Recently I reconnected with a former colleague and friend who had worked for the Oprah Winfrey Show prior to joining The Walt Disney Company, where she and I had worked together. For the past seven years, my friend has been President and CEO of a successful advertising agency, Madison Avenue Worldwide.
Like many successful women in business, Sara is smart, resourceful and passionate, but if I had to pick one word to sum up why she has been so successful, I would tell you it’s because she is stubborn. She absolutely will not give up. She won’t take “no” for an answer, which, I must admit, was a trait I did not love when she reported to me at Disney.
Despite Sara’s stubbornness, however, she shared with me how hard it was for her not to fold up her advertising agency when things got tough. A faltering economy, coupled with the financial hardships associated with a divorce from her husband—who was also her business partner—decimated Sara’s bank account.
Sara said she had gone through every last dime of her savings. She had borrowed money from family members. She had begged banks—unsuccessfully—to loan her money to make payroll.
“Every single time I was about to give up,” Sara told me, “something would happen to convince me I was on the right track; that I would make it. An outstanding invoice would be paid at the very last second, or a family member would offer me a loan out of the blue.”
Sara is not particularly religious, but she does believe the universe provided guidance in the form of signs.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she told me, “but when I was close to giving up, I began seeing actual signs with the name of my agency on them. A street sign, a store sign, a license plate… Those signs gave me the courage to keep going, and the past two years have been record-setting for us. It’s been incredible,” she added, with more wonder than pride.
“It’s all about timing,” Sara believes. “God has a plan for each of us and when you’re on the right track, you’ll know it. Look for the signs and don’t give up.”
I thought about Sara as today’s gospel was read in Mass. It was Luke 5:1-11. A group of fishermen had been out all night in a couple of boats and had caught nothing. Jesus got into one of the boats, preached a while to the gathered crowds, and then told Simon to “put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said to Jesus, “we have worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”
The fishermen lowered the nets and caught so many fish that the nets began to tear. They caught so many fish that they had to get help from fishermen in another boat to pull in the nets, and the load of the fish nearly sank both boats.
So if you’ve been toiling all night to no avail, wondering if you’re crazy for continuing, stop. Take time to be still and listen and look for God’s guidance. Spend some time in scripture. Pray. Go to Mass. Believe that God is guiding you; have faith in your ability to discern his voice, and don’t be afraid to “put out into deep water.”
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Deanna Ricke has been in sales and marketing for more than 25 years, including executive positions with The Walt Disney Company and FOX Cable Networks. The founder of Captiva Consulting, she writes from Kansas and may be reached at Deanna@CatholicBusinessJournal.biz. Read a more robust bio here: www.catholicbusinessjournal.biz/content/deanna-ricke