Pieces of Advice from 2017’s FACES of Louisville
Need some inspiration for the new year? Take some advice from the inspiring women we've featured as our FACES throughout 2017.
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By
Wesley Ware
Every Monday, StyleBlueprint features a woman who is making a big impact in her community. We call it FACES of Louisville and FACES of the South, because these women are the “faces” of positive change. We ask each of them to give us the words of wisdom that motivate them, and their answers are always inspiring. Here are the best pieces of advice from our FACES of 2017. Enjoy!
The Best Advice from Our 2017 FACES of Louisville
What advice do you treasure?
“That it’s better to be kind than to be right. Though I don’t remember it as often as I should.”
Any advice or quotes?
“Think fast, talk slow. I love that one.”
What advice do you treasure?
“Drew started our rehearsal process for A Christmas Carol by talking about why the story was meaningful for him personally. He said Scrooge has wasted his life, but by a miracle he gets a second chance. But not everyone is so lucky. ‘Life is short,’ Drew said. ‘Don’t waste time.’”
What is a valuable piece of advice you have been given?
“If you look for good, you will find it. Focus on the now, and all you need will be found in that present moment.”
What advice do you treasure?
“Growing up, my dad would tell me I could do anything or be anything I set my mind to. I think that has been a constant idea that I have come back to many times over.”
RELATED: 52 Pieces of Advice: Louisville FACES 2016
What advice do you treasure?
“Two things: ‘Life is what you make it’ — my grandmother often told me that. ‘Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.’”
What advice do you treasure?
“’When you learn, teach. When you get, give.’ Maya Angelou said that.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Melissa Ann: “My momma always told me to be kind, be yourself and like yourself enough to like others, because being those things makes it easy to follow your dreams!”
Emmylou: “Follow your bliss.”
What advice do you treasure?
“If you don’t value yourself, no one else will. This translates into every decision I make from choosing who to spend my personal time with, boards to volunteer on and clients to help. The other piece of advice that I took to heart when I was deciding to give up my career in engineering is ‘Do what you love, and the money will follow.’ Better words have not been spoken.”
What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
Cheri: “Hire people smarter than you are. We succeeded there with the hire of Dominique Paye, our digital media director. Whitney and I wouldn’t want to be on this journey without her. Same with Leapfrog PR Co. They have been with us from the start of the Summits and bring so much strategy to the Coterie. Nicely Built, our new website developers, are an integral part of our future.”
Whitney: “’There but for the grace of God, go I … ‘ My mom always said this growing up, and it has stuck with me since then. It floats through my consciousness many times a day, and it truly helps in being reminded to have an ‘attitude of gratitude’ and also realize how fortunate I am in both my personal and professional life.”
What advice do you treasure?
“Words of advice I have always taken to heart: ‘Hard work pays off … stay focused!’ I’ve also learned how much I love to travel, to get out where and when I can.”
What advice do you have for readers who are trying to balance multiple responsibilities?
“I would definitely say that it comes down to organization, but also, just don’t be afraid to go out on a limb and try something new. You never want to go through your life saying, ‘What if?’ So if you have the time, or if you can make the time, always try to do what you love and what you want to do.”
What advice do you treasure?
“You can have it all, you just can’t have it all at the same time. For the most part, I think this is true, especially for women. It’s really hard to be super good at your job, keep up with your friends, take care of your family and take care of yourself. For years, I did not exercise in favor of rushing home to be with my kids. Now that they are grown, I go to a yoga or barre class regularly.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
“I was a sophomore at Belmont. I was feeling a little down — I wasn’t sure where life was taking me. Sarah Cannon came every year [to speak at Belmont], and it was the most packed chapel that we ever had. I remember she said three things: Love God, never take yourself too seriously and always be kind.”
What advice do you treasure?
“Never lose sight of where you’re going, but don’t forget who you are and where you came from.”
What advice would you give to people who want to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things?
“You really never know until you try, and if you can use your internal compass to help guide you, I think a lot of us have the answers inside, but we have the tendency to bury them. So I would encourage people to uncover their internal compass and listen to their intuition, and rely on divine intervention, because it will point you the right way.”
What advice do you treasure?
“I try to live by a quote I believe was made by Martin Luther King: ‘If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.’”
What advice do you treasure?
“Put your oxygen mask on first. I can’t take care of my family if I don’t tend to myself first. This is from my mother, who is one wise woman.”
What advice do you have to help people make that first step to connect with the people around them?
“Baby steps, of course. My mother always said, ‘All you need is one friend.’ So just mention it to somebody. Say, ‘I read this idea. What do you think? Should we try this? Would it be interesting in our neighborhood or our community?’”
What advice do you treasure?
“Not every day will be a good day but every day is worth it.”
What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” (Confucius)
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
“They always tell you in acting, ‘Just go in there and just be yourself. You’re bringing yourself to whatever the part is.’ But it’s true. I think that is how I got this job. I put a lot of myself in there, and it takes a lot of guts to have the confidence to just be yourself, that yourself is good enough and great and all you have to be.”
What advice do you treasure?
“’Never cry for a dealer,’ which means don’t be afraid to negotiate. It’s the best advice for anyone who collects art!”
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
“Follow the things you are passionate about. Never lose the ability to laugh (particularly at yourself). Always learn from others.”
What advice do you treasure?
“The advice I have always received from my mother: ‘You have to BELIEVE!’ And believe, I did!”
Do you have a quote that you lean on?
“2 Corinthians 12:10 — That is why I take such pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties for the Messiah’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. When I’m having a bad day, and the blindness is bothering me, I go back to that and remember that I know that I am strong.”
What advice do you treasure?
“’If you can’t dance, this is not your revolution’ by Emma Goldman.”
What advice do you treasure?
“I once asked a dear friend and mentor, Don Locke, who passed away unexpectedly last year and was a legend in the black community, retired educator and freedom fighter, the following: ‘Don, when will the institutions of higher education start to care about the Latino and black students as much and we do?’ His answer: ‘Sarah, it will take an incident of injustice for people to step up and do what’s right.’”
What’s your best piece of advice?
“Be steadfast and always hold fast to your dreams!”
What advice do you treasure?
“When I was first learning to drive, I found myself in a torrential downpour, with my mother in the passenger seat. I was terrified. I could barely see, and I did not have a lot of experience in how to navigate weather like that. Sensing my distress, my mother did not tell me to pull over. Instead, she offered: ‘If one goes slowly, one will eventually get to where one is going.’ I think of that moment often when I am faced with a daunting obstacle. It reminds me to breathe and slow down, rather than charging ahead or, alternately, just stopping and giving up.”
What’s the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom?
“My friend Nadia Bolz-Weber always says, ‘Write from your scars, not your open wounds.’ And I think that is important.”
What advice do you treasure?
“Value experiences over things. Love others, and show them how they are loved. Wear sunblock on your face everyday, even in the winter. Be yourself — there’s a reason God made only one YOU.”
What advice do you treasure?
“To always follow your heart.”
What advice do you treasure?
Ann: “I have two different answers to that. My mother always told me in order to be happy, you have to decide to be happy. It comes from within. And when we opened the business, someone that I thought very highly of told me to always remember that no one will love this business as much as you love the business.”
Laurie: “Some early advice from our father — I remember trying to understand what my bosses wanted from me, wondering how I could be more successful and meet their expectations. Generally my supervisors were men — members of the “mature/silent” (the Korean and Vietnam War) generations. Dad told me that a commander’s wish was an order. I learned to listen for the expectation framed in wishes as well as for direct orders. His advice has been invaluable.”
What advice do you treasure?
“There is no such thing as perfect.”
What advice do you treasure?
“My favorite is from my mother. ‘Anything worth having is worth waiting for.’ She used this advice for everything, from shoes to husbands, and everything in between. It’s guided me through lots of decisions.”
What’s the best piece of advice you could offer a new mom of multiples?
“There is always tomorrow. A lot of people ask, ‘How do you do it?’ and the No. 1 thing is I start my day off with trying to keep God as the focus, so with a devotional and keeping my head clean and telling myself I was given this life to take care of and to be the mother of these extraordinary babies and Blayke, and that’s what I’m going to do every day. And it’s gonna be challenging, but there’s always the start of tomorrow, and you will get through it.”
A big thank you to all of these inspiring women and their wealth of advice.
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Wesley Ware
Wesley is a local gal who enjoys having a glass of wine and watching Netflix.