10 Things You Can Do For Women, the World and Yourself
For women's history month, Rachel is sharing 10 things you can do for women to make the future better than today. Cause who runs the world?? Without a doubt, Beyonce. But on a daily basis? You and I.
So de colonize the bookshelf and buy some cookies, because it all matters. From referring to celebrating, you can support the women in your life.
Listen to the podcast episode. Click here to listen!
BEYONCE WAS ON TO SOMETHING
We all know the truth when those Girl Scouts come to the door selling those cookies, or they get you right as you are walking into the grocery store. Every time I think wow, soon they will be in suits and they will be crushing it. I just envision them being the future realtors and mortgage agents and HR professionals and I'm like, Yes, I will in fact buy from you.
There's always a few in our neighborhood. I love it! They came this year with their masks and the trio, you know, it's always two, three of them.
You know one will be all business. One's definitely the opener, because they've got tons of energy. And then there's the other one, obviously the accountant, the money maker with the clipboard. And then there's always the sweet one that's asking about the dog and the flowers and generally taking care of the other two.
One thing I do love about the Girl Scouts is how inclusive they've been. I think a lot of times the first foray into the way businesses run and the way working together for a common goal and commodity and product-based businesses, but also to the idea that you can make friends. You can come together for that commonality, and that this is a space where people are bonded.
I wish the world would embrace that a little bit more, not only during Women’s History Month. Women's support is one of those things which definitely bonds.
In the past year, I've been more curious and more intentional than ever about the stories of black and brown women and been decolonizing a lot of our bookshelves, which is something we started last summer.
We pretty much had classics- Shakespeare, boom, Chaucer, boom.
I discovered ThriftBooks. I really love their website for used books. It was a great alternative to Amazon and they have a huge nonprofit side of their business. It's been really cool to learn so much about the voices and the strength and the stories that I hadn't been taught in school, that honestly I hadn't sought out before.
Plus, I discovered through LinkedIn, Dana Rubin, who is an incredible speaker. She has the website Speaking White Female. Dana has taken her time to collect hundreds, that's right, hundreds of speeches by women. All women. On topics on everything from anti-slavery speeches to nature, to war and a ton of others.
I am all about looking at the future because I can contribute to that. I can learn from the past. And I bet that you can too. We know that we are improving slowly but we have so much still to go for women.
Women are still underpaid in comparison to male counterparts.
Women are still underfunded in business loans and venture capitalists firms.
Women are disproportionately hired in a post covid rehiring spree.
Women are bearing the brunt of the mental load.
Women are two-thirds of the student loan debt.
I'm not going to wait for someone to bail us out. I'm going to support myself and I'm going to support others, and I think it's at this micro-level that we can change the world.
While politicians get it together, while the world gets it together, I think that you listening right now can change people's worlds. Because let me tell you, right now to the women and folks out there who refer me as an emcee and a keynote speaker, you make a difference to me.
Thank you to the women I tag in job opportunities, who I write letters for and scholarships for, to the women that I share their podcasts, I see you.
And we all have the opportunity, no matter who you are, no matter what your job title is, no matter where you live, no matter what you do, how you identify. If you're a man, a woman, a person who identifies, whether you're in transition, whether you are unemployed, underemployed, currently looking, whether you own your own business, work for a huge company, whether you are a C suite, or just a sweetie.
Listen, you have the ability to support women not just with words but with actions. Sometimes though, we just don't know how to do it.
So, these are 10 things that I know for a fact you can do for women, and the world and yourself today and every day that you can change their life, and your life, big or small.
SO LET’S FREAKIN’ GO!
Listen to the podcast episode. Click here to listen!
#1 - You can encourage women. Encourage women to go for what they want and to trust their instincts. You can encourage women to show up as themselves, to encourage women to negotiate, not accept the first offer, and go after what they truly want.
#2 - You can support women by referring them. Refer women for jobs, refer women for business, refer women for opportunities. How about mentorships, scholarships, grants, speaking opportunities? If you know you need an interview and you need an expert source, a spot on a panel or a podcast, refer a woman. Be the person that says hey listen, are you're looking for someone incredible?
#3 - Support women by hiring women. I have to say this out loud. Hire women back in their jobs. Hire them for new roles, part-time, full-time, contractors, freelancers, your team and hire diversity. Hire black, brown, indigenous women. I mean, this is so core. The reports show our economy gets better when we hire women. And when we hire diverse women.
#4 - Support women by mentoring them. Mentoring women matters, and that includes if you are a woman, a man, a nonbinary person.
The great Michelle Obama has this incredible quote from the 2012 DNC, and she said that when the door of opportunity opens and you walk through it, make sure you pull someone through with you.
The door of opportunity happens to us all the time. And yet, if we don't pull someone through, we are going to move on, and we're not going to think about it.
Mentoring women also means helping them navigate those things that nobody tells you until you're in those rooms. I wish I would have known what being a professional keynote speaker was like before I had gotten in the green rooms. Mentoring. You should have one, and you should be one.
Listen to the podcast episode about finding a great mentor and being a great mentee. Click here to listen!
#5 - Support women by simply supporting them. Actually showing up by highlighting them, and tagging them. This means actually showing public support. I like highlighting and tagging on LinkedIn a lot, and that means sharing their article, sharing press, liking their statuses, sharing statuses, cheering them on privately and publicly.
Conversely, if you see injustice or a lack of support, speak up and speak out publicly and rally support behind it!
#6 - Support women by celebrating them. Their joys, their milestones, their victories- small, large. Celebrate a Tuesday if you want, celebrate a holiday. It's all good. There's a phrase that I love: Joy shared is joy multiplied.
#7 - Support women by congratulating them. Hell yes, congratulate them. Success is real, whether it's awards or promotions. You see that little notification on LinkedIn: such and such has a new role, a new title, new job, they got elected to a board of directors or a committee.
I don't care if you already knew about it, if you already saw them, or texted them or liked it on Facebook. So you congratulate them twice? When has eating two pieces of birthday cake been a really bad thing? Congratulate them and share that joy.
#8 - Support women by listening. Listen in the boardroom, in the bedroom, in negotiations, on podcasts, in your life, in politics, in the books you read, in the shows you watch and in the quotes that you quote.
Women's voices and perspectives matter.
Here’s some amazing authors:
My good friend Sarah Noll Wilson is putting out a book here in the next few months. I can't wait to have her, she's going to be for sure one of our first interviews. When we start with guests over the summer, she's going to be great.
#9 - Support women by paying them. Pay them fairly, abundantly. Knowing that study after study shows that the ROI (the return on investment) will circle back. It doesn’t only return in work and profits, but it also returns in family, in communities, in health and the economy overall.
#10 - Support women by including ALL women. No matter who they were, who they are, how they were born. If they identify as a woman, support them as one, because they are one. You can always sit at my table.
IN CONCLUSION
A favorite few from the great Nora Ephron and her commencement speech to the Wellesley class of ‘96.
Of course you can have it all. So what are you going to do? Everything is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications. It will not be anything like you think it will be. But surprises are good for you. And don't be frightened, you can always change your mind. I know, I've had four careers and three husbands and this is something else I want to tell you, one of the hundred things. I didn't know when I was sitting here so many years ago you were not going to be you: fixed and immutable you, forever. This is the life many women lead: Two paths diverge in a wood, and we get to take them both. It's another of the nicest things about being women; we can do that. Did I say it was hard? Yes, but let me say it again so that none of you can ever say the words, nobody said it was so hard. But it's also incredibly interesting. You are so lucky to have that life as an option.
Whatever you choose, I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women. ✨
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