It’s time to stop complaining
Last night, a few of my friends came over (just the girls night we needed) and the conversation took all kinds of twists and turns. But the part that stood out to me is probably not remembered by any of the others.
We were talking about how life can sometimes make you feel like you started with a disadvantage, especially as children of immigrants. Whether that’s because of money, education, language, community or access to information. There was always something that held us all back.
That small part of the conversation perfectly aligned with the book I’ve been reading.
I’m halfway through ‘Raising Brows’ by Anastasia Soare, the founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills. She immigrated from Romania with her family and built what is now a billion-dollar beauty empire. But the part that’s stayed with me isn’t the billion-dollar ending. It’s the middle, the part where her story started transforming from an underdog to an equal player.
She had a broken car, a child to raise, limited money and a husband who couldn’t find work in his trained field. She started as an aesthetician covering someone’s maternity leave. And that’s where she decided to use what she did have, her skill, hunger and a standard of excellence.
She remembered how in her home country, women would get their brows shaped with their facials, so she introduced that in America. She treated every client with care, showed up early, stayed late, learned, tested, created a whole new technique and pushed it until her work spoke for itself.
Early in the boom she tells us the motto her Grandfather lived by:
“Work hard. Don’t complain. Figure it out.”
Her Mum adopted this outlook and passed it onto her. She never complained, even in far worse situations than I’ve outlined above. Her story was seriously challenging.
And here’s the part that got me because everything in my life this week echoed that same message - Don’t complain!
Last night’s conversation with my friends, reading Anastasia’s story and then today in church, the entire sermon was on not complaining
Three different moments, same lesson. A clear sign that this is what I’m meant to write to you about today.
That’s what built Anastasia’s empire, not luck, not timing, not access. Relentless commitment to the little she had and turning it into something greater.
I think that’s a lesson for all of us.
Even if your beginning has made you feel behind, it’s not the most important part of the story. What matters is the flip, when you stop wishing it was easier and start using what’s already in your hands to build something great.
You CAN build something great.
So this week, identify one thing you’ve been labelling as a disadvantage and take it off the table! Stop complaining, comparing and get creative.
Because your power is never in the perfect start, but in the powerful pivot (oh I soooo love the sound of that!)
Until next Sunday,
Dior xx