I had a hard time deciding just how to answer this question. My first, immediate reaction to the question was that I would love to be able to meet with my great-great grandchildren in the hopes that by starting my virtual assistance business I will have left them a legacy of some sort.
Although that would be pretty cool, the more I considered the question I started thinking of something else. Something that I know would be a huge inspiration to a small business woman like myself. I would want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with Margaret Chase Smith, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.
These names might be unfamilar to you, but all three of these ladies have served as Senators from the State of Maine.
Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House as well as the Senate. She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the U.S. Presidency at a major party's convention in 1964. In fact her career was long and distinguished and included being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.
Olympia Snowe also has a distinguished reputation, serving in the US House of Representatives from 1977 to 1995 when she was elected to the US Senate. She has gained a reputation as a 'moderate' Republican due to the fact that she has often broken from party lines to vote in a manner that she felt served the American people best. In 2006 she as selected by Time Magazine as one of "America's Ten Best Senators" and continues to serve as Maine's senior senator.
Susan Collins followed in these famous ladies footsteps in 1997, filling the Senate seat that had been occupied by William Cohen. Although not as accomplished as of yet as the two grand ladies of the Senate before her, she is known in the State of Maine as a Senator that works hard to remain in touch with the people of Maine. Her strong stand for bipartisanism and her moderate view has often gained her the designation of being a "Republican in Name Only'.
So why am I so intrigued with the idea of having coffee with all three of these ladies? Because they've all been such strong role models for women. I'd love to see just how different the Senators experiences were, and listen as they compared with one another. I am sure the lessons I could learn in believing in myself and my dreams would only be reinforced by listening to what these women experienced. How could I fail to be inspired and encouraged as these great women shared the difficulties they may have faced due to their gender or because they refused to back down from what they believed to be right.
But even more than that, I would like to see the more personal side of them. How they juggled being in a place of authority with their personal lives. What personal sacrifices did they make in order to follow their dreams?
To be sure, it would be a coffee break I'd never forget.