We’re doing it. I have been writing my book, working on client projects, and revamping WeMentor Mondays with Nancy podcast for the two months since my last post. I am sure you have been working hard too. I have updates on all three fronts.

The writing continues. I have a wise editor flushing out concepts and helping me keep the content coming. Steady progress.

Updating you on client projects I am working on is a no-no in mentoring because entrepreneurial leadership development is confidential. I can say that infusing new products and services into the marketplace is centered around end-user acceptance, our nimbleness in responding to consumer demand, and ruling out avenues for growth not penetrable. Not every end-user wants what we are selling.

Exploring which avenues are viable for growth and which are not is time-consuming. Here are a few tips. Viewing each ‘no’ as a step closer to getting a ‘yes’ keeps your mind focused on completing the task. Rejection is part of our job as disruptors. I practice and encourage persistence, perseverance, and patience as part of the pursuit. The critical ‘Ps’ require us to keep learning, clarifying, and doing the navigational work to bring new opportunities to fruition.

Even in everyday life, you can encounter rejection. I asked a Lunds & Byerly’s baker to add a happy birthday to my father-in-law’s half-red velvet birthday cake and was met with a surprise ‘no, I can’t do that.’ After offering a few more rejected ideas, I finally said, ‘please find your way to yes.’ And she did. Keep finding creative ways to get your products and services through what initially appears to be a closed door. After all, we are dealing with other humans and their processes. Whether you are selling directly to consumers like at the State Fair or whether you are working at getting your products into a big box retailer. We just need to find the next customer who says yes.

I am re-airing my 1st of two podcast conversations with Guest Mentor Gita Mazumdar today. I want to coordinate new podcast conversations with the content in my book, so book completion comes first. New podcast conversations will air in 2023.

Gita Mazumdar says, “She was made in India, on the coconutty west coast along the Arabian Sea. What luck to have been nurtured by a playful father, an orderly mother, and both her grandmothers.”

In Gita’s first few years, “she was held for long hours by her beloved Badi, an elderly Adivasi (indigenous) woman who cared for her while her parents, both doctors, worked. Gita’s first food was Badi’s unusual grains cooked in clay. Gita cried for Badi when they moved away from that early home. The story is that Gita refused food, chanting ‘Badi’ a hundred and eight times before her father lost count. Her paternal grandmother, Mein, prepared bhakri, confident that it would break the spell. Hours past bedtime, Mein placed the spiced bread in front of Gita. She regarded it silently, looked up, and wailed ‘Baadiiii!” Exasperated, Mein said, ‘Eat your Badi’s fat chapattis’ and snapped off the lights. The next morning, there were no signs of bhakri and no more chanting.” This is how I begin today’s podcast conversation with Gita Mazumdar. An Ayurvedic Indian Cuisine chef, photographer, wife, mother, friend, filmmaker, and conscientious community connector. She continues describing a life that eventually circles back to her paternal grandmother Mean’s recipes and how women pass on their stories from one generation to another. Food is at the center of things. Read More and Download EPISODE I Food is at the Center of Everything | WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST

Speaking of food. Today is also the last day of State Fairs across the United States. This a tradition I will not take for granted. This tradition and other Labor Day weekend activities signal the close of summer and the beginnings of a new fall season of schedule changes, activities, and new experiences while we recover from our experiences with the covid-19 pandemic.

This fall is also a time to help our children adopt a post-traumatic growth mindset. The term was coined in the 1990s by Richard G. Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun. A post-traumatic growth mindset is a psychological way of finding the purpose in our pain (more P words), moving through a struggle like what we experienced during the covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent variants lurking in our midst. It is a constructive way to integrate stressful encounters and embrace our resilient spirit.

Enjoy my conversation with Guest Mentor Gita Mazumdar. Learn the seven components of preparing a Thali meal.

NEXT STEP: Challenge yourself and do the Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities, below.