Episode Notes

Congratulations! 2024 is upon us. Let’s use it to influence positive change for the greater good by seizing the fresh opportunities this year brings us.

I want to start by being grateful to you and the many opportunities you explored with your businesses last year. Take an inventory of your activities and accomplishments with those who helped you reach your hardest-won goals. It will increase your energy and those who helped you, validate your progress, and spur new aspirations for 2024.

I am thankful for the United States’ strong economy and the low unemployment rate. I am grateful that we have survived the hottest year in history. I am also thankful for the vulnerabilities exposed by the previous president of the United States. This has made us aware of the need to fix our executive privilege laws and apply them to all those who serve in government positions, including the highest office in the land.

Gallup.com did The Year in Review: 2023 Most Notable Findings. The trends gave me insights into how we can improve our world. One positive trend I am grateful to see is that young adults are drinking less than previous generations. With the legalization of marijuana in more states, they might be smoking more weed instead, ha! The other trends about how our attitudes are shifting, like how employees feel their employers don’t care about their well-being, are troubling.

According to the Gallup survey conducted in 2020, 47% of employees felt that their employers cared about their well-being. However, it seems that after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis was brought under control, employers became less concerned about their employees’ well-being. In the latest survey conducted in 2023, only 22% of employees felt that their employers cared about their well-being. This information is essential as it reminds us to show our employees we care about them. We need to encourage open communication about our feelings with our staff by starting with the business owner, you. 

Gratitude for History Makers

Taylor Swift and Greta Gerwig stunned the world last year. I am grateful for their creative genius and entrepreneurial spirit, which they used to break national and global records. In her historical 2023 Era’s Tour, Taylor Swift broke Elvis Presley’s long-standing record of 67 weeks for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart by a solo artist. Taylor Swift hit her 68^th week at No. 1 by the end of 2023. 

Greta Gerwig made history by directing the “Barbie” movie, which had over $1 billion in ticket sales. That is a first for women directors. Go, Greta!! 

I recently re-watched the “Barbie” movie with my daughter, Olivia. Initially, I watched it once before with my husband, Matthew, in a movie theater, and it was fun to hear the audience’s reaction. Watching it again sparked a conversation about our different upbringings. When Olivia was young, I passed on a Barbie doll that I called Ruth, not realizing at the time that Ruth Handler was the creator of the Mattel Barbie doll. My natural attraction toward entrepreneurial leaders started early, and it was highlighted in raising Olivia.

Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken portrayed the ‘stereotypical Barbie’ and Ken’s iconic Mattel characters. The storyline is about evolving. The many Barbies and Kens showed us the matriarchy of Barbieland and the patriarchy of reality in the world of Mattel.

Barbie gave us a visual representation of her awakening into being human. She noticed her “flat feet” and the gasp of her Barbie friends when she asked if any of them thought about death. In Barbieland, everything is pleasant, beautiful, predictable, and light. There was a lot in the movie to analyze about matriarchies and patriarchies, their positive and negative impacts on culture, and even how to begin co-creating an integrated new life. Barbie encourages Ken to take time to figure out who he is outside of being Barbie’s boyfriend. At the end, they needed to learn how to be interdependent instead of co-dependent and allow each other flexibility in figuring out who they are becoming.

I’m grateful to be alive to see this next generation of trailblazers inspire us all with new thoughts and ways of being in our world. When we see trailblazers expressing their creative genius in various industries, psychological freedom feels more achievable individually and collectively.

We can engage our creative intelligence by co-creating interdependent work cultures that benefit all genders. We can be more assertive in co-creating healthy relationships and constructively unearth unconscious bias. We can acknowledge all voices in discussions as equally important. We can work side-by-side toward common goals and look for qualities of strength to build upon with co-workers, colleagues, vendors, and those we employ.

We can eliminate one-upmanship by appreciating ourselves and realizing that everyone has universal human needs and is worthy of meeting them. We can reflect this in our policies, laws, rules, regulations, agreements, and through verbal promises wherever our lives intersect with others.

Trailblazing for Fresh Opportunities

Let’s look for fresh opportunities to enhance humanity this year and blaze new trails wherever we lead. I am blazing a trail to expand equality in the bakery industry and with bread consumers.

Bread consumption has grown by 20% since 2021. The average American now consumes 53 pounds of bread per year. Part of the reason our waistlines are expanding is because of our unhealthy bread choices. We are helping grocers widen their views of what they offer and to whom.

You might be seeing how grocery chains buy more locally grown and produced foods and offer a more comprehensive selection of foods to all ethnicities. As the climate continues to change along with our demographics, so is our ecosystem. Support for local growers and producers continues to rise giving local small businesses like Midwest Bakery and its artisan bread more opportunities to flourish.

Mahomud Ali founded Midwest Bakery Inc. to make the best Halal loaves of bread and all-natural hoagie rolls in the Midwest. Halal certified means that Midwest Bakery follows the Muslim definition of Halal, ensuring their bread-baking process and ingredients are permissible under Islamic law. Through in-store hoagie demos, we are learning what I already discovered: Midwest Bakery bread items are embraced by not only those with other faith practices. All ethnicities want all-natural artisan bread items.

Yes, I am continuing to work closely with Mahomud. We are now in seven Cub Foods stores, four Kowalski’s Markets stores, and 36 other local restaurants and daycares. I will continue engaging my entrepreneurial skillsets to expand their brand, encourage leadership growth, and build a new midwestbakeryhalal.com website. It takes all hands on deck and many skills to intentionally grow Midwest Bakery Inc., or any business for that matter.

The great thing about leadership growth is that every business owner gets to choose the village of mentors to help them realize their dreams. I am fortunate to be a chosen mentor by many.

And now I end where we began. Congratulations! 2024 is upon us. Let’s use it to influence positive change for the greater good by seizing the fresh opportunities this year brings us. DOWNLOAD