First impressions count, especially when you walk into a job interview.  Visual cues influence hiring decisions, and the way you dress can help or hurt your chances.

In any job interview situation, care must be taken to match the expectations of the industry (ie. legal, environmental or artistic ~ each of which has its own culture). Even if you are interviewing for a cashier job, understand the value in presenting a clean and professional appearance when you interview.

If you are in doubt as to whether your outfit choice is too “out there,” it probably is. That said, there are a few general suggestions that will help you make appropriate choices regardless of the position for which you are applying.

When you feel confident, it shows!

1. Your clothes should enhance, not detract from your overall presence. Clean lines and uncomplicated silhouettes are best. When you are sitting across the desk from an interviewer, your goal is for them to concentrate on what you are saying, not what you are wearing. NOTE: Shoes are very important. It’s a detail a good interviewer will notice. No scuffs or worn heels.

2. Choose classic colors that give the impression of responsibility and engender respect. Whether or not we are aware of it or not, humans are wired to respond to various colors in different ways. The psychology of color plays a factor in our reactions in different situations. That being said, if your favorite color is red and it bolsters your confidence to wear it, incorporate it in your outfit. Just don’t overwhelm.

3. Muted accessories and make up (if applicable). Again, your goal is for the interviewer to remember how impressive your conversation was, not how loud your tie was. …or the color of your eye shadow. Jewelry should also be subdued. Gauged ears or body piercings may not be the best choice. Body art is more prolific than it has been in previous years, but it’s still a safe bet to find out your prospective employer/agency’s stance on tattoos. Enhance and complement your features, but think of accessories as spice in chili ~ too much cayenne pepper, and all you’ll remember after the meal is heartburn.

4. Fragrance should compel, not repel. If your cologne or perfume precedes your entrance to a room, you’re wearing too much. Aside from the force field nature of too much fragrance, asthma, migraines and allergies are a very real factor when interacting with others. Be mindful of how much fragrance you use.

5. Be you. Now that you’ve stripped away all sense of individuality in the preceding suggestions, don’t forget to be you. People work with people, and your interviewer will wish to get a sense of who you are. Incorporate signature elements of your personality and include things that will make you feel happy and confident.

Good luck!

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

It’s working.

The stabilizing effect of transportation is making a real impact in the lives of women and children and we have you to thank.

You are helping her transition from poverty to prosperity!

We awarded our first car in February of 2012 to a woman who had been living in a homeless shelter with her children in May of 2011. Since then, she has held a job and moved to an independent apartment, but that’s not all…

In July of this year, she was able to remove an abusive person from her life, because our existence proved that someone was willing to invest in her. She did not have to rely on another person for something as essential as transportation. We are considered a formal support by her caseworker team, and with their help, our participant will continue to move forward in her life.

We expanded our efforts by awarding a car in a second Iowa county through a joint partnership with the Iowa State Extension Office and the Sisters of Humility in Scott County. We currently have a third car awaiting a candidate.Your continued financial support is crucial in keeping our growing fleet “on the road” and in service to these women who have made the choice to leave a life on welfare.

Over the year prior, we were also lucky enough to be invited to attend the premier episode of The Ricki Lake Show in Los Angeles, CA as part of the Friends of Ricki community. The show’s focus was online interactions and experiences that have an effect in the real world. We were able to meet some wonderful people and forge some strong partnerships that will help women in Iowa gain their independence.

BIG NEWS! BIG CHANGE!

Through our research of the activity across our social media profiles (twitter and facebook), combined with the requests for assistance and establishing chapters elsewhere that arrive through our website, we have determined that a national need exists for what we started here in Iowa. As a result, we are currently in talks to move our headquarters to Chicago, IL.

Through this move, our goal is to grow and learn in an area that has a concentrated capacity to help WWDF scale in a more cohesive manner. We will continue to maintain our commitment to women and children in Iowa, using the lessons learned in Chicago to provide solutions for communities in both states, with an eye toward scaling nationally. To learn more about our Chicago initiative and how you can help, please send an email to us here at wwithdr1ve@gmail.com and put “CHICAGO UPDATE” in the subject line.

The number one reason welfare to work programs fail is a lack of reliable transportation.

Because WWDF provides that vital missing element in collaboration with other private and public agencies that address the other parts of creating self-sufficiency, we serve a vital need in helping women move from poverty to prosperity.

Your continued financial support helps us to strategically invest in women who have taken ownership of their choices and are ready to change their lives. We operate on the “starfish principle:” what may seem to be small investments in individuals have far-reaching effects that ripple across generations. Caring people like you make a difference. Tax deductible donations may be made through our secure server by clicking here.

Thank you for your continued support of our mission. Your commitment has a positive effect in the lives of others. We look forward to helping even more women in 2013!

Sincere regards,

M.

This is a short post today. Turkey to cook, potatoes to mash and kids to hug.

But I wanted to take a moment and talk with you about the struggles you may be going through, so this is a very personal post. I share, because I want you to know a few things:

Hugs are a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving!

• I have spent nights sobbing out of fear.
• I have faced foreclosure.
• I have bought Christmas presents with food stamps.
• I have received mystery greetings in the mail – with gift cards for food and gas tucked inside.
• I have had bosses, friends and mentors lead the way.
• I have had people take risks on my behalf.
• I have taken risks on my behalf.
• I have children who have always loved me.
• You are stronger than you think.
• You can do anything you want to do.
• I established this nonprofit because you are worth the effort.

Be good to yourself today. Love yourself and from that, abundance flows.

I love you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Best, M.

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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

Most of the posts on this site have to do with the challenges faced by people who wish to overcome a life of systemic, generational poverty. The women we serve come from disadvantaged backgrounds and few, if any, have ever had anyone invest anything in them. Our posts are usually peppered with advice concerning life skills, courage, financial literacy or any number of topics that encourage independence.

Today, I’m going to “draw back the curtain” and let you in on the nuts and bolts of how Women With Drive Foundation (WWDF)  has developed into the organization that it has become and how the Business Innovation Factory Conference played a part.  NOTE: There is a danger of wonk-speak, and I may drop into the shorthand lingo of the nonprofit world. I ask in advance for your forgiveness and hope you’ll bear with me. FWIW, it’s a pretty accurate cross-section into my melon and how I think ~ stream-of-consciousness and all!

A year ago, I was invited to attend a conference about innovation by Saul Kaplan, the founder and chief catalyst at the Business Innovation Factory Conference in Providence, RI. At the time, WWDF had completed the arduous and complex process of securing our legal structure, board representation, IRS requirements and had begun to build relationships “on the ground” among all sorts of support organizations that help provide the complementary skills that fulfill the five platforms of holistic autonomy (as determined by our model and goals for self-sufficiency). Holy wow. That was one long sentence!

I was intrigued by the opportunity to associate with, and learn from, people whose natural state of existence was that of a changemaker. It was an exhilarating opportunity. The common denominator among all of those attending (and the storytellers who spoke) was that each had decided to try something different, regardless of their industry or discipline.

These were they who upset the apple cart. Shook things up. Took a stand. …Each had an innate curiosity and a willingness to see what was possible. Each had decided to tap into the unique characteristic that set them apart and to develop it ~ to see where it led.

As someone who had launched a nonprofit model that incorporated a collaborative effort across public and private organizations to address the vital missing element of transportation in eradicating poverty, how could I refuse? I couldn’t and I didn’t. And those two days have made all the difference.

• Through attending BIF7 and establishing connections with CEOs and founders of related industries, we have been able to “leapfrog” forward through what I estimate to be five years’ worth of iterations and “mistakes”
• Through connecting with other changemakers and continuing to maintain a relationship with them, we have successfully awarded cars in two Iowa counties
• We have been able to reach out to a wider network where solutions exist on another scale and adjust them to fit our market and needs
• As an individual, I have grown in confidence and assurance, which helps us as an organization and the women we serve

The goal of the conference is to connect innovators across strata, with the idea that change happens in the area between silos. Through the ‘random collisions’ possible at such a convergence, unorthodox and singular solutions are crafted and implemented.

What’s most exciting for me is that these $25 words that I’m throwing around like Tootsie Rolls from a float at a Fourth of July parade is that THESE CONCEPTS AND CONNECTIONS AFFECT REAL PEOPLE. There are women with children who benefit directly from the outcomes of this conference. Their lives’ trajectories have been altered. Their futures are brighter. Their children will learn different realities.

That’s worth the price of admission. I’ve got my ticket. I hope to see you there.

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

“When you’re stuck in a spiral, to change all aspects of the spin, you need only to change one thing.” ~ Christina Baldwin

This is good to know, especially if you are mid-spin in your life right now. Most of us fall into this category, because life is change, and change involves chaos of some sort. Chaos always accompanies change; it is only a matter of to which degree. Accepting that chaos will always be present actually makes it easier to bear.

Feel as though your life is spinning out of control?

When my daughters were little, I tried to parent by the KISS and NTK principles: Keep It Simple, Silly and Need To Know. By keeping things simple, I forced myself to boil the lesson at hand into its essentials:  what was the ‘takeaway’ I wanted my kids to get? When presented this way, it helped me to stick to micropoints and to address their behavioral issues systematically and precisely.

In terms of “need to know”? It wasn’t necessarily a secrecy-based theory; rather, it was more in line with giving my daughters information about any given topic in a way that they understood at the time. Overloading a lesson with stuff way beyond their pay grade muddied the issue and made it more difficult for them to learn.

From this, a couple of home-grown aphorisms came about:

1. “If it doesn’t belong to you; leave it alone.” This simple statement covered anything from theft to breaking something they didn’t know how to operate in one fell swoop.
2. “Bad things happen to people who panic.” This was my go-to, baseline framework I hoped to instill in them for when the Play-Doh hit the fan.

Trying to teach a kid how to meditate, assess and apply solutions is difficult. Teaching a kid to think first: ‘bad things happen to people who panic,’ before they act is easier.

So when your life is pinwheeling into oblivion, remember a couple of key points:

1. Bad things happen to people who panic.
2. In order to change your spin, pick just one thing to change. Physics will take it from there.

So many times when our lives are falling apart, we want to take a wrecking ball to the whole thing and build anew. Other times, we’ll prescribe a Geographical Cure and start afresh somewhere else.

Sometimes, these choices work. However, if they are not a viable option for you, today, right now, my advice to you is to quiet your mind and choose just one small thing over which you have control and change it.

In order to affect change, you must have focus. If this is a skill you haven’t honed, your first attempts at changing the direction of your spin will be messy. The good news is, like any other skill, the more you practice, the better you get.

1. Quiet your mind. Ask yourself, “What (or where) will the logical extension of this action (fill in the blank) in my life take me?

2. Is this my intent?

3. Is this acceptable? If ‘yes,’ then bully for you. Keep up the good work. If ‘no,’ proceed to question four.

4. Where do I want to go? Decide, and then WRITE IT DOWN.

5. What small thing can I change right now that will get me closer to where I want to be? (ie. omit something, change a habit, start a new one).

6. Implement that small change until it becomes a habit.

7. Lather, rinse, repeat.

8. Adjust course as necessary.

The more you practice this, the shorter the time lag between questions 1 and 7 become. You’ll be able to assess the need to change on the fly. Furthermore, you will become more in tune and aware of the need to change in the first place. Just knowing that something is off kilter is a skill in and of itself.

Remember, the Queen Mary is steered by a very teeny rudder in comparison to her overall size. Your life’s trajectory is similarly constructed. It is our own consistent actions, regardless of the size, that determine where we go.

Never underestimate the power of small things done consistently and well as a force for change in your life.

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

Many people have to wait a long time for something to happen. Tom Petty was right: The waiting is the hardest part. It’s easy to become impatient, especially when we cannot see any signs that anything is happening. It’s like the seed germinating within the earth. Although there may be millions of chemical reactions going on beneath the surface, from topside, the soil resembles a mute brown plane, keeping its own counsel.

Trust us. There's something going on under the soil.

Maddening.

The urge to dig up the seed to check on its progress is almost overwhelming, and yet, in order for the seed to bear fruit, we must trust that the process is on schedule. If we have chosen the correct soil for the seed, watered it properly and fertilized it accordingly, then we must have faith that something will happen.

As an example, we awarded a car to a woman who epitomizes the example of doing the work and then waiting.

“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.” ~ Jules Renard

Eight months ago, she was living in a homeless shelter with her children. She wanted a better life for herself and her children. We, as a nonprofit, wanted to give it to her. But in order for the transfer to happen, she needed to first decide that she wanted to move forward and then take steps toward achieving it.

Reaching out to a caseworker. Determining the correct steps to getting her GED. Fulfilling obligations to secure an apartment. Achieving these goals constituted a symbiotic relationship between asking and effort. It’s difficult to articulate, and I’m not sure that I’m doing a very good job of it. It’s not a matter of “deserving.” It’s a matter of realizing.

Once we realize ourselves, we begin to see ourselves as worthy. And from that sense of worthiness, concrete and tangible results flow.

“Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don’t see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Our applicant had to do the heavy lifting of overcoming her own inertia, developing clarity about the things she wanted and then taking action to bring about the changes she wished to see in her life. Even the most insightful and intelligent among us cannot begin to presume what another wants for him or herself.  Each of us has the responsibility of seeking that kernel of truth for himself or herself.

“It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.” ~ Baltasar Gracian

Once you have an inkling of what you want, you must seek out the conditions and people where you’ll have a greater chance of coming into contact with others from whom you can learn and grow.

• Research the job or industry you would like to enter
• Read about people who have succeeded in your chosen field
• Apply for internships or educational opportunities that put you in the path of those who can help you
• Do the work

Ultimately, you must also be willing to act when the opportunity for which you have been waiting presents itself. You must trust that your time spent preparing has been effective.

“One of the best ways you can thank someone for giving you a chance is to take it.” ~ Molly Cantrell-Kraig

When have you had to wait for something? How did it pan out? Were you able to pay it forward?
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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

Most of my blogposts thus far have to do with the intangible or abstract qualities of the nature of independence. Today, I’m going to go out on a limb and share with you something intensely personal, in the hopes that it gives you an idea of what independence means for me.

Security comes from within!

Over the previous year and a half, I’ve met with a few nonprofit folks, learning from them and growing my understanding of what it means to more fully develop Women With Drive Foundation.

During one illuminating conversation with founder of the nonprofit Big Love Little Hearts, Estrella Rosenberg (@charityestrella on twitter), we discussed the concept of nonprofits as people – that is to say, how people associate the leadership of nonprofits as the drivers of the foundation. We went on to talk about how people wished to connect with the story of the foundation – the whys and the hows of its formation, mission and works.

Since then, I have thought a lot about what she had to say.

[Ahem]. It may seem laughable, considering that I have a digital footprint in several social media platforms, but I’m actually a pretty private person. However, in order to give my work real heft, “street cred” and authenticity, I feel that explaining the beginnings and evolution of the Women With Drive Foundation may underscore its importance, not only for me but the women whose lives we touch.

“There is no real security except for whatever you build inside yourself.” — Gilda Radner

I first read this quote in 1996. It was the point at which I could actually understand it. For much of my life, I transferred ownership of my independence and security to others: boyfriends, spouses, bosses…anyone but the person upon whom the responsibility rested (me). When I read this quote, I had been divorced for a few years and Gilda’s words galvanized me into action and henceforth accepting responsibility for my own choices. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

I married a man because he asked me to.

I was very young, already mother to a toddler and felt as though I was “used goods.” I thought no man would want me, and so when someone asked me to marry him, decided that I had better say yes before he changed his mind. During the marriage ceremony, my soul gave one last ditch effort, hurling the equivalent of a mental “Hail Mary Pass” across my brain, shrieking, “What are you doing?!”

My answer to myself, “Everything’s paid for.” (meaning the reception)

Everything is paid for.

I’ll say it was. I paid, and I paid again. It took seven years of my life to pay myself the interest on that decision. During those seven years, I had to face myself, do an assessment of where I was developmentally against what I was capable of achieving, and then take steps each day toward reaching my goals. Along the way, I had teachers and support helping me to develop skills and strengths, but ultimately, it was up to me to choose better for myself.

Women With Drive Foundation is the extension of my personal journey. I know what it’s like to be scared. I know what it’s like to feel that gnawing sense that you’re missing the mark – that you’re meant for greater things. And I also know that emancipating thrill of knowing that you’re where you’re meant to be.

“You cannot borrow security. You must invest in yourself.” ~ Molly Cantrell-Kraig

Our foundation gives a woman a car for two years in exchange for her participation in various assessments and programs that help her to identify her particular barriers to independence. Once determined, a plan is put into place to address them. She is a partner in her development and held accountable to meeting her end of the bargain.

In my research prior to establishing the Women With Drive Foundation, I found many wonderful organizations – locally, regionally and nationwide – that help women with developing many skills, but few who actually gave a woman a vehicle to facilitate this very necessary component of independence. There were none who incorporated the two-year developmental journey alongside the distribution of a car.

The car is the physical manifestation of her internal transformation.

The car is the sizzle. The real “product” or “the steak,” is the change that happens within the woman who completes the two year process of facing herself, choosing to develop that which she needs to empower and free herself. Through Women With Drive Foundation, I hope to systemically and organically empower women – to give them the tools to help themselves. In so doing, it is my wish that we elevate the Whole: her family, her children, her community.

Freedom isn’t free. Independence requires sacrifice, honesty and hard work. But that doesn’t mean we don’t all need help along the way. I’ve devoted my future to seeing the goals of the Women With Drive Foundation come to fruition. Thanks for listening to me share my story today.

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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “like” us on facebook.

Here there be monsters. Under the bed. In the closet. In the basement. Who else here knew how to jump from the doorway to the bed at night so that the monsters couldn’t grab your ankle and drag you under? 

What do we fear? Do your 'monsters' live under the bed?

When we get older, we know that the only things under the bed are fossilized Skittles, the Renegade Sock That Escaped from the Dryer and dust bunnies.

• The real fears live within the telephone we don’t want to use when calling creditors or possible job leads.
• They live in our gut when we have to ask for help.
• They live in the mirror when we fear forgetting who we are.

What got rid of the monsters when you were a kid? For me, it was M&Ms, a flashlight and a mother who told me that I could vanquish my demons.

As an adult?

Good friends, the enlightenment within and of course, M&Ms (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ~ Joseph Campbell

I love fear now. Fear is my friend. When fear is present, I know that I am close to a breakthrough in my evolutionary journey of becoming a fully functional Being.

The key to embracing fear is to understand what it represents. In order to do this, you’ll need friends, paper, pencil and chocolate.

First of all, learn to recognize your fear indicators.

• Is it irritability?
• Sweating?
• Dizziness?
• Sinking in the gut?
• Procrastination?

Pay attention and when these twinges kick in, TRAIN YOURSELF TO ASK, “What am I afraid of?” Write it down or otherwise record it.

Get to a place where you can process your answers, and your next step is to ask yourself, “Why am I afraid of this?” This step may take some time. Bring enough chocolate. (By the way, the “why” is your flashlight).

Now “enter the cave.” When you prioritize and address your fears, they vanish like mirages in the desert. They vanish like mirages in the desert. Paradox is a hoot and a half.

To truly purge the power of your fear, have a good, long, healthy laugh at yourself for boxing at shadows. It is one of the most liberating feelings you’ll ever experience. I promise.

What fears have you overcome? How did you “embrace the beast”? What still remains for you to conquer? What has been your experience?

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.

I’ve been thinking about the nature of sacrifice as it relates to independence over the past few days. Specifically, I’ve been thinking of how sacrifice applies to the tenets and philosophies of Women With Drive Foundation (WWDF). The concept of sacrifice is central to the establishment of this organization, and I hope you’ll allow me to share a brief post with you to let you know how important the concept of sacrifice is to me as a driver of our organization.

Sacrifice, in my opinion, is the willing allowance/surrender of one’s strength for the empowerment of another. Sometimes this surrender is temporary; sometimes, it is a wholesale transfer of energy. I think of how none of us got to where we are without the sacrifice of another. Perhaps it was a parent who worked two jobs in order to pay our college tuition. Perhaps it was a mentor who helped us to get a foot in the door at our first job that led to our success in our industry/field.

Sacrifice, described in physical terms, reminds me of the act of lighting one candle with another. There is a point at which the flame from one candle ignites the wick of the other. For a split second, both flames “lower,” or grow dimmer, as the transfer of energy flows from one source to the other. However, once lit, both flames grow to their original strength.

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Through WWDF, we hope to serve the same function. Our organization serves as the conduit or transfer point of energy from one source of strength to another.

The women we serve possess the same capacity for illumination as the unlit candle. Their lives are an example of potential energy that is unharnessed until we, as an organization, provide the resources and structure for her to fuel her own progression. It is exciting work to be sure.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. …every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don’t believe in 100% pure “bootstrapping.” I don’t think that anyone achieves anything completely and wholly on his or her own. We are each a product of the efforts of many lives and influences as we reach our goals. Further, I also believe that we are each responsible for “paying it forward” and for investing something of ourselves in the lives of others.

For what it’s worth, there is a sacrifice on the part of those we serve. They meet us halfway, so to speak, and surrender their own energies by participating and completing the program. I wrote a haiku a few months ago that summarizes for me the idea of progress through sacrifice and surrender:

Renewal and death: / duality, paradox / within the seed head.

Each of us holds the fuel of our own advancement. Each of us has the capacity to evolve into the fruition of who we are meant to be. Are we willing to sacrifice what is needed in order to do so? Can you recall people in your life who helped you to become who you are? Would you like to help a woman achieve independence? Donate here.

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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive)

Channeling Andy Rooney, I ask you: “D’ya ever notice that it always takes longer to get to your destination when you don’t know how to get there?” I’m referring to the multiple impatient glances you make toward your directions- possibly downloaded from Mapquest or those which have been inked onto the back of a phone bill envelope as you lurch your way through a neighborhood, squinting at house numbers.

You fret as you drive, annoyed with the pokey drivers ahead of you, worried that you will be late for your appointment. Anxious, you may even take a wrong turn ahead of the light, and wander off course on side streets until you find your way back to the main arterial.

It’s maddening to not know where you are going. By comparison, the way home is a breeze, as are subsequent trips to this particular location…. Because you already know the way.

Which way is the "right" way? Are we on the right path?

When we’re pursuing our goals, we can become impatient with our progress. Sometimes we can also doubt ourselves:

• are we on the right path?
• is there a shortcut we could have taken?
• why is it taking me so long to get where I want to be?
• why do other people seem to know where they are going?

“The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.” ~ Barbara DeAngelis

Although I can intellectually appreciate this quote and I know that it is true, that doesn’t mean that I have to like it. Change is a pain in the butt. Why can’t we just get what we want without having to change? I mean, we *know* what we want, right? Why can’t the Cosmic Vending Machine just spit it out after we’ve paid our presumed dues? (ie. getting married, graduating with a degree, landing the proper job).

So why not? Because you have to experience the journey in order to find out if it’s the one you really want. Taking stock of the moments as you lurch through the “signposts” of your life is where you decide if you really want to “drive” this direction after all.

“You don’t create your mission in life – you detect it.” ~ Viktor Frankl

This is how we hone our compass as we meander through the journey that constitutes our lives. Take a moment and look back at your life over the previous 10 years. What were the best parts of the job or careers you have had since then? Are any derivations of them in your current position? Have you refined and enlarged a specific skill? If so, there’s a clue that you are on the right path.

“Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, ‘This is the real me,’ and when you have found that attitude, follow it.” ~ William James

Perhaps there is only a small commonality between that person of 10 years ago and your current iteration, but you realize upon reflection that you wish that you had more of that quality in your current life. That means that you are on a figurative side street. Double back and recommit to what makes you “come alive,” and develop it. You’re not lost. You are seeking.

“Often the search proves more profitable than the goal.” ~ E. L. Konigsburg

I had a conversation with a Women With Drive Foundation participant at lunch the other day. We were talking about the discrete but significant difference between USING a network and ENGAGING a network. When you are out there “seeking,” and contributing to your path as you travel your journey, you will interact with many people.

If you are just using people, there won’t be a two-way benefit and your interactions with them will be brief, shallow and not productive in the long term. When you give your best to the people in your networks, you will reap what you sow. As you learn and grow along the way, even through “wrong” turns and ill-fated shortcuts, you are growing stronger. You are gaining experience. The day will come when those folks along your path will intersect with your life in a positive way.

These genuine intersections enrich your life, both in a literal and figurative sense. Have you ever watched the movie “Big Fish?” Every time I watch the final scenes, I cry slow, knowing tears during the telling of Albert Finney’s “Edward Bloom’s” death. As his son, who finally understands the beauty and poetry of the Tall Tale, recounts the manic journey his father takes from the hospital to the river, they encounter the various characters from his father’s storied life.

When you learn to embrace the chaos of your life, silence your worry and enhance your awareness of your true center, you will find that you are always on the right path. Even when you are lost.

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Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” us on facebook.