I’ll be frank- writing Get Your Girl Back has been the greatest challenge of my life. What I struggled with most was opening up and sharing my personal experiences. I’ve owned a national consulting firm for twenty years. It’s easy for me to turn a business around and speak professionally in front of thousands of people; but to talk about myself?
I’ve done an amazing job of compartmentalizing my life. I’ve built my company and life on total separation of work and family. There’s the private Traci and the public Traci Bild. Yet I knew when writing that I had to open up and share the war wounds, trials and experiences of my past in order to help my readers. It was so difficult that I almost threw the book in the trash.
Then- I heard exactly what I needed- my coach, Sue Youngs said to me- “Traci, your fear of opening up your personal life is understandable because you are extremely private; but are you willing to miss your destiny?” Holy crap! As soon as she said that I knew I didn’t have a choice, it was profound. This book has been in my heart for close to a decade. Years of writing and setting it aside, fighting every moment of it and suddenly I knew- it was time to finish the book.
Mentally knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things. As a runner, I had started to listen to Eminem because word was- he gives you that push to keep going. It was true. Every time I thought I couldn’t go another step, if I put on Eminem, I pushed through with incredible energy. As I ran, I began to listen to his lyrics. His music was so raw, open and honest. Yes he has a foul mouth but I’m a grown woman, I can handle that. I focused on his message, his trials, and his story. It takes courage to share raw feelings from the depth of your soul and this is why, like him or not, he is a megastar.
I hung a picture of Eminem in front of my desk and he became my muse. We could not be more different yet every day I told myself, “Be brave and share your story. Don’t be afraid to open up.” Page by page as I wrote Get Your Girl Back, I began to share more intimate details of my life as the book took its final shape. I literally found the most uncommon connection and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Eminem would become my writing muse.
Part of the Get Your Girl Back pledge is never to judge another person. Rather than judge Eminem I chose to learn from him. A white rapper from the slums of Detroit taught me, a married white woman with two kids and a business how to share the most raw, unedited, and defining moments of my life. As a result I get to help influence women to have a kick ass life. Thanks Eminem for helping me find the courage to push through. I vow to pay it forward- Sign up and get your girl back one minute, one hour, one day at a time.
Written by Traci Bild www.gygb.com traci@gygb.com