Negotiation isn’t just about doing the deal; it’s also about negotiating balance in your life, negotiating down the path of life, and negotiating through the twists and turns the life puts in our path.  In order to be a confident negotiator personally and professionally, you have to build a great relationship with yourself first and then build relationships with others at the same level.  What kind of relationship do you have with yourself?  Do you take time to reflect and adjust?

This week I had another birthday.  Those things seem to come around every year. Birthdays are a time to celebrate and also a time to reflect.  Looking at where I was last year this time and where I am today I almost don’t recognize things.  I was living in Redondo Beach and promoting my Pink Biker Chic brand last year.  I had been teaching negotiation a little bit as part of the Pink Biker Chic brand but realized it wasn’t working.  I knew it was time for a change. Since then I have shifted focus to my negotiation teaching.

I was a contracts expert in the military and for Government contractors for a total of 30 years.  It’s experience I took for granted and didn’t realize how many people I could help with my knowledge.  This wasn’t from doubt about my ability like one person attempted to convince me of, it had more to do with it being my genius and because I do it in my sleep I figured it was something most people knew.  As I started to develop  my negotiation content and started to speak on it and tell people about it, I discovered more and more people needed my knowledge not only to help them in business but in day to day personal life.

I have a lot to be grateful for.  As with anyone, there have been challenges and since I’m only human I have made mistakes.  Why did I do that?  Why did I react that way?  What triggered that response?  I always consider myself a work in progress and grateful for victory over the traumatic past I have lived.  Often time’s people expect someone in the public eye that maybe looked to as a mentor to be perfect.  Although I have a lot of great knowledge and have overcome many things in my life, train people, coach people and inspire people, I am not perfect.  I will always work hard to share my knowledge to inspire people to walk in their greatness.  I will be authentically me.

Over the last year I have had a lot to celebrate about.  I moved into a 2 BR condo in Irvine that I received through a veterans program.  I produced my first event in San Diego with a great turnout and published my second book The GoPINK Rules of Engagement.  My next book Think Like A Negotiator, 50 Ways to Create Win-Win Results by Understanding the Pitfalls to Avoid will be out by July and my next event is already filling up for October.

Things are going to start moving fast.  Thank you for following along the path and hopefully along the way you will have a positive shift and change in your life from being part of the community.

PINK is still in the mix for those of you Pink Biker Chic fans.  Remember, pink isn’t  just a color, it’s an attitude.  You don’t have to wear pink to be PINK, PINK comes from within in the form of Power, Integrity, Negotiation and Knowledge.  Hang on and GoPINK!