Blog

Confession time. For the past few weeks I've been struggling with the feeling like I am "behind" or that my "time has passed" because of the climate on social media. When it comes to being an entrepreneur - and one whose platform is based on social media - the day-to-day can be daunting: the steady streams of content and social media feeds presents everyone as 'killing it' in terms of their successes, accolades, lifestyle, and fancy projects. Here's the thing - from where I sit, most all of those influencers online that I compare myself to (I know, I know) are millennials. They don't have to worry about raising 3 kids and all that entails. They may not even have to worry about having a healthy relationship with a partner. They might not have to think about the responsibilities of a mortgage (or two), car payments, college funds and the like. So I see them as being footloose and fancy-free whereas I am a 40-year old wife and mom FIRST and businesswoman SECOND. Enter Cindy Gallop. Cindy is is an English advertising consultant, founder and former chair of the US branch of advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and founder of the IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn companies. Or, as she likes to describe herself: "I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business." You love her already, yes? She recently was a speaker at the Teen Vogue Summit held in Los Angeles last month and spoke on the topic Nothing But A Number: Why You're Never Too Young (Or Too Old) To Do Anything *Presented by #DisruptAging* and a group of influencers had the opportunity to speak with her about her perspective on aging. Her approach is OH SO refreshing; for example: She tells people how old she is (58) as often as she can She deliberately associates her age with whatever she is doing anything from entrepreneurship to dating She encourages older women, especially in the workplace, to actively articulate their own value Her reasoning for being so revolutionary with the concept of age is because she is on a mission to disrupt stereotypes in the age and gender realm, especially as they relate to entrepreneurship. When I heard that, I felt like she was speaking directly to me! By far the biggest takeaway that stuck with me is that I need to own my age and make the point that because of my age, I have this amazing value that I bring to the table. I mean, it makes so much sense, right? If I were to reframe my previous trepidations, I would say that because I am 40(fabulous), I have the leadership, people management skills, and nurturing spirit that only a mother of multiple children could have. I would say that because I am 40(fine), I understand the concepts of communication, compromise and partnership that only a woman who has been married to her husband of 15 years could have. I would say that because I am 40(fierce), I have the wherewithal to budget, manage assets and debts, and build wealth in a way that only a woman who owns more … [Read more...] about Articulate Your Value: #DisruptAging w. These 4 Easy Steps #Sponsored