Doreen Dilger is the Founder at the
Women Empowering Women Now. Doreen Dilger can be contacted via phone at
(203) 441-5751 or via email at
doreen@womenempoweringwomennow.com. As a Certified Manifest Method Coach, networker, author and Founder of Women Empowering Women Now, it has been my life's journey to connect women entrepreneurs with simple, easy, and affordable tools and resources and to take action to grow their business create their best life NOW. To understand why I created this group I need to share a bit of my story. I was born on my mother's 40th birthday. I grew up at the bowling alleys. My parents were avid bowlers and participated in many leagues. They volunteered for board positions and, at one time or another, served in all of the positions. As the fourth child of older parents, I got to go with them because they were there most days of the week, and my older siblings and I were born many years a part. I learned my business and networking skills at the bowling alley. I helped my parents with collecting money, passing out flyers, and collecting scorecards. As I got older, I would help them during their award ceremonies by typing up programs, assisting during the ceremony, and I even assisted my dad when he was coaching junior league bowlers. In high school, I was in the Future Business Leaders of America Club. I won top sales awards because I was part of a big networking group that knew and trusted me which was the bowling alley, a place where many people adored my mom and dad. Top sales might not sound weird to you but it does to me, since I consider myself to be an introvert. One of my favorite introvert quote is, "The best plans are the ones that get canceled." If you are an introvert you know what I mean. While I excelled at Future Business Leaders of America Club, I also struggled in high school. I was bullied as a freshman by a neighborhood girl. We started out as friends but that changed when she started to hang out with the wrong crowd. Shortly after that she dropped out of high school. I also suffered anxiety about doing many things in my life, and sometimes I still do. A few years after I graduated, I got married, had children, and started my very own home-based business. I wanted to be home for my kids so I could be there for their school activities. In my business, I designed business cards, marketing and business plans, and provides resumes. I was the president of BNI, one of the top networking groups around. I had a successful business/career for many years until my husband asked me to go back to corporate so we could save money on health insurance. He had his own business as well. I agreed, even though every fiber in my body was screaming, "No!" One of my greatest life lessons is to pay attention - and to listen to my body. So, I sold my business and went to work for corporate. And that's when my life soon turned upside down, and many life lessons began.
In a 5-year span:
My mom died of cancer, I got divorced after 15 year, and I received a decent settlement. After a year of living with me post-divorce, my kids went to live with their dad which was the most devastating thing but a blessing at the same time. I also met someone who ended up stealing my life savings, which I didn't realize until it was too late. I got fired from corporate, and found out shortly after that about my money being stolen. Then, I met the man who is now my husband. He was also going through and ugly separation and lost his savings, business, and much more. I think it was the universe putting us together. I knew being fired from corporate was a sign of a new door opening, and I wanted to open my home-based business again but life wasn't done teaching me lessons quite yet. Soon, I suffered from an extremely bad case of vertigo. I ended up in bed recovering for over a month because each time I would stand up the entire room would spin out of control. Once I was able to get the dizziness under control through medication, I walked around for a month with my head tilted to one side. I lived in poverty for over a year. I had no electricity, no oil for heat at times, and I lived on Ramen Noodles and crackers. The sad part is that I talked myself into living this way. When my family hears my story they always say, "why didn't you tell us you were going through hard times? We would have helped you." But, the truth is, I didn't want the help - I was embarrassed and stubborn. From living in poverty and having no cable, not activities, I spent a lot of time reading, getting back to journaling which has always been a huge part of my life, and getting clear on what I wanted my life to be. Then one day I had enough of living this way. I was pissed. I don't remember what was going on that day, but I was driving, and as soon as I turned off the exit, I said aloud, "I am done." I got a job and went back to corporate. I worked in corporate for about two years building back my life, networking, and socializing. I knew that if I wanted to change my life and make the money that I deserved, I needed to start my own business again. So, I decided to quit corporate and restart my administrative and support business. I immediately started to network. Within 30 days I was brining in $5,000 a month. One of my clients owned a property management business, and he took notice when I implemented better systems, was able to talk six people into renewing their contracts even after they gave their notice, and saved him thousands of dollars. He invited me to become a property manager and showed me the ropes. I did that for an entire year part-time while I was still working with my clients. He proposed to sell me his company because he was retiring but I declined because he wanted too much money for the business. I simply could not afford it, especially after coming out of poverty only a few years back. A woman who worked in the property management office as a bookkeeper called me to say she found an investor who would back us up if we wanted to open our own property management business. I jumped at it! Within a few months, we had a successful business. I was able to talk to most of the properties I was previously managing and convinced them to sign up with me. That partnership only lasted a year; I decided that I no longer wanted a partner. I didn't agree with the way the business was going. We decided to divide the business. I then grew my property management business, PINC Management, LLC, to over six-figures and scaled back my clients in my administrative and support services business. Since I enjoyed connecting with new people, I continued to network. As I would share my story, many women asked me how I created my business with such success. When I kept getting asked this question, I decided to create programs to help with their own businesses, and that is how my coaching business began. Since coaching was new to me I searched for organizations and people to help me. What I found was networking groups that were more interested in wanting me to buy from them instead of helping me find the answers and guidance I needed. When it came to looking for business coaches they wanted a $1000 a month and at that time they were putting me in a position of either I pay for my mortgage or pay for coaching. It wasn't an investment that I was willing to gamble with at the time. I also wasn't willing to take on credit or a loan at that time. In my search, I found someone who was given away scholarships so I applied and won! I was extremely grateful and it taught me so much. Right there and then I new that I was going to add scholarships into my business model. I created Women Empowering Women Now in 2015 to educate, support, and empower women. Over the years, this group has grown into a community where giving back, kindness, and empowerment is our principal foundation for developing relationships. Our continued goal is to help you create action and momentum to living your best life NOW.
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