The Belle of the Car Lot

I work in the retail auto industry, and it is most definitely dominated by men. I work with male salespeople, male mechanics, male parts people, male factory reps, etc etc. I do work with some ladies, but around 80% are men. Sometimes I start to feel like one of them. In order to remind myself that I am a woman, I have to deliberately focus on being a woman. Here are a few tips to maintaining your femininity in a mans world!

1. Get manicures and pedi’s regularly. Its expensive and no you don’t have time. But do it anyways. It will make you look and feel more feminine.

2. On days when you don’t feel like getting ready or don’t have time, try to focus on one thing. If you wear your hair up in a messy bun, then make sure you do your makeup. Maybe try some bold lipstick even. Or, if you don’t feel like doing much with your makeup….curl your hair and spend some time making it look amazing. Wear a great outfit to compensate for frumpy hair. Maybe just focus on spiffing up your shoes or jewelry. Wear a ribbon in your hair. Just practice give and take with your look. As Coco Chanel says, "there are no ugly girls, just lazy ones."

3. Invest in great shoes. Great shoes don’t have to be expensive either. Just find some cute animal print flats, some trendy little tennis shoes and maybe some adorable boots. Good shoes will really give you confidence and will help you to look so much more professional.

4. Drink plenty of water. Most every self help story you will ever read will tell you to drink plenty of water. So it must be true.

5. Make a Pinterest page called girl power or something that motivates you. Read through those quotes when you start to feel down. Even save them as screen savers if you need to remind yourself of what an amazing woman you are.

6. Make a playlist with some good strong woman songs. Some of my favorites are:

"The Man" by Taylor Swift

"Good ol' boys club" by Kacey Musgraves

"Who says" by Selena Gomez

"Roar" by Katy Perry

"Invincible" Kelly Clarkson

"Fight Song", Rachel Platten

"Me too" Meghan Trainor

"Stronger" Kelly Clarkson

"Firework" Katy Perry

"Miss me more" Kelsea Ballerini

"Keep up" RaeLynn

"Harper Valley PTA" Jeannie C Riley (such a good one)

"Man I feel like a woman" Shania Twain

"The Pill" Loretta Lynn

"9 to 5" Dolly Parton

"Born to Fly" Sara Evans

7. Make time for girlfriends. Invite a girlfriend to lunch, or join a Bunco group. Go out for wine with one of your favorite friends, and enjoy time with other women!! Just spending time together will definitely remind you of how much you love your gender.

8. Listen to good girl podcasts. I love Rachel Hollis, Jen Hatmaker, The Proverbs 31 Ministry & Jenna Kutcher just to name a few. Sometimes another strong female leader will encourage you.

And one last thing: