Since starting my full time job in Atlanta, complete with an hour long drive each direction, I’ve started listening to podcasts during my commute. One of my staples is The Dave Ramsey Show, but I really wanted to find something more motivational for business and marketing. I kept hearing Dave mention his daughter Christy Wright and her Business Boutique podcast, so I decided to give it a listen this morning and I’m so glad I did! I was inspired by her latest podcast, so much so that I felt the need to spend a little time sharing my takeaways from it with you.
The podcast, Ep 93: Become A Woman Who Supports Other Women – which you should totally give a listen to no matter what business you’re in – was a GREAT reminder for me that supporting and championing others is just as important as supporting and championing ourselves; in fact they go hand in hand! Christy talked about all of the negative feelings we often project onto others out of fear, jealousy and uncertainty about our own decisions and life choices. How often have you rolled your eyes because someone has chosen to live their life differently than you? Or made passive aggressive remarks meant to serve as “advice” for someone when it REALLY wasn’t necessary? What about those feelings you get when you see someone parenting their child differently than you? Or when someone at work gets a promotion and instead of being happy for them you allow the little jealousy monster rear it’s ugly head? All of these are so common in our everyday life that they can fly under the radar until we choose to wake up and realize that “no matter where we are standing, we’re always looking down on someone else”. If you’re like me, you need little “wake up calls” and reminders like this- especially as life gets busy! We have the ability to turn this around each and every day and become cheerleaders and champions of other women and in turn feel better about our own place in the world.
“The reason we’re so quick to judge women with decisions different from ours is simply because we’re not completely comfortable with our own choices.” – Christy Wright
Christy goes over 5 ways to become a woman who supports other women and I will share a quick overview of them here but you’ll have to go listen to the podcast to find out more, and I’m telling you, it’s WORTH the listen!
1. Love yourself. We are our worst critics- if we aren’t taking the time to learn to LOVE ourselves, we aren’t going to have any love to offer to others! “You can’t offer something you don’t have”, so if you want to become a woman who supports and champions other women, you have to support and champion yourself first!
2. Be confident in your own choices. This point was one of my biggest “AHA” moments during this podcast. It is something I know deep down that I have always struggled with. I can be stubborn to a T but when it comes to being confident in my choices, I can still falter. The negative feelings that come along with being an emotional person who takes things personally make it more difficult to be confident in myself, my businesses and my work. Instead of being confident, I catch myself looking to others for validation of my work or comparing my business to other peoples businesses. This can get TOXIC fast. I do feel that the older I get the easier it has been to catch myself doing these things but it is something I will have to continue to work at diligently!
3. Give grace. This is BIG. If you’re like me and tend to take things personally, it can be difficult to have patientce and grace with others when they let you down or disappoint you. We are ALL going to mess up, ALL of us. Keeping this in mind should make it a bit easier to give grace but not always. This is why we need these little reminders now and then!
4. Have Empathy. To have Empathy is to try and imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes. It’s learning to give people the benefit of the doubt, even if you don’t feel naturally “wired” to do so. If you tend to be cynical and un-trusting of others this might be something that takes practice and discipline- but don’t all things worth having take practice and discipline?? We’re naturally selfish creatures, looking at life through our own eyes & feelings, making it hard to see why someone would react to situations so differently or make such radically different choices than we would, but this is where empathy comes in and allows us to champion others despite our differences!
5. Give what you want to get. “If you want people to champion you, champion them. If you want people to love you, love them. If you want people to be kind to you, be kind to them.”
Here’s the beautiful thing, anyone can be the kind of woman who champions other women. By practicing the five things listed above, you will be surprised at how quickly you can move from wanting to be the kind of person who supports others, to the kind of person who actually does it! I would love to hear your thoughts on these five practices and if you struggle more with some of these than others. I know that for me, confidence is the big one but it is also the one that I try to find time to focus on regularly (especially when things aren’t going so hot in life). I have always felt called to support others and help them to be successful and realize their worth which is why my niche has become to work closely with small businesses, makers, artists, creatives, freelancers and anyone who needs people on their team who will root for them, care about their success and champion them throughout their journeys!
Until next time, go out and tell your stories and always be your true authentic self!!
Evelyn B.
