The Invisible Mentor Interviews Martha Mertz Part II
Interviewee Name: Martha Mertz, Entrepreneur and Founder of ATHENA International
Website: http://marthamertz.com
Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Martha Mertz: I'm a businesswoman who started a company in 1978, at a time when woman weren’t starting companies. Women weren't running companies, women weren't considered leaders. I started the company, it was small, it was modest and I grew it into a very successful company. I ended up developing properties, most of which I retained, and these were commercial properties that were in Michigan. So that's my business track and I learned a lot about business and life and about myself by having that experience. Along the way I started an initiative that has to do with women in leadership, which has now become international in its coverage. That has also been an experience from which I have drawn deep understanding, great motivation, and incredible perspective about the world we’re living in now, and the progress we're making, and where we need to continue to go.
Avil Beckford: How do you integrate your personal and professional life?
Martha Mertz: I know that I need time to relax and to regroup and re-nourish myself. And I also know that there are times when I have lots of things that are required of me, so when that happens, I spend a lot of my energy, I go full out, but then I know that I need to stop and re-nourish. If I don't I’ll just get sick, so either my brain follows my advice or my body shuts me down. But I have never really had a problem doing that because – maybe this is unique and maybe it isn't – I have the capacity to close my office and leave everything behind and go home and be there and fully BE there at home, and not drag all of the concerns and assignments at home with me, unless they're so pressing that I cannot ignore them, then I do something about them. But I'm pretty good at being able to separate the two and I think for any person who works really hard and have a lot to do it's really important to find a balance.
Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
Martha Mertz: I have been talking about them through this conversation. Things like being authentic and I think those were things that were learned the hard way. I have had to go to a lot of life experiences to come to those understanding, but when a person does get to a point of understanding something you have the choice of adopting it or ignoring. Maybe the best thing I can say is to learn the lessons when they happen to you and alter whatever it is you need to do to get to understanding, because if you don't learn it the first time, it’s going to come back around, and it will be a bigger circumstance and a harder hit. Stay alert so when something comes along and bumps into you, it's best to learn it then.
Avil Beckford: When you have some down time, how do you spend it?
Martha Mertz: I have a wonderful relationship with my husband and part of the reason that it is so wonderful and rewarding for us is that we make a point of spending some time together every day without interruptions. So there is no television, no phone, no other people, it’s the two of us having a conversation every day unless he's gone or I'm out of town. But when we're home together, that's been an important part of our mutual understanding, keeping up with each other. Some of the great advice and support come mutually back-and-forth so I do that. I love to cook, I love to entertain, so we do a lot of that. Sometimes when I travel I’ll bring home spices from other places and use them, or bring back recipes or cooking utensils that I have never used before. And of course reading, I do a lot of the reading.
Avil Beckford: What process do you use to generate great ideas?
Martha Mertz: The most active way that I have used to generate great ideas is through meditation, and I'm not very good at meditation, but often times if I manage to quiet my mind, and usually it's in the middle of the night. I sit in my living room and look at the sky and something will occur to me, something that I wasn’t conscious of thinking about or dealing with, but some idea will come which will present itself as a solution to a circumstance that I have been musing about. Great ideas have come from putting together various pieces of information and ideas from other people, weaving those things together ultimately is a new idea and it's coming from many sources. Many of my best ideas come through this kind of weaving of all the people’s thoughts along with my own and it equals to a new place.
Avil Beckford: What’s your favourite quotation and why?
Martha Mertz: A long time ago I was inspired by a quotation by Plato, “What is honoured in a country will be cultivated there,” and that is the founding quote for Athena International. The whole philosophy of Athena is behind that quote. What that means is when you honour someone for a certain kind of behaviour, or certain qualities and characteristics they have, then other people will look at that person and their characteristics and they will find them honourable and they will be inspired to emulate those things, so that’s what gave rise to Athena. We wanted to honour one outstanding woman who was a leader in a community for her excellence and her giving back and her opening up opportunities for others, particularly for women. When we put those criteria together, we hoped other people would find those qualities something valuable for themselves, and ultimately that’s what happened. So Plato wins my bet for a quote.
Avil Beckford: How do you define success?
Martha Mertz: Success isn’t always what the culture tells us it is, and I think success comes in different realms. There is personal success and there is professional success. For professional success for me it has been to set out a set of goals for myself and then achieve them. And some of those goals in my mind have been moving mountains kind of goals. But when I’ve achieved it, it seems like a very large accomplishment, and indeed it is. For personal goals, I think it is being happy with who and what I am. That is success for me.
Avil Beckford: In your opinion what’s the formula for success?
Martha Mertz: Envision the goal, where you want to go, and let the path toward that goal find you. In other words, know where you're going, what is the ultimate goal, get a picture of it in your mind and don't plan every step to get to it, a strategic plan works in business but it doesn't necessarily work in life. Hold it in your mind, as long as I can see it, what it will look like, then I will find my way to that, and that’s been my formula for success. Some would call that having an intention.
Avil Beckford: What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
Martha Mertz: The ones I outlined in my formula for success and that’s what I would also advise someone who is just starting out – envision the goal, visualize what it looks like when you have arrived at where you want to get to, and you can make a plan and work the plan but always know what the outcome is going to look like. Most of us don’t do that. Most of us decide these are the things I have to do today, we go day-by-day but we don't stop to contemplate where we are going. And it isn't just necessarily about making money. I've never thought that women just work for money, we do need it, but it isn't the satisfying factor for women. Women prefer to affect change in the world, to cause something to happen, and satisfaction comes from finding a way to make a change in the world.
Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
Martha Mertz:
- I would like to meet Mary Robinson, who was the first female president of Ireland. I would just love to have a conversation with her. She went on to be the UN special envoy for human rights. All of the values in statements I have read of hers are aligned so closely with what I value and admire.
- I would like to meet Barack Obama. I think he is a change agent in the world. I read an article once that said he leads like a woman, which is the highest form of praise from me because I think women’s ways of leading are the gold standard for this new century. I would love to have a conversation with him just to know what happens in his mind, what he is thinking as he carries so much weight right now in the world because it’s so important for all of us.
- I grew up looking at Audrey Hepburn thinking she was beautiful, then finding her to be appealing in lots of ways. She also ended up being a special envoy to the UN and I liked her values too, but she lived at a time, and she was a celebrity whose values I thought were worth looking at. She wasn’t just beautiful, but she also had substance.
- I would like to meet Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Those two people during this last period of time were the greatest change agents in our world. Both of them had great struggles and came through them in ways that were admirable. I wouldn’t necessarily want to say something to them because if I was with somebody like that I would want to be there to listen. It’s not what I want to say, it’s what I want to learn, so I would be there to listen.
Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
Martha Mertz: Man's Search for Meaning
by Viktor Frankl because it was such an understanding of courage and hope and personal empowerment in the face of impossible circumstances. That uplifted me in a way that never went away. I was very moved and influenced by Viktor Frankl.
Avil Beckford: If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why?
Martha Mertz:
- I would like to take a large, bound copy of the New York Time Crossword Puzzle.
- The Oxford Dictionary.
- The Complete Works of Shakespeare
. - War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy.
- I would take millions of pages of empty pages to serve as a personal journal, as well as an opportunity for me to write a book. If I am there on a deserted island I might have to resort to my own imagination and creativity, so I might write novels – mystery stories or fantasies, or whatever I remember or whatever I’ve learned. So I’d like to do my own writing.
.
, Leo Tolstoy.Avil Beckford: What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?
Martha Mertz: I’d like to have a CD of Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies [Box Set]
and the movie would be Breakfast at Tiffany's
.
If you cannot view this YouTube video of Beethoven's Symphony, please click here.
If you cannot view this YouTube video of Breakfast at Tiffany's, please click here.
Avil Beckford: What excites you about life?
Martha Mertz: Everything! Having the opportunity to explore, learn, grow, make friends, step up and make a difference. Having the opportunity and the ability to making a difference is the biggest of those.
Avil Beckford: How do you nurture your soul?
Martha Mertz: I write in a journal. I learn a lot about myself when I write and I always date the entries that I make. I keep them, they are only for me, they are private and I can go back, and I find it interesting how certain thoughts or circumstances have evolved over a period of time that’s both instructive and nurturing. A great relationship with my husband is also nurturing, and I must say that my children have been my greatest teachers in my life, and they nurture me.
Avil Beckford: If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for?
Martha Mertz: I would like her to allow me to start all over again in this life, but allow me to carry with me what I know now. I think I would stop and enjoy the moments more. I’m one that’s so focused on getting things done and moving another mountain that sometimes I have forgotten to just enjoy being where I am. If I had a chance to go back and start all over again, I would pay attention, I would learn different things and I would enjoy being where I am.
Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when…..
Martha Mertz: I am happy now, I’m always happy. Maybe it’s because I live in Sedona. Everybody says there are vortexes here, and that it’s the positive vibration in the energy. Or maybe it’s because there are so many days of sunshine. So I’m happy when I’m at home enjoying this beautiful place I have chosen to live in. I’m happy for all of the blessings that I have in life.
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Source of videos
Beethoven “Pastoral” Symphony – 5th Movement
Breakfast at Tiffany's trailer
