Women Thriving in Business

Episode 407: My Mother's Legacy: Dreams, Beliefs, Action

December 15, 2021 Nikki Rogers Season 4 Episode 7
Women Thriving in Business
Episode 407: My Mother's Legacy: Dreams, Beliefs, Action
Show Notes Transcript

"Life is just too long to do something that you hate and too short not to do what you love." - Nikki Rogers

This week's episode hits really close to home - so close that at one point I didn’t think I could get through it. Some memories are bittersweet, both loving and painful, especially when it’s about the most important woman in your life.

In this episode, I commemorate my mom's birthday, and it has given me the opportunity to reflect on the lessons and inspiration that she shared with me. Though she's no longer with me in person, she continues to be a part of my journey and will always be in my heart.

I was fortunate enough to have a mother who inspired me to excel. Her memory lives on - in me and in the legacy she's left behind, which I summarized into these three crucial points:

  • Dreams. My mother had a dream that she had held onto for years, and she never let it go. This provided an example and gave me permission to explore the possibilities and define my own dream.
  • Beliefs.  My mother taught me to operate in excellence and always expect to win. I apply that philosophy in my business, by establishing a foundation for success that supports implementation. 
  • Action. From my mother’s example, I learned that in order to achieve my goals, I have to be willing to take the next best step towards my dream.  It’s never too late to take that first step, or in my case, the leap, that will put you on the path to greatness.

One more thing - remember to appreciate those that you have in your life right now and those who are no longer with us but are motivators and silent mentors that remind you the world is full of possibilities.

Thriving Points:

  • Life is just too long to do something that you hate and too short not to do what you love.
  • Out of that challenging time after my mother’s passing, I began to recognize that what I was doing for a career was no longer a fit for the life that I wanted to have.
  • My mother passed away very suddenly without warning, and it just made me realize and recognize that no day is promised to you. You can wake up one morning and have all these plans in place and not make it to the next day.
  • I really wanted to start living my life in a way that supported my spirit, that supported myself.
  • The thought of my mother's still striving in her later years just really compelled me to take the risk, take the leap and get started in my business.
  • What is your dream for who you want to be in life? Write that down. Think about it, meditate on it. Don't worry about the how of that right now, because that will come later. But really figure out what is your dream.
  • Why was I surprised about having a good outcome? I expect excellence. I expect greatness. I expect to win. And if I don't win, I still learn.
  • Action is about taking one step towards your dream.

About the Show:

     Women Thriving in Business features candid unscripted conversations with entrepreneurs, business experts, authors, and academics aimed at contributing to business success. This weekly show provides interviews with business leaders who have built, grown, and are thriving in business. Nikki A. Rogers, host of the show, also discusses achievements, lessons learned, and advice for aspiring business owners to develop the mindset, strategies, and connections necessary to thrive in business. Whether you are just starting or you have been in business for decades, WTiB offers inspiration, strategies, and resources to help you THRIVE in business.

Connect with Nikki:

A Team Dklutr Production

Nikki Rogers: Your business is an asset that can support a thriving life. I believe this, and I'm committed to making this a reality for every entrepreneur and business owner who listens to this podcast. The Women Thriving in Business Podcast was created with you in mind, whether you were thinking about entrepreneurship or you're a business veteran, this podcast has inspiration, information, and advice you can use to thrive in business. Women Thriving in Business features, candid unscripted conversations with entrepreneurs, business experts, authors, and academics who will contribute to your business success. I seek out and talk with business leaders who have built, grown, and thrive in business. My name is Nikki Rogers, transformation coach, author, and the host of the Women Thriving in Business Podcast. I work with women entrepreneurs to develop the mindset, strategies, and connections necessary to thrive in business. Join me and your fellow Thrivers each week on this journey of discovery and success.

Welcome Thrivers to this week's episode of Women Thriving in Business Podcast. I'm your host, Nikki Rogers. And I'm so delighted to have you here with me today. Today's episode is a special one in which I am commemorating the birthday of my mother, Valeria Rogers. And I am sharing some of the lessons that I believe are a part of the legacy that she has left behind. Today's episode is all about dreams, beliefs, and taking action so that you can thrive. So listen in, let's go. 

Welcome Thrivers to this week's episode. And this is a special episode because it is going live on my mother's birthday, December 15th. And this is a special day because my mother, Mary Valeria Monroe Rogers, would have been 72 years old on this day. My mother passed away suddenly in December 2016. So it's been almost five years since she passed away. And I really wanted to spend this year on her birthday, celebrating her life, commemorating her life, and really expressing my appreciation and my gratitude for the insights and the lessons that she passed down to me. And to really say thank you because she was very much the inspiration for me starting my own business, for starting The Bladen Group. 

So when my mother passed away five years ago, it was a very sad time. It was a very dark time. I spent a lot of time feeling very sad, angry, depressed, and feeling a bit untethered because upon the passing of my mother, it felt like my brothers and I were really orphans. Adult orphans, but orphans nevertheless because my father had passed away about 11 years prior to my mother's death. So we really were left without any parents. And that's a very odd and disorienting experience and feeling to have as an adult, I would say. Especially at the time, I had a very young son, and so it really felt like this was really the time that it would be great to have my mother around to really help me grow up as a parent. To learn the lessons that you can only learn once you are a parent.

And so it was really a challenging time. And out of that challenging time, I began to recognize that what I was doing for a career was no longer a fit for the life that I wanted to have. And it really brought home the fact that life was just too short. My mother passed away very suddenly without warning, and it just made me realize and recognize that no day is promised to you. You can wake up one morning and have all these plans in place and not make it to the next day. And so, I really wanted to start living my life in a way that supported my spirit, that supported myself. 

One of the things that really compel that feeling of you never know what's going to happen and that you should embrace the current moment is that as I was looking through some of my mother's paperwork after she had passed away, I found a business plan that she had been working on for the shoe store that she had always talked about the opening. And I found this document where she had started to map out this dream that she had for so long and started to document it. My mother had retired about two years before she passed away. And she had worked for over 30 years, 30 plus years. And she was now, finally, taking those steps in order to actually realize this dream she had had for a very long time. And when I found that document, I thought to myself that I didn't want my son to find one of my unfulfilled business plans and wonder what might have been. And so the fact that my mother at 67 years of age was still working to pursue her dreams, she had not given up and that she was taking those next steps, I realized that that was something I could just get started on sooner rather than later. 

So, as I said, I spent quite a few months dealing with the emotional aftermath of losing my mom. And once I got past a bit of that, I started to realize that the job that I was in, the company that I was in was no longer a fit for where I saw myself going in life. And I started thinking about how I could start my own business and pursue full-time entrepreneurship. And really this thought of my mother's still striving in her later years just really compelled me to take the risk, take the leap, and get started in my business. And so I will say, there were a few lessons that my mother taught me. I would say, these are her legacy to me, are these three things and they are dreams, beliefs, and action. 

So the dream part is my mother had a dream that she had held onto for years, and she never let it go. And so that to me meant that I could dream of a possibility. I could explore the possibilities and figure out what my dream was. And I knew that my dream was to start my own business so that I can help others be great and thrive in their businesses as well. So, when you think about yourself, what is your dream? And I asked, what is your dream really for your life? And not like a dream about what you want to do or which you want to have, but really who is it that you want to be? So, what is your dream for who you want to be in life? Write that down. Think about it, meditate on it. Don't worry about the how of that right now, because that will come later. But really figure out what your dream is. So a dream, that was the first piece of the legacy that my mother left for me. 

The second part is belief. And my mother taught me to always expect greatness, to always expect to win. And sometimes this drove me crazy. But often I would come home from school whether it be when I was younger or even in college, I would come home and say, mom, I got this great grade. And she would say, well, did you expect any less? And that always stopped me in my tracks. Because the truth of the matter is, I expected to get a good grade. I did the work to get a good grade. So why was I surprised about having a good outcome? And I apply that same thing in my business. I expect to win. And if I don't win, I still learn. Which then leads to me winning anyway. I expect excellence. I expect greatness. I expect to win. So when you think about what is going on in your life, in your business, are you expecting greatness? Because that's the way that you're actually going to achieve your goals- expect that you're going to win. And that involves believing in yourself, believing in your abilities, believing in the dream that we started talking about before. So that's the second item, beliefs. 

And the third piece of the legacy that I feel that my mother left me is action. And this was around the fact that no matter how old she got, she kept learning, she kept dreaming, and she realized it was never too late to take action. It was never too late to pursue her passion. And so that action involves taking one step towards your dream. And this manifested itself for me and really took that leap into entrepreneurship. And the funny thing is that as soon as I resigned from my job and said, I wanted to go off and start my own business, I got a client that very same day. I got a client that same day. And before I had finished my notice, I actually had a contract, a signed sealed contract to go back and continue to work for my company or my former employer but as my own business. But that never would have happened had I not taken that leap. So you actually have to take action, go towards your goals, and again, this was one of the things that my mother was doing right before she passed away. She was taking that step. She was going and taking business classes. She was building her business plan and starting to take action on her dreams. And those are the steps that actually motivated me, that inspired me, that told me that, you know what, things will be okay if you just try it out, if you just take the next step, and it truly was. 

So if there's something that you are called to do, if there's something that you have a passion about, if there's something that you think is what is going to make your life worth living, you should remember that life is just too long to do something that you hate, and that life is too short not to do what you love. So if you don't remember anything else, please remember these three components that I think are the legacy, the things that I appreciate from my mother, Mary Valeria Rogers, whose birthday I celebrate and honor today.

But these are three pieces of her legacy. Dreams, keep dreaming. Beliefs, expect that you can be great. Expect that you're going to win and be successful. And then action. Dreams, beliefs, actions, and take that very next step that will get you on the path or take the very next step on the path toward the future that you are dreaming of.

Thank you Thrivers, please, please, please remember to appreciate those that you have in your life right now, those who have gone before and who are no longer with us but who are motivators, reminders of who you can be. Dreams, belief, action. Take your best next step today to thrive. 

Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Women Thriving in Business Podcast. If you like this episode, share it with a friend. You can also join us on social media to share your feedback and comments. We'd love to hear from you. Be sure to like, review and subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Until next week, keep thriving.