You don’t have to be a “super-woman” to beat the odds. But I will acknowledge, you must be intentional, committed, tenacious, have a plan, and are very resourceful. Some may say wow! What you’ve just described is a super-woman, and I would disagree. What I’ve depicted is how many women I know could be described, with one modification.
This modification would include, creating a focused timeframe when intentionality, commitment, tenacity, a plan, and resourcefulness, are codified into a compelling blueprint for targeted success. In other words, most women I know, exemplify the things I mentioned, at some point in their life, however, they are absent of the power to beat the odds. Why?
Because there is no real understanding that intentionality, commitment, tenacity, a plan, and resourcefulness must be present as a unified strategy vs. being displayed sporadically or working independently. At some point, most of us have been intentional about an idea, project, program, service, etc. We have been committed and tenacious in working to accomplish it. We’ve worked on plans and sought resources to support, implement or further our efforts. To beat the odds, all must appear, live, function and thrive in the same sphere or space simultaneously.
Therefore, I believe, you don’t have to be a “super-woman” to beat the odds, but I’ll be the first to admit, your work ethic must include working smart while working hard. And you will find that the smarter you work, the requirement to constantly work hard, will lessen. Employing wisdom will diminish a need to exert an ongoing necessity for laboring, continually. Working smart galvanizes you to a position of control, empowering you to spend more time on the things that you value. So, doing just one or the other, working hard or working smart, may launch you to another level, but it will be difficult to maintain, which is what’s need to beat the odds. You will always have to work; however, you minimize your never-ending hard work by working smart. Also, in time, you may discover that what some refer to as work, has actually become part of your purpose or passion. This is when it ceases being a job, or just a business or tedious work, for you. Women are beating the odds and so can you. Women are: 1) Excelling in Nontraditional Industries, 2) Building Successful Businesses, 3) Piercing the Glass Ceiling, 4) and Establishing Profitable Collaborations and Partnerships.
Building Successful Businesses
An article in the Small Business Playbook that was published in October 2019, stated, “According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, more than 11.6 million women-owned businesses are making a positive impact on the American small business landscape. Data shows that since 2007, the number of women-owned firms has grown at five times the national average, with 1,072 new women-owned firms starting every day.”
However, don’t be deceived because these numbers only tell part of the story. Women-owned businesses are still in the minority, and the challenges they encounter continue to be vast. The disparities women entrepreneurs face are unique and quite different than their male counterparts. The ongoing hurdles that most of them are confronted with, on a daily basis, require great dedication and commitment. Some would ask, what motivates women to start businesses? The appeal may be found in some of the freedoms it offers. For instance, some may like the fact that it allows them to circumvent the perils of a corporate hierarchy, bent toward men. Others enjoy the fact that it provides greater flexibility when it comes to family and personal relationships. Women are choosing to chart their own course and turning to entrepreneurship to improve their chance of success.
It should also be noted that women of color have taken incredible leaps in business start-ups. As of 2018, they account for an estimated 5.8 million businesses (or 47 percent of all women-owned businesses), and these businesses employ over 2.2 million people overall, with revenues of $386.6 billion.” Even with these great statistics, for women to beat the odds, there are still several areas that they must overcome. First, there is risk tolerance. It’s been noted that female business owners usually prefer low-risk businesses, which means correspondingly, they experience lower returns. Secondly, women tend to have limited business networks, such as mentors and collaborator that can provide valuable operations and financial expertise. It’s doesn’t mean that women lack business relationships, but the quality of their networks tend to have notable deficiencies. The fidelity of c-suite proficiency to grow medium to large scale businesses is usually lacking. Thirdly, women’s assertiveness and confidence are mislabeled as being belligerent and difficult to work with. Routinely, in the workplace, women are characterized as hostile and disruptive, whereas male colleagues in the same situation are praised as leaders and innovators.
Even with these constraints, women are defying the odds and continue to be successful as entrepreneurs. Katrina Lake, Rihanna, Lori Greiner, and Janice Bryant Howroyd are four women, doing just that.
- Katrina Lake who at just 34 years old founded, Stitch Fix. She took her personal styling company public and is the youngest female founder in history to do so. Katrina maintained a majority-female board and workforce and was applauded for taking 16 weeks of parental leave while leading her public company.
- Rihanna, an award-winning performing artist, launched her makeup brand, Fenty Beauty, in 2017. She showed the world that inclusive cosmetics had a place in the marketplace and utilized it as a formula to propel her business success. The first line included a massive 40 different tones of foundation, many of which sold out immediately. Time magazine named it one of the best inventions of 2017.
- Lori Greiner is a self-made investor who has developed more than 700 products and possesses over 120 patents. Lori invests in start-up businesses on the show “Shark Tank” and has achieved a 90% success rate on the products she has launched.
- Janice Bryant Howroyd is founder and chief executive of Act 1 Group staffing agency. She is credited with being the first Black woman to head up a business with revenue that exceeds $1 billion. As an entrepreneur, she owns a strong portfolio of real estate, manages 17,000 clients, and is reportedly worth $420 million.
Excelling in Nontraditional Industries
While women are overcoming barriers by starting and leading successful businesses, there are industries and business areas that remain extremely difficult to gain entry or to penetrate. Challenging areas for women, because of the wide range of obstacles they experience include technology, the food industry, and financial services. Other innovative and non-traditional sectors, include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) along with the environment, construction, as well as the extractive industries, such as oil and mining. There are legitimate reasons, why women are hesitant to tackle these nontraditional industries. The lack of education and specific training; the lack of successful female role models; the lack of appropriate contacts; and insufficient capital are all hurdles to their entry.
Having acknowledged this, however, we are starting to see a change. Women are emerging as executives and owners in nontraditional industries and businesses by assuming leadership in usually male-dominated roles. They are displaying a readiness to be creative, innovative, and a willingness to tackle uncharted territory. An upward trend of women expressing more curiosity for learning new things and openness to pursuing alternative career paths is causing a shift in the business world. There is a greater tendency to break with routines, daily patterns, and what’s expected.
What most don’t know is, often women in nontraditional sectors are three times more successful than women in more traditional industries. Also, it should be noted that women in non-traditional sectors have been able to scale their businesses and establish larger firms than women in traditional businesses.
Innovation and resourcefulness are creating atmospheres of creativity are allowing women to excel in ways that weren’t available previously. Four women who are leading the way are Jennifer Fitzgerald, Ennie Lim, Rosanna Myers, and Sevetri Wilson. Jennifer co-founded an insurance company, Policygenius. Prior to this move, she was a consultant at McKinsey and advised large insurance companies. Since historically, women have been underrepresented in the insurance industry, it was a bold act for Jennifer to step into this role as a co-owner. She joins a growing number of women who are becoming more and more inventive and assertive when it comes to nontraditional careers.
Next, Ennie Lim, who was concerned about the way payday lenders were taking advantage of some of the most vulnerable people in society, decided to launch, HoneyBee. As a different kind of lender, HoneyBee makes small, low-interest loans to people through their employers. Ennie has made $1.8 million in loans, and their plan is to operate in all 50 states.
Then we have, Rosanna Myers, who is the CEO & Co-Founder of Carbon Robotics. Her company makes advanced robotics dramatically more accessible to help solve some of society’s most intractable problems. Carbon Robotics is bringing advanced robotics to the masses. It has earned the distinction as One of the Top 50 “most influential public & private companies in the global robotics industry” according to the Robotics Business Review in 2016.
Sevetri Wilson initially started a consulting agency for nonprofits and as a result of her experiences, she was inspired to start her second company, Resilia. It’s a software-management platform whose goal is to make nonprofit consulting faster, cheaper, and more reliable through automation. The company has grown and is now in a position to help foundations, cities, and other organizations track budgets, manage grants, and train new hires.
Women are educating investors and raising their awareness about the profitability of women in these new sectors. Additionally, savvy women entrepreneurs are working to also improve their negotiation skills.
Piercing the Glass Ceiling
The glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that prevents some people, usually women, from rising to senior positions. Another term that has also emerged, is the “concrete ceiling” which refers to women of color, who face even a greater challenges. Both glass and concrete ceilings present extreme barriers and difficult hurdles to overcome which damage women’s ability to reach elevated success in their careers. The glass ceiling prevents many women from ever making it past middle management positions, regardless of their qualifications, experience, or skills. Women are generally expected to be polite, obliging, and nurturing, whereas there is an expectation for men to be competitive, aggressive, and daring. Therefore, if leaders in the workplace are expected to be competitive, forceful, and fearless, in order to lead successful teams, the typical choice when it comes time for promotion or advancement, has been to select men. Differing gender roles like these, tend to limit and in some instances even punish women and cast them in a disparaging position. Professional advancement and aspirations to reach upper-level or leadership positions, become nearly impossible for women, with this prevailing mindset.
Other factors contributing to the glass ceiling and common gender discrepancies in the workplace are evident by the following statistics:
- Both male and female managers are twice as likely to hire men over women.
- Men are 30% more likely to achieve managerial roles.
- Just 10% of leadership in the workplace is represented by women.
- Women make up 23% of C-Suites.
- Women of color make up 4% of C-Suites.
- Women make up 4.1% of Fortune 500 CEOs.
- Only 3% of Fortune 500 companies have at least one Hispanic or Latinx member on their board of directors.
- Less than 19% of managers are Asian or Asian American
- Women receive pay raises 5% less often than men.
While piercing the glass ceiling has been tough, women have been steadfast and diligently continue to address dynamics that negatively affect them in the workplace. There are ways to mitigate the continuation of the glass ceiling, and women are actively working to do so. There are a growing number of individuals who are looking for new and innovative ways for companies to create environments of diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Women and women advocates are helping companies to 1) recruit and promote based on talent and potential, 2) implement training to eliminate evaluation bias, 3) establish and encourage mentoring relationships, 4) set diversity hiring and promoting goals, and 5) establish policies with zero tolerance for discrimination and sexual harassment.
A growing number of women are breaking down barriers in the business world by penetrating the glass ceiling.
- Cathy Hughes – Raised in housing projects, Cathy Hughes went from a tough upbringing to become the first African American woman to lead a publicly traded company, Radio One. The National Association of Broadcasters added her to its hall of fame in 2019.
- Indra Nooyi – During her time as chief executive officer of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi became an “invaluable role model for women in business,” according to Forbes. She pushed for more diversity and public dialogue about the difficult choices women are forced to make in pursuit of their careers. She is a member of the board of directors at Amazon.
- Janet Yellen – Economist Janet Yellen became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve in 2014, replacing Ben Bernanke. She is credited with helping to boost the economy throughout her tenure at the central bank.
- Beth Ford – Chief executive of Land O’Lakes, is the first publicly gay woman to lead a Fortune 500 firm. She is considered a role model in business for the LGBTQ+ community and women-at-large.
- Geisha Williams – When she escaped Cuba at 5 years of age in 1967, Geisha Williams had no idea she’d eventually become the first woman of Latin descent to head up a Fortune 500 company, PG&E. She was dedicated to driving the company toward renewable energy solutions.
Establishing Profitable Collaborations and Partnerships
There are ample illustrations of women establishing and flourishing because of the profitable collaborations and partnerships they’re developed. As a way to beat the almost insurmountable odds they face, women are using their natural propensity towards supportive relationships to form productive partnerships. Learning to master collaborative opportunities has led to gaining access to funding, prospects, and entry to new marketplaces.
In today’s environment, overcoming the odds has a lot to do with understanding your collective strengths and using them to benefit joint ventures. More and more women are facing challenges by creating networks to advertise their products and services as they create innovative spaces for others to learn and thrive. There is an acknowledgment that while self-education is vital, it has its limits. Inspiration aligned with action and support from like-minded team members is a great way to build your personal skills.
We know the support of mentors can strengthen your chances of accomplishment. Successful women realize that cultivated relationships are mutually beneficial to all involved. A mentor is able to help guide and advise you in some of your most vulnerable areas and challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone. They can trigger your creativity, urge you to think a new way, ask questions, to gather and review information objectively, as you look for innovative solutions to challenges. Success is measured just as much by the journey, as it is the destination. Utilizing the wisdom and experience of a mentor can save you a lot of heartaches, and prepare you to take the next step, to stay the course and to beat the odds.
Collaborations, networks, and partnerships can help you save money by sharing resources to reduce expenses. Cost for marketing, staffing, consultants, as well as in-kind services can improve your bottom line. Many have found that women are uniquely skilled at creating co-ops that make money by saving money. They reinvest these savings in business endeavors that create and produce a profit.
Partnerships are great for problem-solving. As we have heard, “there is power in numbers”. The tendency to want to “go it alone” should not be romanticized or touted as the desired approach to solve problems, especially if they are complex. One person working to solve an issue is no match for a small skilled team of three, four, or more. Using collaborations and networks as trusted resources to vet ideas, solve problems, serve as soundboards for product launches, and planning advertising campaigns can prove to be one of your sagest investments.
Because of this, women are using collaborations and partnerships as tools to defy the odds. Female lead companies that promote and engage in networking are evolving as part of today’s successful business landscape.
Smart Women Partner & Grow Rich helps women increase their leads, brand awareness, and influence using LinkedIn by facilitating collaborative marketing partnerships between them. Founder Jerrilynn B. Thomas creates high-profile large-scale collaborative marketing projects for busy businesses and professional women from a wide range of industries.
Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is a movement to uplift and elevate all businesswomen and to inspire action. WBC is the fastest-growing movement of women’s business organizations, corporate partners, and C-suite leaders in the world, with a mission of accelerating the advancement of all women in business. Their vision is shared by 34+ partner women’s business organizations, a passionate Board of Directors, an Advisory Council and a Leadership Council. Their goal is to change the business environment for the next generation.
Catalyst is the leading nonprofit organization with a mission to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion. They’re dedicated to creating workplaces where employees representing every dimension of diversity can thrive. They act as a catalyst through their pioneering research, tools and services, events, and recognition programs. Together, their offerings raise awareness of how inclusion benefits today’s global businesses and provide guidance and solutions on how to enact real change.
Women in Partnerships was started with a small group of internal women at Facebook who recognized that female voices and presence at events were not being heard. They aimed to provide a platform for the many women working in partner companies to foster community and networking. Over the past couple of years, they have established a board comprised of Facebookers and women in partner companies that officially launched their Women in Partnerships’ breakfast at the Global Partner summit in October 2018. Today they have almost 500 women globally as part of their group. They meet regularly to produce work in 3 main pillars: Connect, Elevate and Empower.
As the business world continues to shift, women are beating the odds by building successful businesses, excelling in nontraditional industries, piercing the glass ceiling, and establishing profitable collaborations and partnerships. It’s effective because they are intentional, committed, tenacious, resourceful, and have a plan, propelled by a well-crafted strategy.
