Picture this: a dozen women of varying ages, sitting in a small conference room around a long, rectangular table, crossing or uncrossing their legs to get comfortable in the overstuffed blue swivel chairs. It's early--in the most excellent words of British poet Robert Browning:
The year's at the Spring, And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven, The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing, The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven, All's right with the world.
Sunlight, gleaming like a new gem, spills in through the large windows on the westside of the room. The women gathered are members of a local chapter of NAFE (Nat'l Assoc. of Female Executives). They have come to hear me speak on "The Art of Reinvention." What was I thinking when I agreed to do this???? What do I know about reinvention?
I think I know a lot about reinvention. I think we all know a lot about reinvention. I was prepared to discuss some less obvious things about reinvention with these professional ladies, these energetic women who, during the last few years, had taken that big leap into self-employment. My goal was to remove the barriers society, friends, family, and colleagues erect when we say we're going to do something "different."
As someone who has reinvented herself a dozen times over, from childhood to adulthood, to my present incarnation as a writer and business owner, I have a unique perspective on reinvention. It's something we all do, every day, but only when we become aware of it and take charge of it, can we achieve the goals we have tucked away in our inner heart.
The ladies and I poured our coffee or tea, put our little pastries on napkins, and sat at the table to unravel the mysteries of reinvention. What I said isn't important, just words about not letting that morning commute, getting stuck in traffic, influence your whole day. It's a minor inconvenience. Words about taking chances and making choices and being aware that you are doing so. Words about building your life into what YOU want it to be, instead if allowing life to lock you in a box you think you cannot get out of. Words about recognizing that reinvention requires active participation in your life. There is nothing passive about it.
My words were merely the opening statement. The true value of how to reinvent oneself came afterwards, when each of the ladies opened her heart and talked about the ways they had reinvented themselves, over and over again, without knowing it. One young woman who has a new business selling office furniture, talked about her house burning to the ground...a life changing experience that left the rest of us gasping. That fueled her desire to remake herself, and so she has. Another woman talked of the many years of volunteering she did, which led to an executive position in the volunteer organization, then to another position doing sales and training, and now, to the new business she has as a personal coach.
Each story resonated with accomplishment. Each woman had slivers of disappointment she hinted at but didn't fully articulate, backgrounds in despair or abuse, or just being held back by outside forces that overwhelmed her. Yet, each woman was a new person on that day. Sitting there, in that conference room, eyes bright with expectation, minds whirring with possibility, they shared intimate thoughts and experiences, and I think they left with a new determination to be "masters of their own fate."
Sharing is what women do. We share experiences, thoughts, desires, and hopes, with each other and with the people we trust. We do this because sharing helps bring life into focus. In the words of John Donne, many, many, many years ago (1624),
"No man is an island, all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language."
The Internet has reinvented the way we do business, but it hasn't reinvented the wheel. It has made that island a bit smaller, a bit easier to get around on. But, it hasn't changed the people on it. They are still of onekind--and full of emotion. Women, especially, are emotional and intuitive. We form opinions quickly, sometimes. When we visit your website, you want the first opinion we have of you to say, "Welcome. I'm so glad you stopped by!" That won't happen if you've built a site that talks down to us or doesn't include a woman's face or presence, somewhere on the site. It won't happen if you spend too much time talking about yourself. And it won't happen if you make buying difficult by hiding shipping costs or emptying our shopping cart when we hit the back button to recheck the color or size or design of the item we're buying.
Summer is coming up over the horizon, but it's still spring. You have time to reinvent yourself. Doing so may get more women to your site to buy your products and to share them with others, including the men in their lives. Maybe the first thing you should do, if you aren't successfully selling to women online, is to interview some women and really listen to what they have to say. You can start with your mother, your sister, your cousin Jane, your next door neighbor, your secretary, your receptionist...surely there are dozens of women in your life that qualify. Do this small task and not only will you learn something new about yourself and your business, the women will learn something about you that they didn't know before. And the opinion they have of you will improve exponentially.
If you don't think this is important, be advised, Internet Retailer reported on June 1st that "E-sales hit another billion dollar week in mid-May, up 13% from year ago." The report goes on to say, "By contrast, total retail sales for the week ending May 15 were done 8.3% from the same week a year ago, reports ShopperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate. ShopperTrak said higher fuel [costs] appeared to be keeping people at home."
Try reinvention; the women will love it and you just might like it, too!
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