WE Etsy

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this here before or not, but there is a new street team on Etsy, one close to my heart--the Women's Empowerment Street Team.

The aim of the team is to bring women and girls into a recognition of their own talents and worth through art. Joining and building this team has stirred up a lot of issues in my mind that I often don't think of.

For instance, I own a book called "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office". Now the title sounds sexist and rude, but the book is actually very dead on. Many of the "mistakes" listed in the book are things that I do or that I have learned very slowly, the hard way, not to do.

Just tonight, I asked my husband to go with me to an office supply store to pick up some things I wanted for my office. As we were standing in the store, I remembered Mistakes # 7 (Pinching Company Pennies) and #8 (Waiting to be Given What You Want). What on earth was I doing in an office supply store looking to buy supplies I need to be more effective at work? I asked my husband and he concurred, saying that if he wanted something at work, he would just ask his boss for it.

My issue? Not the money, but the "I don't want to be a bother" phenomenon. I know that everyone is busy and getting me a paper tray and a stapler is not their top priority. I feel bad about making everyone else do something that I could quickly and easily do for myself. Of course, if you don't ask you don't get it.

So I turned around and left. Tomorrow I'm going to ask my cubemate where she got her paper tray and then I will ask my boss about getting some office supplies.