Embrace your inner visionista: What it means to be a woman entrepreneur

Guest blogger Lynn Bardowski, known as the Million Dollar Party Girl™, encourages women entrepreneurs to embrace their visionista to achieve business success.

We’ve come a long way baby, but we still have a long way to go. According to an article from The Wall Street Journal, the two biggest factors holding women entrepreneurs back are a fear of failure and lack of confidence. I learned that in my twenties, when I started my career in B2B sales. As one of the few women in my field, my confidence melted away when I found myself surrounded by an army of men in navy blue suits. The Sesame Street song, “Which of these is not like the other?” played in my mind. In a desperate attempt to be taken seriously and fit in with the boys, I gave up my colorful wardrobe for more conservative, dark pant suits.

Without even realizing it, I was giving up my identity in order to fit in. One day, I took a shopping detour in between sales calls, beckoned away by a hot pink suit in a store window. It called out to me, “Stop hiding and be who you truly are. That’s your power”.  Hey, if Wonder Woman can have a golden lasso, why couldn’t I have a hot pink pencil skirt? It made total sense to me. Within a year of that defining moment, I found the courage to leave my corporate career and join the ranks of women entrepreneurs who were defining success on their own terms, turning passion into profit.

That story explains why the cover of my book, Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl, depicts a woman in a hot pink pencil skirt and black heels trampling the NYC skyline. Like a scene from a Godzilla movie, she’s ready to takeover the world. My editor, Clo Brickley, questioned why the woman was stepping down and not up. Clo was expecting to see the typical stereotype of a woman climbing the ladder of success, but women entrepreneurs are not typical. I explained to her that I asked the cover artist to create an image of a woman stepping into her power, and embracing her value, with no ladders to climb or glass ceilings to break.

As women entrepreneurs, most of our limits come not from the outside world, but from the thoughts in our own head. I overcame them by embracing my inner visionista, which I define as,  “A woman that knows who she is, where she’s going and guides her tribe of leading ladies to the top.” We can’t do it alone.

Being a women entrepreneur means we have a responsibility to each other to blaze new trails, providing real life examples that empower and inspire others.  That’s how women will overcome fear and build confidence. A hot pink skirt with power heels might help too.

Lynn Bardowski, known as The Million Dollar Party Girl, is an award-winning entrepreneur, radio host and best selling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl.  She speaks to global audiences about entrepreneurship, vision and branding and is a resource for press, media and bloggers.  Follow Lynn on twitter @LynnBardowski and read her blog at http://www.milliondollarpartygirl.com.