My Word for the Year is Teflon

Musings about playing big on New Year's Eve Day and a story I have not yet told in public

Photo by SHOT on Unsplash

Over on the #amwriting podcast, KJ, Jess, Sarina, and I discussed the words we are choosing to help frame and focus ourselves in 2025.

I didn’t have a word until about ten minutes before we began to record that episode. I had been mulling over some options, circling around a feeling, and just before we met, I sat down and sunk into what word I wanted to move toward. It was Teflon.

Teflon is a non-reactive cookware coating that makes pans non-stick. It was big in the ‘60s and ‘70s when I was a kid. It’s been since found to be toxic ☠️.

What was in my head when I landed on the word was President Ronald Reagan, who was known as the "Teflon President.” In the haze of decades gone by, what the word meant to me was someone who was non-reactive — who let difficult situations slide off them, who didn’t let the negative things stick. That’s what I wanted for myself.

According to politicaldictionary.com, the term “Teflon President” was coined in 1983 by Representative Pat Schroeder, a Democrat from Colorado, when she took the House floor to denounce then-President Ronald Reagan. That website reports that it came to her when she was frying eggs one morning and realized that criticism, blame, and mistakes never seemed to stick to Reagan. So it was originally a commentary about how he got away with things he probably should not have gotten away with. But in my memory and in my choosing, Teflon is simply about being tough and non-reactive.

I chose the word for myself because it captures a new evolution in my becoming the kind of person and the kind of businesswoman I want to be.

In the beginning, when I first started working as a book coach, I wanted to be great at it. I wanted to serve my clients and do excellent work.

Soon after, I wanted to be smart and efficient — to build systems and processes that made me more effective. (That was the era when the Blueprint method was born. And if you or someone you know is thinking about starting, rescuing, or revising a book, consider joining the Blueprint Challenge starting over at the #amwriting podcast on January 6.)

Later, I wanted to be bold and brave — to play big with the systems and processes I had developed and to set the gold standard for training and certification in an emerging industry. That’s when I started Author Accelerator.

There were years when I wanted to make big money with my book coaching and I did that.

And if you have been following along, you know that I continue to strive to be all those things — excellent, smart, efficient, bold, brave, and someone leading by example about what book coaches, book lovers, and women business owners “should” be making.

Teflon is the word I need right now because here’s the thing: the bigger you play, and the louder you are, and the more space you take up, the more criticism will be flung at you and the more attacks you will have to endure. Just ask Taylor Swift — and cue up her lyrics about haters who are gonna hate.

And then cue up her lyrics for how she’s going to shake it off. Because my goodness has she shown us the way to do that and I, for one, love her inspiration.

What It Looks Like to Shake it Off

All of this — not letting the haters bring you down, being bold, being non-reactive, and playing big — has been much in my mind because about two years ago, something happened that required me to be all of those things and more.

Someone tried to usurp the trademark for my business.

This is the story I have not told in public because, on the advice of my lawyers, I couldn’t.

And I still can’t say here most of what I really want to say. I really want to tell you the whole story in all its gory detail because it’s bonkers how audacious this person was and how pissed I was and what was required of me to fight back.

But fight I did — thanks in large part to KJ and Jess and Sarina, two of whom are lawyers and the other of whom is a kick-ass businesswoman. I was hemming and hawing about what to do. I was scared, and furious, and exhausted by the whole situation — in danger of doing nothing. I was fully reactive — just all emotion and hand-wringing, and no strategy or resolve. Someone who was Teflon would not be this way. They would feel what they feel and then they would shake off the ugly parts of the situation and fight.

I wanted to be this kind of person but wasn’t sure I had it in me.

My friends urged me not to back down. They urged me to go all-in to get back what was rightly mine.

Jess took a dollar out of her wallet and handed it to me and said, “This is my tuition. I am paying you because I didn’t know _____________* could happen and now I do and I will never let that happen to me. Even if you don’t prevail, you’re gaining knowledge that will help you and all of us. No matter what, it’s worth it to fight.” I’ve kept that dollar bill in my phone this whole time as a reminder.

👆 If you don’t have friends and colleagues like this, go find some. Also find a husband who when you say you want to fight says, “Hell, yes!” And stands by your side and reads every legal contract and letter and backs you up for as long as it takes.

The ( * ), by the way, refers to a mistake I made. It was a preventable mistake and a costly one because it created the opening for someone to try to take what was mine. I don’t want to go into it here, but suffice it to say that you, too, will make mistakes in your business. It’s part of being alive, part of being human, part of the whole messy mix of it all.

It took almost two years, a very sharp intellectual property attorney, too much money, and a lot of excruciating delay, but on December 26th, I got a letter from the United States Patent and Trademark Office reaffirming my ownership of the trademark for Author Accelerator.

I did not lay down and let things slide.

I did not back down.

I stood up and fought and I am very proud of myself.

You may have read about the big financial win my business had these last few months, which all happened against the backdrop of this unsettling situation.

I was going on faith in so many ways.

I was going on a deep belief in what I am doing and why I am doing it.

This is just part of the reason why I am constantly urging writers and book coaches to know your why and to continue to define and deepen it. Because when the going gets tough — and it will get tough — you are going to need it.

My Word for the Year is Teflon

In 2025, I want to ride this feeling of strength.

I want to operate from a place where I know that, no matter what I may feel about something in my business (upset, attacked, scared, doubtful, pissed, whatever), I can feel what I feel, and then shake it off and do what I know is right to continue doing the work I am dedicated to doing.

The hard parts of running a business? They’re not going to stick to me. They’re not going to define me.

Bring it on, 2025. My word of the year is Teflon.

What’s your word? I’d love to hear if this kind of thing speaks to you. Share in the comments below.

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Come do the Blueprint Challenge starting January 6! Check it out HERE.

I will be moving to once-a-week posts during the 10 weeks of the Blueprint (Fridays will be posting day) because I’m planning to share special related to the challenge. More on that soon!

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