Guess Who I Met in the Elevator?

Doreen Rainey and Liz Lange

I'm hanging out this week in Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel attending Ali Brown's Shine Event. This three day conference is for women entrepreneurs who are looking to start or grow their business.

It's been a great time of learning, connecting with friends, and also enjoying some of what Las Vegas has to offer - especially one of my favorite restaurants on the strip...The Burger Bar at the Mandolay Bay. I love, love, love their veggie burger and sweet potato fries!

One of the keynote speakers at this event was Liz Lange - founder and Creative Director of Liz Lange Maternity. What I loved about her story was that she saw a need and decided to become the one to fill it. Noticing that some of her pregnant friends didn't shop at maternity stores, but rather tried to make regular clothes in a bigger size work, Liz was the first fashion designer to create chic, slim fitted, fashionable maternity clothes. In listening to her talk, I came away with 3 important points for achieving business success.

1. When you create something new, most people will tell you it won't work. At the time she decided to start her fashion line, maternity clothes were an afterthought. She talked to several retailers and experts in the field who said it would never work because women don't care how they look when they are pregnant. She chose to ignore the experts and stuck to her vision. The result: she forever changed an industry.

2. What if someone else does it? When she felt like giving up, she kept coming back to that question. What if she opened up a fashion magazine and saw someone else being successful with her idea?. That's what kept her going. When you latch on to your idea, passion, and goals, giving up is not an option.

3. Refuse to define yourself with what you can't do. Liz experienced a whole list of "can't" when building her business. She wasn't a designer, didn't sew, and didn't sketch. However, she chose to focus on what she could do - and took action.

When it comes to what you want to do - whether it's in your career, business or personal life, these are 3 points you want to always consider. In Liz's case, these were mantras that led her to create a business now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But the best part? I got to give her a personal "thank you" for her inspiring message when I stepped on the elevator at the Wynn to go to my room. There she was. She was just as gracious and nice in person as she was on stage. And yes, the picture is from inside the elevator!

Thanks Liz for sharing your experience and your wisdom.

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Doreen Rainey is CEO of the RADICAL Success Institute, providing coaching programs to help people achieve RADICAL Success.  For more information, visit her website at www.doreenrainey.com

The "Not One" Challenge

RADICAL Lifestyle Women’s Network Announces the "Not 1" Challenge

The holiday season is upon us and the parties, dinners, work potlucks, and family get togethers will become a staple from now until the end of the year. Well, fitness competitor Tawana Cain (pictured), and a member of the RLWN, has issued a challenge. She has challenged us not to gain one pound between now and January 1st.

Not 1!

While many people view the first of the year as a time to get back on track (or just on track) with their health and fitness goals, this challenge will give you a jumpstart on changing your habits to a healthier lifestyle NOW. And, it will prevent you from starting the New Year with even more weight to lose.

We invite all members of the RLWN to join us with this challenge – especially since you won’t have to do it alone. Each week, I'll be interviewing Tawana and she'll b sharing tips to help you enjoy the holiday season without having to loosen up that belt, as well as taking your questions! Some of her tips will include making holiday dishes healthier, avoiding overeating at the parties, making healthy choices when traveling, and exercise programs that get results.

We also want to support each other. You’ll be able to share your own tips and successes with other members who are participating.

Ready to join us? Members can login to the RADICAL Lifestyle Women’s Network and click on “The Not 1 Challenge”.You can then let us know what your goals are and you can listen to the kickoff interview I did with Tawana where she shared why it's important to maintain a healthy lifestyle during the holidays as well as 3 tips for helping you successfully complete the challenge.

Not a member? No problem. You can still join the challenge with our 30 day FREE membership. For more information, click here.

And don't forget to check out the blog entry from Tawana that started it all!

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Doreen Rainey is a Life Coach and Speaker who helps her clients Get RADICAL! For a FREE 30 day membership to the RADICAL Lifestyle Women's Network or to subscribe to her bi-weekly newsletter, visit her website. Join Doreen in the Washington, DC area for the 2010 Get RADICAL Women's Conference featuring Jillian Michaels, Fitness Trainer from The Biggest Loser and Rhonda Britten, Emmy Winner Life Coach from Starting Over and Celebrity Fit Club.

2nd Annual Get RADICAL Women's Conference

It's that time of year and I'm so excited!

Registration is now open for the 2010 Get RADICAL Women's Conference taking place on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, VA - just outside of Washington, DC.

Last year's conference was incredible! There was so much energy in the room as each speaker shared their strategies for getting ahead - and staying ahead - at work and in life. Women came from all over the country to learn, grow, network and get RADICAL!

I met women from California, Florida, Boston, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Chicago - just to name a few. And of course, the Washington, DC area was well represented. As a matter of fact, we have already outgrown the hotel we used!

We are planning an awesome conference this year and would love for you to join us. Some of our speakers are returning with fresh insights and strategies that will build upon what they shared last year - including Jillian Michaels, Fitness Trainer and Life Coach from NBC's hit TV show, The Biggest Loser.
However, we also have some new speakers that will be joining us as well. They will be announced in the coming months so stay tuned!

If you came last year, I would LOVE to see you again. If this will be your first year joining us, I look forward to meeting you. With the caliber of speakers we have, this will be a career enhancing, life enriching experience that will impact your professional and personal life.

Early registration, which gives a discount off the regular registration fee, is now open for both general registration and VIP registration. A VIP registration gets you up close and personal with Jillian in our exclusive VIP luncheon. There's also front section seating and a few other great perks. These special registrations are limited so don't delay! There's even a 2 payment option.

Why "Get RADICAL"?

“Get Radical” is a Call!
A call for women to become bold and courageous enough to depart from the usual, expected or ordinary in order to take charge of their professional and personal life. A call for women to live with purpose and passion in all that they do. A call for women to experience fulfillment and contentment in their family life and in the business world. A call for women to enjoy the fruits of their hard work and reward themselves with fun!

“Get Radical” is a Challenge!
A challenge for women to step out of their comfort zone and explore new possibilities. A challenge for women to get the skills, education, and information they need to make smart choices when going after their goals. A challenge for women to set aside fear and replace it with faith and courage. A challenge for women to step out of doubt, uncertainty and hesitation and onto the path to success!

“Get Radical” is a Lifestyle!
A lifestyle dedicated to continuous improvement in finances, career, relationships, health and wellness, and fun! A lifestyle that understand the importance of investing in one’s self to continually learn and grow. A lifestyle that embraces the philosophy of selflessness – being willing to share with others by giving back!

In planning this day for you, we focused on gathering women who are experts in their field and have overcome challenges, difficulties, and adversities to achieve amazing success.

They'll share entertaining, informative, and poignant stories about the lessons they've learned, all the while inspiring you to take your goals and dreams and put them into action.

Don't miss this opportunity to laugh, learn, grow, connect with others, enhance your career and change your life.

See what a couple of our attendees said about last year's conference:

"This conference was an amazing, life changing experience. I would recommend it to anyone who is eager to learn, grow and take their life to another level of consciousness. It was a truly inspirational event."

"I ventured out of this comfort zone and traveled 7 hours to this conference on my own! Never have done(or would have done)something like that before...so glad I did. Left feeling empowered, and ready to create my dream life!"

Another RADICAL Moment - In the Sky

As someone who promotes living a RADICAL lifestyle, it's no secret that I don't mind stepping outside of my comfort zone. Adventurous and curious by nature, I love to learn and experience new things.

Knowing this, my hubby planned a secret adventure for me today. Without a clue as to where we were headed, I was surprised, when after an hour of driving, our car turned into a private airport in Leesburg, VA. Getting out the car, I figured we were going to do an aerial tour of the Washington, DC area. Imagine my shock when after we checked in, the woman behind the desk asked which of us would be flying the plane today!

That's when my hubby pointed to me.

After a short lesson on using the instruments and going through the pre-flight checklist, I settled into the cockpit of a 4-seater plane with my co-pilot, Kelly (pictured on the right). In minutes, we were headed for the runway!

With my hubby in the back row, we hit the throttle and headed skyward.

Let me tell you, the takeoff was shaky! I thought I was going to hyperventilate as I tried to control the nose of the plane, but Kelly remained calm and talked me through it. After about 10 minutes, I was able to somewhat, kinda, sorta, relax as we flew out to West Virginia. But just when I thought I had gotten into the swing of things, Kelly asked if I wanted to turn upside down. Now, there's RADICAL, and then there's stupid. I told her unless she wanted to see me throw up, we need to stay upright. However, I did do a 360 turn with the plan almost on its side. That was enough tricks for me.

After almost an hour in the air, we headed back. Thankfully, Kelly handled the landing.

So what about you? What RADICAL adventures are you having in life? Are you flying high with advancing your career, furthering your education, taking that vacation of a lifetime, going scuba diving, starting your own business, asking for a raise, leaving your dead-end job, or simply getting in the cockpit of a plane?

Whatever you do...make it RADICAL.

Don't Forget to Have Fun!

With all the talk of goals, success, dreams, and working to get what you want out of life. There's one very important thing you shouldn't neglect...or forget. Having some FUN!

In the middle of all that we do to advance in our careers, build our businesses, deal with our families, focus on our finances, and getting healthy and fit, we need to make sure we find the time to sit back, chill out, and do something that makes us laugh, relax and enjoy the moment.

That's what I did tonight when me and my hubby went to see Beyonce in concert (my ears are still ringing)!

Here are a couple of pics and a couple of short video clips of Say My Name and Irreplaceable. By the way, I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to video taping!

And remember...HAVE FUN!