January 2016 I FOUNDERS DESK : Making Better Mistakes
When I started this blog/Magazine two years ago I had this grand idea to continue what was formerly The Business 101 Magazine (focused on business women) and include highlighting all women. If they had something they wanted to share then I wanted to give them a platform to do so. Because oftentimes we see ourselves in the stories of others. Sometimes we share the same accolades, hurdles and issues and just knowing there is someone else out there-who is connected to you in some way-may make it easier to wade through.
But it was a learning curve. A HUGE CURVE with potholes and no AAA! It still was a lot and even with help with interviews there still was only two people juggling it all. But I was blessed to get people to say yes—yes there were a lot of non-responses or missed scheduled interviews-but there were still a lot of yes’ that graced the CW blog and pages. And I thankful and appreciate for every ounce of support.
I have learned and over time have gotten better, worked out some kinks, learned what works and what doesn’t and now learned to do it solo even. But there were many hiccups. Many cost more to fix than they did to create. But you don’t know until you know.
During one interview with Keri Murphy, the interview went live and was riddled with typos. At that time I wasn’t proofing submissions so that was my fa
ult. I remember a member of her staff reaching out and asking for it to be fixed. They were worried about her branding being damaged which was definitely not my intention. The person stated that it looked like “not much thought had went into it.” At the time it hurt my feelings. I didn’t have a brand for it to ruin so my feelings and pride caught the brunt of that kick. Keri herself was understanding and I had it redone (twice) and let her review and shorten as she wanted for the re-release. And then it went back live (including the live interview so typos were not an issue), peace was restored and life went on.
And there were other hiccups along the way as well. But I learned. Is CWM sheer perfection now. No, but I learned to 
make better mistakes. I learned to be more accountable. I learned to put a better process in place to make it easier and more cost effective to do alone. I stopped worrying about the no-shows, late responses or as I mentioned the complete non-responses. I stopped worrying about contributors who vanished or people not promoting their interviews. I stopped worrying about people who wanted to be featured but didn’t take the time to know anything about the magazine. I take all that in stride and laughter now. I remind myself that this was “extra”. I remember that this was supposed to be fun-it’s not a business, it’s just a blog/magazine format highlighting women. And I have gotten better. CWM has gotten better and hopefully continue to do so.
Remember that they won’t all say Yes. There will be no’s. There will be people who ignore you. There will be selfish people who are only in it for self. There will be people who will be late simply because you aren’t “BIG” enough to be a priority to them. There will be no-shows. You will encounter people who don’t value your time, value or knowledge. I have prepped whole interviews only to not get them back and not even a courtesy email to explain. And they sought me out! It happens. It will probably happen more than once. That’s how disappointment works. You will have missteps. Bad partnerships. Bad alliances. Unreliable people. You will have all of it in business and in life.
Mistakes can either break you or make you stronger. Either way do them–and everything you attempt to do-better. While you may make the same mistake more than once, get better at it. Do it less, learn a bigger lesson from it. Own it. Take responsibility for it. Shoot you may even have to do that when it’s not your fault. And then fix it. And look forward to the time when you will be able to talk about them in the past tense. And laugh about them. In a blog….
Still Learning, AJ/Founder
(excuse the typos :))
(You can read/listen to my most expensive interview here )
