We recently had the chance to connect with Ann Clarke and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ann, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
My organization, Colorado Women of Influence, is comprised of over 100 women at the peak of their careers. You see them and you say, “Wow, these are crazy-successful women. They’re so lucky – they have it made!” But we had NO IDEA about their childhoods, their early careers, or even their private lives away from the workplace. We had NO IDEA about challenges they overcame. Whether it was being unprotected as a child, encountering an unplanned life event like the illness of a child or the death of a spouse, or something they experienced that would have devastated a less strong woman, we had NO IDEA what challenges they had encountered – and overcome – along their life/career path. But as we got to know them we discovered how hard they fought to become the women we see today. THAT surprised me! I was filled with admiration. What humble women. They are such an inspiration, and yet they never seek the spotlight.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
A recent article said, “At age 81, Ann Clarke remains joyfully focused on the mission she began in college: to give women the opportunities they deserve and a fair chance to play.”
True! My life-long mission has always been to help women build a successful career and become financially secure. I should have retired when I turned 65, but I still burned with those fires. In founding Colorado Women of Influence in 2008, my goal was to create opportunities for female leaders to come together to share good advice, encouragement and resources. We launched as “Colorado’s CEO Club for women in business” but evolved into a diverse sisterhood built on trust.
We do that through monthly “Influence After Hours” master-minds, but putting our Members into the spotlight is the most rewarding: “Lunch with a Leader” forums and “SAVI Salon Educational Workshops” let these role models share their secrets of success with a larger audience. But the MOST fun are the social events: “Girlfriends & Wine,” “Girlfriend Getaways,” “Lights & Limos,” Hardhat Tours and even Pot Lucks. We sponsor two or three social events each month. It should not have surprised me that our Members became girlfriends at a whole higher level.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
For 50 years, my sweet husband and I enjoyed an adrenalin-junkie lifestyle: Both raised with mountains in our back yards, it was natural that we absolutely had to live in the high country so we could get MORE: more hiking, more skiing, more mountain climbing, more mountain biking and more motorcycles. We were a great team, with me supporting his career and him supporting mine. (And raising our family together!) But when he passed away, I realized that I had to create a life without my soul-mate. What a challenge that became! And yet, what an opportunity. It was hard, hard, hard to begin to go out by myself to business events. “We’re sorry for your loss…” by kind people in some ways delayed the healing. And yet I understood: my husband was important to them. What a lovely compliment, to realize that one has lived life impacting others in such a positive way. There was a point when I knew I had to leave my grief behind, let go of “the Ann & Dick team,” and create a new life. With the Winter Solstice, just six months after his passing, I said, “The dark days are behind me. Every day now becomes brighter.” Highly symbolic and a strong intention to rebuild. As I look back today, over six years after his passing, I realize that creating a new life without him was not without challenges, but in the long run, helped me become the strong woman I am today. It’s hard to leave the past behind when the future is so uncertain, but it’s something that must be done in order to grow. At any age…
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
In my life, I would say “challenges” instead of wounds. Granted, I’ve been lucky, having had very few setbacks. When I graduated from college and the Peace Corps program I was trained for was canceled because the Middle Eastern government decided they did not want American women, I realized how blessed I was to be born in the USA. I vowed that my mission would be to find ways to help women become financially successful so they could be self-sufficient. When my supervisor at a large national electronics company discouraged me from seeking my Masters Degree “because you’re such a good secretary…” I vowed that someday I would help women find ways to escape 9 to 5 low-paying jobs and create their own successful careers outside the plant. When I was fired from a high-paying job as a paralegal because one of the partners said I was “making too much money…legal secretaries are a dime a dozen,” I knew it was time to pursue my own career goals and NEVER have to rely on “a boss” for my paycheck. Any of these life events could have been devastating – and at the time they seemed to be – but I discovered early on that one’s attitude can have a huge effect on one’s happiness. Setbacks can be seen as opportunities, if we change our thinking. Just by modifying our vocabulary a bit, we can see that perhaps the bad stuff was meant to be, to propel us to think outside the box, to seek a new career, to make a move from what’s comfortable to what’s unknown! I truly believe that we are not defined by the bad things that happen to us. We can choose to be resilient and move on to something new.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
My grandfather’s words: “You don’t need someone to take care of you. You can do that yourself. You don’t need someone to make you happy. That, too, is within yourself.”
My son the personal trainer who said, “Something is better than nothing. Whatever you’re doing, take it to the next level.”
My grandmother’s words: “Friendship divides our grief and multiplies our joy” and I’ve learned the hard way how true that is.
And my personal philosophy: “Life is a dashing and bold adventure…if you choose to make it that way.”
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing?
I can truly say that I have lived a life with NO regrets. But that’s mostly because I vowed early in my life to do that. When I was 14 my grandfather gave me a tiny compass. He was quite the hunter & fisherman, so I figured he worried that I might get lost in the woods on one of our adventures. He surprised me though. He put it into my hand and said, “Keep this with you as a reminder of a couple of things. First, look at your surroundings and understand where you’re at. Second, decide where you want to go and map out your journey. Most important, check the compass every so often to make sure you haven’t gotten off course.”
At age 14 I had no idea how many ways there were to interpret my grandfather’s words…and that little compass. At age 81 I understand EXACTLY what he was talking about! Every day we are faced with choices in our personal & professional lives that will affect us over the long term. These choices will result in your looking back with pride – or regret – when you are my age.
It’s never to late to change our mind and our destination. Actually, we’re never too young or too old to create a new roadmap to success and design our own destinies! If you don’t know where you are going…how do you know if you’ve arrived? It’s up to YOU to create your own roadmap to success and then you DRIVE it till you get to your destination! Then I know when you have your 81st birthday, you’ll look back with a smile, knowing have NO REGRETS.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cowoi.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annclarke/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cowoi
