What Olympic Moms are Teaching Daughters and Moms

One of the best things about the Olympics is that it2. Ambition is not a dirty word.
draws a large female viewership. Fifty percent of theThese women athletes are teaching us that it is
people watching the Olympics this year are women.perfectly all right to be ambitious, determined, and
No doubt, women are getting far more out of theimpressive on a grand-scaleto take what you do
Games than just the fun of watching a sportingonto the world stage and compete with others to be
event.your personal best.
Because of this, advertisers are marketing directly toWhat's more, these athletes show us that being
women by spotlighting female special interest groups.ambitious and competitive does not make you a bad
One such group is mom Olympic athletes.wife, negligent mother, or selfish person. On the
While the exact number of "mommy" athletes at thecontrary, the mom Olympic athletes know that it's
Games is unknown, the U.S. team has 286 womenimportant to be strong, courageous, and willing to go
competing this year. Of that group, 20 are moms.after your dreams. They show us that honing your
As a small business coach and consultant totalent and making a contribution to the world means
entrepreneurial women starting up businessesthat you are honoring yourself as a woman.
worldwide, I work with many mom entrepreneurs.3. Dreams are ageless. No need to put an age limit on
The biggest challenges I face with these womenthem.
include helping them:The oldest male athlete competing in the Beijing
+ see beyond their role as mom,Olympics is sixty-seven-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu, a
+ understand that being a mother does not meandressage rider for the Japanese equestrian team.
they have to give up on their dreams,Fifty-six-year-old Libby Callahan is the oldest female.
+ see that they don't have to wait until after theirA retired Washington D.C. police officer, she finished
children are grown to follow their aspirations,25th in the 25-meter pistol.
+ and understand that it's never too late and theyAmerican swimmer Dara Torres, forty-one-year-old
are never too old to start up a business.mother to two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Tessa, is
Mom Olympic athletes provide inspiration to momthe oldest Olympic swimmer ever. Dara won three
entrepreneurs by exemplifying three importantsilver medals in the 2008 Games, missing gold by one
messages:one-hundredth of a second. And she's not done yet.
1. You don't have to give up your aspirations to be aFeeling as if she has "unfinished business," Dara hinted
mother.in an interview with CBS News that she's considering
China's Xian Dongmei was the first mother to captureswimming at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
a gold medal at the Olympics (in judo). Melanie RoachWhat do Hiroshi, Libby, and Dara have to say to
of the U.S., a 119-pound weightlifter, finished sixth inmom entrepreneurs? Don't put any limits on yourself.
her event. She is the mother of three, and one ofDreams are ageless.
her children is autistic. Japanese judo icon Ryoko TaniSo, next time you think you have to put off your
has won medals at five different Olympics, her mostdreams because you have children, think of the
recent time as a mother."mommy" athletes of the 2008 Olympics. See
The 2008 "mommy" athletes are showing womenyourself as they see themselves. Remember to put
entrepreneurs worldwide that motherhood does notyourself and your ideas out into the world, and
mean you have to give up on your entrepreneurialaccept no limits when honoring your dreams. Follow
dreams, and telling daughters around the world thatyour dreams, and don't give up until you're the best
it's okay to keep growing, striving, and being whomom entrepreneur you can be.
you are.