I’ve been on quite a journey.
Sometimes,
I joke with friends and call my stories, “Indiana Gordon and the Temple of Doom.” Many women have asked me to write a book about my experiences. Finally, I have written this book, “A Woman’s Mind Half Naked.” I have no regrets. I relish every challenge. Each heartbreak deepens my compassion. Each terror I face strengthens me. Every triumph, micro or macro, reaffirms my knowing and teaches me to trust myself. I am an entrepreneur. Always have been. Business for business’ sake doesn’t thrill me. I care to create. I approach business as art... gloriously messy, colorful, and full of texture, line, contrast. Intuitive. Gooey. I am passionate about businesses building community... using their voices authentically and deepening their listening skills.
When I was a little girl, my friends and I held an art show. We were into collecting buttons at the time, so we sold our art for buttons. The neighbors supported our cause and bought most of the paintings and drawings. Our button collection grew. Children are natural entrepreneurs. If you want to know how to be an entrepreneur, watch children.
For example, watch a baby learn to walk up and down stairs. No fear of failing or being thought ridiculous. No sense of “I can’t.” That baby stays completely in the moment. She is not bogged down in her past or fear of the future. I watched my own daughter go up and down a single stair for an hour when she was 1-year old. She didn’t care who was watching. She didn’t care if she went boomp on her diapered bottom. The present moment was all that existed. Finally, she did it! I decided from then on that I wanted to be just like a one-year old, to embrace challenges with no self-consciousness, no sense of “I can’t do this.” I want to live in the now.
Communication
is my passion. I used to be a freelance business writer.
wrote for some of the local papers, too. In August 2004, I founded
Cool Breeze Marketing out of a desire to incorporate more art and
creative solution-finding into my entrepreneurial adventure. I wanted
to have
brainstorm parties
with my clients, blow apart the ceiling on the imagination and create
a big place for new ideas. I wanted my business to be relational,
- listening, storytelling, acting as a sounding board. I wanted to
help individuals in business deepen the humanity and compassion in
their work world. I wanted to help people distill inner and outer
company communication into its purest, most alive forms.
My friend,
Leslie, jokes, “Jennifer Gordon, ridding the world of evil...
through marketing.” Hmm. Cool Breeze Marketing needed
some re-invention. Recently, I decided to listen to my molten magma
core, my intuition,
and to re-think Cool Breeze Marketing. Quickly, all the seemingly
disjointed dots connected and our direction of reaching women as
consumers,
as well
as supporting
their confidence and leadership, was clear. It is my joy and privilege
to integrate with a number of vibrant, generous, alive, compassionate,
brilliant women and men who are making a difference in this world
of business. Innovation. Dialogue. Bringing hope to the forefront.
Integrating cultures post merger and acquisition.
Deepening humanity
in the workplace. Actively supporting Noble Business, business
as a force for good. The list goes on. Many of these folks are published
authors, international speakers, and consult with senior executives
of large corporations. I’m very excited about this new turn
in JAG&A’s road.
