Power Issue- Inspirational Woman Magazine

Power
in association with
The International Women’s
Leadership Association
issue

Letter from Inspirational Lisa
Welcome to our Power Issue. Inspirational
Woman Magazine is the only magazine in
the world that promotes and stands for unity
amongst women. We proved this once again by
launching the first Women’s Expo in Switzer-
land on the 26th of May in Zurich. We brought
over a thousand women together from different
backgrounds. Together on that day, we were
powerful – the definition of power is “the ability
to do something or act in a particular way.”
Here at IWM we continue to focus on creating
an open and inspiring magazine where female
business owners can promote and showcase
their businesses, be inspired, and inspire others.
I do hope this issue will empower you to be-
come a better you. The articles have been writ-
ten with you in mind, and we desire to contrib-
ute to your success. We are looking forward to
hearing from you.
EMPOWERED,
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Connect with us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Pinterest
Visit our website.
Let’s
connect!

contentsJuly/August 2013
Power
06 Cover: Giadha Aguirre De Carcer
09 The PowHER Within
11 Let’s Empower African Women
12 Release your Power
14 Being the Power That Drives Your Life
18 Parent Power
20 Super-Women and the Path of Power
22 Your Power Comes From Your Story
24 Learn Your Power, Live Your Power
Career
26 Who Is in the Driving Seat?
28 Intuition and Meditation as Important
Tools in Leadership
30 Self-Motivation – The Power from
Inside
32 The Power of Your Decisions
Food & Nutrition
34 Your Gut: The Power from Within
36 Two Smart and Simple Strategies to
Have Enough Energy to Fulfill Your
Dreams
Finance
38 Power Financially
Fashion
40 The Power of Perception
42 Find Yourself Through Your Style

In this Issue
02 Editor’s Letter
04 Partner
05 Editors
30
Self-Motivation
20
Super-Women
38
Power Financially

We are working with
Dear Readers,
The Unity Alliance between Inspirational Woman Magazine (IWM) and The International Wom-
en’s Leadership Association (TheIWLA) was announced in June, 2012. The goodwill, spirit and
opportunities that are already being forged are a testament to what happens when resilient,
accomplished and committed women come together for a cause. Simply stated the cause is
women; women who are called upon to contribute to the world as never before; women like you.
As such, register today and take your place among iconic women from around the world who
are dedicated to making the world a better place for all of us.
We have become a global community no longer defined by borders. Technology makes pos-
sible the opportunity to connect with anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Where limits were, options
are. No longer defined by the accomplishments of our past, we are encouraged by our dreams
for the future. It is in coming together that we leverage our time and our talent, move forward
faster, sharing the journey as we go. Replacing frustration with fruition, doubts with dreams
fulfilled, abandon with actions, and competition with cooperation are the rights of every woman;
they are also her responsibility.
These are the aspirations of TheIWLA: to inspire you to continue to pursue personal and profes-
sional development, to surpass your own expectations, and to support other women as they
strive to do the same.
Register today; your inclusion will broaden and brighten this premier platform of accom-
plished women.
We wish you and yours the best throughout 2013. May there be peace in your heart, in your
home, and in your community. May you be blessed with good fortune, abundant opportunities,
and good friends with whom to share your vision and your accomplishments. Join Us.
We Welcome You.
Beth Johnston
Executive Director
TheIWLA
for women by women about women

Lisa Mundembe-Chuma
Editor-in-Chief
Lisa is the founder (Editor-in-Chief) of Inspirational Woman Magazine. She is keen to make a posi-
tive impact in the world, see more women collaborate and build support systems for each other.
She is a marketing and communication consultant who spends most of her time promoting wom-
en-owned businesses. Her desire is to see more women-owned businesses profiled in the media
and to see more women taking the mentorship role in nurturing young girls throughout the world.
Lisa is very passionate about being a positive influence and making a positive impact in women’s
lives. She has made it her responsibility to better women’s relationships by them helping each other,
standing together, supporting each other and encouraging them to complete each other rather than
compete. She is also an inspirational speaker.
Heather Nomi Tshuma
FASHION Editor
Heather’s spiritual and compassionate personality drives her to a sense of responsibility towards
the world and making it a better place. Almost two years ago she brought to life her dream, and
created with the help of others, the Feeling Human Association in Greece (co-founded with friend
Yvonne Bosnjak). Heather’s modeling past allowed her to bring awareness and funds to many so-
cial and medical issues as well as organizations through a series of cultural and fashion events. She
recently moved from Athens Greece and now lives in the UK where she’s working on various proj-
ects but also laying the groundwork for Feeling Human’s UK début. When she’s not running around
she fills her time with her great passion for photography, expressing her own creativity through her
lens. “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched ...but are felt in the heart.”
(Helen Keller)
Laura Messenger
layout editor and proofreader
A writer and researcher originally from the US, Laura has lived in Geneva, Switzerland since 2001
and splits her time between Geneva and the mountains of France’s Haute Savoie. In addition to her
work with Inspirational Woman, she has written on aspects of life abroad for JetSettlers and Hello
Switzerland magazines. Her interests include travel and dance. Find Laura on Twitter
@lauratheexpat and LinkedIn.
Martha Christie
Website Content Editor
Martha is an experienced Social Media Manager, Project Manager and Virtual Assistant who sup-
ports businesses with productively achieving their goals through effective, efficient business ser-
vices. Prior to establishing Martha’s SOS (Savvy Online Solutions), Martha spent 15 years in office
management and PA roles. She has worked in finance, operations and quality within the UK, work-
ing with quality management systems extensively, maintaining ISO 9001:2008 standards, along with
enhancing several additional business skills to further develop the repertoire of services she is able
to offer her clients. Martha specialises in online administrative solutions. Her services are offered
with confidence to all her clients. Having worked alongside directors, business managers, entrepre-
neurs and corporate organisations, she is familiar with managing an increased workload and within
tight deadlines. www.marthassos.com.
Meet the Editors

6 INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN MAGAZINE | power issue | July - August 2013
On the Cover
Give us your “elevator speech” – a
snapshot of who you are, what you
do for a living, and how we should
“know” you.
Having moved to the US at the
age of 16 from an area of the
world relatively patriarchal (It-
aly), and speaking little to no
English, I have spent the better
part of the last 20 years doing
everything possible to lever-
age the incredible opportunities
I was lucky to gain access to
when I came to this country. I
am now a female entrepreneur
looking to continue creating
Interview with
Giadha Aguirre De Carcer
value by promoting entrepre-
neurship and supporting aspir-
ing entrepreneurs, with a strong
emphasis on female entrepre-
neurs.
Please tell us more about your busi-
ness, what do you do, why did you
start it and what are you future
plans?
My most recent venture, Ven-
tureCamp, is a live and work
incubator spurring innovation
and creating new success-
ful businesses in support of
economic growth and entre-
preneurial social responsibil-
ity. VentureCamp’s unique pro-
gram encourages participation
from aspiring entrepreneurs in
traditionally under-served pop-
ulation groups such as women,
students, and veterans. Ven-
tureCamp also introduces a
unique spin to its proposition
–an Interactive Docu-Series
enabling the public to watch,
learn, support, and participate
in what I feel is one of today’s
most challenging and reward-
ing journeys to success – En-
trepreneurship.

The opportunity was presented
to me approximately one year
ago, and I immediately saw
that it would not only allow me
to continue working with other
female entrepreneurs to launch
unique and innovative compa-
nies globally, but also help me
grow personally by partnering
with incredible individuals such
as Jeff Hoffman (co-founder
of Priceline.com), Karl Mehta
(founder of Playspan), and Mike
DeLazzer (co-founder of Red-
Box) amongst others.
The idea is to challenge the
traditional incubating and ac-
celerating model for building
companies, to prove that there
are entrepreneurial gems, both
from a concept and individu-
al perspective, in places other
than Silicon Valley and Silicon
Alley, and that this model can
be replicated on a global scale
to engage, educate, entertain
and empower aspiring entre-
preneurs globally.
What is your personal motto?
“Nothing ventured, nothing
gained.” “Do not leave for to-
morrow what you can do to-
day” “There is a special place in
hell for women who do not help
other women”
What advice would you give to other
women who want to do what you do
or want to start businesses?
Do not ever doubt yourself, stay
focused and reach out to other
females. It is a hard road, and
female entrepreneurs feel they
have to prove themselves to a
greater extent than males do.
Truth is we do, but not because
we are not capable or less pre-
pared, but rather because we
need to continue driving change
and break some lingering soci-
etal misperceptions about us,
what we can do, and how we
do it.
What are your takes/views on ‘power
for women’?
What makes women powerful
is that they have a wider set of
tools available to them. These
skills need to be embraced and
used appropriately to be effec-
tive. Women bring a greater
degree of sensitivity and emo-
tional intelligence to any given
situation, which allows them to
more fully read and therefore le-
verage nuances in dealing with
individuals. That said, that ex-
tra emotional element needs to
be harnessed and channeled
appropriately because it can be
as destructive as it is construc-
tive.
Can you tell us about your relation-
ship with each other, when did you
meet, when did you decide to work
together and why?
Did you mean how the other
people in VentureCamp met?
VentureCamp was born at the
YG-8 Summit. It was a prelude
to the G-8 Summit. We realized
very quickly, after basically one
or two conversations, that we all
had the same vision. We wanted
to create a new fully immersive
start-up ecosystem and that is
VentureCamp. We built a team
through our networks and the
networks of those who joined
our team.
What are the most rewarding thing
you have done for other women?
I have been humbled by the
opportunity to work and help
“Do not ever
doubt yourself,
stay focused and
reach out to other
females.”

launch some amazing women
entrepreneurs, and witnessed
how their hard work, persever-
ance, and confidence paid off.
What has been the best piece of ad-
vice you have been given regarding
power?
Lead by example, motivate by
empowering and communicate
a clear vision and purpose, and
hire slowly, fire quickly.
Besides your daily work, what else
are you passionate about?
Taking care of my loved ones
and experiencing life to the full-
est.
What question should I have asked,
that I didn’t? (This is your opportu-
nity to answer the question no one
ever asks!)
What do female entrepreneurs
need to do shatter the glass
ceiling?
Stick together, help each other,
embrace who you are, and re-
member everyone is still watch-
“Stick together, help each other,
embrace who you are, and remember
everyone is still watching us...”
ing us – we should embrace our
feminity, our ability to empathize
and our natural emotional intel-
ligence, but we should also be
wary of passionate outbursts,
crossing the line between being
feminine and using sex to manip-
ulate, and ultimately harness our
passion to turn a negative work-
place stereotype about women
into something that redefines us
positively and constructively.

I discovered something
new about myself recent-
ly. Something that I have al-
ways known was there but I had
never gone through any extra
trouble to utilize it. After spend-
ing the last several years of my
life searching through hundreds
(possibly thousands) of motiva-
tional and inspirational books,
videos, and magazines and lis-
tening to CDs; after reading an
endless list of online personal
(and professional) blog post-
ings; after uncovering, reading
(scouring) through, and applying
all that I could from what I had
learned through online internet
search engines; after attending
more personal and professional
conferences and seminars than
I care to count, I still did not find
exactly what I was looking for.
I thought for sure that of all of
the intellect in the world that is
shared online and offline on a
daily basis, I was destined to
find my answer to this seeming-
ly never-ending quest for a cer-
tain particular thing. This “some-
thing” that had such a mental
and emotional hold on me. I
needed answers. It was driving
The Powher Within
Power b y A n d r i e k a J . A u s t i n
me crazy. No matter how many
prayers I prayed and “counsel-
ing couches” I sat on and words
of encouragement were sent my
way through e-mails, Facebook
wall posts, and messaging,
these virtual “pats-on-the-back”
still did not satisfy this need for
what I was seeking and secretly
longing for. I constantly felt some
sort of spiritual pull on my heart.
This “thing” just kept knocking
and knocking and knocking.
And finally, I came to a place
within myself where I decided
to close out all of the noise and
the busyness around me and
open the spiritual door. I an-
swered. I answered this beck-
oning call from within by getting
to a place of solace. Stillness.
Oneness with myself. The mo-
ment I decided to shut everyone
(and everything) else around me
out of my “world,” I let myself
in. I closed my eyes, relaxed my
body, and cleared my head of
what everyone else was saying
or doing and allowed myself to
drift off to a place that lies very
deep within.
It’s a place that I could not de-
scribe to you with enough detail
to do it justice. Words would just
not be enough. It’s one of those
“you just have to be there to ex-
perience it” types of moments. I
traveled to a place within where
the sight was unlike anything
I could have ever imagined. I
could actually feel the sound as
I traveled. It was beyond quiet.
It was still. Silent. It was dark.
It was empty yet full of endless
hope and possibility. The space
that surrounded me was filled
with unlimited boundaries of in-
spiration.
I had finally come to a place
within myself where there was
no one there telling me what
I should think or what I should

Andrieka J. Austin is a Certi-
fied Personal Life Coach and
the founder of Journey Girl,
LLC ( HYPERLINK “http://
www.journeygirl.org/” www.
JourneyGirl.org), where she
shares her inspiration through
writing, speaking, workshops,
and coaching sessions to thou-
sands of women worldwide.
Her latest book is I Am the Boss
Of Me (Fall 2013), Journey
Girl, LLC Publishing.
feel or what I should believe or
why things just have to be done
a certain way. It was all gone.
Then, suddenly, I stood before
“myself.” Some people would
refer to it as an outer body-type
experience.
She was glowingly beauti-
ful. She was a reflection of the
woman that I know I already am.
She was me. We had an awe-
some yet simple “conversation”
of sorts. And all it took was for
me to ask her (myself) one sim-
ple question. I just had to know.
“How do you do it all, holding
everything together?” I asked
her. Her simple yet elegant reply
was, “It’s your legacy. You do all
that you do for those who need
it most. You are their voice.” This
was my moment of clarity. The
answer that I had searched for
so long was now all so clear to
me. And, to think, it was already
within me.
My journey was to a place that
lives deep within. Far beyond
anything the subconscious mind
can fathom. I can’t take you to
my peaceful place. But I have
good news. You can still go!
And I can help you find the way.
Believe it or not, it’s only a brief
mind travel/soul search away.
It all starts with a thought. The
choice is yours.
After all of the years I spent look-
ing outside myself, I discovered
that the very thing I was seeking
was power, and it was lying dor-
mant within my very soul. The
power lives within me. It also lies
within you. To find it, just follow
these three helpful steps.
Step 1: First, you must believe
that as an inspirational woman,
YOU define your own power!
I discovered that
the very thing I was
seeking was power,
and it was lying
dormant within my
very soul.
Step 2: Close your eyes and al-
low your body and your mind
to relax. Become very still and
open yourself up to the spirit of
the power within.
Step 3: Make a vow to take this
power quest any time you feel
the need to become more pow-
erful in your career, business,
and/or family life.
Just know that you have all the
answers you need lying within
you at any given moment. Be
it concerning your personal,
family, career and/or business
life, sometimes you will have to
search deep to find the powher
within.

I happened to pass by two
men who were discuss-
ing the birth of a child. One
mentioned that his wife had
given birth. His friend posed a
serious question – did she give
birth to an animal or a human
being? The man replied that it
was a boy. His friend heaved a
big sigh of relief: The man’s wife
had given birth to a human be-
ing and not an animal (a girl).
Right from birth, the female child
is relegated to the background
and restricted in several areas.
In a more traditional setting, the
girls are trained to be home-
makers and not people who
will hold high-profile positions.
This is seen in how we live: the
girls perform the house chores.
While the boys are playing and
are put into schools, the girls
are doing the cleaning jobs all
alone.
Power signifies authority. In
our traditional African setting,
we are taught to understand
that the man is the head of the
family, but where we usually go
wrong is in hardly noticing the
woman, who is supposed to be
the helpmate. In most villages,
women are not supposed to
talk or contribute to a discus-
Let’s Empower African Women
Power b y L i l l i a n E y i s o n
sion because men are talking,
and the women are just seen
as feeble people who have to
act on the directives from the
men. In very remote areas, even
when the discussions are going
on, the women sit at the back
and look on and are not sup-
posed to contribute.
“...did she give birth to an animal [a girl] or a
human being?”
As time passes, the position of
a woman in the society is grad-
ually changing. We now have
some women in parliament;
they contribute immensely and
ensure that the decisions that
are taken in parliament address
the women’s perspective. It is
a remarkable step, but, unfor-
tunately, it’s just a handful of
women who are in this position.
So I’ll encourage more women
to take this bold step.
We should encourage our girls
to go to school and take part in
every activity. The boys should
be advised that the girls are
their co-equals and not inferior
to them. Girls should be allowed
to take up challenging tasks and
not be marginalized because of
their gender; this will help boost
their self-confidence.
Last but not least, men should
encourage their wives and fe-
male children to participate in
courses that will let them soar
high; in the office setting, too,
women should be given equal
opportunity to enroll in courses
that will let them rise to the top.
Parents should share house
chores among boys and girls,
so that if a boy grows up and
his wife is indisposed, he could
help in the home. The girls
would also get the chance to
study and become high-profile
people in the future, too.
Lillian Eyison is an ardent gender
activist, a bilingual project manager,
a travel ex- pert and the CEO of Zoe
In- ternational Travel and Tours. She
has honors in psychology and French
from the Univer- sity of Ghana and
Universite de Caen, France. As a re-
silient young lady who is in love with
issues affecting women and girls in
the society, she has to her credit Zoe
International, a one-stop travel proj-
ect in which is embedded an “Afri-
can corner” (a gender project where
disadvantaged women and girls are
given non-formal education by way
of empowering them financially,
thereby limiting their dependence on
men). She currently resides in Accra,
Ghana. You may visit us on Facebook.

Most people associate
power with authority, hier-
archy, status, or perhaps
physical strength or size.
For these reasons, women of-
ten do not think of themselves
as powerful and routinely put
themselves down. It is time to
recognize that power comes
from within – the way that you
choose to be with others, the
way you connect with and real-
ize your own power.
There are some key things that
we can focus on that will enable
our power.
Be strong -
Being powerful means taking
responsibility for yourself, your
emotions, your decisions, and
Release your Power
Power b y F r a n c e s W h i t e
your actions. It is so powerful
to view your failures as useful
learning; it is so much easier to
see yourself and describe your-
self as a victim. Power comes
from making tough, sometimes
risky decisions and sticking
with making them work, back-
ing down when you are wrong,
and always encouraging others
to offer their different views.
Be principled -
Do things in your life that you
believe in - demonstrate integ-
rity and humility, letting it be
absolutely clear to people what
you stand for. This requires
self-discipline and courage, as
these will not always be easy
things. It may be easier to blame
others or to give in to your ego
need to be seen to be right, but
power comes from belief - with
flexibility to accommodate oth-
ers’ beliefs.
Be clear -
When you are clear about what
you want in your life, what you
won’t accept, and what you
dream of being or doing, then
you will connect to your inner
motivation - this will empower
you. Too often we say yes to
things with which we do not
really agree; we go along with
things rather than fully commit-
ting to them, and we dilute our
energy and power.
Be inspiring -
Real power lies in influence, not
authority, in being a role model,

Frances White has worked as
an Executive Leadership Coach
and Board Facilitator for the
past 20 years, also designing
and facilitating structured pro-
grammes of business transition,
culture change and leadership
development for large blue chip
clients. Her experience as Sales
& Marketing Director gives her
a strong commercial eye, and
her work in helping to resolve
conflict and division in teams
has enabled her to get multi-
million pound projects back on
track. Her conference speaking
career has connected her widely
to big audiences.
www.franceswhitecoaching.com
not telling others to be some-
thing. You will be powerful when
you inspire others to want to do
the right things, to be the light
that others aspire to follow. Be-
ing a role model is a huge re-
sponsibility since people will
follow more what you do than
what you say.
Be creative -
In a knowledge economy,
power lies in innovation - you
will release your power when
you connect with your ideas
and creativity, when you allow
yourself to dream, and maybe
sometimes to take a risk by
sharing those ideas. Of course,
the risk is that sometimes oth-
ers will not rate your ideas - but
they will see you differently for
daring to express them.
The first step is to acknowledge
to yourself how you dimin-
ish your power, discount your
value, and think like a victim,
blaming others instead of tak-
ing responsibility. You diminish
your power when you say yes
to things you don’t really want
to do, follow when you don’t
really believe, act in ways you
don’t really think are right but
may be easier, or tell yourself
you are not clever/pretty/inter-
esting or powerful.
Focus on connecting with your
resources - what is authentical-
ly you.
Visualization– See yourself as
strong, authentic, as smart
as you are (not necessary to
be the smartest person in the
room), well presented (not a su-
permodel), and successful (not
perfect). See yourself as a role
model for what you think is re-
ally important.
Internal dialogue– Tell yourself
that what you have to say is
relevant and fits in well with
what others are saying. It
isn’t a competition. Tell your-
self you are creative and have
good ideas sometimes - the
more you share them, the
more you will have, and the
more you will engage others
and be powerfully influencing.
Body sensations– Notice how
you feel, breathe gently and
confidently, feel the natural
rhythm of who you are, and
connect with what is inside
you that is strong and power-
ful.
Emotional intelligence– Allow
yourself to feel your emotions,
get to know them, and accept
them rather than denying them.
Emotional intelligence is in-
creased as you are aware of and
can regulate your own emotions
and recognize and empathize
with others’ emotions. This will
make you powerful in your re-
lationships as others will feel a
strong and authentic connec-
tion and will trust you more.
Focus your energy and com-
mit yourself to developing and
nurturing your power in these
ways, and you will notice the
difference in your relationships
with others. Power comes from
within - it really is up to you.
Diane Mariechild

One of the greatest gifts
you have is the power of
choice. Choice is a privilege.
It is a power no one can take
away. It lives inside you and
offers you unlimited freedom.
Choice is a power that lets you
co-author your life rather than
be victim to it. Choice is the
source of all creation if com-
bined with action.
So how do you wield this kind
of infinite power? Instead of un-
derstanding power as the mea-
sure of your influence over oth-
ers, choose your state of mind
and being. And then act ac-
cordingly.
“Ultimately, the only power to which
one should aspire is that which we ex-
ercise over ourselves.” Elie Wiesel
How many times have you heard
someone – yourself included
– say, “I have no choice”? Is
this really true? If you confuse
choice with something you
Being the
Power
That Drives
Your Life
Power b y R a c h e l l e F u r e r
want, like, or approve of – then
maybe. However, choice is none
of those. Choice is an option: to
take action or to desist from ac-
tion - or to allow life to choose
for you by refusing to do either.
As Stephen Covey highlights so
brilliantly in his Circles of Influ-
ence, life will always be bigger
than you, no matter what. What
you do with your circumstances
determines the quality of your
life, the inner wealth, the suc-
cess. Your choices, decisions,
and consequent actions shape
your life irrevocably. Would you
believe the seemingly bad deci-
sions are the most valuable? All
your choices can only be judged
in hindsight. If you take the time
to recognize the ingredients of
your good choices and equally
understand the ingredients of
bad ones, you put the power
squarely in our own hands.
So when you get caught in the
powerless space of “I have no
choice,” what is really hap-
pening? Each choice, includ-
ing the non-choice, has conse-
quences. These consequences
are yours to live and deal with.
What if you had the courage to
finish the sentence with “I have
no choice because I don’t like
any of the consequences”?

Rachelle Furer is a leadership
and communications trainer,
coach and counselor dedicated
to developing human potential.
Rachelle draws on many years
of experience living in different
countries, working with various
cultures and people. Her diverse
background blends business
acumen, training and coaching
skills with philosophy, meta-
physics and systemic theory.
She is passionate about coaxing
the best out of everyone, assist-
ing with behavior and attitude
changes for a life of fulfillment
and success. Rachelle runs suc-
cess and self-development work-
shops, leads supervision groups
and inspires creative living in
individual sessions. Her slo-
gan is “building people, shaping
lives”. Visit her website at
www.furer-international.com.
That would be much closer to
the truth. And being that close
to the truth, a better statement
would actually be, “I choose
this option because all other
choices are too big or difficult
for me to deal with right now.”
Try saying those three sentenc-
es out loud and notice the dif-
ferent reactions in your body to
each one. Which one gives you
more energy?
You make your choices based
on your values, your priorities,
and the information you have
at the time. Looking back, it is
always easy to say you should
have made a different choice.
What you do in the aftermath of
what has turned out to be a bad
choice is important. This is what
sets you apart and moves you
forward. Being afraid of mak-
ing a bad choice paralyzes and
leaves your life in fate’s hands.
The moment in my own life that
I chose to source my value from
within, rather than allow others
to determine it randomly, was a
moment that set me free on my
path. From then on, I chose to
understand that my value does
not increase or decrease with
other people’s acknowledg-
ment or criticism. My value re-
mains the same, even if it is not
of value to others, because just
as I have the right to choose, so
does everyone else.
Using the power of choice
means becoming aware of
your decisions and their conse-
quences. Short- and long-term.
Direct and indirect impact. Be-
ing proactive with your choices
in the face of fate. How do you
do that?
Draw a timeline of the big
events that have shaped your
life in the past. Look at the de-
cisions you made and their out-
comes. What have you learned,
what were the gifts, where have
these choices taken you?
Look at the times in your life
when you were touched by fate
and what your choices were
about dealing with the circum-
stances. Were you proactive or
passive? Did you become vic-
tim or victor?
When have you chosen to hide
your head in the sand and hope
something would resolve itself?
How did that work for you?
Where you are today and who
you are today is largely the con-
sequence of all of your daily
choices. No matter where you
are right now, your history is
not your destiny. You have the
power to choose a different
tomorrow by making different
choices today.

One of the scariest things
I have ever done was at-
tending my first Toastmas-
ters meeting. It was also
one of the most powerful!
It never surprised me that the
most common fear - after the
fear of dying - is fear of speak-
ing in public. Toastmasters is an
international club that helps you
develop your public speaking
and leadership skills. I distinctly
remember my first Toastmas-
ters meeting. As a guest, I intro-
duced myself, and afterwards, I
couldn’t hold my water glass be-
cause I was shaking too much.
Nine years later, I still attend
meetings regularly, and I actual-
ly enjoy speaking in public. Like
going to the gym, if I don’t go, I
feel rusty and out of practice. I
love developing speeches, prac-
ticing, performing and entering
competitions. In fact, if it weren’t
for Toastmasters, I wouldn’t be
in my current line of business, as
I often have to speak in public.
Back to that first meeting: Why
was it so powerful? It was be-
cause I made the decision to
FEEL THE POWER OF FACING FEARS
Power b y S e l i n a M a n K a r l s s o n
face a big fear
and work on it.
Just thinking
about it was not
enough - taking
action was key,
and I’d like to
share a few ex-
periences about
how I’ve faced
fears in different
ways.
Power exercises
A few years
back, I attended
a Steve Pavlina workshop in Las
Vegas, and he introduced us to
“Power Exercises” to help us
build power progressively. We
were given lists of tasks, and we
were to label them 1-3 depend-
ing on our personal level of abil-
ity; i.e. 1 (easy), 2 (doable), and
3 (hard). The tasks were catego-
rized to build confidence, over-
come fear of embarrassment, be
assertive or connect with others.
Examples of tasks included ask-
ing someone the time, dancing
in a public place where people
aren’t dancing, and asking for a
free meal.
After labeling our tasks, we went
out in groups and performed
some of the “1” tasks first, fol-
lowed by the “2”s, and, when

Why was it so
powerful? It was
because I made the
decision to face a
big fear and work
on it.
we ready, the 3 tasks. Although
we had the same list, we labeled
the challenges personally, so
what I found hard, someone else
may have found easy. It showed
what type of personality you are,
what experience you have, and
what you like doing.
Another insight was that after
doing some of the easier exer-
cises and with a group of people
supporting and encouraging us,
we were able to tackle some of
our “harder” tasks. Sometimes
we would receive positive re-
sponses and sometimes not.
Yet it showed that it was OK ei-
ther way, that the more I did, the
less scared I became. I learnt to
move on and not let “No’s” hin-
der me.
Imagine something you’d love
to do but are too afraid. Break it
up into steps and imagine what
steps you could take to accom-
plish it, do some of the easiest
ones first, find a good group of
people supporting you, and just
go for it.
Set challenges
Instead of New Year resolutions,
a good friend and I set ourselves
goals to challenge ourselves;
for example, take on a physical
challenge, learn something, or
face a fear. We gather at year-
end to discuss our success rate
(some years are more successful
than others) and to define new
goals. One goal was to ride all
the rollercoasters in Europapark
(a fun park). You may be think-
ing, “That’s not a challenge, it’s
fun!” But it depends on where
you come from: If you’re afraid
of rollercoasters, and you don’t
like speed, then it’s a challenge.
So one grey morning, we en-
tered the park, our ears ringing
with the screams from the tow-
ering rollercoaster above us, and
we joined the mile-long queue
for the biggest ride to await our
fate. Sometimes anticipation is
worse than the event!
The moment the barriers
clamped down and we knew
we couldn’t run away anymore
and off it went...click click click
up the track, the wind started
blowing in our faces and we felt
the last excruciating moments
when the wagon started tip-
ping over the edge and then the
ROLLERCOASTING began....
AAARRRRRGGGGHHGHHHH-
HHH! And then before we knew
it, it was over! We found our feet
and headed to the next big-
gest and then the next, until we
reached the gentle ones, and we
thought, “How pleasant is this?”
:-)
What was once a terrorizing
event was no longer so, and, in
fact, was rather enjoyable. Ev-
erything’s relative once I face a
fear: I wonder what all the fuss is
about. We humans are so funny
sometimes!
What fears do you have to face?
Just think how powerful you can
be!
Selina Man Karlsson is a Brit-
ish born Chinese, married to a
wonderful Swedish guy, living
in Zurich. She is the founder of
Curious Courses, short taster
courses to spark and feed your
curiosity. She works with people
that are passionate and have
found something they love do-
ing. She believes there’s some-
thing out there for everyone and
encourages all to explore, learn
new things, ask questions, and
ultimately be curious!
Visit www.curiouscourses.ch for
more information.
Choose up to 6 from 18 different
and exciting short taster courses
in English, ready to spark and feed
your curiosity.
Be inspired to create, grow, care,
move, taste and discover.
Visit www.curiouscourses.ch for
more information.

Parenting can become the ultimate battleground for power.
Parent Power
Power b y Ta m m y F u r e y
For example, Fox News (USA)
reported that a mother made her
daughter dress in nasty second-
hand clothes to teach her not to
bully classmates on their dress
sense.
It is far too easy, as a parent, or
even as a partner, to get sucked
into a power struggle in the re-
lationship. Listen to the lan-
guage here: “struggle’”- do you
want your relationship to be a
struggle? If you win the strug-
gle, what will you do with your
newfound power? How will the
other feel now that she has lost
the power? What will you do to
make sure that you retain your
power? Will you move into the
bullying power over-behavior
of the mother reported on Fox
News (i.e., teaching your child
not to bully through bullying be-
havior? Hmmm....)?
“It is not power that corrupts but fear.
Fear of losing power corrupts those
who wield it and fear of the scourge of
power corrupts those who are subject
to it”. Aung San Suu Kyi - Freedom
from fear.
Power struggles are based on
the misguided belief of the na-
ture of power. Webster’s dic-
tionary defines power (noun) as
“possession of control, author-
ity or influence over others.” In
parenting, we can often confuse
our authority, which we have as
the legal guardians and provid-
ers for our children, with control
and power over them. One is a
legal and practical fact, the oth-
er is a tangle of beliefs, values,
and personal history that, when
combined with a parenting bad
day or lack of sleep, becomes a
recipe for stress and fighting.
If we truly believe we should be
able to control another child,
adult, or situation, we will come
rubbing up against reality time
and time again (“This should not
happen!” “He should not have
said that!” “She treats me so
badly!”). Life happens. People
think (darn them!) and build their
own sets of beliefs and values
about the world. As parents, we
try to morally influence our chil-
dren, but if we believe we can do
more than that, we are going to
develop a stormy relationship.
We often mistake our “power”
for the need for control or a sim-
ple defensive reaction when our
egos have been attacked.
Within parenting we are, at a
sociological level, expected to
“control” our children. For ex-
ample, take my daughter on the
bus this afternoon. I am gener-
ally expected to make sure she
keeps her wet feet off the seat

Tammy Furey is a coach,
writer, blogger, and speaker.
Tammy works with parents
who are experiencing stress,
anxiety, and challenges and
who want a peaceful, reward-
ing, loving relationship with
their children. Her practice is
based in St. Gallen and Zurich
and can be reached at
www.fureycoaching.com
and stop blowing on the annoy-
ing whistle. As with most parents
with a five-year-old, my success
rate is around 75%. If I, in my
mind,shootfor100%ratherthan
75%, I will be torturing myself.
If I try to enforce my will with a
barrage of threats (verbal and/or
physical), I will start a fight with
my daughter and still not see the
results I think “should” be there
(and the whole population of the
bus will be staring at the mad,
shouting English woman!).
“When we realize that
our power resides inside
of us, we will never
... get into a power
struggle because we
cannot feel threatened.”
I am granted “power” by my
daughter. It is that simple. I get
this through establishing strong
bonds of trust and rapport, so
that she willingly cooperates
with my mad plans and rush-
ing about between meetings. I
repay this trust by making sure
that one of my goals is that she
discovers her own power and
enters the world a strong, con-
fident woman (who will prob-
ably stir it up a bit!). She will be
empowered, knowing her own
power and where it comes from,
which is inside her. She will, I
hope, laugh at anyone who be-
lieves he or she can take it from
her.
“The most common way people give
up their power is by thinking they don’t
have any” Alice Walker
We have power. It is ours since
birth. When we realize that our
power resides inside of us, we
will never (OK, very rarely!) get
into a power struggle because
we cannot feel threatened. No
outside force (even if they are a
three-year-old dictator or a trou-
bled teenager) can take what is
ours. In turn, we can never take
another’s power because we
can only ever have true power
and control over ourselves. Ev-
eryone else is taken.
Ayn Rand

In the summer of 1999,
I lived in a subsistence-
farming ranchito in Gua-
najuato, Mexico and
taught adult literacy. Most
of the women there didn’t have
an elementary education, didn’t
know how to practice birth con-
trol, and ran their large families
alone while the men “escaped”
into the US, where they could
make money. In those humble
circumstances, I came to know
some super-women!
Audelia and Lupia got a micro-
loan and started a bakery. Their
work empowered them and
their families and was a bless-
ing to the community. Conchita
organized the women to hold
weekly street-sweeping par-
ties—clearing goat dung from
the dirt road that ran through the
village and picking up and burn-
ing trash. Other women were
diligent in the lessons I taught,
determined to learn to read and
write so they could navigate the
city better and not be taken ad-
vantage of in the market. They
insisted that their children at-
tend school and often housed
and fed the schoolteacher so
the school could open.
Super-Women and the Path of
Power
Power b y J u l i a B e r n a r d s
Super-women emerge from ev-
ery conceivable situation and
inspire us with their power to
change themselves and the
world around them. Within each
of us is latent power. As we de-
velop our powers, we can all
be super-women in our homes,
careers, and communities.
The Power of Mind-Control
“Except our own thoughts, there is
nothing absolutely in our power.” René
Descartes
“The most common way people give
up their power is by thinking they don’t
have any.” Alice Walker
The mind is the genesis of pow-
er, and it is subject to you alone.
In choosing attitudes, thoughts,
beliefs, and insights, you nur-
ture the seeds of power - or de-
stroy them. Be aware of what is
happening in your mind. Nega-
tive thoughts poison your pow-
er. Believing outside influences
are responsible for your inner
state undermines your power.

Julia Bernards has been
publishing poetry, essays and
articles for 16 years. Her poet-
ic insights into the world have
delighted old and young since
she was a little girl. Julia
writes as a form of self-expres-
sion and an avenue towards
truth and clarity. Lately, her
most important insights have
been about cultivating happi-
ness and peace within herself
and in her family. When she is
not writing, you can find Julia
mothering her four children,
loving her husband, and try-
ing to bring order to her house-
hold. You can reach her at
julia.bernards@gmail.com
To build this super-power, con-
sider your thought-patterns,
specifically in times of stress or
challenge. Are they empower-
ing or debilitating? Replace de-
bilitating patterns with empow-
ering ones. For example, “This
is too hard! I’ll never be able to
do it!” can become “This is hard,
so I will just take one little step
at a time,” and you can replace
“I can’t believe how bad this
is!” with, “This is a challenge.
What am I going to do about
it?” Mind control is challeng-
ing and requires constant dili-
gence, awareness, and choice,
but it is the essential first step
of the path to power.
“The truth is that you are responsible
for what you think, because it is only at
this level that you can exercise choice.
What you do comes from what you
think.” Marianne Williamson
The Power of Action
“Most powerful is he who has himself
in his own power.” Seneca
“Mastering yourself is true power.” Tao
Te Ching
Action is the application of
power, and it requires self-
mastery. Overcoming apathy,
fear, or “busy-ness” to act in
powerful, important ways ne-
cessitates both mental and
physical control. Be aware of
yourself. Self-mastery requires
self-knowledge. Exhaustion,
illness, under-nourishment, or
un-healthy habits diminish your
self-mastery and power of ac-
tion. Action begets action. Tak-
ing the first step toward making
your goals reality, even if it is a
small step, overcomes inertia
and increases your power.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excel-
lence then is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle
The Power of Self-Trans-
formation
“Ultimately, the only power to which
man should aspire is that which he ex-
ercises over himself.” Elie Weisel
Self-transformation is the ex-
ercise of power - and its wor-
thiest goal. The thousands of
small acts that make up our
lives transform us. Our efforts
at kindness, diligence, forgive-
ness, assertiveness, work, ser-
vice, healthfulness, patience,
and more mold our very being.
We shape ourselves into super-
women through a multitude of
choices and actions. We must
choose to act like super-wom-
en, even when it is difficult, in
order to become super-women.
The Power of the Champion
“The measure of a man is what he does
with power.” Plato
Championing others is the mea-
sure of power. We know a su-
per-woman by her service. Su-
per-women use their power to
make life better for themselves
and others. They take action to
right wrongs and empower the
weak.
The Power of Influence
“With great power there must also
come great responsibility!” Stan Lee
Influence is the responsibility of
power. Super-women influence
by empowerment and inspira-
tion, not by tyranny and force.
Because Super-women are su-
per, they draw the attention and
accolades of others. Being thus
in the spotlight, their example
influences others. Super-wom-
en use this power responsibly
and become leaders and men-
tors for other women, helping
them become super-women,
too.

Growing up, I never felt
powerful. I did not think I
was strong, physically or emo-
tionally. I held a false belief that
I could not do a lot of things
because I was weak in one way
or another. Part of my physi-
cal weakness stemmed from a
traumatic childhood injury that
created challenges in using my
right arm and the right side of
my body. Part of my emotional
limitations was created from un-
healthy parental relationships.
Subconsciously I did not do a
great deal of things, because I
really believed I would fail. Out-
wardly I ran from the encour-
aging messages given to me
Your Power Comes From Your
Story
Power b y A n g e l a S c h a e f e r s
by others, including those little
sparks of inner messages tell-
ing me I could do something or
at least should try.
When I finally realized my own
power and strength, I was
in awe! It started out as little
things that I could do physically
and emotionally and could do
well. And little by little, my self-
esteem and feelings of self-
worth expanded by leaps and
bounds!
I think many of us go through
times when we feel more pow-
erful then other times. I believe
our environment and those clos-
est to us (relationships) greatly
impact how we perceive our-
selves and what messages we
not only play in our heads again
and again but also believe to be
true.
As the opportunities to have
a change of circumstances or
distance from certain nega-
tive people while adding bet-
ter circumstances and people
into my life increased, my self-
esteem grew. I began to feel
empowered. Although I noticed
that when things went wrong
(and things will occasionally
go wrong in life) my feelings of
self-worth would lessen, I be-
gan to believe that I had power
and strength.

Angela Schaefers holds a Bach-
elor of Arts degree in Organiza-
tional Management and a Mas-
ter of Arts degree in Counseling.
She has previously counseled
families, couples, children and
individuals. She has provided
career coaching. She has trained
and worked as a Chaplain. An-
gela has three children and is a
Mimi (grandmother) to one. She
enjoys outdoor activities; such as
biking, hiking, kayaking and the
beach, loves tea time and savors
a break to the spa. Visit her web-
site at
www.yourstorymatters.net.
It was like a roller coaster of
feeling - up and then down -
when life was not as good as
it once was and my feelings of
power deflated. One day, I real-
ized my entire life was all about
ups and downs and going from
feeling really good about myself
and powerful to feeling really
bad about myself and weak. I
wanted off the roller coaster!
Like the ones in real life, it made
me nauseated!
When I began to heal emotion-
ally, spiritually, and mentally, I
learned a great deal from my
story. The story of my life, grow-
ing up and into adulthood, had
really impacted me on many lev-
els. One thing I realized through
my learning was how powerful
I had ALWAYS been! I survived
trauma, tragedies, and transi-
tions starting at the tender age
of three years old! My strengths
and character were being built
with every episode.
Understanding that I would not
be alive, be myself, or be where
I was at (at that point of my life)
impacted me profoundly. I sud-
denly “felt” from my core - and
outward - the depth of my pow-
er. I had the power to physically
overcome excruciating pain, I
had the power to stay strong
during emotional, mental, and
physical abuse, and I had the
power to be and do good de-
spite my challenges and cir-
cumstances.
The knowledge and healing
I gained from my story both
saved my life and changed
my life. The times of darkness
and desperation were no more.
The depression, anxiety, guilt,
shame, and fear were no longer
gripping me. I was no longer
suffocated during those times
that I felt powerless, because
I finally knew I was never, ever
completely powerless in the
first place!
To find the power in your story:
Reflect on what you have over-
come and how (be sure to rec-
ognize YOUR role in enduring
and overcoming challenges, in
addition to help from others).
Close your eyes and remember
every time that you felt empow-
ered, strong, and confident.
What was happening? What
did you do? How did you react?
To practice your power (re-
member you first must believe
in your own power):
Set boundaries with yourself
AND others (and enforce them).
Use your voice (speak your
mind in a respectful, stern, yet
kind way).
When you feel weak or power-
less, remember your story - all
you have overcome - and re-
member who you are at your
core (strong, smart, faithful, lov-
ing, etc.).
“No circumstance, no person, no chal-
lenge can take away your power ~ your
power resides within your soul. Within
your soul is love, which comes from
your heart.” Angela Schaefers

This morning while reflect-
ing on how to discuss the
topic of power, this quote
appeared on my Twitter feed:
“Learning too soon our limitations,
we never learn our powers.” Mignon
McLaughlin from @RockChris-
topher
I was intrigued and immediately
did a Google search on Mignon
McLaughlin. About 287,000 re-
sults appeared in a quarter of a
second. She was an American
journalist and author, born June
6, 1913, in Baltimore, Maryland.
One century after her birthday,
her words still ring true. What I
ask is this: What are you doing
in your life today to learn about
your power? This question oc-
cupies my attention because
as a consultant, facilitator and
coach, I work with people who
are interested in improving their
performance so that they can
Learn Your Power, Live Your Power
Power b y N a d e n e C a n n i n g
successfully create new servic-
es, raise funds, or develop their
brand. At the WIN Conference
in Prague in 2009 and in Paris
one year later, a colleague and I
had the privilege to facilitate an
“abuse of power in the work-
place” seminar. From this ex-
perience, I understood that for
each of us to BE in our power
we need to adopt FOUR essen-
tial behaviors and attitudes:
Turn self-doubt into intention
Doubting or feeling sorry for
yourself is another way to abuse
your own power and weaken
yourself. If you abuse your pow-
er to create self-doubt, then
you’ll be even more confused
when you look to the external
world for answers. The next
time you catch yourself think-
ing, or believing, “I don’t know
“Learning too soon our limitations, we
never learn our powers.”

Nadene Canning created
ALLSystemsGO! to help busi-
ness owners, students, pro-
fessionals, expats and entre-
preneurs succeed with their
projects and face their chal-
lenges. She believes that suc-
cess and happiness all boils
down to understanding our-
selves and our relationships,
that’s how we make magic.
She has written a book about
it in French entitled “La force
de l’équilibre” Contact her at
nadene@allsystemsgo.ch
what to do,” let it go; push that
thought right out of your head.
You are a naturally creative be-
ing. It makes no sense to turn
your creative energies into self-
destruction – LEARN how to
use your power to create cer-
tainty. Accept that uncertainty
is a part of life; if you want cer-
tainty, then you have to create
it for yourself. You need to trust
that deep down, you do know
what to do – pay attention to
this clarity.
Face your fear
Use your power to face your
fear. Courage can be defined
as the willingness to face your
fears. Stop spending your ener-
gy on what you don’t want and
put your energy into what you
do want. This energy will build
into a motivation - a positive
way to take action and turn your
desire into your reality. Spend
time imagining what you really
want; use your power to create
what you want.
It’s not about “right” and
“wrong”
Defending your point of view is
not a good use of your power –
each person has the freedom to
choose her perspective. Don’t
pour your energy into arguing
right and wrong. Instead, ask
yourself whether you can ac-
cept the other person’s point
of view and live with the conse-
quences.
Decide what’s best for you and
move on it
Use your energy to plot your
path clearly, and then let your
actions follow your intentions.
Don’t ask permission. If some-
one else has an issue with your
decisions, let the issues be hers
to worry about.
Accept what you have to deal
with, and focus the direction of
your energy in a positive way.

Are you fully in control of
your career?
Do you have a clear and inspir-
ing idea or vision of what you
want to achieve in the future?
Are you proactive about your
career choices? And are you
actively taking steps to pursue
the career of your dreams?
If you have answered “no” to
any of the previous questions,
then you risk putting the course
of your career in the hands of
others – your organisation, your
boss, anyone else but you will
be in the driving seat. Think
about it: They can take you
down a road you did not intend
to travel and this can make you
feel utterly powerless.
How can you get back in the
driving seat? What kind of car
do you want to be driving? At
what speed and in what direc-
tion? You probably think, “Why
is she talking about cars in a
women’s magazine?” I know…
right…but it’s just to help you
visualize it.
Who Is in the Driving Seat?
Career b y B i d e m i J o h n s o n
One of the greatest gifts ever
given to mankind is not the gift
of sight, but the gift of vision.
Sight is a function of the eyes;
vision is a function of the heart.
It all starts with a vision! A vi-
sion for your career.
So why should you have one?
You will realize that the only way
you’ll achieve what you want
personally and professionally is
to think about where you want
to go, put in place a plan to get
there, and then start moving.
I recently attended a private
dinner at Westminster Hous-
es of Parliament UK and had
the privilege of spending time
with 19 other very success-
ful women in business and in
their careers. Our host Helen
Grant, MP for Women and
Equalities - conservative poli-
tician, businesswoman, law-
yer, wife, and mother, was
truly inspiring, and her redefi-
nition of “equalities” based on
performance challenged us all
in that room.

You probably care about your
career, too, and are prepared to
work hard at building a satisfy-
ing and successful career life.
Part of this process will involve
»» thinking about what “satis-
faction” and “success” mean
to you
»» taking a systematic ap-
proach to creating a Career
Development Plan (CDP)
»» making sure that when op-
portunities arise (as they will,
if you work hard), you have
the skills needed to take full
advantage of them
A CDP is just another name for
a plan of action, only this one
refers specifically to your aspi-
rations regarding career devel-
opment. We make plans every
Bidemi Johnson is an IT service management professional with over 15 years’ experience in strategy
development, implementation, and maturing of IT service management capabilities. She has worked on
major projects across various industry sectors, including the UK public sector (Cabinet Office, Ministry
of Justice, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office) as well as finance, media, utility, retail, and legal
sectors. Bidemi was a finalist in the ITSMF Service Management Champion of the Year 2010 Award.
This is awarded to the individual that, in the judges’ view, has been the most consistent and successful
service manager. An author and speaker, Bidemi worked with TSO, the official publisher of IT service
management books.
As a career and transition coach for Templesprings, Bidemi is passionate about helping you under-
stand the world of work and your own personal development to find your ideal career path. Shortlisted
for “Supporting Life’s Journeys” Mentor Recognition award, she coaches and mentors people, having
herself experienced tremendous results from this process at different stages of her career and relation-
ships.
Templesprings’ mission is to inspire confidence in people by helping them shape the total person who
has a clear picture of who they are and knows what they want from life and how to get it.
www.templesprings.com
day but do not always write
them down; a CDP allows you
to set your own personal career
targets and find the best way to
achieve them.
You will need some time to con-
sider the various factors that
will affect your future career de-
cisions. To be totally effective,
a Career Development Plan
must be a fluid document that
is reviewed at regular intervals
to ensure that it is always accu-
rate, relevant, and realistic.
This year on the 26th of May, I
also had the privilege of attend-
ing the first Women’s Expo in Zu-
rich in support of my dear friend
Lisa Chuma - a truly inspira-
tional woman. It was amazing to
see over 80 exhibitors - all busi-
nesswomen mostly with new
business ventures - achieving
their goals. Some of the people
I spoke to said they had used
the expo as a target and driv-
ing force to get their businesses
started. They put the date in the
calendar, set goals, and got to
work on the action plan. The en-
ergy in the exhibition centre on
that day was tangible and un-
deniable...this is the evidence of
the power of having a vision for
your business and career and
following through.
Remember if you aim for noth-
ing, you sure will hit nothing, and
if you don’t distinguish yourself
and stand up for something in
your career, you will sit for any-
thing and be taken on a ride.
So swap seats, get into the
driver’s side of that fine car,
and start driving…Destination?
YOU DECIDE.

Intuition and Meditation as
Important Tools in Leadership
According to a 2010 Har-
vard University study, in-
tuition and meditation will
become the most impor-
tant tools for successful
leadership in the coming
years. And a discussion is oc-
curring in EU member states re-
garding the number of women
in boards and top management
positions and the discrepancy
in salaries between women and
men. It is just by chance that
these topics appear in roughly
the same time period. Howev-
er, there are some links among
those issues– and they are es-
pecially interesting for all wom-
en who have their own perspec-
tives on leadership.
Gender policies, women in
business, roles and differences:
All these topics are discussed
each day in at least one maga-
zine or newspaper. Some ideas
seem to be true only because
journalists, politicians and eco-
nomic leaders repeat them of-
ten enough. Some discrepan-
cies become clear. You read
Career b y A n n a K r e m e r
that on the one hand, women
should stick to their supposed
“typical” female attributes like
empathy and prudence. On the
other hand, others are recom-
mending that women who want
to be successful must play the
“male games” like power, strat-
egy and self-presentation. It re-
sults in the dilemma that women
can actually do whatever they
want – it will be wrong, either
one way or the other.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO and
member of the board of direc-
tors at Google, has just pub-
lished her book Lean In. She
describes experiences in her
own career but also those she
noticed in working with other
women. Her picture shows that
on one hand, there are powerful
and successful women who are
leaders without employing ex-
clusively “male” attitudes. They
are following their values and
beliefs. However, she also ex-
perienced and describes many
situations in which women, in
order to be accepted, obviously
were acting in a manner aligned
with how they thought others
expected them to act. For ex-
ample, in a meeting they would
take a seat in the last row or
even outside of a round table,
because they did not expect
to be important participants.
Or women would stop asking
questions in workshops just be-
cause the speaker gave notice
that he or she would only take
two last questions. Of course,
all the men remained at the mi-
crophone. What does it mean
“...there are
powerful and
successful women
who are leaders
without employing
exclusively “male”
attitudes. They
are following their
values and beliefs.”

Anna Kremer, 37 years old, is working as consultant in Switzerland in the area of Finance and Ac-
counting, Project Management of IT implementations, Project Coaching and customer’s trainings. She
is working over 12 years with teams in Accounting and Controlling, CFOs and CIOs. She met a lot of
people working in different sectors and functions, did various project work and experienced the meaning
of change and development for employees. Beside her work she has studied Journalism at Deutsche Fach-
journalisten Schule, Berlin and publishes articles today as a freelancer. She is writing and researching
on management methods, coaching of employees and team leader as well as on topics that supports peo-
ple in their personal development. Due to her job, she writes additionally articles on Finance topics for
knowledge transfer or marketing brochure.
for success and leadership?
How do you behave in the best
way? Maybe relying on intuition
is the key factor.
According to James Scouller,
author of The Three Levels of
Leadership, intuition means to
see, connect, and grasp the
truth; to discover what was al-
ways there but wasn´t seen due
to prejudices or fixed ideas that
might lead to a different idea of
truth. Our world and particularly
our businesses become more
complex due to new opportuni-
ties to deal with new products,
to connect easily with people
on the other side of the world,
and to mix cultural, social and
ethical assumptions. It is a chal-
lenge to guide a company or a
team through this environment
and to lead decision-making
processes while highly influ-
enced by all the information,
impressions, rumors, and reac-
tions around. To recognize, to
grasp, and to analyze the fac-
tors that are important to con-
sider and to differentiate from
the “noise” of irrelevant infor-
mation becomes a key factor
for success and power. There-
fore, it seems obvious that intu-
ition is a strong tool for being a
leader. If woman are able to be
aware and to use their intuition,
it seems to be a fundamental
competence for reaching and
staying in powerful positions.
The second key factor for lead-
ership mentioned is meditation.
Actually meditation forces the
intuition. Practiced in a regular
way, it results in higher aware-
ness and self-awareness and
leads to a relaxation that sup-
ports the ability to be focused
in the right situation - exactly
what is needed in difficult dis-
cussions, situations, and deci-
sions. So meditation is a good
habit to sustain the intuition.
If women rely on their intuition
and if the assumptions of the
study are right, the relation of
power in politics, in the econ-
omy, and in our everyday lives
would be balanced, not only in
decision-making but also in the
decisions themselves. For now
it is a vision, but if women are
able to live and work intuitively,
the discussion around gender
balance in powerful positions
might be redundant in a few
years.
Useful links for additional infor-
mation:
What Is Intuition
Meditation and Leadership
Literature mentioned:
Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In, ISBN
978-3-430-20155-1

Sometimes we are miss-
ing the power in order to
get things done. We ex-
perience a lack of motiva-
tion.
We all know those situations
when we wish we could turn a
(daily) duty into joy, don’t we?
Whether it is our master thesis
we should work on to get ready
on time, our new year’s reso-
lution to do more sports, the
weekly household work or the
language lessons we should
take to get promoted into a new
job. Do you sometimes experi-
ence this lack of power in or-
der to get things done? Are you
missing the motivation to fulfill
your task or job and reach your
goal? Do you know what can
motivate you in your daily life or
work?
Take the following three steps
by answering questions to re-
flect and improve your ability to
motivate yourself and turn duty
into joy:
Career b y A n n e F o r s t e r
Defining one’s working
style
People have different working
styles. How would you describe
yours?
Are you the Developer, who
likes to develop visions and
ideas and is able to keep the
overview of the project. How do
you react when things get dif-
ficult? calm and relaxed? Is it
important for you that you can
identify with a task and under-
stand the meaning?
Are you the Planner, who likes
to consider objectively and so-
berly specific procedures and
steps to implement your goal?
Is it also important for you not
to be distracted at work?
Are you the Handler, who looks
forward to move into the imple-
mentation. You know intuitively
how you reach your destina-
tion without any great effort.
You trust on routine and you
start projects with the expecta-
tion that the work you do will be
done easily and quickly.
Self-Motivation – the power from
inside

Anne Forster is a career counselor, coach and HR consultant. She studied business and counseling at
Zurich University, Berkeley, San Francisco and New York University (NYU) and has extensive experi-
ence in recruitment, assessment and interviewing. Her career also spans many years in training and
professional development within various industries (banking and financial services, consulting, higher
education, and energy sectors).
These combined experiences well equip Anne to use her empathy skills, her insider’s perspective and
solution-oriented approach in supporting new graduates, young professionals and junior executives,
whether they are entering the workplace at the start of their careers or developing their careers further
down the line.
Her coaching sessions are available for clients in both German and English. Further information re-
garding coaching and career advising as well as workshops and relevant career events can be found on
www.anneforster.ch and www.facebook.com/AnneForster.Beratungen
Are you the Error-Seeker, who
first of all weighs how he should
tackle something. You’re more
carefully with the work, you are
doing. After each project you
think about what went well and
what went bad. You have a high
demand in an exact working
method.
Defining your learning
needs
What do you think you need to
learn in order to gain more pow-
er for certain tasks or projects?
Regarding your reflected work-
ing style, handler often wish
to gain more power of endur-
ance and sometimes take a
closer look. The developer has
the dream to move forward
and turn ideas into reality and
spend more time planning how
to implement his idea. The plan-
ner sometimes lacks spontane-
ity. The error-seeker would like
to have more courage to less
perfectionism and would like
to establish the overview, as he
tends to fall into the last detail.
Think about your duty you
would like to turn into joy! What
is the situation like? Define for
yourself, what is your current
need in order to get things done
more powerful?
For the planner it would some-
times help to move into the im-
plementation like the handler
does. The handler on the other
hand could be powerful to first
consider which steps to take
before starting the next project.
The developer could some-
times take a closer look onto
details and identify difficulties.
The error-seeker on the other
hand would gain more power
by putting himself into a relax-
ing mood and to think about
new ideas.
Knowing your current need, the
next step will be to find a picture
that reminds you of the way you
want to be or feel whenever the
next duty is waiting for you and
you want to turn it into joy.
Defining your optimal
working conditions
If you think about your lack of
motivation in certain situations
and the current need how you
want to react, feel or be in those
situations in order to get your
work done, what kind of ani-
mal, plant, landscape, vehicle,
person or sport comes to your
mind? Go over your list and
pick one. Note as many posi-
tive associations as you can,
you can also ask your friends
and family. Try to define your
own motto or slogan how you
want to behave the next time
when a daily duty needs to be
turned into joy. Make sure the
slogan is positive worded and
try to find things that will remind
you of your slogan every day.
For example your key chain
could have a special ring, your
screen saver could show a cer-
tain picture, your mobile phone
could have a special ring tone.
All those things can be helpful
to remind you of how you want
to be, feel or react.
Self-motivation is a key to turn duty into joy
and you can learn how to motivate yourself!
“The Zurich Resource Model – ZRM“ is a
method for individual coaching and coun-
seling. This approach is mainly based on
motivational psychology and neuropsychol-
ogy. If you are interested in taking the next
step to learn how to motivate yourself and
to turn a duty into joy contact me
www.anneforster.ch

The Power of Your Decisions
Career b y C h r i s s y B
The definition of power is
the ability to cause or pre-
vent an action, the ability
to do something.
We may not have the ability to
cause much of an impact on
the world at large, but we do
have the power to influence
ourselves and those around us
through the decisions that we
make on a daily basis. Our lives
right now are the result of lots
of decisions which we’ve made
(or failed to make) since we
were young.
Some decisions don’t real-
ly make any difference to our
day, for example, the outfit we
choose that day, the way we do
our hair, or the food we decide
to eat. There are other deci-
sions, however, that can have
a massive impact on our world,
perhaps not immediately, but
certainly, eventually. Let’s look
at some examples, shall we?
Family: Your family member
is upset with you about some-
thing. You can decide that you
will argue back and give all the
reasons under the sun that you
are right and they are complete-
ly wrong to think such things of
you. On the other hand, you can
decide that this time, you won’t
say anything and just listen to
what they have to say - really
listen and understand what
they are trying to tell you. You
can decide that you will make
active changes based on what
they’ve said.
What do you have to lose?
Your family members are
those closest to you, those
who know you better than
anyone. If someone were to
spot something you needed
to work on, wouldn’t it be a
family member? My husband
often points things out to me.
It’s not easy to hear my mis-
takes, and I have to admit, I
don’t like what he says some-
times. But when I go away and
think about it, I realize that
he’s right, and I see where I
need to change. We’re on the
same team, and he wouldn’t
do anything to hurt me, so
why should I get defensive?

Chrissy B is the TV presenter of the Chrissy B Show, a talk show whose underlying theme is to bring people
happiness within themselves, their careers, health and relationships. www.chrissybshow.tv.
By deciding to listen and
change, relationships will get
stronger, and you will develop
as a person. If you decide to
think you’re always right, you
could end up pushing people
away from you and even right
out of your life.
What have your family mem-
bers been trying to tell you that
you haven’t paid attention to?
Decide that from now on, you
will listen and change.
Your thoughts: We all face
negative thoughts on a dai-
ly basis, for example: “You’re
not attractive enough,” “You
don’t have what it takes,” “S/
he doesn’t like you,” or “You
won’t be able to handle that.”
These thoughts can sound very
logical, but they are all lies that
are soul-destroying and pre-
vent many women from mov-
ing forward in life. So what can
you do? You have the choice
of agreeing with that negative
thought: “Oh yes, it’s true, Mary
is much better than me at this,
so I won’t even bother trying.”
Or you can say to that voice,
“Get out of my mind! I value
myself, I know my worth, and
I’m going to go for it!”
What negative thoughts have
been bombarding your mind?
Decide that from now on, you
will fight back!
Career/business: You
have a choice of entrusting your
employees with new responsi-
bilities, which will help them to
develop further, or not trusting
anyone but yourself, therefore
causing your employees to feel
mistrusted and inferior. I tend to
be the kind of person who likes
to do things myself, but one
day, when I was doing a bit of
soul-searching, I realized that in
a way, this was a form of pride.
In my mind, I was the only one
who could do that task well,
and there was no one else who
could do it as well or better than
I. It was actually very self-de-
feating, because I was wasting
time on things that other peo-
ple could do, thus not allowing
me to get on with other things.
I had to decide that I would let
go of this flaw and start invest-
ing in others.
What bad habits do you have
that affect your career or busi-
ness? Decide to change.
There are so many examples I
could give here of ways that our
decisions can impact our lives,
but you can add your own to
the list.
Do you want true power? Think
and make decisions that will ben-
efit you and those around you.

A healthy gut is important
for the brain and the body
and, as such, for our over-
all energy and wellbeing.
The average human gut carries
1.5to2.5kgofbacteriaaspartofa
highly organized microbial world,
rather than a chaotic environ-
ment. Referred to as “the second
brain,” the gut greatly impacts our
mood, as it produces 95% of our
serotonin, a neurotransmitter that
also affects sleep and appetite.
Also known as friendly bacteria
or beneficial flora, probiotics are
living microorganisms in the gut
Nutrition
Your Gut: The Power from Within
b y C l a u d e t t e L u c i e n
“All diseases begin in the gut” -Hippocrates
that can be beneficial
to health. They are con-
sidered the housekeep-
ers of our digestive sys-
tem, coating the surface
of the gut wall (from the
mouth to the very end).
They form a protective
barrier inside the gut wall
and deal with anything
harmful by neutralizing,
destroying, or transport-
ing it out of the body. In contrast
to antibiotics, meaning “against
life,” probiotics means “pro-life”
or “for-life.”
Probiotics take the age-old say-
ing “You are what you eat” to
the next level: “You are what you
absorb.” Without these friendly
bacteria, you could have the best
possible diet, but your body may
not benefit from normal digestion
and absorption of the nutrients
in the foods consumed. Diges-
tive problems, irritable bowel syn-
drome, lactose intolerance, stom-
ach ulcers, and gastritis are some
illnesses that have a connection
with disturbance of the gut bac-
teria. These conditions make you
feellikeyouhavenoenergy,asthe
gut is a major powerhouse within
the body. The gut also accounts
for approximately 70% of our
body’s immune cells and, hence,
is important for good health. As a
consequence, our friendly bacte-
ria cannot be ignored as they play
a vital part in conjunction with a
healthy lifestyle.
If that does not seem
enough reason to look
after your friendly bacte-
ria, a number of nutrients
essential to the body are
synthesized in the gut:
Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5,
B6, B12, K2, folic acid,
various amino acids, and
other active substances.
The gut is also where en-
zymes that break down proteins,
carbohydrates, fiber, and fats are
produced, as well as substances
that transport minerals, vitamins

Claudette Lucien is a Nutritional Therapist with her own practice, Your Nutrition Balance, which
follows a multidisciplinary approach tailored to individual needs. She has a University diploma
in Nutritional Therapy (4 years study in London) and is a Certified metabolic balance® coach. She
loves to eat and believes food is one of the great pleasures in life. Her goal is to improve general well-
being of clients, or treat a specific issue long-term, while enabling them to enjoy food everyday. Her
special interests lie in treating illnesses and diseases relating to mental health, gut health, skin,
weight management and auto-immune conditions. Claudette is South African based in Zurich since
2008, having previously worked and studied in London for 11 years. You may email her at hello@
yournutritionbalance.com and visit her website at
www.yournutritionbalance.com.
and other nutrients through the
gut wall.
Numerous factors can directly
and negatively impact the gut
bacteria, including eating con-
taminated foods, stress, illness,
antibiotics, drugs, alcohol, and
smoking. All of these have the
potential to damage our friendly
bacteria, and subsequently the
gut may require additional help to
repopulate the bacteria and repair
itself. Furthermore, what we eat
impacts the gut flora by support-
ing and feeding the good bacteria
or by destroying the good bacte-
ria and feeding the bad bacteria.
Highly processed foods such as
white bread and certain break-
fast cereals, as well as sugar in all
forms including cakes, biscuits,
and sweets, all impact the gut flo-
ra negatively.
The following actions can support
healthy gut flora and thereby a
happier and more powerful body
and mind:
1. Eating probiotic foods: These are
found in the form of fermented
foods such as sauerkraut, live or
active yoghurt, miso soup, table
olives, kefir, pickles, natto, and
tempeh.
2. Taking probiotic supplements: This
form provides a concentrated
strength,withthetwomostimpor-
tant and most researched groups
being Lactobacilli and Bifidobac-
teria. It is best to choose products
from well-known companies, es-
pecially products that have been
tested in research studies and list
the precise probiotic strains they
contain and the strength of the
formula
3. Eating prebiotic foods: These are
non-digestible carbohydrates
that act as food for probiotics,
and they can be found in aspara-
gus, bananas, chicory, leeks, on-
ions, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes,
and whole grains.
4. Avoid contaminated foods: Travel-
ler’s diarrhea can significantly im-
pact the gut bacteria, especially
when travelling from a developed
country to a developing country.
The chances of traveller’s diar-
rhea further increase if the climate
is hot. To reduce the risk of infec-
tion, it would be wise to avoid sal-
ads, unpeeled fruits, raw or poorly
cooked meats and seafood, cold
sauces, reheated food, unpas-
teurized dairy products, and tap
water. It is also sensible to take a
probiotic supplement for a period
before and during travel to reduce
the risk of infection.
“A well-functioning gut with healthy gut
flora holds the roots of our health. And,
just as a tree with sick roots is not go-
ing to thrive,the rest of the body cannot
thrive without a well-functioning diges-
tive system” Dr. Natasha Campbell-
McBride

“Living your dream” is ad-
vertised on every corner.
On a typical day, I used to get at
least five reminders on how to
have a perfect day and live my
dream life. They came in news-
letters to which I had signed
up for, thinking this way I will
be able to fulfill my dreams. Or
on the cover of magazines or in
TV shows. Soon I noticed that I
had enough knowledge of what
Two Smart and Simple Strategies
to Have Enough Energy to Fulfill
Your Dreams
Nutrition b y M i r k k a S c h a l l e r
I wanted to do and become - I
just didn’t have the time! So I
want to make sure that by read-
ing this article, you get the con-
tent on HOW to start living your
dream.
As a mother of two little kids, I
found that starting a business
was hard until I learned how to
get an hour more per day. 25/7
- doesn’t it sound great! Even if
you start from a different point
than I did, these two simple
steps will take you closer to
your dream life by giving you
the time and energy to go for it!
Here we go: Your body reacts to
everything you eat by increas-
ing the blood sugar level. Lev-
els that are too high or too low
many times a day will sabotage
your concentration and make

Mirkka Schaller is the found-
er of SwissHealthCoach and
works together with busy pro-
fessionals, company executives
and business people, helping
them to achieve a successful,
healthy & balanced life by
providing them with simple,
proven and easy to implement
health and lifestyle solutions.
If you would like more details
on how to achieve your health
goals and start living your
dream life, sign up for the free
training and newsletter at
www.swisshealthcoach.com.
your body exhausted by the
end of the day. The two simple
steps you can do to stay ener-
gized are these:
Eat five times per day.
This way you can keep your
blood sugar level stable and
avoid those stuffed feelings af-
ter meals. Within a few days,
you can see that you can cut
back on your portion size and
still feel satisfied throughout the
day.
Include protein with
each meal. I know this is a
trickier one, especially for the
snacks, but you can try out
some fun things, such as cot-
tage cheese with apple, whole
nut butter with carrots or even
a boiled egg.
You will notice at first that it isn’t
always that easy to find healthy
proteins when you are on the
go. But apply a little planning
and stick to this idea for one
week, and you will find the best
and easiest ways for your ener-
gized snacks. For myself, l al-
ways have a bag of nuts and an
apple in my purse.
By making these changes, I was
able to finish my work early, as I
was able to concentrate so well.
I would go to bed at the normal
time and not feel tired. Now I fi-
nally had the time to read those
newsletters I had signed up for
and start applying the good ad-
vice. The dream life was finally
beginning…

When it comes to your
money, knowledge is pow-
er. Know how to save, how to
invest, and who your advisors
are: lawyer, accountant, bank-
er, and life insurance broker.
Choose advisors who will guide
you to reduce taxes; prepare
you for eventualities such as
long-term illness, the death of a
loved one, disability, and/or re-
tirement; and help you to take
advantage of investment op-
portunities that may arise.
As the average household debt
increases, some governments,
advisors, and educational in-
stitutions have added financial
planning to (or are recommend-
ing that it be included in) the
Power Financially
Finance: Common C€nts b y E l c h o S t e w a r t
school curriculum as a basic
life skill - one as important as
reading, writing, and arithme-
tic, beginning in elementary
school. The hope is to empow-
er children before they start to
work, or enter college and be-
gin to accumulate student-loan
debts. Baby Boomers, who are
now staring down retirement,
are concerned that they will not
have enough money to maintain
the standard of living to which
they have grown accustomed.
Also, they are not oblivious to
the fact that medical expenses
tend to accompany increasing
age. Women have cause to
pause because we have given
ourselves permission to be ex-
perts on just about every subject
except money. It is disempow-
ering when we leave decisions
about our financial wellbeing to
others.
Seven things all women
should know:
More women head single
households, more women
are choosing to become
single mothers, and women
head the majority of single-
parent households.
More women work outside
of the home.
The income gap between
men and women is estimat-
ed to be anywhere between
25-30%, and the gap widens
as women get older.
Regardless of income
bracket and socio-econom-
ic standing, if there are two
income earners of opposite
sex, chances are the woman
is still earning less.
After divorce or separation,
most women and their chil-
dren face a lower standard
of living, experience poorer
health, and have less access
to good health services.

Elcho Stewart is a Financial
Security Advisor/ Life Insur-
ance Broker, and the Managing
Partner at Weblife Financial.
She is licenced to sell invest-
ments products as well as life
insurance, and living benefits
solutions for some of Canada’s
most major financial institu-
tions. Elcho is a financial col-
umnist for several publications
in Canada under the head-
ings: Money Talk$ and Money
Wi$e. She is also the creator
and moderator of Femmeonom-
ics-911®, a dynamic money-
management workshop for
women.
Both men and women expe-
rience depression; however,
women are twice as likely to
be depressed and have more
frequent episodes, with one
in eight women developing
depression at some point in
their lives.
Women generally outlive
their spouses, but widow-
hood finds most women over
the age of 65 facing a lower
standard of living than when
they were married.
What actions should wom-
en take?
Know what your take-home
pay is.
Learn how to make a budget
and stick to it.
Know the difference between
your needs and your wants.
Save before meeting other
obligations.
Attend financial security
planning seminars to learn
how to manage money.
Read publications to under-
stand the language of busi-
ness and investments.
Get as comfortable talk-
ing about money as you are
about other interests.
Have a list of questions ready
to ask your professional ad-
visors.
Shop around for your team of
advisors as diligently as you
would for a flat, a wedding
gown, or the “it” pair of shoes.
Chose advisors who anticipate
your changing financial needs
for the different stages of your
life and who help you to ad-
dress them. They should also
be highly recommended, be
certified, and be good listeners.
Sometimes what you don’t
know can hurt you, and when it
comes to your money, you can
never know too much. Wom-
en who take control of their fi-
nances are empowered to take
actions and make sound de-
cisions with respect to their
health, their children’s health,
as well as their financial wellbe-
ing.

In life and in work, we do
business with people we
feel affinity for or are com-
fortable with.
We will try to rationalize our
decisions about people by de-
scribing their skills, talents, or
strengths, but the bottom line
is that we connect with people
who feel right, and we often
can’t articulate why we feel that
way.
Chances are these connections
are based on one undeniable
THE POWER OF PERCEPTION
Fashion b y C a t r i o n a C a r d i e
truth: that we judge and are
judged. Perceptions are power-
ful, with our lasting perceptions
of people being based on the
very first impressions they cre-
ate - largely on how a person
looks and how she behaves
rather than what she says or
does. When these perceptions
are substantiated by actions,
by other people in our network
or by a second experience, then
they are reinforced in our mind,
becoming fact. That’s where
perception becomes reality. Do
you know your reality?
The power of “Brand You”
Having spent around 20 years
in the marketing profession,
I know something about the
power of perception. What I
know is that powerful percep-
tions are born from successful
branding. What I also know is
that most people recoil in horror
at the prospect of themselves
as a brand, but I believe that all
of us can benefit from applying
the techniques of branding to
ourselves. We all have a per-
sonal brand already, but most

often, it has been created en-
tirely by accident and is perpet-
uated unwittingly by ourselves
and others. As Jeff Bezos, the
founder of Amazon, said:
“Your brand is what people say about
you when you are not in the room.”
We could all create something
powerful for ourselves if we took
control of our personal brand.
To start you thinking about the
power of your brand, ask your-
self: What do I value? What do I
aspire to? What are my talents?
What are my undeniable char-
acteristics? What do I fight for?
Your personal brand is the sum
of all those things. It is impor-
tant to remember, however,
that powerful brands can’t be
all things to all people, because
they turn some people off pre-
cisely because they strongly at-
tract others.
In thinking of this for yourself, it
might be helpful to think of oth-
er women who have powerful
brands: Lady Gaga (flamboy-
ant and creative), Carla Bruni
(sophisticated and command-
ing) or Joan Rivers (acerbic and
honest).
The power of packaging
So you know your brand, but
what about your style? Your
style is tangible and is more im-
portant than you might think. I
would say it’s crucial because
it is the visual representation of
your brand; think of it as your
Catriona Cardie moved to
Switzerland from Edinburgh 2
years ago. An award winning
marketing professional Ca-
triona has over 20 years’ experi-
ence in marketing and public
speaking. Combining her love
of branding, colour and styl-
ing Catriona is also a qualified
Personal Style Image Coach.
Catriona offers Colour and
Style coaching on a 1:1 basis,
tailored for groups, workshops,
events and for professional
women and corporate clients.
www.ladymirrorball.blogspot.com
packaging. Your packaging
should relate to your brand val-
ues, exude what you are about,
andmakeapowerfulimpression
about you. Those who match
their behaviors and values with
their packaging make the most
powerful, the most lasting, and
the most meaningful impact.
Those who directly mismatch
may initially surprise us but of-
ten confuse us, too, and those
who have no clear connection
create doubt and mistrust.
Do you package yourself pow-
erfully? Have a look back at
the women we have already
mentioned as brand icons and
then think about their styles. All
of these ladies dress in a man-
ner that clearly communicates
what they are about even be-
fore they have spoken. Do you?
Once you know what you want
to say about yourself, substan-
tiate that by living up to it in
the way you dress by following
three quick tips:
• Dress for your brand – If
you are a skilled negotiator
who values order, then per-
haps flamboyant dresses
and kooky shoes are not for
you, because they say the
exact opposite. A creative
director dressed down in
combat trousers and a t-shirt
also doesn’t create the most
powerful statement.
• Recognize that color is a
friend – Color can commu-
nicate loud messages about
your brand. Some colors
shout “confident,” while oth-
ers whisper “passive.” Con-
sider this when thinking of
the colors you would like to
embrace or, indeed, already
embrace. As an example,
I have a penchant for pink
but have been described as
direct and passionate. Cer-
tain shades of pink reflect
this better than others, and I
tend to naturally pick bolder
shades.
• Own a stand out style –
People’s perceptions will
be strengthened if they can
associate you with a stand
out visual style feature. Is it
your sharp suit or your kooky
shoes, your vintage look or
your bold accessories?
As a final word or two.... Be
consistent.
It’s hard to alter perceptions.
Make yours powerful.

Every single day in our life
begins with the same rou-
tine.
Wake up, take a shower, brush
your teeth, drink coffee, and
GET DRESSED.
Getting dressed is something
we have to do, but have you
ever thought about how impor-
tant this is? It is not just about
putting some clothes on and
getting out your door. It’s about
leaving your mark, your identity;
about showing whom you real-
ly are. Take a minute and think
about it. Does your daily style
TRULY represent you?
We all have a busy schedule,
whether you’re a housewife, a
businesswoman, or both. But
that’s not a reason for not car-
ing about yourself and your im-
age.
Most of the time we form our
first impression about the char-
acter of someone by observ-
ing his/her style. We tend to
remember more people who
impress us with their style than
we do those that don’t. What
you see is mostly what you get.
Find Yourself Through Your Style
Fashion b y Va s i a K o n t

This happens whether it’s your
job, your love life, your friends,
or any other kind of relationship
you have.
Vasia Kont was born in Piraeus
in 1989. Vasia’s love for fashion
began at a very early age and
then it became a life dream.
Her passion and creativity
for clothing led her to study
Costume Fashion Design and
Styling. At the age of 19, she
made her first appearance at
Athens Fashion Week. She is
currently working as a designer
and a freelance stylist. She gets
inspired by uncommon beauty.
She wants women to feel unique
and beautiful in her clothes.Her
motto is “Feel different for being
different.”
I am not going to tell you that
you need to follow fashion and
trends and all that stuff to be in
style. This is completely wrong.
You are the one who has to cre-
ate your style. Find what makes
you feel comfortable and add
your personal touch through the
color combinations you favor or
through the way you match your
garments and your accesso-
ries. It is not about being glam,
sexy, girly, chic, sporty etc., but
about being YOU.
Get up and start your very
own makeover. Spend time on
yourself, and see if you can go
shopping or get your nails done
or get a new haircut and color,
too. Imagine yourself how you
want to be. How do you picture
yourself? This is who you real-
ly are and a way for you to be
happy. If you’re confident, you
like and love yourself. Then oth-
ers will love you too.
Everything starts from you. So
don’t waste time - work your
style. At the end of the day you
will thank yourself for that.
Express yourself and shine.
May you have the best of luck,
and don’t forget...just be YOUR-
SELF!

Why fit in
when you were
born to
stand out?
Dr. Seuss
http://graceoris.com
I don’t design copies.

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