I’ve been arguing with my husband lately. You see, he keeps telling me how impressive it is that my business is doing well and I keep telling him how unimpressive it is. I know… he sounds awful, right?! ?
While my husband is my number one cheerleader, the most supportive partner and will endlessly tell me how amazing I am…I still don’t think what I’m doing is impressive…and that’s a good thing. Hear me out.
I am on the leadership team of a place called The SheHive, and at the SheHive, I am surrounded by SO many women who are successful in business. It’s normal there. It’s just what people do. We talk regularly about our businesses, where we’re struggling and succeeding and everything in between. Being a business owner at the SheHive is like taking selfies…everyone does it. It’s unremarkable as in it’s common, and isn’t that amazing?
To be clear, I am 100% downplaying the journey that all of these women (including myself) have had on their way to being business owners. It’s not been easy for any of us, but it’s always been attainable. It’s always been possible to be a woman and be a business owner at the SheHive. It’s not a thing that is reserved for the bravest or most financially stable. Owning a business isn’t questioned or judged at the SheHive. You don’t have to document your qualifications. It’s unremarkable in the most impressive way. Sure, there are women who start businesses that don’t pan out but they tried and they had a fan club behind them cheering them on…and most of them try again.
I am constantly surrounded by women who are choosing their own adventures and confidently moving forward on a path they are forging themselves. We still live in a time where a woman becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company is newsworthy because it’s still rare. In 2019, just 6.6% of the highest-grossing firms have female CEOS. Women starting or running companies and actually being profitable is still a shock to so many people.
But not to me.
I see it happening every day at the SheHive and I’m grateful for this lesson in what happens when you surround yourself with amazing, creative, empowered and fucking brilliant women. You start to model them and then you become one of them.
