Continuing our series of people who inspire us, we spotlight Jennifer Warwick—a motivational speaker and coach; founder of www.jenniferinc.com; author of several articles featured in trade and professional magazines; and co-author of Inspiration to Realization.

Ms. Warwick grew up in Alaska and now finds herself deep in the heart of Texas (by way of Los Angeles). She is hilariously funny, smart, introspective, insightful, curious, interesting, out-spoken and confident. The title of her chapter in Inspiration to Realization is, “The New Charm School: The Six-Figure Success Secrets of Gutsy Women”. When I tell her that my first interpretation of the title is, “Learning How to Become Financially Successful Even if You Tend to be [rhymes with witchy],” she chuckles and states that her first title was, “Leaning Toward a [rhymes with witch]-Free Economy” but decided to be more tasteful in her wording for marketability’s sake. She’s probably right.

One of the reviews for Inspiration to Realization states that “it shows how diverse women (from Gloria Allred to the CEO of Frederick’s of Hollywood) carved a path to success on their own terms without leaving behind who they were as women.” I asked her if she thought that women tended to forego their femininity to become successful in business. She immediately responded, “yes!”

She has found that the women she has met can sabotage their own success by wanting to be perfect and to self-limit themselves by having a fear of leaving things “undone” before going on to the next level, task, etc. That whole, “boys can be messy, but girls should be neat” concept carries over in the workplace she says, and the result is that women may deny themselves promotions because they feel as though they are “not done” in their present position. There is also the issue of being in control in the workplace—the mentality of “If I don’t take any chances, nothing will happen” can be a double-edged sword. Yes, you may savor the “safe” feeling, but where will that get you in the long run? “Find your boundaries, but take smart risks!”

“The first thing you are taught when you take up in-line skating is how to fall down.” She goes on to say, “The New Charm School builds the net” so you can feel safe to challenge yourself. Jennifer’s “charm school” teaches people to find their niche.

In the seminars she has conducted, she has found the main “hang-ups” women suffer from in career pathing and execution includes not knowing your boundaries and not getting a realistic assessment of the landscape. In addition, women should not believe that people owe them anything (like our mothers may have told us). She likens the mindset to surfing: you need to check out the waves and paddle in the right direction. From a distance, it may look easy, but there is an “awful lot of work” going on and you need to know when to seize the opportunity and to be fearless doing it.

Jennifer tells the story of a retreat she conducted with two groups of women: group one included women who knew they needed to take chances, but would not; and group two included high performers who had been told they were not team players (which came as a surprise to them), but did not know another way to act. The message they received from their higher-ups reinforced their non-team player behavior: a kind of “I make deals” versus “I’m not nice” was met with an “I don’t care!” reaction. However, Jennifer said that people really do not want to be perceived in a negative manner, and need to understand that there are consequences to not changing their unwelcomed behavior.

When asked if she would rather work for a man than a woman, she responds that for herself, she wants to work for “someone smart” and that gender does not factor into the equation. She states, “good leadership doesn’t have to break down gender lines. Men tend to be tougher on men and women tend to be tougher on women. People are more demanding of individuals in their gender.”

Ms. Warwick states that “when you’re intelligent and college-educated, you have to use it [your knowledge] wisely.” She explains that the tendency is to be solely focused on the “next rung of the ladder” and to disregard your “peripheral vision.”

There are key elements that Jennifer believes can help women find balance in their lives—between being successful professionally as well as personally. They include taking time for reflection and for themselves; maintaining their social circle (family, church, circle of friends at work, extended family) and ensuring they have a support system. Having people who will challenge you is very important because women need someone who will act as a realistic mirror for them.

When she arrived in Bastrop, TX (pop. 7000) from Los Angeles, she applied for a part-time job at the local newspaper and brought along her book as a sample of her work; however, the editor did not hire her. Instead of being resentful and contrite, Ms. Warwick returned home and started a website dedicated to her new hometown. The website (www.bastropia.com) is filled with information on where to stay, what to do, jobs, commerce, and more. The site’s popularity took off and in time, the editor that had not hired her asked his wife to inquire if Jennifer had a job for him!

Jennifer asked him to lunch, but told him she would rather sell him the site…meanwhile, the newspaper now finds itself in need of a new editor! Jennifer says that the bottom line is, “If I can’t have what I want, I’ll make what I want!” Running a portal and a website was foreign to Jennifer, but she was true to her mantra of being “gutsy” and it has paid off.

The book, Feel the Fear…And Do It Anyway resonates with Jennifer. While “sitting in a dismal hotel room in Michigan—flying to Detroit from LA and being home four days a month, non-consecutively,” she made the decision to move somewhere central, where there was a lower cost of living and not quite as frenetic. She and her husband took a month off, found their way to Bastrop and set up housekeeping.

The move did not come without repercussions, however. Leaving LA meant leaving her neighborhood, a 20-year career, professional and social networks and a six-figure salary to relocate to a small town east of Austin where she earns a fraction of what she had. According to Jennifer, the move taught her humility, gratitude and compassion. She remains very busy in her new locale with three part-time jobs in the arts.

Now that takes guts!