The New Power Girls: Women Entrepreneurs And Gender In Business
As I take a seat at the small table facing a packed room at L.A.'s Writer's Guild for a panel on new media, I'm aware of three things. First, that there are two seasoned entertainment business executives seated who feel strongly about their views on the Internet. Second, that we're probably more than likely going to disagree on a lot of things because I'm from the Internet side and see things from a different perspective. Third, that I'm the only woman on the panel with exception to the moderator. As someone who has spent most of her adult working life in Internet telecom and platform business, I've been the only woman in the room more often or not. It's not an issue of gender for me but one of confidence. Will I be able to stand up in this conversation? If so, how?
It's a question that I ask myself countless times in business regardless of who or what gender is around me.
Power Girls are women in a man - and women's - world. Whether its speaking at an event, negotiating a deal, signing a partnership, selling a startup, taking a media interview, or any other element of owning and running a company, gender does not define who we are, what we need to do, and most of all, what we want to accomplish. It never has.
"Women CEOs and founders are still pretty darn rare," said Sarah Fell, CEO of Flexjobs.com.
It doesn't stop Fell from attending events and conferences, often where she's one of few women. The trio behind Blogher has played the Silicon Valley funding game, notoriously said to be predominantly male. Pure Management Group's Deborah Krause is blazing the trails in the hospitality industry. Though there are still plenty of places where women in America face limitations and obstacles solely due to their gender, there are more women than ever working to change it.
How do women entrepreneurs blaze the trail when in predominantly male industries and markets?
"I don't think about it, to be honest," said Sortingwithstyle.com founder and CEO Sayeh Pezeshki who also pens the very popular Office Stylist blog. "I don't think I'm in a man's world or a women's world. I work just as hard in any world."
Spoken like a true Power Girl!
To hear what Meghan and I have to say about this week's topic, visit NPGDaily.com here.
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I love the direction of these conversations and am so pleased to see more of them. For me it is not about gender - it is about innovation. There is an abundant body of research that shows that innovation requires diversity - the best homogeneous teams are out performed by even average diverse teams when it comes to innovation (Scott Page, University of Michigan). For those of us in the innovation business - we get why these PowerGirls are key to the ecosystem. Keep it up!
I love the direction of these conversations and am so pleased to see more of them. For me it is not about gender - it is about innovation. There is an abundant body of research that shows that innovation requires diversity - the best homogeneous teams are out performed by even average diverse teams when it comes to innovation (Scott Page, University of Michigan). For those of us in the innovation business - we get why these PowerGirls are key to the ecosystem. Keep it up!
Love this short article and agree. Success takes hard work in ANY world..
and it belongs to all of us.
Patty DeDominic, Entrepreneur
former president National Association of Women Business Owners USA
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