Have you built a profitable and valuable business but instead of feeling like there's something missing, you’re feeling like there's something MORE?My client Jill recently told me: “I don't think I realized the level of dissatisfaction I was living in and where that was seeping into all areas of my life, until the curtain got pulled back a bit. Because for 99.9% of us, we just keep going and it becomes our next normal.”Women often fall into The Broken Cookie Effect® trap. When I was growing up, my mom made these fabulous cookies. The whole house smelled good. It was warm. The cookies were gooey. And all my life I watched my mom eat the broken cookies. But it wasn't until I was a teenager that I even thought to ask her: why do you only eat the broken cookies? Do they taste better? And she laughed and said “No, I eat the broken cookies so you can have the whole ones!” And this memory came rushing back to me when describing a tricky pattern I’ve seen in decades of working with women founders. We bring that spirit of self-sacrifice we saw in our role models - our moms and our grandmothers - right into our business. That's what I call The Broken Cookie Effect®. When everyone around us - our staff, our clients, our families - gets the whole cookie and we live on crumbs. Like many women, I have fallen into The Broken Cookie Effect® trap - repeatedly. For me, my business life breaks down like a play - in three acts. I ate only the broken cookies in my First Act, as an employee. I overworked and overdelivered as if it was routine, and thought I had to just live with the anxiety and stress.In my Second Act, I wanted the whole cookie but felt guilty for taking it. So, I settled for the broken cookies, hoping one day to feel differently. I founded my political consulting and lobbying business and learned things the hard way: how to price, sell, and get the deals done, knowing it wasn’t a level playing field for women. I was raising 3 small children as a single mom and the stress was so constant I felt numb.If "All the world's a stage…”, I leapt into my Third Act in 2006.I specialize in helping women founders transition to their Third Act – when you’re ready to do the work you’ve always longed to do. Work that lights you up. Work that is your purpose instead of just a paycheck. In my experience, women don't retire; they transition into a new stage of purpose and impact. Whether you are 40 or 60, the idea of retirement may not appeal to you. So, are you ready to leap into your Third Act and grab the whole cookie?
Listed skills include Strategy, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Management Consulting, and 17 others.
