“There, there little girl” hinted the man wearing the prominent “VC” hat. “Mother-Son Team… I don’t think so” said his representative. “We’ve had a bad experience with your type and you probably won’t find an open mind here”, she said. Our type? You mean family that is hyper focused, driven to succeed, spent years and risked it all to bring a product to market that will change lives and arm underserved entrepreneurs with the tools to prosper? You mean family that covers 2 generations of business expertise, 2 genders that identify with the needs of both, 2 skill sets that consistently test each other, and together a passion to bypass all barriers to become a $100-million-dollar tech company. Hmmm….
See the team say “Watch Us!”
Small business is the foundation of this country and entrepreneurs fuel the innovation that is our future. My son (and partner) and I are passionate about underserved entrepreneurs and the unique marketing challenges they face. I come from a long line of women who taught me the value of the struggle and the courage to overcome any challenge that darkened my path. There is one huge statistic that blows me away. Of the 28 million small businesses in this country, 10.5 million are women and 6 million are minorities. Opportunity and resources need to be available to us all in order to effect change, for our playing small does not serve the world. Until we are tested, we cannot possibly imagine the greatness that lies within.
The root of success
It’s interesting when you evaluate the roots that formed your personal belief system. As so many of us have experienced, I was raised in a broken home shattered with domestic violence. With two much older sisters who left as soon as they were old enough to do so, my mother and I found shelter in each other. We grew to be more friends than mother-daughter. Post-divorce, my mother found herself in a new marriage, worse than the one before. This time… gun violence. She, and I, barely survived it and she warned me never to allow myself to fall into the same harm. A brilliant woman, an inventor, and a consummate entrepreneur… my mother pleaded that I follow a professional path that paid tribute to the women before us and not only survive, but thrive.
One of the lucky ones
With the divorce rate reaching nearly 50%, it seems that I have been given a remarkable blessing to be in a 36-year happy marriage. This bears the question… “Is it luck? Or Is it effort?”. Perhaps both. It takes both partners to keep the magic in the relationship. To say that it has been smooth sailing would be a bold-faced lie. Financial challenges, entrepreneurial chaos, dysfunctional family issues.. all of it. We have been tested over and over again. What we both knew though is that we were going to break the cycle and create a home filled with love and mutual respect. Raise a family that shared good moral values, character, integrity, and focus on success. Together, we accomplished that. God bless my husband, for he has supported a family thirsty for the entrepreneurial world. Thirsty to create a success story that would fuel future generations. Thirsty to create opportunity for others. Essentially, to do well while doing good. This man has earned his angel wings.
The little voice of doubt
They say failure is the mother of success. If that’s the case (and I believe that it is), then this is going to be one hell of a success story! My middle name should have been “perseverance” because I NEVER give up and never face a challenge that doesn’t fuel my fire. With years of experience comes enough stories to write a nail-biting book that keeps you in tears with alternate rolling in laughter. I’ve won design awards in the timeshare industry while battling competitors who lacked integrity. I built a landmark kitchen store in a neighborhood that eventually became a haven for crack addicts and even a dangerous mental patient who frequented the store and was measuring me for a box as he played with knives. Scary. I co-created a money management education program that ultimately lost its funding and took a pause to say… Now what? You can let life kick you to the curb and go back to the J-O-B or you can evaluate your personal mission and vision for the next journey. Nothing at all wrong with a job; however, it just wasn’t for me.
Doubt. That nasty little feeling that creeps up from the depth of your soul and drives uncertainty. It can own you or you can own it. Choose the latter.
A purpose-driven business
You often hear that if you love what you are doing… you will never work a day in your life. I was given a gift when I was 4 with an “out of body” experience. I got a little wild on a toy jumping horse and fell hitting my temple on the corner of a table. My sisters were babysitting and gave me aspirin, which caused a brain bleed. Long story short, the family doctor was called when my parents arrived. I “passed” saying I was going up to heaven to talk to God. As I’m sure many of you have read from the experience of others, I “floated” above my body and passed through a light. I was told that I needed to go back to care for my family. That experience left me with a lifetime profound obligation to “do more and be more”. I have always known the importance of leaving my mark on this earth. To deliver the solution in partnership with my son is an incredible gift.
Enter Corlinc. As a business it is an affordable marketing solution to benefit underserved entrepreneurs and non-profits and the marketing challenges they face. At the end of the day, money doesn’t create happiness… it simply magnifies the foundation of your heart. In order to lift ourselves up, we must lift up someone else. We are focused on making a positive economic impact by equipping entrepreneurs with success tools… the same entrepreneurs who are the very foundation of our future. We can do good while doing well, building business relationships that will increase profits for all.
This is the mission and vision that gets me out of bed every day.
What is your mission and vision?
- A. LIFE. CUT. SHORT. - August 13, 2019
- Dismissed as Irrelevant. R-E-A-L-L-Y?? - March 6, 2019