Well ladies… I don’t know about you but I am Over the Edge about improving our world. How? By mentoring and MINGLING with our youth, encouraging them to create the new world, helping them navigate and learn to live respectful lives and creating purposeful enterprises and new economies. From the great Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A'Changing,” and there is no road map for where we are headed. What better way to get there than to mix it up and MINGLE with multiple generations.

I watched Silda Wall (as I know her) Spitzer (someone I do not know) as she stood with her face so drawn, her color more gray, her eyes empty, tired, swollen and wondering. Publically she braved the camera and shared her pain, the shattering of the life she knew, (vacation pictures, parties, trips)… all of what was real to her now a fictional novel to be read not lived. And I felt for her; my own heart breaking for her; my throat choking up for her. The questions came to mind: What is real and what is imagined? What is right and what is wrong? I realized at the moment she walked out with her husband, Silda Wall Spitzer, a mother of 3 daughters, a woman with a Harvard Law degree and a First Lady of NY after a stellar career… could have someone arrested for stealing her IPOD, BUT NOT her heart, her soul and the life she believed to be true. It pained me to see her. I felt sick for her as the critics criticized her for standing by her man while other critics criticized her for potentially not standing by her man.

We are a split society, 50% / 50% always. There is no right, there is no wrong. There is only judgment, criticism and pondering of our own comfort zones as we’ve become a world of public master debaters (and I really had to watch the spelling here) collecting information for our right piles just so we can be right, or the “…est” of the room; the smartest, the funniest, the riskiest or the savviest! What is real is our world, the world we create in our minds to be real. An extreme freedom seems to be leading us to inventing the new world for better or worse. We teach that the past is our great predictor of the future. So does that mean that things will never really change? If that were the case, women would not be voting in the upcoming election.

Do they have dreams? With more generations of women living, longer I began to think about how women can support women more in creating the new world.

OVER THE EDGE ABOUT........... THE NEW WORLD and the “MINGLE-Generation” that will create it!

At the very moment I decide to write this article… I receive a call from a past associate who remembered me from a board meeting. She recalled me leaving early to take my daughter to an event. In the middle of this particular board meeting, I had no problems announcing to the mostly male group that I was caring for my family first. After two years and only a few past encounters, this young professional woman Googled me and traced me to Raleigh and contacted me. While speaking to her, her purpose for contacting me surfaced almost immediately, as though water was spewing from a fire hydrant. She asked me in rapid fire "How" questions: "How do you have a life filled with things you are passionate about? How do you make time for your family in the 24/7 world of business that we’ve created for ourselves? How do I keep my three year old daughter safe from the world’s evils and still have time to spend with my husband enjoying life? And HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE and make a decent living at the same time? You know the damn American dream!" she asked with desperation.

I was overwhelmed! Simply overwhelmed by the nature of the contact, by the emotion this young professional woman, who seemed to have it all going for her, was sharing with me (all while she was closing the door to the conference room of her New England high profile office). I was overwhelmed that she sought me out SPECIFICALLY to ask these questions. Somehow I had created an impression that I am a safe place for her to come to ask such questions. While flattered, I am merely a seeker and in the process of striving to warrant the privilege of helping answer such questions. Leadership development experts call it Authenticity. The new celebrity they say is authentic people. I call it being who you are! They are out there for us all to tap. Knock, Knock… Are my readers listening? You may be one, if you reflect on those that seek you out for guidance. Then of course I realized that Women’s Edge is about

Mentoring, Inspiring, Motivating women to reach their full potential, authentically! What a perfect place to engage the discussions of the NEW WORLD than here with our readers

I am Over the Edge about mentoring our youth. The challenge feels sometimes bigger than the globe itself. What worked for me in my past may no longer work for young women. Very Scary! Yet, there are lessons to share and they want to hear from us, all of us. The good, the challenges, the opportunities, the how’s, the not to’s, the do’s, the if I had it to do over I would’s…... As I pondered what young women want from my generation and feeling uncertain, I decided to go and ask them. Well, I not only asked them but made sure you share in it also (i.e., that we can all as women be there for each other, “mingling” our way to a better world). Once again I did not count on being overwhelmingly inspired in return by the young women I interviewed.

So off to the university campuses I went. PC in hand (first change I notice… there are no PC’s on these campuses, it’s mostly very cool looking MACs with pink and orange skins and IPODS in every shape, color hanging every way possible from one’s anatomy), to ask Duke University MBA and other Graduate Students mostly what they are feeling, thinking and what my generation of women (ok, I am not 30 and BTW 40’s were very kind to me...next) can do to support their journey.

Here is just a snippet of insight from the answers I’ve collected so far (keep in mind, this in no way is a formal research project but more a personal interest). Women listen up…. women younger than you are asking for help, insight and our mentoring, support and friendship. NETWORK with them, MIX AND MINGLE WITH THEM! Set up formal outings with them. If you don’t know how to engage, email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it I am thinking of facilitating a volunteer WOMEN’S MINGLE Group and will assist you in reaching out.

MINGLING

Are we seeing sparks of insanity? Is this new generation really interested in forming the NEW ECONOMY? Not only are they interested in new visions of the future, they overwhelmingly spoke about having a purpose, a desire to contribute and improve the world. They get it!!!! Are they really able to drive the vision of a purposeful life and even “jet propel” their lives far beyond the hyper-consumerism and compete- to-kill business life that has emerged from the School of TRUMP? Can it really be done? YES!! They believe with our help the world is their’s to improve.

Lessons for Life’s Journey - What Young Women have on their Minds

Most of the brought up worries about life balance. Most of the young women, every one of them, wanted to inspire! They wanted to inspire their children and others in a way that motivated people to live their own dreams.

2.   Why are you leaning toward entrepreneurism (These were mainly business students)?

"It is where my dream will live" said one MBA student. Most of the women wanted businesses of their own. There was a general feeling they have more control over their own destinies. This point resonated with all of the graduate students I spoke to. Many feel there is more equality in some fields of work than others but building a business seemed to win hands down with the women I spoke with.

3.   What would you like women of my age to do to assist you on your path?

"Help us think about how to approach the next phases of our lives." This also came from all the interviews of more than 30 young students. They want involvement from older generations, life lessons that will help them navigate their own life journeys .

4.   What top 3 issues come to mind when contemplating our ever changing world?

The main points of concern that came across in the questioning:

• The Economy, worries about recession, worries about what world economy really means for our country and what that would mean for them as they are launched out into the world of work in just a year or two.
• Supporting one another was another big concern and networking effectively to help other women achieve the desired success while also seeking out women that can support their own growth
• Home and work balance was top of mind for every young student I spoke to

Does this mean young or old, all women want the opportunity to mingle and exchange ideas, help one another, impact others to create a bigger world…

5.   What is your primary concern as you continue on your education journey?

The Economy comes up again with this question as a big concern. Many wondered if they would have to move outside the country to establish financial stability.

Entrepreneurism is a major focus of all the women I spoke to mainly as a dream and desire but also has a way to be in charge or their own destiny.

Some of the businesses were surprising to me, not to oversimplify this dream but one MBA student was interest in organic farms and the ecosystem of business from this type of farming, restaurants were another interest. 2 young women wanted a clothing boutique or some type of retail chain and yet another wanted to open a small inn with a world-class restaurant.

Coming from RTP and having been in Technology most of my career, I found this quite refreshing.

6.   Who do you think is the best role model for young women today?

Well, this is no surprise, even among this young generation of women, Oprah wins again!!!!

Let me hear from you about what you’re passionate about. I love comments and connecting with my readers. Please email me any thoughts or responses you may have the articles or a topic you may have interest in. Anything you’d love to share concerning any of the Over the Edge past stories or ideas on future stories is welcome, email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it subject: Over the Edge. You may also visit my blog at www.cladventures.com for past Over the Edge stories.