There’s a story of a wild woman.
Many call her “La Loba.”
In the stories, she’s a woman who collects the bones
of anything in danger of being forgotten…
and when she has an entire skeleton collected,
she SINGS over the bones,
bringing them back to life.
In my work, I often feel like the “LA LOBA” of the entrepreneurial world. Stay with me.
I’ll never join the “POOR PITIFUL ME” chorus that has become the rallying cry of too many women today. (Their feminist history is… well… apparently NON existent, as the LEADERS of feminism KNEW better. Those that came before us wisely chose to pursue POWER instead of PITY — understanding that you can have EITHER, but you can NOT have both — but that’s a post for another day.)
Still…. the cold hard facts are hard to ignore. Women entrepreneurs succeed at slower — and lower– rates than men. Period. We COULD point to the familiar numbers:
- Only around 8% of us break the 6-figure mark in our businesses. (That number is hovering around 65-70% amongst Women Who WOW members.) OR
- Only 2.2% of all VC dollars go to women entrepreneurs.
But the REAL reason
— the reason behind the reason–
for this slow growth,
stalled growth,
or NO growth,
is due to something MUCH more insidious.
It’s us…
holding ourselves back. Stay with me… again.
It’s us choosing to be a “good wife” or a “good mother” instead of going all in on our business; because somewhere in our souls… in words often unspoken, but plainly heard… we believe we cannot do and be both. (False. Absolutely false. Woman, you do NOT have to choose.)
It’s us tempering our drive — or at least what is seen of it — you know, to fit in with other women. Because somewhere — and if you are like me, a LOT of places — in our past we have been reminded that we are TOO MUCH. And… that being “too much” led to being rejected and — worse — resented.
It’s us stepping OUT of the spotlight, because we have learned — without ANY explicit teaching on the topic — that women are more friendly to us when we don’t outshine them.
It’s us holding our tongues, to not offend.
It’s us holding ourselves back so we don’t LAP the person beside us. What if our success makes them feel bad?
It’s us playing small because the alternative can STILL feel threatening to others, many times choosing to play small in an effort to protect the ego of our spouse, or even… our dad.
It’s us
every day,
becoming more…
how do I say it?
civilized.
It’s us
every day
incorporating lessons
lessons in playing nice and being safe,
lessons further separating us from the WILD woman inside.
It’s us every day
pursuing nice and “WISE,”
while the WILD within our souls is crowded out with rules and niceties and expectations (our own and the expectations of others.)
So, when women find Women Who WOW,
they are relieved,
often even silently ecstatic…
to find a home for THEIR wild woman,
a place she is celebrated,
cheered,
nurtured,
and LET LOOSE.
A place for the WILD woman inside of all of us who knows she was born for GREAT adventures… the wild woman inside who USED to dream in color…. the wild woman inside whose drive KNOWS no bounds… the wild woman who may have stepped away from, or downplayed her purpose, her calling, her fantastical plans…
but
NEVER
EVER
forgot.
And NEVER intended to let her wild side,
her wild ideas,
her unquenchable spirit
lie dormant forever.
I love gathering the bones of businesses conceived by the wild woman… I love hearing them clang against one another as we — together — bring them to the campfire and sing NEW life into them, before watching them leap forth and take on a life of their own.
Oh, La Loba.
Real or imagined,
ancient or current…
mythical or archetypal…
I love this creature.
And I love playing La Loba from time to time.
Because while I do shine light on the SIMPLEST ways to market and sell and build DEMAND for your work… while my work is centered on branding and content marketing and messaging and packaging and selling….
my focus is ALWAYS the woman BEHIND the business.
The dreamer.
The do-er.
The called.
The messenger.
The artist.
The dare-er.
I LOVE to see the bigness come back to her goals,
and — yes — to her bottom line. #ofcourse =)
I love to see her BRAND catch fire and take the world by storm,
but what I love MORE is seeing the fire come back to her eyes.
This is for all the wow women,
all the WILD women,
who are ready…
who know that THIS is their day,
their time,
their year…
and they will NOT play small with their business,
play coy with their purpose,
or play nice with their profits.
What an HONOR it is
to DAILY sing
over your business.
P.S. If you resonate with this article, message me about joining Women Who WOW. We are your people, your tribe, your sisters.
