Someone to Watch Over Me

Behind every successful woman is a group of other successful women who decided at some point to take care of her. I am fortunate to have several, from all walks of life, in all sorts of business. There is one woman in particular who has gone above and beyond for me, who I am grateful to forever.

Neen James is a tiny Australian with a big personality and a bigger heart. She is amazingly successful in her own business, traveling the world as an accomplished speaker and working with women business owners in her wildly successful mentoring program. Her speciality is productivity, something we could all use a little more of.

I first met Neen when she was hosting a networking event in Philadelphia and I was about 5 months pregnant with my daughter Maddie. My business was in it's infancy, I didn't have a single client, my website was still under construction, and I had never before attended a networking event. I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew it had to work. At the time Neen was running the networking organization in the city in addition to her speaking career. She made me feel so welcomed and at ease, I came back. She taught me my first big lesson in networking - stay top of mind, no one knows who you are if you stay in your house all the time. It was the first of countless, invaluable lessons.

Often times friends and colleagues ask me "How do you do it all with the kids and the business?" By which I answer, I have a mentor who I can not live without. Neen is my sounding board, my voice for reason, and my accountability. She tells me when I need to put my big girls shoes on and when I need to get over myself. She is the little voice in my head asking me why shouldn't I be ridiculously successful. Every business woman should have a mentor and for every mom balancing family life and career it's a must.

I believe it is my privilege to own my business. My clients are truly delightful and my team is an extension of my family, but for all of the joy I get in ownership it can also be painfully lonely. When there is no one above you, where do you go for support and guidance? When times are tough and you don't know what your next move should be, who do you talk to? More so, when your decisions not only effect your business but also your family life, who do you talk to for some clarity? It's only too easy to make a business decision based your family's needs, but that is not always the best decision for the business, and without the business, how do you support the family?

Neen has become an integral part of my life and a large part of my success. I often think about how interesting the universe is. Neen had to travel half way around the world, and I had to gain enough nerve to walk into a strange event, pregnant and terrified, in order to meet, but it was one of the luckiest moments of my life. Beyond all the practical and brilliant business advice Neen has given me over the years, it is who is as a women that inspires me the most. Women should take care of other women, when we do, amazing things happen.

The Begining ...

The idea behind this blog came one day while strolling around Neiman Marcus after a very successful client appointment, I reached into my Louis Vuitton to pay for some overpriced face cream and found a diaper, one toddler size hair tie, and an empty sandwich bang containing nothing but the crumbs of old cheerios. It dawned on me; these two worlds could not be more different. And yet, I’m living in this parallel universe. I started looking for community, something us women do when we need to feel like we are not in this thing called motherhood alone and realized no one was speaking my story.

I don’t quite fit into the world of The Working Mom or The Stay at Home Mom, because I am smack in the middle of both. I am the woman who is somehow trying to keep both feet in motherhood and in her career all while trying to live with some semblance of grace and maintain my chic inner self. Seems impossible, but for the past three years, I have been doing it, and while I'm exhausted, I have two healthy kids, one happy marriage and a successful business ... I may be on to something.

It’s hard, at times it seems impossible and pointless. Everyday I second guess my decisions and often wish I could do one or the other. But when failure is not an option it is amazing what a woman can do. With the new economy and the rising cost of living, few families can really afford to be single income households. I certainly wouldn’t be able to give the life I want to give my children on my husband’s income alone. So we made the decision to start my company while I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. If I was going to have to leave the house to work, I was going to do what I loved, and the decision is paying off.

Switching back and forth between business owner and doting mother has become my greatest challenge. On one hand I have a hour long debate deciding if someone’s Louboutins are the best option for them to wear to keynote a function or talking at length with a client about how the insecurities of her teenage years are adversely affecting her body image. Then, I go home and have to tell my 3 year old not put her fingers in her dog’s backside and cheer pooping on the potty like I’m watching the Phillies win the World Series. Successful business woman running an image consulting company by day, young mother of two girls still finding her way in the world by night. I thought, if I wrote about my experiences, it could bring other moms like me together, start a dialog and create a community.

I have to work, but I love my work. My daughters are my world, Maddie (3) and Ava (2mths), are the reason I work as insanely hard as I do. I want them to know that they can create whatever they want for themselves in the world, and that women hold the power to do amazing things – who better to show them this first hand than their own mommy? So begins my new blog, which will be updated regularly with my thoughts, concerns and stories about my experience as a new mom in this new world.