I spent 15 years as the founder and CEO of Snip-its, and I used to think I had a pretty awesome business – one that was interesting and easy to talk about. When people asked me about Snip-its, I was (and still am) very animated and passionate about the subject. But when I would interact with other CEOs and successful people, and the subject matter was not Snip-its, I would get very intimidated. Especially with people in high tech or financial jobs, I felt like a bumbling idiot, with nothing in common and no right to be associated in any way with such smart and successful people. People would tell me I was a typical entrepreneur and that all entrepreneurs are insecure and feel like they don’t measure up, but I couldn’t get over feeling like the only loser and faker in the crowd.
My insecurities stem way back to my formative years. I am the adult child of a very critical parent, and since I was told all my life that I wasn’t smart enough, talented enough, pretty enough, or athletic enough, it’s no wonder that I am today a bundle of insecurities. I hide it well (sometimes), but underneath this confident exterior is a little kid who could never be as good at anything as her brother.
Now I am an adult, and I have four children, ranging from 5 to 18 in age. The youngest is my only girl. Somehow, my boys have grown up very confident and secure, but instantly when I became a mother of a little girl, I knew I had to get over myself if I was going to raise her to be confident, empowered, unique, strong, authentic, worthy, and beautiful from the inside out. Pretty big challenge in front of me – so much so that when the opportunity to step away from Snip-its arose, I decided to start a new venture around this idea of raising empowered girls. It’s called, guess what, Empowered Girls. The Company’s vision is to help build self-esteem in young girls so they can grow up into confident, successful, and happy women. Did you know:
*Up to age 7, girls generally have very high self-esteem. They feel limitless! But self-esteem begins to decline as girls become more aware of outside influences, opinions, and expectations.
*Girls ages 9 to 14 are most vulnerable to experience low self-esteem, which can lead to depression, reckless behavior, or even suicide.
*The most important influencer on a girl’s self-esteem is her mother – it’s not the media or peers, but rather the one adult female role model closest to the child.
*Many women say dealing with insecurities and low self-esteem is a life-long battle.
Empowered Girls provides the tools for young girls and their mothers (or other significant female role model) to develop and maintain high self-esteem, feel good about their unique talents and interests, and feel beautiful from the inside out. So far, Empowered Girls is just an idea I’m working on, pondering, and trying to figure out how to make it a viable business. I’ve created a self-esteem workshop for middle school-aged girls and their mothers, but I haven’t taught one yet (though my first one is on June 14th in Framingham MA if you or someone you know would like to sign up - it's free!). I also have a brilliant idea for a book, but of course, I haven’t started writing it yet. But, eventually I'll get to everything. For now, I'm just really enjoying thinking about and talking about my new venture, and seeing how people react. So far so good. In fact, I'm making better connections with people from all walks of life, CEO, techies, and financiers included, when the conversation starts with something so personal as one's self-esteem. I'm learning a lot, and I'll continue to share.
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