"Smarter than Barbie, stronger than Ken" reads the logo on a pink LifeMoxie! tee shirt. With this kind of moxie, it’s no accident that Ja-Nae Duane, the original Wild Woman Entrepreneur and Ann Tardy, founder of LifeMoxie! found each other on the internet and connected. Wild women plus moxie equals empowerment for females from all walks of life from coast to coast. Our September Wild Woman Entrepreneur of the month, Ann Tardy, is a breath of fresh autumnal air!

I began the company three years ago. We are experts in women's economic power. We are the number one consulting firm training women around the world to create and protect their economic power. We educate, inspire, and empower women and girls and help them develop confidence to create the direction of their life.

I grew up outside of Chicago. I grew up in a traditional family where my mom took care of the house and dad worked full time. My mother drilled the value of education into me from a very early age. She recognized the importance of financial independence for women and it was always assumed that I would earn a college degree someday. I tossed around several different career ideas as a teen and my mother would evaluate each on its earning power. When I took a business law class in high school and loved it and my mother deemed it acceptable, I knew that I wanted to become an attorney. So that's what I did.

I was working as a corporate attorney in California's Silicon Valley. I ran the legal department for a publicly held firm. I enjoyed my work but always felt something was missing.

A local middle school needed "coaches" for a girls' middle school program. In this program, all the seventh grade girls were required to take an entrepreneurial education class. They learned about personal finance, negotiating, writing business plans, starting their own businesses, and budgeting. I was finding mentors and volunteers to teach the program, learning right along with the girls. I felt energized. I knew I had found my "missing piece." The seeds for LifeMoxie! were sown.

We offer a large variety of programs for women of all ages. We offer corporate services, skillshops, women's Economic Power Days, and consulting. With our curriculum, women and girls create the freedom to choose the direction of their own lives. Through our training programs, corporations create and expand effective women's initiatives to powerfully attract, train and retain female employees. Attending our events, women and girls gain skills and create valuable networks and corporations gain access to the profitable and growing market segment. With our consulting, service professionals increase their female client base with opportunities to invest in women's economic power. One of our most successful and fastest growing programs is Girls' Economic Power Day - an outrageously fabulous nationwide event created by and for teenage girls.

For Wild Women Entrepreneurs in the Boston area who are interested in learning more, I'll be at the 2006 Women's Leadership Conference at Babson College on September 15. For more information on this exciting event, click here: http://www3.babson.edu/CWL/events/calendar.cfm.

I always struggled with figuring out my own money. A few years back, a guy I was dating told me I had moxie. I liked the word and knew I wanted to use it for my business. Then one day, driving in my car, LifeMoxie! just came to me out of the blue and I knew it was right.

The biggest thing I've learned is that it's awesome and wonderful to think big and to "throw your clothes over the fence". However, planning is essential to your success. Find people who get your vision and are optimistic, but are also practical planners to support your vision. Write your business plan and create your business at the same time. Always keep your plan flexible and dynamic with constant tweaking. That's the "full of moxie" way to grow your business!

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