Female Entrepreneurs, Give Up Fear!

Dear Splendora Bagiastas,

What a time. Who ever said summer was a time for R&R? Sure, I’ve enjoyed the weather and the fiancés pool – oh ya I’m engaged!! – but there has been so much work, all-be-it very exciting projects. I feel like I’ve been living in a car, plane or cab for the past two months. I’ve often commented on this diary about the value of entrepreneurship and the freedom/wisdom/courage/passion it has brought to my life, but this summer’s successes have made it very clear that aside from my personal aspirations I want to commit myself to helping other women – especially young women – find the courage and resources to launch their own businesses. There are plenty of organizations that exist like Ladies Who Launch, Divas Who Dine, and Make Mine a Million – join them all or at least one. Read PINK, Success for Women (launching in October 2008), Fortune Small Business, and other business publications. There are people, organizations, even government groups that are ready to give you money for your ideas. There are even companies out there that will help you take your idea from concept to reality so that you can get that capital funding, that press, that big leap you need (like www.imagemme.com). It sounds ridiculously daunting, even as I type. But, if you have the strength of character and the time – because chances are this is going to be a night/weekend journey until you can get a steady income from your idea – you can make it. Just last week, I was interviewed for the premier issue of Success for Women Magazine as the spotlight young female entrepreneur and the reporter asked me what my biggest tip was, to which I said ‘have no FEAR’. Once you let go of the fear that you can fail, the fear that you’ll make a mistake, the fear that you’ll say something wrong, the fear that others will doubt you…. Once you let go of all that baggage you are left with a clear mind to focus on “wonderful what ifs”… what is I succeed, what if I land this deal, what if they buy my idea, what if I revolutionize the industry. If you’re a young female entrepreneur and just want someone to listen to you, I’m here. Nothing would make me happier. I want you to know the joy – not that it’s all peaches – but the overall joy of knowing from nothing you made something and that your future is solely in your hands and not at the whim of others’ decisions and actions.

Have a bag-a-licious day!

Pamela Pekerman