(Martha Stewart on Talkline Monday at the Women in Leadership conference at the Greenbrier)
One of the dominant traits of the mainstream media is that we tend to see most stories through a political spectrum; politics are not a sideshow, they are the main attraction, so many stories are told through the prism of political winners and losers.
This is particularly true nationally. The numbers show the economic recovery continues to be sluggish, so what’s the political price for President Obama? How will Mitt Romney try to use that to his advantage?
Additionally, if the media template is that the economy is weak, the media find a struggling business through which to tell the story. "With the economic recovery lagging, Joe Businessman has had to lay off more workers."
Of course, the struggles are real, but it’s not always the full story. America still has a nearly bottomless reservoir of entrepreneurial spirit, and I had a chance Monday to witness it at the Women in Leadership Conference at the Greenbrier Resort.
Here are a few examples:
Susan Feldman and a friend pooled their savings in 2008 to start an on-line company specializing in home decor and furnishings. Last year, One King’s Lane had over $100 million in sales.
Barbara Bradley BaekgGaard co-founded Vera Bradley in her home in 1982, borrowing $250 from her husband. Today Vera Bradley is one of the market leaders in handbags, luggage and accessories.
Nancy Soriano spent ten years as editor-in-chief of Country Living Magazine, but she left the safety and comfort of that position to start her own content and brand strategy consulting firm.
Cindi Bigelow knew as a child that she wanted to be in the family business, Bigelow Tea, a company started by her grandmother in 1945. Today Bigelow is the market leader in tea and Cindi Bigelow is the company president.
And finally, there’s Martha Stewart. The style icon did not let her five-month stint in a federal prison for lying to a federal investigator about a stock transaction shut her down.
One year after Stewart was released from prison, her company was profitable again. Now she’s back on top with a new book. And for Stewart, like most of the entrepreneurs, the success started with a simple idea. In Stewart’s case, it was a family catering business.
What struck me most about these women is that they did not focus on the myriad obstacles that they faced. Each had an idea or a desire to expand on the vision of another creator.
These entrepreneurs may indeed have deep political convictions, but none seemed to view politics as primary or even secondary to their businesses. And the best among them weren’t even daunted by the condition of the national economy.
They seem far more concerned with customer satisfaction and market share than the approval ratings of the President or the Congress.
For these women, it was about discovering their passion and working as hard as they possibly could to be successful, and that success benefits others. An idea becomes a product or service that people want or need and, as a result, the economy grows and wealth is created.
Of course, the state of the political leadership of the country is critical, and businesses are impacted dramatically by the overall condition of the economy. But when it comes to the economy, what matters most is that the country continues to value the creative light of entrepreneurship that shows the way for growth.