Trinny Woodall is a British entrepreneur and founder of her own cosmetic company, Trinny London. She was part of the “What NOT to Wear” team with Susannah Constantine that started as a column in a London newspaper, they moved to a British television show and then a spin off in the US, with books and other projects, nearly twenty years ago. When the stint with Susannah had run it’s course, determined by both ladies, each was ready to move on the their next chapter. Trinny found herself with a few ideas and they just all seemed to come together. At fifty-nine years of age she is founder and CEO of an international business selling her fine cosmetics around the globe, is in excellent shape, she looks incredible and she is the single mom of a very sharp nineteen year old heading of to University in Spain.
Trinny grew up as the youngest child in her family, born Sarah-Jane Duncanson, late given the nickname, Trinny, after a mischievous character in the children’s series of St. Trinian’s Films, given to her by a friend of her family’s. was sent off to boarding school as a young child and it was not a pleasant experience for her and in a few of the interviews of hers I have seen over the years, she mentions this very disturbing chapter in her young life. As all of us, Trinny as had her share os ups and downs. She forge a career in journalism which head her to fashion and beauty. She married, had a child, divorced, yet remained on good terms with her ex-husband who then died a few years after the divorce, leaving her Lila’s only remaining parent. She buckled down to save money to form her own company, not an easy feat to do when she had a vision of an algorithm to help customers in purchasing her make-up online, something I have not ever seen done to date. She knew she’d need to hire the best in the business to help her achieve her goal, and she did. To see photos of Trinny, skin glowing, wearing her signature sparkly clothes, you’d suspect none of the obstacles she has conquered. Trinny doesn’t shy aways from discussing the obstacles she has had put in her way. She doesn’t mind sharing them with her audience to use it as something to inspire them. Maybe that’s why the title of Trinny’s new book that premiere’s this week, FEARLESS comes from. When one is able to overcome some of the toughest of situations, they realize that there is not much to fear when they’ve seen what they’ve seen. It was interesting and surprising to see that there were a few of Trinny’s Tribers (she has several regional and an international “Trinny Tribe” fan clubs around the world that have formed Facebook pages to connect members) who had negativity comments on one of her most recent photo shoots to promote the book where she is on a horse, wearing little, but looking quite good. I think they are missing the point. The photo to me, just show’s Trinny being FEARLESS and that’s what we love about her. She inspires all of her followers to be FEARLESS on their own level. It might mean to a woman going through the challenge of the loss of a spouse to gather strength to reinvent herself to take on a new career in an uncharted stage in life she didn’t anticipate or a recent university graduate to ‘grow up’ and take on the world, or to someone else to slip into a bikini and proudly wearing it on a beach when at one time they would not consider. For someone else, it might mean taking on a new interest they have always wanted to pursue. Or maybe to someone else, it would be to wear sequins or glitter when in the past, it’s something they would only do in their dreams. Hats of to Trinny on her new book, a new make-up in her line also within the past week and all of her endeavors. She has taught many of her followers to be FEARLESS in their endeavors and to make the most of their short comings and mistakes, realizing, THE GIFT OF FAILURE…
Dan Bongino grew up in Queens, New York. He was part of the NYPD then worked his way up in the Secret Service working for three Presidents and retiring after 12 years of service to go in another direction. He ran three time unsuccessfully in two different states and at that point decided to pivot, to make a difference in media. Dan had a show on Saturday nights on FOX news until this past spring and his Monday-Friday daily radio program has viewership in the tens of thousands who even tune in to the video show an hour early to comment in the chat or subscribe to his podcast which is a wrap up of the days show.
Although I have never met Dan, listening to him I feel as if I am listening to my Dad, husband or sons speaking common sense ideas. Dan in my mind, gets it right-no pun intended. He is very comfortable calling out both sides of the political spectrum when they get it wrong. He is not afraid to speak his faith as a Christian or call out stupid behavior. One of his most popular comments he makes is “Cutesy Time Is Over,” meaning that it’s time to wake up and realize what’s happening to our country and vote out those NOT working for the American people. On air he will mention the love he has for his beautiful wife, Paula, who helps him run his business and his daughters who he fights for a good future for. When asked why he didn’t continue trying to run for office, he says that he feels that his talents could be used in a “non-elected official” way and I think he has found his calling. His time slot on Conservative radio is the spot Rush Limbaugh had for years. Dan’s book, THE GIFT OF FAILURE which is out this week, talks about all the times in life he failed and how those episodes caused him to look at why he lost and what did he learn from loosing. Not only did Dan loose the three legislative races, he quit his job as a Secret Service agent just one year short of being eligible for a full pension. At twelve years in service, he quite because he didn’t agree with what he saw going on in the White House. Although he has not revealed exactly what he saw working close for the last President he worked for, he said that he just couldn’t work in that role any longer. You have a family, a secure job, a future pension and you leave the known for the unknown. That’s gutsy and I admire that in anyone. He had a both an undergraduate degree and an MBA to fall back on and a few twists and turns and he found his way as a commentator and now to the radio and podcast. Along the way, he was diagnosed with cancer which confirmed that he needed to be in tip top shape to fight that battle, he did and won. Wishing Dan all the best as he launches his newest book The Gift of Failure and also his involvement in a new movie project to be released at the end of October, along with Dinesh D’Souza “POLICE STATE”…
Novak Djokovic won his twenty-fourth Grand Slam. Tennis has four big events, which would be the equivalent to a Super Bowl in American football. The Australian Open is played in January on a hard court surface. The French Open is played in Paris on red clay. Wimbledon played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club just outside of London on grass, and then the US OPEN is played in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York played on hard court. At age thirty-six most tennis players are retiring or slowing down. By the sight of Novak’s performance last week, he’s no where near ready to slow down. During the shutdown, Novak received much flack for choosing not to get vaccinated being prevented from playing in many tournaments and Grand Slams because of his status. Who can forget the debacle in Australia a couple years back when he was told he could play and then authorities detained him and eventually deported him. Novak is one of the most disciplined athletes I have ever seen. From very early on in his professional career he has seen to every detail in his training and fitness regime from eating a gluten free diet, to seeing to the importance of flexibility (to make those amazing ‘gets’ where few players could), making yoga part of his weekly workouts and utilizing the most current physical technology like the ARP to stimulate muscle conditioning.
Novak grew up in Serbia during the Bosnian war. His parents had a small restaurant and he was raised with two brothers who also went on to play tennis. He watched a Grand Slam from his parents restaurant television and he told his dad that he wanted to play tennis. They found a local instructor struggling to make ends meet with their restaurant income but finding the funds to pay for lessons. As he grew in his levels of tennis he eventually went to train in Germany. When Novak played his first Wimbledon, I’m thinking maybe he and his parents must have reflected on that scene in their restaurant when the little boy dreamed of being able to play tennis, maybe never imagining that he would make it that far. Novak has his family close as they are all part of his team. Now married to a local Serbian girl he knew in high school and with two children , success in a country club sport is so much sweeter when that’s not where one comes from. For Novak to make it this far, with all kinds of obstacles from financial, social and political, is quite an accomplishment. Those who know him say he is one of the most humble athletes they have ever been around. He takes little for granted and is grateful to have played long enough for his son and daughter to see their father win a Grand Slam. No doubt he is a fearless man and maybe those obstacles and what some would call The Gift of Failure.
Aaron Rodgers made a name for himself as a star player for the University of California Golden Bears playing at Berkeley. He had transferred from Butte College. He was drafted in 2005 to play for the Green Bay Packers, playing with Green Bay until 2022. At age 39, he was traded to the New York Jets. With the Packers, Rodgers racked up numerous MVP awards and to date is one of the highest paid NFL players in history. During his opening game with the Jets, on September 11th, in the fourth play, he was injured in a sack from a defensive player. The injury was diagnosed as an Achilles tendon rupture. He’ll be out for a while.
Injuries are a part of any professional athletes career, either the injury itself or the training to prevent them. Professional athletes spend big money to keep their bodies in tip top shape. As mentioned with Novak it’s nothing for athletes to research and utilize the most up to date medical knowledge to stay in tip top shape. Consider the hyperbaric chambers, the physical therapy, knee surgeries to get back in the game with the world renown surgeons from around the world so that they can stay in the game as long as they can. For Aaron Rodgers or really any NFL player to step on the field, they know that they could become injured in any play, they know their career could end at any moment due to a hit, sack or debilitating injury or they may be one of the lucky ones like Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Jerry Rice or others (mostly is kickers and punters who have the longest careers, interestingly maybe because they take the fewest hits), who beat the odds and make it in the record books. Not knowing what Rodgers is thinking at this point, maybe he is hoping for a comeback from his injury to play at least another season or hopefully for the fans of the Giants, a few more. I’m thinking for Aaron Rodgers to have lasted in the NFL for this many seasons, he must be somewhat Fearless to take the hits and see defensive players charging him and maybe the failures in his life, although few, he must have looked at them as a gift to learn from…
All four of these individual have most likely never met. However, each one, to have reached to the pinnacle of success, in each of their chosen fields, must have, I am thinking, a few of the same qualities such as the ability to work harder than most in their field, to be a little Fearless either consciously or unconsciously and each one of them must have looked at their failures in life as either learning experiences or motivating factors to push each to the top of their game. I am wishing them all many more great days to enjoy the fruits of their very hard earned labors.
