Female Disruptors: Debbie Page of Louis E Page On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
“God adores you, honey.” ~ Pastor Michael Hintze
That was shocking news to me. Yes, I believed that God loved me, but adores me? I began to tell myself that day in and day out. I would have doubts. I would have fears. I would have self-loathing, but I kept telling myself that God adores me. Once I began to believe that I began to watch myself unfold like a flower. That made it possible for me to adore others on a deep level. Wow! How my relationships grew and deepened and started bringing incredible satisfaction.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Debbie Page.
Debbie Page, from nurse to entrepreneur, from mother to grandmother, from wife to widow, heads up Louis E. Page, Inc., a company started in 1893 in an industry that is still predominantly male-oriented. The company provides fencing solutions for businesses and consumers: parks, zoos, farms, ranches, oyster farms, rabbit cage builders, pest companies, and many more.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
This career path came about through an inheritance when my late husband, Duncan, passed. I joined the company in 2011 to help grow what was then a stagnant business. I had a thriving private practice as a lactation consultant and was loving expanding the company. I told my husband, “I can grow Louis Page like nobody else ever has.” He smiled and said, “Probably, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to work together.” My brother convinced him to hire me, and I joined Louis Page and started updating the outdated systems they were using. For four years we struggled to pay our salaries. Life changed mightily when Duncan passed, and I pivoted to become CEO.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
It’s rare to find women working in this field. Perhaps this is left-over from the thinking that fencing and all that goes with it is typically done by men. That’s slowly changing as more women are starting farms and ranches. Our daily business is probably 97–98% interacting with men.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?
We had a difficult customer, actually, a woman, who refused to put down a deposit on a custom order. All the men in the company, namely my husband and brother, had given up on her and were ready to forfeit the order. They handed it over to me. I got on the phone with her, and I became a broken record about the deposit until she blurted out, “Debbie, you are driving me crazy!” Without missing a beat, I blurted out, “You’re driving ME crazy!” I couldn’t believe I had done that. Well, we started laughing, and within a minute I had the deposit. Still to this day my brother says, “Debbie, you drive me crazy!” The lesson I learned from that is the importance of being real and not some starched, fake person through the phone.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who has been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Absolutely, we all need help to grow and push beyond our present limits and get out of our comfort zone. Hiring a business coach is essential and has helped me stay accountable as well as having another set of eyes looking at the business. I went further than that, and in October 2020, I hired a personal coach/mentor Gina Eubank. I was shocked to see the beliefs about myself that were holding me back. I felt too tired to do anything more than I was currently doing. Gina taught me to write down those things for which I am grateful, not just say them. She taught me about having a vision and recording my vision, and then listening to it each morning. I did this sporadically for a year, until one day, I committed to listening to my vision every morning before I get out of bed. In seven weeks, my life changed exponentially. I began to shift my thinking from woe is me to oh my gosh! I can do this. I now see my purpose in life on a much deeper level: who can I serve today? And my energy level has soared.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
You’re so right that in today’s world disrupting the system seems to be seen as good, as progress, as necessary. There have certainly been situations historically where an industry or a way of thinking needed a major disruption: Rosa Parks is a beautiful example of this. I think today there are groups of people disrupting out of rage and not out of true principle. They join a group because of negative emotions and don’t really think through what they are standing for or the long-term effects their actions will have. Will it be for the good of the majority of people? Does it bring life or death? Does it give hope or bring fear? I believe we are held accountable for our actions. I want to go to bed each night knowing that I shared love with everyone I met, that I brought beauty into this already beautiful world, and that I am truly grateful for the good gifts that are given to me daily. “I choose to live each day as if it’s my last and build as if I have a thousand years to live. Live with gusto, love with grace.”
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
1. “From testimonials and personal experience, we have enough information to conclude that IT’S POSSIBLE TO DESIGN AND LIVE AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE.” ~ Jim Rohn
I first heard that quote in 2008. I wanted to believe it, but I didn’t really think it was possible for me. Besides that, what does “Live an extraordinary life” really mean? I would look at my life and feel like I was working hard and serving others, but I felt like I was on the hamster wheel. When my husband passed in 2015, I had a pretty major pity party: woe is me, nobody loves me. I was reenacting Eeyore. It took me two years to emerge from that poor, “pitiful me” attitude to a brand-new way of thinking. What if I really could live an extraordinary life? What if I start to seek out others who are living extraordinary lives? Once I started to hang around successful people, it was contagious. Now at 68, I am living an extraordinary life with deep satisfaction.
2. “God adores you, honey.” ~ Pastor Michael Hintze
That was shocking news to me. Yes, I believed that God loved me, but adores me? I began to tell myself that day in and day out. I would have doubts. I would have fears. I would have self-loathing, but I kept telling myself that God adores me. Once I began to believe that I began to watch myself unfold like a flower. That made it possible for me to adore others on a deep level. Wow! How my relationships grew and deepened and started bringing incredible satisfaction.
3. “Lean into my belief in you until you start believing in yourself.” ~ Gina Eubank
I remember the first major project I took on after starting to work with Gina–becoming the host and co-creator of the Inspired Mom Summit Spring 2021. The learning curve was tremendous. I did not have the courage or the confidence or the capability to take on a task this big. Well, at least that’s what I was telling myself. Gina encouraged me every week by reminding me of other wins I had had in my life, as well as the ones I was accumulating right now. She encouraged me to stack those micro-wins and to keep noticing them and being thankful for them. And she would ask me to trust her belief. “Can you trust my belief?” Yes, I would say, “I will trust your belief.” Gina’s belief got me to the next level and the next and the next.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
I have my sights on buying a 4-star country inn. It will serve as a haven for people from around the world to relax, read, breathe in nature’s beauty, learn folk dancing, and savor incredible food. I look forward to hosting retreats there.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
It’s oftentimes assumed that women don’t know how to do something; that it’s beyond their understanding or capability or even that they are not interested. I think our biggest obstacle lies between our own fears: we don’t think we have what it takes. Men seem to expect great things to happen to them. And many of us as women expect men to take care of us or “rule” over us. But is that true? Is that absolutely true? Only if we believe it. I am a huge believer in empowering women to grow beyond their own limits and to do so with grace and truth. There is no place for angry women in my life as they are their own worst enemies, even if they are doing something in the name of what they call good. Any time we let our emotions rule us, we have lost the battle. Success comes best from a wellspring of positive emotions: joy, peace, and goodness. Love yourself deeply, believe in yourself, and find your inner circle of people who believe in you, encourage you, and energize you to go to the next level.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Tony Robbins’ talk on Life is happening for you, not to you. Can you share a story with us?
When Duncan, my late husband, passed, I was distraught. I was angry. I was incredibly sad. How could this have happened? How can I go on? Fear set in, and night after night, I lay awake sobbing, “No, No, No!” My best friend, my lover, my boss, my biking buddy, my joy, my delight. Gone. One day I walked in to my bookkeeper’s office and she looked up with a smile, “Good morning. How are you?” I responded with, “I am so mad. I hate everything, and I want to burn the house down.” She smiled again, and said with understanding, “That’s okay, just don’t send it in a text message.” I burst out laughing, and we enjoyed a wonderful few minutes of joy.
Soon after that I began to listen to Tony Robbins. When I heard him say that life happens for us, not to us, I was shocked into reality. Is that true? Life happens for me? I began to embrace that thought and say it over and over again, until I absolutely understood and believed it. “Yes! Life is happening for me.” I began to realize that Duncan’s work was done–mine was not. My whisper began to be, “Let me see my life, this day, this moment as a gift for me to savor and an opportunity to love and give to others. Life started happening to me on a very different level.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I am inspiring a movement! My vision is to empower one million women to go from feeling trapped and powerless to coming into their own as Empress–to create the life they desire by becoming the woman they love.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”?
My own favorite life lesson quote is “I am so glad to be alive! Today is the best day of my life because I know more today than I knew yesterday, and I am better equipped today to live an extraordinary life.” ~ Debbie Page
Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This truly changed my life both quickly and slowly: quickly because I believed it immediately, and slowly, because it has slowly continued to deepen my faith in it as I speak it into existence each day.
How can our readers follow you online?
Debbiehpage.com; louispage.com, https://www.facebook.com/debbie.page
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Debbie Page of Louis E Page On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.