Tweet

Beware of Sharks in Dolphin’s Clothing

Written by: Chellie Campbell

Article Overview: Have you ever noticed that some of the people who profess to be the most loving, spiritual people are some of the most angry, awful, judgmental people you’ve ever met?

Beware of Sharks in Dolphin’s Clothing

This woman you mention may be a wonderful business person and do a lot of good in the world, so I am not going to say she’s a bad person…BUT! The responses she is giving you are certainly not helpful to you nor are they appropriate for a “mentor” who is supposed to be helping. It sounds like she has an “old school” mentality, and is rather rigid in her assessment of what might make someone qualified to be successful. It reminded me of the fight women had to get ahead in the workplace. No credit was given for women’s ability to manage a household, the family finances, the time-management and organizational skills it takes to get a team of people running smoothly as a group, and the sales ability to get kids to do their homework, pick up their room, etc. or to get a husband to remember their anniversary. The coaching, diplomacy, teaching, bookkeeping, financial skills needed to run a household absolutely translate into being talented and accomplished at many jobs, including yours. I invited you to make a personal inventory of your skills in the same manner and translate that into business skills, which would include the ability to be of loving service in nurturing others and to care deeply for others well-being. And you have how many years of experience at that?

As for your work being “too New Agey” – what does she mean by that anyway? Too soft or too fun or too touchy feely or too what exactly? I always find comments like that rather funny. Sort of like when the woman at the NAWBO meeting I spoke at told me after the speech that I really should dress more appropriately if I was going to talk about a serious subject like money (a reference to my gold tennis shoes). Well, she sold suits for a living, so I knew where she was coming from. And I understand that some people won’t like that I wear tennis shoes, but other people are charmed by it – and those are “My People” and she was “Not My People”. I would suggest that your “mentor” is “Not Your People” – not bad, not wrong, but just not YOURS. I’ll bet there are bunches of people who ARE Your People and will love everything about what you stand for and what you do. And they’ll even like things that are “too New Agey” too, I’ll bet.

Whatever you do, don’t take any one person’s disparagement of your skills or business model to heart before you test it for yourself. If you talk to this woman in the future, talk about the weather, or movies, or food, but don’t ask her for any advice because she probably can’t give you any that is constructive. One mentor might not be great for you where another one is. Try them all on for size, proud of who you are and relishing the differences between who you are and what you do and all the things that others might do. People will come who like you and what you have to say. Rely on it! The best revenge is living well, so go out and prosper helping others prosper!

Related Articles
  Why Swim with Sharks When You Can Swim with Dolphins
  High Fashion and Web Design
  Needling for the Need
  Trademark Your Clothing Line
  Palms Shopping Mall, Changing Retail Distribution in Nigeria

Article Tags: compatibility, div, endif, fareast, footer, gte, layout grid, mce, mso, orphan, paper source, punctuation, style definitions, style name, table border, times new roman, xml, zoom



Related Forum Posts
Re: Buy An Established Affiliate Marketing Website - Hi David and GT, thanks for posting this here. My site is going for way below value and will be a great deal for someone. The links provided are a great resource for anyone looking to buy and sell websites. The Internet is all about information and you can know what you are getting before you buy. It's a little better than days past where it was "Buyer Beware". Steve
Clothing Franchises - I believe that there are quite a few franchises for larger brands such as Diesel, Lacoste and Bennetton etc... but I am not sure how these contracts work. In New Zealand, Canada & Switzerland Clothing Franchises are for smaller designer brands & Outdoor clothing -- such as Bivouac, the great Outdoors etc Ian
Distribute European products in US - I have been approached by a few companies from Europe to distribute their product like Clothing, chocolates, shoes, bags, etc here in the US. Now I am not 100% sure if I want to do this because I would like to meet them in person and actually see the quality of the products. Anyone ever done this type of business? Where you had to deal with potential international suppliers? I have asked for samples and catalogs, but haven’t gotten a response yet (been only a day). These products would be new to the US. But nothing "unique".
Same Name, Different Class - Don't despair the lack of response as your entry posted on a Saturday when many here are not reviewing the Board. It matters less that like marks are assigned to the same class as much as it does whether their goods/services are the same or confusingly similar. Classes are used to determine filing fees. The same goods and services are often mentioned in multiple classes. "Clothing", for instance, is mentioned in 17 different classes of goods and services at the PTO. What's important is that the goods/services you are offering under your mark are not the same goods/services the medical company is offering under theirs. If there is no confusion of use in the marketplace, then there should be no problem with using the exact same mark. If, however, there is another entity already using the same mark with the same goods/services, then you may have a problem. I am not an attorney so you might want to consider having an attorney order a full, international trademark search from a qualified search entity, such as T&T, CT research or NameProtect, to make sure your mark is truly available for use and registration. It's $1K+ well spent when you consider what you will be investing in your mark to get your goods into production and distribution. Well, I filed an application online so let's see what happens. Thank you for taking the time to respond


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Build Corporate Credit for Your Small Business

Why We MUST Reinvent The Wheel

How Promotional Caps became a Fashion Trend

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.