Month: April 2021

The Greatest Gift To Give & Get As An Ambitious Businesswoman

Posted on by estherspina

5 Tips for Encouraging Others (and Yourself!)

Inspired by Chapter 2 of my Amazon best-selling book for businesswomen, 

The Ambitious Woman: What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One

LIVE AN ENCOURAGING LIFE!

By, Esther Spina, Business Coach for Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs

“I’ve learned people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget the way you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

Did you know that Maya Angelou served in 2 presidential campaigns, won 3 Grammy awards, AND the Presidential Medal of Arts, without ever graduating high school?

Though she is now known as one of the most successful black businesswomen and female entrepreneurs of all time, having achieved much acclaim for her work as a poet, filmmaker, and author, there was a time when Maya Angelou struggled with racial discrimination and was barely getting by.

Believe it or not, Maya Angelou started as a waitress and cable car conductor before she soared to icon status through her steadfast determination.

Even seven years after her passing, Maya Angelou quotes continue to inspire successful businesswomen to rise above any adversity on their path to greatness. She is a constant source of encouragement to me and finding motivation through legacies like hers is something every businesswoman needs to get through the trying times.

In this week’s blog, I dive into the theme from Chapter 2 of my book for female entrepreneurs, The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One and go into how, by encouraging others, we continue to receive inspiration ourselves. Read below for a few tips on living an encouraging life. 

Tip #1: Take a Moment to Acknowledge The Supportive People In Your Life

Life is busy and it’s easy to forget that we are surrounded by amazing friends and family who support us and help us make important decisions as businesswomen. Being a female CEO or entrepreneur is not an easy road, but by surrounding ourselves with people who believe in us and nurture our dreams, including other successful businesswomen, we soar to higher heights than we can realize alone.

Who supports and encourages you when you need it the most?

I’m sure as you’re reading this you have one or two people coming to mind already. Think of those people, maybe other businesswomen or caring family members/partners who are there for you when you need it the most.

Now ask yourself this — when was the last time you reached out to the most encouraging people around you and thanked them for being a positive influence in your life?

In business and life we get the same kind of energy we put out, and gratitude is important in your journey as a female entrepreneur or businesswoman. It’s important to keep acknowledging those positive connections in your life.

This can be as simple as sending that encouraging person who’s always willing to help you figure out your next steps a quick text to thank them for always being there for you. Or you could take the extra time to send a handwritten “thank you” letter in the mail on your favorite stationery and feel the love as they appreciate your touching tribute to their encouragement. Little acknowledgments like this show those you care about how important their support has been.

I challenge you to reach out to one person this week who’s been influential in your life, or your career as a female entrepreneur/businesswoman and let them know how much it means to you.

Tip #2: Keep Encouraging Quotes From Successful Business Women Throughout Your Home As Reminders to Stay Strong

Take a look at this list of encouraging quotes from successful female entrepreneurs, and copy a few of your favorites down. Put these inspiring quotes for the business woman in unexpected places around your home, like the bathroom mirror, on your computer monitor, or by your coffeemaker, so you stay motivated to keep positive momentum moving forward towards your goals. I like to put them in places where I’ll see them first thing in the morning so I start my day off on the right foot.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day grind that we start to doubt we will ever get to where we want to be. The daily, conscious practice of re-inspiring yourself, by reading inspiring quotes from successful business women and female founders who achieved against all odds, will remind you, “I can do this!” 

Tip #3: Show Gratitude for What You Have Overcome and Share Your Lessons With Others

As leaders and female entrepreneurs, people often turn to us when they are down. When we encourage others we uplift ourselves, by acknowledging the lessons we have learned through our own mistakes and struggles. When we take the time to share what we have learned with others, we encourage them to look past their current situation and see the bigger picture. This is also a gift we also give ourselves, because it reminds us of the women we have become and allows us to empower other women through our hard-won knowledge.


Lending someone inspiration reminds us to be grateful for all we’ve been through. The next time another woman is struggling with where she is in her career or life, take a moment to give her some words of support or pass on some advice you were given along the way for how to become a successful businesswoman. I promise it will come back to you tenfold. Pay it forward now and you will always see the return in your investment of kindness later.

Tip #4: Be There For Others When They Need You Most (Even When It’s Not Convenient For You)

How often are you telling the people you love “I’m too busy,” “I don’t have time,” or forgetting to ask what they may be going through when you feel overwhelmed with your responsibilities?

The greatest gift we can give someone is simply our presence and attention when it is needed the most. Often this just means taking the time to be truly present and listen instead of rushing off to the next item on your to-do list. Encouragement can be as simple as picking up the phone instead of thinking, “I’ll call them back when I’m done with this next project.” We have to make time for those people that always make time for us and be there to support them when they need us to.

Tip #5: Get Encouragement & Advice From Successful Businesswomen In My Book, The Ambitious Woman

My goal in writing this book was to give female businesswomen, like you, the motivation, inspiration, and guidance you need to succeed in your career and live a fulfilling life.

I have gathered inspiring stories from other successful businesswomen, as well as my personal stories of overcoming obstacles in my career, from climbing out of the devastating recession that ended my once successful construction business, to becoming one of the top-earning women in my direct sales company. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of this affordable, inspiring collection of women who triumphed over challenges and rocketed to success to inspire you. Encourage yourself and pick one up today!

Speaking of encouragement, the following review on Amazon drove me to keep going forward with my passion to serve women:

“Esther Spina is one of the most dedicated entrepreneurs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with. She does what it takes to achieve her goals. She is willing to do what most people don’t: 1) take action, consistently, and, 2) ask for and implement feedback to improve and progress. Esther is such an incredible representative for women as she isn’t thrown off course because of difficult times or challenges. She just keeps on going… seeing challenges as part of the achievement of her success.  I think what I love most about Esther is that she has a heart of gold and REALLY wants others to be successful. I love this book as it really makes you feel like you can do it too. Esther is on a crusade to help as many women as she can and she does it with style, grace, determination and perseverance. This book is a must read for Ambitious Women and those striving to be!”

This totally encouraged me! 

Find someone to encourage today and change their life and YOURS.

You can get your copy of

The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,

1st edition at a discounted rate here:

6 Tips to Find Inspiration When You’re Struggling to Stay Motivated

Posted on by estherspina

LIVE AN INSPIRED LIFE!

 

Advice from a Business Book Every Woman Entrepreneur Should Read

By, Esther Spina, Business Coach for Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs

 

Today I want to talk about how to get re-inspired when you’re feeling unmotivated, and how to get out of that fresh-out-of-ideas slump.

We all have days when we get tired when we are struggling to keep the ball rolling and the wheels moving. Feeling overwhelmed with everything on our plates is very common for the female entrepreneurs and business owners I work with as a business coach for women.

So how do we find the motivation to keep going when we feel like we aren’t getting anywhere or it’s just taking too long to reach our goals?

In the first chapter of, The Ambitious Women, a must-have book for every businesswoman, I talk about how we can find inspiration at any point in our lives. There is no such thing as too late. And inspiration is always out there ready for you to discover and leverage to keep your dreams alive.

 

1.Think about what inspired you to start your business in the first place.

It’s important to remind ourselves of our passion and what compelled us to share that talent, skill, or service with the world in the beginning.

Once we get into the day-to-day aspects of running our businesses, (You know . . . the tedious social media posting, accounting, and email writing), it can bog us down and kill our original inspiration. 

Take a minute to write down 3 adjectives about how you felt when you first launched your career, whether that was a new business or a corporate position. Were you “excited,” “fired up,” or “determined” to succeed? This short exercise will help you to re-focus on your intentions and breathe new life into your routine by remembering that initial spark.

Write these inspiring words on a post-it note then put them on your mirror as a daily reminder.

 

2.Keep the big picture in front of you.

Make a list of your short and long-term goals and post it on your fridge. This will remind you of the doable next steps every day while keeping your biggest dreams at the forefront of your mind. It’s easy to lose track of the big picture when we get mired down in the day-to-day.

According to a study mentioned in this article, “you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down.” Now imagine having to face them every day.

If you are more visual, try making a vision board by cutting images of the type of lifestyle you want out of magazines and finding inspiring quotes by ambitious women entrepreneurs. Paste these into a collage on poster board and hang it somewhere you will see it every day.

You will be surprised at what this visualization exercise will allow you to manifest in your life! 

However you choose to do it, know that having to face your dreams every day will hold you accountable for staying on track to achieve them.

 

3.Focus on your “why” and the deep reason you have to keep going.

Maybe you are a single mother and you want to teach your daughter to be an empowered woman through your example so that she knows it’s possible to be the next female CEO. Or maybe you want to share your story about overcoming with other women, so you can inspire them to live bigger, fuller lives. 

Whatever your reason is, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture sometimes.

As a business coach for women, I know how important it is to stay true to our purpose. That’s why I enjoy helping others clarify and achieve their goals.

 

4.Get creative inspiration from nature and art.

If you’re feeling a lack of inspiration, take a trip to your local art museum, or go for a walk in beautiful scenery. When we see how easily things come together in nature, it shows us that everything doesn’t have to be so HARD. As women entrepreneurs, we just have to take the next best step.

Viewing creative pieces of art, or works by masters in their field, can re-activate the right brain and reinvigorate your work.

Here’s an idea that works even during quarantine — If you aren’t near any places that inspire you or they are still closed, try the Masterclass app, where you can take classes and get advice from successful female entrepreneurs of all genres.

Get business tips from Sara Blakely, Founder of the Billion-dollar company, Spanx, and other experts in their field, like Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, for less than $200 a year.

Also, if you’re interested in seeing an Ambitious Woman Mastermind,

let me know by contacting me here.

According to this article from The Healing Power of Arts & Artists, not only does viewing art increase blood flow to the brain by almost 10% but it also fires the same neurons as the artist used when they were creating it, stimulating inspiration.

In this day and age, there is no lack of inspiration around us, even from home, we just have to keep reaching for that excited energy that keeps us going. And even looking at successful women entrepreneurs in unrelated fields can bring a refreshing new perspective to our work. It refreshes us to see things from a different perspective.

 

5.Identify your idols or mentors and live by their example.

We can learn a lot from women who have already “made it.” How did they do it? Valuable insight and inspiration can be gained from learning how others got to the top. In The Ambitious Woman, you can read more real-life stories of successful female entrepreneurs who accomplished their wildest dreams and the habits that lead to their success. 

And we don’t just have to look at modern-day businesswomen either. Some of my biggest inspirations are Nelson Mandela, who endured 27 years in jail to defend his beliefs, Gandhi, and Jesus, true examples of how to live from a place of serving others. 

We also have to remember the bigger purpose of what we are trying to give to the world. This is the legacy we are leaving for humanity. Focusing on how we are serving the world helps us overcome the mundane daily tasks that can weigh us down by seeing how we are really making a difference in our society and communities. Think BIG!

As Gandhi famously said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

 

6.Don’t forget to take breaks (and don’t feel guilty about it!)

As a business coach for women, I know sometimes the constant pushing through and striving forward can get exhausting and overwhelming. So often we undervalue stepping back and taking a break from everything we are dealing with daily. Resting actually helps us recalibrate once we let go of the guilty feeling that we should be “doing” all the time.

This article from the Harvard Business Review states, “Some evidence suggests that entrepreneurs are more at risk of burnout because they tend to be extremely passionate about work and more socially isolated, have limited safety nets, and operate in high uncertainty.”

Entrepreneurs, especially women, who have to balance the demands of their career with raising a family, face a lot of stress. In fact, according to this article, 41% of entrepreneurs feel stressed every day. We have to remember to take vacations, put work aside, do our self-care routines, and not give up when things get busy.

The alternative is we burn out and give up altogether, so don’t forget to take a day or two off when needed. Listen to what your body is telling you — if you’re tired and you can’t think straight, take some time out to recharge, your business and mindset will be better off for it.

We all have to replenish from time to time to stay sharp and stay in the game.

Go on that vacation you have been putting off. It will make you more productive in the long run.

 

If you are eager for more tips from successful female entrepreneurs, pick up a copy of my book, “The Ambition Women,” and get inspired by other women who are making waves and living the life of their dreams!

 

If you are struggling to stay motivated on your own,

email me at [email protected] to get help and support

from a fellow woman entrepreneur who has reinvented herself many times over.

 

NOW LET’S GO OUT & GET INSPIRED!