Mother-Daughter Advice

With school graduations, I find myself reflecting on my daughter’s collegiate and my own career achievements. My words of advice: “Keep adding to your value. From here on out, it’s up to you to study what you like. Your liberal arts degree is a means to understand and adapt to the world that lies before you.” Here are some of my lessons to share with her, and you, my readers.

Get a mentor. First build a real relationship with a person you value. It’s a more natural process and creates a stronger base than ‘asking for a mentor’. In mentoring, look for a good person above someone who you perceive can help you. And... if you’re fortunate, you’ll have a great woman boss, who you will one day emulate.

Be a risk taker! Take a seat at the head of the table. I did. It’s a strong space – figuratively and literally - from which to deal with conflict. Practice taking a full-view scan of each situation, then making a decision. You can’t deny when you are a leader. You come by it; it’s in your DNA.

Don’t become a cynic… Trust. Please. We are born pure and develop scripts about trust versus cynicism. If you’re unsure, you’re not alone. According to Edelman Trust Barometer we have destroyed trust over the decades. They call it a ‘trust implosion’. Okay, fine. It is done unto you as YOU BELIEVE. Go manifest trust!

Your Worth. Never doubt your worth; just keep doing what you care most about, and adding to your powerful experience base. Hold fast to your vision, because its realization may be farther out than you think. (Know that women sometimes need to push harder.)

Recall high worth women who’ve believed in and helped me pave the way: Evelyn Logan, Margaret Pruitt, Tasha Eurich, Jennifer Whitlow, Betsy Doughty, Sonja Baro, Jenny Shedd, Ashley Passow, Tami Palmer, Corey Livingston, Melannie O’Connor, Jennifer Joyce, Leigh Steere, Tracy Mestas Cook and Lynda Mottershead.

Be Valued. Understand your real value to those who want to use your creativity and talents. You have a calling, not just a means to earn your keep. So strive to become and be good at what you do. Along your career path, leverage your passion for learning to discover the right ‘weightlifting for your brain’. Personal Development: It will always serve you.

Take care of relationships. Since I graduated from UNC-CH, I’ve watched people come and go from one another’s lives. Job positions shift, marriages can dissolve, companies and families experience endings through the process of time. But what remains unchanged: The value of our friendships along the way. Friends make the journey worthwhile. So take good care of them.