And I want women just like me, women who are my sisters in striving to find their place, to understand that I created Business Women Connect for us. Successful or not, it is one of few things in my life that I have been completely committed to. It is my love and my passion to encourage and support and assist one find her power and live it.
On my way to this 10 years of BWC I've had lots of learning to do, lots of stances to take against people who said I couldn't do it...friends and critics who still say I haven't done it. I have very little encouragement but I stay the course. And I've made some fabulous new friends, have brought into my tribe women who "get it" whom I love and respect.
My story continues with the financing for this crazy website, the times I was told to stop and the great women who stood by my vision. Thanks for reading my personal rant...Next time...
Ten Years of BWC: My Story
10 Years of BWC Linda's Story
Have ever had an “ah ha” moment? The kind of moment when you know, deep inside of you, for absolute positive sure that this is what you need to do, think, feel, act on? It happened to me when I first created Business Women Connect.
I was sitting at my desk at my residential real estate appraisal office, L. Rendleman and Associates, by the way I specifically named my company that because this was a male-dominated business and I didn’t want to be in the least handicapped because I was a woman working in a man’s field. Fortunately, lots have changed since then.
But it was that day at my desk when it hit me. I was just learning about the Internet. Back in 2001, the Internet was something that connected to our global world, but little thought or initiative had been taken to connect to our own local communities.
One of the most passionate things I had ever done in my life was to create a local woman’s magazine. It was before magazines for women were local. It was before you could read about a woman and actually reach out to her in your own community. In fact, when we started this local city magazine focusing on women, there was only one other one we knew of in the country.
We were two young mothers with a dream of bringing women together to share resources, mentor one another and connect in friendship and personal growth. We were room mothers for our little first grade daughters. Connie was a broadcast journalist and I had my degree in speaking and writing with a master’s degree in counseling. Two perfect matches stay at home moms who had the courage, craziness to believe they could do anything. We learned about publishing, learned about selling advertising, learned about magazine layout. We were picked up by the local media, were invited on local talk shows, even had a weekly radio show. We took out second mortgages on our homes to front the money for our magazine and found some small investors through our families and some supportive local businesses! Thank you Marsh Supermarkets for believing in us and taking a risk with us.
But two young mothers with just a little bit of business experience and even less money eventually tapped out all of their resources. We little by little lost the ownership to people who knew it was a great opportunity and had the dollars to make it larger than what we could. I left our dream first. The pressure of contributing to our family financially and as a mom of two small children, I was forced to become practical. And my partner Connie? She hung on longer than I did. About another year, eventually selling what was left of her portion of the magazine.
I have all the old original copies. That was back in the 1980’s. I looked so young then. Hmm…
So on that day in my real estate appraisal office, after almost 20 years of knowing in my gut that I had given up, that I had allowed defeat, that I had “lost” my true passion and sold out, believing I couldn’t make it happen…that I got the cold chills all over my body when I realized that I could, again, go after my dream. My dream of connecting and supporting women through my writing and my speaking, my first love, through the internet. And Indy Women Connect, later named Business Women Connect, came to be!
It was then that I learned to never, never, never give up on what you truly want in life. I had a second chance and I was going for it! Connie had moved away years earlier and we lost touch. I learned she died of brain cancer. She would have loved to work with me in this legacy. I am sorry she couldn’t be here with me. I honor her for her inspiration and love.
Coming up next: I’ll share about starting a website when no one understood what to do with it and a major piece of news that made me more determined than ever.
Have ever had an “ah ha” moment? The kind of moment when you know, deep inside of you, for absolute positive sure that this is what you need to do, think, feel, act on? It happened to me when I first created Business Women Connect.
I was sitting at my desk at my residential real estate appraisal office, L. Rendleman and Associates, by the way I specifically named my company that because this was a male-dominated business and I didn’t want to be in the least handicapped because I was a woman working in a man’s field. Fortunately, lots have changed since then.
But it was that day at my desk when it hit me. I was just learning about the Internet. Back in 2001, the Internet was something that connected to our global world, but little thought or initiative had been taken to connect to our own local communities.
One of the most passionate things I had ever done in my life was to create a local woman’s magazine. It was before magazines for women were local. It was before you could read about a woman and actually reach out to her in your own community. In fact, when we started this local city magazine focusing on women, there was only one other one we knew of in the country.
We were two young mothers with a dream of bringing women together to share resources, mentor one another and connect in friendship and personal growth. We were room mothers for our little first grade daughters. Connie was a broadcast journalist and I had my degree in speaking and writing with a master’s degree in counseling. Two perfect matches stay at home moms who had the courage, craziness to believe they could do anything. We learned about publishing, learned about selling advertising, learned about magazine layout. We were picked up by the local media, were invited on local talk shows, even had a weekly radio show. We took out second mortgages on our homes to front the money for our magazine and found some small investors through our families and some supportive local businesses! Thank you Marsh Supermarkets for believing in us and taking a risk with us.
But two young mothers with just a little bit of business experience and even less money eventually tapped out all of their resources. We little by little lost the ownership to people who knew it was a great opportunity and had the dollars to make it larger than what we could. I left our dream first. The pressure of contributing to our family financially and as a mom of two small children, I was forced to become practical. And my partner Connie? She hung on longer than I did. About another year, eventually selling what was left of her portion of the magazine.
I have all the old original copies. That was back in the 1980’s. I looked so young then. Hmm…
So on that day in my real estate appraisal office, after almost 20 years of knowing in my gut that I had given up, that I had allowed defeat, that I had “lost” my true passion and sold out, believing I couldn’t make it happen…that I got the cold chills all over my body when I realized that I could, again, go after my dream. My dream of connecting and supporting women through my writing and my speaking, my first love, through the internet. And Indy Women Connect, later named Business Women Connect, came to be!
It was then that I learned to never, never, never give up on what you truly want in life. I had a second chance and I was going for it! Connie had moved away years earlier and we lost touch. I learned she died of brain cancer. She would have loved to work with me in this legacy. I am sorry she couldn’t be here with me. I honor her for her inspiration and love.
Coming up next: I’ll share about starting a website when no one understood what to do with it and a major piece of news that made me more determined than ever.
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