I just returned from Atlanta where we held our third Make Mine a Million $ Business (M3) event this year, selecting another 8 women to participate in our amazing program to help them scale their businesses to the $M level. I am feeling more than fortunate — I am feeling the power and strength of all the incredible women involved in this movement!
As the Executive Coach of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, I get to help steward these women into our program through an orientation session. This gives me the opportunity to spend some very quality time with them right after they win. First, I love seeing how grateful and encouraged they are by having won. Second, I sit in awe of them, their stories and their earnest dedication to reaching their goals.
They were as diverse as you can imagine! Different ages, different ethnicities, different backgrounds, and very different businesses. The creativity and ingenuity among them was astounding. Their desire to immediately start sharing and giving to each other was impressive.
One of the things we have come to understand in building the M3 program is that women truly thrive in community — and seem to move into new ideas and ways of doing things more easily when they learn about them together. The folklore about women and the way they move around together actually has a basis in their physiology and psychology — both evidenced by the recent articles about how women in groups produce a higher amount of oxytocin (a mood altering endorphen). In these groups, when they are truly safe spaces for us to be ourselves, we can let down our guard and open up — to each other, to ways to improve ourselves and our businesses.
Obviously, this is working. Companies like OPEN from American Express, AIG, FedEx, Cisco Systems — to name a few — have joined forces with us to help us grow this movement. They are investing their valuable resources, including people, money and services, to ensure the success of the M3 program. The women in the program feel so validated! They feel recognized — instead of isolated and sort of insane to have put so much time, effort and money into building their businesses. The fact that these companies support them means more to them than they can even express.
And I’m feeling a little like that myself right now. I want to share my enthusiasm and gratitude that I get to help — be a part of something so meaningful and rewarding — but I’m not finding all the words to do it.
Suffice it to say, that this is what it looks like to me for the world to be a better place. When women get together, support, challenge and encourage each other to live their dreams, and in turn immediately start seeing how impactful it is to their communities to do so — when that happens and I get to participate in the process — then I feel my cup runneth over with gratitude and blessings.
If you want to learn more about this amazing program, check out www.makemineamillion.org and read about the women who are changing the face of business!