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want to live it. Pay attention to what you
are doing.”
As a business coach, Ellis worked with
small business owners, corporations and the
U.S. Department of Defense. Her clients
have brought her closer to unearthing the
message behind her book , she said.
“The title really came from my clients,”
Ellis said. “I don’t know how many men
and women I’ve met and we’ll talk about
something, some aspect of their business
and I’ll say, ‘OK, go do that.’ And then
they’ll come back and they’ll say it was
successful. And I say, ‘Why didn’t you do
it before?’ And invariably, what happens
every time, they go, ‘I guess I just needed
somebody to tell me I had permission to do
it.’ And so after hearing that enough times
from business owners, these people that
we look up to and are successful, power-
ful people in our communities and they’re
needing someone to tell them that they have
permission to do whatever this thing is, it
became really obvious to me that it was
time that it needed to be written down and
put out in this book.”
Ellis invites women to join her online
community, found at community.youdont-
needpermission.com. The site explores the
principles found in Ellis’ book and serves
as a conversational collective that she hopes
will encourage others for their own self
discovery.
“There is a certain magic with this
book,” Ellis said. “I come through the
back door of this process of self help and
empowerment. The real message of the
book is having ownership of you and your
choices. Through that ownership comes a
lot of power. I think for a long time women
have been told it is unladylike to access it.
For me, for my book, I just want to say it is
okay to own your life and make it what you
want it to be.”
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 // 5