One of the hardest things about being a young business owner is feeling alone.  Working in a family business, I have had the benefit of my mom as a mentor, but she is 20 years older than me.  Our philosophies are very different, having grown up in two different generations.  She looks at my generation and those younger than me and criticizes us for not being willing to work hard, missing the days when employees stayed at the same job for 20 years.  For me, having a good work family balance is essential, and sometimes I think my mom misinterprets that as my not being dedicated enough.  And that is just one of the many differences I have noticed in our approaches to things.  I often feel alone wondering, are these just personality differences or generational differences, as I suspect.  I have a very good friend who has her own business, and I know we see things similarly but how I would love to connect to other 30 and 40 year old women running companies or businesses to see if my ideas jive with theirs.  

I really enjoyed reading the article in Live Well Wyoming today about women bloggers from Wyoming.  I loved what Elisa Camhort was quoted as saying, “Blogs are an opportunity for us to hear women’s voices and have a window into women’s lives.”  She really touches on an important point- we women need each other.  We need those older women who can mentor us and we need some our own age with whom to share our ideas and struggles.  Perhaps seeking out other bloggers is a way I could connect with other business owners like myself.  I hadn’t considered that before today.  I followed all of the bloggers listed in the article and am looking forward to reading their blogs.