by Randy Patterson, author of “The Matriarch Rules: How to Own Your Power, Know Your Worth, and Lead the Life You’ve Always Wanted“
Becoming an entrepreneur is no joke. But if you are a woman and an entrepreneur, you have some serious advantages. I’m not saying that owning a business is easy, but nothing driven by passion, ever is…
It takes intense planning, wise decision making, a forward-thinking approach, and an ability to tune out every risk averse, nay-sayer in your life. It takes the ability to acknowlede your insecurities and forge forward in spite of them.
Let me tell you why women, or Matriarchs, as I like to refer to them as, have such a huge advantage when it comes to entrepreneurship.
Women experience life in such a unique way and everything that comes intuitively to them, when applied to business, instantly places them in the position of Chief Executive Officer.
1. Women are experts in brand development.
As women we learn quickly about the impact that judgment can have on us. And, it is no secret that in business, particularly small business ownership, that your customer base is largely dependent on how people feel about you.
Women are experts at not only building and defining their personal brands, but their familial brands as well. Early on, they decide what impression they, and their families will make on others. They decide that they will be the family who volunteers, is active in their church and who always has room for one more on the way to soccer practice. Perhaps they are the family who is involved politically in the community, who rallies for change and who encourages others to do the same.
These things help define the family’s “brand message” and help potential friends (or in the case of business, customers) determine whether or not they want us in their lives. Women are naturals when it comes to brand development.
2. Women build culture based on values.
As women, or Matriarchs, we are predisposed to setting expectations based on our values and then watching as our families rise to the expectations that we have set. Eating meals together, getting good grades, supporting one another, having strong morals and ethics. These are the things that ultimately develop into the family’s culture.
This translates into entrepreneurship and manifests in the form of a company’s mission statement or promise, and expands into the culture of the business.
3. Women prepare others for the future and guide them toward it.
Whether we have had children or not, we have been supporting and guiding others toward the future since we were in middle school and our friend sought us out for advice on which boy she should “like.” We asserted ourselves and gave what we thought, was really sound advice.
Later, if we had children, we helped them navigate personal hygiene, nutrition, conflicts, assignments, time management, and their emotions. We supported them through their first break-up and instilled self-esteem and self-worth on a daily basis.
If there is someone on this earth who can clearly see the future and guide or direct others toward it, it is a woman and in business she is badass!
4. Women network better than any MLM could ever imagine.
Women are the most resourceful people on the planet. We build enormous networks through personal relationships, social media, early parenting groups, through our children, and even while standing in line at the grocery store. We talk to people, and they talk to us.
Women have memories of steel. A friend asks us if we know anyone who XYZ’s and instantly our minds are flooded with the contact information of everyone in our “network” that offers a solution to the friend’s problem. This is called “Next Level Networking” and women are masters of it.
5. Women can problem solve from their desks, from the kitchen, or from the toilet.
You know what I’m talking about… Anywhere, anytime, anyplace a woman is able to switch gears, adjust her schedule and drop off a forgotten lunch, a science project or show up in the principal’s office to retrieve her misbehaved child.
Women meet problems head on and quickly creative effective solutions that can be implemented on a moment’s notice.
If this doesn’t prove that a Matriarch is a CEO, nothing will!
Randy Patterson is the author of “The Matriarch Rules” and co-founder and CEO of ProDoula, a multi-million dollar startup focused on educating and empowering individuals in the birth and business spheres. As a philanthropist and activist, she has fought to legitimize and monetize what is traditionally thought of as “women’s work” and frequently speaks to women’s groups on this important subject. Her work has been featured in Slate, Swaay, Buzzfeed, Motto, Parade and The New York Times among others.
