Kara's Advice to Female Leaders

As Co-Founder and COO of Threads Worldwide, Partnership Director with Emerging Women, board member of multiple philanthropic organizations, and my personal life roles of wife, mother, friend, and sister, my life is a busy one. I am often asked how I manage it all and what advice I would give to women starting their leadership journeys.

1) My first piece of advice: Cultivate and reconnect with a vision greater than yourself. My vision is a world where mothers have the ability to feed and care for their children and where children are healthy, educated and afforded opportunity no matter where they were born. When I feel myself getting anxious or bogged down with stress, I take a step away, breathe deeply and reconnect with this vision. When you are a leader, there will always be times when you doubt yourself and think about giving up. When you can continue to connect with being a part of something bigger, you will have more energy, more focus and more perspective to move through your obstacles.

2) I have learned so much since starting Threads, but one of my most powerful lesson is said beautifully by Chinese Philosopher Lau Tzu in a quote that hangs on my bulletin board. He says “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This quote has helped me on countless occasions when I started doubting my own abilities to contribute to world in a meaningful way. It is easy to get down and feel overwhelmed when you are committed to making an impact. What you have to remember is that you don’t have to have it all figured out. All you need to do is figure out one step that you can take towards your goal. I have found that as soon as you take that first step, the next step will always appear.

3) The third strategy I would like to share is a vital one: expand your network and build your tribe. We cannot do it alone and can be far more powerful when we link arms with one another and work together to accomplish our goals. Not knowing the answers and asking for help doesn’t make us look incapable or incompetent, it shows up as courage and bravery. There are people all around you who want to help us – all we have to do is ask!

A better world is waiting for us to play big and get over our own fear of inadequacy. Let’s lean on one another and take a step towards making our dreams come true!