September 16, 2011
Top Secrets of a Girl Entrepreneur
Linda Pond
Aviva Publishing (2010)
ISBN: 9781935586203
“Girl” Entrepreneur Reveals Her FABulous Secrets
Linda Pond may not technically be a girl, but she has the heart of one. It’s not giving away any secret to say that she is young at heart, and that is why she chose “Girl” rather than Female or Woman for the title of her new book. Linda believes in laughing, and she knows that younger people laugh and smile much more. Just one of the many top secrets she shares with her readers is to embrace their youth, to find the little girl (or boy) inside of them. Children see joy in life and Linda believes tapping into that joy is vital for entrepreneurial success. “From that youthful joy and enthusiasm,” she says, “will spring your passion and creativity that will lead you to successful entrepreneurship.”
“Top Secrets of a Girl Entrepreneur” may not tell you the specifics of how to build an entrepreneurial empire like Donald Trump or even Martha Stewart, but it will teach you about the entrepreneurial spirit and the mental and creative attitude required to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Linda begins the book by addressing the problem most people have: “The biggest trap to becoming an entrepreneur is self-doubt, which may start instantly after hatching an idea—it won’t work.... Even worse is when you start telling others about your ideas and then you let those people talk you out of pursuing them.” Linda realizes that people have ideas all the time, but sadly, most of us never do anything to bring those ideas to fruition, to create products, or to build our own businesses. She tells us how to overcome the weaknesses that lie within us and to embrace the possibilities. Beyond telling her secrets and providing practical and encouraging advice, she includes short journaling exercises to help us find out about ourselves. As she states early in the book:
If you are reading this book to learn how to become a successful entrepreneur, I can tell you right now that first you need to learn something about yourself. You need to know your own strengths and weaknesses in order to determine what you need to do to be successful—success comes from knowing how to build upon your strengths and how to work around or overcome your weaknesses, often turning those weaknesses into strengths as well. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is in essence a very personal journey, and what works for one person won’t necessarily work for everyone because we are all different. I can tell you what I’ve done to be successful, but you might need to take a different path in many ways.
Even if the reader fails to follow Linda’s advice or to become an entrepreneur herself, the reader will appreciate the many uplifting stories and jokes Linda tells, the inspirational quotes she provides, and her own story of how she turned her and her daughter’s idea for The FAB Light in to a product, and how she has sold the product to large companies, including Coghlan’s Ltd., the world’s largest supplier of camping and outdoor accessories.
Beyond just addressing how to be an entrepreneur, Linda Pond focuses on how to be a girl entrepreneur, and what it means to be a girl in what is still largely a man’s world. Now in her fifties, Linda details what it was like growing up as the only girl with five brothers, not being wanted in the Mess Hall as a military wife when few women were in the military, and then how she went from working for others to creating her own company that helps connect people, as well as how she became an inventor.
I won’t give away all of Linda’s secrets, but one you have to love is “Growing Balls.” Linda tells us just how a woman can, at least metaphorically, grow a pair. Pond also gives us practical advice on how to network, including that often elusive talent—how to remember names.
Perhaps best of all, Linda Pond wants to inspire others. As a mother and grandmother, she has encouraged and supported her daughter and her granddaughter (and also her grandson) in their aspirations, and she concludes the book talking about the importance of encouraging girls and young women. She even talks about how she supported a male friend in business. “Helping people discover their greatness is one of the most generous things you can do for your fellow human beings. As part of my gratitude for finding my own energized peace, I am now helping others to find theirs.”
Pond’s vitality and joie de vivre, as well as her honesty, her ability to laugh at herself, and her desire to help others all make her a delightful role model for girls of all ages, whether or not they wish to be entrepreneurs. In any case, readers will discover their own greatness through reading about how Linda discovered hers and applying the secrets she so willingly shares.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of the award-winning “Narrow Lives”
