Well, yesterday came and went!  Sunday’s are sometimes like that, with church via the internet (thank God for the marvel of virtual opportunities) and many of the things I don’t get done during the week – the time slips away. 

I don’t want to take days to cover the AWP story, but I do want to be clear, concise and in-depth about the who; what; where; and why we’ve reached this point in life.

As I’ve noted before, our vision and mission is to be a source of enrichment, encouragement and empowerment  for  women in the 2nd half of the life journey.  Our commitment is to do so by informing, educating and networking with those who join us in the AWP community.

I’ve used the word “platform” as a describer and that is really a very accurate image for us.  We’ve built a platform (or foundation) upon which to lay the pieces of the vision and mission.  With our BETA LAUNCH on July 1 of this year, we put the partially-loaded AWP platform up for women to see, visit and join!

First, AWP was created as an online community for ALL women age 45 plus.  We chose a VIRTUAL platform because the internet IS the wave of the future!  In fact, it is the wave of NOW!

In a previous post, I mentioned two articles from Networking Times (May/June 2006) that solidified the AWP vision and confirmed that the vision of a vast online community of women connecting, communicating, informing, educating and networking is the way to go! 

The two articles are Scott Allen’s “The Virtual Handshake” and an interview with Tom Power, co-founder of Ecademy who states that the internet is “female” (I’ll say more about that later as well). 

Both gentlemen make a strong case for the ease, efficiency and effectiveness of meeting others online to affect the personal goals we each have; our need to be connected with other like-minded folks and the desire to network for business and professional growth and do so in a SEA of folks, rather than just in the local or area ‘pond’.

Here’s just a piece of what Tom Power had to say in the 2006 interview, “The Internet is Female!”:  

“We’ve been through version one of the Internet,    the dot-com boom and bust, and it didn’t quite work.  Now, second time around, they’re calling it “web.2.0” or “bubble 2.0” (which is  classic California entertainment, at least for Europeans)!

What’s the difference?  This time round, it’s about real conversations with real people. (italics mine)

It’s not about links and eyeballs and nodes and portals and aggregations.  It’s not about buzzwords-it’s about you and me having a real conversation on a Wednesday night on the  phone over a chardonnay. Real people, real time, real business.” (bold is mine).

That was what I needed for confirmation and what those who joined me on the AWP Leadership Team needed to hear.

So now, hopefully this is helpful for those of you who’ve already captured the vision and joined the AWP community and those who land here, visit for a while – leave – and then return, again and again.

The why is so simple.  It’s because we can!  We can connect – we can effectively communicate – we can inform and educate – we can network to meet each woman’s needs.

Later today, I’ll talk a little about networking and community and what AWP members can expect from us who brought the vision to the web - as well as what each of us can expect from YOU who have joined us in the ad-venture!

  Linda

I need to make a correction to yesterday’s post.  The co-founder of Ecademy is Thomas Power – not John David Mann.  There I feel better.

In my last two Blog posts, I’ve covered what sparked the vision for A Women’s Place and our mission to be a source of enrichment, encouragement and empowerment for women traveling through the 2nd half of life’s journey.

In this article post, I want to say something about the how of enriching, encouraging and empowering.  And I want to introduce why we believe it can be done through a virtual network of women coming together in community.

I think the best place to start is with a couple of examples from this past week. 

EXAMPLE 1: A new member, who is just launching her own vision and mission, has hit a number of “brick walls” in putting together an event for late fall.  She left me a voice mail message that I returned the following morning.

I could tell from her voice that things were not going well and I encouraged her to tell me a little of what was (or was not) happening.  At the close of our conversation, I invited her to join another member and me at a meeting next week in which we could brainstorm some ideas that might be helpful to her.  And that is what we are going to do.

EXAMPLE 2: An area businesswoman contacted me after a referral from one of our leadership members.  We shared conversation via phone; looked at each other’s websites and that was pretty much it. 

In conversation with the team member a week later, I learned that the business woman was really in need of making some quality connections to move her business forward.  Some of those connections I had in my “life-connections pouch” and began to share them with the team member.  Later, I emailed the information to our team member and copied it to the businesswoman. 

The businesswoman responded using the following words – “optimistic” and “positive”.  Her enthusiasm came off the virtual page, because someone with a different set of ‘connections’ had taken time to initiate some strategies that just might work for her AND was willing to make the initial contact to get the communication going! 

And that’s just what I did. 

Today, I talked with the team member who is closely linked (excuse the pun) to the very market segment the businesswoman needs to connect with – and I KNOW the ball will roll from there!

In both examples, several of us on the team were able to encourage and empower.  And next week, we’ll bring others – AWP members – into the process!

It’s just like dropping a pebble in the water!

Communication opened a door – connections were made and relationships began to take shape and form.  Each woman gained something from the encounter and will most likely gain more in time.  Each of us got some personal and professional need met – not the least of which is hope.  Hope that the future will be brighter – that the “brick walls” will tumble and somewhere there is a connection that will take business to a whole new level of success!

In retrospect, the platform that made this possible is www.awomensplace.org!  We were never truer to our vision and mission.

Another aspect of “how” that rests on the AWP platform is information, education and networking. 

For some women, information – the RIGHT information – enriches, encourages and/or empowers.  I’ve always said that “knowledge IS power”.  For others, it will be an educational event that will prompt an ‘ah-ha’ moment that might not have come otherwise. 

In my personal opinion, information and education – enrichment, encouragement and empowerment are the by-products of networking!  I gain some kernel of new information or knowledge that supports me at the point of life through which I am traveling at the time.  And I get it because I was networking with others!

This has turned out to be much longer than I wanted; so I’m going to stop now and move into “why” we chose this vehicle upon which to rest the AWP platform tomorrow.  And I’ll say a little more about networking and building community online!

Where I am today, it looks and feels a little like fall!  Whatever the weather, enjoy the journey of today!

  Linda S. Fitzgerald

The core of the AWP vision and mission is to be a source of enrichment, encouragement and empowerment  for women who have reached a chronological age where many changes often take place.  It is not uncommon for marriages to end in divorce as couples reach mid-forties.  Children leaving home, often causes women to feel at ‘loose ends’- an “identity crisis” some would say.  Many women in the AWP market age range have children with needs they must still meet; as well as aging parents whose needs they want to meet. 

A complicated society, with increasingly complicated demands, has left many women with challenges that their mothers never faced!

And then there is a sense of isolation that many women feel because the same social opportunities don’t exist now as then.  Coming together in community is more important now than ever before because of the information age.

It’s also important from a purely business perspective.  It’s what business folks call “economies of scale”.  If I can reach 1000 people through an online community and do so consistently – for any reason – I have saved money; increased my personal and professional value; and taken my business to a whole new level.

So the FIRST PART of the AWP vision is to be a ‘launch pad’ for women who want to grow – PERSONALLY, by building a larger network of women with whom they can interact, learn from and share with; PROFESSIONALLY, by building a larger network of women with whom they can interact, learn from, share with and develop a richer professional life; or to GROW A BUSINESS, from ‘scratch’ or from small to medium and medium to large and maybe even large to super-large – because AWP provides the platform from which they can do so.  And then there is my desire (and that of several of our team members) to be a source of wisdom, knowledge and support for Christian women who want to grow spiritually.

It’s also about building community.

 “Community” is the big catch word in the marketing market place today.  It’s all about building “community”.  There’s an interesting article by Jennifer Kalita (Second 50 Years) in which she talks about the importance of building a sense of community among business owners’ customer base. 

“The practice of public relations is largely about establishing credibility and connection, but it’s also about creating community. Communities are built by like-minded people around a commonly-held belief (i.e. a faith community), or the perceived benefit of interacting with each other (i.e. a business networking group). Ultimately, people want to belong to something.”

I believe in community – our leadership team members are ‘community-minded’ women and each of us have experienced the power of community.  The coming together of like-minded individuals around a common purpose or goal in a way that all benefit from the whole!

By way of  review for this section:

(1) A Women’s Place came about because we desire to be a source of enrichment, encouragement and empowerment  for the women who join us in community. 
(2)  Our shared goal is to make the vision practical by providing the platform for it to come about; and by being the catalysts through which it does come about. 

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about some other aspects of the AWP vision and mission.  And I’ll talk about why we chose a virtual environment and how it is especially effective for the business and professional women who join us here.

It’s time for a leisurely Friday evening meal on a rainy evening in the Midwest.  Leaving you with pleasant thoughts and the hope that you will have an AWESOME evening!

  Linda

A Women’s Place (AWP) came about as the result of a series of events from 2000 through mid 2006. 

Over the years, I had gravitated towards working with women who were basically healthy, but whose life experiences had left them emotionally scarred.  As we worked together to set them free of the harmful memories and wounded emotions, I saw beautiful women with so much to give - emerge, much as we see a butterfly emerge from its cocoon. 

It was exhilarating and exciting to be a part of the transformation that took place. 

I knew that I wanted to be a mentor, teacher, coach, guide or whatever one calls the person who is the catalyst for such amazing change - and more importantly, I knew I was meant to do that.

I also knew that the emerging technologies born from the birth of the computer age were a vehicle that those of us who shared a similar desire or passion; could use to reach greater numbers of women.  I was in awe of how rapidly the ‘information age’ came upon us and how much potential it held for women from all walks of life.

But I didn’t know what to do with it.  And I wasn’t very technologically literate (still not, but getting there).

Then I literally stumbled upon two articles in Networking Times May/June 2006 edition that birthed the framework of the vision and mission that would become A Women’s Place. 

Scott Allen, co-authored the e-book, The Virtual Handshake that gave credibility and authenticity to virtual social and professional networking.  The other article, an interview with John David Mann, co-founder of Ecademy, convinced me that what I pondered in my mind as possible REALLY is possible. 

That was May, 2006, and the vision took shape and form. The mission was no longer a distant dream.

I’ve gotten a little ahead of myself. 

In those intervening years between 2000 and 2006, I joined a wonderful company as an independent consultant.  The company model was direct sales or more commonly known as network marketing (I believe it was Scott Allen who referred to it as relationship marketing).  It’s a business model that absolutely fascinates me and over the years, it became not only a legal organizational model, but a widely accepted business model in the marketplace (I’ll say more later about why the model fascinates me).  I loved the products and felt secure that the company was everything it said it was.  I set out to build a successful business representing a company I believed in with products I knew were “top of the line”.

The early months were very successful, so I began to join women’s networking groups in two major metro areas about 55 miles either way of my home base.  Several of them were not cheap to join.  I also decided to use a vacation in Florida to launch a leg of the business there. 

All of this cost money, but so what, I said!  It’s fun and I’m meeting wonderful, dynamic women who will want what I have to offer.

It wasn’t until after a rather expensive trip to Florida for a trade show and an additional trip there the following month to work with a new “recruit”, that I began to “count the cost” to see if my approach to building a business was cost effective!

It wasn’t!  I was spending more than I was making and I wasn’t getting value for the dollars I had invested.  So I sat down and calculated the cost of face to face networking and business-building the ‘old-fashioned way’.

Let me share just one example:  I joined a group online and paid nearly $300 initiation fee plus a monthly fee just less than $20 for access to a website. 

But the real opportunities, I was told when visiting with one of the reps in Florida, was in the monthly face-to-face networking meetings.  So I began to attend those meetings (in one of the metro areas 1.5 hours from my base).  The meal cost me $45 - $55 per meeting (the higher number represented if I was late registering); plus gas.  Then if I wanted even more exposure, there was the option of having a display at the meeting for an additional $65 - $95.  And of course, a gift for the door prize was always a great way to build rapport and relationship - all with the intent of building my business.  

After a year of ‘belonging’, I was wearied and that’s when I sat down with the calculator and said, “What am I really getting for all this expenditure of time, energy, effort and money?”

My one year’s cost was over $1200.00.  My gross sales amounted to just slightly over onehalf that amount - meaning that I reaped somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 - $300 profit!

What an eye-opener that was!

About the same time as this epiphany, I took a rare moment to sit on my front porch and read.  That was the day I stumbled across the two articles I mentioned above.

With this, I begin a series of posts that will give our community members and site visitors a huge view into the heart of the AWP vision; its mission and what we want to accomplish - why we want to accomplish it - what’s important to us - our commitment to integrity of purpose;  what community really is and why it CAN BE accomplished via a virtual network.  In cold-stone market place language - the “what’s in it for you and what’s in it for us!”

I hope you’ll visit this series of posts OFTEN and that you’ll comment here or in the forum when you have a question - need clarification or for whatever reason you feel a desire to connect and communicate.

Until later today, have an AWESOME end to another work week!

   Linda

Over the past several days, I have thought about how to move our vision and mission to the ‘next level’.  Those of us associated with the leadership of AWP have lived with the dream for some time and I’ve slept with it for over a year, so I forget that each of you who have come to our community and joined us don’t have the vision, mission and concept as deeply embedded (excuse the pun) as I or we do.

And it’s important that we share that vision, mission and concept with our members so that everyone is on the same page and everyone sees the value and opportunity and shares in making community happen in a virtual world.

I just looked at the clock and realized that in a few moments, I turn into a ‘pumpkin’.  Just as the inside of a fresh pumpkin is somewhat ‘mushy’, my brain turns to mush shortly before 10:00 a.m. - so I’m going to continue my thoughts and sharing in the a.m., after the morning JAVA and reflection time when the brain is awake and the day is fresh.

Have an AWESOME evening and be refreshed for the day tomorrow!

   Linda

The previous post, “Women of Excellence - Who Are They?” is an article I submitted to a number of websites yesterday for publication.  I got a neat response from a “man of excellence” who operates one of the sites to which I submitted.  Was encouraging to get such supportive comments from another ‘onliner’ who appreciates women, especially women of excellence.

Just thought I’d post that.  Have much more on my mind that I want to share, so will take my thoughts to the next post.

Linda

There is something phenomenal about reaching that point in life where we’ve entered the 2nd half of the journey.  Yes, there are those who complain about advancing years and the downside of what can and often does come with it.  But I’ve found that the ‘downside’ is offset by the very things that were so important in my youth.

This piece comes as the result of having someone say to me a few years back that they viewed me as a “woman of excellence”.  When I asked for elaboration, the young woman who spoke the words couldn’t come up with a definitive list of adjectives to describe “woman of excellence” and summed it up in one word – WISDOM!  Wisdom, she said, that comes with age and experience.

I became curious and studied the word “excellence” so that I could help other women in the 2nd half of life’s journey get in touch with their own unique form of excellence – something very important for me as a destiny-design coach and even more so for the women who seek my support through the growth process.  A look at Proverbs 31 gave me the answers I was looking for!  While the woman described at the close of Solomon’s book of wisdom appears to be “superwoman”; culling the meaning of each attribute brings the language and the attributes into modern perspective.

Women of Excellence are diligent, mature and wise (there’s that word again).  They are industrious and marketplace savvy.  A Woman of Excellence is strong in character and an excellentmanager.  She is a strong leader who is wise in the use of her strength.  She is honest and caring, compassionate and generous.  And finally, she is respected for her integrity and admired byall who know her.  She is more precious than diamonds!

How do women achieve this?  And is it possible to achieve this BEFORE we reach mid-age or beyond?  I don’t think so and my professional experience bears it out.  I meet many youngwomen who have some of the attributes of Women of Excellence, but not all.  They haven’t lived long enough, or experienced enough of life – some would say they haven’t suffered enough.  Iam unwilling to go that far.

We live in a day when our society and its many ills have wrecked havoc on so many women’s lives that it’s a wonder they have survived at all – let alone achieved a level of excellence.  And yet it is that very havoc that often leads women to seek a higher level of self-discovery and find those who can help them achieve a self-concept that leads into an awareness of their destiny design and life purpose.  Both are necessary for inner peace and integrity.  And both inner peace and integrity is one of the first steps into Excellence!

I encourage women entering mid-life to take time to explore who they are, where they’ve come from, where they want to go and where they too are Women of Excellence.  I encourage womenreading this to do the same and in future articles, we’ll explore the concept of Excellence in more detail. 

   Linda

One of the aspects of A Women’s Place is to share information that will help all of us reduce the effects of the aging process!

Over the past several years, as the health & wellness craze has taken hold (they say it’s due to the aging of the baby boomers); more and more folks are looking for strategies that will help them stay healthier and younger looking/feeling and increase their life expectancy.

In my own research, I’ve read that between 65 - 90% of aging is “extrinsic” (outside the body processes).  I’ve also read that the human body is designed to live to 120 years of age - and be realitively healthy for most of those years. 

Wow, those of you who are just 45 are barely out of infancy (ha!).

Among our leadership team, we have more than one person who is knowledgeable in health, wellness and nutrition.  It’s time to get them involved so that they can share their expertise and their passion for helping us all stay younger and healthier - longer.

So we’ve started something new!  We are DIALOGUING on the FORUM.  We’ll be concentrating on health and anti-aging info over the next week.  Glenn started us off today with some of the latest health news about a very popular substance we all take somewhat for granted.

If you are a REGISTERED member of A Women’s Place, just log into the FORUM.  You’ll find our dialogue under the “health” section.

If you are just browsing and found us here or are a returning visitor, you’ll have to register as a FREE LINK member to post your questions or comments on the FORUM.

I’m going to turn my blogging attention to other matters, so check in to AWP on a regular basis to stay connected and informed!

Have an AWESOME evening!

   Linda

TIPS FOR EASING MORNING STRESS:
We all know the tips, the one’s the super-organized give us.  I call them the “Martha Stewart’s” of my life.  But over the past several years, I’ve picking up some ‘about life’ organization skills that may be helpful to you if early morning is a mad rush for you.
CLOCK – Set the clock at least 30 minutes before you know you should get up to be on time.  Don’t allow yourself to ‘snooze’ more than 15 minutes of the 30.  You’ll feel rewarded by the extra 15 minutes of rest time and you’ll still be ahead of the clock in avoiding undue a.m. stress getting out the door.
EVENING BEFORE – I started the habit of putting what I need to take in the a.m. in front of the door out of which I leave.  During the day, as things come to mind that I need to take with me if I’m traveling the following day, I write them down on my “To Do List”.  At the close of the day, I gather everything from the list together and put it in front of the door.  Before loading it and hauling it to the car, I do a quick walk through of my office; check my purse for the cell; a pen and pad of paper; lipstick and all those personal essentials.  Then I head for the car. 
TRAVELING – I’m a list person, so I make my list as I go, recording items I need or things I need to do (like having the mail held) beginning at least two weeks ahead of time if it’s a long trip or at least 2 days for shorter journeys.  I set luggage out a week ahead and put in all the items I won’t need before I go.  I keep an adorable travel bag of my skin care and can grab it at a moments notice.  Buy those little sample size toiletries.  Pack anything and EVERYTHING you can at least two days in advance of that long vacation or business trip.  Always make sure to include a few pens and a pad of paper for making notes or keeping a travel journal.
There’s more I’m sure.  AWP members, post your time-saving tips organization tips on the Blog for all of us to see!

We’re nearly finished with the formal process of the Dreams & Visions process.

Once you have heard from the friends you chose to be your destiny-design partners and recorded the strengths and challenges they experience with you - you are ready to engage them a little further in the process.

Look at your lists and begin to make some connections between what you are passionate about and the skills, abilities, etc. that both you and your friends have listed. 

Start making a list of all (and I do mean ALL) the things you could do that would meet your passion level and the skill set that you bring to that particular passion.

I encourage you to “think outside the box”!  Let me give you an example from my own life:  I am passionate about learning and about teaching others!  I love it when a client achieves a major breakthrough; learns something new about herself and grows beyond the challenges; and then takes on the responsibility for moving to the next level. 

I have a broad skill set for teaching, and I have done substitute teaching earlier in my life.  But I NEVER wanted to be confined to a classroom.  So my passion for learning (growing & self-discovery) and teaching took the form of coaching and mentoring.  Even when I spend several mornings a week this past school year getting my two young grandchildren off to school, I was always teaching them something and they loved it (or at least they humored grandma and said they loved it)!

So I know you get the idea!  Get outside the usual things that you can do with the passions and skill sets you’ve discovered and look at new, creative, dynamic paths you can take that will utilize the skill sets you have AND the passion(s) that ‘drive’ you.  It’s in those connections that you’ll discover your destiny!

I’d really like to hear from any of you who have engaged in the D & V process with me.  PLEASE  send me an email to linda@awomensplace.org and let me know how it was for you; what you learned; and what you’re thinking about doing with what you’ve learned. 

And if you’re interested in my working with you in any facet of the process - please let me know that as well.  Your AWP link membership INCLUDES a wee bit of coaching or mentoring - so take advantage of it!

I hope it was as dynamic for you as it was for me taking us through the process.  I TRULY LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM SOME OF YOU!

Well, that’s all of the D & V for now.  Maybe we’ll revisit it from time to time, but for now we’ll move on to some more exciting and dynamic experiences with the AWP Blog!

Watch for them to show up here over the next several days and weeks!  And let us know what you’d like us to Blog about that meets your needs!!!

Have an AWESOME day!

   Linda