Find your strength

Sherri T.

I remember my mother sitting alone one evening at the kitchen table. She was making a list of everything she could do. All her abilities. 

She had completed only high school and didn’t have any professional credentials. But she did have lots of skills. She could type, use the phone, babysit, read, write, speak French and exercise.

She was listing her skills to figure out how to turn them into a small home business.

Based on her dial-up abilities, mom started by advertising her services as social secretary. She made phone calls (or wanted to) on behalf of busy people who had lots to do but not enough time. 

Not surprisingly, the business did not succeed. Anyone who had money to pay someone to make phone calls for them usually was well placed in a company and had a personal assistant. 

Today, event planning is a lucrative business. Mom was well ahead of her time. But she had no access to the social networks required to succeed in that kind of enterprise.

Onto the next venture – or adventure. Mom set up an exercise group in the basement of our home. She was a “personal trainer,” again before it became all the rage.

She got out the record player and the 5BX Plan. It was the handbook used by the air force to get pilots into shape.

Ten friends paid $10 each for the class, which mom led with military precision. While it sounds like a pittance today, $100 was our weekly lotto. 

But push-ups and burpees were not the only item on the menu. Mom served coffee − and cake. Clearly, participants would have to return for more exercise.

At the same time, mom started another business as a tutor. She had great math and French skills. Word spread quickly about her brilliant teaching skills. Before we knew it, our home was a veritable mini-school. 

She found her strength by tapping into her unique skills. While they were limited by traditional standards, they were vast when she applied her creativity and determination.

Mom left us a powerful lesson. Find your strength – and you will find your way in the world.