Michelle Micalizzi, Artist
(All Rights Reserved)
ORIGINAL ART SOLD | BUY RETAIL
10% of the profit from retail sales of this work benefits The Contemporary Forum, a support organization for the Phoenix Art Museum
My muse this week is Deborah Batman. Deborah Batman owns Deborah Bateman, LLC. a coaching and consulting firm, which supports and enables individuals to reach their goals, aspirations, and live the life they deserve.
WHY DEBORAH QUALIFIES TO BE ONE OF THE 2017 FEARLESS THIRTEEN.
I briefly met Deborah networking when I first arrived in Scottsdale eight years ago at a Women of Scottsdale luncheon. I knew right away that she was a woman that I wanted to get to know. I watched her from a distance and admired her professionalism and how much she was respected by other women both within and outside the business community I had her on my radar but I knew that I should have a reason to contact her that was worthy of her time so I waited to reach out to her. I knew that second encounter would eventually present itself and it did with this project. In 2016, I researched strong women leaders in the community and of course Deborah was high on my list.
In the summer of 2016, I attended a National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) luncheon and at my place setting was an invitation to Collaboration and Cabernet an event that was hosted by Deborah Bateman and Lynn Moran. Lynn Moran has been a business coach that I worked with in 2011 when I was making the decision to leave my then position as a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones. Edward Jones is a fantastic firm and with Lynn’s help I knew in my heart and soul that it was not the right long-term path for me. When I saw that invitation, I realized that not only had the time come for me to interview my coach for this project but it was also time for me to introduce myself to Deborah Bateman and ask her to participate in the project.
As I expected, Deborah and I are both super busy women and it took us seven months to get together for lunch. During that period of time Deborah, unfortunately, lost her Dad and of course we had to reschedule. The Art of Fearlessly Doing Business was starting in January, and time was running out for me to casually introduce the project to Deborah, so I sent her my invitation for the project via email and hoped for the best. Within a day I heard back from Deborah that she was all in and we made a plan to discuss the project in more detail at a lunch. I was thrilled to met Deborah for lunch at in early February. We had set aside an hour for our time together, which quickly became more than two hours, and we literally had to force ourselves to move on with our days. Meeting Deborah has been refreshing, energizing, and I feel life changing event for me. Women like me wait their whole lives to meet women like Deborah. What can I say? I am a bigger fan than ever!
Deborah qualified when I heard her speak at the Women of Scottsdale Lunch. It was just a matter of life experience, time and inspiration for me to invent the Art of Fearlessly Doing Business concept. She is the kind of woman that gives others like me hope that the glass ceiling can be cracked with grace and integrity. Her leadership style is one of a lady, not a steamroller. Make no mistake though, Deborah is a “Can Do” woman. She has risen to the top of the banking world, which is hard for anyone to do, male and female alike. She prides herself in developing people and takes great care in preparing genuine talent to shine in capable organizations.
The three biggest things that impress me the most about Deborah are:
- She is a successful, strong woman who has not lost her femininity but continues to embrace it.
- Her commitment to transparent authenticity on every level.
- The spark in her eye that is contagious, which makes her light even more impossible to ignore.
FEARLESS INTERVIEW
Deborah took a few minutes out to answer the five Art of Fearlessly Doing Business Questions.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM DEBORAH ABOUT BEING FEARLESS?
1. Recognize when Being a People Pleaser is Holding You Back
Deborah grew up in a generation that was taught to please others. She was a daughter set out to please her parents and she took that need with her into her business life and her married life. After years of pleasing people, she woke up one day and told herself enough of that. It is good to be of service to others. However, when being of service to others is to the detriment of being your true authentic self – you have to snap yourself out of it and make an internal change. During our lunch, Deborah shared her personal journey with refreshing authentic transparency. It is a lunch I will never forget for many reasons not least of which were the shocking similarities in our path as women, wives, and businesswomen.
2. Risk Blossoming
Deborah had reached the heights of success in banking and was demanding the salary and benefits that come from traveling that path. She had been a consultant for many years in the past and knew what it felt like to be out on her own. She knew intrinsically that the people she had been developing to take her role were ready to step up as she was ready to step down. Her departure from corporate life back into self-employment was a natural progression that can only occur when years of preparation meets an undeniable readiness to bloom.
One of my favorite quotes is by Anais Nin, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” In finance, managing risk is your job. When I read this quote again with Deborah in mind it means more to me. The idea of managing risk in life and in investing can paralyze us. Just like any good financial adviser, Deborah knew when it was time to stop holding back conservatively and to aggressively grow again. Ironically as well – Deborah loves floral art so this quote means so much more to me now than it even did before we had our epic lunch. Everyone has a risk tolerance and when the scales truly tip in the direction of growth, we can no longer stay tight in the bud; we absolutely must bloom.
3. Embrace Technology
I have taught many social media classes with people of Deborah’s generation who absolutely refuse to embrace technology. Deborah is smart enough to realize that the playing field has changed since the last time she was in charge of promoting herself as a solopreneur. She is not trying to stop time and do business as usual. She has not only done the work to embrace technology, she is conquering it. Coming from an industry that has relentless compliance standards, Deborah has been able to set that outdated model aside and is leveraging social media at local, national and global levels. She had absolutely no hesitation to dive in and make an impact with new media. Deborah knows that today’s technology has completely leveled the playing field and that capitalizing on it means the sky is the limit.
4. Avoid the Inclination to Over Commit
When I heard Deborah say this – I had to laugh, “Yes, we CAN DO people hate to say no.” NO does not even really occur to us. We have to absolutely convince ourselves to say no. For CAN DO people anything is possible and anything possible is worth doing. Deborah is at a time in her life where most of us long to be. She is moving into a place where she can fully choose how she spends her day. The decades of proving herself have been kind to her and her husband. They have arrived at that great RV park of life ready for the next adventure of their married lives. She is where we all hope to be one day and contrary to how she has lead her life to this point, it is time to slow down a bit and smell the roses. There we are again – the flower metaphor. Now, let’s be honest, smelling the roses to a women like Deborah does not mean she has come to a screeching halt and she has stopped building. Quite the contrary, Deborah cannot help but build; it is her nature. However, at this stage in her life she can build more organically, literally from the field in her RV camping and not from the front lines in a suit (as often). It is time for her to spend more time with family and to choose the work she does with a new pair of glasses. I suspect it will take Deborah a few minutes to disconnect from the life that has driven her so far. I cannot wait to see what happens for Deborah on her trip and hear about emanate epiphanies that I know for sure are on their way to her.
5. Authenticity Leads to Fearlessness
The idea that we have to people please or be someone we are not to succeed is such an insane idea, really. I have done it – we have all done it. We tell people what they want to hear because we think that will give us some kind of security or help us to save face. However, a false face is no face worth saving. Deborah says something I know to be true personally. We can only truly show up as ourselves. Artificiality breads fear because it by it’s by very nature is not the truth. The only way we can feel truth is to be authentically who we really are. Pretending to be someone else is wasted effort. We will never feel safe while we are playing it safe. Self-awareness is not for wimps. Part of being authentic is unabashedly understanding both our weaknesses and our strengths for better or worse. When we step comfortably into our own skin with no regrets, authenticity by its very nature breeds fearlessness.
Thank you so much Deborah for taking the time out to be one of the Fearless 13!
Note from the Artist
DEBORAH’S ILLUSTRATION STORY:
Deborah’s painting is all about riding down the road to her next adventure with her husband in their gorgeous RV with their vehicle in tow. One of the things that surprised me about Arizona when I got here is that we do have a spring and after a rainy winter this spring will be very yellow and gold. In May the desert will be in full bloom! I included a red flower in the foreground because Deborah loves red. I also included a paddle cactus just beginning to blossom. Deborah is indeed being the example of what she speaks, writes and coaches about – she is fearlessly making a bold move into her future. I am so excited to see what happens next. The next chapter in Deborah’s life I am sure will not disappoint!
DEBORAH’S ILLUSTRATION’s POST STORY:
Art inspires. As a result of this work Deborah changed the name of her business to Risk Blossoming. As far as I am concerned, there no greater compliment an artist and a business woman that can receive then that!
Work was shown at the The Art of FearlesslyDong Business III opening on Friday May 5 th 2017 at the former physical location of Fearless Art Works in Carefree, AZ.
Fearless Art Works is now an eGallery that is under contruction. Stay Tuned!
THIS WEEKS BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Succeeding through Doubt, Fear and Crisis by Sandra Yancy with Hyrum W. Smith and Deborah Bateman
Feel free to email me and suggest a book that you have found particularly helpful!
Entrepreneurs and inspiring stories of all kinds are FEARLESSLY DELIVER’s muse and focus. As an artist, a business woman and a visual journalist Michelle Micalizzi paints with a purpose. The FEARLESS ART PROJECTS are collaborative social practice art engagements that connect art + business + community.
THE ART OF FEARLESSLY DOING BUSINESS (AoFDB) is an unprecedented and unique social practice project that celebrates the fearless entrepreneurial spirit by highlighting the stories of unique and fearless business leaders. Ten percent of all retails sales are donated to an art or business related charity every.