Wonder Woman for President: A Girl’s Guide to Getting What You Want

Posted by Guest Author - 05/05/11 at 09:05 am

Ever wonder how those women do it? The ones that seem to effortlessly master their own entrepreneurial ventures while managing a boyfriend, a social life, a mortgage payment, home-grown garden, and a set of perfectly groomed dogs? All in a pair of to-die-for heels? Our pal Melanie Spring, founder of Sisarina Inc, offered us a guest article today on how these Wonder Women get it all done.

[Melanie has been rockin' the web world with her marketing background for the last 10 years, infusing her easy-to-use CMS, PICO, with branding and social media power. She loves mimosas on the weekends, running with her dogs and reading books enriched with entrepreneurial stuff. www.sisarina.com & www.melaniespring.com]

The other day I found a Wonder Woman for President t-shirt. At the bottom it says ‘1000 years in the future.’ I bought it. My friend Claudia, a fellow business owner, swears I am Wonder Woman between my height and insatiable energy for life and business. As much as business owners were mostly male even just 20 years ago, the world is changing and women are needing to be everything to everyone. It’s definitely not a man’s world anymore but I’ve learned a lot of valuable superhero lessons recently.

Wonder Woman helped everyone.

Running a business that focuses on helping small businesses and non-profits has brought me clients of all shapes and sizes. We don’t discriminate unless someone doesn’t fit our business model or company values. Being a woman entrepreneur has brought me to the attention of other woman business owners and many of those clients have become great friends. Others have given lip service about being supportive of fellow women and proved otherwise when needed. Superhero lesson #1: Be supportive and mean it.

Wonder Woman never seemed to age.

Running a business has already started taking a toll on me physically. Although I feel like I’m still 22, the reality of being 30 with a 24/7 venture is setting in rapidly. Lack of sleep, trying to exercise, focusing on clients instead of myself, hiring & growing the team, making sure dogs get attention, and finding time to Skype with my long-distance boyfriend are enough to make me feel like I should be retired already. I find wrinkles and white hairs more rapidly than I did when I was working a cushy job for someone else. Wonder Woman wouldn’t let this get her down. She’d hit the gym, make time for her loved ones and find fantastic face cream. Superhero Lesson #2: No complaining, make it work.

Wonder Woman had superpowers.

Running a business, especially in the tech industry, has made me stand out more than many of my other female colleagues. Tech is still a man’s business. But not for long. I recently went to a tech conference where I was one of three women and the organizer asked me if I was “getting anything out of it as a designer.” Since he seemed to be putting me in my place, I took a step back and realized something. Wonder Woman would have just smirked and walked away knowing full well she could have hit him with her lasso. She would just keep at it and forget he ever said it. Superhero Lesson #3: Never fight back, just soar.

Wonder Woman was a powerhouse.

Running a business is just like running a race. You train by starting small and gradually going further. Beginning with the idea that you can do it, you set out on a journey to accomplish a goal. This goal is one that will never actually be completed. Every time you go for a run, it’s harder and longer and you get stronger. Every time you run a race you find you have to enter another to beat your time. The finish line is never the end, it’s just one more step to accomplishing more. Helping others along the way and encouraging others to do better will not only make you a stronger runner (and business owner), it’ll make you a better person.  Wonder Woman would never do anything to beat someone else, only to make herself better by helping them cross the finish line. Superhero Lesson #4: Work on your own goals but always lend a hand to others.

We’re in this together, ladies and we’re not alone. Ask for help, help others and be a woman of Wonder Woman’s stature. Don’t forget about the men… they can be the most supportive!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 9:36 AM and is filed under Working Girl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.