Tips for Success from “Room to Read”…
As reported in Bloomberg Businessweek; Erin Ganju, co-founder of Room to Read, says the entrepreneurial nonprofit’s secret is “know what you do, and do it well”
At the start of Room to Read, the organization recognized that promoting and facilitating global education required a scalable and sustainable business model. Fast-forward a decade, and Room to Read is now a $30 million, award-winning nonprofit organization working in nine countries that has scaled faster and more successfully than many celebrated for-profit companies.
While I couldn’t have predicted such meteoric growth when we started, the secret sauce can best be summed up in one phrase: know what you do, and do it well… keep reading
The Happiness Pie recipe… Seasons Greetings
and a new home for “Adventures with Daughter”; but first…
I discovered this in a book I read recently, and really liked it.
Something to reflect on over the season to be jolly!
Happiness Pie Recipe
(from “Belly Dancers for Beginners” by Liz Byrski)
1 cup of Confidence
1 cup of Love
in a pan of Happiness
mix the above
add a pinch of Tenderness
1 tablespoon of Trust
stir well in the Sunshine
roll out a Loving crust
flour with Contentment
keep all free from strife
fill with Understanding
and bake well all your Life…
For 2011 and beyond, all “Adventures with Daughter” posts will have their own blog at http://www.ozsee.com.au. Drop by at any time to catch up on our latest exploits around the world!
In the meantime though, top of the festive season to you and yours
ho ho ho
Denise
How Daughter Made Me the Proudest Parent in the World This Morning…
To clarify, and to her credit, I’m always proud BUT this morning in particular took the cake! After being awarded the “gun” trophy for mixed softball at her school awards, we settled back to listen to the rest of the proceedings.
The President and the Secretary of the local U3A (University of the Third Age – where their 104 year-old member continues next year in learning more about Shakespeare!) stood at the podium to present the Personal Excellence Award for a teacher-voted boy and girl. They then went on to explain that by selling second-hand books at our schools Thursday market, they raise money to give out as part of this award. How good are they? honestly…
Daughter’s name is the chosen girl name read out. Well you could have knocked me down with a feather! Not only did she receive a framed certificate which reads:
“Personal Excellence Award
This certificate is awarded for her pursuit of excellence in all areas of school life”
she also collected a humbling cheque of $350.
Good on her. And this is only day one of Grade 6 Graduation week.
What a girl, enough to make any Mother proud.
50 Most Powerful Women in Business 2010…
Fortune‘s annual ranking of America’s leading businesswomen… Congratulations to the top 10, and to all who are listed:
1 Indra Nooyi PepsiCo
2 Irene Rosenfeld Kraft Foods
3 Patricia Woertz Archer Daniels Midland
4 Angela Braly WellPoint
5 Andrea Jung Avon Products
6 Oprah Winfrey Harpo and OWN
7 Ellen Kullman DuPont
8 Ginni Rometty IBM
9 Ursula Burns Xerox
10 Carol Bartz Yahoo
Interestingly enough though, from the entrepreneurial mother point of view, only 1 (namely Oprah) has built her own megaPower. Not a bad effort though I must say.
You would not, of course, refer to any listed as being a Mother of a Business either. They might be in size, no denying that, but not in terms of the definition that works for entrepreneurial mothers ie Business gives you Lifestyle, to be the Mother you long to be.
Congratulations go to the 2 Australian Women that rate a mention on the International list:
2 Gail Kelly Westpac
25 Ann Pickard Royal Dutch Shell
Not a place I personally would want to be (hence why I build my Mother of a Business as I do) but very pleased to see other women do want these positions of power.
For the full list and more, click here.
eat, pray, love for the women entrepreneur and beyond…
I, for one, really got a lot out of the book “Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. I too enjoyed the movie. I also got much from her next book; “Committed”. Maybe Elizabeth Gilbert and I are at similar stages in life where what is resonating with her is also with me, in completely different contexts though. Her’s around a blossoming relationship, mine around a blossoming daughter. Nonetheless there is much crossover…
As there is for women entrepreneurs, wonderfully highlighted by Dr Susan L Reid in her article “Eat Pray Love for the Women Entrepreneur“. Well worth a read ladies…
“Vote for my Blog” in the 2010 Business Mums Network Blog Awards…
…please!
Winning an award such as the Business Mums Network Blog Awards will help to bring the wonderful and inspiring stories of all entrepreneurial mothers, especially the primary breadwinners, out of the shadows. Given there are so many of us, and growing, what’s wrong with world domination!
All you have to do is click here and vote for this blog in particular. How simple is that!
Thank you in advance…
“Vote for my Blog” in the 2010 Business Mums Network Blog Awards…
…please!
Winning an award such as the Business Mums Network Blog Awards will help to bring the wonderful and inspiring stories of all entrepreneurial mothers, especially the primary breadwinners, out of the shadows. Given there are so many of us, and growing, what’s wrong with world domination!
All you have to do is click here and vote for this blog in particular. How simple is that!
Thank you in advance…
The End of Men? I certainly hope not, but responsibility has to be taken for where we’re at right now…
Reading through Tony Featherstone’s article “The Planet of Women” this morning in TheAge.com (which is well worth reading I might add), he brought this to my attention…
As reported in the July/August 2010 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE…
Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way— and its vast cultural consequences… read on
What if modern, postindustrial society needs to be remoulded to suit the Lifestyle that women aspire to, and that men will also definitely benefit from?
What if all considerations of Life were treated equally as importantly, without there being the lop-sided tilt towards work as it is now?
What if all the entrepreneurial mothers, who have left work as we know it to pursue their own version of what that Life needs to look like, were encouraged to return to the corporate jungle to re-vegetate and re-establish the equilibrium?
Replacing women with men will not be the entire answer, we know that. But to keep doing things as we have always done them will not rectify the straining issues right now either. At least the conversation has started…
Hazel Hawke’s Vital Role in Bob Hawke’s Success…
I was really pleased to see this article in TheAge this morning. Not only does it give another side to the “love story”, it also shows Hazel to be a prime example of an entrepreneurial mother, even when in a relationship. She did amazing things with the opportunities she had, and that’s all one can DO. Hats off to Hazel…
…It did not take long for Hazel to develop a following of her own – which in subsequent elections became a major reason voters supported Hawke. Hazel’s speech to the National Press Gallery in January 1984 established her as an unassuming, disarmingly honest, sincere and intelligent human being – an ordinary woman, one we could all identify with and admire for the way she handled herself.
There was a strong feeling among women that if Hazel stayed with Bob, he couldn’t be as bad as reports suggested.
In an interview on Sunday following the telemovie, Hawke struggled to remember what Hazel’s interests were as the prime minister’s wife. He came up with ”education”, but he could not remember any details.
Children, their welfare and the arts were Hazel’s priorities. Among other organisations, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Austcare, the Australian Youth Orchestra, the NSW Heritage Council, World Wide Fund for Nature and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation had Hazel’s support. This meant she worked for them; she was not just a figurehead… keep reading
a good mother is someone always with their children…says who?
A most interesting article in TheAge this morning by Jacinta Tynan, (even if it is called “Rebecca Gibney and other mums on juggling work after baby“) discussing the whys and wherefores of working mothers and part-time jobs etc, and the new Australian legislation that came in earlier this year.
Apart from the fact that I don’t get the whole juggling thing! I know, call me crazy, but what’s with the juggle?…the key line in the article for me is the following…
…Part of the problem, Broderick says, is that most Australians have a deeply held cultural belief that a good mother is someone who is always with her children. “When you bring that belief into the workplace, it’s no wonder we are where we are.”… read on
I’m not sure I agree with this… do you?
I for one know that I am a much better mother because of what I do outside our 2-person family unit. And have always espoused this very viewpoint, so am I one of the only one’s?
I really do hope not.
