“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow.” – Marissa Mayer
Whenever my kids or I are scared to try something new, I reach for a quote; quite literally when caught in a 
parenting quagmire or facing a work-related conundrum, I will Google “good quote for …” I love quotes. For someone known for lengthy prose, it is sort of ironic that quotes are usually enough for me. The quote above is true about me, up until recently.
Surfing … was not ready … I did it. Marriage, parenting, getting laid off (okay, not really a choice, but I sure did grow)—none of these were things I was ready for. But yet with each step, there was growth! For a while, I have been wanting to open up the kind of workout place that I would enjoy going to, since nothing exists in my town that makes me both sweat and smile! For more than two years, I have thought about, talked about it and yet found fear or even “just not ready” being the reason I have held back. Finally, this old quote reminded me that I haven’t felt growth in a while and that perhaps it is time once again to do something I am not really ready to do.
So in the upcoming months, I will share my journey of owning not one but TWO businesses in Long Beach, New York. Yes, I will still be the publisher of this amazing magazine, but just last week I signed a lease to open a hot Pilates, barre and dance studio called Core 95. “Core” because it will work your core and “95” for many reasons, but the one that resonates most with me is that as I age, 95% of my whole body strength comes from my core. Seriously, have you ever seen someone with insane abs and a fat … anything? Nope!
The classes will end with a three- to five-minute meditation, most often with a focus on gratitude. I will be your publisher, yes, but because I need to grow I will also be a “sweat and smile consultant” alongside my niece Shannon.
How about you? Is there something right now that you would like to do that you haven’t been ready to do, like taking up a hobby or learning a new skill? Or maybe you are sitting with a business idea that you are not quite ready to move from paper to the street?
If owning a business is something you would like to do but feel you are not ready, I suggest Googling “free business plan template” and creating YOUR business plan if you haven’t already done so. Also, I hope that the women in this month’s “Women in Business” feature inspire you as they do me. Finally, if you are sitting with a “thing” that you are not ready to do, consider May as the month to “get doing.” The truth is Marissa Mayer is right: Doing something you are “a little not ready to do” is how you grow! So monthly readers, “Let’s GROW!”
Malama Pono!
Kelly Martinsen, Publisher
