Woman Crush Wednesday.

We love to celebrate female movers and shakers who are successful locally, nationally, internationally, and most importantly, personally.

We are so excited to highlight entrepreneur/consultant Elizabeth Cumby, MBA, this week, who is the newest addition to our Experts panel! We asked her to share with us her thoughts on success.

“Let’s first start off with what my definition of success entails….

10 years ago (read: young, dumb, narrow-minded and naive) - fit, married, kids, high profile job and LOTS of money. With the biggest emphasis being on making LOTS of money. Isn’t that everyone’s definition?! Did I mentioned I was narrow minded ;)

Today (read: wiser, smarter and working on not being naive)- I used to think money was the pivotal indicator of success. I thought that if I made “X” dollars then I have really made it, until the day I actually made “X” dollars. I did it, I achieve that dollar amount 5 years earlier than I anticipated. Liz, you made it! You are fit, you have the kids, the marriage, the great job and now the money to go with it. Wow, was that day anti-climatic. Don’t get me wrong all those things are great but it wasn’t what made me feel successful. Today, my definition of success includes how much empathy I can have towards others, how little judgement I can pass on ideas and people, how much patience I can maintain with family, co-workers and friends, and lastly how much time I can spend truly present without distraction in everyday life. I will tell you, I am by no way ,shape, or form successful at my definition but I’m working on it and know this definition will not be anti-climatic.

So the purpose of this post is to provide my biggest advice for success. My advice is review your definition of success and put value into things that really matter. It is then you will achieve “successful”. Your definition of “really matter” will be different from mine but I would encourage you to look beyond the status quo, the typical life expectation for women (married, babies etc) or the external objects because all of that fades. Invest in others, learn from anyone and everyone, be open-minded and smile.”

— Liz Cumby

Check out her full bio on our Experts page!