I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
One of the things I truly love about this column is that it allows me to promote entrepreneurs and products that I love. This past weekend I went to a friend’s wedding. I needed to buy a formal dress and the undergarments to go with it. I almost reached for the dreaded control-top hose, and picked up a package of SPANX instead.
For the full story of how Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX, got started, click here.
“No one is going to fix financial inequity for women. We have to recognize our own self-worth, ask for higher salaries, invest more aggressively, and build our own wealth.” ~ Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth Founder
For my interview with Amanda, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m7d15-Interview-with-Amanda-Steinberg-Founder-of-DailyWorth
Something very historic happened recently in the world of business and the story did not get nearly enough press. Ursula Burns was named to become the CEO of Xerox on July 1, 2009. She is the first black woman to lead a large American corporation and the first woman of a large American company to succeed another woman (Anne Mulcahy.)
Several months ago, I heard Ursula Burns speak, and she so impressed me with her empathy, confidence, and fervent belief that we must support one another in the workplace. She is a remarkable example of someone who rose up to great heights through hard work and ambition. Only a few days after Barack Obama’s victory, she offered a perspective on adversity that has kept me looking up, even in these dark times.
For the full story, please visit:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m6d2-Ursula-Burns
The above image was taken and run by the Associated Press.
Yesterday I participated in an event at work as part of my women’s networking group. We provided workshops, some career coaching, and a healthy dose of encouragement to women who are in homeless shelters, unemployed, and who need a hand up in life. My networking group goes by the acronym WIN (Women’s Integration Network).
I had volunteered to have a 1-on-1 lunch with one of the women who were visiting our office for the day. I was paired up with a woman who had an 11 year old daughter. Married, both she and her husband have been unemployed for some time. No college education, with a goal of being a social worker. We were joined by another woman who didn’t have a lunch buddy. She had an 11 year old brother she was taking care of as well as a 1 year old daughter. She lives in a homeless shelter and began taking care of her brother after her mother had a nervous break-down. The father of her child is incarcerated, out of the picture. She hasn’t had work in a while either, citing affordable and hard-to-come-by childcare as a major obstacle. She wants to go to school to be a nurse. Both are 25 years old.
What was I going to say to these women? How could I relate? How could I even begin to understand how difficult it is for them to just get up out of bed in the morning?
And then one of the women, the one who wants to be a nurse, said to me “Your name tag – you’re from Women in Need.” (Women In Need is the community group they belong to that helps these women find jobs, get money for school, and provides emotional support.)
“No, I work here in this office building,” I replied.
“But your name tag says – WIN. That stands for Women in Need.”
“Oh! That’s also the acronym for our internal networking group here at this company. It stands for Women’s Integration Network.”
And with that simple revelation, I realized these women were not very different from me at all. My mom raised by sister, brother, and I on her own, no college education. We struggled with food and housing and health insurance. We had trouble keeping the lights and the heat on. Though that was many years ago, it’s still there in me. All of it. I remember being hungry and afraid and hopeless. I remember having dreams that seemed unlikely, foolish, and impossibly out of reach.
I told them about putting myself through school twice, about my mom, about the role of education in my life and the advantages it provided to me. I smiled and laughed and asked them about their kids and their daily lives. I listened to them talk about their frustrations and hopes. And all it took was time – that’s all it cost it me.
Through that lunch, I realized that there is a lot I can offer in these tough times, a lot of people I can help to live happier, healthier, more successful lives. And it doesn’t involve any kind of extraordinary act. All it takes is me sitting down with people who are down and out, and telling them about my life and how I made it better, how so many people helped me along the way.
It’s really just a way to pay forward all the blessings I have been fortunate enough to encounter. The people who helped me (my mom, my teachers, guidance counselors, some of my bosses, friends, authors, speakers, and the list goes on) were angels, and without them I am certain that I would have failed. This current recession provides us with an incredible opportunity to give and participate. It gives us a chance to repay the kindnesses we’ve witnessed.
In New York City, there is a an organization that helps women launch their dream businesses by providing support, advice, and networking at a reasonable cost through after-work classes and networking events. Ladies Who Launch, provides a venue to help women not only dream about building their own careers on their own terms, but also helps them reach that goal. I receive a daily email from Ladies Who Launch that contains an inspirational story or a short piece of advice that keeps me going at the exact moment when I think that I might not be able to make a go of being an entrepreneur. It shows up at precisely the right time, with exactly the message I need in that moment. I’m not sure how they do it, though I am so grateful for their skill!
Today, I received an email about launching sideways – keeping your day job and excelling at it, while also developing your own business on your own time. Victoria Colligan, the founder of Ladies Who Launch, offers some advice on managing this balance and a three-step action plan to put some life back into a side-business that has stalled or to give you inspiration and encouragement if you’re just about to begin the journey:
“One of the lowest risk ways to propel your dream, test your idea, and fund your new venture is to launch on the side of a full time job. Many women have passed through the Incubator Intensive Workshops with full time jobs and full time ideas that they are yearning to start but feel too busy or to guilty to do so. Side launching is a viable and smart way to launch any new business. Follow these tips and give it a try:
1. Be disciplined and consistent about the hours you choose to work on your idea. Is it from 5 to 7am before the kids wake up or in the evenings after you put them to bed? Are you carving out time on the weekends? Be honest and clear with yourself about your time constraints and time commitments; your road to success will be faster.
2. Decide whether and when to tell colleagues or your boss. You may be surprised by their enthusiasm and support.
3. Determine benchmarks for yourself that indicate when you would consider making your side gig a full time adventure. What are your lifestyle demands? What would you be willing to sacrifice for a time if it meant being able to devote more energy to your business? Be realistic but also be willing to go for it!”
I uncovered a great opportunity on Linked-In for capital available to women looking to grow their businesses. The retailer Eileen Fisher is taking applications for a $10,000 grant for a woman entrepreneur with an innovative, socially conscious business.
For details on the grant and to apply, visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m3d11-Attention-women-business-owners-money-to-grow-your-business-from-Eileen-Fisher
I read an amazing article this week in the New York Times about women who are finding the athlete side of their personality later in life. As recently as 30 years ago, women were discouraged from competitive sports, particularly from running. As a runner, that fact still stuns me and makes me grateful for the times when I was raised. For my mom and for millions of women like her, the road was not easy along any path, particularly when it comes to being fit and active. That is a recent phenomenon. One I am very grateful for.
The article left me thinking about what other areas of life have been off-limits to women that are now seeing the tide turn. Certainly in women being entrepreneurs and controlling their own careers. Great strides have been made in media – there are so many to name in that field. From Oprah to Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, Arianna Huffington. And the list goes on. I am always proud of how many female business journalists have been featured as our media chronicles this latest economic downturn. I often think that women are running the reporting from Wall Street: Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett are terrific examples.
I am now reading a book entitled Another Day in the Frontal Lobe. It’s the story of Katrina Firlik, a young neurosurgeon. She was the first woman accepted into the neurosurgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Certainly in healthcare, and particularly in fields like neurosurgery, women like Dr. Firlik are paving the way.
Technology is seeing its fair share of women on the scene. Ning co-founder Gina Bianchini, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, and Charlene Li who authored the book Groundswell while at Forrester Research, immediately spring to mind. Having made great strides in this industry, women have a long road ahead. Fast Company recently ran a feature on some of the most influential women in tech. It’s a good read and I highly recommend it.
In politics we are lucky to have so many women taking the helm. I am very proud that Secretary of State Clinton heeded the calls during this difficult time that America’s reputation is facing around the world. I cannot imagine anyone better suited for the job. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shirley Franklin, and Janet Napolitano are other shining examples of the many that serve in all levels of government.
I consider fields like energy, transportation, and engineering and wonder how women will make their marks in those areas in the coming years. It will be exciting to watch and to take part in that development. With so many incredible female role models to learn from, women are poised for take-off.
The photo above was taken by Filip Kwiatkowski for The New York Times.
It has been a long time since I’ve found a book that is so powerful, so compelling that it makes me stay up until 4am to finish it. That’s exactly what happened with A Thousand Splendid Suns. As a writer, I find I learn much more from reading than I could ever learn in a class. Khaled Hosseini weaves a beautiful, heart-breaking, heroic tale about life in Afghanistan. It was hard for me to imagine how he could ever write a follow-up as emotional as The Kite Runner. He did it – A Thousand Splendid Suns is a perfect novel.
A professor at my business school teaches a new product development class and her first set of advice to her students is, “if you want to create a new product, think about what gives you pain in your life. And then find a way to solve it.” Chances are if it’s causing you pain, it’s causing others pain, too. The ladies who invented Zakkerz did just that.
Christa Avampato 