05.03.19
The 3 C’s of Owning Who You Are in Your Business
Taryn R. Ellis, NIIC Marketing Intern
Photo by Courtney Cochran Photography
Earlier this week, I was invited to attend lunch with my great co-workers/mentors and three members from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Among these members was Elaine Bedel, IEDC President. Of course, anytime I am able to be around strong, successful women I am ready to take mental notes and have a listening ear.
Before Elaine Bedel became President of IEDC, she served as president and CEO of her own financial consulting organization, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. She founded the company in 1989. Elaine also has written a personal finance book and is a nationally recognized speaker. Her accomplishments are rightfully extensive, making her an excellent person to connect and engage with.
As a graduate student who is always eager for advice, I asked Elaine two questions. Her answers to those questions not only resonated with me but also made me feel empowered to own who I really am as an individual.
1) What advice do you have for women who are beginning their businesses or launching into their careers?
Elaine follows what she likes to call the 3 C’s: confidence, commitment, and competition.
Confidence– Start learning everything there is to know about your business venture or career focus. Gaining confidence comes from trusting your capabilities of being able to know that you can handle whatever may come your way throughout your journey in business.
Commitment– Commit to what you are working on and believe in, and never stop practicing/learning. Commit to trusting that your hard work will pay off, thinking big and never settling and working consistently towards your end goal.
Competition– This is what drives Elaine, specifically. Knowing that there is competition encourages you to find what drives your expertise. Competition leads to innovation and inspires perseverance. Find the one thing that drives YOU toward excellence and leverage it to drive you in your venture.
2) What tool(s) do you recommend for people to utilize that will help them get to where they want to be?
The best tool Elaine encourages people to use is YOUR VOICE! She went on to say that as women, we tend to stay quiet and wait until we feel the time is right rather than speak up for what we want in the moment. She wants to encourage women to use their voice to boost their visibility, drive personal growth and get the seat at the table.
Just in the little time we had to enjoy lunch and discuss the great things that are developing in Indiana, I left our time together feeling empowered and encouraged. Everything about our conversations felt genuine and it was evident just how Elaine has been able to have the career success that she has today.
