Welcome Spring and The Rebirth of Your Audacity

Issue 2880— March 31, 2026

You can find inspiration in the most unlikely places.

Like this little part of a cherry tree, determined to show its springtime blossoms despite having broken limbs and growing in a trash heap in the midst of a suburban train station under construction.

Last week took me to Washington, D.C. for an elegant dinner honoring Women’s History Month.

Why was I at this out-of-the-way and definitely not elegant station the next morning?

Unbeknownst to me when I boarded the Amtrak from New York to D.C. the previous day, something huge was going on in the nation’s capital. I should have figured it out when I looked for a hotel room to stay the night and found every single hotel room under $2500 a night was taken.

Traffic was a snarl, making it impossible to get to Union Station by car the next morning. Soon Amtrak was texting and emailing customers warning that even if they tried to take a car, they wouldn’t be allowed to get dropped off within several blocks of the station. Not fun to contemplate with baggage.

There’s always a way to accomplish a goal. And right then, mine was to get back to New York on time.

I had found a room in Greenbelt outside of the district for a more reasonable $200.  By morning, I decided to turn my scheduled D.C. appointments to discuss potential sponsors for Take The Lead’s August 25-26 Power Up Concert and Conference from in person to virtual, and to board my train in New Carrollton, MD., 15 minutes from my hotel by car.

The conference theme “Audacity: Leadership in Action” seemed appropriate to the situation.

A chill wind made me shiver outside on the train platform—the New Carrollton station didn’t have an indoor waiting area. But it was the fourth day of spring and the cherry blossoms couldn’t be deterred by this colder-than-normal weather.

Even that scraggly little tree standing all alone in the midst of construction was bravely showing up to announce the season of rebirth.

Hope. Resilience. Tenacity – all the lessons we need to live and lead in this chaotic world – were present in that cherry tree.

I wish that whatever spring holiday you are celebrating, whether Easter, Passover, Nowruz, other, or none of the above, you will experience joy In this season of rebirth even in the face of obstacles, just like that cherry tree.  

Back in New York, I found the daffodils in Central Park were raising their frilly yellow bonnets.

Spring for Hope, Build for Resilience, practice Tenacity. Audaciously.

 GLORIA FELDT is the Co-founder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, and a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.