Hi there! Hope everyone is getting settled into the new school year. Maya recently started 5th grade. She is now in a new building and will soon be experiencing the rigors of intermediate school course work and sports, which got me thinking about the idea of healthy competition. In a world driven by success, how do we define competition for our children, and more importantly, how do we model it? Lately, I have been contemplating what competition means to me as a female entrepreneur of a retail website, and I am admittedly frustrated at what I perceive to be the untapped potential of competitive alliances. Self-preservation is an innate desire of humans and drives many retailers, but how do we expand on that basic model? For me, the answer is to view my competitors not as foes to be bested but rather as potential allies working toward a common goal. I’m sure you hear the term collaboration thrown around a lot, but the way I see it, collaboration is only part of it. I understand the advantage of collaborations, particularly with social media; I just feel they can be a bit short sighted. We should be thinking about the bigger impact of a partnership of sorts. I want my daughter to grow up watching me supporting, promoting and referring clients to my competitors. I want her to know that my desire to succeed is driven by an even bigger desire to foster a community of female entrepreneurs, so whether she’s on the tennis court, or later on in her career, she will understand the true nature of competition.
xo,
Elizabeth
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