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“If you can achieve
your dream alone, then your
dream is not a big enough”
~Teresia
LaRocque MCC
Fireside
Chat - a personal note from
Teresia & Sonia
Hello Savvy Women!
We have a very important
question to ask you: Do
you have enough support
in your life? (And we’re
not talking about a good
bra….) Who can you
call when you need back-up?
To brainstorm business strategies?
In moments of emotional
crisis?
Last month, we talked about
why it’s so important
to get all the support you
need: so you can make good
use of your own unique gifts
– and enjoy life while
you do it! A solid support
network allows you to be
your best, achieve what
you want, and be the woman
you’ve always aspired
to be.
We also talked about why
women don’t ask for
enough support: sometimes
it makes us feel weak or
inadequate. Sometimes we
get so used to doing things
on our own that the idea
of getting help just doesn’t
cross our radar. But as
we said before, asking for
support is a sign of strength
and ambition, an indication
that you’re ready
to take on more in life.
Don't miss out on this
month's "Savvy Conversations,"
a *fre'e* conference call
that will help you learn
and utilize powerful tools
for your own business. JOIN
US and other like-minded
business women on October
19 at 9 AM PST to dig into
the details of how to build
a thriving business with
all the support you need.
Click here for more details
and to register!
When we asked you to make
a commitment to cultivate
more support in your life,
you probably felt a little
uncertain. How do I go about
doing that? Well, this month
we’re going to dig
into the specifics. In the
following article, we’ll
take a closer look at strategic,
emotional, and task support,
what they can do for you,
and how to find them.
So, Savvy Woman, get ready
to get moving in the right
direction… we’re
behind you every step of
the way!
Your
Sassy Catalysts
Teresia
LaRocque & Sonia Stringer
SassyandSavvyWomen.com
In this issue:
Feature
Article
S.E.T. Yourself Up for Success
There are three basic types
of support: strategic, emotional
and tactical. Each type
supports a different side
of you and your business,
and they are equally important.
So let’s take a good
look at each kind of support
that self-employed women
need, where to find it,
and how to attract more
of it.
Strategic Support comes
from people with more experience
or perspective than you
have, such as a colleague,
mentor, coach or mastermind
group. It could also come
from someone you hire, such
as an assistant or lawyer.
It helps you shorten your
learning curve, find resources,
and create faster, better
results.
Whenever the two of us
are facing a new project,
the first thing we do is
go through our contact database,
looking for people who have
done it before or know more
than we do. We ask each
other: who could help with
this? How can we make this
an effortless process? Who’s
done this before? Who might
be willing to collaborate
on this? It might take us
half an hour, but this process
has saved us SO much time!
Relationships that provide
strategic support can be
formal (i.e. mastermind
groups, teachers, etc.)
or informal (i.e. a smart
and friendly colleague).
Most of us lean toward one
or the other, but in our
experience, people need
a balance of the two.
Wouldn’t it be great
if you had 3-10 savvy people
you could call for a quick
brainstorm on any given
day? This kind of informal
strategic support can make
all the difference when
you’re up against
a wall. Instead of staring
at a computer screen, you
can pick up the phone and
solve problems in a moment.
And membership in formal
groups, such as industry
associations and masterminds,
can give you a tremendous
edge. Leverage these resources!
Emotional Support is something
that every person on this
planet needs. Women seem
to need an extra dose on
occasion (okay – daily).
But if you’re a woman
who has a lot on her plate,
having emotional support
is even more important,
and if you’re an entrepreneurial
woman with high standards
and ambitions, well…
it’s like oxygen!
Sometimes, it’s the
emotional support that puts
a business back on track
– or on the fast track!
What we want for every
one of you is to have at
least 3-7 other women on
your “emotional support
team” – women
you feel safe enough with
to confide your greatest
fears, seek comfort and
really bare your soul to.
A soul community of intimate,
like-minded women gives
you permission and encouragement
to be all that you want
to be. We owe it to ourselves
to establish relationships
that can be that –
because we need it. The
way we hold each other is
the very foundation of our
life as women. We highly
encourage you to make space
for this invaluable support
in your life.
Task Support comes from
those who help you get things
done – your assistant,
housekeeper, babysitter,
and the helping hands of
those we love. The support
of these people allows you
to have more time and energy
for the things that you
love to do and the things
that make the biggest difference
in your life.
Did you know that the average
woman in a family of 4 devotes
20-25 hours a week to running
her household?* That’s
a lot of time! What could
you be doing with your family
if someone else was scrubbing
your toilet and running
to the post office?
Delegate the things that
drain you first; then move
on to the things that are
a poor use of your valuable
time and attention. After
all, people pay you for
that! But no one pays you
to go to the dry cleaners.
If financial resources
have kept you from seeking
task support, get creative.
Who can you barter or trade
with?
Next month, we’re
going to talk about how
to design your business
in a way that lets you devote
the majority of your attention
to the things you love to
do! So be sure you cultivate
some more support this month…
it’s going to come
in handy!
(*According to Take Time
for Your Life by Cheryl
Richardson)
A
Sassy Breakthrough
- Melinda Weedon
 Melinda
Weedon of Tyler, Texas,
went through some important
personal changes when she
built her support team.
Here’s what she had
to say about the process:
“I’ve been
running a business out of
my home for four years,
and when my business really
started to take off, I realized
that I was going to need
more support than I first
thought. So the first step
I took to create more support
was to hire a housekeeper.
I immediately saw the benefits
of having that little bit
of support in my life; soon
I wanted her to come every
week.
“I also needed an
assistant in my office,
but I kept putting it off.
Truthfully, I didn’t
want to take the time to
hire someone, and didn’t
know where to start looking.
I also had a hard time trusting
someone to do a good job
for me. I have high standards!
Things eventually got to
a point where my lack of
support was holding me back.
I was already out of balance,
and knew that if my business
grew any more, it just wasn’t
going to work. To get to
the next level, I was going
to need more help.
“I came up with a
basic job description, and
strangely enough, someone
approached me soon after
and offered to work for
me. Funny how things happen
when you are clear on what
you want! I started my assistant
with small projects, gave
her as much direction as
I could, and we figured
a lot of it out together.
The more I work with her,
the more ways I see to delegate
things and utilize her skills.”
Melinda is a great example
of someone who has created
other kinds of support in
her life as well. She has
a strong emotional support
team, made up of her parents,
children and spouse. They
give her encouragement when
things get tough, and help
celebrate her wins when
things go well. She also
reaches out to peers in
her industry to swap ideas
and exchange trade secrets.
She buddies up with other
business women on a regular
basis to share goals and
hold each other accountable.
“It’s so good
just to hear I’m not
alone, that other women
go through the same struggles
that I do. It’s also
affirming to realize that
I have a lot on the ball,
and it helps to get that
feedback. I have learned
so much from brainstorming
with other women.”
The results of all this?
Melinda’s income has
almost doubled in the last
six months, and she feels
the quality of her life
is much greater as well.
“The best advice I
could give others is don’t
wait! Tap into the wisdom
of others, be honest about
your needs with those close
to you, and delegate as
much as you can, as soon
as you can.”
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