Author Archive
Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown is an Associate Editor at Goddess Connections for the Women Who Run It E-Mag. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Studies. She is a resident of Toronto and she has a passion for exploring topics on health and fitness, and enjoys writing stories about women’s issues. She also enjoys writing about business and how to build a career. When she is not working for Women Who Run It you can find her exploring Toronto, going for jogs, or simply enjoying life as a strong, empowered woman who runs it. Her goal is to share stories that help women of all walks of life take control of their lives and create balance with ease.
Over-Prescribed and Under-Informed: You May Have Been Misdiagnosed!
If you were prescribed anti-depressants would you take them? Would you accept the diagnosis and try to move on with your life? I’m sure you’re thinking “of course I would!” The answer seems so straightforward, but the truth is that it’s not. Sara Gottfried is a woman who knows this all too well.
In her thirties Gottfried was suffering from what she calls the “ 4 ‘F’s’ – frazzled, frumpy, fat, and you can imagine the fourth ‘F’.” When she made the decision to change these things, she found herself prescribed with anti-depressants. While some women may have seen this as a welcome answer to their problems, Gottfried would not accept her diagnoses. Gottfried is a Harvard trained M.D., a yoga instructor and nationally recognized, board-certified gynecologist. For such a health-oriented person, this diagnosis was not welcomed. She was already feeling like “burnt toast” and antidepressants were not going to help. Many of the side effects of antidepressants are issues that Gottfried was already dealing with. Did she really want to exacerbate what she was already feeling, such as a decreased sex drive and weight gain, plus add symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia or fatigue, dizziness and a slew of other issues? She stared at her Prozac prescription contemplating her choices and thought to herself “I don’t think the answer is antidepressants. In fact, they only are effective if you have major depression and that’s the minority of people who take them.” Because of this she chose to search for something else, a different and better answer.
The truth is that Gottfried’s story is far too common these days. “We live in a culture that is obsessed with using prescription drugs as an answer to health,” Gottfried warned. One in four women across the age ranges is taking a drug for mental health, and one in seven men are doing the same. When you look specifically at women between 40 and 55 you find that one in four women are on an antidepressant and most of these women have a hormone imbalance and just don’t know it. Half of these women , or 50%, have high cortisol, 20% have low thyroid and they are treating these issues with the wrong methods. If we think about the time between 40 and 55 in a woman’s life what is she going through? Do you think this is a more depressing time for all of these women or do you think it’s more likely that they are simply experiencing the hormone sabotage which is menopause? The answer seems so clear when we think of it this way but for some reason we have found ourselves more likely to believe the diagnoses than the idea that it could be a lot more simple than having a mental illness. Gottfried, like so many other women, found herself prescribed with an antidepressant but instead of taking her prescription, she found herself a cure.
The Hormone Cure is not only the title of Gottfried’s life changing book, but also the way that women can actually fix their problems, not just treat them. With The Hormone Cure we are addressing the cause, not just the symptom. For women there are three hormones which, when out of whack, can lead to feeling Gottfried’s Four “F’s.” Gottfried calls them her “Hormonal Charlie’s Angels.” These hormones are Cortisol, Estrogen and Thyroid. These hormones are “little hinges that swing big doors.” Having any of these hormones too high or too low can cause a barrage of symptoms including:
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A fried hippocampus (which regulates emotions and memory consolidation)
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Increased risk of Alzheimer’s
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Increased risk of diabetes
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The storing of belly fat
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Low sex drive
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Low energy
By getting these three hormones into the perfect zone that Gottfried calls the “goldilocks spot” you’ll be reversing all of these symptoms. By reaching this “goldilocks spot” you will:
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Keep a young and clearer mind
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Lose weight
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Regain your sex drive
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Have better orgasms
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Increase productivity
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Restored sleep
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Increase your energy
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Feel happier
Are you with me now? Of course you are! Those sound like some amazing rewards for finding your “goldilocks spot!” Now the next question; how do you find out what’s out of whack? Dr. Gottfried has created a hormone quiz specifically for women to help them see which hormones they need to focus on. This quiz will change your life!
Find it here: http://thehormonecurebook.com/quiz/
Why should we as women be so focused on this issue? Women across all age ranges are outnumbering men as takers of antidepressants. We’re being prescribed younger and younger and we’re not the ones who are profiting, it’s the pharmaceutical companies. Instead of investing in pills, we need to invest in our health. Not only will The Hormone Cure change the way you think about your health, but it will also let you take your health into your own hands. Gottfried took her health into her own hands the day she decided not to take the Prozac and to find the real cure for her issues. Now she’s giving you the chance to do the same. With Gottfried’s method you’ll be eating better, exercising less and enjoying life more. With The Hormone Cure you’ll still be popping pills, but these aren’t filled with chemicals, they’re filled with supplements. Instead of suppressing your body, you’ll be fueling it.
The Hormone Cure is here because “feeling moody, asexual, tapped out, dried up, stressed out, and sleep deprived” is not a symptom of being a female. In her book Gottfried combines natural therapies, rigorous scientific testing and her questionnaire to help you follow an individualized plan that will change your life in a much more positive way than a bottle of Prozac will. Gottfried’s book is part of our Ultimate Sweepstakes from Women Who Run It on Facebook. Not only are we giving away an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite with Gottfried’s book on it, but it is also filled with five other books by amazing and inspiring authors.
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5 Humble Admissions from Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor has a lot to brag about. She was the first Hispanic and the third woman ever to be appointed to the United States Supreme court. She overcame a troubled childhood to achieve highest honours at Princeton and Yale. She was appointed to the Federal District Court by age 38 and has become an American Icon in the process. In spite of all of this Sonia Sotomayor has remained true to herself. In her book My Beloved World she reveals the blessings in her life and does not hide the ugly bits either.
There is a lot to be learned from Sonia Sotomayor’s overwhelming ability to stay grounded. The struggle to stay true to herself in spite of all of her success is what prompted her to write My Beloved World. “I wrote this book right after my nomination because I wanted to hold on to the real Sonia,” she explained. The true Sonia definitely shines through in her memoir.
In My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor admits five candid truths that show her humility and inspire others around her to show such poise in the face of success.
1 I’m just like you and I still made it
Sotomayor has never considered herself as anything extraordinary. Rather, she sees herself as a normal person who was able to achieve great things. She said that “I think to move people beyond just dreaming and into doing; they have to be able to see that you’re just like them and you still made it.” That may be one of the most inspiring things about Sotomayor, the fact that there was no special moment of extreme luck that took her to where she is now. Her secret to success is hard work and perseverance. She admitted to spending hours at the library as a child devouring anything she could get her hands on. She failed at her first job as a summer associate in a New York firm. Her path to success has included hard work, successes and even failures. While some may find that to be a boring way to climb the ladder to success, it’s actually more inspiring because it’s a path that anyone can take.
Not only does Sotomayor thank hard work for her success, but also everyone around her. She stresses that she is not self-made. Once again Sotomayor’s humility shines through. Sometimes when we get to the top of a mountain we just want to scream “I did it!” but not Sonia; she thanks and acknowledges everyone around her. This not only teaches us all a lesson in appreciation, but also shows us that there is no problem with having help from those around you in order to reach your goals.
2 Sonia Sotomayor candidly shares her troubled home life in My Beloved World
The child of an alcoholic father, who died when Sonia was nine, and the child of a distant, even neglectful, mother, Sotomayor was faced with obstacles from the moment she was born. She grew up in a working class home in the Bronx, where she found solace in the arms of her grandmother. She was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age eight and after hearing her parents fight about giving her the needle, she learned how to give it to herself. This was one of the driving forces in her life. She believed that because of her diabetes that she would not live as long as most. Her disease gave her a sense of urgency the never faded away, even after her fear of a shorter life proved unfounded.
Sonia Sotomayor is not a woman who grew up in a life of privilege and wealth. Like most of us, she lived a middle class life and had to struggle to overcome her own issues. One of her biggest issues being her relationship with her mother, a struggle that persisted well into her adulthood. She shared that “the mother I grew up with is not the mother I know now.” She explains in My Beloved World that she rarely saw her mother, and when she did, she was angry. It took looking back on her childhood to realize that her mother was just mourning over the loss of her husband and trying to support the family on her own. With time Sonia has been able to understand her mother and learn with her. “In watching my mother grow and develop herself, I grew and developed myself.”3 “Everybody has a little ego.”
What made Sonia Sotomayor want to become a judge? She wanted to become the most important woman in the room, of course! When watching an episode of Perry Mason she remembers seeing Perry turn to the judge after a guilty verdict. “At that moment I realized that the most important person in that room was the judge and I wanted to be that person.” This ego is exactly what took her out of the Bronx and into American History. If Sotomayor’s ego tells us anything it’s that sometimes we have to see ourselves as the most important person in the room. We have to see that we are deserving of greatness in order to even take the first steps to achieve that greatness.
4 Sotomayor admits to feeling the occasional tug of regret over never having children
Successful women are not supposed to apologize for their successes, or so we are told. Most taboo of all would be talking about what we had to give up for our success but sometimes it’s the truth. Sotomayor’s candor about her lack of a family comes as refreshing. She never tries to pretend that success does not come with costs. While she does live a very fulfilling life, Sotomayor tells us truthfully of what she had to do to achieve her goals.
“I knew that I wanted to be an independent woman with my own career and successful in whatever I chose to do. Could I have had that and had children? Many women do. Can you have it all every minute of the day? No.” That’s one of Sotomayor’s best qualities; she’s not afraid to share the reality of it all. She shares her harsh childhood, her excruciating work to get her to where she is and even her regrets. We don’t feel sorry for Sotomayor, we feel overwhelmingly inspired by her.
5 Sotomayor doesn’t feel sorry for herself either. She still feels hopeful for love.
Another part of her life that Sotomayor shares with us is her failed marriage. She divorced her high school sweetheart in 1983 but she has not given up hope for finding her next great love. Her mother fell in love again late in life and Sotomayor admits to wondering if that will happen to her, but the man will have to wait. “To have a romance you have to have time. The guy’s gonna have to wait until I’m a little bit freer.”
What may be the most beautiful thing about Sotomayor is that she never limits herself. “I haven’t finished growing yet…I’m young at heart, young in spirit and I’m still adventurous.” This woman, who has never let anything hold her back, isn’t going to start now. Her story is one of candid truthfulness, struggle, success and hope. If we learn anything from her it should be to never give up, no matter what the obstacle so that maybe we too could find that we’ve “gone further than any dream you ever had.”
To win Sonia Sotomayor’s book My Beloved World, along with five other books by inspiring leaders on an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, visit Women Who Run It’s page on Facebook to enter our Facebook Sweepstakes for Women Who Run It!
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5 Reasons Why Sheryl Sandberg Is The Lightening Rod That Women Need Today
Far too often we see women giving up one part of their lives for success in another part. I’m sure you could easily think of many inspiring women who have given up the chance to start a family because they were busy “focusing on their careers.” I’m sure you could think of even more women, many that you probably know, that have given up their careers to focus on their family. Well we say “no more!” We are alpha females, ladies. If we want to have an inspiring career we most definitely can! If we want to have a family too, that is our right, and we can do both successfully.
Sheryl Sandberg is just the woman to help us realize these goals. The wildly successful alpha lady has focused her career on helping women make it to the top in a male-dominated world of boardrooms and corner offices. She does so with inspiring advice, great determination and makes no apologies for her motivation. Sheryl Sandberg is the lightening rod that women need today and we have five reasons why. Prepare to be electrified.
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Sheryl Sandberg understands the issues and isn’t afraid to speak about them.
What do I mean by issues? Well, let me rattle off a few statistics for you. The business world of today still holds an unfair advantage toward men. In the corporate world, women at the top of the corporate ladder tops out at 16%. Out of the 190 heads of state, only 9 are women, and only 13% of the people in parliament in the world are women. Women are wildly underrepresented in leadership positions in the business world and no one knows this better than Sheryl Sandberg. On the same token, arguably no one has been able to overcome these statistics as impressively as Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg takes issue with the inequality in the workplace for women to rise to the top and believes that the key to helping women make it to the top of the workplace is to keep them in the workplace. Her book Lean In is a self-described “manifesto” for women in the workplace. Not only does Sandberg address the lack of female faces at the heads of businesses, but she empowers women to do something about it.
Now, writing a book isn’t exactly speaking, but she does that too! Sandberg’s TED Talks speech in the “For All Womankind” conference has been viewed over two million times and features one of the most inspiring speeches of the day. Sandberg speaks with confidence, determination and grace, leaving the listener inspired to go out and change the world at the end of her fifteen- minute declaration for female empowerment.
How does she want us to reach for our dreams? Sit at the table! Sandberg noticed women tending to sit at the edges of the boardrooms while the men firmly placed themselves at the table. The problem, according to Sandberg, is that “women systematically underestimate their own abilities.” Women are more likely to attribute their successes to external causes, while men attribute their successes to themselves. Women are also less likely to negotiate for their salaries. Women don’t believe they deserve to sit at the table, while men know that they do. Sandberg wants you to “believe in yourself, negotiate for yourself, own your own success.” Sit at the table.
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Sandberg is a living example of her teachings.
Of course it’s all fine and good to tell us what to do to be successful, but what about actually doing it? Well, Sandberg has! She is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Before that she was a Vice President at Google and previous to that was the Chief of Staff at the US Treasury Department. She was named one of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women, one of Time’s Most Influential People and the 5th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. She has two Harvard degrees and a personal worth just shy of a billion, and if that’s not enough she has two children and a supportive husband. She is the personification of her teachings and someone we can look to when we feel that a life of personal and professional fulfillment cannot be done. Sandberg is here to not only tell you, but show you, that it can be done!
Sandberg manages to do all this while still being someone that you want to be friends with. She’s warm, funny and charming. Sandberg points out that success and likeability are negatively correlated for women and positively correlated for men; but she doesn’t let this fact hold her back. Sandberg continues to stay true to herself and forgets the prescription of a cold demeanor for success. Her humour and friendly demeanor only make her more of the total package.
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She believes in us and wants us to believe in ourselves too.
Sheryl Sandberg knows that we are 50 percent of the population and therefore deserve to occupy 50 percent of the top jobs, and she thinks we deserve to believe that too. We need to believe that we deserve to sit at the table. As mentioned above, we underestimate ourselves and men overestimate themselves. We need to have that same confidence. We need to know that our sex has nothing to do with why we aren’t sitting at the table, it’s our confidence. Screw being humble! If you rocked that presentation, if you have great insights to share, if you think you’re an important part of the team, you should own it! You did the work, you deserve the credit, the promotion and the positive outcome. Remember, if you’re not going to toot your own horn, there’s a man standing right next to you that most definitely will tell you about his accomplishments and will probably get that promotion because of it.
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Sheryl Sandberg knows that work is not our only worry.
We can climb to the top of any corporate ladder that we want, but without a fulfilling personal life it’s hard to truly feel like a success. If we want to have a successful life we need to have equality at work and at home.
At home we need to make our partners our partners. “If a woman and a man both work full time and have a child, a woman does twice the amount of housework and three times the amount of child work that the man does,” according to Sandberg. When we place these kinds of pressures on ourselves and create an unequal set of responsibilities at home, we as women are most likely to drop ourselves out of work when someone needs to be home more. Sandberg tells us that households with equal earning and equal responsibility have half the divorce rate, and if you’re not sold on that, better sex lives! Talk about a win-win situation.
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Even in the face of adversity, Sandberg comes out unscathed.
Of course, Sandberg’s road hasn’t been completely as charmed as it seems. She has faced a barrage of criticism from everyone including mothers, feminists and the general public for her teachings. Her status as a wealthy woman has found her distanced from women who feel that they do not have the same ability to make tough work choices and negotiate for themselves as Sandberg does. She is also criticized for trying to be too likeable, a problem she addresses herself. Even her Facebook boss, Mark Zuckerberg, addressed this fact in an anecdote from her book in which he sits her down and tells her that her desire to be liked by everybody will hold her back. Sandberg certainly isn’t liked by everybody and she certainly isn’t being held back either. Even the women who criticize her have admitted that her book is one that they’d like their daughters to read. Of course Sandberg will never win in the eyes of critics. In an NPR interview in which she was being criticized for thanking too many people for her success and not owning it, something Sandberg feels all women should do, the women discussing it also point out that they criticized Sarah Palin in the past for owning her success too much. This shows that the business landscape is harder for women. We are either too likeable, too cold, too nice, too mean, too…something! All we can do is make ourselves proud.
The thing we can’t argue with is her message, one of strength, truth and empowerment for women. She is just what women today need. She is strong, determined, vivacious and utterly inspiring. Her book “Lean In” is here to help us to live a life of success in all sectors. To win it, along with five other books by inspiring leaders on an Amazon Kindle visit Women Who Run It’s page on Facebook to enter our Facebook Sweepstakes for Women Who Run It!
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How to Become a Woman Who Leads: Stop Holding Yourself Back!
How to Become a Woman Who Leads: Stop Holding Yourself Back!
Toronto, Sunday, May 19, 2013
Exclusive to Women Who Run It: Your Life – Your Love – Your Terms!, the e-magazine for strong, empowered, driven women we are producing a series on four great authors who exemplify leadership.
This four part series will touch on issues from climbing to the top of the corporate ladder, taking our health into our own hands and altogether living a full life.
This is all part of our Ultimate Sweepstakes from Women Who Run It. Our first giveaway includes an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite filled with six books by inspiring authors. These authors each hold a different secret on how we can become women who do it all.
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In our first issue we will be profiling author Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg holds the keys to reaching the top of the corporate ladder and wants to share them with us too. Not only is she an embodiment of her teachings (she is the COO of Facebook and a highly respected business woman), but she is also a mother of two and happily married woman. You’ll want to hear what this walking success story has to say!
In this issue we will also be exploring multitasking. We’ve been trained to think that it’s the best way to get it all done but the truth turns out to be very different! We’ll tell you why multitasking may not be your key to success and give you the secrets to being more productive in the workplace.
Watch for our series coming out on Mondays starting on May 20th and enter to win the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite filled with six books before June 15th!
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