eWomenNetwork is a complete success system for women entrepreneurs. We offer live, face-to-face events monthly across North America and have members around the world.
We offer one of the largest business women's Conferences in North America.
Our goal is to help 1 million women make 1 million dollars in annual revenue.
We hope you’ve left the office behind to enjoy good food with family and
friends, but as you grab some hot cocoa and settle in for a marathon of
holiday classics, be on the lookout for some outstanding business
lessons hidden right inside these Christmas movie favorites.
The Santa Clause
A recently divorced single Dad has the adventure of a lifetime on
Christmas Eve, when the real Santa falls off his roof leaving him and
his son to take over for a magical night in Santa’s Sleigh.
Unfortunately for Scott Calvin (played by Tim Allen), putting on Santa’s
suit constituted a binding contract that was outlined in the laughably
fine print on Santa’s business card. Chaos ensues when Scott’s career
and custody of his child are jeopardized by the meddlesome North Pole
calling Scott to fulfill his destiny as Santa. While most standard
business contracts won’t go north pole small in their font, the lesson
is an important one. Always read the fine print.
In 1940s Illinois, 9-year-old Ralphie spends the holiday season praying
and plotting to receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. He lays it on
thick with his mother, his teacher, and even Santa in an effort to make
sure Red Ryder will be under the tree on Christmas morning. While
Ralphie’s laser focus is admirable, the harder he sells, the more
obstacles get in his way. A Christmas Story teaches us to never give up, but just as important: sometimes it’s important to stop selling to get what you want. Also, be careful with BB guns and icicles. And always have a pair of backup glasses.
Reasons Joining a Mastermind Should be Your Top Priority for 2022
“A mastermind group is a
peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems
with input and advice from the other group members.”
Have
you ever wondered why Pixar movies are so consistently good? It’s
because in the mid-90s they shucked the standard model of movie making
from traditional studios where all the ideas come from the top and
created a collaborative environment where everyone had room to share
their ideas and receive feedback. And while that seemed revolutionary
at the time for the movie-making business, the idea itself wasn’t new at
all.
Famous minds throughout history have utilized the Mastermind process to
go from a person with an idea to someone who children study in school
over a hundred years later. Andrew Carnegie, Ben Franklin, Henry Ford,
Thomas Edison, the list goes on. And that’s just from 50+ years ago.
Now of course, we live in a world where women entrepreneurs are no
longer an anomaly and if there’s anything we’ve learned from our three
masterminds of 2021, it’s that stepping into a Mastermind should be a
key goal for all entrepreneurs in 2022.
Here’s why:
Collaboration and synergy.
Masterminds aren’t just about getting advice from like-minded
professionals, when you mastermind with people they are just as invested
in your business as you are. These fresh eyes don’t just skim a
business plan and say what comes to their minds. A Mastermind is a
place to look at every angle with the benefit of diverse backgrounds and
expertise behind you.
I often refer to goals as the dreaded “G” word. Why? Well, because most people groan at the idea of them. So change what you call them – bucket list items, life plans, or whatever feels good to you. What’s important is that you have them because without meaningful plans, you rely on others and circumstances to run your life. It’s time for you to be the captain of your life!
If you have a business, setting goals is critical to achieving success. Unfortunately not many people do it. According to the 4th Annual Staples National Small Business Survey, more than 80 percent of the 300 small business owners said that they don’t keep track of their business goals, and 77 percent have yet to achieve their vision for their company.
Setting Goals is Simple
No matter what goal you want to reach, whether it’s business or in life, achieving it can start with simply making a list. A list of the things you want to accomplish in the next year, 5 years, 10 years, or in your life. Think about what is important to you? What, if you were to accomplish them, would make you feel fulfilled and give your life meaning and joy? Don’t judge. Just list those items.
How a broken, single, teenage Mom of a handicapped child turned DIY facials into the business of her dreams
Entrepreneurs are a unique breed if you haven't figured that out for yourself, and if you are truly one at heart you are a chronic visionary. You're always looking for new ways to solve problems through innovative products and services. Ava Young did just that. She began her adult life as a teenage, single mother of a mentally and physically handicapped child. Ava was literally broke and broken as she tried to raise her daughter on a minimum wage salary, doing whatever it took to survive.
Ava had a passion for facials, so to salvage what little pleasure she had in her life, She created her own DIY facials. Today, she is launching her own business of skin care products with the help of her daughter's special needs work program. Her company, Self Spa Skin, has the tagline, "Great skin has special needs."
Ava is one special woman. Watch the video of her interview on the eWN Podcast Network show, Spotlight on eWomenNetwork, with Host, Phyllis Smith and get ready to get inspired (and maybe shed a tear or two!).
A Difficult Beginning
PHYLLIS SMITH: So, you've created your own skin care product years ago really out of necessity. You were broke, you were a single mother of a mentally and physically handicapped child. So, before we get into the success of your business please tell us about your daughter’s condition and what that experience was like for you as a parent.
AVA YOUNG: Oh, let’s see ... my daughter was born very early. She was 2 pounds 7 ounces, and we're talking, my daughter is very fully grown, so we're talking a long time back when they were just introducing new intensive care units for infants. She was actually the first survivor in the Ventura General Hospital Neonatal Clinic. So yeah, it has just coincidentally been built and opened the week before. So, um ... she was very, very tiny and she had a lot of problems. She came out of the hospital, she finally came home when she was 2 months old and 5 pounds.
So she was very, very tiny, and I was told that there would be problems like with her teeth and with her eyes and although that came to be true there was a whole lot more that they didn't tell me about. Turned out that, um ... as she grew there was developmental delays so she did turn out to be autistic. Very high functioning though. Um ... a touch of Cerebral Palsy and of course all the eye problems that you would encounter, that they used to encounter all the time giving too much oxygen and it distorted the inside of the eyes.
I was barely 18 when I had her. So, although I had been married I found myself a single parent very, very, very, very quickly, and I was just overwhelmed. Yeah, [laughter] it's funny to go back to that time because it's so long ago and there's so many things that happened in the meantime, but remembering that, um ... it's funny. It's funny looking back on that, and if I wanted, if I could ... myself sitting here tell my younger self then, “It’s okay, you'll get through it”. It's gonna be a lot of years, but it'll be fine.
Megan O’Grady, of Cape Coral, Florida, is not your average teenager.
Instead of being preoccupied with boys, friends and other teenage
distractions, she is spending time helping children cope with the
tragedy of losing a parent in the line of duty. She's doing this one
bear at a time.
A Child Helping Children Cope with Losing a Parent
The Humanitarian of the Year Award recognizes a powerful change that one individual can make in the lives of others.” ~Sandra Yancey -CEO, eWomenNetwork
Megan O’Grady
sews custom hand-made toy bears that are clothed in the uniform of a
fallen officer and delivers them to the officer’s children. She calls
her organization, Blue Line Bears.
Megan’s goal is to help the children cope with the devastating loss of a
parent by providing a lasting keepsake to help keep the memory of the
officer alive.
The daughter of a Police Officer, Megan’s inspiration for her bears came from watching the news reports of the Dallas ambush attack in July 2016 that left 5 officers dead. It was the deadliest single incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11, 2001.
“It was probably one of the saddest
days of my life, because I realized how terrifying it is that my Dad
could die. I wanted to step up and try to end what’s happening against what my Dad does.” ~Megan O’Grady, Founder, Blue Line Bears – Cape Coral, Florida
To date, Megan has delivered 103 custom hand-sewn bears to families in 23 states. She is the youngest recipient of the WomenNetwork Foundation Humanitarian Award, which is given each year at the annual conference in Dallas.
It’s a very special time of year, my friends! In addition to wrapping up what we hope was a wonderful 2021 for you AND being in the thick of the holidays, we thought we’d take a moment to talk about Sandra’s Favorite Things.
Red Leaf Home Candles
When you walk into the eWN office and it smells like Citrus, Cedar, and a hint of ambition, it’s probably because Sandra was burning a Red Lead candle. Made with essential oils and packaged with a wooden top for convenient travel (because let’s face it, hotels during business trips just don’t smell like home), Red Leaf candles come in a variety of scents and styles. They even have a pet collection that keeps your home from smelling too much like your beloved fur babies! CHECK THEM OUT HERE.
Dell Latitude 9520
It’s no secret we love DELL at eWomenNetwork, but the Latitude 9520 is off the charts amazing. It’s sleek, it’s fast, it charges quickly, and has outstanding battery life. What’s not to love? Plus, it has optimized sound and microphone quality so it’s easier to have video conferences no matter where you are! CHECK IT OUT HERE! And BONUS, eWomenNetwork Members get a special discount! Get your Discount Code HERE.
