Roots and Wings: Ten Lessons of Motherhood that Helped Me Create and Run a Company

I would HIGHLY recommend all career-driven professionals (especially women) to read this book. I read it twice already--and just like the author intended, it provides PERSPECTIVE. It’s not only inspiring but also encouraging and enlightening. This book is reshaping my perspective on life.As a highly ambitious career woman (who’s still single in her late 30s), I always believed I had to sacrifice my personal life to fulfill my purpose and dreams. I didn’t think it was possible for me to successfully balance family and work--and also be successful in both! The author has proven that it is: She has not only built one of the top PR firms in the US, but also has a beautiful relationship with her family.The book is glittered with pearls of wisdom. Ultimately you have to read the book to fully grasp them, but some of my favorites are:“I learned how to dance between raindrops—when to be tough and when not to be—”“I also learned that there is real power in being underestimated. I have shared this story with other women who have experienced the same aggressive and condescending behavior. There are times it pays to bite your tongue, put your head down...”“What was supposed to be a five-week assignment turned into fourteen years. If you decide you want to do something you are passionate about, you just have to go for it.”“I guess sometimes people see things in you that you don’t see for yourself.”“In the middle of this transition and the ensuing self-questioning, I was helping my then sixteen-year-old son with his homework. For some reason, we were talking about Eleanor Roosevelt, and we came across a paragraph that served as a guidepost for the next thirty-four years. It was simple, but it was a revelation. She said, ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent.’”“We had a lot of independence but a lot of responsibility, which is probably the best lesson of all. Those two things are linked—responsibility and freedom. Perhaps this was my first attraction to roots and wings—a life philosophy that governed my own value system that I have now seen at work for my kids and my grandchildren, as well as my company.”“Many connections that I and others at APCO Worldwide have developed started with me going up to total strangers. Many times, I’ve heard an intriguing speaker and then approached him or her and asked if we could meet for coffee in DC to follow up. It all starts with one approach. If you can develop the courage—the fearlessness—to do this, it is truly amazing what you can achieve. I like to call it ‘calibrated persistence.’”“I reflect on how a small-town girl, the child of immigrants and someone with no connections, was able to build such a network. It is a reminder that courage and initiative can often substitute for other less controllable things that come from privilege and connections.”“In terms of being fearless, sometimes you have to pick up the phone and make the first move in your career or life. You’ll get plenty of rejections, so steel yourself, but, oh, when you are able to accomplish your goals, do good, and perhaps good, and perhaps build relationships that last a lifetime, well, rewarding doesn’t fully cover it. Be fearless, be confident, and don’t be afraid to fail, because that is exactly how you ultimately win personally and professionally.”“And in my case, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have without believing that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen, even when everyone says you can’t. Trust me, if I listened to everyone who told me what I couldn’t do, I would become discouraged and give up. This inner voice has kept reminding me not to accept limitations imposed by others.”“Don’t overanalyze opportunities, as good things happen at inconvenient times.”“While you can have pride in your past accomplishments, you have to turn the page. No regrets. The past is with you forever, your legacy, but you have to have a mindset that this is my next adventure. And don’t compare your new opportunity to anything from the past. This is your new future.”