Ladies Who Launch

I have just started reading the book "Ladies Who Launch" by Victoria Colligan and Beth Schoenfeldt. It is not really a book about starting your own business, it's more about the idea that launching your life (i.e. doing what you want to do with all aspects of your life) is not just something that you do, but a mindset and a lifestyle.

I certainly don't agree with absolutely everything that Colligan and Schoenfeldt have to say (being the critical, educated thinker that I am - thank you liberal arts education!), but they do introduce a lot of interesting topics that make me feel a lot better about my current lifestyle.

Basically the authors say that women, especially those who work in non-corporate settings, conduct business very differently than men (duh!).

A couple of times while I was reading I found descriptions of myself. According to Colligan and Schoenfeldt "Women are more likely to have a creative idea when out in the world circulating." Thank you thank you thank for validating my need to get out, move around, and see more than the same four walls all day every day!

I cannot sit behind a desk all day. I cannot even sit in my studio (ok my bedroom, but it really does double as my studio/office for now...) all day. I need to go run errands, I need to go out for lunch, I live for taking packages to the post office!

Another thing that they mention is that many women complete tasks during their work day that others view as play (i.e. meeting friends for lunch, writing this blog!) but these things are important because they allow us to connect with others, and those connections can have a huge impact on our work. I just caught myself doing this. I was browsing the forums at Etsy and I told myself that it was time to get back to work. But then I had to remind myself that for me, those forums are productive. I learn things there that I cannot find anywhere else.

So these are just a couple of nuggets of wisdom that I have received from this book so far, but I will continue to keep you posted because I find it absolutely fascinating that someone understands the way that I work, and I will definitely be suggesting this book to all of those people who still think that I don't have a job!