Hayley Foster: The Mid-Life Pivot Leader
Your Life Mission – your life missions are the priorities that give you meaning and happiness.
What’s In A Mission Statement?
A mission statement defines what an organization is, why it exists, and its reason for being.
“When you find your purpose, you’re able to evolve, innovate and grow as the person you are meant to be.”
When you find your passion, that thing that gives you purpose and meaning in life, it sets you down a path that makes you feel unstoppable. You feel like you’re on fire. You wake up grinding, in a good way, and have to force yourself to settle down and break away at the end of the day. When you find your purpose, you’re able to evolve, innovate and grow as the person you are meant to be. When you find your purpose, you are able to more clearly define your mission.
“Your purpose is what drives your mission and your mission is what drives YOU.” – Hayley Foster
When starting a business, it’s important to think about your mission.
How To Write Your Mission Statement:
- Write down three core values that define your fundamental beliefs that dictate your behavior and what you stand for as a business. Maybe it’s integrity, giving back, people first, excellence in customer service, consistency, strong community, patriotism, creativity.
- What are the problems your company is solving?
- What are the solutions you’re using to solve them?
- Which beliefs/values do you bring to your company?
- Why does your company/you do what it does?
- What is the passion behind what it is you do?
Tips To Create A Powerful Mission:
- Make sure it has a purpose – what are you working towards.
- Keep it succinct and clear – you don’t need big confusing words to make it sound good.
- Make it motivational/inspirational.
- Include at least two of your core values.
“Make it strong. Make it impactful. And make it your mission!”
Your mission statement shouldn’t feel like a few sentences slapped onto a piece of paper. It should be something you feel strongly about… so much so that you’d be willing to put it up on a wall, make it into a poster, put it front and center on your website.
Your mission is the manual by which you, your company and your employees should operate.
It’s why you believe in what you do. Your staff believes in you. They show up every day to work for you/your company. Clients want to work with you and buy whatever it is you’re selling. Make it strong. Make it impactful. And make it your mission!
Here Are A Few Examples:
TED – Ideas Worth Spreading
Google – To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Starbucks – To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
Women-Owned Examples:
Spanx – “To invent and enhance products that promote comfort and confidence in women.” Blakely gushes, without a trace of irony, that “Spanx has moved beyond just footless pantyhose. It has become a brand dedicated to improving the lives of women.”
“It’s not too late to get to work and start writing one for your business.”
The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) – Strengthening the wealth-creating capacity of our members and promoting economic development within the entrepreneurial community.
Goop – We curate what’s special out there, from fashion buys to restaurant picks to non-toxic beauty, in hopes of helping you save a little time and make a great discovery.
Here’s Mine:
“To share my honest experiences of successes and failures with other women-owned businesses while providing support, motivation, education, strategies and accountability to guide and foster them through the challenges of running their own businesses.” – Hayley Foster
It’s not too late to get to work and start writing one for your business. You’ll find that your mission keeps you focused, keeps you going and keeps you grinding. Good luck!
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About the Author:
Hayley has been an entrepreneur for as far back as she can remember, always motivated to find creative ways to help others. Hayley is a two-time author, speaker, consultant, coach, podcaster, motivator, and mentor. In 2002, Hayley founded her first company, Verge Marketing Inc – a bag and accessory design and manufacturing company with offices located in New York City and Shenzhen, China (a WBE certified by the WBENC and member of WPO of New York). From building the infrastructure from the ground up to managing all aspects of the business, Hayley grew Verge to over $5M in revenues, earning accolades from Entrepreneur magazine as a “fastest-growing company” and landing on the Inc. 5000 list for three years. After 12 years, Hayley lost her passion for what she was doing.
In January 2015, Hayley felt it was time to take her 20 plus years of experience and give back in a way that would inspire, support and educate other women entrepreneurs. She started Foster Inc., a network and consultancy for women-owned businesses. Through peer-to-peer advisory and accountability groups, one-on-one consulting, boot camp workshops, masterminds and value-added networking events, Hayley works with women entrepreneurs to help them either get started or take their businesses to the next level.
