Xtraordinary Women Magazine September 2014 | Page 16

The thing about bucket lists...
If you’re planning on writing up your bucket list and putting those words into action, be
prepared for the Universe to deliver on your needs, but don’t be surprised if all those blessings
come filled with important and difficult lessons of growth too. Lynne Rippenaar-Moses reflects
on how establishing Wrap it Up PR & Communication Strategy in September 2013 has pushed
her completely out of her comfort zone and head-on into dealing with her biggest fears.
One night, 10 years ago, while living in Seoul in South Korea and teaching English to
preschool and primary school children, I sat down in front of my computer and started typing
up my bucket list. It was my second year living in South Korea and while I had made many
friends, learnt to read the language, loved the food, spent hours enjoying the peace and
tranquillity of the Buddhist temples scattered across the city, I was missing home, the man
who would later become my husband and my family. I was missing everything South African.
The only problem was I had no clue what I would do when I returned to the country.
I was a qualified journalist who had worked for a range of newspapers as a general reporter
and a business reporter. For a while I entertained the idea of an internship at a film and
documentary company or pursuing a course in film studies. This was fuelled by a childhood
dream of not only becoming a journalist, but a documentary producer who would craft my
skills in war torn countries. This was when I naively believed that I could ‘save the world’ just
by telling the stories of the innocent affected by bitter disputes. Working as a journalist,
however, taught me that telling stories was not enough. Awareness had to be underpinned
by demands for action from government and society and at times action on my part.
Years passed, and in 2013, while looking for some or other item in some dusty boxes in a
cupboard, I came across my bucket list. As I read through it I realised that without knowing it I
had actually achieved some of the goals I set on that list, amongst them being able to work
six of months of the year – I work for Stellenbosch University three days a week which
effectively is six months, however, I should have been more specific about it being six
consecutive months! Oops! – marry my soul mate and raise a family together (Check!) and
start my own business (I was in the process of doing that just then! Check!).
A year later, my business is thriving, but the blessings have come with some important lessons
along the way. This is what I have learnt:
1) Being an entrepreneur takes grit and loads of believing in yourself
It’s easy to believe in yourself when clients are praising you. However, you have to be ready
for the times when clients will question your rates or the amount of hours you spend crafting
their products (do not opt for quick turnarounds at the expense of quality to satisfy a client)
or even the disgruntled employee (your client’s) who will criticise your work, not because the
quality is poor or you lack the skills to do the job, but due to a bee in THEIR bonnet which has
nothing to do with you. These situations, while challenging, forced me to shut out the
negative inner voice that I am sure many entrepreneurs battle with and strengthened my