Below Momma’s Money Tree has shared an excerpt from our upcoming book, Home Business Basics: Lessons From The Proverbs 31 Woman. For more information or to purchase the book, please visit our Products & Services page.
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Two-Faced Angel?
There’s an inherent challenge to being a popular celebrity. On the one hand, a major part of the job involves showcasing the best of your person and behavior. On the other hand, it’s nearly impossible for the human to be as perfect as their handcrafted image. Personal shortcomings can cause major problems when brought to public attention. Familiar examples include times when tabloid magazines post the juicy details of a celebrity meltdown cutting across the grain of their carefully manicured image.
The same kinds of events can occur within a community. It can be sobering to learn that the celebrated persona of a regional resident is just that – a fictitious personification sharing no resemblance to the individual it’s intended to represent.
One would hope that this would not be the case in the community life of the Proverbs 31 woman, but what evidence do we have of her social mannerisms? Is there any evidence that this ancient businesswoman was as genuine toward her neighbors as she was thoughtful in her enterprise?
Collaborative Business Building
As a brief review of prior chapters, we’ve seen that the Proverbs 31 businesswoman is a generous lady who seeks to bring value to the lives of her family, household servants, and employees (verses 11 and 20). She’s also identified as being a trustworthy individual who engages in collaborative relationships with others for the purpose of building her business (verses 11, 12, 14, 24).
However, it would be an oversight to overlook the impact of this ancient mompreneur’s business on the economic ecosystem of her region. By designing her enterprise to function in conjunction with other regional entrepreneurs, the Proverbs 31 woman is actually choosing to strengthen the businesses and economic positioning of her neighbors. As her business grows, it reinforces the financial stability of her community. An understanding of this positioning, further clarifies why her business acumen is so loudly praised by the members of her city at the end of the passage (verse 31).
Unique Neighbor, Friend, & Teacher
If the networking choices of the Proverbs 31 woman are genuine reflections of her character, would it be reasonable to expect the same kind of actions to show up in her social life? Of course! What’s more, it appears that the social mannerisms of our ancient entrepreneur stand up to our careful examination.
As a member of her neighborhood, the Proverbs 31 woman is identified as actively seeking to enhance the lives of her family and support staff. Rather than waiting for others to tackle problems, this enthusiastic entrepreneur is happy to lead by example (verses 13 and 17). When she encounters poor or less fortunate members of her community, she doesn’t turn away from the need. Instead, our lady leans into the need while providing compassionate and respectful help (verse 20).
As a friend, the Proverbs 31 woman is described as being wise, trustworthy, thoughtful, and faithful to her commitments (verses 11, 12, 15, 16, 26). Given this description, it doesn’t sound as if she would engage in gossip or spreading rumors about others. Instead, it seems that this is a lady who is highly invested in cultivating and protecting her personal relationships. It’s worth noting that these character traits probably assisted the cultivation of her extensive network of business relationships (verses 14, 18, 24).
The author of Proverbs 31 takes time to note that this ancient entrepreneur is also generous in how she chooses to use the knowledge that she had gained over the years. Rather than keeping the information to herself, the Proverbs 31 woman decides to be a source of wise counsel (verse 26). By teaching and mentoring others, this businesswoman finds yet another way to use her enterprise and knowledge base to invest in members of her community.
Even millennia after her time, the example of the Proverbs 31 woman continues to be a source of education for us today. She demonstrates the ability of an entrepreneur to head a profitable business while simultaneously serving as a source of collaborative leadership, compassion, support, and mentorship in his or her sphere of immediate influence.
Join us to continue learning from her in the next chapter! We’ll study how the Proverbs 31 woman uses her business and community influence to leave a lasting legacy and pass on generational wealth.
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Thank you for reading! If you’d like access to this section’s author notes and assignments, click here to purchase ebook access.
Until the next chapter, good luck with the growing!
D’Loreyn