Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur

They Don’t Serve Champagne at Pity Parties
“The difference between successful people and others is how long they
spend time feeling sorry for themselves.”
– Barbara Corcoran
As these “famous failures” prove, failure is a part of the path to
success. In fact, if you’re not failing, you’re really not doing much of
anything. The biggest mistake I see female entrepreneurs make is giving up
after a failure. I get it – it sucks. It’s not fun to have an idea that we thought
was so brilliant not pan out. It hurts to get knocked off our pretty pink
cloud. But you have got to pick yourself up by the stilettos, dust yourself
off, and keep going.
The next time you feel like you’re about to throw a pity party for
yourself and invite all of those nasty little voices in your head (and their
Plus Ones), I want you to try something different. Take your moment, and
feel the sadness, frustration, whatever it is you’re experiencing. Set a time
limit for feeling bad. Tell yourself, “I can feel this emotion, but in fifteen
minutes, I’m getting up and stepping into action again.” The best way to
pull yourself out of self-pity is to go do something positive for yourself or
your business. Idea rejected? Go treat yourself to a glass of champagne,
bring a pretty notebook with you, and start coming up with new ones. Lost

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your dream client? Put on your favorite outfit, go book a manicure or a
blowout, and chat up the women in the salon. And don’t forget your
business cards – you never know where your next dream client will be.
Remember, they don’t serve champagne at pity parties. So take your
moment, then smack on some lip gloss and get moving.
How to Fall in Love With the Process
(Even When it’s Terrifying)
“It’s very important to take risks. I think that research is very important, but
in the end you have to work from your instinct and feeling and take those
risks and be fearless.”
– Anna Wintour
Charting your path as a female entrepreneur requires many things, and
leaving your comfort zone sits high atop the list. I’ll be totally honest:
sometimes a comfort zone feels really damn good. It’s easy, it’s harmless,
and it’s well, comforting. But do you know what feels even better? Proving
to yourself just how amazing you can be when you step outside of that
comfort zone and push your limits. When you start making things happen
that you never imagined you once could. When you start living beyond your
fears and learn to get excited rather than afraid. When you reframe scary
situations into fabulous opportunities for growth and learning. When you
finally let your passion trump your fear.
One of the scariest, most out-of-my-comfort-zone things I’ve done in
my career is pursuing my dream of doing live television. Are you sweating
just thinking about it? I was, too.
So much went into the process of becoming “camera-ready.” From
admitting out loud that I was ready to chase this dream, which is sometimes
the hardest first step, to hiring my broadcast coach to teach me the ropes of
how to write a segment pitch and going through media training with her, to
finding the right markets, to sending tons of emails out to producers and
pitching myself, to working my ass off so I could afford to fly myself
around the country (guess what? they don’t pay you to do it in the
beginning!), to booking all my own travel, to actually walking on to a live

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TV set and praying for the best. Did I mention I used to be terrified of
flying? I am exhausted just thinking about all of it.
But you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing. The sleepless nights,
the exhaustion of flying in and out of a city in under twenty-four hours, the
feeling of facing my fears head-on. It’s all worth it. When you know how
hard you worked for something, it just makes success that much sweeter,
right? And when you are grateful that you have those opportunities in the
first place, somehow fear falls to the wayside.
So let’s talk about you. How can you enjoy the process (even when the
process is kind of terrifying)? How can you embrace all the highs, all the
lows, and all the in-betweens? How can you channel your inner badass boss
woman and kick your fears in the face? How can you truly live your
Champagne Life both personally and professionally?
Here’s the secret, babe: you’ve got to interrupt your fear with gratitude.
Research shows that we can literally shift our energy, increase our
happiness, and become physically healthier when we change our attitude to
gratitude. We give ourselves the biggest gift possible when we focus on all
the things we’re thankful for. And we immediately take ourselves out of the
stressful, anxious state that happens when fear takes the wheel.
GIRL CODE: Secret
Interrupt fear with gratitude.