When I started Working Chick I thought it would be a place where I would dispense wisdom on how to balance life as a working woman. Then I realized that all the wisdom I could dispense was not mine, but actually that of all the mentors I have had in my life.
In business, heck-in life, mentors are critical. The funny thing is many of the mentors I have don’t even know they are important in my life. The way my business works, much of the training and mentorship I receive is via conference call, hotlines, blogs or other media venues that don’t require people to be in the same room.
Even outside of my industry, I look up to women that seem to embody the traits that I find important and strive to model every day and many of them I have never met.
This revelation led me to tweak Working Chick. Instead of offering advice or just anecdotes about how I am trying to maintain life as a working mom, I decided instead to focus on the people who I watch to help me do what I do. I often call these women-offhandedly of course-Girl Crushes.
It is a title that while admittedly not very formal or professional (I mean c’mon this site is called Working Chick clearly formal is not what I do), seems to encompass the feelings most women can identify with when speaking of a mentor. A Girl Crush is someone you admire for reasons professional, personal or- if you are very lucky-both.
Girl Crushes are the people you want to be when you grow up even if you are technically more grown than they. When I have talked about Girl Crushes with other women and my theory that not only do we have them, but we all have them for similar reasons, everyone female I know agreed.
My first Girl Crush was my mom as she balanced working and mothering better than anyone I have met. She was quickly followed by a succession of swimmers, softball players, class presidents, sorority rush chairs, CEOs and CEO moms. These women, whatever their role and whatever their age, have all had a profound effect on both the woman that I am and the one I am constantly working to be. They provide a model of excellence, of courage and of balance that I strive for daily.
Sometimes I get it right, but it is only because of what I have learned from watching them.
So starting now, Working Chick will be a celebration of all Working Chicks rather than the words of just one.
