I recently met with a savvy businesswoman who is an expert, in wealth management for high net worth individuals. During our conversation we talked about women and their views of money. This businesswoman said “Women, regardless of their net worth, fear they are going to be “bag ladies”.  In fact the biggest fear voiced by most of The Business of Me participants is the fear they will be destitute and spend their later years broke and miserable.

This fear of money affects all women rega...

According to the National Retail Federation last Halloween approximately 4.5 million little girls wore princess costumes. Princess costumes were the most purchased Halloween costume for the fifth year in a row. It seems that most little girls want to be princesses. I know I did.

In fact I wanted to be a princess so much that when I grew up I just expected prince charming was going to ride in on his white horse and take care of me. Well a man showed up but he was certainly not a prince and ab...

Every day I receive Google news alerts informing me of the latest news concerning domestic violence. On any given day I receive ten to fifty news alerts. Yes, we have a big problem that is not going away anytime soon.

There does not seem to be a cure for this enormous social dilemma, but perhaps there is a way to stem the recidivism rate of women who leave and then return to the toxic relationship.

Statistically 85% to 90% of women who leave a domestic violent relationship return and one of...

A very wise person I know said those words. Fear does kill everything. I know fear killed my spirit for many years. It wasn’t until I made a conscious effort to face fear that was I able to find ways to move past it and begin creating a life for myself. Not an easy task and one that I work on every day.

In “The Business of Me” we begin by addressing the fears women harbor about money and give them tools to deal with their fears.

If we don’t recognize our fears we may not be able t...

I have been re-reading David Levinson’s study, Family Violence - A Cross-Cultural Perspective. He cites evidence indicating that if women have economic power they are less likely to be battered.

I can speak from my personal experience. Although I was the major wage earner, every payday I turned my check over to my husband – he controlled the finances.  Because he controlled our money he had the ability to control my life.

While there were other forms of abuse he inflicted on me econom...

Women who have been in domestic violent relationships overcoming fear or the capacity to manage fear is crucial to the ability to break the cycle of violence in their lives.

Women who have endured domestic violence in their lives have come to live with fear and for so many women fear has become a way of life.

“The Business of Me” works with women to help them overcome their fears and especially their fears of dealing with their finances. If they are able to overcome their fear of deali...

“Choiceful” in “The Business of Me” means the ability to determine the best course of action for our lives.  “Choiceful” means we are allowed to make our own decisions using our good judgment and not having to delegate those decisions to others.  Delegating a decision may to some be “the easy way out”, but in reality it can lead us to places in our life we do not want to be.

In many cases survivors of domestic violence have not been allowed to make their own financial decisi...

It is fear that women survivors of domestic violence have come to live with and for them living in fear has become a way of life. The abused women’s fears of money and money management are often crippling and acute and can often block their paths to financial stability and independence.  These problems often block the woman from leaving (or returning to) an abusive relationship.

In order to help a woman “break the cycle” of domestic violence they need to overcome their fears of dealing...