Title: It's All About the Shoes

"It’s All About the Shoes was developed on the premise that women’s primary relationship is with themselves and that the health of all other relationships radiates out from that."

Competing Books

Over the past twenty years the personal growth / self-help section of bookstores has grown exponentially in comparison to other categories. Close inspection of the stacks upon stacks of titles reveal that the overwhelming majority of these human potential books are written by men, even though most of them will be purchased and read by women. Consider this: The same reason that men write the majority of self-help books is the very same reason that women must read It’s All About the Shoes.

While it is true that countless books have been written by both men and women specifically for women, the preponderance of these titles address women’s romantic relationships: How to find a man, how to keep him once you have him, how to recover from a bad one, etc. This trend both reflects and perpetuates the cultural stereotype that women are defined by their relationships with others, specifically men. In marked contrast, It’s All About the Shoes was developed on the premise that women’s primary relationship is with themselves and that the health (or lack thereof) of all other relationships radiates out from that.

There are only a handful of personal growth books written by women specifically for women on issues regarding their personal power. Why is this particularly important now, in 2008, during a history making election? Women define power differently than men. Women experience power differently than men. Women are uniquely challenged on issues of power: How they get it, keep it and use it. The challenges that women experience with regard to their power and the power of those around them (and what they can do about it) are gender specific: Who better to address these issues than a female author, a psychotherapist and coach, whose professional life is devoted to supporting women to be more powerful in their lives?

Since 2002, over twenty-five million copies have been sold of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life- What On Earth am I Here For? Why? Because people are not as happy and fulfilled as they know they can be, they’re searching for the meaning and purpose of their lives and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get back to who they were meant to be.

Similarly, in the past several years over two million copies have been sold of Self Matters; Creating Your Life From the Inside Out by Dr. Phil McGraw. Why? Because we live in a culture of people who are lost, lonely and confused: They know it and they’re ready to do something about it!

Published only a few short months ago, A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle quickly became a record-breaking best seller. Why? Because the status quo is killing our collective spirit and most people know that it’s time to do something about it! Partnering with Oprah, more than one million six hundred thousand people downloaded the first installation of Tolle’s webinar based on his book. Just as Oprah has created a virtual industry of her own,  this category of books is translating into an international movement destined to re-define the term “self-help.”

Whether these books are written from the platform of pop-culture, religion or existentialism, masses of people are lining up to discover more about who they are, why they’re not happy and what they can do about it. Given political, economic and other global trends, these concerns are likely to only accelerate in the next fifty years.

While the subject matter of these books certainly complements “Shoes,” there are several things that distinguish “Shoes” from most other personal development books. Foremost, “It’s All About the Shoes” draws a specific and measurable line between who you are and what you do; thereby bridging more traditional theory which separates the spiritual / emotional life from the ‘real world’ of business and career, and blurring the lines between the personal and professional. Secondly, “Shoes” asserts that the issues women face in coming to terms with their life purpose and owning their personal power are unique to their gender—that it’s time to stop apologizing for being women and start capitalizing on this competitive advantage. What’s more, “Shoes” is unique in that it is one of the few books that focuses on “what’s right” with women. It’s not about telling women what to do in order to fix themselves, improve themselves and change themselves. “Shoes” assumes that there’s nothing to fix since she’s not broken, and that the most powerful step that women can take is to become more of who they naturally and effortlessly are.