Dear Friend,

Welcome

I hope your Summer is starting off with some great family time and vacation plans. How was your 4th of July celebration? We had a small family gathering and just relaxed. It was perfect.

This Summer I plan to repurpose some of my Newsletter articles, specifically the ones I wrote in its first six months, to free up some of my Summer schedule. I hope you enjoy this week’s offering. It’s a new one. Enjoy!  Happy readin’, podnah!

Building A Posse

One of my greatest lessons as an adult in staying sane during stressful times has been cultivating a group of accountability partners. You can be in more than one accountability group depending on what you want to be held accountable for. There is nothing like having a posse of people who REALLY get you. I’ve been in lots of different groups during my life but an accountability group is different. They hold your feet to the campfire. Do you have at least one or two colleagues or friends that you trust? 

Let me tell you a story about building a posse….

In 2020, we had just been ordered into lockdown. I was still behind the learning curve in running my business, Mindfulness Painting Experience. I had been a member of a couple of business networking groups to support and educate myself during this business journey. 

DCFempreneur was started by Lisa Shapiro. It was a primarily online service with in-person gatherings before the lockdown. This week, Lisa was offering a weeklong course called Business Strategies for Entrepreneurs (I think that was the name of it.). There were probably 8 -10 participants. We met every day for an hour to discuss a specific topic and to ask questions and brainstorm answers. At the end of that week, there were three other women who I really clicked with, Dawn Geschiere of Yes to Life Coaching, Janet Tamassia of Sage Sisters, and Samantha Spittle of Flushing It Out. After that week-long workshop, we started meeting once per week online for 2 hours on a specific day. We called ourselves the Badass Accountability Sisters (BAS).  Our purpose was accountability and support.

I called them my “brain trust” because they became my go-to for feedback, visions, and ideas about projects. Samantha became our social media expert teaching us to make reels and edit videos. Dawn became our in-house coach who made sure we all felt seen and heard. Janet became our editor and organizer if we needed something reviewed. I think I mostly asked for help but I’m also a good listener. But most of all, we supported each other in our wins and losses. We also discussed what the lessons have been in our journey along the way.

We still meet but now only twice per month. Flexibility has been an important component in making the group successful. Our connections are less frequent, but just as meaningful. We have our own Messager link and leave messages for each other regularly.  We’ve gotten each other through some tough times, especially during Covid. I highly recommend an accountability group whether you are working on your business, yourself, or both.

Creativity and Mental Health

I think creativity is an essential component of good mental health whether you are a small business owner or just doing life. As an adult decision-maker, I’ve learned that I need other people to hear and give me feedback on my thoughts, ideas, and plans. Your support and challenges help to give me clarity in decisions, strategies, and direction. Truthfully, you can get support for anything (within reason) if you ask your trusted posse. Anytime you are learning something new you are adding to your creativity saddle bag. Good mental health and creativity is a life-long adventure. Your posse helps to support that adventure.

Be kind. Be forgiving. Be Brave. Be Loving. Be Grateful. Be generous.

Creatively yours,

Jody