PERSONAL GROWTH We were alerted by Personalized Payroll regarding a phishing attempt... the team at Personalized Payroll have your back and are there to help whether your problem is big or small. Biddie Webb Partner, LIMB Kathleen has done a fantastic job, and her customer service is excellent. She’s on top of the industry and disseminates proper information to her customers as we wade through the challenges of today’s working environment. Sharon W. Reynolds, President/CEO, DevMar Products, LLC We’ve been working together for a year and I can’t tell you how easy it’s been. The set-up, paperwork and processing—all of the admin work I do on a weekly basis—this is the easiest. Kristen Preau, "Jambalaya Girl" C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 2021-small.pdf 1 8/31/2021 2:47:02 PM And still, we show up. We adjust. We endure. We do not quit. We carry on, and somehow, we carry each other, too. When I finally opened my eyes after two days of unconsciousness, the very first thing I asked was for someone to call one of my employees — because I had promised him a salary raise, and I needed to make sure he received it. That, I realized later, was the part of me that didn’t burn away. The part that belongs to every woman who has ever loved her people more than her own exhaustion. The road back has been slow. I leaned on meditation and gentle yoga, modified one-on-one, because my body could not do every asana. I leaned on a team I had spent years building, and on my husband, who is also the VP of our company. I had to trust them to carry what I could not. I still lose a word here and there when I speak. But I am here. My company is thriving. My employees still have their jobs. My daughters still have their mother. And I am stronger — not the loud, hurried strong I was before, but a deeper, quieter, more deliberate strong. I am a fighter. I am a businesswoman. I am a mother, a wife, a leader, and by God’s grace, still standing — a woman who walked out of a 3% chance and into the rest of her life. To every woman reading this: you are not weak when you are tired. You are not finished when your body slows down. The hormonal changes, the depletion, the foggy mornings, the moments you do not recognize yourself in the mirror — they are not the end of your story. They are a chapter. And women have always known how to turn the page. We do not need to compete. We do not need to dim ourselves so someone else can shine. We need to believe in ourselves — fiercely, unapologetically — and we need to uplift one another while we do it. Because that is what a true woman is. Not the one who never falls. The one who rises and then reaches back to pull another woman up with her. I almost didn’t make it. But I did. By God’s grace, by my brother’s love, by my daughters’ hands, by my husband’s strength, by my team’s trust, and by the fighter inside me who refused to leave this earth before her work was done. We are still here. We are still rising. I am living proof. LALITHA NANDYALA is founder and CEO of SmartFolks, a global technology staffing and workforce solutions company with nearly 800 employees across the U.S., India, Mexico, and soon Canada. Connect and learn more at www.smartfolksinc.com. 94 enterprising Women
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