Women Innovators That Inspire
At 12 years old I became an Entrepeneur with my parents. That’s right, my mother and father started their tiny restaurant serving gyro sandwiches and spanakopitas and dolmathes in the back of Poor Richard’s Bar in Brookside, Missouri. They showed me how to bring an idea and a dream to life by merely starting, but starting small.
If you take one thing from this blog it should be this...
“The beginning is the most important part of any work.”
Plato believed that the foundation of anything you want to create rests on the initial principle and ideas. The start sets the tone and the momentum.
Start it and run with your idea but avoid the trap of perfection. I think that is why people delay their “start” they want to wait for the perfect time to execute, and there is no perfect time, the time is now.
Sara Blakely, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie and Laskarina Bouboulina built a foundation on a dream, and I would love to impart some of their wisdom with you.
SARA BLAKELY — Founder of Spanx. Spanx is a brand of body-slimming women’s undergarments. In 2012 she became the youngest self-made billionaire by solving a problem for all women: look slimmer in clothes.
Sara’s words of wisdom for succeeding: use the mental snapshot approach. Empower yourself with a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and make sure it aligns with your goals and philosophy.
Be very specific and detailed when it comes to your plan and your future.
ELIZABETH “LIZZIE” MAGIE — Founder of the game Monolpoly. Magie created “The Landlord’s Game” to demonstrate that an economy rewarding individuals is better than one where monopolies hold all the wealth. She may have been inspired to create such a game due to her ambitions: “I ask nothing more than a fair chance. I get 10.00 a week as a stenographer now. That is no pay for a woman of ambition.”
Lizzie believed strongly in woman’s rights and the dangers of unchecked capitalism.
Words to live by: “We are not machines, girls have minds, desires, hopes and ambition.”
LASKARINA BOUBOULINA — A Greek prominent historical figure known from her tremendous contribution to the Greek War of Independence.
As a child, Bouboulina was enamored by the sea and would often listen to stories of sailormen. Here begins her story of bravery.
A wife, then a widow twice over, she was left with 7 children to support along with an enormous fortune.
She was a great business woman becoming a partner in several vessels and she even built three of her own.
Bouboulina would become a member of a secret organization called Filiki Eteria, which was spreading the idea of a Greek Revolution against the Ottomans. She used her fortune to make arms and ships for her country and collected men to fight the enemies.
These three women leave a lasting legacy for innovation, courage, purpose. Are you inspired?
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Start with a desire to solve a problem
Explore and find a solution
Be resourceful- don't give up
Have grit
Be courageous
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Wishing you persistence and belief in yourself as you begin creating the “NEXT BIG THING!”
Ola kala,
Kiki