Anastasia Holmes, founder of Start Your Engine NYC, discusses Learning Curves with the Incubator program

My Blog Post: What I have enjoyed learning most during the Incubator process, is everything

Learning Curves

Some days, when the work is piling up and the deadlines are approaching, I need to put the stress into perspective and remind myself why I’m starting a nonprofit and what I enjoy about it.

One reason I’m creating Start Your Engine, a health and fitness program for low-income women, is because I have the social entrepreneur’s drive to solve a social problem.  Another reason is because I like brainstorming and program development. Of course, part of any entrepreneur’s drive is also the dream to “work for myself.”

The most important reason I’m creating this program is to provide an environment where women can learn about healthy living rather than just going through the motions at a gym or picking a new diet. The things I learned on my journey achieving a healthy lifestyle I wanted to share—specifically with women who couldn’t afford trainers and coaches and counselors.

But it’s more than that. Every step of the way in the incubator program, as I work toward reaching my goal, I learn something new…about running an organization, about the four components of my program—exercise, nutrition, time management, and stress management—and about the women who are the target participants of the program.

And I’ve learned things about myself thanks to the workshops and other opportunities that have been available through this program. Here’s a few:

·      I fight the tendency to procrastinate (okay, I’ve known about that one for a bit, I just don’t always admit it!),

·      I forget to say what I’m thinking, but I think people know what I mean to say,

·      I am not up to speed on the latest technology, though I now know what a “tweet” is, and

·      I say ‘um’ much more than I ever thought – a fact which I learned by watching the videotape of my pitch to the Fast Forward Fund.

My goal in the Incubator Program is to start a pilot version of the program with 8 to 12 women this summer. I’m excited to start working with the participants and can’t wait until that first time when I can see the joy on their face when they make a breakthrough.

But for now, what I have enjoyed the most is the learning—and learning that there’s always more to learn.