I’m Too Scared-Girls Woodworking Workshop 2022

Those were the words of a sweet little 7 yr old girl who had just been asked to try out the miter saw at our first girl’s woodworking camp. Words, followed by tears and obvious physical signs of anxiety. As a parent, my heart wanted to wrap my arms around her and take her away. As an instructor, it was my job to help her reach a place where she was comfortable making the cut in our camp.
I took her aside and we talked about what she was scared of, what she enjoyed doing, trying new things, and so much more. She was really a great kid, just absolutely terrified of the “big tools”. Slowly I got her to hold the end of the board while I made a cut. Then got her to put her hands on mine as we made a cut together. Then I put mine over hers and she made yet another cut. We kept making these little steps until she was finally making cuts all by herself without a tear in sight. At the end of the day, she ran over to her mom…clothes full of sawdust and face beaming with pride! She couldn’t wait to show off what she had learned!!!

As a business owner, how many times have you been stuck at “I’m too scared”? I know I have many times in my life. It can be paralyzing. But what I’ve found is that by taking those tiny little steps, eventually, I find my way. I may run into some bumps…maybe even get a couple of bruises…but when I look back, it’s always a feeling of “that wasn’t so bad”.

So, the next time you have that feeling of “I’m too scared”, be like this 7 yr old and just find one little step that isn’t so scary. Eventually, you too will be beaming with pride at what you’ve accomplished! 

We are grateful for the support of Congressionally Directed Spending dollars sponsored by Senator Klobuchar and Senator Smith, SawRise Woodworks, Red Wing Community Ed, Red Wing Youth Outreach and the Red Wing Chapter of AAUW for making this year’s camps possible!

Red Wing Ignite offers free 1:1 coaching & mentoring, along with educational programming and networking opportunities….both are great “little steps” to help you on your startup journey!
Reach out to Randii Waddell at randii@redwingignite.org for more information.

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