A stellar cast of change experts—Laura Bush, Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron among them—gathered on October 5 at More’s 2009 Reinvention Convention to inspire, advise and share their personal journeys. Here are some of their insights.
1. On stepping into the unknown: “I reinvented myself in chunks. I had to take small steps to get into TV. I had to give up all the personality traits that worked for me in my first career, like charm. That didn’t work.”--Barbara Corcoran, former real estate mogul, now the popular real estate contributor for NBC’s Today Show
2. On finding your passion: “My breakthrough moment came while I was listening to Marianne Williamson tapes. She turned my thinking around. She asks you to think about what you can give instead of get. That was my light bulb moment. That led me to my senior care business.” –Denise Thomas Hirose, owner and director of multiple senior care businesses in Austin, Texas.
3. More on finding your passion: “If you wait until you know how you want to reinvent yourself, you’ll never get there. You need to be in motion, to gather information.”—Pamela Mitchell, former entertainment exec, founder of The Reinvention Institute.
4. On recommended reading for reinventors: "The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber; and The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up, by Norm Brodsky”—Pamela Mitchell, former entertainment exec, founder of The Reinvention Institute.
5. On surviving setbacks: “Some of your strongest learning moments come when things aren’t working out.”--Trudy Sullivan, CEO Talbot’s.
6. On the advisability of wearing black: "I've been saved from a lifetime of fashion mistakes by black."--Nora Ephron, co-author with sister Delia of Love, Loss and What I Wore.
7. On networking: “Contacts in my old field didn’t help. I had to build new ones. I started schmoozing young line producers, they moved up and suddenly I had allies all over.”-- --Barbara Corcoran, former real estate mogul, now the popular real estate contributor for NBC’s Today Show
8. On what to do when you can’t find a solution: “Flip a coin and think about which way you hope it lands.”—Jean Chatzky, award-winning financial journalist.
9. On the difficulty of saving money: “Saving money is, was, and will always be no fun. Having money saved is fun.”—Jean Chatzky, award-winning financial journalist.
10. On choosing friends and colleagues: “I needed people around me who had confidence in me, sometimes more confidence than I had in myself. You need cheerleaders for your darkest moments.” --Dawn Lepore, CEO of drugstore.com, former CIO of Charles Schwab
11. On sacrifice: “When you reinvent yourself you often have to give things up. I had to work several part-time jobs. I sold my house.” –Kathy Davis, former teacher, now an artist and head of her own design company
12. On fear: “Make friends with the concept of fear, as it will be a continual companion along the reinvention path. But it doesn’t have to be a block.” ”—Pamela Mitchell, former entertainment exec, founder of The Reinvention Institute.
13. On discovering a new part of yourself: “You have to let go of your old identity to let the new identity come in.” —Pamela Mitchell, former entertainment exec, founder of The Reinvention Institute.
14. On staying staying fit after forty: "It's the amount of fat you have, not your actual weight, that matters when adapting your body after 40." --Pamela Peeke, MD, best-selling author of Fight Fat After Forty
15. On finding your passion: “Look at activities that put you in flow, where time seems to stop. These are usually the things that make you feel happiest and most plugged in.”—Pamela Mitchell, former entertainment exec, founder of The Reinvention Institute.
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