Victory Blog

When I was younger and trying to get my life in order, I spent a lot of time feeling like I was always going in circles and getting nowhere in the process. Much of my life was frustrating and I often felt like a victim of “the system.”

At one point in my late [...]

Strategies lay out a plan or method and a series of maneuvers designed to achieve a specific goal.  A strategy defines which actions you’ll take at each stage of a plan. A good strategy usually includes a “Plan B” in case something happens to thwart the initial plan.

One of the problems a woman [...]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

- Lao Tzu

One change most people say that want to make is to make more money. That always makes me laugh – even when I say it myself.

First of all, what does “more” mean? When someone is my Optimal Living Success Workshop or a coaching session says she wants,  more money, I tell them I’ll [...]

Change reveals you to yourself. It brings you the opportunity to embrace something different or retreat into your personal comfort zone.

Yes, change is uncomfortable. So is a toothache.

Sometimes you want things to stay as they are because you think you can live with what is – even if “what is” might be [...]

Too many women think it’s too late to start over and be successful? You aren’t, as long as you have a dream and a goal. Here are some women who proved it’s true:

Grandma Moses started painting in her seventies Babara McIlvainne Smith didn’t run for the Pennsylvania Senate until she was in [...]

Last night was the first Republican Presidential Primary, the Iowa Caucus. The caucus is the first election stop for Democrats and Republicans in a presidential election year. That’s why they make such a big deal about it on every media outlet. And this year, since we President Obama is already the presumed Democratic candidate, [...]

CHANGE

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve already got.

It’s an old adage, but like all adages, it’s the truth of it that makes it stick.

A few years ago a woman called and asked me to coach her to a goal. I asked her a few [...]

Happy 2012 This year is going to be one of your BEST YEARS YET!! May it be filled with good health, great happiness and abundant prosperity!

Merry Christmas! May you be blessed this day with whatever fills you with happiness and joy!

Priorities are set either by choice or by emergency. Unless you have never-ending dramas in your life, the first thing you need to do is create your own personal priorities and have your own agenda.

Think about it: How many times have you created a goal but don’t put any of the steps to achieving [...]

One of my mentors, Robbie Motter, says that success is all about SHOWING UP. I think she’s right.

But what do you do when you show up? Here’s a tip from Barbara Bush: “You don’t just “luck into” things. You build step-by-step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.”

This is a great time of year to [...]

This tips article was posted last month on Daily Venus Diva.

I liked it enough to share it with you; the tips will help you with your YOU INC business planning.

http://bit.ly/s8Yd0J.

Let me know what you think.

Get a Jumpstart on your New Year’s Resolutions!

How to Reinvent Your Career

This month we’re going to connect December’s Victorious Woman of Emotional Intelligence to your career goals for the New Year. You can read about the basics of Emotional Intelligence in my article, EI: The Missing Link (post link).

For you, [...]

Emotional Intelligence

It usually starts at Thanksgiving and barrels its way toward Christmas. No, not excitement. STRESS…from not getting enough sleep and eating too many “goodies” to just being out of the regular routine.

And while all those are valid reasons for holiday stress, I find that the most stressful parts of this [...]

I just returned from a wonderful day in the Big Apple where I attended the NAFE Women of Excellence Award breakfast. Carol Evans, CEO of NAFE and President of Working Mother Media, was there and, about the Women of Excellence, emphasized its purpose, “Women standing up for women–that is what this award is all [...]

Here are the two most important things you need to know about feminine leadership, no matter what you are doing both in and out of the workplace:

1 – In your life, you must be in control of your SELF. That means you must have your own dreams and goals, put them on your [...]

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is a uniquely American tradition. In Canada, it’s celebrated in early October. In the US, it’s the third Thursday in November.

Over the past few years, I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s their favorite too. Unlike Christmas, we aren’t making ourselves crazy buying gifts [...]

See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work

When Lois Frankel explained how she chose the women she wove into the content of See Jane Lead, she said, “…if a woman didn’t pass my ‘very scientific’ beer test – Would I enjoy sitting down and having a beer with her – [...]

Katharine Hepburn wore slacks before they were considered acceptable or fashionable for women, didn’t wear makeup, spoke her mind, was even considered box office poison at one point in her career. She was one of the first assertive women in Hollywood and became a role model for many modern women. But because she refused to [...]

My father was a veteran who was wounded in the war. He was an amputee and suffered from what we now call PTSD.

As a first generation American, that son of Italian immigrants, never considered himself “disabled” and always felt proud that he served. He loved the United States. In his later years, he [...]

Leadership is often about navigating transitions. November is also about transitions. For many of us the weather gets colder, and as it does, we put away the summer things and settle into new “winter” routines.

By November, after enjoying a few weeks of colorful fall foliage, we watch as the once-brilliant leaves fall to [...]

Why Feminine Leadership Matters…

If you aren’t leading your life, someone else is, and they are leading you in their direction, not yours.

Annmarie Kelly

Leadership

What is leadership?

You can ask twenty people and get twenty answers. All too often women seem to think of leadership as being a male characteristic related to command and control; but it isn’t. Leadership isn’t any more strictly masculine than victory is.

From a Victorious Woman Project perspective, leadership means being in [...]

Maria had a rash on her breast. She thought it was just her new bra. She didn’t think much about it, but was scheduled for her annual GYN visit, so she mentioned it to the doctor. She hadn’t had her annual mammogram yet, so that was the first step. Turns out it was cancer, Stage [...]

If you are local to the King of Prussia area, and you are ready to get serious about changing your life, you need to come to the Optimal Living Success Workshop. It’s being held in Wayne PA for FIVE TUESDAY evenings, starting on November 1.

Here’s a flyer with more information: bit.ly/mRSWoK and [...]

What Does Your Next Chapter Look Like? (this title was originally called Vision Boards – the registration link is on the current site)

It won’t be long before you’re celebrating holidays and forgetting entirely about anything but dinners, gifts and dresses. That’s how the New Year creeps up on you and, like many women, you [...]

The Victorious Woman Project is about helping you to be in charge and in control of your life – your happiness, relationships, career, finances, and your health – like your breast health.

Breast self-exams, Mammograms, and Ultrasounds are standard tests that help keep you healthy. BUT – do you know that you [...]

Vision

Ok, the kids are back in school now. So what’s next? Are you planning to wait around until someone finds something for you to do, or are you going to take charge of your life and lead it in the direction that will fill your mind and satisfy your soul?

What’s that you [...]

Now that you’re starting over and getting a second chance to live your best life, you probably wonder if you can do it. Well, the short answer is “of course you can!” But there is more…

In order to live well and be successful in your life, you must be competent. Competence means possessing these [...]

While many women complain that they don’t get ahead in the workplace because of the proverbial glass ceiling, I’ve learned that the thing that inhibits and limits women the most is their personal glass ceiling. It’s the one build when you talk about yourself negatively (“that was dumb, but that’s me” or “I’ve always [...]

Emotional Competence focuses on your ability to eliminate the junk floating around in your own head so you can succeed at a task, project or goal.

While many women complain that they don’t get ahead in the workplace because of the proverbial glass ceiling. But I’ve learned that the one that inhibits women the most [...]

Competence

Think you’re a competent woman? Don’t be so quick to say ‘yes’…the answer might not be as easy as you might think.

COMPETENCE means the ability to do a job properly. Competence equals know-how. Competence isn’t one skill but a set of behaviors that enables someone to effectively perform a specific role. For example, [...]

She started as hurricanes usually do…a “something” to watch. But quickly she became much more. It wasn’t long before every governor along the U.S. east coast was calling for mandatory evacuations of coastal homes.

Were you one of them?

All weekend I watched the Hurricane Irene’s frightening fury from a small cottage on Mt. Desert [...]

Our parents and teachers taught us to be good girls and be agreeable. So when people ask us for favors, we frequently give in to their wishes – even if it steps on something we value – like our honesty, or independence or self-respect. You might think saying ‘yes’ when you’d rather say ‘no’ may [...]

Our parents and teachers taught us to be good girls and be agreeable. So when people ask us for favors, we frequently give in to their wishes – even if it steps on something we value – like our honesty, or independence or self-respect. You might think saying ‘yes’ when you’d rather say ‘no’ may [...]

Values breed victories. Without values, your life is adrift.

Here’s list of values that you can use. There’re a lot of different values. Read over the list and see what “jumps out” at you. ValuesList

Values

Values. This is one of the MOST IMPORTANT monthly Victorious Woman themes.

Without values, you are lost. Without values you easily give up your personal power. Without values, you turn over the leadership of your life to someone else…and you may not like the direction they take you.

What are values? Values are the [...]

In Victorious Woman I talk about the Savvy Six Skills every woman needs to develop to be victoriously successful. Since writing about those six skills, I’ve noticed that many women don’t readily connect the Savvy Six with their own personal glass ceiling. So I developed the Dirty Dozen – the 12 ways women sabotage themselves.

[...]

I was in Washington DC on business at the end of December 2006. President Gerald Ford had just passed away and the his body was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol Building. Joseph and I decided to be part of that historical funeral and during the early evening hours, we joined thousands of [...]

Personal Energy may be the most important item in your Victorious Woman arsenal. It means you are physically well, mentally stimulated, emotionally connected and spiritually involved either in a religion or to some purpose greater than yourself.

But even before my Victorious Woman Work, I noticed something interesting about personal energy: for most women, [...]

The results are in for this year’s Victorious Woman Essay Contest Winners!!

First prize: Kathy Saello

Second prize: Sheila Caruso

You can read Kathy’s essay “Life Is Too Short Not To Live” at: http://www.victoriouswoman.com/Honorees.html

Come back next month to read Sheila’s story.

The 2012 contest will begin in early March – get your ideas [...]

Energy

Summertime and the living is easy…that’s how most of us feel, isn’t it? You probably kick back a little, downshift into vacation mode and give yourself some much needed rest and relaxation. This is also the time when you can give yourself a much needed energy boost.

ENERGY means different things to different people. [...]

For the second year in a row, the Italian-American Festival was a great success. Organizer Barbara Zippi did a great job of putting it together…bigger and better than before. But the glue was Charlotte Higler and her crew, without whom most of us wouldn’t have had such a no-hassle day.

For me, the highlight came [...]

Persistence

What is persistence?

It’s how you keep going and refuse to give up. Donald Trump once talked about how often he watched people in business be so close to success – like it was around the corner – but they gave up.

Women do that often. They decide on a goal or have an [...]

Everyone had a great time last night at the Victorious Woman Celebration! There was a happy buzz at the Edgmont Country Club with women sharing their many victories through life restarts, career reinventions, family challenges and so much more. The happy energy of victory was palpable.

Victorious Woman Honoree Cristina Fontanelli knocked our [...]

Is VICTORY for you – or just for men?

In 2004 I first presented the idea of VICTORY to a group of women and it blew them away. They all agreed that they only associated victory with things like sports, politics, war and other traditionally male domains. Considering victory relating to women was a [...]

My Thoughts on Catching Bin Laden

Most of us got the news late at night, or early Monday morning. Someone on the news said it felt like the entire US just won the World Series. As a baseball fan, I thought that was a good way to describe it. But as a woman, I had [...]

Whoo-Hoo!! May is Victorious Woman Month and it’s starting today! What the big deal? Why is it important to you?

Victory is about how strong you are inside. You see, your strength and power results from how you stretch into your greater self as you handle life’s challenges. Victorious Woman Month gives you a moment [...]

The Fourth Annual Victorious Woman Essay Contest starts today. This year we changed it up…American Idol-style. First of all, you can enter an essay – OR – you can also “Share Your Victory in Five Words” on facebook. Once submitted and reviewed for meeting contest requirement, your essay will go online and everyone you know [...]

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw

Annmarie’s take on this:

Sometimes we forget that communication is a two-way street. It includes: sender->message->receiver…who then responds: receiver->message->sender

Unless you have both ends, you don’t have communication. You aren’t connecting. In our techno-world, it’s like sending an [...]

April’s Theme is communication and how to make the connection with others.

How often do you talk to someone and it seems as thought they aren’t listening or are half-listening or are flat-out ignoring you? If you have kids, that probably happens often…and that’s part of the parent-child dynamic. Yet one of the best things [...]

A recent White House research report on women and their social and economic well-being made no mention of the rise of women business owners. Now if you’re like me, you know lots of women who own successful businesses or are on their way. They are strong women who decided to stop beating their heads against [...]

Just wrapped up a Vision Board class with a wonderful group of women…and one neat man. It’s always different when men come to my classes. The energy shifts in interesting ways and it’s fun. The group brought their finished – and some almost finished – vision boards to the last class. For one woman is [...]

Today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD). I’m honored to be the recipient of an IWD Service Award, for which I was nominated by mentor Robbie Motter. If you are one of the fortunate women to be in a city where there are IWD celebrations, you are sure to have a [...]

I was talking to a group of women recently who weren’t too excited about Woman’s History Month. Maybe you feel (as they did) that women haven’t made much progress. Their issue was that women still make less than men for doing the same job and there are way fewer women CEOs in major corporations and [...]

Darlene Tarnoski was an empty nester enjoying her life and a small jewelry business. Then a a chance encounter with the FBI jiggled some old, buried emotions and pushed her into action. Find out what the everyday woman did to help rescued teens: http://www.victoriouswoman.com/Honorees.html

Visioning: you have probably read my blogs or been to one of my classes about Vision Boards and Vision Books. Here’s a real life success example…

A few weeks ago I got an email from Audra Supplee, who was in one of my Vision Board classes and followed it up with a Victory Team. In [...]

After Saturday’s horrific shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and murder of six of her constituents in Tucson Arizona, it didn’t take long for people to start politicizing the terrible event. By Monday morning all the shows talked about dialing down the political rhetoric and the importance of gun control. A GMA “politics of vitriol” report [...]

A clean slate – that’s what New Year’s Day means to me.

I take whatever worked well from last year and build on it. I also look at what didn’t work well, learn from it and move on.

This month I’ll be sharing ideas about resolutions and how to be successful with them.

Did you [...]

2010 was quite a year, wasn’t it? Looking back, here are my “worth remembering” picks:

Personal Favorites: Women in Politics, Susan Boyle, 2010 Victorious Woman Honorees Disappointments: Enlightened Feminism, Nadya Suleman Favorite TV Show: The Good Wife Despicable TV Show: Reality shows, especially The Bachelor and any of the “Real Housewives” shows Grace under [...]

“If Christmas isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree.” Charlotte Carpenter

May this Christmas Day fill your heart to overflowing!

Catalyst just published a new survey about women in executive positions. It includes 497 of the Fortune 500 companies. Among the companies, 14.4% of the executive officers were women – based on the SEC proxy designation of “executive management” – and 15.7% of the board members were women.

Available for download from Catalyst: Read More...

When I got Elizabeth Edwards’ 2009 book, Resilience, I couldn’t wait to read it. I wanted to understand how she made it through so many difficult moments, both personally and professionally. I really wanted to savor her words, so I took her book to Maine with me on my vacation.

As I read it, what [...]

It’s Thanksgiving! I’m thinking about what I’m grateful for: good health, prosperity, the love of my spouse, the best friends a woman could have…and I could go on and on. Research shows that being grateful increases your health, happiness and quality of life. I remember Oprah once saying how during a difficult time when she [...]

I was young when the feminist movement started, and didn’t really understand it at the beginning. And between being raised Catholic in and Italian family, feminism was really discouraged. So when a woman demonstrated power with grace, I noticed. One of those women was Stella Alberts.

Earlier today I attended the opening of [...]

November 2 is Election Day. Do you know who you’re voting for…are you even planning to vote? If you are a US citizen and answered no to either or both questions – shame on you. Voting is a privilege and a right.

Just few years ago in Iraq, people had the opportunity to vote for [...]

We all know Halloween as the day kids get dressed up to look like their dream person. Do they want to be a princess, pirate, clown, queen, vampire, Cleopatra, Lady Gaga? It’s fun for them to think about and it often take weeks for them to decide.

What about you?

It’s Halloween and I’m asking [...]

In Victorious Woman! I wrote chapters about Lilly and Nancy, both victims of domestic violence. They are from two different generations. Nancy’s spouse beat her and threatened to kill her through the 1950’s and early 1960’s. She knew what it was like to have a gun held to her head. Lilly was more emotional and [...]

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

“Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. Breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women. It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, [...]

Yesterday I walked with business owner and entrepreneur Kay Gallogly at the annual Memory Walk on the Riverfront in Delaware. You might have read about Kay in a previous blog; earlier this year she made a run for her party’s nominee for State Representative. She did well, but didn’t win. Happily, she’s going to give [...]

Main Line Today magazine celebrated women this afternoon in Villanova, Pennsylvania. For a sold out crowd full of amazing woman, the “Women on the Move” luncheon named twenty-four women who demonstrate a ”willingness to break out of their comfort zones and seize opportunities.” In other words, women who embrace victory so they can succeed.

[...]

Forbes Magazine just unveiled its 100 Most Powerful Women in the World. Do you agree with their picks? What do you think?

Here are their the top ten:

1. Michelle Obama

2. Irene Rosenfeld (Chief Executive, Kraft Foods)

3. Oprah Winfrey

4. Angela Merkel (Chancellor, Germany)

5. Hillary Clinton

6. Indra Nooya (Chief Executive [...]

Maureen Ingelsby never forgets the help she received all those years ago when she was a single mom raising five children. Maybe you are one of the many woman who told me how inspired you were by Maureen’s story in my book, Victorious Woman! Shaping Life’s Challenges into Personal Victories. Her chapter tells about what [...]

Living in Pennsylvania, I’m often interested in what goes on in neighboring Delaware. I would never have guessed that Christine O’Donnell’s win in the GOP primary race would cause such a brouhaha. Heck, no one even thought she’d win! So Kudos to O’Donnell for pulling it off. Now on to November…about which I have a [...]

Two weeks on Mt. Desert Island in Downeast Maine helped me to recharged and reenergize. There’s something about climbing mountains that clears my mind. That’s probably because I’m focused on nothing else but how to get over some boulder.

Hiking up a mountain also inspires me. No matter how many times I do it, getting [...]

It was ninety years ago today. After suffragettes fought for years, the 19th amendment was passed and gave women the right to vote. Earlier this year, with an unprecedented number of women running for political office, the GOP declared 2010 the “Year of the Woman”. And no wonder.

In California, business women and conservatives Meg [...]

Last night Suzanne Lightcap was crowned the 2010 Kimberton Fair Queen in the Chester County suburbs outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When they announced her name, Suzanne looked shocked. I wasn’t. I was one of the judges, and I voted for her.

When I was asked to be a judge, it was an easy call. The Kimberton [...]

Yesterday I was running around, multi-tasking more than I wanted, when I thought about my mother. I remember when she could do the same thing. In her heyday she could run up and down steps in seconds, walk for miles, get a fabulous meal on the table in no time, sew a hem in a [...]

It’s the longest day of the year. I’m celebrating the day by being outside during those long daylight hours. Friend and soon-to-be Chester County Toastmaster president Cathy Lane is hosting a transition party for the local Toastmaster group. As outgoing president, I’ve been mentoring Cathy for the past couple weeks so she is ready when [...]

Great time at the Italian-American Festival yesterday! I was one of the featured authors with Victorious Woman! along with children’s book author Pat Mariani (And Baby Makes A Family), vampire novelist James Vanore (Grave Departure) and cookbook authors Lorraine Ranalli (Gravy Wars) and Janet Zappala (My Italian Kitchen). I met Janet in NY last month [...]

Join us today at Rose Tree Park in Media, 12-6pm. Great food, contests, music!

Whew! What a great Victorious Woman Month! I hope yours was as exciting as mine! Did you have a Victory Party? Did you honor the women who helped pave the way for your victories? Did you take some time for yourself – first to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate your own victories, and then to pamper [...]

Sarah Ferguson

Kathie Lee Gifford

Great couple of days at Book Expo America! It’s at New York’s Javits Center…the whole Javits Center – it’s huge! Along with doing some good book business, I met Sarah, Duchess of York and Kathie Lee Gifford, who were both signing their newest children’s books. Both [...]

Whew! It’s been quite a couple days in New York City at Publishing University. The conference was at the charming old Roosevelt Hotel near Madison Avenue. I’ve gotten lots of new ideas for blogging, social networking, digital information for you and more. You’ll be seeing those ideas manifest over the next year…and I think you’ll [...]

11-2pm, Britton Lake Shops, Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills PA.

This is so Catholic and too Italian!

May 22 was a special day in my family, at least for my parents. It’s the feast of St. Rita. My parents grew up in this South Philadelphia parish and my father had particular devotion to St. Rita. They planned their wedding so that it fell on the [...]

Teleseminar Today: Breaking the Cycle of Overcare, 5-6pm EDT. See my May 10 entry for details. There is no cost for this teleseminar, but you must register at http://www.victoriouswoman.com/may10_teleseminar.html (Call this REGISTER.5.17). You’ll get the call-in number when you register.

Tune into from 12-1pm EDT. I’ll be talking about overcare and how to break the cycle.

This teleseminar is for you if:

your relationships aren’t two-way streets you feel like the giving is all on your side when you need help, everyone else is busy you feel burned out you’re so involved with everyone else’s [...]

Yesterday I did an “Ask the Victory Strategist” event at the Eileen Fisher stores in Ardmore and King of Prussia PA. Not only did I meet some really neat customers, I worked with a great group of women. So often we hear about women who work together being catty and backstabbing. Not at this company. [...]

Great show today at Shannon’s Corner on New York’s talk station, WTBQ 1110am

Shannon D. Sanford is one of my favorite radio show hosts. She has a rich feel for her audience and makes the interview fun for her listeners…and me! You can catch her show every Tuesday at 1pm eastern. In NY, it’s at [...]

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

It’s VICTORIOUS WOMAN MONTH and I’m all fired up!

International Victorious Woman Month has started off with a bang!

Here are six ways you can get involved this month:

1 – Enter the Victorious Woman Contest: http://www.victoriouswoman.com/vwcontest.htm

2 – Download the “Thirty Days to Victory” calendar – It’s a [...]

Last night was the last meeting of an amazing Victory Team that started with a Victorious Vision Board class last fall. This one had its usual victories and successes but it also became the incubator for a “green” landscaper. Back in October the woman came to class with a burning desire and a dream; she [...]

Last night I did. I was having dinner at Olive Garden on my way to a baseball game. My spouse and I sat in a booth which was really quiet until the hostess seated a family of ten across from us. The group wasn’t rowdy but was enjoying each other’s company. Then, as though floating [...]

Eileen Connolly Robbins

Last night I had the pleasure of presenting the coveted Victory Crystal to Victorious Woman of the Month honor to the April honoree, Eileen Connolly Robbins.

Eileen is currently the VP and COO of the Main Line Chamber of Commerce in Berwyn, PA. She got there via an impressive history [...]

I was on her Saturday night radio show, Woman Talk Live, on Talkradio 680 WCBM in Baltimore Maryland and had a great time! Ann is passionate about women being life leaders and living their best life that it’s always a treat to be on her show. You can listen to a podcast of [...]