Women entrepreneurs in the US have the traction and opportunities available today due in part to women who began to blaze the trail dating as far back as the mid-1700s. This article from History.com shares the stories of seven of these women – many of whom launched businesses that survived for a century or longer!
Great Place to Work is a global leader in analyzing and reporting on workplace culture. They partnered with Fortune magazine to publish a study that analyzed feedback from over a half a million women to determine the most female-friendly companies (organizations with > 1,000 employees). Number one on the list was Hilton and was surprisingly followed by many companies in the financial and tech sectors. Perhaps positive change is finally underfoot! This article in CEO magazine shares the list in greater detail.
As the world emerges from the COVID pandemic, most employers – especially those that manage knowledge workers – have had to contemplate what the future of the office looks like in terms of in-person versus at-home expectations. This new hybrid model is an interesting one when it comes to the impact on women in the workforce. This article in Talent Management shares four important ways that business leaders can build hybrid workplaces that support their organizations’ diversity goals and encourage the advancement of women into leadership roles.
Tiffany James , a 27-year-old African American woman from New York City, is the founder of Modern Blk Girl, which helps educate women on how they can build wealth through investing. James was inspired to launch this venture and share her knowledge after she turned a $10,000 starting investment in the stock market into $2 million in just 2 years. Read more about her investing journey and her commitment to educating women about building wealth in this article in Black Enterprise.
Researchers from Harvard University; Boston University School of Medicine; Kaiser Permanente; UC Davis; UC San Diego; and Brown University explored the link between optimism and longevity in a 150,000 racially diverse women ages 50–79. Scientists found that women with the most optimism lived 5.4% longer (approximately 4.4 years) than the least optimistic women. Optimistic women were also more likely to achieve “exceptional longevity” which is defined as living to be 90+. One of the most interesting items to note is that these trends were consistent across all racial and ethnic groups of women. So if you are making a resolution for 2023, consider practices that impact your optimistic outlook! To read more about this research, see this link in the National Institute on Aging.
Srishti Mendhekar and Priyansha Mishra are the founders of On Her Way, a platform that connects women travelers to a local woman who can help them awareness about safe spaces and general information about the area. “Women have needs and issues, which can be broadly categorized into safety and hygiene, and no one is solving that. The current travel ecosystem is made by men for men. We want to change that,” says Srishti. Read more by accessing an article about how they founded their startup in YourStory.com.
The “pink tax” refers to the extra money women that are routinely charged for personal care products, services and clothing. While it may only seem like a few dollars difference here and there, when added up over a lifetime, this article in GoBankingRates states that the total can exceed $500,000! To see a breakdown of where the pink tax hits women the hardest, click the link to access the article.
Many successful individuals – especially women – struggle with negative self-talk (sometimes referred to as having an Inner Critic). In this podcast from NPR’s Lifekit, Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D., an Atlanta-based clinical psychologist and the host and founder of Therapy for Black Girls, shares several strategies to tame those voices. From reframing how you speak to yourself to reducing the time you spend doom-scrolling on social media, her tips are a worthwhile listen!
In this post on CNBC.com, journalist and writer Julia Boorstin shares insights from what she learned in interviewing 120-plus CEOs, founders and VC investors for her new book “When Women Lead”. Her top three takeaways are that the most successful women leaders stay true to their strongest traits, rely on data rather than ego and find grounding in their purpose. To learn more about the examples behind these findings, click the above link to the piece.
Often in industries that are more creative, there is an expectation that you need to offer time and labor for free or for deeply discounted rates to get work…or “exposure”. In addition, there’s also the problem of the “brown discount,” which refers to a common workplace issue of people of color being asked to provide the “vastness and value” of their experiences, but without fair compensation or resources. But as journalist Juleyka Lantigua-Williams shares, “exposure” doesn’t pay the rent or the grocery bill. This episode from NPR’s Life Kit discusses some of these challenges in greater detail and shares strategies to ensure you are being paid what you are worth!