The start of a chorus sung by none other than the enigmatic Annie Lennox - a woman who embodies power, drive, sex appeal and confidence.
She must be one of the original Bad Girls.
A bad girl, as my stunningly bright friend Candace Klein explains, is not necessarily about breaking laws and bending rules, it's about listening to your inner voice and creating energy with ideas. It's about being a natural born leader. It's about making change in the community, the business world and the social scene.
By definition, I must be a bad girl, too.
Years ago, I sat in a meeting with a Lexington TV station's newest news director and general manager. I'd already worked at the station for four years and had aspired to the coveted 6 PM position. A title of seniority, I'd worked hard to fulfill the goals and objectives laid out by my previous managers, and was disappointed by some of the micromanaging and less-than-constructive criticism presented by my new bosses.
"You're a maverick, Katy. We don't know whose side you're playing on."
I was called a maverick well before the GOP took it on as a moniker, and I didn't know what to make of it.
All these years later, I take it as a significant compliment.
Some of my personal rules: I refuse to kiss ass. I eschew any form of insincerity. A crafter of words, I am consistently brutally honest, though will use my language to impart my meaning with grace and courtesy.
I also don't play by anybody else's rules but mine.
You'd think that presents a challenge in the professional world, but it doesn't. Nine times out of ten, I believe in the mission (or can believe in the reason behind the mission) of organizations I choose to serve. But I am usually one of the first to politely voice my concern/reservations/disappointment about something.
We women must be bold. We must act with conviction in the business world and civic endeavors. While many of our male counterparts have embraced women in leadership and positions of power, the corporate world has failed to mirror this shift.
There still remains a huge disparity in the amount of venture capital dollars and other resources designated to female-owned businesses.
It seems we ladies continue to take on more responsibility with less support.
Thankfully, there is a tremendous new opportunity for women in Greater Cincinnati who aspire to establish their own small business.
Klein's Bad Girl Ventures is a micro-lending program that aims to serve as an aggregate for donations that will ultimately be distributed to women-owned startups. The goal of this effort is to help establish more women business owners and leaders in our community.
Have a brilliant idea you'd love to launch? BGV might just be the thing you need to let it soar.
BGV is hosting an application kickoff Tuesday evening from 6 to 8 PM at The Avenue Lounge on Madison Avenue in Covington. Please click the link and visit the Facebook event invite to learn more about the kickoff and RSVP.
Whether you are a woman with a burning passion to be bold, a prospective donor who would like to help women-owned businesses flourish in Cincinnati, or a supporter of BGV, all are invited.
In close, a personal note. Candace Klein is one of my dearest friends. She invited me to this event, and I am only too enthusiastic to support her in this new endeavor. Candace has an energy and ambition that is nearly infectious, and I am so proud of her latest, great accomplishment.
Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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