The Self-Empowered Woman

FOREWORD

          I first met Marilyn Murray Willison in 1997, after she reviewed my book, The Savvy Woman’s Success Bible. Few of the journalists who reviewed my book grasped the intent of my words or the need at that time for a self-help guide for women that would help them navigate through all the aspects of their lives—the professional, personal, and emotional. When we finally met, I was delighted to learn that Marilyn not only genuinely understood my message, but that she had been conducting her own careful study of women’s inner sources of power and potential for decades.

          When my third book, What Jackie Taught Us: Lessons from the Remarkable Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was published, Marilyn wrote a lengthy feature article about the Jackie Kennedy I portrayed in my book for the Palm Beach Post newspaper.  Once again I recognized Marilyn’s connection with (and admiration for) women who live “unconventional” lives.  If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by a high-achieving woman’s remarkable life—think Coco Chanel, Golda Meir or even Cher—then I predict that The Self-Empowered Woman is going to be one of your favorite books.

Marilyn—who has been wheelchair dependent for the past 20 years—no longer travels to movie sets, foreign locales, or five-star hotels to interview celebrities as she did in her earlier glamorous career. But she knows how to combine secondary-source research, personal insights from her career as a writer for newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic and her all-consuming curiosity to give us a truly unique glimpse into the psyche of accomplished women.

          During my career in corporate America, I was fortunate to be the first woman to become a corporate vice-president at three of America’s leading corporations, Colgate-Palmolive, GTE (now Verizon), and Grey Advertising. It would have been so much easier to climb that success ladder if a book like The Self-Empowered Woman had been available when businesswomen were first breaking through glass ceilings.

          Fortunately, Marilyn’s new book—her fifth—is here now to share a lifetime’s worth of findings with all of us. Prepare yourself to be informed, enlightened, and thoroughly entertained. 

                    Tina Santi Flaherty