Barbara Corcoran

BARBARA CORCORAN : Real estate tycoon

Barbara Corcoran is an amazing, DARE-ing, over-50 woman. And not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She grew up in a little town in New Jersey, with nine brothers and sisters and not much money. A poor student in high school, she floundered from job to job until her early twenties. Then, borrowing $1000 from her boyfriend, (equivalent to about $5000.00 in today’s terms) she founded The Corcoran Group, an extremely successful real estate corporation in New York.  She sold this business in 2001 for 66 million dollars! You may have seen her; Barbara is the real estate contributor to NBC’s TODAY Show, and an investor/shark on the reality show “Shark Tank.” Author, speaker, and entrepreneur, this “Have a Plan and Get it Done,” over-50, DARE-ing woman is inspiration, motivational, and often outrageous. Her book, “If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails,” is a terrific and entertaining read. She tells it like it is!

At the Inc. Conference for women entrepreneurs last fall in New York, I had the pleasure of hearing her speak; engaging, charismatic, funny, and enlightening, are the words that come to mind. I came away with further confirmation of my long-held belief that you can achieve anything with the right mindset, the right attitude, the right energy. She shared with us that the biggest mistake she made in her life was falling prey to the belief that she was stupid.  Struggling in school as a young girl, she hadn’t learned to read by the third grade. Yet she says this set her up for a lifetime of trying harder, going the extra mile, not taking anything for granted, and being a “meticulous preparer.”  She had to constantly prove she wasn’t stupid!

That kind of fortitude and character is what politicians are really talking about when they praise American spirit. 

Sara Blakely

SARA BLAKELY: Creator and Founder of Spanx.

I love Spanx! I have struggled with trying to wear a nicely fitting pair of slacks, and groaned over seeing that unsightly panty-line.  Spanx founder Sara Blakely solved this, with her invention of legless pantyhose, and has built a hugely successful company from it. Yay for her!

SPANX^® is available in 35 countries, and offers a whole line of great products such as bras, panties, slimming apparel, swimsuits and active-wear. The visibility of these products is huge – you hear about them everywhere from major news networks to SNL to sound bites on the infamous “red carpet” at all the award shows! In addition to keeping butts covered, SPANX also shapes the world by focusing on their mission: To help women feel great about themselves and their potential.

It was a stroke of genius from Sara, yet she had a very hard time getting any manufacturer to take her seriously. Ten clothing manufacturers in the South turned her down cold. So, spending $5,000 of her own money, she had a prototype made, and flew all the way to Dallas to meet with a buyer from Neiman Marcus. She blithely persuaded this buyer – super-sophisticated, ultra-glamorous denizen of retail diva-dom – to follow her to the ladies room where she modeled her white pants “before” look, and then put on her Spanx and modeled her “after” look under her white pants! The woman ordered on the spot.

The rest, as they say, is history. With supreme focus, Blakely grew her “baby,” with fortitude, tenacity, hard work, and attitude.

I recently met Sara at a New York Inc. conference for women entrepreneurs, and was so impressed with this woman. She is an adorable, funny, energetic 41-year-old woman, who knows herself and her public, has a wonderful sense of humor, plus drive and smarts.

In her speech, she told us of her dad, who was so influential in the growth of her character; she learned to drive on through discouragement, all the way to ultimate success. She told us how her dad encouraged her to fail. He would ask her what she had failed at that week, and was disappointed if there was nothing. Sara presented the concept that failure is not the outcome – real failure is not trying.

My hat is off to both Barbara Corcoran and Sara Blakely, two inspirational DARE-ing over-40 women. They show how DARE-ing really gets done!

Do you think about food all the time? That dieting is a full-time job? And yet you feel you can never relax, or if you do, you gave five pounds by just looking at food?

Join the club.

In Part One of this article, I made a start sharing with you a couple of eye-opening (to me at least!) factors that can lead to weight loss issues. I worked with Diane Solomon, a nutritionist trained in London at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, and she told me about four common problems. In Part One, we touched on the whole insulin/blood sugar piece of the puzzle, plus what food allergies or sensitivities can do to your weight.

Here in Part Two:  Two more possible areas that may explain your weight loss difficulties.

ADRENAL FATIGUE

Do you have a hard time losing weight, feel tired a great deal of the time, have low blood pressure, feel dizzy if you stand up quickly from a prone position, and/or have cold hands and feet? You may have an adrenal exhaustion issue. It comes about from prolonged stress, or by being a woman! Seriously, the hormonal toll on our bodies is heavy, and pre-menopausal and menopausal women are more susceptible.   

Very simply, your adrenals create adrenaline, one of the hormones that is produced during fear or stress (the Fight or Flight mechanism), as well as cortisol. They are both pumped into the blood in response to stress and make you feel “wired.” But after prolonged stress, you burn out. You begin to feel foggy, crave salt, and feel dizzy when you stand up quickly. Your skin gets dry and wrinkled, you begin to store fat, and you feel fatigued.  Old before our time! And fat, too, unfortunately.

The answer? Rest and reduced stress, of course. And consider getting help from a Nutritionist, Naturopath, or Registered Dietician, for the right amounts of nutrients/herbs that will help. Eleutherococcus Ginseng and a short course (one or two months) of a good Adrenal Extract (Nutricology makes a good one) can do wonders. 

Also, talk to your natural health care practitioner about using natural hormone replacement. This helps to balance the “estrogen dominance” that can occur with this adrenal fatigue. Pro-Gest cream is Diane’s recommendation to her clients as a source of natural progesterone, and Phyto-estrogen cream for natural estrogen. Both are made by Emerita, and Diane tells me that if a woman uses these before hitting menopause, she can often sail through without so much as a hot flash!

Also, be sure to take a good daily multi, to ensure B vitamins and Vitamin C, other nutrients your adrenals need to restore prime function and balanced hormonal activity. 

Adrenal fatigue is one of the most common syndromes Diane encounters in her practice and is fairly easy to address. But it takes time – not two weeks. It is apt to be four or five months of taking the right nutrients, ginseng, and natural hormones, before results are very noticeable, and hold.  So if this applies to you, hang in there!

LACK OF SLEEP CAN MAKE YOU FAT: THE LEPTIN / SLEEP CONNECTION

That’s quite a dramatic statement. But have you experienced feeling tired and sleepy after a bad night, and reaching for food all day (more than usual!) to try to give you energy, or wake you up? And then you never feel full on days like that?

This is probably due to the see-saw workings of the hormones leptin and ghrelin. Simply put, ghrelin (produced in the gastrointestinal tract) stimulates appetite, and leptin (produced in fat cells) tells the brain you are full, and signals you to stop eating. The problem is, if you do not get enough sleep, your leptin levels fall, so your brain doesn’t hear the message that you are full. At the same time, too little sleep creates an increase in ghrelin. So your appetite is stimulated. Nasty combination for those of us trying to keep our food intake down!

The answer? More sleep of course. Find ways to ensure good sleeping habits, and enough sleep. Eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise. Try a small amount of high carb food or warm milk before you go to bed to help you get to sleep. And keep stress and alcohol to a minimum. All of these are important in ensuring you get a good night’s sleep.

There are so many possible factors that may be involved in your weight issues, besides the most obvious:  thyroid issues; lack of exercise, or plain old overeating. Unraveling it feels like a full-time job sometimes, doesn’t it?

Consider checking out whether any of these other possibilities are in play for you. It might be easier than you think to lose weight and keep it off.

I have my own story with regard to weight, and I hear daily from clients, friends, and colleagues – other over-50 women – about their trials and tribulations with slowed metabolism, weight gain, difficulty with weight loss, etc.

So, after some research, and a long talk with a nutritionist colleague, Diane Solomon DipI.O.N, here are some powerful factors involved in the whole weight issue. DARE to approach this with new eyes!

Why on earth can’t I lose weight and keep it off?

Are you having a hard time keeping weight off? Or losing weight in the first place? Do you eat “like a bird” but can’t drop any pounds? Is your energy low, and you crave food, sugar, chocolate, carbs, or coffee to get you going?

There are several key issues that may be in play. These may be factors your doctor does not know, or does not think of, that can explain your problem. A good nutritionist can help! And there may be a fix as simple as a blood test, followed by a nutrient supplement or a diet change.

For now, let me give you a few of the factors that may be creating a cog in the wheel of your determination to lose weight.

1)     INSULIN ISSUE: Do you crave food? Do you crave sugar especially? Seems the more weight you gain, the hungrier you are? This could be an insulin problem. You’ve heard of insulin with regard to diabetes, but many Americans are in some stage of pre-diabetes with its fluctuating blood sugar and resulting fatigue, hunger, and weight gain. Researchers have found that people who secrete high insulin levels have a far more difficult time losing weight than those secreting lower levels of insulin.

If this is true for you, what does this mean? Your insulin receptors have stopped working effectively. You have begun to secrete too much insulin, which lowers blood sugar. When your blood sugar is low you feel hungry and tired. So you reach for sugar, or caffeine (which raises blood sugar and wakes you up), and more insulin pours out to deal with this spike of blood sugar… and you are in vicious cycle – downward!

Solution? Keep your insulin levels low, by reducing sugar intake, processed carbs, and keep up your exercise – walk, cycle, jog, sweep out the garage! Park a long way from the grocery store and walk! You can test your insulin levels by asking your doctor for a simple blood test.

Also, an important tip: take Chromium, preferably in the Glucose Tolerance Factor version (GTF), or chelated Chromium. Many people with insulin issues are deficient in Chromium, an essential mineral for the entire blood sugar/insulin process. It comes in 200mcg capsules/tablets, and Diane suggests her clients take one, three times a day, with food, for three months, then two a day with food, for three months, then one a day long ter

2)    ALLERGIES: If someone asked you what your favorite comfort is,  you might say, with stars in your eyes and a yearning in your voice, “Bread, cereal, pasta…”  Oddly enough, if you have weight issues that will not resolve, and you crave a certain food (in this example, wheat) you may be allergic or sensitive to that food. Wheat, corn, and dairy are among the highest allergy foods in the USA. And many people do not know it.

When people complain of migraines, IBS, depression, skin rashes or eczema, bloating, etc., it is important to eliminate food allergies as a possible cause. The same applies to weight gain or weight that is hard to lose. When they come off a food to which they are allergic, they very often drop a few pounds without doing anything else, and their food cravings diminish rapidly. Funny, though, for the first four days off the offending food, they wander down food aisles in the store drooling and sighing over the foods they can’t have!

We should not crave a food – it is a sign of potential allergy. If you crave a food, you may be addicted to it.  Just as an addict suffers symptoms when the substance they crave is withdrawn, allergic people experience symptoms or discomfort when they stop eating the suspect food.

If you think this may apply, ask a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietician (R.D.) about trying an elimination diet to pin down the offending food.  Or research the method online and give it a try. There is no down-side except a few days without a food that you believe is your friend. It may not be!!

In PART TWO:

Do you have a hard time losing weight, feel tired, have low blood pressure, feel dizzy if you stand up to fast, have cold hands and feet? You may have an adrenal exhaustion issue – check back for Part Two of this article, where we’ll look at Adrenal Fatigue, and Leptin Resistance/sleep factor, two other major issues that can be involved in weight loss issues.

 Check back for PART TWO:

1)    Adrenal Exhaustion, and

2)    Leptin Resistance and the sleep factor…

Research in entrepreneurial finance proves out that regardless of your business model, it’s key that early one you cultivate those influential and powerful people who can champion you – not just assist, mentor or advise you.  The traditional corporate world calls such individuals “sponsors.” In fact, research by the women’s leadership nonprofit organization, Catalyst, indicates that one of the key differences between how men and women advance is that men tend to seek out, cultivate and benefit from sponsors.  Sponsors are different from mentors in that a sponsor will advocate for you, get you invited to meetings that you ordinarily would not have access to, or let you in on crucial information they have access to through their inner circles.  It’s important to network, yes, but manage your time well and make sure you cultivate, secure and exchange your talents with persons of power and influence – i.e., sponsors – who will actively champion your mission and vision.  This also means you have to learn about your sponsor’s priorities as well, and where there is mutual benefit. Working with a sponsor is an exchange.  It works best when there are complementary skills and talents at work.  

Check out the SmallBizTrends.com article here

This is an excerpt from the article:

How do women-owned businesses differ from companies owned by men? Not as much as they used to, according to a recent study from the SBA’s Office of Advocacy. “Business ownership no longer can be analyzed simply on the basis of the owner’s gender; businesses owned by women and men more and more share the same general development patterns,” write the authors of “Developments in Women-owned Business, 1997-2007.”

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Think “there are only seven days in a week!”?  These seven ideas can help.

1.     Create a design for living the rest of your life. Write down or create a vision board of your Before, Now and Future.

Small section: what you dreamed and excelled at between ages 10-18;

Small section: what you dreamed and achieved between 18 and now;

As much space as you want: Think about your vision of the “perfect life,” as if you are looking back in your old age. Then decide what you are dealing with that’s keeping you from that vision, and what you need to do now to reach that vision.

Be sure to revisit and revise these last three as your priorities change.

2.    Ready, Set, Take Aim. Aims help you target, prioritize, and drive your life.  Set as follows, for:

a. Next five years

b. Current year

c. Next six months

d. Current month, week, day, hours

3.   Always in a Race?  Protect your Space! “No” time to exercise? Need to better manage your finances? Longing to finish a personal project that’s lurking?  Set a deadline, schedule time every day or every week to work on it, when you know you’ll actually do it. Otherwise, it won’t happen.

4.    Read it and reap. Start a daily journal, password it. Write what’s making you happy, driving you crazy, or whatever else is on your mind.  Generate ideas for what you really want and need to accomplish for yourself – that day, the next day and so forth.

5.    Deal with it – lead with your strengths. Many women focus too much on their own weaknesses and external obstacles. Laser in on your strengths – what you do well that you actually like to do.  Strengths help you maximize opportunities, diminish weaknesses and defuse obstacles.

6.    Unwind your mind! There are at least seven kinds of intelligence: verbal, mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Learn to do things better, do better things, and tackle your priorities more productively.  All help you become more adaptable, flexible and resourceful.

7.    Rally others to your priorities! Is your multi-tasking about sustaining others’ approval, acceptance and loyalty?  If it’s leaving you with no time to plan, exercise, eat right, unwind your mind through journaling, and doing other life-affirming activities for yourself, then you need to rally your family, work team or other support to help you.

Not enough hours in a day, or days in a week? Embrace your space!

Sometimes it really does have to be all about you.