CHANGE. I’m not sure if any other word conjures up such a stew of contradictory emotions. Throughout history there have been men and women who have given their lives to both prevent or initiate it.
For a world that evolves so rapidly, where change is actually one of its few constants, we often tend to fight the very thing we all know to be inevitable. What is it about change that scares us? The unknown? The lack of feeling in control? When we are the driving force behind it, we are far more accepting of it. How many of us have fought new workplace policies, government legislation or new hurdles in our relationships simply because it was taking us away from the way we always did things? Even our New Year resolutions start out as plausible efforts that quickly die because we do not make the necessary systematic changes in our lives to uphold them.
Last month Lioness hosted a vision event for women. For three hours we brought women together to talk about what they wanted for themselves and the positive things they wanted to draw into their lives. The underlying theme was change. One remarkable woman shared with me that when she was growing up, her parents emphasized the importance of getting a quality education and securing a well-paying job. There was no talk about passions and work that was fulfilling, and this year, starting with our event, she was going to take more time to explore what made her feel alive. That’s the thing about change, it leads to growth.
Boxing industry legend Don King’s daughter Deborah, knows a thing or two about change. Her story of finding change while living with drug addiction is moving and her mission to serve others dealing with the same issues turned into a social entrepreneurial effort. She told our writer Shannon Phillips, “My mother became ill and instead of her praying and going [to church] for herself, she was worried about me and it made me realize, you know, something had to change.”
What change do you want to bring about in your life in 2016? One of the first things we teach in our new e-book, “The Lioness Mindset for Success,” is that success begins in the mind. Before you put together a laundry list of things you want, think about what you need and the alterations you’re willing to make to certain aspects of your lifestyle to get it. Work from your soul where your true voice resides. That is the space where your true self hides regardless of cultural norms, things you’ve been taught or biases you’ve developed over time.
We at Lioness are just as susceptible to change as you. I’m starting off 2016 back in the Editor-in-Chief seat after former editor Katelyn Gendron’s decision to pursue new career aspirations (congrats!). Over the year we will be implementing changes as our startup transitions to a sustainable business.
We will continue our mission to elevate, educate and support you as you charter the startup waters and follow your dreams and desires. What do women entrepreneurs want and need? We are living in a time when women are at the helm of startups like never before – in fact, more than 200 million of us worldwide are supporting ourselves and our families through entrepreneurial endeavors. In the United States alone, 438,000 of us launch new ventures annually and the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs as a whole are Black and Hispanic women.
This month I talk to our January cover star, entrepreneur Tiffany Pham of Mogul, an award-winning technology platform that enables women worldwide to share ideas, solicit advice and access content based on their personal interests. The once bootstrapped business that she slaved over at night by teaching herself coding now reaches more than 18 million women per week. Pham and I have an in-depth conversation about being an entrepreneur of color, the work it takes to bring an idea to fruition and how the love of her late grandmother is reflected in her work with women.
So how can we serve you? It is a question we will be asking you often. I want to hear about your ideas, your innovations, your successes and misfires. Assisting you is a never-ending cycle that requires us to have open-ended, candid conversations.
Our home is yours.
Welcome back to LionessMagazine.com.
Natasha ♥
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