A new year is a time to reflect upon past mistakes and self-improvement.

Article written by:  Stephanie Rahman

During the moth of January the media bombards the public with weight loss and gym commercials.  Woman’s magazines run stories on how to organize and eliminate; improve time management skills, etc.  Frankly, I have always found these self-improvement messages to be overwhelming.   Sure there are things about myself that I would like to change. However, I never really knew how to start going about making these changes. Little did I know that on January, 8  2011, the KC Women’s Network meeting would provide me with some insight on the steps that I needed to take to start making positive changes in my life.

I walked into the meeting about 6:20 PM, and immediately felt the energy in the room. Several women who had arrived before me were busy networking and discussing the holidays and what was going on with their businesses.  More women arrived, and I was surprised at the large number of people at this meeting.   I later learned that we had  43 members and seven guests that were in attendance.

Candice Diddle called the meeting to order.   Cathy Weaver who is in charge of our Welcome Committee, introduced our guests and gave a description of their businesses. As always, I was impressed with how well she promotes other businesses.  Candice discussed our next Ladies Night Out event and introduced our Volunteer Coordinator Cara Madden.  Cara told us the group would be working on projects benefiting the Kansas City Union Mission for the next six months.  It reminded me of how proud I was to be part of an organization that helps the less fortunate in the Kansas City community. .

Myra Schulte who is in charge of our Speaker Committee, introduced guest speaker Tina Pulley, who specializes in developing people personally, professionally and physically.  Tina is a Certified Life Coach and personal trainer and has over twenty-six years of experience helping people achieve their personal and business goals. Tina started speaking and I was impressed with her energy, bubbly personality and humbleness.

Tina had us write down our different life roles.  For many, this exercise was an eye opener as they realized the many different roles that they juggle in their business and personal life.   Lastly, she had us circle all the feelings that we have ever had.  The point of this exercise was to teach us that feelings were not bad.  They were just feelings.

After Tina spoke members of the group donated seventeen door prizes that were then handed out. The members then spent time talking about their businesses.  The meeting then adjourned.  All in all it was an inspiring, worthwhile meeting.