Real connection wins the day

This has been a week of extremes – with amazing highs and disappointing lows.  As I sit to write my blog, a day late, which is an indication in itself of my week, I decide to focus on the highs, because focusing on the negatives, just pulls you further down and gets you nowhere.

The Rhyze Academy is a project of Innovation Guelph, through which 40 women who either have a business or want to start one, are taken through a nine-month course led by volunteer facilitators.    My month was January.

Initially I was asked if I could talk on work-life-balance.  Go ahead laugh. I did. There was no way I could present on that topic.  For those who don’t know me, I am the energizer bunny.  No. So instead I facilitated the group through the Personality Dimensions process so they could better understand themselves and those around them. 

While we are all a rainbow, our personalities are shaped by whether we are a blue, orange, gold and green.   We had fun.  This week I threw in an exercise where the women had to pitch to the other colours and it was fascinating at how creative they got as they tried to sell a new diet product.

One woman stood out.  She was marketing this beer that helped you lose weight with such aplomb that I had to ask her what business she was in.  A naturopath.  As I joked with her, she had a career in sales waiting for her if she ever wanted to go there.

As the women connected and enjoyed the exercises, I felt warm inside.  This is what it is all about.  Bringing people together.  Having fun and building community. It is what I have always loved about Company of Women.

Later in the week Laurie Hunt and I brought the women who are in the Company of Women mentoring program together to meet face to face for the first time.  In their pairs, they set goals and determined how they were going to work together.   On a much smaller scale, I could see the same thing happening.  The women were connecting on a deeper, authentic level.

So my big take away from this week is that when you are authentic, when you genuinely take an interest in another person, you can make a difference.

It’s not about money. It’s not about competition.

It’s about connection and collaboration.  It’s about being real and doing what you are meant to be doing. And for me, that means Company of Women.

Maybe we need the tough stuff so we can come to realize what is important to us and to be grateful for the opportunity we have to do what we love. 

So thank you ladies for filling my cup.   You made my week special.