When African American Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Doris Carson Williams asked her Power Breakfast audience how many had done business with Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, nearly all raised their hands.

So when she introduced URA Executive Director Rob Stephany she told him to relax because he’d be preaching to the choir.

“He’s probably the most engaging director we’ve had,” she said. “We see him out in the community, and he’s been a big supporter of the August Wilson Center.”

SEEING WHAT DEVELOPS—Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Rob Stephany discusses new development strategies with members of the African American Chamber of Commerce as chamber president and CEO Doris Carson Williams looks on.

(NNPA)—I’ve been talking about the idea of investing in yourself numerous times in many previous articles. I want to reiterate this point again, even at the expense of repetition. It’s not always easy to invest in ourselves. There’s a lot at risk when we put ourselves out there emotionally, spiritually and physically. But these human elements are part of the success equation.

While we like to think we are investing in ourselves every day, the truth of the matter is we don’t. All too often we let the poison of everyday life—the stress, the bills, the bosses, other people’s vision, and the craziness of a 24-7 society—take over and rot our motivation and inspiration to move closer to our goals and dreams. We don’t take time to read and learn new things. We don’t permit ourselves to have a time-out so we can give back to ourselves through rest and relaxation. And we don’t stop to feed ourselves the kind, cheerful words we want to hear from that voice inside. Instead, we let life lull us into a robotic, semi-complacent state where we don’t have access to our dreams and goals.

Some time ago, I read an article in “O,” the Oprah Magazine entitled “Debt Diet.” You’d have to be living in a cave under a rock if you’re not familiar with “The Debt Diet” given the fact that an entire week of “The Oprah Show” was centered on this very subject. It comes as no surprise to me that most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth, struggling to make ends meet. What caught my attention as I was reading this article is the fact that all the families they profiled in the article made more than $100,000 per year. Over the next couple of months, similar articles appeared in Black Enterprise, Smart Money, Kiplingers and Consumer Reports. All these articles shared a similar story—high-income people struggling to get by financially. In a Money Magazine publication, the lead story on the cover was “Scraping by on $150,000 per year.” Each article shared some helpful ideas on how to regain control of your money. However, all of them fell short of illustrating what I’m about to point out in this column.

Enterprise session

APRIL 21—The YWCA Greater Pittsburgh will host their YW Enterprise Spring Business Session from 6-8 p.m. at 305 Wood St., Downtown. April workshops will focus on Business Finance. This week’s topic is “Accounting Principles and Regulations for Business Start Up.” The presenters will be Certified Public Accountants Guilia Dozzi and Crawford Ellenbogen. Every attendee will receive a business kit. Reservations are required and it’s open to all women. For more information, call 412-255-6749.