Women Founders

Sallie Gratch

25th February, 2009 - Posted by salliegratch - No Replies

Tough Time in the Life of a Founder

by Sallie Gratch Founder Women Founders Collective

Six weeks ago, I was faced with a task that far exceeded my experience and knowledge: switching the domain registration of Women Founders Collective (WFC) from one registrar to another.

Sound simple? It should have been. It was not. While I had web technical support, I understood that the task was too time consuming for WFC’s web techie. The problem was mine to track down who held WFC’s domain registration and then to transfer the domain to another registrar.

For the next three weeks, I learned how to tolerate “holding” on the telephone for up to 45 minutes until technical support took my call. I also learned to challenge technical support, always trying to move ahead, rather than end up where I started 45 minutes earlier. Sadly, what often felt like a step forward too often ended with the opening question still unanswered.

As my search continued, my spirits began to drop. Seeing a couple leisurely walking down the street, enjoying each other and their surroundings didn’t help. It felt as if my obsession with this task had removed the quality from my life. Was all this intensity worth it?

The time arrived for me to feel sorry for myself. And feeling sorry for myself helped me get back on track, to remember why I founded WFC in the first place: to support women founders globally so they would no longer feel alone.

I felt alone and frustrated until I thought of all the women founders I have met through WFC, women who share the same frustrations and despair, who keep at their work, no matter how many obstacles they encounter, because they believe in their cause.

I wouldn’t abandon WFC. In fact, I now understand, it is WFC that adds quality to my life.

And yes, I did resolve the issue of WFC’s domain registration. I felt as if I had accomplished the greatest feat in the world.

And, in fact, I had!