Sometimes we need to start again…  and again.

In support of women starting or seeking new chapters, I recently hosted a Creative Conversations dinner party. The purpose was to talk with some of my friends about their personal journeys, and where they are in terms of writing temporary and future life chapters. After all, no one stays in the same life chapter forever. We’re meant to bend and twist and shift forward.

Two of my friends are young mothers. They both expressed feelings of love and joy when they talked about how they spent their days caring for their families. However, they also expressed doubt about not doing more for themselves and temporarily putting their careers on hold. I remember feeling that way too and wonder why we always feel like we’re missing out or that we should be doing more?

My advice to my young friends that night? It’s just a chapter. It might be long, it might be short, but it’s temporary. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Several other friends who attended are in their second and third chapters. One is growing a healthy lifestyle business featuring yoga and personal training, and she’s a big believer that we shouldn’t write our chapters alone. She said we need supportive females pushing us forward and cheering us on. I couldn’t agree more. 

Two of the women own their own businesses yet yearn for the kind of change that only a new chapter can bring. One will turn 50 this year; the other is 67. We all agreed that regardless of age, it’s never too late to dream something new. My friend Katherine Frankstone started Grey Ghost Bakery in Charleston, SC, when she was 50. She’d already had several successful career and motherhood chapters and had been putting off her lifelong dream for far too long. Today, Grey Ghost Bakery cookies are everywhere!

In terms of my own life chapters, one of the reasons I started K. Hope Creative is because there is nothing I love more than helping someone develop a new brand or refresh an existing one. For me, it’s like helping someone outline the next chapter and then stepping back to watch the rest of the world take it in as that well-written chapter unfolds. 

Ironically, developing brands and writing new life chapters have several things in common:

• You are required to think big.
• You are required to clearly communicate your goals and aspirations.
• You’re required to determine the values driving your decisions about your business or life.
• You’re required to answer: What do I want to be known for?
• You’re required to answer: What would I do if nothing were standing in my way?