Girls Can Do Anything Boys Can Do

Amy sporting girl power confidence in a headstand, circa 1970’s

Dressed in my striped 1970s "Girls Can Do Anything Boys Can Do" shirt, I ran the 400-yard dash around the Steeple Chase elementary school playground, blissfully unaware that the whole world didn't agree with that slogan. Katherine Switzer was banned from running the Boston Marathon just a few years before, simply because she was a woman.

Thirty years after that dash around the school, I qualified for and ran the Boston marathon, raised three children, and now own and run two successful small businesses, CoachAmyPT and Roadrunners of Kansas City.

To grow up in an era that did and still does treat the female gender differently, I owe my success to trailblazers like Katherine Switzer and my female role models, friends, and cohorts in business like my sister, owner of Deb O'Connor Strategic Marketing.

But most of all, I am grateful to my parents; my dad raised me to believe that xx chromosomes were not a limitation but an asset. My mom exemplified that truth as an entrepreneur who started and grew a marketing research firm in business for twenty-four years.

On this International Women's Day, I hope all young girls and women know that yes, you can do anything boys can do, and you may even do it better!