[...]... perseverance." They are flexible enough to accept criticism, rethink, reverse, re-create, and start again They have people skills; they can work with others and they can inspire and lead a team And successful business people are not only smart; they are tuned in to what's hot and what's not, alert to the vagaries of the marketplace so that they can hone the point of a fundamentally sound business idea So... why the title, The Old Girls' Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man's World? We were familiar with the the Old Boys' Network the invisible club that helps men to advance in the business world by way of their connections What first came to mind was a fun play on words and a way of illustrating a counterpoint to that well-understood and sometimes envied Old Boys' Network Then... of Making Your Dreams Come True, Marcia has taken the concept of helping others to find their passion and follow their dreams and has built it into a thriving business, Marcia Weider Enterprises Her clients include corporations and organizations all over the world from the Gap to the Girls Scouts But it wasn't always so Early in her career, Marcia had built a multimillion-dollar marketing and media company... fetal tuck and nudges them into tomorrow's challenges We found that the lack of financial backing put good ideas and smart women out of business before they ever really started—and that a healthy infusion of cash can propel a burgeoning company over the shifting ground of today's financial times We also saw that women have traits that help us succeed; our ability to network is probably hardwired into... engaged in other activities, Jaimee always played "owner of something." She had her share of lemonade stands and was always conjuring up new business ideas—such as the one where she "borrowed" newspapers from the corner bin and sold them herself Until, that is, her mom gave her a fast course in business ethics After graduating from college and becoming involved in several marginally successful businesses, ... between a dream and a fantasy With a dream, you can design a strategy for getting there A fantasy is more like winning the lottery— there's nothing you can do to make it happen Are you curious about whether your own passion Can you turn your passion can be transformed into a busiinto a business? See Exercise ness? Or are you saying to yourself #1 in the Took Kit, page 176 that what you love is too small,... and acclaim "I was an ophthalmologist working in an optical store, a business that I found stale, medical, and serious—not at all fun And I had a really contrary idea that eyeglasses could be linked with fashion and beauty." Remember "Men don't make passes at women who wear glasses"? That slogan shows how unappealing the notion of eyeglasses used to be So when Selima started her company in the early... Passion 15 In just five years, Maxine has accomplished the unheard of in today's retail climate the building of an award-winning chain of 113 stores with sales of $170 million, not to mention thousands of satisfied customers and happy bears "I left the corporate world to bring theater back into retailing and to give back to the industry that had been so good to me It's all my dreams rolled into one."... economic independence We are committed to indomitable dreamers, to women like you When asked whether they have a dream, most women say, "No, I'm lucky if I can make it through the day, let alone have a dream." But we do indeed have dreams Dreams of starting businesses a bookstore, a marketing agency, the next eBay We dream of launching a computer software company or of developing a better way to store X-ray... the day, Maxine became the president of a May subsidiary, Pay-Less Shoe Stores "I loved my job Pay-Less was the May Company's largest division, a $2.5-billion, 4,500-store chain But a day came when I noticed that shopping as a form of entertainment had disappeared, and on a personal level, my own enthusiasm for shopping had crashed Work, too, was losing its buzz My psychic income bank account was at . Publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data The old girls' network : insider advice for women. that the lack of financial backing put good ideas and smart women out of business be- fore they ever really started—and that a healthy infusion