Sunday is Mother’s Day and I thought that was a good time to tell you about the lessons I learned from my mother.
I have the best mom in the world.
Really.
She reminds me of that Mariah Carey song ‘Make it happen’:
“If you believe in yourself enough and know what you want
You’re gonna make it happen (Make it happen)”
The woman is my biggest supporter and greatest criticaster at the same time. She always taught me to believe in myself. Which is the best gift you can give to a young girl growing up. You can’t hide from her. She just showers you with unconditional love. And I do realize how fortunate I am, because not everyone has a mom and if they do it is not always a great relationship.
So what have I learned from my mom when it comes to personal branding? A lot! But let’s focus on her 4 most important lessons.
– Don’t be afraid to try something new.
I guess I learned this at an early age. When my parents divorced, my mom moved us from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and that took courage. She felt she had nothing to loose and looking back that moment has defined my life, because I realized you can always start over. Since that first move she has had several moments of doing new things and she always looked at every situation like she was Pippi Lockstocking: “I have never tried that before, so i think I should definitely be able to do that”.
– You can always re-invent yourself.
After we moved to Amsterdam my mom started going to school again. Before that she had never finished high school, but she pushed herself and kept on learning, even getting a degree a few years ago in holistic studies (after a long career as a social worker).
– Your mindset is everything.
Growing up my mom always said “when it comes to money I can do magic “. Her motto was never worry, it will turn out ok. She was always so positive! And that made me always look at the bright side of life. Ofcourse you have setbacks, but if you continue to keep getting up and moving forward in the end everything will be ok.
– Speak up and be heard.
My 2 brothers and I are not afraid to speak our minds. No really, you can’t shut us up! This comes from the fact that we were always encouraged to speak up as children, much to the annoyance of several elders. We were told to tell the truth and stay true to our believes.
You know they say mom knows best? Well in my case it definitely is the truth. My mum knows best.
So tell me ladies, what have you learned from your mom?
XOXO,
Nancy
Make it happen
Sunday is Mother’s Day and I thought that was a good time to tell you about the lessons I learned from my mother.
I have the best mom in the world.
Really.
She reminds me of that Mariah Carey song ‘Make it happen’:
“If you believe in yourself enough and know what you want
You’re gonna make it happen (Make it happen)”
The woman is my biggest supporter and greatest criticaster at the same time. She always taught me to believe in myself. Which is the best gift you can give to a young girl growing up. You can’t hide from her. She just showers you with unconditional love. And I do realize how fortunate I am, because not everyone has a mom and if they do it is not always a great relationship.
So what have I learned from my mom when it comes to personal branding? A lot! But let’s focus on her 4 most important lessons.
– Don’t be afraid to try something new.
I guess I learned this at an early age. When my parents divorced, my mom moved us from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and that took courage. She felt she had nothing to loose and looking back that moment has defined my life, because I realized you can always start over. Since that first move she has had several moments of doing new things and she always looked at every situation like she was Pippi Lockstocking: “I have never tried that before, so i think I should definitely be able to do that”.
– You can always re-invent yourself.
After we moved to Amsterdam my mom started going to school again. Before that she had never finished high school, but she pushed herself and kept on learning, even getting a degree a few years ago in holistic studies (after a long career as a social worker).
– Your mindset is everything.
Growing up my mom always said “when it comes to money I can do magic “. Her motto was never worry, it will turn out ok. She was always so positive! And that made me always look at the bright side of life. Ofcourse you have setbacks, but if you continue to keep getting up and moving forward in the end everything will be ok.
– Speak up and be heard.
My 2 brothers and I are not afraid to speak our minds. No really, you can’t shut us up! This comes from the fact that we were always encouraged to speak up as children, much to the annoyance of several elders. We were told to tell the truth and stay true to our believes.
You know they say mom knows best? Well in my case it definitely is the truth. My mum knows best.
So tell me ladies, what have you learned from your mom?
XOXO,
Nancy
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
The title is an intentional sensational spelling for “thank you for letting me be myself again”. It’s from an old Sly & the Family Stone track. Janet Jackson sampled some of it on her Rhythm Nation Song. What I love about this band from the 60-ies and 70-ies is that they were very innovative. The band consisted of black, white, male and female band members. This in an era where segregation had just ended in America and feminism was only starting.
I was thinking about the meaning of this song when I spoke to a business woman this week about the fact that she was miserable at her job.
These lyrics came to mind:
Many men are missin’ much
Hatin’ what they do”
This woman I spoke to had a very demanding upbringing. Her parents decided what she went on to study and she felt that she had never really made any decisions in her life. It made her very unhappy. The outside world saw a women with a great career, children and a husband. But that was not satisfying her. She felt she couldn’t talk to anyone about this. This made me realize how lucky I am with my sisterhood of wonderful women.
I really believe in sisterhood. Especially for those of you who work in a male dominated workplace, because:
1. Women need other women.
There was a study that said women with a strong, supportive circle of friends had much greater chances of survival than women who where socially isolated.
2. We need a deeper emotional connection.
Our brains work differently than those of men and we need that deep emotional connection. We need to be heard and understood.
3. It is really inspiring and empowering.
I know my sisters have my back, which allows me to believe in myself more and inspires me to follow my own path.
So many women are not themselves and going to work with masks on. With your sisters you can take that mask off and just be. And then hopefully in the future you will allow yourself to be yourself in any situation.
Think about it!
On the 24th of June we are giving you an opportunity to connect with other like-minded women. It will be organized by the Harper’s Bazaar Network Academy in collaboration with BrandedU. Our aim is to inspire you by making role models visible, help you connect with other career women and to help you make yourself visible! Be seen the way you want to be seen.
Join our network here!
XOXO,
Nancy
Wake me up
Did you hear about the famous DJ Avicii being found dead in his hotel room last Friday? He was only 28 years old. It made me think of a DJ I used to work with when I was still an artist manager. Wonder how his life would have turned out if he would have reached the level of succes that Avicii had.
“Feeling my way through the darkness
Guided by a beating heart
I can’t tell where the journey will end
But I know where to start”
Being in the spotlight is hard. Being in the spotlight and having enormous success is even harder. Especially when you don’t set boundaries and don’t focus on your core values. I talk about my core values in this month’s Happinez magazine. Without my core values I am completely lost. Having defined them keeps me focused and grounded.
“They tell me I’m too young to understand
They say I’m caught up in a dream
Well life will pass me by if I don’t open up my eyes
Well that’s fine by me”
Because success is like a drug. Once you have it you want more of it. Failure can seem like death instead of a lesson to do things differently. So you can get caught up in the nonsense coming from the outside. All the stuff feeding your ego instead of what can actually make you happy. So you create this image for the outside world. You pretend to be happy, but in fact you are miserable. I heard that yoga teachers these days are half psychiatrists, because so many young women are depressed or have a burn-out. But nobody talks about this on social media.
“So wake me up when it’s all over
When I’m wiser and I’m older”
When I start talking about authenticity, I know that it is all based on vulnerability and that means asking for help. I would be lost without my network of fabulous female entrepreneurs. They are my cheerleaders when things get tough. Together with my core values and soul purpose I get up after I fall down, knowing this too shall past. Nothing lasts forever. Not success and not failure. All you can do is know yourself, because authenticity is more than just a fashion statement.
“All this time I was finding myself, and I
Didn’t know I was lost”
So wake up and focus on you. Know thyself, so nobody can tell you who you should be.
XOXO,
Nancy
PS: there are still a few places left for Renew Yourself Week if you want help finding yourself!
PPS Humanity in Action is an international educational organization that educates, inspires and connects a global network of students committed to promoting human rights, diversity and active citizenship. I am one of their board members and for our summer program we need host families. Are you willing to help one of their summer programs students by giving them a room from June 5 – July 5 2018? Check out this website for more info on how to help!
Bag Lady
Remember Erykah Badu?
Wellllll…. when she came on the music scene back in 1997 people called her “a breath of fresh air”. It was like we were all waiting for that new and exciting way of looking at soul and R&B music. Her sound was unique, but sounded familiar. And it was great to hear her talk about relationships in an brutally honest and caring way.
Like this song.
“Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold onto, is you, is you, is you
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way
I said one day all them bags gon’ get in your way
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way, so pack light,
Pack light, mm, pack light, pack light, oh ooh”
She’s saying that yeah, bad things do happen, but if you’re feeling the pain from it you should deal with it and not let the past bring you down. Those negative feelings of disappointment, anger, insecurities and sadness will weight you down and prevent you from seeing all the other great things that could lead to your happiness.
Like Erykah sang:
“Bag lady you gon’ miss your bus
So pack light!
But I can hear you say, well Nancy, that is easier said than done (and Angie Stone wrote a song about that ;-)). I know it’s hard, so let me look at it from an artist perspective.
– Erykah always is herself. I love how she had on her traditional African head scarf, the bigger it was the better with Erykah. She is so unique and she fully works her uniqueness. I follow her on Instagram and she really does not care what people think of her. She just is.
– Start breathing. Yeah something as simple as breathing and being present in your breath can help. Just ask Tina Turner who left an abusive relationship with Ike Turner after she implemented meditation in her daily routine. It gave her strength and trust in herself.
– Focus on love. “Bet ya love can make it better, baby baby”. It is true love does win. I mean first of all people who are loving attract more people and are more positive, because in the end who wants to be around a negative person all the time?
This will make your bagage feel less heavy. Focus on these things. And remember to breath my sweet Nancy.
Enjoy the sun today and remember to PACK LIGHT!
XOXO,
Nancy
PS – Did you register already for Free a Girl?
PPS – There are still a few places left for Renew Yourself Week, join us here if you can use some me-time.
PPPS – Did you download my free Personal Branding course yet? You can still do that this week here. Be quick!