"THIS airport is massive....." I thought to myself as I strolled into the duty-free shop beside my boarding gate in the Beijing International Airport to get a closer look at the super cute bags on display.

This is easily the largest airport this world traveler has ever seen, and I remember feeling so lucky that there was an interesting store right beside my departure gate! 

I mean how often does that happen right?

I glance at my watch and see it's getting dangerously close to the TAKE-OFF time, not boarding time and I look over at the gate and nothing is happening? Hummm this is weird. A million thoughts run through my head in a nanosecond and I realize it's long past the ideal time to confirm that everything is on track (damn those cute bags).....

I have my boarding pass in my hands standing in front of the gate and I'm confirming once again:
-flight #7658 departing PEK (Beijing), check, 
-departure time 14:20 for NRT (Narita Japan), check,
-departing from gate 718, wait.... WHAAAAT? I'm at gate 512!

​OMG it's a different airline! Are you kidding me? 

What are the chances that TWO different airlines are departing at the exact same time for the same destination - and I'm at the wrong one with minutes to spare in the boarding window!

​The blood is now draining from my head and leaving the feeling of "champagne bubbles" in its place and I'm now having an out-of-body experience... The one where your surroundings start to swirl around you like you're watching a movie and the camera just did a 360 around you as you're spinning in the other direction....

I get pointed in the right direction for the right gate and start the fool's dash through the airport dragging my roll on behind me testing its stability to the max (it got a solid 71%).

Internal dialogue:
Idiot!!! 
What were you thinking....?
Move move move!
What if I miss my flight out of China???

Way ahead in the distance I think I see an arrow with my gate number... nope!

"KEEP GOING!!!" I thought to myself. I didn't say these words, but I knew I would not stop running until I was at the right gate, even if I missed my flight......

Another fuzzy sign in the distance that looked like it might be my number and thankfully it was! I come billowing down the escalator and around the corner to the correct gate and basically walked right onboard (trying to look cool) and I'm literally a hot, sweaty mess! I'm pretty sure they closed the door right behind me and I remember how fast my elation and feeling like I won something turned into a scolding....

Internal dialogue:
Idiot!!! Idiot!!! Idiot!!!

"Just find your seat!"

This seasoned traveler just got her ass handed to her!

I spent a good portion of that flight and a while after that beating myself up for such a stupid mistake that was a razor's edge from being a major problem.

I'm not proud to admit that it took a little while to let myself off the hook for that, but even as I was figuratively telling myself off, I was (and still am) very grateful that I caught my mistake with enough time to rectify the situation.

​Can you guess where I'm going with this.....? Even when you're on track and think you're exactly where you should be, sometimes "stuff" happens, sometimes conditions change, and sometimes you're just plain wrong. 

Am I right?
 
This Beijing airport adrenaline sprint happened several years ago when I was on one of my many buying trips in China, meeting suppliers and visiting factories back when I ran my private label business and was selling products on Amazon.

When I'm paying attention I like to get triple confirmations on everything important whether it's research, margin levels, or departure gates, LOL! Even with the best of intentions, sometimes things can still get away from us.

I took that "fun experience" as a reminder:
-to tighten up,
-revisit any assumptions I recently made on important issues, and
-move forward on full alert.

This "near-miss" was a perfect reminder of why it's so important to have checks and balances and milestones to work from. For me, and most other successful entrepreneurs I know this also means having a coach in my corner. One person can't see everything. It takes a team especially when you're building a business.
 
Fast forward to today, it turns out that my diverse business background, my many, many failures, and the handful of big wins I've had have put me in a unique position to reach back and give the next ambitious woman who is hot on my tail a big leg up!

Today nothing brings me more joy than helping expat women like me to find their way in this online world of business and to arm them with the true reality, the best "selected & vetted" training available in the industry, and solid accountability every step of the way. 

I've found that when combined together, these three

elements become a winning trifecta that breeds

one success after another.

If you're prepared to roll up your sleeves and get started on a business that you're going to love, if you're ready to win - then I invite you to take a small step forward and explore what I have created for women like us.

Everything I do and teach is custom-made for expat women who want more out of life than manicures and lunch dates, who want to utilize their resources and talents and do something fulfilling with them.  

My only question for you right now is,

are you one of my kind?