Facing your Fears

I recently facilitated a roundtable at a WE Share event for the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. Over a hundred prominent business women participated from all over the tri-state area and the focus of the roundtable discussions was the importance of overcoming your fears in order to be the best business woman you can be. This was certainly not a new topic for me considering I was overwhelmed with many fears and challenges when I began as a Consultant (who had never even seen a bedroom toy) back in 1983, and when I decided to launch Pure Romance out of the basement of my home in 1993.

One of the parables we discussed during our roundtable session was a powerful story about elephants. Unbeknownst to me, I discovered that zoos and circuses tie up baby elephants and adult elephants with the same sized chain. This seems strange considering that a full-grown elephant could easily snap a chain of this size like a twig. What keeps them there? The reason this strategy works is because the elephant has been trained since youth that it cannot escape and because of this lack of awareness it doesn’t try to break the chain. This struck a chord with me in so many ways. When I started my company, I had to break out of the thinking that I wouldn’t be capable of running a company successfully and this also applies to many of our customers who need to break out of dated or stigmatized ways of thinking when it comes to sexuality and their well-being or health.

Whether you are starting a new business venture, approaching a doctor or partner about an embarrassing or intensely private intimacy issue, or even if you are experiencing fear from trying something new or out of your element, remember this story and realize that you have the power to succeed if you just take the time and courage to realize it.

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