Make it Happen 2014

MIH M a k e

I t

H a p p e n

M a g a z i n e

Ninth Edition Fall 2014

4

Industry Features Fashion, Finance, Entertainment, & Entrepreneurship

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation

Q&A with

Student Leaders

10

Top Resume Tips

Exclusive Interview with

GEENA DAVIS

Academy Award Winner

(RE)PRESENTATION

MIH

Ninth Annual Make it Happen 路 Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business

2014 MIH Staff

2014 HUWIB Executive Board

Co-Editors in Chief Camila Victoriano Joan Zhang

Co-Presidents Juliet Bailin Alissa Song

Staff Writers Svilena Bochukova Emily Chen Annie Garau Marwa Hassan Heidi Lim Billie Wei

Treasurer Linda Zhang

Want to know more about Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business?

Visit www.huwib.org

Operations Chair Katie Gamble Career Development Chair Lillian Zuo Communications Chair Emily Chen External Initiatives Chair Amy Jiang Fundraising Chair Sydney Sykes Intercollegiate Business Convention Chair Rosalie Nathans Membership Development Chair Svilena Bochukova Outreach Chair Tiffany Lopinsky

A Letter from the Presidents Dear Readers, We are Alissa Song and Juliet Bailin, the 2014 Co-Presidents of Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business (HUWIB). HUWIB is Harvard’s largest undergraduate business organization on campus, reaching over 400 students. We empower future female leaders by uniting them through business education and experience including conferences, mentorship programs, skill-building workshops, industry panels, and more. HUWIB was founded in 2000 by a group of ten women who sought to inspire future leaders. Fourteen years later, we feature a convention drawing over 1,000 attendees both domestically and internationally, partnerships with over 140 companies, and an extensive membership and alumni network. We are so incredibly excited and proud of everything HUWIB has to offer.

This year, we have placed a new focus on both increasing the opportunities we offer to our members and on expanding our external network. Our emphasis on innovation and expansion has led to the creation of many new programs in entrepreneurship, international business, and career exploration. In the process, we have formed invaluable relationships with professionals and each other, experiences that will last far beyond our college years.

We are excited to present one of the most creative and informative HUWIB initiatives: the annual issue of Make It Happen. We hope these articles expose you to new ideas and initiatives and inspire you to pursue opportunities in an ever-changing world. Happy reading!

To making it happen, Juliet Bailin & Alissa Song 2014 HUWIB Co-Presidents

(Re)Presentation Addressing and changing the way women are represented in the world.

A Letter from the Editors Dear Readers,

Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business is known as the largest undergraduate business organization on campus. That’s indicative of our hard work, creativity, and consistently high expectations. It gives us, as an organization, a lot of responsibility to show the rest of the students what it truly means to be a women in business. This year, the Make it Happen team decided that question has two parts.

First, what is business? Especially here at Harvard, there is a very prevalent idea that going into business means going into consulting, banking, or anything else related to finance. That definition needs to be redfined.

There are so many different types of businesses. From fashion, to food, to entertainment; business is so much more than just recruiting and case studies. It’s exciting, creative, always changing, and, on occasion, delicious. One of the reasons that we chose (Re)Presentation as our theme for this issue is to bring to light these different industries and showcase the many women that have found success within them.

The bigger part of that question asks what it means to be a woman in this much broader definition of business. HUWIB’s presence on campus not only shows an interest in business, but it shows an interest in women’s issues and empowerment. A lot of the times, we feel that feminism can be misguided, emphasizing a specific type of woman, much like business emphasizes only one specific industry. For this issue of the magazine, we wanted to get rid of that mold and focus on something that any woman and any industry can agree on: confidence.

Empowering women begins with empowering our individual selves. Our cover feature this year, Geena Davis, is the epitome of empowerment. Not only is she an Academy Award winning actress, but she is also a member of Mensa, a film producer, writer, and a women’s Olympics archery team semi-finalist. Ms. Davis does not fit in any mold. Instead, she has created her own.

Through her incredible interview and through the other articles in this magazine, the Make it Happen team hopes to instill confidence in our readers. Feminism is about taking away all of the molds and, like Geena Davis, creating one that is uniquely your own.

We, and everyone else on the HUWIB team, know that you can make that happen.

Sincerely, Joan Zhang & Camila Victoriano 2014 Make it Happen Co-Editors

Contents Finance

Fashion Feature: The Man Repeller 8.

The Born-With-It Beauty Project

12.

Q&A: Kelly Ren, Eleganza

16.

The Blazer: Four Ways

18.

What’s in Your Tote?

27.

The Ultimate Internship Guide

28.

Feature: Tracy Britt Cool

34.

International Spotlight: Hong Kong

38.

Top 10 Resume Tips

39.

How to Run an Effective Campaign

42.

Entertainment Cover Feature: Geena Davis 46.

Q&A: Alexis Wilkinson, Lampoon

56.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation

58.

Top 10 Must Reads

64.

Career Tips

65.

Entrepreneurship Feature: Sheila Marcelo 68.

Q&A: The Harvard Holistic

71.

The YouTube Phenomenon: Cassey Ho, Blogilates

74.

Q&A: SixFoods

77.

The Case for Start-Ups

80.

A Career in Cooking: Joanne Chang, Flour

84.

The Man Repeller 8

Leandra Medine ManRepeller.com launched in 2010 during Medine’s junior year studying Journalism at The New School, Man Repeller has since grown into a global fashion and lifestyle destination. In that time, Leandra has been honored in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, Business Insider’s Most Inspiring Innovators and Entrepreneurs Under 40, and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2012 and 2013. In addition to running the business, she continues to write daily. Medine lives in New York City.

What’s the story behind the name “Man Repeller?”

Refer to: The Canadian Tuxedo How do you think that the idea of specific clothes “repelling” men affects the world of fashion?

Very positively, frankly. The notion that a garment should be constructed to not just appease the female gaze but even go so far as to destruct the male gaze seems like a minor victory as far as I am concerned.

What is your favorite “man repelling” item to wear?

High waist vintage denim. Generally speaking, I really like unflattering pants.

What got you into fashion in the first place? Did you ever think it would be an interest that would turn into a business?

That’s a hard question -- I remember reading an interview with Ernest Hemingway in an old, old issue of the Paris Review and when he was asked what got him into writing, he stopped the interviewer short to say he’d always wanted to write. I think similarly, I have always connected with fashion. It’s been the vessel I use to explore myself and explain myself. Did I think it would be my business, though? Probably not. Recreational pasttimes have a weird way of becoming torturous when they’re your work.

What type of work do you need to do off the computer in order to run your blog successfully?

Mostly just take photos for the site and meetings -- striking those personal relationships is very important.

In your opinion, what do you think are the main differences between starting a business or image online and starting it in a physical store or in print?

The virality tethered to existing online.

A lot of blogs incorporate a blogger’s personal life into the content. How do you maintain a balance between the personal and the impersonal in your own blog?

When considering the personal, I just ask myself if sharing the story in question will help underscore the larger point that I am trying to make. If it does, I share, if it doesn’t, I think twice. (But then probably share anyway).

What made you decide to start an online fashion blog? What were the biggest challenges as you started out as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome them?

I didn’t put much thought into it. I was a junior in college and planned to apply to several different publications at the end of my senior year so hoped that Man Repeller would serve as a digital resume that catalogued the work I did outside of school. I think I’m still overcoming challenges. I don’t think that will ever end but most recently, it’s been quite difficult to separate the church and states that are right brain movement vs. left brain movement. I have a hard time transitioning from writer to business woman and vice versa but constantly, of course, need to do it.

You had another blog before Man Repeller called Boogers + Bagels. Why did you make the change from one to the other?

Man Repeller was a better name.

What is the time commitment like when working on a blog so extensively?

We’re a team of five people and work out of an office in Soho five days a week from 9am to around 7pm.

What does a typical day in the life of a blogger look like?

I don’t think my circumstances as a blogger are typical but I would imagine that mine looks no different than any other person who works in a creative environment out of an office.

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Did you encounter any difficulties specifically because you were a self-starting woman, either in the fashion or in the online media world? If so, what were they and how did you approach them?

I think I have been very lucky to consider myself not just selfemployed but self-employed in an industry that is chiefly run by women. I haven’t come upon very many difficulties, though we were having our air conditioner fixed last week and the gentleman who came in to fix it took a lot at our desks and said, “no men? Ha.” The fashion world can be a pretty harsh critic, especially for women, and a lot of people claim it’s a source of low self-esteem for many people. What’s your opinion on the fashion world and it’s effect on the average woman? Has being in the industry ever affected you negatively or positively in any specific way?

In a lot of ways, fashion can feel very much like you are back in high school. There are cliques and there is this sweeping sense of exclusivity but fundamentally, fashion is supposed to be fun. And for the most part, it is. How wonderful that we have the opportunity to get dressed up and consequently assume different identities every single day?

How do you personally make sure to maintain positivity in a blog and world that is very much about image?

By being honest.

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What was the transition like from writing a blog to writing your book Man Repeller: Seeking Love. Finding Overalls? Do you prefer one to the other?

I told Vanity Fair that writing my blog is like being engaged in a series of one night stands whereas penning my book was much more like a faithful marriage. I still stand by that. I think I prefer writing for the blog. The writing-for-a-daily mindset holds way less pressure than the having-to-think-about-the-future-in-conjunctionwith-your-prose mindset does.

What were the biggest challenges you faced when writing your book?

5,000 words essays, incidentally, are not as easy to write as 500 word blurbs.

What is the best advice you could give someone that wants to start his or her own blog?

Be niche.

What about for someone that wants to write a book?

Be willing to contemplate suicide. But don’t do it -- the pay off is well worth the struggle.

How do you see Man Repeller developing in the future?

The hope is that we will become one of the larger media companies in our space.

"Be niche."

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The ‘Born With It’ Beauty Project

By Annie Garau 12

One year. One goal.

No makeup.

The ‘Born With It’ Beauty Project is one student’s attempt to lessen the importance that society gives to beauty. Seven months into the project, she writes about her experience.

If someone asked me to put on eyeliner right now it probably wouldn’t

look very good. I would clumsily scrawl a crooked line across my lid with a pencil that felt so comfortable in my hand less than 300 days ago.

My eyes aren’t the only things being left out of my beauty regimen lately.

The perfectly even complexion complete with rosy pink cheeks, the shining red lips, the long dark lashes—they’re all gone too.

My artistically drawn, flawless face hasn’t been seen since I stopped wearing makeup on New Years Day. All of my physical imperfections have been prominently displayed for over seven months, and yet in some unexpected way my self-esteem and self-confidence are better than ever. ~~~ My plan is to go an entire year without using makeup. I started this social experiment as I began to notice just how frequently my friends and I were saying terrible things about our appearances. It was almost automatic, as if we couldn’t stop the hateful words about our eyes, noses and thighs from spilling out of our perfectly lined lips.

This obsession women have with image likely contributes to the indisputable confidence gap between the sexes.

According to The Atlantic, studies have shown men routinely overestimate their abilities and performance while women underestimate both. This leads men to apply for more promotions, ask for more pay raises, enter more competitions, and exude a more knowledgeable and admirable persona. However, when tested, the abilities and performances of the two genders are actually almost identical, but the confidence gap resulted in different results.

Though women have made incredible progress over the last century, we remain painfully underrepresented in government, CEO positions, and the scientific fields. It’s not because we’re inept.

It’s because we don’t like ourselves.

I wondered how much these self-initiated attacks on our superficial selves were impacting us in other aspects of our lives.

I wondered if they could be impacting all women.

A study commissioned by Dove reported that at least 90 percent of women feel unhappy about their appearances. According to the U.S. Department on Health and Human Services, up to 95 percent of anorexics are female. The Economist reported that every year Americans spend more on beauty products than they do on education.

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I have yet to see a guy gaze sadly at his reflection in the mirror or moan about his larger-than-average forehead. I’ve never met a man who feels even the slightest need to smear paint on his eyelids for a smoky, come-hither look.

Some women will say makeup is for self-expression or style.

I agree that it can be. But when we use the products in a way that’s supposed to look subtle or even “natural,” we’re primarily expressing a lack of confidence. ~~~ I know that a lot of women never wear makeup. They don’t like how they look in it, they don’t like how it feels, or they’ve always felt confident without it. That’s great—but I am not one of those women.

For the first several weeks of my experiment, I was constantly frowning at the mirror, itching for just a dab of concealer or a coat of mascara.

Guys stopped approaching me at parties and their eyes stopped lingering as I passed them on the sidewalk. I told myself it was a welcome relief: no more condescending catcalls. But I felt my confidence sliding.

As time passed it got easier. I grew accustomed to my naked face and I thought about it less and less. It’s not like I could change it, so what was the point of stressing? As I thought about it less, I talked about it less. When I talked about it less, I felt happier, more confident and less self-absorbed.

I had to work harder to make new friends, especially with guys.

I pushed myself to be more outgoing, give more compliments, listen more closely and have more fun.

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Some people still treat me differently because of my “I woke up like this” look. It’s only natural. We live in an image-obsessed

society. Scientifically speaking, people are more drawn to symmetrical faces, healthy complexions, and big eyes.

It’s true that appearances will always impact how people see each other. They’ll impact what dates we go on, which friends we have, and even what jobs we get. What I’ve found is that we don’t have to let them change how we see ourselves. ~~~ When I started this project, I thought it was going to be about finding natural beauty. I called it the “Born With it Beauty Project” and set off to discover the genuine gorgeousness that is just waiting to shine in every woman.

That goal has changed.

I’m no longer on a mission to find beauty in everyone (including myself). Instead, I’m determined to look for it less.

If we’re really being honest, we have to admit that some people just

aren’t conventionally good-looking. Regardless of what the Dove commercials say, there are going to be some unattractive people, just like there are some people who are terrible at math, some people who are tone deaf and some people who just can’t figure out that whole hand-eye coordination thing.

So some girls aren’t supermodels. Who cares?

Beauty may not be something that every girl is born with, but there is no question that each woman is equipped with an arsenal of amazing and inspiring qualities. My new hope for this project is that we stop letting one superficial trait overpower all of the other, more important attributes that women can bring to the table.

Politics is a perfect example of an arena in which women’s looks are given a disproportionate amount of attention. Reporters have probably

spent more time talking about Hilary Clinton’s hair than most of her policy initiatives. It’s not like the men in Congress are potential candidates for Calvin Klein’s next campaign, but for some reason no one seems to notice their wrinkles or receding hairlines. ~~~ I know that makeup alone is not a big deal, but how women perceive themselves, and are perceived by others, is.

So far, my makeup free year has made me a more confident and happy person, but this new feeling of contentment has nothing to do with how I look.

In an image-obsessed world, it’s sometimes important to step away from the mirrors, the magazines, and yes, the beauty aisle, to notice the incredible potential that all women are simply born with.

“I know that makeup alone is not a big deal, but how women perceive themselves, and are perceived by others, is.”

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Q&A

CENTER STAGE Kelly Ren, Co-President/Executive Producer, Eleganza

Kelly is a senior in Kirkland House studying economics and government. She served as Co-President and Executive Producer of Eleganza for the 20132014 school year. (Above: fourth from left) Eleganza is one of the largest student events at Harvard University, annually selling out with 1500+ students and VIPs in attendance. The event’s mission is focused on diversity and charity, celebrating different cultures, backgrounds, and forms of expression. Throughout the year, Eleganza partners with local charity Center for Teen Empowerment, and all proceeds from the event are donated to Teen Empowerment.

What were your main responsibilities as Co-President?

As president, some of my biggest responsibilities this year were setting a vision for what we wanted to accomplish, managing our board -- making sure our chairs had all of the resources available to manage their committees -- and some other responsibilities that didn’t fall under any of our committees like securing official student organization recognition status and working with the Office for Student Life.

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Putting together a huge production like Eleganza requires overseeing multiple committees. What was it like leading so many groups? Did you have a specific strategy for communication or dealing with any issues that arose?

It was fun to always be working on something different but definitely also a challenge because you have so many groups doing so many different things. I think the important thing for Vivian (my Co-President) & I at the beginning of the year was finding chairs we trusted. Once we selected our chairs, we provided general visions and guidance but did our best not to micromanage, though we frequently turned up at committee meetings to provide help or answer any questions.

Working on a team with Vivian, your Co-President, how did you two balance out your duties and strengths to work together to achieve a spectacular end result?

We ended up dividing up the committees based on our interests and collaboration opportunities between committees, and I think it worked out well. In the end, though, the division of work wasn’t always black and white -- we were definitely there to help each other out, so I’d say it was a great team effort.

Impact Beyond The Bubble What were some of the biggest challenges that came your way?

I think when you’re running a big event like Eleganza, it’s important to expect the unexpected. There are unexpected expenses and small details that actually require a lot of time, work, and even manpower. One of my biggest challenges as a leader was balancing what I knew my team members wanted to do and what it was that the organization needed to get done. That’s a skill that I’m still working on now.

What are some of your favorite highlights from the experience?

Definitely the actual show -- it was so incredible to see everyone’s hard work coming together and such an exhilarating experience to see so many students having such a great time in the audience.

I loved having Teen Empowerment at the show as well -- we had a girl from the organization open our show with a beautiful spoken word piece; it was so powerful, and it was great to be reminded of Eleganza’s impact beyond the Harvard bubble.

I’d say more generally also it was discovering just how much there was to the production. I think a lot of people consider fashion to be sort of meaningless and vapid, but I found that I developed so many important

skills and had such incredible, unique experiences tied to not just fashion but also interacting with our charity, sponsors, other student groups, and of course, our incredible team.

Eleganza faced a lot of hurdles early on as you just joined. What advice would you have for someone wanting to also formally establish something new on campus and getting everything approved?

Haha, gosh, yeah, that’s an understatement. I think that Vivian and I were very lucky in that Eleganza is such an established name on campus, so our process was a little unique, but I’d say -- if you have an idea you’re passionate about, don’t be afraid to get the ball rolling and start finding members who are interested in joining your organization.

Official recognition status logistics can always be worked out later, and I think you’ll have an easier job convincing people up top that you’ve got a great organization going if you’ve shown passion, responsibility, and of course student interest. We weren’t sure about what our recognition status was going to be, but we blasted ahead with interviews and board meetings in September, and we ultimately got our approval in November, and that was really exciting. I think it was the right move for us, and I’m really excited about the future of the organization.

“If you have an idea you’re passionate about, don’t be afraid to get the ball rolling and start finding members who are interested in joining your organization.”

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The Blazer:

Four ways to wear an iconic business staple.

Everyone knows a blazer is a must-have for a business wardrobe. But what other outfits can you put together with this classic piece?

HUWIB shows you four new ways to wear the black blazer that's been sitting in your closet.

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Street Style

Pair shorts and a stylish top with a blazer for a more sophisticated day look.

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Charlotte Solmssen ‘17 and Lauren Sweitzer ‘17 show off casual blazer styles in Harvard Yard.

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Ashley Notzon ‘16 compliments a more formal look with a blazer, while Rosalie Nathans ‘16 dresses in similar attire.

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Business Casual

Add a blazer on top of a bright shirt and khakis for the perfect business casual outfit.

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Night Out

Accessorize a bold dress with a simple black blazer.

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Camila Victoriano ‘16 and Miranda Chang ‘15 model two different styles in front of Widener Library.

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Business Formal

A blazer is a key component of a business formal outfit. Wear it with a conservative dress and long necklace to make it chic.

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What’s in Your Tote?

an aspiring business woman's essentials

laptop. charger. pen. lipstick. planner. water bottle. phone. extra battery. wallet. sunglasses. foldable flats. hand lotion.

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the

Ultimate

internship guide How to Be the Stand-Out Intern & Get the Most Out of Your Experience

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preparation Best foot forward.

A PLAN SHOWS G R E AT I N I T I AT I V E

Do your research.

Just because you have scored the internship does not mean you should kick back and relax. Before your first day, do some research on company current events. Here are some questions you may want to consider: * What are new intiatives the company has taken? * How is the company doing in the press? * Have there been any recent changes in leadership? * What are some trends in the industry? * What is my opinion of the company product? * How could the company do better? * What are rival companies currently doing?

Before you even start, take a deep breath, and promise yourself that you will put your best foot forward in all aspects of your internship. This means readying yourself for the whole gamut of possible experiences, ranging from the unfulfilling, unproductive to the crazy cool, incredibly busy. Ready yourself for the mundane and the exciting. Remember that you are there to learn, and no matter what you are doing, it will be an experience that moves you forward in your exploration of careers and industries.

W H AT D O I WANT TO ACHIEVE IN MY ROLE?

D E E P B R E AT H

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S M A R Make a plan.

T

GOALS

Coming in with a plan shows great initiative!

Talk to your supervisor about any questions you have and discuss what he or she has in mind for your role. Then with your current understanding of the company, make some goals! Some questions you may want to ask yourself: * * * *

What do I want to achieve in my role?

What impact do I want to have?

What skills can I bring to the table?

What do I hope to personally gain from the internship?

When creating your goals, use the S.M.A.R.T. goal system: make sure that your goals are specific, measurable, acheivable, realistic, and timely. When making a plan of action, keep in mind the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how you plan on executing your vision. Make sure you can identify the steps you are taking towards each goal, and definitely don’t forget to gauge how much you can take on and what you think you can accomplish in the timeframe of your internship. When you are done, let your supervisor know so that you can discuss and refine your plan!

POSITIVITY WINS 30

on the job Attitude will make or break you.

When you are into your second week on the job, and you have boring emails to send, or endless data to enter, it’s understandable if you start feeling unmotivated or uninspired.

Don’t let yourself fall into that pattern.

Remember that no matter what task, your job is to do the best you can. Figure out the most efficient way to perform your tasks.

Who knows, maybe you’ll find an entirely different way of doing something. If you always approach tasks with a can-do, upbeat, and positive attitude, people will notice.

Managing Your Role.

As an intern, one of your tasks is to balance what is expected of you with what you need to do to stand out. You should expect to complete your assigned tasks, but also to figure out what kind of initiatives your role allows you to take.

For example, if you are given ownership of a social media account, build a new campaign to make it more effective! If you’re working on a blog, create a team with the other interns and work on it together! Questions to ask yourself: * Now that I’ve seen how the company works, how can I adjust my goals to have maximum impact? * Am I on the right track to meeting my goals? If not, how can I change that? * What does the company need? Can I learn any new skills to fill these needs? * What can I do with my level of responsibility? How am I taking iniative?

What am I “spearheading”?

If you feel that you are not given enough responsibility, check that you are handling your current tasks well, and then don’t be afraid to ask for more!

R E L AT I O N S H I P S ARE KEY

MAXIMUM I M PA C T -

Relationships.

Relationships are one of the most important parts of your internship. Don’t be that intern who sits at her desk all day and quietly does her assigned tasks! Although you don’t want to be socializing too often, make sure you get to know the other interns and your supervisor(s).

Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to your boss and ask her (or him) out on a coffee chat or a lunch date to talk about their career paths or life interests in general. In fact, don’t leave your internship without having done so!

Getting to know your colleagues beyond the workplace will help you immensely later on when you need a recommendation that describes you beyond the tasks you complete on the job. If you have the opportunity to work with people in other parts of the company, take it and use it as a chance to find out more about various career paths and learn about different people. If you are invited to a company event, you guessed it: go!

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internship end R E F L E C T

Self Check.

Take some time to reflect on these questions: * * * * * * * * * *

Did I enjoy my internship?

What aspects did I most like? What did I dislike?

Do I feel like it was a valuable experience?

What made it an awesome or mediocre experience?

What skills did I gain from my time at Company X? What do I want to look for in my next internship?

Did I reach my goals?

How could I have done better?

How can I discuss my experience in future interviews?

How would I summarize my responsiblities for my resume, and also for the next intern?

Ask for Feedback.

W H AT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES?

This is a very important part of your last few days at your internship. At least one week prior, schedule a coffee or lunch with your supervisor to discuss how you did. Ask: * What could I have done better? * What would have really impressed you? * What should I do in future internships in order to be a better intern? * What do you perceive as my strengths and weaknesses?

Don’t forget to prepare feedback for your supervisor, because managing interns is also a learning experience for them! Now is also the time to ask your colleagues to connect on LinkedIn, to endorse your skills, and to write you any letters of recommendation. Remember to thank them in writing (handwritten notes are really appreciated) for everything they’ve done for you, and explain what the internship meant to you!

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Keep in Touch.

Just because you’re not working there anymore, doesn’t mean you have to let the company completely exit your mind. You never know when keeping in touch with your favorite colleagues, supervisor, and boss will help you in the future! * Set up a Google Alert to notify you of any important company news. That way, you’ll know when a congratulatory email is in order! * Send an email at least twice per year updating colleagues on where you are at and asking after them. * When opportunities arise, don’t hesitate to refer any colleagues that you would endorse. Even if your colleagues decide not to take the opportunities you send their way, they will be grateful that you did!

Resources Internship & Career Advice.

Gaining New Skills.

www.internmatch.com www.internships.com/student/resources theeverygirl.com www.levo.com www.fortefoundation.org www.hercampus.com/career/jobs-internships

Coding www.codecademy.com cs50.harvard.edu code.org/learn designcode.io/learn Design tutsplus.com lynda.com hackdesign.org www.creativelive.com/design trydesignlab.com

Style Inspiration.

9to5chic.com www.extrapetite.com into-mind.com corporette.com www.kendieveryday.com www.aliciatenise.com thecorporatecatwalk.blogspot.com twosixandcounting.blogspot.coms www.theclassycubicle.com

Internship Search. www.internmatch.com www.idealist.org www.internships.com www.indeed.com www.hercampus.com/careerette * Click Careers on any company website!

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Tracy

Britt Cool Harvard '07, HBS '09, Berkshire Hathaway since 2009 Chairman, Johns Manville, Benjamin Moore, Larson-Juhl, Oriental Trading Company Board of Directors, H.J. Heinz

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In your own words, how would you describe what it means to be a modern day woman in business?

Being a woman in business today means that our roles and success are not defined by our gender, but instead by our performance. Women still face obstacles, but we’re getting to a point where gender doesn’t automatically prohibit how far women can advance in their career.

school is a great way to make a career change, so for those who are figuring out what they want to do or are going to try consulting or banking, remember that you can only go to business school once, so make sure you are using that opportunity at the time that will be most beneficial. In general, I think for most people, it makes most sense to work for a little bit and then go to business school.

Are there any setbacks women still face in the finance industry in particular?

Women are still far outnumbered in the industry, so it can be harder to find mentors. I also think there are times when we’re judged by different standards. In general, however, finance is a competitive industry and the best performers usually come out on top in the end. Regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman, if you work hard and overcome the setbacks that will inevitably occur, you will ultimately succeed.

You took initiative in seeking out opportunities to start SWS and transition to Berkshire Hathaway, and that can often be a hurdle for young women. How can we best overcome that hesitation, and when is most appropriate?

I think there are two components to overcoming that hesitation. The first is women need to be comfortable asking for things: asking for help, for a promotion in a job, a new opportunity, or just asking someone to explain something.

What was your motivation behind pursuing finance?

I grew up on a farm and discovered at an early age that I enjoyed learning about different parts of my family’s business; things like pricing, setting employee wages, and thinking about supply and demand. Being able to learn and contribute in a meaningful way at a very young age both motivated me and gave me confidence. Later, HUWIB allowed me to explore the world of finance more broadly, and I found that investing would allow me to pursue my passion and interest in examining the details of businesses.

The second is women also need to be comfortable with rejection. If you’re afraid to be told no, then you won’t go very far in business. You really have to be prepared for setbacks and willing to receive criticism.

You also have to put yourself in the best possible position to succeed.

You have to take on projects that are outside of your comfort zone and do them with enthusiasm, you have to be self-sufficient and take initiative to learn things on your own, and you have to position yourself to succeed. Simply joining an organization or sending a letter asking for a job isn’t enough. You really have to set yourself apart through hard work, research -- proving your worth. If women do that, if they ask for things and are comfortable with rejection, they can go a long way. But I’ve seen many women who don’t speak up and are hesitant to take that first step.

I definitely don’t think going to business school is necessary to succeed in any industry and investing is no exception. That being said, for me at least, it really developed my ability to critically examine different parts of business; things like strategy, operations, marketing, where I didn’t have as much exposure, and it really trained me to think critically. Business school greatly benefited me as an individual and it certainly has helped in my professional pursuits as well.

I also think the network of people that you meet at business school can be really meaningful. From that perspective, I still stay in touch with a lot my friends from business school, and they’re in all different industries, and I talk to them about the businesses they’re working on and the successes they’re having, the challenges they’re facing, and I work as hard as I can to learn through them as well. So not only was business school important for what I learned while there but probably even more so for what I’m continuing to learn and how I have been equipped to learn beyond business school.

I went straight from college to business school. I was pretty confident that I wanted to go in to investing. And I thought business school would make me a better investor, and the opportunity to go there early in my career would only impact me positively versus working for a few years and then going back.

If people are thinking about a career move, I certainly would encourage them to use business school for that opportunity. I think business

What is the best way to do that once women are comfortable and ready?

Identify people who you respect and relate to and ask to learn from them. Try to spend time with them and really try to understand what they are doing on a day-to-day basis that makes them successful.

Multiple times in my career I’ve mailed letters to people in the hopes of learning from them. I mailed a letter to Ace Greenberg, who was the CEO of Bear Stearns, and he said he would meet with me. I was a sophomore in college, and I came down to NY and went to the trading floor of Bear Stearns which I had never done before. I spent 30-45 minutes talking to him. That gave me some confidence knowing I could ask for something and somebody would say yes, and I can learn from that person. I’ve subsequently wrote many letters to many people, and many of those people said no or didn’t respond, but I continue to do it.

Actually I got my job with Warren Buffett by writing letters. The first letter was when I was still in college and I asked to bring a group of women to Omaha to visit him, and he said yes. So I wrote that letter in 2006 and Smart Woman Securities brought a group of students to Omaha. And subsequently when I was graduating from business school, I wrote him another letter. I didn’t ask for a job, instead I asked

“Regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman, if you work hard and overcome the setbacks that will inevitably occur, you will ultimately succeed.”

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to come and spend a day, a week, a month, whatever he could offer. I fully assumed he would say no and I was prepared for that rejection, but he ended up saying yes, so I spent some time working for him that summer which ultimately led to him creating a role for me at Berkshire Hathaway. For me, part of finding my career was writing these letters and gaining confidence through that process. And now in my career, I still constantly seek out people from whom I can learn.

The internet can be great for keeping in touch or reaching out to people. But I still think there is something powerful about mailing someone a letter. It takes more effort to do that, and people realize that.

If you go the extra mile the likelihood of getting a meaningful response increases.

You are currently working at a high level in a mostly male dominated work environment and industry. What are some challenges you have had to face along the way, and how did you respond?

Certainly there are situations where I haven’t been taken seriously because of age or gender, but I try not to spend too much time feeling like I’ve been slighted or insulted. I try to stay focused and shift the attention away from stereotypes and towards performance. I also always try to seek out feedback. It’s not easy for people to give feedback and often they won’t do it unless you ask them directly. Feedback is a gift, so make sure you’re open to receiving it. When I identify someone who is critical of me, I try to understand why the person feels that way or has that issue, where they’re coming from, and then I try to learn from it. If I have made a mistake, I try not to do it again. Or if it’s something beyond my control, at least I understand what that person is thinking. If someone has a problem working with me or something I’ve done, I really want to know why and get that feedback. I also want that person to think about what information they’ve used to form opinions or judgments about me. I’ve found that you can often change someone’s opinion by getting them to speak to you face to face. The more you get someone to explain what they’re thinking to you, the more you can understand where they’re coming from, the concerns they have, anything you may have done wrong, and you can learn from that.

What are your views on the level of support that women have in the workplace and how do you suggest young women go about seeking support in their career paths?

In my career, I have gotten support on three different fronts that have been meaningful.

get that support of peers has been very helpful to me.

3) Feedback - getting feedback from everyone you can Finance can be a tricky field to navigate. Did you have a female mentor or role model who helped you along the way or inspired you at all in your career?

There have been a lot of people who have inspired me, and a lot of them were people I read about or just make an effort to learn more about. Role models don’t have to be people that you have met face-toface, especially for college women who don’t have a strong network of professional connections. I didn’t have those connections growing up so I read about women who I thought were inspiring and those were my role models. When I was at Harvard, I’d talk to a few people who were older in business school or in finance. I usually mailed people letters or read about them.

Being a great mentee: A great mentee understands that a mentor has a lot going on. They should follow up, arrange calls, set up times, come prepared, have an agenda. They should have good questions, very specific and thought out. They hone in on certain areas. Following an interaction, they are always appreciative and grateful. To help the relationship grow, they should summarize the advice they received or what they learned, and let the mentor know how they benefited from it. The mentor then feels “wow,” I’m really making an impact on this person. I want to invest more time in them. When you’re a good mentee, you make your mentor want to do more for you. They’re willing to give back to you, if you find the right person.

It’s also important to make sure you have found the right person.

And I have found that the best mentors are the ones you just have a connection with, that you enjoy spending time with them, you ask some questions and you feel like you’re having a conversation. It’s not forced, it’s not uncomfortable. Sometimes you don’t see that right away.

Maybe it takes a few interactions, but if you put the effort into be a good mentee, the mentor will respond well to that and you can develop a lasting relationship. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone who is famous. They should be someone you respect, someone you can learn from and someone who sees something special in you.

1) Having a mentor – someone who can help you, give you feedback, champion you, and provide constructive feedback but especially positive feedback Women are often harder on themselves, and it’s nice to have somebody to tell us we’re moving in the right direction.

Your role at Berkshire Hathaway has expanded to you taking on other responsibilities at acquired companies. How have you been able to balance your time managing different projects? In addition, finding time for life outside of work?

It’s a struggle to manage more at work and my life outside of work, but it is a fun struggle. I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. A few things that have helped me.

2) Female peer support – women that are going through similar things, what they’re struggling with at work and home, how they can manage relationships, how they manage balancing their life. An opportunity to

#1 – I have the right partner. My husband is wonderful and is very supportive. It doesn’t feel like I’m battling at home because he is always supportive of what I am doing at work. Being supportive of my work

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means he is supportive at home doing a lot of things in our home that make my life easier. I’m traveling a lot for work, and not once has he complained about me not being home. Having a supportive partner is critical. #2: I’m getting better at saying no. Women especially like to say yes. I’m getting better at saying “no, that it doesn’t fit in to my priorities.” It is hard to do, but I say no to a lot of people and a lot of great causes, but I can’t say yes to everything and be effective in my career or be sane in my personal life. #3: I recognize I’m not going to be perfect. I always have a lot of stuff left to do on my list. Not everything gets done and not everything gets done right, but that’s okay. I don’t mind showing up to the potluck bringing a pie that I bought at the store. I am not going to be great at everything, so I have to give up on some parts. #4: I try to have goals involving things I want to accomplish. I write them down and continually reassess whether, “what I’m doing is moving me in the right direction.” If it isn’t, then I try to realign my time or I rethink my goals.

At the end of the day though, the big, important questions that you have to ask are: what do I want to be remembered for, what makes me happy, what do I want to focus on? For example, I get asked to be involved with nonprofits that have really great missions, but I have to remember the things that I’m really committed to. One of my passions outside of work is promoting women’s leadership and instilling confidence in girls, and that’s what I focus on. So if something doesn’t fit into what I’m

passionate about, I say no to it. Even if it’s something that sounds really interesting or a friend is asking me, I just have to say that it’s not in my priorities of how I want to spend my time because that’s not what’s most important to me. . When you get busy at work, it becomes easy to allow your career to consume everything, and the rest of those pieces of your life get pushed to the side. You may have times in your life where you have to make sacrifices, you probably won’t always be able to do as much as you want, but I think sacrificing what is important to you for your career should be an exception, not the norm.

What is the most helpful advice you’ve received about succeeding in business, and now looking back at how far you’ve come, what is something you would have done differently/better (if any)?

The most powerful advice I’ve received really came from Sheryl Sandberg’s book. Some of it seems obvious, some of those things just seem natural. But I think really some of those things are areas where I made mistakes and I wish I would’ve done things differently. I think for every woman who is in college, that should be a required reading. And hopefully, a required reading for men as well.

In terms of what I would do differently, I would say nothing. I am very much a believer that you learn from what you do and that everything happens for a reason. And that you benefit from those experiences. So I wouldn’t go back and change anything, because they’ve all formed and shaped who I am and where I’m at and what I’ve learned. I don’t think I would question any big moves in the past because they’ve all impacted where I ended up today.

“At the end of the day, though, the big, important questions that you have to ask are: what do I want to be remembered for; what makes me happy; what do I want to focus on?”

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AtFinance a Glance: in Hong Kong Katrina Ma, University of Hong Kong, Intern at HSBC Global Banking How to Survive as a Businesswoman in Hong Kong: • • •

o T w Ho

explore a city

Be open-minded to manage relationships with people/ companies of different cultures and backgrounds.

Reach out to different networks and sustain your professional relationships.

Strive for performance with humility and effort. Leverage on team synergy.

Hong Kong, often priding itself as Asia’s world city, has a unique business culture that combines elements of the East and the West. Most of the population is trilingual. With a strong presence of multinational corporations as well as local enterprises at the same time, business interactions vary depending on the client. However, generally, people follow basic Western etiquette, while observing Chinese cultural values, e.g. harmonious and respectful communication.

Client Relationships: Even most of the large listed corporations in Hong Kong are run by families – but these tycoons have generally delegated business dealings to top management level staff, hence partners will seldom deal with the family directly. The business relationship is therefore more professional rather than on a personal level, and meetings are held at the office or simply an upscale restaurant in the city. No matter what type of client, business partners maintain their relationships by checking in with them frequently – visiting them or attending events.

Business Environment in the Workplace: In the workplace, Hong Kong is a city that never sleeps. The business environment is fast-paced and intense especially in the banking and financial services sector. In all sectors, we follow the financial news and market trends very closely. It is very normal for people to work overtime or on holidays, especially for juniors.

Generally, hierarchy and seniority are not very significant in the workplace. Juniors have opportunities to excel but they are expected to be humble learners, while seniors sometimes act like mentors to help them navigate. In line with Chinese culture, colleagues tend to communicate in harmony but try to convey open and honest feedback at the same time.

In spite of the anxiety and hectic work life, team bonding is very important. Colleagues try to build their bonding in regular lunches and take a break in weekly drinks or night-outs. Depending on the company culture, there are different events and perks for employees – sports, volunteering, leisure and cultural activities, to enjoy the vibrant city life amidst the busy work.

Here are ways to explore a city on a college student’s budget: • • • •

•

•

Sign up for LivingSocial and Groupon deals.

Look for free dance classes, concerts, and other cultural events sponsored by the city.

Go to festivals and fairs happening near you.

Take advantage of complimentary classes at gyms near you. There were free hot yoga classes by my house every Wednesday night!

Keep track of museums’ free admission days – some are free the first Tuesday of every month, others every Monday, etc. Check with your company too on any partnerships.

Buy a monthly subway pass to save and explore!

On meeting new people: •

•

•

•

If you’re interning or working, the first place to meet new people is at your job. Especially if there are other interns, you won’t have to look far to meet others who would be excited to explore the city with you.

Some of us are the only interns at work – in that case, try to attend intern brown bag lunches where you can meet other college students in the area and hear from speakers!

Volunteer at an organization whose mission you’re passionate about and you can meet people with similar interests as yours.

Tap into your pre-existing university or WIB networks.

Good luck with all your adventures!

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Svilena Bochukova HUWIB Memebership Development Chair Harvard College ‘15

10 & ways

to r o ck your résumé

land your

dream job 39

1 3

PROOFREAD

Proofreading is so important! Check for spelling and grammar errors, consistent formatting, and correct contact information.

Read it aloud to yourself at least three times, and get a friend to read it once. You’ll be surprised at what you find.

2

Be consistent in content and format. Use spacing, underlining, italics, and bold for emphasis. Choose a readable font, and don’t go below 9 pt. Sans-serif fonts lean toward the modern, while Serif fonts are more traditional.

List headings in order of importance and information in reverse chronological order.

STYLE

Determine how you want to present yourself.

Sans-serif fonts lean toward the modern, while Serif fonts are more traditional. You can experiment with using periods in place of commas, inserting horizontal lines to separate sections, and more. Depending on where you hope to work, be sure to tailor your aesthetic accordingly.

4 5 LEAVE OUT...

Age & gender Pictures Personal pronouns (I) Obscure abbreviations Narrative style Passive language

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FORMAT

DON’T FORGET

Education Experience Language Skills Skills & Interests Contact Information Extracurriculars/Volunteer Work

6 8

FOREIGN JOBS

Be sure to do your research and tailor your résumé to each country’s standards and expectations. What is acceptable in America may not be the custom elsewhere.

7

FILE FORMAT

If asked for your résumé in Word Document form, use that form. However, when formatting, be aware that your receiver may have a different version of the program. When format is not specified, convert your file to .pdf form and doublecheck that it converts correctly.

LANGUAGE TIPS

Use specific, active phrases. Make sure your language is articulate rather than “flowery”. Always quantify and qualify your accomplishments; numbers and percentages are key. Remember to write for someone who will be quickly scanning your resume.

10

9

OOMPH WORDS analyzed built collaborated developed expanded generated introduced

negotiated optimized organized shaped streamlined tested upgraded

INTEREST SECTION

The interest section is your chance to show a different side of you. So go ahead and list your passion for snowboarding, classic movies, and the guitar. Just make sure your list is unique to you!

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3

tips

on running a

successful campaign

Gus Mayopoulos and Sietse Goffard, President and Vice President of the Harvard College Undergraduate Council 42

Go Big or Go Home Not sure if you’ve heard, but the Undergraduate Council is the coolest organization at Harvard right now, especially since we announced our bid to buy The Owl’s space.

Involved in everything from academic policies to campus safety, as well as student group funding and ongoing HUDS negotiations, the UC is comprised of just over 50 student representatives, 3 from every house and freshman yard. And one from the Dudley Co-Op, because the Co-Op is tiny.

But unlike literally everything else at Harvard, there’s no “comp” process to get onto the UC. No get-to-know-you-mixers, no auditions, no tryouts, no timed-swims, and definitely no resume/interview combos, which is great news for people who hate those things.

Rather, the students who serve on the UC must be willed into office by their peers through the infamous UC Election process. Overseen by the independent Election Commission, the UC Elections (known to old-timers as “The Crucible”, known to new-timers as “The Hunger Games,”) are fierce, relentless contests.

And so whether you are planning to run for the UC in order to get your public-sector duty out of the way, or to avenge your father who was murdered while running for the UCl, we have compiled 5 extremely insightful and helpful tips to aid you in your quest for UC Glory. Or your quest for longer hours at Q Grille. Honestly, whatever you want to make happen on the UC

1. Do Your Market Research 2. Be Aware of Your Audience 3. Learn from Past Mistakes: Anything Can Happen 1. Do Your Market Research It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that not all Harvard students care about the same things, with the exception of Ghungroo. As a UC candidate, it’s crucial to approach voters with platforms that resonate with your target audience. Sometimes these can be basic common needs that you have identified, like toilet paper and better variety of dhall food. At other times, you’ll have to dig deeper and ask people about the “big picture” things they want to see changed at Harvard: academic policy, sexual assault policy, mental health resources, safety, funding, and so on.

The “common needs” approach tends to work well and be popular among freshman candidates. It makes perfect sense – freshmen are very new to campus when the UC campaign season starts, so it’s harder to base a campaign off of long-term issues which you audience doesn’t know about a whole lot. That said, if you can do your research and make “big picture” themes part of your campaign platform, you might stand out as one of the more serious UC candidates.

The “big picture” approach tends to work well in the houses, where people will be more aware of some of the issues you raise. But remember: make sure you approach people with ideas that resonate with them! Find out what people care about. Don’t repeat the same empty promises and grandiose rhetoric without concrete, creative ideas to back them up. And even in the houses, try to think of some “common needs” that are house-specific because people will also care about those topics. If you’re in the Quad, for example, you might make shuttle service and bike racks important parts of your platform. Or if you’re in Kirkland, you might advocate for house seminars on “How to Make Politically-Correct Housing Day Videos.”

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2. Be Aware of Your Audience UC elections are different from most of life at Harvard because candidates must personally connect with other students. It’s the only way to get votes - that, or buying them, which is very much frowned upon by the Election Commission. But sometimes candidates have a harder time connecting with student than a noble gas trying to connect with most other elements.

Generally, voters don’t like being bothered. They don’t like being bothered walking into dining halls, they don’t like being bothered in their rooms, and they really don’t like being bothered in bathrooms - and generally, they don’t like receiving emails. If you don’t believe us, try it yourself.

In lieu of this, we recommend bothering voters! Make yourself visible; a physical presence is best. When you meet people, explain that you’re running for UC and why you’d be a good representative. All your friends should know you’re running. All their friends should know, too. Heck, you should be so visible that even busloads of Taiwanese tourists in front of the John Harvard Statue know who you are. When it comes to campaigning, there can be no shame.

Also remember to loosen up and be yourself. Being aware of your audience means understanding that people generally don’t like peers who pose too much as politicians.

We actually disagree on the effectiveness of door-to-door campaigning. Sietse supports it and thinks that it’s a good way to show your more “human” side, but Gus believes that it bothers voters to the point of driving them away. Either way, we don’t recommend doing it past 10:00pm.

3. Learn from Past Mistakes: Anything Can Happen Elections have a funny habit of not going as planned, the classic example being Truman vs. Dewey, only one of whom became President of the United States, the other going on to live a life of developing library accounting systems.

What history doesn’t want you to remember, in addition to most of the Crimean War, is that nobody thought that Truman was going to win that election.

It goes to show that surprises happen, so don’t get complacent and assume you’re going to win. You should work hard every day during your campaign to meet new people, engage with your competitors, and differentiate yourself from the rest of the field. This isn’t a competition to see who can promise fresh fruit the most number of times. This also isn’t a competition to see who was high school student council president -- that doesn’t matter anymore. Generally candidates do better by focusing on the present rather than the old “glory days”.

If you have different priorities compared to other people running, explain them! And watch out for promising things you probably can’t deliver on.

For example, we guarantee that this year, at least 14 freshman candidates will promise longer HUDS dining hours this year. We would love for this to happen too, but the unfortunate truth is that this has been tried over and over again for literally the past decade or two, and extending dining hours would require millions of dollars that neither HUDS nor the UC has. But that S.O.B. Dewey - he’s rolling in library cash.

All told, you’ll have a great time campaigning whether you win or don’t win. You have nothing to lose -- the “worst case” is that you’ll make dozens of new friends and spread your ideas on how to make Harvard a better place for us all. If you’re looking for a challenge, we look forward to seeing your name on the next UC ballot!

Sincerely, Gus Mayopoulos, UC President & Sietse Goffard, UC Vice President

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2014 HUWIB Top Sponsors

View our full list of sponsors at huwib.org

CONSTANT CONTACT There’s one mission at Constant Contact: Help small businesses and nonprofits succeed. Everything you’ll do here—regardless of your title or department—comes back to that.One tool, for all your marketing. That’s the Constant Contact Toolkit. Our customers get real results through marketing campaigns like email newsletters, surveys, events, Facebook promotions, online listings, and more. But it’s not just about the product:

TPG CAPITAL TPG is a leading global private investment firm with $66 billion of capital under management. Founded in 1992, TPG specializes in recognizing value – or the potential for value – where others do not. Our contrarian philosophy, global reach, and deep investment and operational expertise set TPG apart from other firms.

Our complementary asset classes offer a unique investment platform.

KAPLAN Kaplan has come a long way since its founding as a test preparation business in 1938, but our mission has remained constant: to help people achieve their educational and career goals. Over the years, Kaplan has pioneered new territory in online higher education, K12 services and professional training with innovation and imagination -- redefining the future of education. Today, Kaplan is one of the world’s largest diversified education companies, with operations in nearly 30 countries. With more than 23,000 employees worldwide, Kaplan is the largest subsidiary of The Graham Holdings Company, and serves approximately one million students each year. In 2014, Kaplan was named one of Fast Company’s Top Ten Most Innovative Education Companies in the World. We recognize that education opens doors -- to new opportunities, a better job, and a richer life. Through the Kaplan Educational Foundation's Leadership Program, we serve talented community college students from underrepresented populations in New York City who have the potential to become influential in their communities and chosen professions. Kaplan also spearheads numerous scholarship programs, tutoring initiatives, and volunteer activities around the world to make educational opportunities available for students in underserved communities and engage employees in the rewarding mission of corporate philanthropy. Great student outcomes are not only our business, but our passion.

BLACKSTONE Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, the companies we advise and the broader global economy. We do this through the commitment of our extraordinary people and flexible capital. Our asset management businesses include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, hedge fund solutions, non-investment grade credit, secondary funds, and multi asset class exposures falling outside of other funds’ mandates. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services.

Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

HUWIB would also like to thank the Harvard Undergraduate Council for their support.

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Geena Davis Academy Award-Winning Actress Founder and Chair, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media 46

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“If she can see it, she can be it.”

Academy Award winner Geena Davis is one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, appearing in several roles that became cultural landmarks. Earning the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, Davis broke ground in her portrayal of the first female President of the United States in ABC’s hit show Commander in Chief.

In 1989, Davis received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the offbeat dog trainer Muriel Pritchett in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Accidental Tourist. She was again nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance in Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon. Davis went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon Dottie Hinson in A League of Their Own. Davis made her feature film debut starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. She went on to star in such films as The Fly, Beetlejuice, Angie, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Stuart Little. Few have achieved such remarkable success in as many different fields as Davis has: she is not only an Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor, but a world-class athlete (at one time the nation’s 13th-ranked archer), a member of the genius society Mensa, and is becoming recognized for her tireless advocacy of women and girls nearly as much as for her acting accomplishments. She is the founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters - and reduce gender stereotyping - in media made for children 11 and under.

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Personal and Career Life 1. You have worked and excelled in many industries and activities, from modeling to Mensa to acting. Could you tell us about your journey and background before the founding of the Geena Davis Institute?

I decided when I was 3 years old that I wanted to be an actor in films. That goal never wavered, and thank God it worked out because obviously the chances of that working out are slim. I actually majored in acting in college, which can be perceived as somewhat foolhardy, considering the odds against earning an income that way. But it did work out, which was great for me, and I’ve gotten to play some very unusual and interesting parts for women in Hollywood. Some parts really resonated with women in the audience, so that’s been a wonderful outcome of what I do.

2. How do you think the representation of women has changed through your various roles, and how do you select your roles?

When I used to choose parts in the beginning, I chose based on what I was looking for as an actor which would be something interesting and challenging to do. That’s why I ended up in some unusual films like Beetlejuice and The Fly and various things because I wanted to play interesting characters rather than just the girlfriend of the person having the experience. But after Thelma and Louise and A League of Their Own, I really made the choices with thinking about the women in the audience, and thinking about how they would react to my character.

Those two movies were such a lesson in how few opportunities we give women to feel excited and inspired by the female characters in a movie.

What I was seeking as an actor and what I seek as a person are kind of the same thing in that it turns out that I want to play characters who are in charge of their own fate, and that also means it’s an interesting character that has a bigger journey in the story rather than serving as a device for someone else’s journey. That’s kind of what I look for.

3. Which role do you feel has represented women the most fairly?

Which role has been your favorite to play?

Definitely being in Thelma and Louise had the biggest impact on my life. It was certainly the biggest and most complicated role that I’d ever have. It was challenging in that way, but it was really the impact that the film had that was very eye-opening to me. I was unprepared for the reaction that people had. So many women who recognized me wanted to talk to me about how they felt about the movie, how they reacted to it, how their friends reaction to it- it was just a very eye-opening experience as far as how few opportunities we give women to feel that about female characters in a movie. It was just very pivotal in my life, and that’s what cemented for wanting to help empower women and girls and advocate for them. It was a very big turning point in my life.

4. Why do you think that Thelma and Louise made such a strong impact? What do you think the film did for women and their representation in the media that hadn’t been done before?

It was really interesting for us involved in the movie because it was truly unexpected. We had no idea that it would cause the kind of reaction that it did before it came out. We all knew it was a great script, and it was unusual because it had two very well written female characters, but there wasn’t anything else about it that stood out or made us think that it would have any reaction like the one that it did. That was a total shock. But in hindsight in thinking about why that could be, I think

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what really stayed with people and what really spoke to people was the message of being in charge of your own destiny for good or ill. We made horrible choices along the way and were hardly role models, but we did refuse to give up control over what was going to happen to us.

I think that’s very exciting, and empowering. I think that’s why people could come out of that movie feeling excited and empowered even though we kill ourselves.

5. Some actresses and celebrities talk about the pressure to submit to industry standards in order to fit in, despite personal objections.

Have you had any personal experience with this?

I haven’t experienced that, but that’s just been my particular experience.

It’s certainly there, and certainly very widespread. For whatever reason, it just happens that I haven’t run into that. Maybe it’s because I’ve played a number of lead characters, and strong willed characters. Maybe it doesn’t go with that territory as much to have to be objectified.

6. Who was the most influential role model or mentor in your life?

What qualities in them did you value?

My mentor I met on my very first movie, which was Tootsie. I had a small part in Tootsie starring Dustin Hoffman. He just is a very mentoring type, and here I was, I never had been on a movie set or had any idea about what was going on. He just immediately latched on to me, and started giving me advice on how to evaluate your performance when you see it on screen, how to judge what to do differently, and how what something feels does not always translate the same way on screen.

He also encouraged me to always be looking for books that might have contain a part that would be good for me, and try to help develop projects for myself. He was very influential, and also making me feel like what you’re doing is great. Feel confident. Feel secure. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my career than to work with him. Also, Sydney Pollock was the director and he was equally amazing, but Dustin Hoffman has always remained a mentor in my life.

The Geena Davis Institute 7. What prompted you to begin the Geena Davis Institute? What is the purpose behind the Institute?

It started because I started watching children’s entertainment with my daughter when she was two. She’s twelve now. I was shocked to observe

that there were far fewer female characters than male characters, and what was aimed at little kids. It seemed like nobody else was noticing that. In fact I would ask people if they noticed this when I talked to people in studios and executives. I would ask them if they noticed how few female characters there were in G and PG rated films, and it seemed that nobody was noticing what I believe I saw. So it made me think, “I wonder if having the data will make a difference, because my pointing it out is not making any significant difference.” So that’s what led me to start the whole thing, and it’s just grown and now we’ve commissioned the largest amount of research ever done on gender depictions in media in a twenty year span. What we do with the research, and the reason we got it is because I am in the industry and know the creators of kids’ content. I aim to talk to them in a private and collegial way and share the data with them. Rather than trying to educate the public about all of this, and hope that they can have some impact, I felt like my ability to directly talk to them as a peer in the industry has helped, and it really turned out that way.

8. Your Institute recently released new findings after conducting a Global Gender in Media Study. Could you explain the process of the study, its findings, and its implications?

So the overall picture is that globally, female characters are missing in action, and fairly invisible. In the overall global picture, there are 2.24 males for every female characters. It’s about 30% female characters.

And behind the camera, it was similar to US statistics. 7% of directors were female, 20.9% of writers, and 23.8% of producers. The most female friendly countries as far as numbers of female characters and their depiction: the UK, China, Korea, Germany, and Brazil were the standout countries. We found that this is again the global picture, that female characters are two times as likely to be shown in sexually revealing attire than men. Male characters were 70% more likely to have jobs than female characters. Of the characters having a job, 77.4% were male and 22.6% were female. Whereas in real life, women are almost 40% of the global workforce, so we’re not even reflecting the reality even if the reality is poor. We’re not even reflecting that in films.

It’s pretty similar in US figures, although the US is worse in terms of jobs. [In the US], of the characters who have jobs, 80.1% are male so those figures are worse than globally. There definitely was a difference in those top countries and other countries. It wasn’t like everyone was kind of doing the same thing. Those countries that I mentioned were really doing a much better job.

9. What do you think we can do in the United States to improve gender representation as these other countries have been doing?

It’s going to be a question of creators having it in the front of their minds, and making conscious decisions to add female characters because the default has always been male. And I think it’s because it’s been that way for so long, because if you grow up seeing a certain ratio of male to female characters that looks normal eventually, especially

considering the vast amount of media that we consume. So we have to make a conscious decision to think about it and go through scripts that are even already written and just change some of the male characters to female--just change the name, and suddenly we’ll have many more female characters and characters that might even be more interesting now that they’ve had a gender switch, because maybe they’ll be less stereotyped and unusual for a women to play. That’s what creators can do. As far as the general public, we need to recognize that this is happening. Pretty much, I ruin movies for people after all this stuff because then they find themselves counting the female characters instead of just enjoying the movie, but that awareness is really helpful in pointing it out to your friends and making sure they notice it as well.

And especially pointing it out to kids, because it’s very hard for a child to be objective about something. It’s hard for a three year old girl to look at a movie and say, “Hey, I don’t think I’m being fairly represented there,” because it doesn’t occur to them. For them, that is reality. So it’s very important that we point out to boys and girls this discrepancy.

When I watch anything with my kids (I try to watch with my kids), and when we are I try to make commentary as it goes along. I say, “Hey, did you realize that there’s only one girl in that group of characters?

Why do you think that is? Don’t you think a girl could have done the same thing?” I ask them which character they would rather be. It was interesting when we watched “Harry Potter,” and I asked my daughter that, and she said, “Harry Potter.” Not Hermione, and she said, “Well no, Harry Potter gets to do cooler stuff than her.”

In the realm of politics and global characters, 85.5% were male versus 14.5% female. There weren’t any female characters in senior level positions like president, prime minister. In the STEM fields, 88.7% were male and 11.3% female, so about a ratio of 8:1 in the STEM fields which is better than in the US, which is 15:1 in the STEM fields.

10. How has this research been received, and was the reaction surprising?

You know, that’s interesting, because before we gave our first presentation I was really worried about what the reaction was going to be. “What are they going to think and say?” Are they going to say, “so what?” It’s been the same from that meeting through all the meetings.

It’s the same reaction, which is utter shock. Their jaws are on the ground when they hear the numbers. That does all the convincing for us, for them to actually see all the numbers and graphs because they really weren’t aware that so few female characters were in the movies that they were making. I mean, if we said there are fewer female lead characters than male, then they would have said, “We know that,” because men don’t want to watch movies about women. But as far as realizing that the worlds that they were creating were bereft of female characters was something they absolutely didn’t recognize, and are eager to change it turns out.

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11. How has See Jane promoted gender equality through education?

What is your vision for gender equality in children’s entertainment?

We’ve developed some media literacy tools, and are continuing to expand in that direction. Until we fix the problem, it’s really important that children are aware of what they’re seeing. We also have a video series called “Guess Who?” that’s about stereotyping and it’s aimed at kids maybe six to ten years old. They’re each made at a different university (the first was made at Boston University), and they’ll talk to kids about a mathematician and ask, “What does the mathematician look like?” and invariably the kids will describe a man. “He’s wearing a suit; he has lots of pens in his pocket.” Or they might ask, “What does a baker look like?” and the kids will say, “Well, he has big mustache. He’s fat.” When they’re still on camera, they’ll say, “Well, what if we told you that the mathematician and baker are female?” and I swear the kids’ reaction will be, “What? Is that possible? No, I don’t think so!” It’s so amazing that 7 year old kids today would be stunned that a pilot could be a woman, or a firefighter. So we clearly have a long way to go.

Creating Change Through Research 12. Do you see the media, films particularly, progressing towards more equal representation? Do you believe there has been a significant change in the last few years?

No, there hasn’t, and I know there hasn’t because we have all the research behind this kind of thing. The ratio of male to female characters has been exactly the same since 1946. All the different times we think things are getting better. “Well, now, things are getting better,” except that they weren’t. There hasn’t been high’s or low’s, in fact things have been pretty steady. Our data covers over twenty years span and it holds through for that specific span that we’ve studied that there’s been hardly any change. I think the difference in the past twenty years has been a 0.7% more characters, which is extraordinarily long time to make only that much improvement. But it doesn’t seem like the quality of female characters has improved either. It seems like there are more tough or strong female characters. For example, there will be Scarlett Johansson’s character in “The Avengers,” but they are not any more nuanced or fleshed out, or complicated, or important, and they’re not necessarily multi-dimensional. Hypersexualization of characters in movie and TV is rampant and is definitely not toning down. There was a study that just came out that within the last year that showed that girls starting from as young as 6 years old begin to self sexualize. They have learned to view themselves through the male gaze, and realize their function is to be visually pleasing. That’s a horrible development, and speaks to how pervasive the hypersexualization of female characters is.

13. How does the representation of women in positions behind the camera (director, producer, writer, etc.) affect how women are portrayed on screen? How do you think we can increase representation of women in these fields?

That’s a good question because our research shows that when there’s a female producer, director, or writer, the percentage of women on screen goes up. If there’s a female director, the percentage of women characters goes up by 10%, which is still not enough, but definitely an

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improvement. So that’s another way to improve the representation of women in movies and television. But, I actually don’t know how to get those numbers up. It’s been a real persistent problem for a long time in Hollywood, and one that certainly people are aware, but it’s just proved to be very difficult to make any change. The percentage of women directors, I think in 2013, was 1%, which is an all-time low. But it always stays in the single digits, and has never been over 7%. I don’t know how to fix the problem, but maybe we get female characters on screen that are film directors, and maybe girls will see that and think, “Oh, I want to do that!”

14. How can we encourage men to support equal representation of women in entertainment? What steps can they take to create change?

That’s pretty much who we’re talking to when we go to the studios, networks, directors guild, writers guild- all of those areas are predominantly men. So, we’re talking to the men, and the encouraging thing is that when they hear these numbers, it’s not just women who gasp, and say, “Oh my gosh, that’s terrible!” The men are equally impacted, and eager to make change, especially when you’re talking about kid’s TV. It seems to be really pushing a button with people that we would be showing children such an imbalanced world. Of all the different facets of screen entertainment like movies, primetime TV, daytime, or kids, the two worst ratios are for kids, in G and PG rated movies, and shows made specifically for kids. We haven’t really run into anybody who thinks that’s a good thing or that it’s not important to address that. Everybody seems to be pretty equally impacted to think that needs to be changed. We did a survey on everybody who heard our presentation recently, and found that 68% of people said that what they learned from us had impacted two or more projects that they did, and then 41% said that it impacted four or more of their projects, meaning that they added female characters, changed characters from male to female, gave them more lines, gave them more interesting things to do, or had them put on more clothes.

15. What do you see the Geena Davis Institute doing next? Now that you have the statistics, do you have any plans or future research projects?

Absolutely - we continue to do new research projects every year. Not only is it really helpful to have the research, but it gives us a great reason to keep going back to the people we’ve already talked to and try to keep it at the front of their minds. We continue to do research, because it has proved to be the most valuable tool for us in terms of moving the needle.

We’ve just been very encouraged by the direction it’s going, and certainly a number of movies have come out that we know we impacted directly, and we’ve heard about a lot more that are coming out. We’re very encouraged. If you think about all the areas of society where the gender balance needs to be improved, whether it’s in business, finance, politics, any other sector in society, there’s a lot of work to be done, and probably a lot of time will go into making those changes. Just try to imagine how much time it will take to get Congress to half women. It can seem overwhelming, but the one area where we can improve the percentages of women overnight is on screen. In the next movie someone makes, they can make 50% of the crowds be female, and half the characters be female. It’s really an opportunity for filmmakers to make change before society does. You could have your board in the next meeting be half women. Nobody is going to think anything weird about that. No one’s going to say “Oh my god! That’s so wrong?” It will just start to look normal, and life will reflect art and the other way around.

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Q & A FUNNY GIRL

Photo by Jonathan Alcom, Boston Globe

Alexis Wilkinson, President of the Harvard Lampoon

This semester you and another female (Eleanor Parker), were elected President and Vice President of the Lampoon, respectively. How do you think a fully female leadership may or may not change the humor, direction, or image of the magazine?

I don’t think our election alone will change the humor and it shouldn’t.

Lampoon has always been a collection of voices. Both Parker and I have been on staff, adding in our two cents just like everyone else, for quite some time. Lampoon isn’t one person’s comedic power trip, unfortunately.

I want to see more use of the word “queef,” but nobody even listens to me.

As far as image, I’ve had people express to me that it makes them think differently about Lampoon. It makes them think it might not be just a place for white guys. And that makes me very happy.

There’s obviously been a lot of media attention recently on the Lampoon, and you specifically as the new President. What do you think that this exposure will do for the magazine and for the comedy industry in general?

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I’m banking on it helping us sell more issues. So far, it’s been working.

The media stuff reminds the world that we exist and that we may even be

relevant in some way. I don’t think Lampoon has the power to change the whole industry or anything like that. But if people in the industry see it as an example that you can have comedy and diversity, that somehow the Lampoon has some women and a black lady and it hasn’t fallen apart (yet), that’s great.

Has this exposure and focus changed your life personally in any way?

I value my inner circle of friends and family so much more now. Before the exposure, I never had to deal with people who don’t know me having a strong opinion about me. I’ll get messages or see things where people feel passionately one way or another about me, about Lampoon, about everything they think I represent. And sometimes they’re really not nice about it. The people I trust help me sort through all that and I don’t know what I’d do without them.

What do you think accounts for the gender disparities in the Lampoon, which are generally seen as greater than in the other campus publications?

Comedy is still really a boys’ club in so many ways. More than theater.

More than, I don’t know, poetry? Fiction? Whatever the other organizations do that you’re trying to compare the Lampoon to. Women are

“Stop telling jokes.” discouraged from seeking the sort of attention that comes from comedy.

That’s not going to go away overnight. But Lampoon is evolving and what’s happening now is just a part of it.

What do you think is the role of the Lampoon as a publication in and out of the Harvard community?

On campus, Lampoon is a place for you if you love comedy and a challenge. It’s not easy to get on. It takes a certain person to want to dedicate themselves to it. But as a publication, we have so much freedom because we’re not trying to impress anyone. As terrible as it sounds, most of us don’t care if people think the Lampoon is funny. It’s not for other people.

It’s for ourselves. It’s us figuring out our own voices and experimenting.

And I think the reason Lampoon grads do well is that we get time in college to just do that in such a big way.

Do you have a comedic role model, or role model in general? If so, who and why?

I look up to a lot of people. There a lot of amazing women and men who do things I hope to do one day. My main role model is my mom. And Oprah.

What’s your favorite part about comedy?

There’s something immensely satisfying in making people laugh or smile, especially when they don’t want to. There’s something instinctual about comedy. It’s both the highest art and the lowest art at the same time. And I don’t think people would last long without it.

Also, a good spit-take. Gets me every time.

“Women are discouraged from seeking the sort of attention that comes from comedy. That's not going to go away overnight. But Lampoon is evolving, and what's happening now is just a part of it.”

How do you think being a woman will impact how you lead the Lampoon? Do you feel as if your narrative as a woman will or should make a difference?

Photo by Ryan Pfluger, New York Magazine

I can’t tell you how being a woman impacts my leadership because I don’t know how to be anything else. I do, however, hope that emboldens women who come up after me to just go for it as far as positions of power. I want to come back in 50 years and see nothing but women on staff.

Have you faced any difficulties in rising to leadership because of your gender or race, or perhaps an intersection of both identities?

Sure. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the challenges that come with that.

The mental roadblock alone is huge. When you look around and nobody looks like you, it takes a while to get your sea legs. It takes a while to stop worrying about whether you’ll be understood and start forcing people to either understand you or move out of the way.

Do you have any advice for people, women specifically, pursuing comedy as a career or even just as a hobby?

A young woman I admire said that some of the best advice she ever got in life was, “Be evil.” That’s what I’d say. Get out there, forget propriety, and forget being scared. You’ll never get anywhere being nice all the time. Do you. Go get what you want. Be a little (or a lot) evil.

Why do you feel that there are such few women that pursue comedy as a career in comparison to men? Do you think there is a specific reason?

I think a lot of it is just overcoming the mental roadblock to doing something that it seems like people like you, women, just don’t do. And then there are people who actively try to keep women out of comedy. “Women aren’t funny.” “Stop telling jokes.” That kind of stuff. It’s not exactly encouraging.

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Jennifer Siebel Newsom Writer, Director, Producer

Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the writer, director, and producer of the 2011 Sundance documentary Miss Representation. In response to the film, Newsom launched MissRepresentation.org (now The Representation Project), a call-to-action campaign and media organization established to shift people’s consciousness, inspire individual and community action and ultimately, transform culture. She is currently writing, directing, and producing two documentaries, The Mask You Live In and The Great American Lie, which explore how our culture’s narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys, men, and society at large. Newsom is also an Executive Producer of the Academy Award nominated documentary The Invisible War, which exposes the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military. Newsom received both her B.A. and M.B.A. from Stanford University. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and their three young children.

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Personal and Career Life What is it like to have been on both sides of the camera: acting and directing? What are challenges that you have faced in both?

My experiences as an actress in Hollywood really informed my role as a director, since it was the inequality that I observed there – behindthe-scenes and on screen - that first led me to want to make Miss Representation.

As a 28 year-old actress, I was asked to lie about my age and remove my MBA from my resume, and I just really saw how much that culture values youth, beauty and sexuality above everything else. And as a director I’ve had to overcome a lot of doubters – those who originally questioned my desire to even make Miss Representation – and a film industry that is still severely lacking in women writers, directors and producers.

I’ll tell you one thing (and to be clear, I am not talking about myself) I think talented, smart actors make some of the best directors.

Hopefully we’ll see more and more female actors getting behind the camera because there are so many I think would be great at it. And, I think they would absolutely love it!

What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in acting or filmmaking?

I think what’s most important is that you are passionate about whatever you do and stay true to your self. And if you can find that thing you love – that you also happen to be good at – you won’t need that outside affirmation. Most importantly, in this often toxic culture, you can’t leave your values and morals at the door!

Progress and Future Action Miss Representation came out in 2011. Since then what changes, if any, have you seen in women’s representation in the media or otherwise?

I’m very hopeful about where we are headed. While Hollywood is still lagging behind (women are still only filling about 16% of behind-

If you can find that thing you love - that you also happen to be good at - you won’t need outside affirmation. the-scenes roles in major films) there is growing support for women in independent filmmaking, especially in documentaries. In fact, in 2013, 42% of the documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival were directed by women. And on TV, the networks are far ahead of the film studios in terms of diverse representation – with more programming featuring women protagonists and people of color than ever before.

In mainstream journalism, we have alternatives like PBS Newshour, where not only are the two anchors women, but they’re giving over 40% of their stories to reporters and correspondents who are women.

There are more of us now, working together to make sure some of the biggest perpetrators of media sexism are paying attention to these issues.

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I also think feminism is becoming more mainstream overall, and, thanks to the work of women of color online and off, it’s starting to become more inclusive. We’re starting to normalize the idea of gender equality to the point that more and more men are asking: how can I help? And, how can I be a part of the solution? I think men are realizing that gender stereotypes impact us all, and that all of us would benefit from a more balanced society. Clearly we have so much more work to do and we need so many more to become involved – hopefully our next film, The Mask You Live In, will help - but there are signs of progress.

What role do you think Miss Representation has played in this movement for change?

I think Miss Representation has given people an easy way to engage with the idea of gender equality. It’s being discovered by youth in thousands of classrooms across the country, but also on Netflix, iTunes and Amazon daily. We’ve shown the film on television in various countries and, to this day, it screens 5 times a week somewhere in the world. It was always important for us to reach the masses with this message, and we still receive emails several times a week from people of all ages who are being inspired to get more involved in their communities as a result of watching Miss Representation.

Furthermore, our campaigns are part of the larger online feminist movement that has dramatically expanded in the last four years. For instance, our #NotBuyingIt campaign on Twitter helped transform Super Bowl advertising to the point that brands like GoDaddy have now publicly committed to dropping sexism. It’s no longer a fringe issue, but something that is regularly covered in mainstream news outlets, and I think that’s a result of so many women and men of

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consciousness finding their voice and challenging the status quo through social media.

What do you think is the first thing people still need to change in order to continue creating a more accurate representation of women in the media?

We need to reach a tipping point of representational change - with more women and more general diversity behind the camera. This will not only transform the portrayals of women and girls on camera (imagine how much more complex and powerful female characters might become, not to mention less objectified) but the quantities and possibilities of stories that might be ‘greenlit’ and told about women and girls.

To that end, women are more likely to make it a priority to ensure their female workforce is able to balance motherhood and their careers. I am not saying the balance will necessarily be easy - but when was raising healthy and respectful kids ever easy, especially in a culture that is so disconnected from humanity? With more women behind the scenes, it will be that much easier to envision a future whereby there are more working mothers and dual income families in the workforce.

How do you respond to women in media who criticize this movement to re-represent women as oversensitive and overly aggressive?

I think a lot of people have a misunderstanding of the beauty of feminism and this larger movement towards gender equality. To me it’s about a rising tide that lifts all boats – and never a matter of supporting women at the expense of men, or vice versa.

The Documentary In your documentary, a young girl you interviewed asked “When is it enough?” How can we teach girls that standards of perfection are unrealistic?

We have to pay serious attention to how we as adults role model limiting attitudes and behaviors (i.e. fat talk, obsessions with dieting, women or men criticizing their own bodies or those of others, overindulging in plastic surgery, fathers who objectify women in front of their kids, spending the majority of our free time focused on appearance instead of giving back, pursuing a talent, or helping others etc.)

We have so much influence regarding how we socialize our youth.

When adults - parents, educators, coaches, and community leaders - show girls and boys a healthier path forward, it has an enormous impact. That path is one that values girls for so much more than their youth, beauty, and sexuality, and one that provides girls and boys the opportunity to challenge the status quo - challenge the media – and be a part of creating change. Whether it’s by not buying sexist tabloid magazines which celebrate bodies and appearance over intelligence and talents, or avoiding sexist reality shows, we have to, as a culture, stop celebrating any media that discourages us from seeing each other - women and people of color especially - as whole, relational beings, whose value is so much more than what we look like.

It’s a daunting task, but we’ve seen that when women do speak up and out – and men support them – that girls respond with inspiration and confidence.

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A few years ago, we collaborated with SPARK Summit on the “Keep it Real” campaign, which was led by teenage girls and succeeded in pushing Seventeen Magazine to stop using photoshop to digitally alter the bodies of women. It’s clear that girls are looking for a voice and an outlet for their feelings, and that if we can provide that, they are capable of amazing things.

In your documentary you talk about the effects of male stereotypes on the representation of women, and of men. The Representation Project is working to change these negative stereotypes. Could you explain more about the project?

The Representation Project is dedicated transforming culture so that everyone can reach their full potential, regardless of gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation or circumstance. We’re using film and media content to expose societal injustices, and to change the way people think about these various issues. And our campaigns, partnerships and educational initiatives are inspiring people to take action and create change in their communities.

In particular, our next film, The Mask You Live In, will explore American masculinity and how we’re socializing boys to disconnect their heads from their hearts in this country. The ultimate consequence is that we’re leading them down a dangerous cultural path. And the short term winners here are the gun manufacturers and the makers of violent media in all forms who profit from this temporarily. But in the end, we all lose. It’s merely a matter of time. The Representation Project is committed to disrupting the status quo, and reconnecting us all with our authentic, caring, relational selves.

It’s a daunting task, but we’ve seen that when women do speak up and out – and men support them – that girls respond with inspiration and confidence.

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To p 1 0 M u s t R e a d s “The Innovator's Dilemma”

by Clayton Christensen

“Thrive”

by Ariana Huffington

“#GIRLBOSS”

by Sophia Amoruso

“Lean In for Graduates”

by Sheryl Sandberg

“Everybody's Got Something”

by Robin Roberts

“BossyPants”

by Tina Fey

A reading list for people ready to get started and get ahead.

“Good to Great”

by Jim Collins

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

by Stephen R. Covey

“How to Make Friends and Influence People”

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by Dale Carnegie

CAREER TIPS Marwa Hassan

Campus Ambassador Ain Shams University

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rior to submitting my application for colleges, my father sat down and asked me if I really wanted to study law. He warned me that “the job market for women in law is very small,” and that I “would have trouble finding work in litigation because very few Egyptian men want women representing them.” He claimed that most students in my chosen major would work in a field outside of the focus of law post graduation. And although there was truth in his words, only 27% of students in any major actually go on to work in their chosen field.

Although I can understand this statistic for students in Egyptian universities, whose majors are chosen for them based on their GPA during “thanaweya amma” (or high school), there’s something much more saddening behind this statistic. Governments worldwide are unfocused on the business of creating jobs, particularly for the youth. 28% of all young people (ages 15-25) in the Middle East are unemployed. In fact, global youth unemployment is rising to be the highest it has ever been in over a decade in most places except for three -- Spain, Portugal, and France, who provide practical experiential training for students, access to housing, and are actively creating job opportunities for graduates.

So what does this mean for those of us who were born into a time where a college degree no longer guarantees a promising future?

Should we work on ourselves, or encourage our governments to work on policies to help? Whatever you believe the case may be, we have to make it happen for ourselves. Here’s how: 1. Experience, experience, experience Sophomore year of high school, I became involved with a non profit organization that introduced me to community organizing, politics, and human rights law. It ended in a paid internship and connected me to several other NGOs. Now, because of those experiences, I’ve attained an internship with a prestigious law firm in Cairo, a difficult feat for any first year law student in Egypt -- all because of a single nonprofit I volunteered at during high school.

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A Google search of “NGOs, NYC, science” or “Boston internships” can lead to endless opportunities. For those looking to gain experience outside of the US, opportunitydesk. org is an amazing resource for some all-inclusive internships, conferences, and workshops abroad.

The best way to make sure you’ll be doing the most with whatever opportunity you pursue is to make sure that you’re passionate about whatever it ensues. Don’t pursue an internship with a big corporation with a well known name if you find it uninteresting. You are there to learn, and if you feel that you will learn more from a smaller, more personable staff at a non profit, go for it!

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve hated phone calls and interviews. I avoided them at any cost, opting for text or instant messaging instead. When applying to programs in high school, I opted to apply for programs with only an application process, rather than those with interviews. But after time, I couldn’t avoid them anymore, so I figured I’d better learn to be more personable and open with potential employers, or volunteer management officials. Some are born with this skill, but for those of us who aren’t so lucky, I really suggest learning.

“We are the embodiment of the social media age.”

2. Digital Networking There were the Baby Boomers, the Y Generation, the Millenials, and now, there is us -- Generation Z, iGeneration, or Gen Tech. Our generation will go down in history as being highly connected through lifelong communication and media technology, like the World Wide Web. We are the embodiment of the social media age, where celebrities like Kim Kardashian can tweet one letter from the alphabet and the entire “twitterverse” knows about it.

There is both good news and bad news here. Bad news is, nothing that you put on the Internet will ever really be removed. You cannot track who saw it, saved it, “screenshoted” it, and sent it to others, so we should all be wary of what we put out into the world. If I google myself, I still find pictures from my junior high school Myspace account...

Not pretty. BUT there’s good news here too; We have the significant advantage of online networking, even on social media.

I made my Facebook account in 2008 to connect with friends, and 6 years later, a friend from junior high school that I hadn’t spoken to in years introduced me to the HU Women in Business Campus Ambassador Leadership Program -an amazing opportunity, no less. Keeping in contact, even through a friend request on Facebook, can significantly increase your exposure to the kind of programs, training, or work that is out there. For a more professional setting, apps like LinkedIn are extremely useful for connecting to previous employers and colleagues. It lets you post your previous experience and allows others to access your profile, endorse your skills, and every once in a while, it’ll suggest interesting job openings according to your experience! #SCORE.

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3. Improve your interview skills

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Prior to interviews, visit about.com for the most common interview questions and their best sample answers. Call your interviewer to confirm your interview date -- it’ll help them remember you specifically if there are others coming in for an interview that day. Practice greeting your interviewer with a big smile, and a firm handshake. Dress appropriately, and if you’re not sure what the dress code is, it is better to be overdressed than underdressed. According to the award winning novel Get Anyone To Do Anything, by David Lieberman, there are two important tips that guarantee you the position (if you’re qualified). “Smiling accomplishes four powerful things. It conveys confidence, happiness, and enthusiasm, and most importantly, it shows acceptance. Engage in the primacy effect and make that initial moment the very best and the rest of your conversation will be filtered through it, thereby creating a highly favorable impression.”

If you’re not going in for an interview quite yet, but have met someone that personally inspires you, take down their number. Develop a professional relationship by checking in on them every once in a while. This familiarity will set you apart from others in their professional network. Lieberman says that “the psychological phenomenon of accessibility and priming can dramatically influence how we are perceived. Lay the unconscious groundwork prior to your meeting.”

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Sheila Lirio Marcelo 68

Founder, Chairman and CEO, Care.com

Personal and Career Life To start, could you please provide us all with a short biography of yourself?

I was born and raised in the Philippines. I have five siblings, and growing up in an Asian family, we were assigned designated professions at a young age. There was a doctor, a dentist, an accountant, an engineer.

And I was to be the lawyer. When I got pregnant in college with our older son, Ryan, my husband, Ron, promised my parents I would go to law school, and I did. But after my first year, I sensed it wasn’t for me.

I enjoyed the intellectual challenge but couldn’t see myself practicing law so I applied to business school. I loved it and knew that business was for me. I wasn’t going to abandon law school – I had promised my parents after all – so I applied to HBS and was accepted into the joint degree program.

While at HBS, I helped teach classes on women building business and technology businesses. I was fascinated by the topics but realized two things: First, I was grading business plans but had no personal experience building companies and second, I wanted to learn and build something with a team. I took my first entrepreneurial risk and left my job at HBS to join an Internet start-up, Upromise, which helps families save for college. I think of my time at Upromise as my operational boot camp, where I learned all aspects of the business and how to build a technology company. It was also where I got my first inspiration to think about a Care marketplace. We had an infant at home, our second son, Adam, and my father had a heart attack while visiting us in Boston. At 29, I was part of the sandwich generation worrying about child and senior care. And although I was at a tech startup, I was using the yellow pages to find care. I came to the realization that there had to be a better way.

Later I joined TheLadders.com, which helps people find jobs. Both Upromise and TheLadders are terrific examples of how technology can be harnessed to help people solve challenges in the lives, something about which I’m passionate. After TheLadders, I was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Matrix Partners, where I wrote the business plan for Care.com. I took what I’d learned and what I’d lived, and launched Care.com in 2007.

You’ve had a very unique childhood and inspirational journey to where you are now. Could you tell us a little bit about what challenges you had to face and how you were able to overcome your obstacles to be at such a successful position now?

A few key events stand out for me. I wouldn’t necessarily call them obstacles but they were definitely transformative moments. The first was when I was about 6 years old. My family moved to Houston and we stayed in the US for three years. It was a great experience but my parents were concerned that we were losing touch with our Filipino heritage and culture so we returned to the Philippines when I was entering fifth grade. They sent me and my younger brother to school in the provinces so we’d be immersed in the language and the culture.

It was a complete change from what we’d experienced. This was truly rural. We polished floors with coconut husks. It was hard work but looking back, I know how impactful the experience was. I had always seen how hard my parents worked but now I began to understand the true value of hard work and grit. It was also when I truly connected with my heritage and when my deep love for the Philippines emerged.

Another key period would have to be in college when I had our first son, Ryan. I remember taking exams with him in a backpack, bouncing a little in my seat to keep him settled. I got looks from the other women in class. I felt judged. It was my first encounter with letting go of perceptions and not worrying about what other people think. Again,

this wasn’t an obstacle but it was an important moment in shaping who I am today.

What was the motivation behind starting Care.com and in general, wanting to start your own company?

My personal experience was definitely the driving force behind the concept of Care.com. I became a mother while in college and then was sandwiched caring for children and parents when I was only 29.

Easy access to quality care was incredibly hard. I was working in the tech space and knew how technology could be harnessed to solve pain points for people…like finding quality care. I also knew that my family’s experience wasn’t unique and that there had to be a way to help families around the world have easy access to quality care solutions.

Your website says that you have members in over 16 countries. How were you able to expand your company to a global scale and market to such a diverse group of families?

Our vision from day one was to build a global company. We knew mobility was an issue and that care would have to be provided beyond boundaries. It was a big vision and we began our international expansion in 2012. We started with the UK and then Canada, launching our own platform in each country. Later that year, we acquired Besser Betreut, the largest online destination for care and service providers in Europe, and in doing so, became the world’s largest online care destination for finding and managing family care. In each country, our premise is the same: we want to connect families and caregivers but we localize our service to meet the specific cultural needs of each region.

The Business of Balance In your own words, how would you describe what it means to be a modern day woman in business?

Women have a considerable challenge ahead in fully participating in this tech and information economy, which is really what it means to be a modern day woman in business. The confidence challenges start early — when they are first introduced to math, science and technology and then continue as they move through their careers and learn to step forward into leadership positions. There is a serious “bro-grammer” culture that permeates the tech industry, and we have to change that.

The confidence issue is something that I work on personally with the women who work at Care.com — and as leaders, we all have to mentor and coach women to consider themselves capable of pursuing c-suite and board seat positions, or lead their own companies. My hope is that our next generation of female leaders will be represented at all levels in the new economy, from the VC to board to CEO all the way to the developer.

“At 29, I was part of the sandwich generation worrying about child and senior care. And although I was at a tech startup, I was using the yellow pages to find care. I came to the realization that there had to be a better way.”

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“No one — man or woman — can succeed in this global economy without a strong care infrastructure.”

The other aspect of being a modern day woman in business is something that we work on every day: the issue of care. No one — man or woman — can succeed in this global economy without a strong care infrastructure. We simply can’t be productive and function without knowing that our loved ones are cared for. We are facing an upcoming global shortage of caregivers, and families will be at the center of this crisis. Companies need to evolve the way they are thinking about flexibility and benefits. We work with companies across the globe to try to help them address this critical family need.

Care.com is about finding better care for the whole family. How did you manage to balance family with your own education and work, and how would you respond to young women who are hesitant to pursue certain careers (i.e. medicine, graduate school, etc) because of the reality of wanting to have a family?

One of the biggest lessons to learn is that no one does it alone. I certainly didn’t. My husband, my family, my mentors, my colleagues, the team at Care….every single one of them played a key role in helping me build the family and career that I have. Balance implies 50/50, and nothing in life is that way. At Care.com, we talk a lot about work life integration. It’s about finding out the option that best works for you and your family, much like I’ve done with my own. You need a strong support system and that starts with your significant other. My husband and I defined what works for us on our own terms and have thrived because of it.

Are there any setbacks women still face in the entrepreneurship industry in particular?

For female entrepreneurs in particular, the challenge still remains getting funded when the majority of VCs are men. It’s getting better but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. We need more female VCs and we need to continue to impress upon male VCs that women can build and are building companies that scale.

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For women in business in general, I often talk about the three Ps: Perception, Passivity and Perfection. Perception is about letting go of worrying about how others perceive you, your choices and your actions. For me it came in stages…first as a young mom to founding Care.com and letting go of the notion a friend put forth that this was “just a babysitting service.” Passivity is that thing that all too often holds women back…the idea that we’re not ready for that promotion or that next step or the corner office. I’ve been fortunate throughout my life to have wonderful mentors who have always pushed me beyond my comfort zone and encouraged me that yes, I was ready.

Then there’s perfection…an especially tough one for so many women, myself included. Striving for the mythical “work/life balance” sets you up for failure. There is no such thing. Some days I’m being all I can be as a CEO but I miss something for my sons. Other days, I’m all about family, but perhaps I’m not fully present for a friend. I’m not perfect and I’m OK with that. I’ve embraced it.

Navigating the Career Path What are your views on the level of support that women have in the workplace and how do you suggest young women go about seeking support in their career paths?

Things are improving for women in the workplace but we still have a way to go. We need more female leaders to serve as role models and sponsors for the generations behind them. What I like about the way you phrased this question is that it addresses both sides of the issue. It’s not just what leaders can do to help others rise; it’s also what women should be doing to help themselves. I always encourage young women in graduate school to start finding mentors there.

Turn to the alumni database and seek out those you admire. Good mentoring relationships develop over years and grad school is a terrific place to start. And when you look for mentors, look for those who will challenge you. The most influential mentors in my life have been those who pushed me out of my comfort zone. Women also need to be comfortable with networking and selling and not think of them as bad words. Doing great work is essential but it’s only a part of the package. And seek feedback. That’s a huge part of the culture at Care.com, for everyone, including me. It’s so important to be open to learning and growing and developing yourself. I believe it’s a true strength and at Care.com, it’s a key criteria for advancement.

Entrepreneurship is a tricky field to navigate. Did you have a female mentor or role model who helped you along the way or inspired you at all in your career?

My parents were actually my first entrepreneur role models. They had numerous businesses and a mission: to make sure that my siblings and I all had the best education we could. Watching and working alongside them was where I first truly understood hard work, determination and risk-taking, all essential traits for an entrepreneur. I’ve been very fortunate ever since to have wonderful mentors at each step of my journey. For example, at HBS, my professors saw my interest in the courses on Women Building Businesses and Women Building Technology Businesses and offered me a teaching job. That fueled my passion to build something myself. Later, it was mentors and trusted advisors who pushed me to realize I was ready to launch my own business, ready to be CEO. And even then, as I tried to decide between launching Care.com or going to an online entertainment company that was recruiting me, it was a mentor who helped me see the path so clearly. He told me to decide if I was in the pain or pleasure business. Did I want to help solve the pain points in people’s lives or was I more passionate about fun things? Care isn’t a sexy business, but I realized that solving real pain points is my true passion. And I’ve never looked back. Helping families find quality care for their loved ones and helping caregivers find jobs is both a responsibility and an honor. Knowing we truly have an impact on people’s lives is what motivates me every day.

Many young women nowadays are interested in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship and starting something new of their own.

What is the most helpful advice you’ve received about starting your own company, and now looking back at how far you’ve come, what is something you would have done differently/better (if any)?

First, follow your passion. Second, build a strong team both within your company and as a support network outside of work. Third, always focus on long-term relationships. Finally, surround yourself with people who share your passion and believe in the mission but have skills and talents that complement yours, not mirror them.

Q&A

THE HOLISTIC

Alice Han and Nina Hooper, Co-Founders of The Holistic 71

Frosting with avocadoes.

Cheesecake and chickpeas.

How did the Holistic begin? What were those first few weeks like?

The Holistic was first conceived of during winter break of our freshman year and it looked very different from what it does now. At the time it was more about total wellbeing rather than just food, hence the name. We spent a large portion of the first few weeks that summer to iron out some of the key values we wanted to see in our products and brand as a whole.

What were the first main goals when you began the Holistic as a startup?

Initially, the main goal was to establish a multi-faceted, student-run health and wellness group on campus. Soon we realised that people most interested in the food aspect of it and so we decided to narrow our focus. Now the goal has changed but it is still loyal to our personal belief that food is holistic; it affects every aspect of your life: your body’s functioning, the environment, and other people, etc. We know healthy eating isn’t always top priority so we’re trying to make it easier.

How do you balance being a student and running your business?

It’s definitely not always easy. There is certainly a balance between school work and business work, and we don’t always have it quite right so some weeks go by a lot better than others. However, at Harvard we’re so lucky because we have a roof over our heads, food already prepared whenever

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we want it and fabulous resources at the Harvard iLab that we get to take advantage of, so we have much more help and support than a lot of young entrepreneurs do!

What are some common misconceptions about start-ups?

People tend to have this Silicon Valley image of start-ups that is really tech-dominated. While that is true in a number of cases, a start up can really look like anything. We’re a small food company in our very early days and part of our planning, like with other start-ups, is to disrupt the traditional market.

What have been some major challenges with starting the Holistic, and how have you overcome them?

Often the major challenges are in our head. We go through phases where we just feel really overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done.

Starting out, you juggle so many aspects of the business at the same time and have to learn everything on the fly. Sometimes we go through moments of rejection and self-doubt, and that’s hard, but we also get a lot of positive feedback which helps to restore the balance. At the end of the day it’s really just about having confidence in yourself and your mission and because we’re in a partnership, confidence in each other also goes a long way.

Recently you’ve ventured into creating your own granola. Tell us more about what that process has been like and what the major steps are in making that happen.

Nina spent some time in the Middle East and became obsessed with roasted chickpeas. She had this idea of using them in a granola and played around with it for a while before settling on a mix we both liked. Again, our friends are the lucky beta testers! With a long shelf life and some unique qualities, we think it has great potential.

Have you had any mentors while creating and developing your business? If so, how have they helped you?

We have a few and we’ve been really fortunate that our mentors each have unique skill sets and knowledge and have helped us deal with specific problems. One of our mentors and friends is Laurent Adamowicz, the founder of a new open platform for nutrition education called BonApp and the former President of Fauchon. He brings an enormous wealth of industry knowledge to the table and an incredible élan for food.

What do you hope the Holistic will become as you move forward and out of college?

We would really love to get our products in stores around Massachusetts as a start, but then eventually we look to go national and even get up into the air, on board planes! What we end up doing after college is going to have a big impact on the way it will shape out, obviously, but our vision for the Holistic is to continue giving people access to great-tasting nutritious foods and saying to them you don’t have to compromise on health - even when it comes to dessert.

Are there any more specific ventures, like your own granola, that you have planned for the future?

We feel strongly that there are a lot of supermarket products that could be made so much more nutritious. We have a few ideas in the works, but there are lots of other things to do properly before jumping ahead of ourselves!

“At the end of the day it’s really just about having confidence in yourself and your mission, and because we’re in a partnership, confidence in each other also goes a long way.”

What is the most important thing that each of you has learned so far while running the Holistic?

It’s been the importance of taking risks. Risks come in all forms; for us they have not only been financial and conceptual, but also social and professional risks that have helped our personal growth. When we say conceptual risks, we mean using unconventional ingredients that haven’t really been used the way we use them before. Preparation and attention to detail are extremely important, but sometimes just going for it and taking that risk gets you further and opens more doors, we’ve found.

How do you two divide the tasks of running the Holistic? Are there specific things that each of you have to do in order to maintain the Holistic successful?

As people, we’re very different and so we’ve found a good way to work together that plays to each of our strengths - Alice is much more organised and better at maintaining our day-to-day activities and planning, while I, Nina, am much more interested in the creative process and like to spend my time thinking about big goals and planning for the future. That being said, we both contribute to everything and rely on each other a lot.

Did you use any specific Harvard resources for start-ups and entrepreneurs to help your business, or was most of it accomplished on your own?

We are VIP residents at the Harvard iLab which is a really fun, collaborative space. We have used some of the resources available there, such as free legal council and the mentor program. However, we feel that you really get out what you put in so a lot of it has just been hard work and long hours and interacting with the amazing array of people at the iLab. What is your favorite recipe that you’ve created?

From the products we sell, we actually both like the orange and poppy seed cake. Recently, Nina has come up with this recipe for a cheesecake make out of chickpeas. It’s her favourite ingredient! If you look at all of our recipes you’ll see that everything is made from chickpeas. The cheesecake will be well worth trying if we ever start making it for stores and cafes!

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The YouTube Phenomenon

I n February of 2005, YouTube started as a website with the goal of easily sharing videos and content. As the site grew, it began to include live streams, it gained partnerships with music and media companies, and eventually became a platform for entrepreneurs in all industries.

YouTube works as a hub for video bloggers, comedians, and filmmakers. However, it also houses entrepreneurs of more unexpected industries--like fitness and nutrition. One of these fitness gurus is Cassey Ho, better known as Blogilates. With over 1.5 million subscribers, Cassey has become one of the most inspiring people on the internet. Through Blogilates she has motivated millions of people to sculpt their bodies and live their dreams. Through her popular channel, award winning blog, top downloaded app, fashion lines, and POP Pilates DVDs, Cassey is the leader in empowering the next generation to live happier and healthier lives.

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and prom dresses and my mom would sew them for me. In college, I started sketching my first yoga bag when I couldn’t find a bag that could carry my mat, my keys, my CDs, and my towel fashionably.

The bag eventually became a hit with my students. The orders rolled in and eventually it was featured in SHAPE Magazine when I was about half a year into my first corporate job on the East Coast. I took it as a sign to leave and go big. This past year I’ve been developing BODYPOP behind the scenes nonstop. Fit-modeling, fabric testing, sketching, sampling, staying up late to deal with manufacturers – this was a full time job in addition to running the YouTube channel and the store we already have online. I think a lot of people don’t realize how hands on I am with the whole process. I’m not just using my name and slapping it onto a product. These products are literally my babies. The whole journey has been memorable. For the launch of BODYPOP we are releasing a crazy music video with acrobats, dancers, and a stunt woman. Being the executive producer on that project was very humbling. It was a huge learning curve but, you know what? The footage looks jaw dropping. I can’t wait for everyone to see it. I think the moment we release the video and the line I might just explode.

What do you say to viewers that are struggling with body image?

You’ve got to love your body first or else it won’t respond the way you want it to. Know that you are more than just a number on a scale and the distance between your thighs. Everyday we are in progress. So enjoy the journey, stop obsessing, find an activity you love, and one day you’ll be there.

What is the story behind the creation of the Blogilates channel?

I posted my first video on YouTube right after I graduated from college for my real life students who wanted to work out with me on non-class days. Eventually people all across the internet saw my video and wanted me to make more workouts. I listened to the comments and that’s how my channel grew. The fans then asked more about my life, so that’s why I started the blog. My clothing designs are a result of my childhood dream to be a fashion designer and my love for fitness and fashion.

What is the most difficult part about running a YouTube channel?

What is the best part?

Running a YouTube channel is beyond a full time job. It is my life!

The most difficult part is trying to get enough sleep when I am so obsessed with creating new content, coming up with crazy ideas, and designing new styles for my clothing line. It is nonstop, but I love it.

The best part is creating a positive impact in people’s lives from across the globe so that they too can inspire someone else in their circle to live a healthier and happier life.

What do you think about the way women are represented in the media (magazines, television, movies, etc.)?

Women have long been portrayed as objects of beauty and desire.

It just so happens that the media’s beauty of choice is the typical thin, tall, big-breasted, long legged Victoria’s Secret model. Yes, they are absolutely gorgeous – there’s no denying that! But so are short women, broad shouldered women, flat chested women, and big boned women. We are all beautiful but it’s hard to believe that when the people under the flashing lights in the magazine spreads all look homogenous. I think it’s going to take time and influential people (bloggers, YouTubers etc.) using their social media power to push against that norm. I think it’s already happening, but slowly because most girls still want to look like models. There’s nothing wrong with that – but the problem is that girls want to diet and exercise for vanity, not for health and strength.

How do you think that fitness and fashion can work together to promote a healthy lifestyle?

Fashion is a way to express yourself. Fitness is a way to release your energy. Both are a way to sculpt yourself into the person you want to be. I love that fitness and fashion are coming together, because it’s way more fun to look cute heading into your workout than to not. Maybe

When did you decide to expand into fashion design and create your own line of fitness clothes and accessories (BODYPOP and oGorgeous)? What has been the most memorable part of that experience?

I started drawing when I was in elementary school. I have binders and binders and binders of evening gowns and red carpet designs all kept in neat sheet protectors. I always designed my Halloween costumes

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I’m just an easily excited person but the colors, the patterns, and the feel of the fabric make me feel unstoppable in my workout. I always say this: “You look good, you feel good, you perform even better.”

How can fitness and media entrepreneurs, like yourself, work towards creating solutions to the world’s health problems?

I love getting really personal with my fans so that they can get to know me, my habits, and why I love living the way I do – so that they understand that’s it’s not some façade and health fantasy world. That’s one aspect. The other aspect is that health entrepreneurs need to keep thinking forward. How do we stop obesity in it’s tracks? How do we promote fitness in a fun way, not in a scary way, so that more people will get active? Through technology, getting fit has become easier. Girls from all over the world can do my YouTube videos (I have over 300+ workouts) for free. We’ve got to mix technology, community, and creativity together to make healthy living understandable, affordable, and accessible.

How do you think the fitness world in general has benefited from the rise in technology and social media, like YouTube and Twitter?

I think a lot of personal trainers, fitness, bikini models who were limited to their geographic area have risen to Instagram fame based on their admirable physique. Many have used this to their advantage by publishing ebooks, meal plans, etc. on how to look the way they do. With the popularity of social media, the fitness community is definitely blowing up. I’m very happy about that! Everyone is interested in how to look good, feel good, and live healthier lives so the more leaders we have the better. You’ve just to be careful of who’s advice you’re taking. Are they certified? Are they experienced? Or do they simply have a lot of followers?

Has there been any particular moment or interaction with your fan base that has made you especially inspired and proud?

When fans tell me they’ve found hope, dug themselves out of an eating disorder or lost weight even though they’re living obese family members, that tells me that my POPsters are strong – mentally, physically, and spiritually.

They’ve got the passion for life to keep fighting. They are unstoppable. They know how to get what they want. The best stories come out at the Blogilates meet ups. They are so many tears of happiness and struggle.

How do you balance a full-time blog and YouTube channel while also having a fashion line coming out and continuing to teach Pilates classes?

Do you have any time management advice for young entrepreneurs?

I run a YouTube channel because I love it and I can’t stop obsessing over how to grow bigger, inspire more people, and change more lives. In regards to the fashion line – my childhood dream was to be a fashion designer. I feel so fortunate that I am able to take my 2 loves, fitness and fashion, mesh them together, and create my first ever high fashion fitness line, BODYPOP. My tip would be to find talented people, work with them, and share the effort. There will be times when you wish you could do everything yourself

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because it’s frustrating when people don’t get your vision. And as an entrepreneur, that’s natural! But remember: you can’t do everything yourself if you want to really create serious change and maor impact in this world. We can all use help!

Where do you see Blogilates and your fashion lines going in the future? Are there any other plans to expand your business even further, perhaps through nutrition and food?

I want to get deeper into meshing fitness and entertainment in ways in which the world hasn’t seen before. I can’t exactly tell you, but what I can say is that when it happens, it will nip obesity in the butt without people even knowing it.

Q&A

CRUNCH TIME

Rose Wang, Co-Founder of SixFoods

Laura D’Asaro and Rose Wang, Harvard alumna, co-founded SixFoods after D’Asaro returned from a trip abroad to Tanzania where she was first exposed to the culinary experience of crickets, and was excited about the possibility of introducing insects as a more humane and sustainable substitute for meat.

She shared her excitement with her roommate, Wang, and was pleasantly surprised by her shared enthusiasm for the possibility of revolutionizing the American diet with insect food products. Along with co-founder Meryl Natow, these three adventurous eaters have worked tirelessly with Harvard’s Innovation Lab, experimenting with various cooking methods and more, all in the effort to change the way we think about insects. Their healthy alternative to potato chips, Chirps, are made with “wholesome beans, rice, and cricket flour” with “3 times the protein and half the fat of the leading potato chip!” Get ready, because in October, Chirps will take the snacking world by storm!

We had the incredible opportunity to speak with co-founder, Rose Wang, about their experience with building SixFoods, the lessons they’ve learned, and the issue of representation in entrepreneurship!

You all have a variety of academic and personal backgrounds. What have been your different contributions to the company based on these backgrounds?

It’s not just academic backgrounds, but also the way we think and our personalities. There’s two types of teams that I’ve seen. One team where people think very similarly and work very well together, and there are teams that are very different and they bring very skill sets to the table. There are pros and cons to both. To kind of give you an idea of each of us and how we’re different. Let’s just start with Laura. If you do a quick Google search of Laura D’Asaro, it’s going to blow your mind. She broke the world record for crawling the fastest mile, for building the world’s largest book domino chain. She is just out there. I call her a reality distorter because she can tell you “Pigs fly!” and you’re going to believe her because she’s just so enthusiastic about it. That’s her skill set- she’s so creative and thinks outside of the box. That’s how we all came together, because we all believed in her passion. But ultimately in a team you need someone who can execute, and that’s where I come in. I can take her every day talk and passion and build a business model, because my background is strategy and marketing.

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“Chirps wil take the

snacking world by storm!”

I worked at HSA, The Harvard Shop, Abercrombie, and then went to Microsoft. So I have a wealth of experience in a lot of different industries, and I’m able to build a business plan and model through listening to everyone’s ideas. I was the person brought on to run the idea. Then there’s Meryl who’s more of the designer, but she’s also the mediator because Laura and I are on different extremes of the spectrum. Laura and I have been blockmates and were freshman roommates, but when you’re co-founding a company with someone, you’re more than married to the person because you’re spending all day and night with them. It can get really rough, and we’ll have shouting matches sometimes or someone cries. It happens, and it’s good to have a third perspective and person to balance it out. That’s kind of how we fit together, and it’s kind of incredible because we’re all so different, yet when we’re together it works really well.

Our theme this issue is (Re) Presentation, where we are focusing on the way women are represented in business. Do you feel like women are represented equally in the startup industry?

When I go to food events, there is usually an even split of men and women in the crowd, which is awesome! However, the featured panelists or company representatives are usually men. Sometimes, there will be one woman on the panel or the moderator will be a woman, but there is a disproportionate representation of women leadership. As an individual, I do not discriminate among genders, and I appreciate all opinions. However, I would be lying if I said that, as a female entrepreneur, I am not surprised and affected by the message this imbalance sends. I made a choice to be an entrepreneur, and I made a choice to voice my opinions. And this is a choice I am proud of.

“The hard part is the trigger. What’s going to make people like insects ... people love to snack, and they’re going to get the munchies ... that’s how we landed on chips.”

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On the topic of re-presenting ideas, what steps have you taken to change the common perception in the United States towards eating insects?

That’s what fascinated me from the beginning- it’s a thought experiment.

You really have to change people’s behaviors and perceptions, and that’s one of the hardest things to do. I’ve been going about this in a very scientific way. It’s like a pivot- everything has been an assumption we test. Habits are developed after several retakes of behavior. There’s a trigger, action, and reward for habits. Now we have this behavior we want people to adapt which is to eat insects. Then it’s figuring out what the action and reward should be. So the reward is that insects are really good for you- they’re 70% protein, they’ll make you feel good about snacking, and they’re also going to make you feel good because you’re doing good for the world. We had to figure out what really spoke to people. The hard part is the trigger. What’s going to make people like insects? That’s how we landed on chips. We could either create our own trigger or we could go into something that’s already adapted. People love to snack, and they’re going to get the munchies. That’s where we started. People are going to get hungry, and they want something salty, and they’re going to snack on something unhealthy and feel bad about themselves. So let’s create something that’s comparable in terms of taste and insert ourselves into an existent behavior in the market.

Who are some of your role models/mentors, and how have they shaped your business and/or personal views?

Wow! A lot of people. There’s a lot of people you meet, and we’ve talked to a large group of people for a wide variety of things, from very large, accomplished companies to smaller entrepreneurs. The point is that you should really have mentors in different areas. We have mentors in pure marketing, and one of directors of marketing at Samuel Adams is our mentor. That’s huge for us because he works in the food base and is a genius in marketing. At the stage we’re at, some of the best mentors we’ve had are other entrepreneurs who are one to two years out and are a little bit ahead of us, because they have the best advice about what to watch out for and tiny details that we don’t even think about. It’s about talking to a lot of people and establishing those relationships, following up, and updating each other about how you’re doing. Then, it’s important to pay it forward when you have a chance to help out. Everyone’s been paying it forward, because they’ve gotten a lot of help too.

There are also people who’ve been there for us emotionally because this has been a crazy roller coaster. We got really lucky because the Harvard

I-Lab connected us with Philippe Taieb, and he has been amazing because he’s one of the leadership coaches at HBS. We met in September when this first started, and he’s been the father, uncle, and everything to us. We all have dinner every couple of weeks where we meet and he asks how we’re each doing, and let’s hear about the other aspects of your life. It reminds us that we have to have other aspects of our lives, and not just work. It’s important to have a mentor who cares about you as a person and not just as a co-founder.

We commonly hear about the lack of confidence among young women in business. What words of wisdom do you have for girls out there who have an idea for a start up, but are unsure of whether or not to pursue that idea?

I’ve always felt very confident professionally because of my positive experiences with HSA and my internships. But it’s not the same for my cofounders, because they haven’t necessarily gone through anything like this. The advice I’ve been giving them is first of all to take a moment and pause, and think through your ideas and whether they make sense. If it makes sense, then don’t question yourself. It’s so important to pause and introspect, and to have a fact check. If you’re not sure, take your thoughts, organize it, and take it to someone you admire. Ask them, “What do you think?” and have checkpoints with other people to make sure you’re not making any assumptions. I think the second thing is surrounding yourself with good people who support you. For my co-founders, maybe they weren’t super confident at first and I would jump on ideas and say, “Let’s go with this!” and then they would go along with it. Then, they told me that they felt like their ideas weren’t being heard, and that’s not what we wanted at all! So we decided to create a system where I would just pause and listen to their ideas, and they would do the same. We had these safety words and checkpoints so that we know that we’re supporting each other, and we all want what’s best for the business and none of it is personal. We trust and believe in each other. When it comes to business, surrounding yourself with people who support you and want the best for you- that’s utmost importance. It’s easy to feel unconfident when you’re working with people who aren’t on your side and who don’t believe in you. Don’t just take money from people- take money from people who you know believe in you and want you to succeed rather than people who cut you off and say, “No, I know what’s best.” Constantly stop and check in with yourself and ask, “How do I feel?”

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The

Case

for High-Growth Startups: Seize Your Opportunities

by Heidi Lim

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If you’re looking to

from the fire hose

drink

and get a ton of business experience,

startups are where it’s at.

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This is an article for those who ever thought about working for a startup, becoming an entrepreneur, or leading at the forefront of the future. If you’re looking to find your path, or veer off of it, this is for you.

In the midst of recruiting during my junior year, I saw my peers opting for more traditional roles at large corporations, often at finance and consulting firms. It seemed that, for many, startups were never even a consideration. Sound familiar? I believe there are a few reasons people veer away from startup internships and jobs, the first of which begs the question, Where do I even start? The process of finding the right start-up opportunities can be a little intimidating, but I’m here to give you advice I wish I had as I was navigating these waters a couple of years ago. Whether it be in technology, education, or nonprofits, with the right startup opportunity, you can find yourself having one of the most rewarding and transformative summer experiences possible.

Why startups?

In my experience, I can boil down desires for internships and jobs into five common wants: name brand, pay and perks, location, mentorship, and exit opportunity (for an internship this means a return offer, and for a job, this means post-job jobs). I will address these wants soon, but first, there’s one important factor missing that everyone should consider: IMPACT. Because startups need every bit of talent they can get, they often give their interns roles in which they can have a big impact, and that means a TON of personal growth and work experience for you. This goes for jobs as well. When you get to help build a business, perhaps even to billion dollar valuation, that’s big. Just imagine being employee less-than-100 at the next Google. If you’re looking to drink from the fire hose and get a ton of business experience, startups are where it’s at. When you’re working at that big-name company, are you making Powerpoints all day, or are you directly shaping a product that will reach millions?

When you have great impact, you can build passion for your work, and that sounds like a recipe for a rewarding opportunity. At the end of the day, do you want to walk out of the office knowing your work mattered? Of course, you do. That’s why impact is important, and that’s why you should consider it heavily when looking at different opportunities. I’m not saying every startup will give you a huge opportunity to make an impact, so always check the opportunity before signing for the summer. This is a lesson for any company, startup or not. Read the job description, talk to your interviewer and other relevant people, and make sure you’re going to make the most of your summer. Once you’ve ensured that, you’re well on your way to creating something meaningful for both you and the company. Now, let’s address the other basic wants: Name brand: When you get into your next internship or job interview, the interviewer is going to care much more about what you did than who you worked for. If brand name were really that important, they wouldn’t need to interview you, would they?

Again, this goes back to the importance of impact. I should note, however, that if you pick the right start-up (which I address later), your company may actually be a respected name by the time that interview comes around.

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Pay and perks: Startups know that they need to pay pretty well to attract talent, and those that can (i.e. high-growth startups you should be seeking), will.

In some cases, high-growth startups may pay better than larger corporations do. If you come across the right opportunity, you might even get some equity.

And perks? As you’ve probably heard, startups are all over those.

Location: Startups are everywhere!

Mentorship: Find the right startup, and you can be working directly with some of the most brilliant people you may ever encounter. Startups tend to have pretty flat offices, so it’s not rare for executives to interact directly with interns and new hires.

Startups are full of awesome people, making for a ton of potential for mentorship.

Exit Opportunity: Lots of growing startups give return offers, especially if you did well. Smart companies certainly wouldn’t spend a couple of months to train and put resources into your growth just so you can leave and never return. Don’t be afraid to talk to your boss towards the end of the internship about the potential to return. It can show that you’re committed, and would like to return, which could play in your favor. As for an actual job, small companies are agile. Do well, and you can move up quickly. In regards to post-job jobs, impact is key. Big impact at a startup means you can open many more doors for yourself when you take the next step in your career.

Finding the Right Startup: Remove Risk and Add Benefit What does the term “startup” evoke in your mind?

Do you imagine a small, cramped apartment of scruffy programmers huddled around an empty pizza box, coding away? Or do you imagine a bright building, with floor-to-ceiling windows and quirky meeting rooms, a bustling fountain of endless snacks and innovation? The thing is, the term “startup” encompasse s a range of companies.

That means you need to know what kind of startup to look for to get a valuable internship. Working for a startup can sound risky, as early startups that have little or no traction can leave you with an unfavorable experience.

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It’s difficult to work in a team when you’re not even sure the company will survive the next month. On the other end of the spectrum, there are huge rewards for working on a startup that’s on its way to becoming the next great company. The secret here is, if you find the right start-up, you will get an unforgettable and transformative experience.

My boss and mentor this past summer told me a piece of advice he was given while at Harvard Business School. I asked him how to find the right post-grad job opportunities, but his advice is also applicable to internships. What he said resonated with me because it just made sense. He drew a graph like the one below, with a start-up’s growth stage on the x-axis and leadership on the y-axis. The leadership axis describes those at the helm of the company, and is topped by “A” leaders, which includes admired innovators, past successful executives, or just sharp people who have a record of success. Talent attracts talent, so those who will succeed tend to bring in the right people to lead the company. You want to work with, and be mentored by those types of people. The “growth stage” axis ranges from A, when the company is just starting to raise funding, and hasn’t gained much traction, to B, when it’s gained a lot of traction and has raised millions in funding, to C, when a startup has become a successful, sustainable company, and is showing favorable profit. Maybe at this point, they’ve gone through an IPO. Think Google or Facebook.

The Sweet Spot You want to be at that red flower-star on the graph, right between B and C at growth stage, and at A on the leadership axis. This is where you find the next rocket ship. This is pre-IPO for the startup, after it’s gained a ton of traction and funding, and is growing quickly. This will be an exciting and critical time for the company, so you will have huge opportunity for impact. You’ll also get a lot of first-hand business experience that will be useful to you as a young entrepreneur.

If you do big things at this stage, you can move up quickly if you take on a full-time position.

It’s key that you have “A” people as leaders in the company as well. This ensures that leaders will make smart business decisions to help sustain growth and make the startup a successful company. It also means you’ll be working with top-notch people, from whom you can gain a lot of expertise, at a job that will jump-start your career.

Honing In Now that you know what to look for, you’re probably wondering how to find these opportunities. This might take a little more work than just looking at your campus job postings, but it will be worth it.

Use your campus resources: Look at job postings through your campus careers site.

For Harvard students, that means looking through OCS (not just OCI) postings. Keep an open mind, pay attention to the job titles/ descriptions, and don’t overlook unfamiliar company names, as some of the best opportunities are right under your nose.

Look at top venture capital portfolios: It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? To find out who is getting funding, work backwards from the funding to find promising startups. Top venture capitalists are the experts when it comes to figuring out if startups are really going to make it big, so they’ve already done most of the work for you. This is perhaps the best advice I could give you about finding the right startups.

Do your research: Look through sites like TechCrunch and Wired to see what kind of growth companies are seeing. Join AngelList, a two-way startup search engine, with which you can not only find startups, but startups can also reach out to you based on your profile. Google is also your friend here, so use it to learn more about your desired industry or startup. You’ll also want to do some research on what it’s like to work at the company, particularly how much growth opportunity there is for you. Glassdoor is an excellent way to learn about the pros and cons of many companies, and has other details such as salary and common interview questions.

Seize Your Opportunities Now that you’ve found some promising companies, it’s time to find that opening.

Some startups might have job postings on your school’s career services site, and if a startup has openings, it will probably post them on their website. For those that don’t have openings out on the site, you might want to e-mail the company’s careers e-mail or general e-mail, expressing both your interest in the startup and your qualifications to work for them. You can attach a resume for reference as well. There is a chance, although openings are not posted on the site, that they are willing to take on talent if they like you. This is a great opportunity to use LinkedIn. Search for the startup on LinkedIn, and see if you have any 1st or 2nd degree connections to it. You might be more connected than you think. You can then ask 1st connections to introduce you to 2nd degree connections in the company.

You might be able to learn more about the company through this new contact, and perhaps find out if there are internship opportunities. And of course, as always, be enthusiastic (this is an exciting process!) and express your gratitude to anyone who helps you along the way. In the end, getting an internship or job at a startup is just like landing an opportunity anywhere else. It’s going to take some work, and you might not get every offer or interview, but you could find your dream job in the process. I hope that as you apply to internships and jobs, you’ll also look out for startup opportunities. You will thank yourself in the end. The startup world moves quickly, so there’s no better time than now to work for startups. I wish you the very best of luck!

Heidi Lim Program Manager Office of the CEO at Delphix Former HUWIB Communications Chair

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A Career in Cooking An honors graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics, Joanne Chang left a career as a management consultant to enter the world of professional cooking. She is the chef and owner of Flour Bakery & Café and Meyers & Chang as well as the author of three books: Flour; Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery & Café; and Flour, too: Indispensable Recipes for the Café’s Most Loved Sweets & Savories. She will also be releasing an upcoming low-sugar baking cookbook in Spring 2015.

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What during your college career helped you the most with building business experience to ultimately open Flour?

To be honest one of the most valuable things I learned at Harvard was how you can be not perfect and still be okay- or even better than okay. I was the top of my class in high school and had never been in a situation in which I hadn’t succeeded. Harvard quickly changed all that when I found myself in over my head time and time again. Despite not being “the best” at anything anymore, I learned that I could still pursue interests and passions and enjoy them and push myself in them. That lifelong lesson has given me the confidence to pursue things without thinking I have to be perfect at them.

What made you realize that you wanted to open a bakery?

I had been working in restaurants and bakeries for a while and I realized that the type of place I wanted to hang out in didn’t really exist in Boston. I wanted a great place for a cup of coffee, a homemade pastry, a fresh made to order sandwich...and I couldn’t find it. So I decided to get my ducks in a row and try to open one myself.

How did you get your foot in the door in an industry that you previously had no experience in?

I sent a cover letter and resume, this was before email, to four of the top restaurants in Boston at the time; I explained that I had no professional experience but I had a ton of passion and was a very hard worker. Chef Lydia Shire who owned Biba called me and offered me a low-man-on-the-totem-pole position as bar food cook. I jumped at the chance to work in such a wellregarded kitchen with such a talented chef. Two weeks later I left my cubicle and was julienning scallions and making chicken stocks.

What type of work did you have to do to begin learning about cooking and the restaurant industry?

I started out as a bar food cook and then graduated to gardemanger, which is cold appetizers. Both were excellent intros to how to set up a station, work a prep list, clean as you go, stay organized, etc. I spent about a year doing that before getting into pastry.

Did you have to handle much criticism when you first had the idea to start Flour and change your career path so radically?

The two events are quite separate. Changing my career path happened first; my parents were understandably cautious and I had to promise them that if I wasn’t happy after a year of being in a restaurant kitchen I would switch back. Thank goodness I loved it! Once I had been in the business for a while the idea of opening a bakery of my own came to me and at that point I wouldn’t say that there was a lot of criticism on their part- again just concern that I knew what I was getting myself into. I didn’t, but I didn’t tell them that.

What was the most difficult part about opening a bakery/ restaurant?

The most difficult part then remains the most difficult part now: human resources. Finding the people to trust with your vision and teaching them and showing them what you are trying to do.

I have the most incredible team. I would do anything for these guys. But it’s really difficult to continually keep a strong team together and you always have to be ready for people to move on.

I’m really fortunate that many of my key managers have been with me for a while and I sure hope they continue to grow and be happy at Flour and M+C.

When did you know you were ready to expand to more locations and ventures?

I never planned on more than one bakery. But we got to a point where I had staff that had been with me for a long time who needed more challenges and who would potentially leave if there was no place for them to grow and move up to. So that led to my opening a second bakery to give people more opportunities to grow. Plus we had so many wonderful guests that we wanted to offer them another venue to enjoy Flour.

That’s when we knew we were ready to expand.

Do you believe there is still a gender divide when it comes to fields like the culinary arts or entrepreneurship? If so, what experiences have you had, and how do you hope we can move forward in the future?

It’s true that there are more men than women in the culinary arts, at least in the top leadership arena. In order to move towards more equitable representation I feel that women chefs can and should continue to embrace their roles as role models so that young females can see themselves succeeding in this industry.

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How did you make sure that your bakery stood out? What was something you did to make sure it was unique?

We’ve always focused on making sure we are having a great time. If my team is loving being at work then they will give it their all. We work really hard to create a positive supportive work environment that everyone is proud to be a part of. We are not perfect, for sure, but we do try every day to get there.

What are a few pieces of advice you can give someone starting their own restaurant, or own business in general?

Surround yourself with great talent and let them do what you hired them to do. Learn to communicate really clearly and well.

Understand the importance of your role in setting the tone and establishing the vision for your business.

What is your favorite part about working in the restaurant industry?

I love the people. I’ve met the best most interesting, passionate, fun, generous, kind and simply great people in this industry. I feel very lucky.

Can you walk us through a typical day as a baker?

You come in and check out the production list which lists out the projects you are on that day. Then you gather all of the recipes and equipment you need for the day. Sometimes you have a new project on your list, sometimes you’re teaching someone a new item, or maybe you’re finishing a project from the day before. Each day is different and every day you try to do as much as you possibly can

as perfectly as you can. It’s a constant challenge bcse it’s physically difficult, there are lots of time constraints, you are often sharing equipment and ovens and mixers and thus you have to be really flexible with your schedule, etc.

What do you think is one thing everyone should know about the food industry, perhaps a misconception?

That it is glamorous. It’s the service industry which means you’re working when everyone is having fun. It is physically very hard work and it’s not like you are granted full freedom and creativity when you start out. Rather you have too much work to do and not enough time to do it and if you are an avid home cook or baker it can be a shock to enter the professional kitchen and learn how regimented it is.

Do you think you would go back and change your major or extracurriculars in college now that you know where you ended up?

Why or why not? No I don’t think so. I loved applied math and my today self is really proud of my college self for going out on a limb and getting involved in extracurriculars that were out of my comfort zone, such as being part of a dance troupe. I don’t dance!

Where do you see yourself and your restaurants in five years?

Hopefully the bakeries and restaurant are still at the top of their game making people happy. I would love to continue writing cookbooks and mentoring staff and managers.

“Surround yourself with great talent and let them do what you hired them to do.”

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Meet the Team: HUWIB's Communications Committee

Emily Chen ‘15 Communications Chair

Camila Victoriano ‘16 Co-Editor in Chief

Joan Zhang '17 Co-Editor in Chief

Avika Dua ‘17 Publications Director

Billie Wei ‘17 Design & Branding Director

Karen Kennedy ‘17 Technology Director

Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business Make it Happen Magazine 2014

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