Here are three books that are similar to The Lady with Balls:
Grit by Angela Duckworth has the same theme: perseverance in working toward one’s goal despite all obstacles, whether self-imposed or environmental. My story illustrates many mistakes—both in romance and business. Of the two, my learning curve was faster in business; once I became aware of a fiscal or marketing error, I didn’t repeat it. To overcome our blunders, we have to acknowledge our ill-chosen actions or failure to act. I soon grew aware of my inept business dealings, but was slow-witted regarding my love life. Vulcan Wire was earning a decent income within two years of its inception, but it took me fifteen years to find Mr. Right.
One of my many Mr. Wrongs rightly said, “Alice, I used to think you were really smart, but now I know better. You’re not so smart. You just work hard.” There are examples of similarly successful people in Duckworth’s Grit. Early in the book, she postulates that, in addition to hard work, grit also implies that you don’t give up. She writes, “At various points, in ways big and small, we get knocked down. If we stay down, grit loses. If we get up, grit prevails.”
Tara Westover’s Educated is an in-depth story of perseverance. Her obstacles came largely from her overly religious parents. When Tara was six, the Waco debacle swayed her patriarchal father to further distrust everything related to government, including public schools. Tara’s mother only sporadically home-schooled Tara, who was embarrassed and frustrated that she couldn’t read. In contrast to girls who strove to impress their parents via academic achievements, Tara secretly educated herself with help from an older brother. Tara was awarded a scholarship, and earned a PhD in history.
My parents wanted me to earn a BA, but were unwilling to pay tuition for as prestigious a university as the one my brother attended; and regarding my entrepreneurial endeavors, they were less than encouraging. When, as a teen, I was paid extremely well for a tough babysitting job, Mommy forced me to return 70 percent of the money. She didn’t care that I was willing to do future work only if I was paid what it was worth. “You value money too much, Alice Marie,” she said. “You just aren’t my daughter.” I was dejected, but the children’s mother suffered even more: no other local sitters appreciated her high wages enough to watch those monsters.
Maid chronicles Stephanie Land’s early life, which was akin to my rags-to-riches situation. Both of us were impoverished single mothers. Stephanie did a lot of dirty work to reach her goal of a BA in English and creative writing. In her best-selling memoir we learn about her experience of poverty, homelessness, and earning her living as a cleaning lady. The Lady with Balls details my efforts as a former food-stamp recipient to build a business from the ground up and develop it into a multimillion-dollar corporation, despite the opposition of a predatory competitor. Like Tara Westover and me, Stephanie got some helpful breaks from people who admired her resolve.
For more books like The Lady with Balls: A Single Mother’s Triumphant Battle in a Man’s World, please come back and visit to my blog on Wednesday, May 20.
In the meantime, let me know if you’ve read any of the above mentioned and agree they relate.