In the wise words of my favourite slogan jumper company, thefmlystore, "We Are All Wonder Women". It is my belief we all need more than one mentor in our lives, so here are some words of wisdom from some of the real life Wonder Women I am lucky enough to be surrounded by..in no particular order so please make sure you read them all - each one will resonate with different people in a different way.
“We tend to remember our failures more than our successes. We need to stop that shit.” Amandeep Panglin, Founder of Alchemy Oils
"Focus on being remembered not liked, and use that to do the right thing, always." Dana Elemara, Arganic
"My tip is to keep learning and to keep listening.You can never know enough and to layer yourself up with new experiences and by reading books and listening to pod casts is life-enhancing." Julien Sheridan, co-founder of Sheridan&Co
"Take a moment. Stop, breathe it in. The business, the late night stress, never-ending emails can make life seem overwhelming but take a moment. Look at what you have achieved, however small. Usually if you just look at it from the outside even for a minute you’ll see that what you are doing is pretty amazing." Alexandra Dudley, Founder of Punch Foods
"I need to feel inspired and excited every day. Everything that I do in my working life has to make me tingle with excitement and nerves. Butterflies in my tummy are the thing that get me going, they’re integral to everything that I do. But they don’t just happen, they have to be summoned, DEMANDED even. So my advice? Demand butterflies." Emily Clarkson, Founder of Pretty Normal Me
"As the sole person behind Fighting Fifty I have often found myself overwhelmed by emails. They just fly in at an alarming rate and I often find it hard to keep up. When I first started the website, I made emails a priority as I felt they should be answered immediately and to a degree I still do. I then saw a piece of advice which has changed the way I think about emails and how I tackle them. Your email inbox is someone else’s agenda – not yours. When you have this in mind it makes it easier to tackle the inbox, as so many emails are requests for you to do something for the sender. I am now more selective of the emails I reply to immediately and those that can wait until the end of the day." Tracey McAlpine, Founder of Fighting Fifty
"When you do what you love, and believe in everything you do, you open yourself up to all the amazing possibilities of achieving whatever you want to in this big little world! You set your own limits..." Gauri Chopra, Personal Trainer and IFC Champion
"Embrace change and reshape your mind patterns. Listen ... really listen.. A glass of hot water with lemon whenu wake up ..stick to decaf... clears that foggy mind.." Camilla Pascucci, secretary of COPRA
"If you are thinking of setting up/launching your own businesses go for it and try it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. People will have so much respect for you for trying it and more often than not you find that you make a huge success from running your own business.
Say YES and try everything once, if it doesn’t work you can try something else.I was overwhelmed at people’s kindness and generosity when I launched my business just over 2.5 years ago. I wanted to thank those who gave me their time, shared their advice and introduced me to others who could help me to go further. I have learnt that if you are unable to thank them in some way then pay it forward, it pays dividends and its so rewarding to be able to share what you have learnt with someone who is just starting out.
Before I launched my business it felt as though I was standing on the edge of a very deep and extremely cold swimming pool (I hate the cold!) and the anticipation made me nervous, it was much easier once I had dived in, it doesn’t feel cold for long!" Emily Reed, Founder of Dance Groovers and Putney Mumpreneurs.
"Personally I begin each day with gratitude and as I am getting into the shower or making coffee I will list or say the people or things I am grateful for in my life. It helps me begin the day with the right mindset and reminds me to always stay humble yet appreciative.
Subsequently, I ask my girls in Dean to be kind, be respectful, and to get involved. Be kind to yourself and to others. Respect yourself, your mind, your body, and spirit as well as others. If you want change then get involved. If you want more out of life then be active. Be present. Be the best version of you to help make our community better. The girls tease me because they say I have catch phrases!
When working with young girls I truly feel it is important I build them up. I follow a coaching method set up by my friends from Graydin. I start with the heart. Then move to the Head. And finally I follow up with a step or action. It's values based education. I would be happy to explain more later. Heart, Head, Step. It's changed my life!!" Amy Farrelly, my sixth form tutor and photography teacher at Rugby School
"I think the thing I try to remember is that it's ok to self-congratulate. There are so many things that can go wrong when you're self employed that if something goes well, pat yourself on the back because it's all you. Brits think that blowing your own trumpet is too American but if you won't back yourself then why should anyone else. That being said- no one likes an arrogant Annie so only do it when it's appropriate." Imogen Johnson-Gilbert, founder of Gillian June
"I’m a great believer in mindfulness and the power of positive thinking to help all areas of your life, from work to personal relationships. A little tip to start the day is to think of three things that you are grateful for and note them down (it can be anything, big or small, like the people in your life, your health, that you have a roof over your head, your pets, the sun is shining, the flowers in bloom etc). You will find it helps to ground you and make you appreciate how lucky you are and make problems seem less significant." Alexa Mullane, founder of Potion London
"When we are going through a tough time in life it can be easy to wake up feeling consumed with the same feeling every morning which can impact your new day ahead, then your week as so on...I sometimes spend a few minutes before bed or at the end of my yoga practice visualising how I want to feel when I wake up the next morning, and how it feels in my head, heart and tummy. When you have a bad morning sometimes your subconscious remembers that good feeling. It doesn't work everyday but it really works when you need it the most :-)" Kelly Maslen, Yogi and co-founder of KIN
"I make sure I set my goals before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning so that I'm on track as to where I want to be. I repeat them like a mantra so that they are ingrained in my head. If I do go off track I just pick myself up the next day and work even harder. I don't beat myself up." Eleanor Hosken, Founder of Urban Temple