I just finished reading this profile on Kat Cole.  I’ve been reading to distill talking points for women who are working to figure it out.  The tag line about a Hooters Girl making it to running a billion dollar brand (Focus Brands) is a great hook.  However the subtitle “The Rise of the Self-Made American Woman” spoke to me more.

Ms. Cole talked about a series of events, “someone needed to do something” and her reaction, “I would do it (the something). I was willing to fail because it was my first time doing things.” Beautiful.  I often see the need to do something, and after reading this, recognize that a fear of failure does sometimes hold me back.

The interview by Jessica Grose  (at Marie Claire) walked through Cole’s willingness to do whatever needed to be done.  Time and again.  She embodies the Richard Branson quote, “If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you’re not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later.”

I saw myself in Cole’s response to the question of what did she want to do for a career?  Her reply was that she wanted to be a lawyer for DuPont.  How did she arrive at that very specific goal?  She saw a can of paint, read the words “DuPont Paint” and knew she was good at debate and chemistry.  For me, I wanted a home for my young family, had absolutely no idea how to do it, so when my builder/boss of the apartment complex I managed asked me to sell homes for him in his new development, I said sure.  And let my family of an infant and a toddler, live in the house, and have it cleaned, kids to preschool, and an Open House during the day.  I made it up as I went along.

Back to Cole’s move from Hooters to Cinnabon/Focus Brands, she talks about professional associations and getting to meet “a ton of leaders who owned and ran companies” and how opportunities grew from these relationships. When we show up, we move up. Her familiarity with leading these not-for-profit associations taught corporate governance, and how to manage people, and CEO’s which she says is “inextricably linked to my success.”

So back to the #HustleMuscle.  Nike says, Just Do It.  Cole says, “Don’t waste too much time trying to figure it out. Half the battle is doing something and getting started. Focus on things small enough to change and big enough to matter. Don’t pine over it or think too long, because the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll know if it’s right.”

I think I get started on that small thing I CAN change, realizing it is big enough to matter.