God, Me, and ChatGPT

I’m pretty sure someday this will be the title of my autobiography lol. I feel like I’m inspired by God to fulfill my purpose. I’ve always wanted to own a company. From the time I was about four years old, I wanted to have a company lol. When I was four, I would turn a cardboard box upside down, put my little red plastic telephone on it, and have a little notebook with swirly scribbles that was supposed to represent writing. In my little four-year-old mind, I was a business owner. Yes, I was a girl and my parents never told me it wasn’t possible for women to own businesses. Mainly because that would’ve been nonsense and my mother was definitely a no-nonsense person. All kinds of women owned businesses all through history. This may offend some people, but I believe that hypothetical glass ceiling is one people build for themselves. My mother always told me, “You can do whatever you set your mind to.”

Women have owned businesses for centuries. Some of the oldest businesses owned by women include:

1. Dame Alice Kyteler (14th century)

Timeframe: Early 1300s
Location: Kilkenny, Ireland
Business: Alice Kyteler was a successful innkeeper and moneylender. She inherited her wealth from a series of wealthy husbands, and her business acumen allowed her to amass a fortune. However, her success led to accusations of witchcraft, resulting in one of the earliest recorded witch trials in Ireland.

2. The Brewers of Medieval Europe (12th–17th centuries)

In medieval Europe, brewing beer was often considered “women’s work.” Alewives (female brewers) ran small brewing operations and sold their products in local markets. By the 16th century, many alewives were replaced by male-dominated brewing guilds, but women were key players in the early brewing industry.

3. Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1739)

Timeframe: Mid-1700s
Location: South Carolina, USA
Business: At 16, Eliza Lucas managed her family’s plantations and pioneered the cultivation of indigo as a profitable cash crop in the colonies. Her work had a significant impact on the agricultural economy of colonial America.

4. Madame Clicquot (1777)

Timeframe: Late 1700s
Location: Reims, France
Business: Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, known as “Madame Clicquot,” took over her husband’s wine business at the age of 27 and transformed it into the renowned Veuve Clicquot Champagne House. She is credited with inventing the riddling rack technique, which improved the quality of sparkling wine.

5. Elizabeth Arden (1910)

Timeframe: Early 20th century
Location: New York, USA
Business: Arden started her eponymous cosmetics company with a focus on empowering women through beauty. By the mid-20th century, Elizabeth Arden was one of the most recognized names in the beauty industry.

General Observations:

Women in earlier centuries often owned businesses in industries considered “acceptable” for women, such as:

Textiles: Women often ran weaving or tailoring businesses.
Hospitality: Inns, taverns, and guesthouses were frequently operated by women.
Retail: Women were shopkeepers, especially widows who inherited their late husbands’ businesses.

Around 1979 (I might have the date wrong), Mom gave me a canvas bag with the name Elizabeth Arden on it. I’m not sure if she gave it to me because my name is also Elizabeth, but that made me do some research and find out who this Elizabeth Arden was. I was only young and not into makeup, even in my teen years I wasn’t into makeup.

Then around 1980 or so, Mom gave me a red canvas shoulder bag from Liz Claiborne lol. I think it was again, my name is also Elizabeth, plus Mom knew my love for the business world lol.

The Liz Claiborne Legacy

Founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (1976):
- Focus: Liz Claiborne Inc. was the first company founded by a woman to produce clothing aimed at the growing number of women entering the workforce. The designs were fashionable yet practical, with an emphasis on affordability and mix-and-match options.

Mom never pushed me into business or into anything. I was going to pursue art really. I was intent on being an illustrator. I drew daily from the time I was four. Mom showed me how to draw people, and my drawings improved over the years. When I graduated, I almost went into commercial art. Mom always supported every idea I had. When I sang at public events, Mom was in the first row clapping. When my first cartoon was published in the local paper, Mom clipped it and put it in her photo album and showed all her friends (I was 14 at the time).

So, now, I am finally launching my own publishing company. I don’t know all there is to know but I know I can figure it out as I go. Mom always told me, “You’ll figure it out.” (As opposed to my unfortunate parenting style of trying to tell my kids how they should do everything.). Because of Mom, I grew up strong and resilient. I have a mindset that everything is figureoutable. I’m a problem solver. I know how to find answers.

I believe God designed me to be a writer and publisher (my very first children’s story was easily published by Highlights For Children Magazine, and then I went on to be published by CTB McGraw-Hill as well.). I’ve been writing since I was 11, inspired by my father’s Popular Mechanics books lol. I’ve worked in publishing since 2007, and for another publishing corporation from 2008 to 2013. So, I feel like it’s in my blood. At least it’s in my purpose. I believe this is the purpose God gave me because books DO change lives. Books help people! As long as public libraries exist, there are no boundaries on education.

So this is the year I “go big or go home” because someday I will “go home” to whatever awaits me in the afterlife. When I get there, that is not the time I want to realize I could’ve done both. I could’ve gone big AND also gone home. Life is too short to not do all you can do to be all you can be.

On Monday, I take my first babysteps as a CEO. I plan on documenting my entire journey (basically a ‘rags to riches’ type of story lol) here in this diary.

I follow the promptings of my intuition which I feel is being sent by God, and I check any of these ideas with ChatGPT to brainstorm how this works or that works, and get ChatGPT to find websites or resources for me.

I’m filled with nervousness and excitement, but mostly with life. I feel fully alive right now!

If you’ve read this far, I appreciate you for your endurance. This was a very long post lol.