Ambitious Women

Don’t Go It Alone in Business!

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3 Ways to Get Support & Master Your Career


By, Esther Spina

Business Coach and Mentor  for Ambitious Businesswomen & Female Entrepreneurs


LIVE AN ACCOUNTABLE LIFE 


Inspired by Chapter 15 of my Amazon Best-Selling Book, 


The Ambitious Woman,

What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,




As an ambitious career woman, I know that the road to success can often feel isolating. 


Luckily, we live in a time where connecting to others for support and guidance is easier than ever. Getting to the top of any industry is a lonely journey when you try to do it on your own. But, 


There is no need to face all your business challenges alone.



In this article, you’ll learn how to surround yourself with compassionate reassurance and the wisdom you need to grow in your career.


There are 3 different ways to get support that studies show ensure success. I have used each of these at some point in my journey to propel my career.


These are the secrets Fortune 500 companies and billionaires use to get ahead of the competition.



1.Find a Business Mentor


A mentor does not have to be someone you have a personal relationship with, though it can be. If you’re from a small town or branching out on a new journey, the right mentor is out there for you. 


Mentors can be inspiring authors, political or religious figures, or women you admire. They can also be local business owners who happen to have more experience than you. 


Oprah says, “A mentor is someone that allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”


So whether you’re in contact with someone personally or not, just the power of their example helps you to stay focused. You’ll also learn from the decisions they made at important turning points in their careers.


Where do you find a mentor?


If you don’t have anyone in your circle, there are many places you can go online and in-person to connect with people. There are organizations like SCORE that connect you to volunteer mentors for free. If you prefer meeting people face to face, Meet-Up groups are a great way to find potential mentors outside of your own circle.

How effective is mentoring?


71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs, yet only 37% of professionals have a mentor. (Source).

Finding mentors whose mistakes and triumphs you can learn from gives you a leg up. It also saves you valuable time.


Only 25% of small business owners make use of mentors. (Source) This causes you to feel alone, overwhelmed, and confused. And with all the resources available to you today, there’s no reason to tread solo. 


Mentorship is proven to pay off. 70% of small businesses that have mentors survive for 5 years or more, which is double the rate of success without one.


Professional mentors are INVALUABLE to your success as a female entrepreneur, career woman, or small business owner.



2.Look for an Accountability Partner


Who do you usually turn to for business advice?


Your partner, a friend, your mom? If so, it may be time to look for someone else. It’s nice to get reassurance when times are tough. But, they may lack the expertise and objectivity to provide solid feedback on your career.


You need someone that holds you accountable to your goals and has experience in your industry.


All successful business women have an accountability partner for support and advice.



|Did you know that 92% of people who set New Year’s goals don’t achieve them on their own? (Source)


Studies show if you share your goals with an authority figure, you are more likely to achieve them.


Need help finding an accountability partner?


Try adding yourself to Facebook groups for female entrepreneurs and businesswomen in your field. You’ll expand your circle to include people with more experience that help you accelerate your growth.


This is why I created my Ambitious Women’s Conference. It brings like-minded businesswomen together to provide support and perspective to each other. Sign-up for my mailing list at the bottom of this blog to be the first to hear of the next one!


3.Hire a Business Coach


As a women’s business coach and mentor I’ve worked with many women who feel lost or alone on their journey. A bit of guidance or reassurance is usually all they need to take the next step towards success in business.


But there was a time when I thought business coaches were only for the elite, or those already at the top of their game.


I learned a good business coach should be the FIRST step we all take as ambitious women. There’s nothing like the power of learning from experience. It catapults you from where you are to where you want to be in no time.


A good business coach transfers their wisdom to you with positive encouragement. They look at your goals from a more advanced perspective. Then they give you a concrete, step-by-step plan for how to get there.


And it pays off! The ROI (or return on investment) for working with a business coach in 2022 is a whopping 221%! (Source)


That means that for every dollar you spend on coaching, it increases your revenue by $221!


This shows that investing in a business coach (and in yourself!) is the best way to gain a financial advantage and learn how to leverage yourself for success.


I’ve seen first hand how these support systems have skyrocketed my business growth. I only wish I’d hired a coach years before I did! The guidance of my mentors like Amy Applebaum, prevented many mistakes that saved me time and money over the years.

As a business coach for women, I pass along the knowledge I’ve gained to save you time and money. There’s nothing I love more than working with women in direct sales or entrepreneurs to help their business grow!




Sign-up for my mailing list for exciting, upcoming announcements!

 
Get notified about the next Ambitious Woman Conference, my mentoring program, and discounts on my book, The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One!  


PLUS, be the first to hear when my next book, “SECOND ACT,” hits the shelves! 


How to Build Self-Confidence in Business & Trust in Yourself

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Overcome Self-Doubt and Insecurity with 3 Helpful Tips from a Business Mindset Coach



By, Esther Spina

Business Coach for Ambitious Businesswomen & Female Entrepreneurs

Inspired by Chapter 14 of my Amazon Best-Selling Book, 

The Ambitious Woman,

What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,


“LIVE A CONFIDENT LIFE!”



Are you FROZEN IN FEAR and afraid to take that next step in your career? 

Do you have big dreams, but you’re not sure you have the right skills or experience to succeed?


Are you afraid to work for that next  promotion because you’re not sure you can do it?


All the successful businesswomen I’ve mentored, battle with self-confidence issues at some point in their careers.

In this article, I show you what you need to know to combat over-thinking and fear. This frees you up to sail into your future with conviction and style!






1. Stop Overthinking by Shaking Things Up

Do you have a hard time meditating or going to sleep because you can’t get your mind to turn off? Are there a million thoughts running through your head at any given moment?


As a women’s business coach, I know you have a lot on your mind, and it’s hard not to focus on multiple things at once. It’s how you get stuff done. But it’s also how you get trapped in overwhelm, unable to see a clear path forward.

Signs you’re overthinking include:

  • Worrying all the time about things that haven’t even happened yet
  • Beating yourself up for making “mistakes”
  • Procrastinating because you’re afraid of making the “wrong” decision

So how do we stop our racing minds and start being open to growth?

I encourage you to go out and try something you’ve never done before. Take up a new hobby, try a different exercise style, or go to a city you’ve never been to before. This puts you immediately into a beginner’s mindset for learning. It prepares you for handling the unexpected.

This way you’ll see anything that happens in business as an opportunity for learning. You won’t beat yourself up when things don’t go as planned. Because we can’t control everything. Instead, keep your mind open to learning and you’ll become more adaptable to change.

When you allow yourself to be flexible, you become bulletproof to events beyond your control. This includes recessions, pandemics, and normal business downturns. And you’ll build confidence in ways you never could have imagined!



2. How to Reframe Negative Thinking & Take Action!

To overcome a lack of self-confidence in business — mindset is everything.

I coach women in business to re-wire negative thinking patterns and to expect positive results.


Habitual thoughts turn into beliefs, which turn into actions or INACTION.


If you’re thinking of starting a new business, career path, or promoting, fear of the unknown can be crippling.

Worrying about everything that could go wrong stops you from taking any action at all.


The businesswomen I work with in my mindset coaching programs suffer from perfectionism and self-critical thinking. These traits are a natural result of their ambitious natures. The same characteristics that propel you to the top work can destroy your self-confidence if you let them.

Instead, it’s better to get started and take any step forward. There’s no way you can think ahead to everything that could go wrong and prevent it. This is why a beginner’s mindset is so important so you can learn through trial and error.

For example, I had a thriving online baby clothing business until the economy slid into a recession. Then I had to unexpectedly shift gears and reinvent myself. It was devastating at the time, but the resiliency I developed gave me so much confidence. And my next business was even more successful.


I also experienced what felt like many betrayals in business. It hurt when partners I considered friends left to pursue other opportunities. I felt like I’d failed as a business owner at the time. I now realize that’s just a natural part of life and evolution. Things change, but these experiences had a silver lining . . .


Without these personal “failures,” I wouldn’t know how much I could handle on my own.


Thanks to these challenges, I became more self-reliant, which helped me gain confidence in myself. When you build this trust in yourself, you’ll feel invincible when business changes occur.



3. Fake it Til You Make It! — The Secret of Confident Business Women


Confidence is about perception. This means that as long as you appear confident, people will believe you are.

Many seasoned performers or speakers still get stage fright, but they know how to walk onto the stage appearing confident.


And, you know what? The audience can’t tell the difference. When they hear the applause, the confidence they were pretending to have becomes real. 


Katy Perry said, “If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.” (From the article, 51 Self-Confidence Building Quotes for Women of All Ages)


Every time you show up and put yourself out there you build confidence.


The only way to gain self-confidence is through experience and there’s no better time than the present. Taking that first step is a confidence booster in itself. Get started even if you don’t feel “ready.”


If you wait to be 100% ready, you’ll always be on the sidelines.


Don’t expect perfection, especially your first go-round. Expect that experience will teach you everything you need to know to get to where you want to be.


The most successful businesswomen in the world didn’t get there because it was smooth sailing to the top. They got there because they experienced setback after setback and kept moving forward.


When you successfully navigate obstacles, you naturally build faith in yourself.



And the more you create trust in yourself, the more others trust you too.



If you’re struggling with self-confidence, reach out to me. I’ve helped many businesswomen overcome self-doubt to achieve their goals.


Always Ambitiously,



Sign-up for my mailing list and be the first to hear about exciting new announcements!

Get notified about the Ambitious Woman Conference, my upcoming success program, and discounts on my book, The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One!  PLUS, my next book “YOUR SECOND ACT” is coming soon!

Are You Overwhelmed with Daily Business Tasks?

Posted on by estherspina

How to Stay Consistent in Business Without Burning Out



By, Esther Spina

Business Coach for Ambitious Businesswomen & Female Entrepreneurs

Inspired by Chapter 12 of my Amazon Best-Selling Book, 

The Ambitious Woman,

What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,

“LIVE A CONSISTENT LIFE!”

For a limited time for Christmas,

get the book and audiobook CD for free (just pay $3.95 for shipping!)

“Be consistent. Little acts create great accomplishments.” — Uneeka Jay


If your list of Post-It notes is a mile long and you’re struggling to keep up, know that every successful businesswoman has once been in your shoes.

Maintaining and building a successful business can seem like a mountain of responsibility without the right plan in place.

I want to help you find the balance between growing your business and taking care of yourself so that you can maintain your goals for the long term.

In this week’s blog, I give you 5 tips for staying focused on the small steps it will take to get where you want to be as an ambitious woman or female entrepreneur.


1. Develop a Set Daily Routine You Can Stick To

Most successful entrepreneurs and female founders have a consistent daily schedule. For example, they may start with a morning routine including meditation to clear the mind, followed by a workout, then a healthy meal. They have this down to a science, and often, timed down to the minute.

Here are some examples of consistency in morning routines from top female CEOs and entrepreneurs.

While your routine might not be so regimented, I encourage you to think about how you structure your day and put a set plan in place that you can commit to doing regularly.

Of course, there will be times when you need to be flexible, but having a plan will prevent you from slipping into unproductive habits like mindless social media scrolling that distract you from the necessary tasks of the day.

Find the habits, hobbies, and schedule that works for YOU. Simply copying someone else’s morning routine may not work for your unique needs, and if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t stick to it. A brisk morning walk or light stretching to clear your head may work better for you than a drill sergeant-style workout class if you’re not a morning person and that’s OK!

Another strategy is to get the task you dread the most out of the way first thing in the morning. This way you won’t spend your valuable energy procrastinating and worrying about this task all day. Free yourself up to get to the other things on your to-do list with more vitality and energy. 


2. Mind Your Mindset for Business Success

It’s easy to get busy with your day-to-day tasks and forget to check in with how you are feeling and where your energy level is. Overworking becomes harmful when you have a lack of balance, which leads to full-on business burnout.

As a business coach for women, it’s not uncommon for me to meet female business owners and entrepreneurs who are working 60 hours a week and running themselves ragged for the sake of achieving their goals.

But, at what personal cost? 

If you’ve read my book, you know that I am an ambitious woman too, but if you wear yourself down to achieve your career goals, you won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of all your hard work.

Whatever helps you release excess tension, make sure you build time into every day to do it so that taking care of yourself first becomes a priority in your life. And when you do, I promise your business will benefit as a result.


3. Get Regular Support From Women Who Understand (Even If They Are Online Mentors)

Listening to your favorite female entrepreneur or businesswoman, on a podcast, YouTube, or TED Talk, keeps you on track and inspired, but do you do it regularly?

When you listen to your mentors, you realize that most successful businesswomen are not overnight sensations. They just stuck to the small daily habits that ensured their eventual success.

Those mundane tasks you don’t look forward to are the ones that will make all the difference. It’s all about consistency and daily needs repeated over time.

Join a Facebook or Meetup group for female business owners, and you’ll see that many women are facing the same struggles and occasional setbacks to motivation that you are. You will feel less alone and get valuable tips and resources from women who have overcome the same challenges along the way.


4. Delegate and Automate As Soon As Possible

Many of the tasks you are doing now you can either delegate or automate.

This frees your time to grow your business, instead of spending your time maintaining your business.

Look at ways you can outsource your smaller tasks to a VA or find systems that allow you to put them on autopilot. Preserve your energy for reaching your next business goal instead of expending it on simple chores that are not the best use of your valuable time.

Female billionaires know this secret — your time is the most valuable resource you have.

Putting systems like this in place allows you to stay fresh and concentrate on expanding the part of your business you love. Don’t look at it as an expense. Investing in your business is not an expense, it’s a necessity. 


Fun downtime with great friends!

5. Don’t Forget To Schedule Your Downtime and Time Off Too

As much as you need to make a routine to check your business needs off your to-do list, setting time aside to simply R-E-L-A-X is just as important. 

Give yourself one FULL day a week away from work and do whatever you want. Spend time with family and friends, lounge around watching TV, or on a day trip to forget about work. This is your day to do YOU.

More importantly, don’t feel guilty about your time off and stop telling yourself I “should” be working. Truthfully, you’re more productive when you return to your work relaxed, refreshed, and with a clearer mind to make important business decisions.

Take vacations when you can, even if they are staycations. This article, Why Business Owners Should Be Strategic About Time Off, mentions, Americans are taking less and less time off and as a result experiencing more burnout, fatigue, and depression than ever before.

Get more mindset tips and inspiring stories of women who never gave up and reached their dreams in my business book for women,

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

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 

Get the Hard-Copy Book and Audiobook CD for Free!

Just pay $3.95 for shipping!!!




Keep the book for yourself and give the audiobook to a friend for free!

In my book, I share the hard-won lessons I’ve learned as a business owner and entrepreneur who has reinvented herself many times over. This includes how I overcame the recession, failed business ventures, and the mental roadblocks that prevented me from living the life of fulfillment and personal satisfaction I now enjoy.

And, if I can do it, you can do it too!

Until next time, stay consistent and remember that it’s all the little things that add up to BIG success.

5 Tips to Find & Keep Motivation in Business

Posted on by estherspina

Real-Life Advice from a Business Leadership Coach and Fellow Ambitious Woman

F


By, Esther Spina



Business Coach for Ambitious Women & Female Entrepreneurs


Inspired by Chapter 7 of my Amazon Best-Selling Book, 


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


LIVE A MOTIVATED LIFE!



It’s something we all face as ambitious women eventually — how to find motivation and stay true to our reason for being in business in the first place.

As a fellow female entrepreneur who has had many different businesses come and go, I know how important it is to stay motivated, especially when times get tough.

In this blog, I share motivational stories from successful female entrepreneurs who have excelled no matter what personal challenges or difficulties they’ve faced, as well as some of my personal motivations.



1. Follow Your Enthusiasm and What Excites You to Succeed in Business

Oprah calls this “following your bliss” and I believe that when you stay true to what makes you feel happy and fulfilled it’s going to keep you motivated.

Excitement is a sign you’re following your true calling, which is a sure sign of future success.

So often you ignore what makes you feel exhilarated or hopeful. Instead you do what you think you’re “supposed” to do, or what “makes more sense,” even though you’re not enjoying it.

It’s important to think about why you are pursuing a certain goal and the real-life reason behind it.

Would reaching a certain financial goal reduce your stress? Is there a dream vacation that drives you? Or maybe you have a lifelong passion that you’d like to make a reality?

One of the things that motivated me was paying for my son’s college education. It drove me to branch out from commission-only work and pushed me to reach out to a bank that not only became one of my biggest accounts but it also paid for his tuition! 

When I aligned my business purpose with my personal goals I was able to achieve success on all fronts. I took some financial pressure off my family, helped my son to succeed, and helped my own business to grow. It was a triple win!

Your personal goals and your business goals should be aligned with what matters most to you. In my case, it was spending more time with my family, (the account was near my son’s college), and gaining more financial stability so I could have an income I could count on.


2. Pain Can Motivate You to Pursue Unexpected Avenues as a Businesswoman

On the other end of the spectrum, pain can also motivate us to grow and challenge us to level up as businesswomen and female entrepreneurs.

For example, if you’re not meeting your financial goals, it may be time to pivot slightly and look at how you can adapt your niche or modify your business in some way that would better serve you.

In my book, I mention how Nancy Brinker developed the Susan G. Koman for the Cure foundation after losing her sister to breast cancer. In doing so, she transmuted the pain of her loss into something beneficial, by creating a resource for change and providing support to breast cancer survivors everywhere.

Discomfort allows you to ask yourself — Where do I feel unhappy in my life? Where is there room for growth? What do I want to see change?

All of those places where you feel dissatisfied are great starting points for new opportunities if you look at them constructively, just like Nancy Brinker did.


3. Set Short and Long-Term Goals, But Be Flexible

As ambitious businesswomen, we all know the importance of setting both short-term and long-term goals, but we also have to give ourselves permission to adjust them as needed. As we evolve, our dreams and goals will change too.

Writing your goals down has been proven in studies to exponentially increase your level of success.

A Harvard Business Study found that only 3% of the people they researched wrote their goals down, but, shockingly, that 3% made 10x more than the other 97% of their MBA classmates combined!

If you need help setting goals and sticking to them, check out the SMART method of goal setting. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that stands for “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound.” So, if you are in the 97% that isn’t writing your goals down, use this goal-setting method to get started in moving towards business success.


Remember, goals are just guidelines and they will shift as your priorities do. As you continue to grow, you may find that your previous goals are not really in alignment with your current vision and that is 100% OK. It’s natural for our dreams to transform along with us.

So, don’t feel bad if your goals start to feel outdated and you choose to go in a different direction in your life.


4. Find Your “Why” and Use Your Passion to Guide You

When you’ve been in business for a while, as a female entrepreneur or career woman, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running your business and to forget why you started your business in the first place.

I am talking about the BIG PICTURE of why you do what you do.

Not sure what that is? One way to find out what truly matters to you is to journal about it.

Take a moment of your day and brainstorm what is truly important to you in your life — Quality time with your family? Financial security? Location independence? Freedom to make your own choices? A flexible schedule? All of this helps you refine what your goals are so that they will be in alignment with what most matters to you.

When you focus on your deepest values, rather than a dollar amount, you’ll always have more motivation to do what it takes to succeed.


5. Look to Other Successful Businesswomen and Female Leaders for Inspiration

In my book, I mention how J.K. Rowling inspires me, but did you know she was a struggling single mother who wrote the Harry Potter series on napkins while receiving welfare to get by? Talk about a Cinderella story!

J.K. Rowling’s dedication to her passion project led her to become the first author to make the Forbes billionaire list. She eventually dropped off the list due, in part, to donating $160 million to charity. This woman inspires me because she continues to focus on her values, despite her success. 

Another woman I mention in my book is Tererai Trent, who overcame extreme cultural and political challenges to achieve her dreams against all odds. She is proof that there are no limits to what you can accomplish when you are determined and motivated. You’ll have to get the book to hear the rest of her amazing story!

To learn more about the inspiring businesswomen and female entrepreneurs mentioned in this blog, grab a discounted copy of my book on my website below!

The Ambitious Woman,

What it Takes and Why You Want to Be One


For a limited time when you order my book, you get 

the Ambitious Woman Audiobook absolutely FREE!

Or order the inspiration-filled Ambitious Woman Audiobook separately for $6.99 here:


Get inspiration during your daily commute and get motivated to reach your personal and business goals anytime!

You Must Believe You Can Do Anything!

Posted on by estherspina

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One of the biggest lies of our time, in my opinion, is the idea that in order to be an Ambitious Woman you must be a career woman, working mom, wife and all-around role juggler. Actually, you can be an Ambitious woman in almost any role. Barbara Walters, a great role model who recently retired after 50 years in the entertainment and news business, says, “A woman can do anything. She can be traditionally feminine and that’s all right; she can work, she can stay at home; she can be aggressive; she can be passive; she can be any way she wants with a man. But whenever there are the kinds of choices there are today, unless you have some solid base, life can be frightening.” However, without the belief that you can do anything, you may never achieve the goals you have set for yourself.

Actions always follow decisions. You must convince yourself first in your mind that you should do something, and then the action itself will follow. Until you decide it in head and heart, however, the actuality of the event will never occur. This is why it is so important to build passion, because from passion comes motivation.

You must convince yourself first in your mind that you should do something, and then the action itself will follow.

One of the greatest enemies of passion is people pleasing. It will cause you to be divided within yourself. Remember that others may not have the same goals for you that you do! When you try to please everyone, you are necessarily taking away from your own dreams and passions to pursue what someone else wants.

This is not to say that you should focus only on yourself. However, you should be aware of how much time you have to devote to others and keep yourself within that limit. You must also set your own goals and set aside time to pursue them vigorously, even if the people around you do not support your actions.

An Ambitious Woman always believes she can do anything she sets her mind to do. Barbara Walters is a wonderful example of the Ambitious Woman who is able to achieve what she wants because she has the flexibility to allow others to pursue their own dreams. Try to surround yourself with people like her; besides being a mentor and a great role model, these Ambitious Women are able to help you achieve your own goals through their support!

Risky Business: Building A Dream

Posted on by estherspina

Esther Spina, The Ambitious Woman, Ambitious Women, Spina, Esther Spina

Have you ever heard the story of Diana Nyad? On September 2, 2013, she swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida. That may not seem like a unique accomplishment; after all, other people have done it before. However, there was a difference between Diana’s trip and those of other people.

For one thing, it was her fifth attempt to cross the dangerous ocean between these locations; four other times had ended in failure. For another, she was 64 years old! Even more incredibly, Diana was the first person to make the swim without a shark cage. What this should teach us all is to never give up and find a way to pursue your dreams. The more we stay in our comfort zones, the less inspiration and growth we experience.

The more we stay in our comfort zones, the less inspiration and growth we experience.

I am sure it cannot have been easy for Diana Nyad to pursue that dream. It was not easy for me when I spent two years, along with my husband, remodeling our home to sell it. I kept thinking, throughout the hard work, of the victory we would achieve if we could sell the house at a high price. Just thinking about it made the work easier! However, plans changed.

Suddenly, we found the dream home we wanted. What about our old house? We were not ready to sell. However, we were blessed to be able to pass the house to our son’s family. By taking the chance and putting in the hard work, we were able to not only achieve our dream but also to bless someone else.

The fact is that until you dare to swim without the shark cage, you will probably never realize your true dreams. Stepping outside of comfort zones is difficult, but if you never give up, seek inspiration and find a way to pursue your dream, you will realize the full potential of what you are capable of doing. In my book, The Ambitious Woman, you will find many examples of how I might never have achieved my goals without being willing to “swim with the sharks,” even without a cage!