Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Women Entrepreneurs Never Become Sadder and Sicker At Midlife

Do women entrepreneurs ever become sadder and sicker at midlife? Let me speak from experience: No. Because our choice is to create our own destiny. Why would we choose to do something that makes us sad and sick?

According to Michelle Conlin at BusinessWeek, for career women who work in corporate America, it's another story. Read what she has to say on the subject here:

Career Women at Midlife: Sadder and Sicker

"Over the last 50 years, women have secured greater opportunity, greater achievement, greater influence, and more money. But over the same time period, they have become less happy, more anxious, more stressed, and, in ever-increasing numbers, they are medicating themselves for it," says management thinker and author Marcus Buckingham, who tackles the subject in his upcoming book, due out in September (Laurel here ... this is quoted directly from source but the title of book is actually different; refer below): Find Your Strongest Life: What the Most Successful and Resilient Women Do Differently. "Better education and job opportunities and freedoms have decreased life happiness for women."
Okay, tell me how male author Buckingham is going to do a good job on a book about what the happiest and most successful women do differently (to not make themselves sad or sick)? Don't get me wrong, up until now, I've always liked Buckingham's work but why do we need a man to shed light on why career women are becoming sadder and sicker?

What struck me in the article is the part about Kathy Caprino. It wasn't until she was canned when she got her life together:

Needing a Road Map

For Caprino, the answer was in a fearless and searching reevaluation of her life. She watched. She listened. She slowed down. Eventually, she went back to school to score a therapist's degree while her musician husband expanded his job portfolio. Today, Caprino runs an executive coaching consultancy. Her recent book, Breakdown, Breakthrough, is a road map for women who crash into middle-age, dizzy with confusion.

What are your thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from you!

4 comments:

Kathy Caprino said...

Hi Laurel - thanks for your great post. I'm Kathy Caprino, the author of Breakdown, Breakthrough mentioned in the Business Week article. I found your post ringing very true! I believe that the existing corporate male competitive career model simply doesn't work for the majority of women, and dramatic reform is necessary for women to succeed and thrive there, over the long arc of their careers. I also believe that women know in ways men do not, just how challenging it is to balance work and family life. Men and women have very different worldviews, and as such, women know best about women's needs.

Thanks for your great work, and looking forward to continuing the dialogue.

Laurel Delaney said...

Hi, Kathy,

Great to hear from you! And thank you so much for weighing in with your comments which are very important to us.

Congratulations on both your book and choice to become an entrepreneur. Oh how I wish I would have known you when you were going through such a difficult time in your life! If that happens again, be sure to pay us a visit and let us know because our blog serves as a safety net for a lot of women entrepreneurs who have finally made it out of Corporate America and into business ownership.

I went back into my original post and created a link to your book and website. Hopefully, that will make it a lot easier for folks to find you.

Wishing you continued success and many more breakthroughs ...

Laurel

Unknown said...

Hi Laurel,

I really enjoyed this post!

I think alot of the sickness women experience in the corporate environment has to do with the exhaustion from being forced to fit into the male paradigm.

I too have escaped the Corporate world and am on the path to reinvention. Even without the certainty of where the next cash infusion will come from I have never been happier !

I blog on my journey at http://onewomanseye.blogspot.com

Look forward to reading your next posts.

Joanne

Laurel Delaney said...

Hi, Joanne,

Thanks for paying a visit to Escape From Corporate America and for offering your opinion which we really value.

Congratulations on the launch of your own reinvention and One Woman's Eye (just checked it out and very interesting -- keep it up).

And for every person who asks you "When are you going to get a real job?" Respond with, "I have one, thank you very, very much!"

Keep up your fine work and let me know how I can help you keep the wind behind your sail.

Best wishes,
Laurel

P.S. Check out:
http://www.womenentrepreneursGROWglobal.org -- you might like that too!