Technically sliced bread is the greatest thing since Betty White…

This is from Wikipedia (there are references to the information there):

Sliced bread is a loaf of bread that has been pre-sliced with a
machine and packaged for convenience, as opposed to the
consumer cutting it with a bread knife. It was first sold in 1928.
advertised as “the greatest forward step in the baking industr@
since bread was wrapped”. !” By 1933, around 80% of bread
sold in the US was pre-sliced, leading to the popular idiom
“greatest thing since sliced bread” 

…and Betty was born in 1922 so she predates bread by 6 years! Fun fact!

So… How does Betty White relate to Karate?

Betty White didn’t do martial arts (other than teasing about learning Krav Maga in a You Tube show) but I think there are things that we all can learn from someone who lived a very successful life like she did. Not just as a celebrity but carving out a niche as a woman when typically the lifespan of a career in her field was so short and hers was 70 years. A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER career length for “Longest TV Career for an Entertainer (Female)” (Check it out).

A couple other things to note about her:

• In addition to being an entertainer she left acting in World War II and volunteered to joined the American Women’s Voluntary Services and deliver supplies (and in the evening she worked with the troops)
• Oldest person to host Saturday Night Live
• White once performed 58 live advertisements in a day
• Oldest Person to win an Emmy award
• She was an animal rights activist

There are other things about her as well – I love to highlight women like Betty who accomplished so much. There are of course many young amazing women in today’s world, I am simply pointing out for someone like her – born in 1922 – the road was perhaps more difficult and she and women like her (not to mention men who were supportive as well) “trail blazed” in many important ways. I am sure I will miss a lot that she did but a few other things are:

• She was one of the first women to have full creative control of her own TV show both in front of and behind the camera, co-creating, co-producing and starring in the Life With Elizabeth when she was still living at home with her parents. (That was in 1953!!)
• Being the first woman to produce a sitcom led to her becoming the honorary mayor of Hollywood in 1955
• She was the first woman to host her own talk show.
• She was also the first woman to win an Emmy for game show hosting

I am sure that when she was a kid in the 1930’s and 40’s those jobs were for “men only”! It’s not just a model for young women but all of our students and families – that even if pressure is around you (socially, or from other people), you can accomplish incredible things!

That’s my thoughts on Betty White!

Sincerely,