(Image: Thinkstock)

In day 7 of our Life Balance series, we urge high achievers — whose journey to excellence can be filled with reward, hard work, and quite a bit of stress — to find the courage to be faithful.

Method 8: Don’t walk in fear today. Rely on faith and the power of now.

Stepping out of your fears and into your greatness requires great courage. Sometimes we are so busy with the work of life that we don’t sit still and take the time to listen to our heart. Being courageous means not allowing life to steal, kill, or destroy your dreams, hopes, aspirations, and plans, but living in the now, the moment, the presence of your power to receive life, and the fullness of all life has to offer and even more abundantly.  It takes courage to be honest with yourself, acknowledge your personal truth, and be present in your quest to live that truth.  The easiest thing for high achievers to do is be successful.  But living in the fullness of who they are —and want to be — while also maintaining their success takes true grit.

Check us out tomorrow for our final day of our Life Balance series, Day 9: Exponential Living.

Sheri Riley is founder and chief partnership strategist of GLUE Inc., a premier entertainment consulting and management agency with clients including Converse and CVS Pharmacy. Having a background working with the industry’s top achievers, Riley strives to motivate, teach and inform via her second role as creator of Exponential Living L.L.C., a concept that focuses on creating holistic life balance.

Day 1, Healthy Living Goes Beyond Watching Diet

Day 2: Seek Peace in Not Some — But All — Aspects

Day 3: Create in Yourself a Giving Heart and Spirit

Day 4: Channel Your P.O.W.E.R.

Day 5: Take a Moment to Pause and Evaluate

Day 6: Make Joy and Contentment Your Lifestyle

Day 7: Build and Nurture Healthy Self-Confidence

Day 9: Practice Exponential Living

Couldn't that email have waited until after the bath?

I thought I had seen it all. Eating while driving. Dancing while driving. Applying makeup, tweezing eyebrows, flossing teeth while driving. Reading while driving. Kissing (and then some) while driving. And, of course, that highway patrol favorite, texting while driving.

But today topped all: In crawling traffic, on the highway, a guy in a tan business suit was eating his breakfast, drinking his coffee, talking out loud (presumably on a call), and intermittently typing ON HIS LAPTOP… while driving!

If ever there was a corner of life where we are all winging it on a daily basis, it’s with technology. The gadgets we now use to organize ourselves and function daily are evolving so quickly that it’s impossible to keep up. And they’ve become so fully integrated into our lives that we’ve barely had a chance to realize what’s really working and what’s clearly not.

The race to stay current (which is as competitive among consumers as it is among the tech companies themselves) doesn’t help. Let’s face it, we’ve all ditched some tech toys long before even figuring out half of what they’re capable of, simply because the next best thing came out and we had to have it.

But in the process, what’s become of us? We want all the best technology has to offer, but do these gadgets bring out the best in us?

According to a recent survey, the answer is a quick, resounding, no. To the contrary, the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, indicates that the increase in use of mobile devices has led to a corresponding spike in PDT (public displays of technology), TMI (too much inappropriate information being shared via social media), and even DWT (death while texting).

None of this comes as a surprise to anyone, as we have all been in an elevator (or bathroom, restaurant or train) with someone who is carrying on a too long, too loud and often way too personal conversation on their cell phone. We’ve all gotten insipid emails forwarded to us, threatening repercussions from no less than God Almighty if we don’t keep the chain going. And no matter how many lives are lost, too many of us still risk life, limb, and driver’s licenses on the regular so we can text while driving.

What’s the problem? We know these things are wrong and in some cases even stupid or dangerous. Do we really need etiquette books to remind us that what we were taught as small children still applies when a cell phone or laptop is involved? Do we have to be bombarded by graphic public service campaigns designed to scare and embarrass us during Distracted Driving Awareness Month (April, in case you missed it) in order to realize what’s at stake when we’re behind the wheel?

Crackberry jokes aside, do we need 75% of hiring managers to verify the notion that technology breaches at work can kill a career? If so, consider yourself warned, because that’s precisely what a recent survey by the staffing firm Robert Half found.

The same survey revealed that 45% of executives multitask while on conference calls, causing them to be clueless about entire portions of meetings. Surveyed online, of course, they admitted that and more. One out of five confessed to frequently rude device-driven behavior; but they claimed to do it anyway. Why? Because everybody else does.

Everyone's talking, but not many are listening

This monkey-see-monkey-do excuse is making apes out of all of us, from the bedroom to the boardroom. About 20 percent of adults now cop to checking their mobile devices just before closing their eyes at night and right after opening them each day, as in, before they even get out of bed! So much for nighttime prayers and morning salutations, or even a good night’s sleep. No wonder insomnia is also on the rise.

As for real life business apps, please. The workplace is rife with bad tech-behavior from folks who walk around the office with personal earpieces in (you are not in the Secret Service), to time-stealers who hit “reply all” to every email, to phone exhibitionists who hit “speaker” whenever they get a call, broadcasting their conversations with suppliers, clients, and their own children to everyone within earshot. And, for the record, texting, tweeting, Facebooking, and emailing in meetings only vastly reduces efficiency and promotes rudeness, yet it’s the norm wherever laptops and mobile devices are present. To believe otherwise is to be naïve, at best.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we ditch these devices. We all know there’s no going back. But unless we want to continue this downward spiral of tech-behavior, we have to check ourselves and stop believing that the tried and true rules of right and wrong don’t apply. They do.

The devices are not the problem. We are the problem, and we can just as easily be the solution. So, when it comes to getting your tech on, be considerate (as in mindful of others). Be respectful (of people’s time, talents, and resources). Be polite (the “magic words” still matter). Be smart (no, it is NOT okay to forward a dirty joke to your boss, post revealing photos of yourself or others on your Facebook page, or Tweet that your assistant’s breath is nasty). Just please, be more conscious and behave with greater care.

Thank you.

(Image: ThinkStock)

“Mom. Please. Stop. It has to be right here.”

There was my daughter, bracing herself against the wind in a tiny New England college town, begging me not to ask the blonde woman a few yards away from us for directions to Admissions. Was this “sweet” 16-year-old stopping me because she already knew how to get there? No. Did she prefer to ask the question herself? Uh, no. Was she perhaps not interested in getting to the 10 am information session we had left our home three states away at the crack of dawn to attend? Not that either. She liked the school. She simply didn’t want me to embarrass her by saying, “Excuse me,” to a perfect stranger in the middle of a college campus that she might one day call home.

Of course, I did it anyway. How else were we going to find the building my car’s GPS only sort of located? As for her cringing, it didn’t faze me. I was used to it since we had played this same scene out on two other college campuses already. And, luckily for her, I remember that feeling all too well myself. I was mortified touring colleges with my parents, which, contrary to her impression, wasn’t that long ago.

On the other hand, so much has changed. Neither of my folks had the luxury of going away to school. They both attended City College, which was free at the time, and went home to their parents’ homes at night. While I’d been through all this before, touring campuses and exploring a range of options had been a new and thrilling experience for my parents, and it showed.

My dad was consumed by a primary goal: To identify a school with no co-ed dorms. But the more he realized how tough this would be, the less interactive he became on tours. He walked, looked, and listened, but was clearly preoccupied—and distressed. Sulking aside, he was easy.

My mother sat way at the other end of the spectrum. Having always loved to travel and explore new places, she approached each outing as if it was the trip of a lifetime. On every campus, she strolled around with her map held out in front of her, pointing and gesturing and stopping to circle in place as she gushed over flowerbeds on college walks, vibrant foliage framing athletic fields, and impressive architecture in quads from Virginia to Vermont. Wearing her big sunglasses and comfortable shoes, there was nothing incognito about her. One look at her nailed us as tourists from the minute we stepped out of our car. All I wanted to do was blend in but, with her, there was no chance.

She insisted we sit up front in information sessions and walk right beside every tour guide. When I’d moan and try to fall behind, she’d urge me forward, chirping, “How else are you going to hear what they have to say?”

She peppered guides, admissions counselors, and deans with questions and oohed and aahed over every library, music room, theater, and dorm as if they were newly discovered wonders of the world. Worst of all, she’d stop perfect strangers—mostly students—as they walked by to secure “real” opinions on a range of topics—the curriculum, class size, professors, weather, living conditions, food, social life, extra-curricular options, costs, grades, summer programs, majors, you name it—and she sought a diversity of opinion, so she’d ask multiple people the same questions. It was excruciating.

Each time, I’d stand nearby, withering, attempting to look busy, bored, distracted or, better yet, to appear as if I wasn’t actually with her at all. But inevitably, she’d blow my cover (and my mind) and say, “Caroline, this is Joe (Janice/Joyce/Jackie/Gerald, just insert a name and please shoot me here). Come introduce yourself!” It was torture.

The fact is, I remember it all too well. So my daughter had nothing to fear as we embarked on two days of college touring. For starters, I am not my mother! I mean, seriously, I’m younger than she was, and so much cooler!

Of course, I was excited about exploring the schools my daughter might apply to next year. Who wouldn’t be? And, yes, I did wear my sunglasses and comfortable shoes but it was bright out, and we had miles of walking to do. We did tend to sit up front at information sessions but the acoustics in those rooms are never great—how else were we going to hear? The tour guides were off for Easter at one school, so we did do a self-guided tour, using a map. I routinely greeted students as we passed, just to gauge how friendly they were. All these schools talk a good game about community and mutual support, but is it real? You have to get a sense of these things for yourself. And, when all else fails, you have to ask for directions. So, I did.

But as I approached the blonde woman to say, “Excuse me,” with an eager smile, through the corner of my eye I spotted my fabulous first-born child turn away ever so slightly, trying to look bored, distracted and—yes—as if she wasn’t actually with me at all. I was tempted to blow her cover, to snatch her over and make her introduce herself. But I didn’t.

Turns out the Admissions building was right next to us. How embarrassing.

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the... tulips (Image: ThinkStock)

There’s a beautiful orchid on the windowsill of my office. It arrived the other day—not from my husband, my children, or a fan of Black Enterprise Business Report (although that would be nice, hint-hint). I bought it for myself.

I do this. A lot. It’s one of my few regular indulgences. I never feel guilty about it, I never regret it, and it never fails to give me the satisfaction I seek. Those three components are key because doing something I’ll feel bad about later would defeat the purpose.

I’m not a girl who gets her nails done or splurges on handbags or shoes. For me, it’s flowers for my office. I bought myself parrot tulips on Valentine’s Day, peonies for my birthday, and orchids are liable to show up any time, because they make me happy.

This week I needed them badly. On every front, from the local story about a woman lying in a coma after a man punched her over a parking space (yes, you read it right, over a parking space), to the tsunami of devastating news from around the world, it’s a heavy time.

The constant onslaught of tragic images and disturbing facts make it hard to focus and to just take care of business as usual. Because, suddenly, nothing feels “usual.” But my orchid is a reminder that life renews itself with very little effort from any of us; that Spring really is coming (even if it’s still freezing in New York); and that the world is at least as full of beauty as it is pain.

Flowers comfort and inspire me—and they’re cheaper than Louboutins. True, they don’t last long, but that helps, too, because there comes a time when you have to move on from things, good and bad.

Caroline's personal pick-me-up (Image: Janel Martinez)

Every successful person has their mechanisms for getting through tough times. Amherst College dean Allyson Moore depends on the love and support of her girlfriends and says, “a massage now and then helps, too.” SeaWorld Orlando’s president, Terry Prather, prays and plays golf. Valerie Mosely, a managing director at Wellington Management in Boston, says that prioritizing time alone to journal and reflect helps her “lift the grayness and crystallize a vision.”

For you, it might be tennis or music, poetry or pancakes. It may be all or none of the above. What matters isn’t what it takes for you to stay centered when darkness and doubt creep in, it’s that you know what you need and that you don’t hesitate to use it. When in doubt, try tulips.

Robert Clarke did all the things a good father is supposed to do. He was a great teacher, a generous provider, a big-time hugger and tickler, and my biggest fan. He told me I was smart and beautiful and worthy of the best life had to offer. He set the bar high and expected only greatness from me. But when I faltered or flat-out failed, he was always my soft place to land.

My cousins sometimes referred to him as Uncle Heathcliff because the beloved character Bill Cosby played on television, my dad actually was in real life. We had snowball fights inside the house and belted out everything from old spirituals to Stevie Wonder songs together in the car. He taught me how to lindy-hop, ride a bike and drive. He was a bit of a renaissance man, passionate about jazz, history, Africa, science, and his family–none more than the latter.

Oh, I know he wasn’t perfect. But he was mine, so the missing goes on and on. I still need his advice when I’m in a jam. I long to hear his laughter and to dance in his arms. I still reach for the phone to share big news – good and bad – only to remember all over again that he’s gone. But memories do comfort and, sifting through them, I’ve come to realize how many of the lessons my dad taught me are about work, life and the constant quest to balance the two. That balance was something my father worked at as much as my mother did. And that, for a man – especially of his generation — was rare.

His dreams were huge, especially compared with his humble beginnings. But they were finite. He attained advanced degrees, married and had children, owned a home, travelled, even lived and worked abroad. But he never owned a second home (“For what?” he’d ask, genuinely mystified) and once he’d been everywhere he wanted to go in the world, no matter how much he’d loved a place, he saw no reason to go back (“Why risk ruining it?” he’d say).

My dad hammered home the notion that if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. A chemistry professor at a public college, he approached his job with total dedication and gusto. He loved the students, the labs, the office hours, and class time. But he loathed the unavoidable paperwork and politics of being an administrator. So he turned down repeated offers to chair his department and become a dean. He declined advances made by more prestigious institutions as well, living his belief that poor people deserve a top-notch education as much as anyone. Never enticed by the higher status or pay of such opportunities, never caring about what “the Joneses” had or thought, my dad stayed true to himself.

Lung cancer kept him bedridden for months before he died. During that time, we laughed and sang and talked a lot about his past. Regrets? Like Sinatra, he had a few. But he’d lived the life he imagined, and he was content.

It’s that contentment I seek in my own life, to possess the courage, the confidence and the clarity to be satisfied. To achieve that soul-deep sense of assurance that says, “You’re good enough right where you are.” That’s true balance. That’s true wealth. That’s the gift of my father’s example.

Beyonce parts ways with her father and opens the door for a new manager (Image: Getty)

Beyonce, like many musical artists, has offered fans some of the most telling windows into her personal life through the lyrics of her hit songs. But few have been as candid as 2007’s “My Daddy,” in which she movingly paid tribute to her father.

“Words can’t express my boundless gratitude for you

I appreciate what you do

You’ve given me such security

No matter what mistakes I know you’re there for me.

You cure my disappointments and you heal my pain

You understood my fears and you protected me

And I thank you for loving me.”

She went on to gush about how she wanted her unborn child to be like her daddy, she wanted her husband (hint-hint to Jay-Z, who hadn’t yet “put a ring on it”) to be like her daddy, and how no one else could replace her daddy. That is, until now.

Beyonce’s announcement this week that she is severing business ties with Matthew Knowles, who managed her career from pre-pubescent seedling in Destiny’s Child to grown-up global sensation as a solo artist, is being perceived as a signal that Daddy’s doting daughter is all woman now. Married, almost 30, and with her fourth album due in a few months, it makes sense that the singer has finally declared her independence. Or has she?

Beyonce’s formal statement gave no explanations for the break. While far more tempered than her lyrics, it reiterated that she loves her father and remains “grateful for everything he taught me.” Matthew Knowles’s statement called the decision mutual and insisted that it had nothing to do with their personal relationship, saying flatly, “Business is business and family is family.”

Perhaps, but there is such a thing as a family business, and the making of the Beyonce brand (to the tune of $87 million, by Forbes’ most recent account), was an extremely lucrative one. Matthew Knowles became its CEO in 1995, when he quit his sales gig to manage his daughter’s career full-time. Without a doubt, the job opening he leaves is one of the best in the business.

So now the industry is waiting with baited breath for the second shoe to drop, as in word on who will replace him. Given how meticulously choreographed Beyonce’s career is, there’s no doubt that individual is waiting in the wings.

Choosing between the men in her life: Father Matthew Knowles and husband Jay Z (Image: Getty)

Speculation, of course, is that hubby Jay-Z, via his Roc-Nation management company, has a lock on the position. While Jay-Z would be an obvious choice and, arguably, a great one, I can’t help but wonder if Beyonce really feels she has much choice at all, or if she’s examined all her options.

Even women with powerhouse talent and money to spare have been known to cede control of their most precious assets–material and otherwise–to the men they love. When those men are smart, successful, charismatic and trusted, it’s that much harder to see the potential downside–or imagine a better alternative. This is especially true in Beyonce’s case. The bigger the bank account, the smaller the circle of trust–at least among those with any sense. And let’s face it, Jay-Z has an impeccable track record as a star-maker. Just ask Rihanna, rapper J Cole, and Willow Smith (a “whip” off the old block of parents Jada and Will). So, why wouldn’t Beyonce turn to her partner in life to run her brand? Really, what’s a girl to do?

Think carefully, that’s what. Long and hard. Seek expert outside counsel. Lots of it. Do your own research. Get honest and objective referrals. And ironclad guarantees, with safety nets and exit hatches built in. Because, as any divorced (or unhappily married) woman will tell you, you just never know. And I can’t think of any married women (happily or not) who would jump at the chance to have their husbands control their careers, at least, not without a lot of soul searching and due diligence. Something about it just smacks of an uneasy inequality, the kind that makes most brides and grooms dump the word “obey” from their vows.

The list of women whose fortunes (and names) have been depleted by their men is long and growing all the time. Two of the movies Beyonce has starred in (Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records)–three, if you count The Fighting Temptations, which ended happily–have centered on the theme of talented women manipulated and poorly managed by their men. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling into question Jay-Z’s integrity or his intentions. This isn’t about him–or any man–at all. I’m simply noting that if she goes that route, Beyonce runs a huge risk, as does any woman who allows her man to manage her career and her money. She has made so many right decisions until now. Great success in business continually demands that you use your head. It also requires heart. But when that heart is in love, good sense can take a holiday.

Whatever she decides, I just hope Beyonce steps into this next phase of her career and her life in full possession of her own unique gifts and talents, with her eyes wide open and her head in charge. It’s what I hope for us all.

Centerstage: Two years after the Rihanna incident, Brown is in the news again for another angry outburst (Image: Getty)

I don’t usually go here, but I could not not speak to what happened with Chris Brown this week when he was interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. Let me say up front that I have nothing but respect for their individual talents. Roberts was a subject in my book, Take a Lesson, and when I took my daughter to see Brown at Madison Square Garden three years ago, I acted more the fool than she did (she’s still not quite over the embarrassment).

But when it comes to this latest chapter in both of their professional lives, the haters and debaters have gone into overdrive over who did what to whom. The bottom line is this: Robin Roberts did her job. Chris Brown and his handlers did theirs too–but poorly.

Let’s be real: How much is there to say about a new album in and of itself? Once an artist has said the predictable, “It’s out. It’s great. Go buy it,” there’s still an interview to fill. How could Roberts not address the Rihanna assault-saga, which is now, whether he likes it or not, a part of Chris Brown’s story (as is the subsequent broken window he is reportedly responsible for over at the GMA studios and his rambling apology on BET’s 106 and Park yesterday).

Robin Roberts is a journalist, and despite the chummy co-mingling of what were once totally disparate elements– entertainment and news–that Good Morning America and most media outlets now embrace, Roberts remains a journalist. She is there to ask the questions that her bosses and her audience want answered. She did that. Somewhat awkwardly, but insistently, as she is expected and paid to do. She is not paid to be a Chris Brown fan, or his friend, and she is certainly not his flack (aka publicist).

Thus, it is not her job to sanitize Brown’s reputation, spin his comeback, feed his ego, promote his latest album or in any other sense make Brown look good. That’s his job and, no doubt, the job of an entire staff of pros and wannabees on his payroll who are supposed to help him do it. The fact that Roberts doesn’t have Oprah’s touchy-feely format or Barbara Walters’ reputation for making her subjects cry doesn’t mean she didn’t have every right and reason to ask the tough questions. In fact, it was her responsibility to do so. Otherwise, what is he doing there? Albums drop every day–from artists with a broader reach and bigger following than Chris Brown has (his last album, 2009’s Graffiti, fell way short of goals)–and yet, they don’t typically warrant air time on morning television. So, it stands to reason that part of why Brown was there at all is that this album’s release is considered a news story. Why? Because he’s attempting a comeback. From what? Well, that’s precisely the question, isn’t it? Robin Roberts knew that. The GMA producers who booked Brown knew it. The viewers all knew it. Why didn’t Brown and his handlers know?

This brings us to my objective appraisal of their job performance. It’s been reported that Brown’s management requested that the interview not address his past physical abuse issue at all, and that they had settled on the expectation that there would be, at most, one question on the subject. Seriously? First of all, any artist’s manager worth his or her salt knows that they cannot control an interview. Unless there are written and signed assurances, everything is fair game.

Brown leaves GMA after reportedly throwing a tantrum backstage (Image: Getty)

Secondly, does Chris Brown or his mother, his manager, his stylist, choreographer, producer, driver, body guard, assistant, housekeeper, tattoo artist, dentist… you get the idea….does anyone in the Brown camp really expect that he can be interviewed anywhere by anyone anytime soon and not have this issue arise? Even if they thought the topic was dead and gone (as unimaginable as that is) wouldn’t it make sense to be prepared, just in case? Wouldn’t it be wise to have a calm, consistent, believable script that Brown would adhere to as if it were one of his many tattoes? A little of his vintage boyish charm wouldn’t hurt either. Instead we got the muscle flexing, platinum headed, self-righteous, jaw clenching F.A.M.E. pusher. And whose brilliant idea was it to reference his “enemies” in the album’s name (Forgiving All My Enemies). Really, Chris? Enemies? The very word is associated with anger and resentment, with grudges and negativity. And how arrogant to suggest that you’re now granting forgiveness instead of seeking it. Again.

Look, I’m a mom and a music lover. A black one. So I want Chris Brown, and every young black man on this planet, to succeed. Everybody loves a comeback story and most folks (including those associated with GMA, who declined to legally pursue the matter despite the property damage Brown caused in his post-interview tantrum) want to forgive. But to forgive is not to forget. Even at the tender age of 21, Brown ought to understand that. Forgetting comes with time and an accumulation of esteemable acts, acts that prove a lesson has been learned and real growth has taken place. Time’s gone by, but no such proof is in evidence. Quite the contrary.

F.A.M.E is expected to debut on the Billboard charts at #1 next week. Sadly, it seems that’s all Brown and his camp care about. If so, maybe they performed well after all.

See Chris Brown’s Good Morning America interview with Robin Roberts here and tell us what you think in the comments below. Was she fair in the questions she asked? Did Chris handle it well while on-camera?

Even the suggestions for improvements or new topics to cover at next year’s conference make my day, because they mean we’ve connected to these women, they’re invested in what we do, and they can’t wait to come back for more.

A highlight of the conference this year, and every year, is the Legacy Awards. Over a beautiful candlelit dinner, we pay tribute to women who have been pioneers in their fields, thus changing the game for black women in all facets of business and professional life.

Our honorees are often women whose names you know, such as Dorothy Height, Ruth Simmons, and Ann Fudge in the past, and Bethann Hardison, Ntozake Shange, Bishop Barbara Harris, and Congresswoman Elenaor Homes Norton this year–women who aren’t recognized nearly enough. I’m not griping, it’s just a fact that the contributions of women of color too often go overlooked and underappreciated. So it thrills us to bring them fully into the light.

As mistress of ceremonies each year, I enjoy the unique vantage point of being able to stand on stage and watch the faces in the audience as they learn about these extraordinary women and all they’ve done. It’s my great honor to address the entire conference in a spirit of celebration and sisterly love. And it’s my great pleasure to have the best seat in the house: looking out at them – each extraordinary in her own right, each contributing to an annual event that I’m proud to say is the standard bearer for such events.

Here are the words I shared this year. Hope to see you there next February!

We have gathered this evening to celebrate, to congratulate, and to say thank you to four women who literally changed the world. That’s what the Legacy Awards are all about. We inaugurated this honor to recognize women who dared to learn, dream, push, pull, endure, demand, achieve and ascend to heights no one ever had the nerve – or the vision — to imagine for them.

They are a diverse group — a fashion icon and mogul, an acclaimed playwright and poet, a bishop, and a congresswoman. Yet they share the same passion for excellence and the same bold belief that everything is possible.

Presumed to be ordinary and to stay in their place, expected to achieve no more than the tried-and-true, and to color only within the narrow lines set to define the lives of colored girls, these phenomenal women would have none of it!

They dared to strive beyond what was safe, planned, or most probable for their lives. They dared to respond to a chorus of “You can’ts” with, “You watch me!” They dared to dwell in possibility! And because of them, and others we have honored here before them, the range of possibility has been expanded mightily for us all.

As no one need remind you, we are living through unprecedented times. I’d venture to guess that every one of you has a few more colorful words you might use to describe the year since we were last together. It’s been tough, no question. But what we must not do as we confront the inevitable difficulties we face, is allow what we cannot control to dictate what we can. Or what we believe. Or who we are. We have to remember that, even in times such as these – in fact, especially at times such as these — everything is possible.

Remember when you were a little girl and you believed that you could do or get or be absolutely anything? Gentlemen in the room, work with me… Ladies, think for a moment about that boundless sense of possibility and the enormous power it held. Each year, at this event, I feel that power all over again, and I’ve heard many of you say the same thing. We come together at this Summit and lift each other up and we float home, renewed, confident and sure…

Then reality hits. (Sometimes it hits before we even make it through Security at the airport!) And that feeling fades, our power leaking out along with it. This year, we must not let it go. We have to protect and nurture that sense that no matter what we’re in the midst of, everything is possible.

You’re going to hear it again and again all week. We want you to sing it in the shower, say it to each other, screensave it, facebook it, tweet it, and just don’t let it go: Everything. Is. Possible.

That belief is what this entire event is founded upon. Afterall, there wasn’t supposed to be a need for an event such as this. Black women executives? Not that long ago, that was considered to be an oxymoron! It was like saying “palm trees in Alaska” or “snow throughout the South”: interesting concept, but utterly ridiculous.

Well, look around this room! Look at what you and the women beside you and across from you and behind you have achieved! …And, guess what, they’re still selling lots of snowboots in Texas too! (As for palm trees in Alaska, I’ll bet Sarah Palen – as she looks out toward Russia – could probably spot a few.) So, claim it, ladies, believe it: Everything is possible!

Your life and career bear testament to that fact. This event bears testament to that fact. The people of Egypt bear testament to that fact. And tonight’s incredible Legacy Award honorees are a blazing testament to that fact.

Tonight, this week, and as your next chapter begins when you arrive home: Everything is possible!

In a classic work-life clash, when this year’s BE Women of Power Summit dates were set, I realized (too late) that it overlapped with my children’s winter break. As Editorial Director of the annual four-day event, you’d think I would have taken care to avoid such a conflict. But, I blew that.

So, in an attempt to “have it all,” I took my two children to Orlando the weekend before the event began so we could spend four days hanging out together before Mommy spent the other half of their vacation at work. The plan was for my son to go home mid-week, while my 16-year-old daughter stayed to attend the conference for the first time.

We had a ball together—not a given when you’re sharing a hotel room with two teenagers prone to indecisiveness and bickering and you still have work to fit into the mix. We checked out Seaworld and Aquatica. We swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove. We even decided that the two-hour wait to get into Universal Studios’ Harry Potterville was well worth it.

So when we sat down to eat breakfast on the morning my son was leaving, as warm Florida sunshine streamed into the Ritz Carlton’s Vineyard Grill, everybody felt really good. Then I looked over and saw my child holding his bacon in his fist, chomping it down like he’d been raised by wolves.

“Because you’re taking your first solo flight today,” I said, in a carefully controlled tone, “and because I want our parting to be pleasant just in case I never see you again, I’m not going to go off on the fact that you are 13 years old, sitting in a restaurant, eating your meal with your hands. But I want you to know that when I see you do stuff like this, I feel like I’ve failed as a mother.”

Grinning amiably, bacon paused in mid-air, this young man, who is now my height and outgrows new jeans and sneakers almost monthly, said: “Mom, I’m not high, I’m not ghetto, and I bathe on the regular. I think you’re doing okay.”

I laughed until I could hardly breathe. It was one of those out-of-the-mouths-of-babes moments. It was a call to stop sweating the small stuff, a lighthearted plea for me to give him—and myself—a break.

We both needed one and, as Women of Power Legacy Award winner Bethann Hardison would remind me when I told her the story, “He was right! I don’t care where you are, bacon is meant to be eaten with your hands.”

Hardison and son Kadeem bond courtside

It might surprise actor Kadeem Hardison of A Different World fame, to hear his mother offer my son that pass. By her own admission, as a young, single mom raising her only child, Bethann didn’t play.

“I was quite strict,” she says. “About everything!”

Take the time 3-year-old Kadeem, sick of waiting on a train, hauled off and kicked her.

“I took that little boy by the back of his shirt and hung him over the tracks and said, ‘Don’t you ever!’ His little feet were flapping and people were watching and I told him, ‘That train will come and, after, they won’t even know what pieces of you to scrape up.’ I don’t know if that’s why, but from that point on, I don’t think he ever said no to me again about anything.”

While those more dramatic lessons might make a lasting impact, Bethann says the real key to child-rearing is to keep a constant conversation going, even when they have little to say, and especially when we think they’re not listening because “most likely, that’s when they are.”

The things she’s proudest of in Kadeem—his sense of honesty, integrity and the way he honors and respects the people in his life, especially his 14-year-old daughter, Sophia—Bethann claims she didn’t teach him directly at all.

“A lot of what your children become is not necessarily what you teach them,” she says. “It’s in their DNA. It’s who they came here to be.”

And what did Kadeem teach her? She doesn’t hesitate: “Have faith. You don’t have to be there all the time to have everything turn out okay.” I’ll raise a strip of bacon to that!

Black Enterprise.com: You started running at an early age. Can we say that you planned for the success that you’re enjoying today?

Richards-Ross: Yes, I’d definitely say that I planned for success. I started running when I was seven and I was always very good at track and field, but when I was 16, I kind of made a commitment to myself that I wanted to push myself and do whatever it would take to become one of the best. I was in high school at the time, and I started working out a lot. I’ve always been very determined, and planned to do really well at whatever I do, so I definitely think I planned for the success that I’m enjoying today.

When one aspires to be a professional athlete, should they start preparing early in life?

I think it’s different for everybody. It just depends on your goals and how you train.

With an athletic career, what is your version of the 9-5?

Even though I don’t work consistently from morning to evening, it definitely feels like a 9 to 5. Usually I do my weight training in the morning for an hour or two, and then I’ll have lunch before I head the track. I stay on the track for another hour and a half to two hours doing my workout routine. And then I work on flexibility and do thousand abs a night. Sometimes I get massages a few times a week, so I fill a lot of the day. Of course it’s very important for me to rest, so it feels like a full-time job.

And you’re currently training for the 2012 Olympics?

My main goal is to be ready for the Olympics of 2012, but I still have a full season this year where I’ll go overseas and compete in about 10-15 races, and then ultimately I hope to defend my world title  in Korea.

You suffer from Behcet’s Syndrome, what is that exactly?

It’s an autoimmune disease that’s rare in America, and also rare in African-American women. For about four years, I’ve suffered from severe mouth ulcers and lesions, fatigue and joint pain. So it’s just been an obstacle that I’ve had to deal with. There have been times when it’s been really challenging to train or to compete because of the illness. But, it’s made me stronger, I think I’m a better athlete than I would have been had I not had this illness.

And to add to that challenge, you also recently fell and injured yourself correct?

Yeah, actually before I fell, I had a quad injury in April of last year while I was competing in a meet and I pulled my quad muscles. I tried to come back and compete in June when I fell and bruised my tailbone and twisted my ankle, so it was a rough 2010. But, I’m healthy now and training hard again, so hopefully I’ll have another full, successful season.

Is training very different when you have an injury?

Yes, the thing about having an injury and training is that it’s such a tough balance. You actually want to train harder, but you have to train less because you don’t want to make your injury worse by running too fast or running too hard or lifting too heavy. So I actually had to train less. When my leg did start to feel a little better, I was trying to push it more and more and I ended up injuring myself again. So it’s very difficult when you have an injury, especially mid-season when you want to recover from it and run well.

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You and your husband, New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross, both have extreme careers, and you also co-own a hair salon in Austin, Texas. Do you, along with so many, struggle with trying to achieve work/life balance?

You know we don’t. It’s amazing how everything just works out so well for us. His football season usually starts in September, and my track season usually ends around the same time, so I’m able to be with him full-time in New York, supporting him and going to the majority of his games.  I also usually start my early season training in New York. When his season ends, he comes to Texas. So right now we’re together in Texas while I’m doing my training, and he’s off. He cooks and supports me, just like I do for him when I’m off.  With the business, because it’s a family business, I don’t always have to go in for the business to work. I co-own the shop with my sister, the store manager, and my mother, so it’s not a distraction in any way. It’s something fun that I do with my sister. So I think my husband and I have a great balance to our relationship and it works. When we’re apart, we miss each other, and it’s just great to be together again. It’s actually a positive for us.

What philanthropic activities are you involved in? (The Sanya Richards Fast Track Program)

What’s very dear to my heart is an after-school program that I started in Jamaica where I’m from called the Sanya Richards Fast Track Program. I’ve always been proud that our education was superior to most countries, but I was surprised to hear a couple of years ago that it wasn’t on that same level, and that a lot of the kids weren’t reading on their grade level and that illiteracy had gone way up. So four years ago, we started this program in one school. Today, we’re in 10 schools, and the board of education in Jamaica has said that they believe our program is actually helping kids. Every time I go down there, I meet another 30 or 40 group of kids that are being impacted by the program. It’s really special to me. My main project right now is growing this program, and possibly bringing it to the United States.  I also partner with an organization called Fun for Kids which is out of Miami, and we came together and made the program work in Jamaica.

You’ve always been intentional when it comes to your life goals. So what can we expect to see you doing in the future?

I want to run for sure in the 2012 Olympics. I’m not sure about 2016 just yet because I want to start a family with my husband sometime after the next Olympics. It kind of all depends on if I can get back into training and still be one of the best in the world, then I may run in 2016. If not, I hope to have written a book or two. I really love fashion so I may start my own sporty clothing line. I’m very ambitious; I always have a lot of goals, but track and field is my primary goal now, and I’m going to try and express myself from there depending on where the future takes me.

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