Inspired by: Princess Tiana

By In Her Shoes Guest Blogger: Kamari Guthrie

Given that I’m a twenty-three year old woman, normally I wouldn’t admit to having cheerfully spent an evening off seeing a Disney movie with three eight-year-old girls. But today, I’m SO proud! In the months leading up to the release of The Princess & The Frog featuring the beautiful African-American Princess Tiana, we’ve heard uplifting praise for the first Black Disney princess and harsh criticism of the film’s stereotyping of Black culture. However, after leaving the theater—weak from all of the laughing, singing, and dancing the girls and I did during the movie—I realized that little has been said about Princess Tiana’s role as a fly female entrepreneur! Ok, granted most young girls and critics weren’t looking to do a business profile of Princess Tiana when watching the film, but given her vision, focus and determination I realized we could all learn a thing or two about making our dreams from Princess Tiana. So, I’ve created Princess Tiana’s Tips for living your dreams for you and your future Fly Female Entrepreneur!

1. If you have a dream, write it down, draw a picture or get something to remind you of it and never let go! Throughout the movie Princess Tiana carried a photo of her dream restaurant “Tiana’s Place” and looked at it every time she got discouraged. It always kept her going! *See Renae’s recent post on Vision Boards!

2. Save, save, save! Princess Tiana worked hard day and night to save up all the money she could to help realize her dream. Do some research, find out how much capital you need to start your business and get to saving! Try sites like INGDirect.com to set up a super-savings account.

3. Don’t get distracted! Sometimes it’s hard to turn down invitations to go out with friends or a fabulous pair of Louboutins, but don’t let anything get in the way of you and your dreams! Princess Tiana worked hard and knew when to turn down an invite so she could continue working hard and preparing for her future.

4. Dig deep! Being the owner or boss of a company is all about decisions—especially the hard ones. But like the wise old woman in the film says, “you’ve got to dig a little deeper” sometimes to find the solution to tough problems. So when you run into road bumps along the way to your goal, dig deep, trust your instincts and you’ll be sure to make the right decisions.

If you haven’t already, please be sure to take one of your future Fly Female Entrepreneur’s to see this movie. Despite what some people may think are stereotypes, there are strong messages behind Tiana’s determination and drive to be successful without depending on anyone but herself! As long as we all stay committed to teaching the babies, there will be many fabulous entrepreneurial endeavors to come! Now, here’s a treat for you and yours:

“Never Knew I Needed” from The Princess & The Frog