“Learning to Speak Up!”

“Learning to Speak Up!”

I have not always been the assertive, “speak up” person that I strive now to be each day. After all, I was raised in the “deep” South, where women (and children) are seen and not heard!

Part of my re-education is to learn to speak up for myself. Initially, it was easier for me to speak up for others. I did this in my profession and in my community work. At the age of 25, I was the first woman to begin an advertising, marketing, media and PR firm in the South. In handling local, regional and national clients, including politicos and not-for-profit organizations, I learned a lot about the media that could give anyone a larger voice and ways to use words to engage and influence a larger number of people. To the amazement of many people, myself included, my agency succeeded for many years.

Then, as has happened more than once, the economy went through a major downturn, and so did my young company. It took many, many more years to learn to speak my own truth and to listen to that still small voice that eventually whispered in my ear suggesting that I begin giving women a larger voice in order to bring more balance to the universe. Just learning to listen in this manner must be the greatest achievement in my life, and it’s a continuing effort.

When you are speaking for others, particularly when you feel that it is your “path,” it is so much easier to speak up! What happened in my life during the times in between?

Looking back, I feel that at some level, I was listening much earlier than I realized. But at very low point in my life, when I was 33 years old, I went on a pilgrimage of the soul, and was amazingly fortunate to meet a Meditation Master, Baba Muktananda, whose main message was that the real answers lay inside.

I was fortunate to spend almost eight years learning from this amazing being – and the greatest lessons were learning to recognize that little voice and to respond appropriately. From inner direction, we now have a wonderful team that helps to create and manage our company, Women’s Online Media and Education Network which produces WomensRadio, WomensCalendar, AudioAcrobat®, and soon our new WomensRadio Channel – media and media tools designed to help women and others have a larger voice over a greater geographical area.

At some point, I believe we all have to put energy and courage into finding our path. Without fail, when I talk with other women who have been through this same process, I learn that although it may take courage to listen and act on behalf of our hearts, once we make that choice, life seems to take over to support us in every way and that the fears and frustrations that we encountered before making that decision, seem to melt away. We do many things fearlessly and wonder at how easy it has all become.

Through WomensRadio, I am able to talk with some of the most incredible women and men on the planet. I am coaching and making room for other women who want to learn how to use the new tools and to have that larger voice as an Internet broadcaster. Through WomensCalendar, I am able to be of service to thousands of not-for-profit organizations which serve women world-wide. Some of these are large and some are very small but all of them are doing amazing work – often work I myself was not aware of previously. This past year, we added a weekly Org Feature which gives 52 orgs even more attention on both WomensRadio and WomensCalendar. And, AudioAcrobat®, the tool we created to allow women to have an easy way to create and produce what sounds like “real” radio from anywhere in the world, is serving thousands more who have never even heard of WomensRadio, but who do have a larger voice as a result of finding this state-of-the-art media tool and using it. Most, if not all, of our training is also free!

Our next steps are to create our first WomensRadio “Channel” – a new medium that will be able to easily syndicate programs by women in one Internet file that we can share with thousands of other sites. We are in the process of creating more off-line classes and products that will allow women to learn more and more about how to take advantage of opportunities using both conventional major media and new media.

Another goal is to create similar sites and channels for women of other major cultures – such as Latina’s, Chinese, and more, and link women through their strong areas of interest around the world – always, giving them a greater and greater voice! For more information about any of our media, media tools, products, or opportunities at WomensRadio, or to inquire about booking a speaking engagement, please contact me directly at Pat@WomensRadio.com or call our toll-free line: 888 648 4635 ext 225.

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