Women in Business

A Mediaplanet Guide to The Fight for Gender Equality in Business

Women in Business

Payal Kadakia Read why the Classpass founder prioritizes a good team above all

Learn how racial and gender inequities are impacting the entrepreneurial sector Discover business owner Seema Bansal’s secret to work-life balance MARCH 2021 | FUTUREOFBUSINESSANDTECH.COM

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Inequities in Access to Capital Is a Problem for Entrepreneurs Black women represent one of the fastest growing segments of women starting businesses, yet access to capital is still a major obstacle.

Although Black women are starting businesses at a rapid rate, they still have a higher failure rate, remain smaller, earn less revenue than their counterparts, and are usually in retail or service industries.

A history of social and racial inequality means that businesses run by women of color often have less access to capital. This is due to wealth disparities and lending discrimination; less social capital, which is an important ingredient to acquire business deals; and fewer mentorship and training opportunities.

The end result is a snowballing effect of inequality that plays out even among entrepreneurs. According to a report by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Laying the Foundation: A Wealth-Building Agenda for Georgia Women, on average, Black women’s businesses earn just 11 percent and Hispanic women’s businesses earn just 28 percent of the revenue earned by white women-owned businesses.

Despite all of the challenges, minority women are still starting and succeeding in business, which in some cases is necessary for economic survival due to the lack of employment opportunities.

Antionette Ball, CEO and Founder, Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Project, Inc. (WEOP)

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The Difference Empathetic Leadership Makes in Times of Uncertainty The pandemic has made the importance of kind and understanding leadership in the workplace clearer than ever before.

The capacity for noticing, understanding, and being sensitive to the feelings of those around us, otherwise known as empathy, has always been a key trait of our best leaders.

This is particularly true in the healthcare community, where we serve people during some of the most vulnerable times of their lives.

But this past year has made clear that empathy is more than a “soft skill” or a nice-tohave. It is at the very foundation of what it means to be an effective leader.

With all the challenges 2020 has brought us, the year

Laurie Cooke President & CEO, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) has also offered those of us in leadership positions an opportunity. That is the opportunity to step fully into empathetic leadership in a way that places listening and understanding at the core of every communication and every decision. An empathetic workplace equals an engaged workforce — and that translates to business success. This has been proven by research, including a study from Harvard Business Review that found that empathetic

companies outperform their less empathetic counterparts by 20 percent. Employees want to feel belonging and connection at work, and that relies on treating each other with kindness and understanding, which in turn enhances overall performance and improves their effectiveness.

The future will continue to bring uncertainty. And it is particularly important that leaders are willing to take action. By being transparent, accessible, and vulnerable ourselves, we can help to create a more empathetic culture that builds greater trust. Trust that will serve us long after this pandemic is under control because it is trust above all else that allows for the creative and agile action needed to meet our greatest challenges. n

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Publisher Devan Schwartz Business Developer Joelle Hernandez Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Tiffany Jackson Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Kathleen Walsh Partnership and Distribution Manager Jordan Hernandez Director of Sales Stephanie King Director of Product Faye Godfrey Cover Photo Christopher Patey All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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How a 16-Year-Old Entrepreneur Got the Capital to Grow a Successful Business Statistics show that women entrepreneurs have less access to capital than their male counterparts, but one teen girl is beating the odds.

Being in sixth grade at the time, I had never really experienced first-hand how capital can propel your business growth.

PHOTO: VERSANO PHOTOGRAPHY

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n business, you need capital to not only start, but also to grow your business. The challenge is that women entrepreneurs at every stage are statistically less likely to get access to the capital they need. They also tend to not seek out investor money and are much more conservative when valuing their businesses.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the next generation of women business owners from starting new enterprises and growing them to impressive levels — even with minimal capital and during a worldwide health and economic crisis. It just takes a little more ingenuity and tenacity than perhaps has been required in the past.

Anna Welsh of littlebags.bigimpact is one of these unstoppable young entrepreneurs. She launched her socially conscious handbag business four years ago when she was just 12 years old. At the time, she used $50 of her own savings and another $300 from her parents to create her first clutch purse made from recycled materials. When she needed capital to take it a step further, she was fortunate enough to connect with Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Philadelphia.

Through this program, Welsh was able to receive a $1,000 start-up investment.

“That was the only time I’ve accessed capital to this day,” she shared. “I ended up sell-

ing more than 1,000 bags that year and only projected 96 in my plan. Being in sixth grade at the time, I had never really experienced first-hand how capital can propel your business growth.”

Also key to Welsh’s growth have been business mentors who have connected her with other professionals like accoun-

tants, lawyers, and insurance agents. This circle of support has helped her to break down costs, from marketing and production to packaging and shipping, to really understand how these impacted her bottom line and then to save by negotiating and buying bulk and wholesale.

Her mentors also gave Welsh great advice for her

socially conscious business model. She originally wanted to donate 50 percent of business proceeds to empower education in socially disadvantaged communities, and they advised her to go with 15 percent. “That’s really allowed me to grow exponentially,” she says. “I’ve learned that you can still have a big impact while

investing in growing your company.”

While some might think Welsh’s young age presents unique challenges, she sees it as an advantage. “When I was walking in at 12, I was afraid to ask for advice related to money and capital, but given how welcoming and interested the investment community was in listening to the ideas the next generation has to bring to the table, I feel like I’ve really been given access that older entrepreneurs wouldn’t have.”

Now, Welsh is the one giving advice. As a NAWBO NextGen member, she has spoken for the past two years at the organization’s NextGen Conference Track designed to develop curiosity, confidence, and mindset in enterprising young women who are college or post-college age or high school age with an established business.

Meanwhile, with over 40 events cancelled over the past year, Welsh has pivoted to focus on growing her business through online sales, wholesale, corporate gifts, and subscription gift boxes.

She is also developing the relationships she’ll need to access capital when she needs it. “At some point, I’ll need capital to keep up with the growth and the passion I have for giving back,” she said. n

Karen Bennetts, Secretary & Treasurer, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Board of Directors MEDIAPLANET

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In an interview, Seema Bansal explains how a talent for spotting a void in the market and the ability to take time for self-care are integral to her business success.

Seema Bansal, who co-founded the floral company Venus ET Fleur with her husband, always has a busy schedule, starting with making the bed first thing every morning to make sure each day gets off to a productive start. “Then I’ll have coffee and then usually I’ll work out or, depending on my schedule, I’ll get straight into work. I usually have an 8:30 or 9:00 AM meeting, depending on the day.”

But however hectic her day gets, Bansal always makes time to fit in a few key things for herself.

“I journal every single day. That’s a huge part of my life. Then I’ll try to take 10 minutes throughout meetings to just meditate and turn off a little bit and make some time to breathe,” she said. “That’s how I think I’ve survived business.

I’ve always tried to take moments of the day for myself to check in and see how I’m doing. I think that’s really made a world of a difference for me.”

Though she credits taking the time for self-care as

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF SEEMA BANSAL

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a key factor in her business success, Bansal wasn’t always this adept at organizing her own schedule.

“When I first started, I did not understand the word balance,” she said.

“We were all over the place. We were just really trying to get our business off the ground. We were doing everything and anything to get there and prove a concept. I think that I learned throughout that process what burnout could feel like and I started taking self-care really seriously.”

Recognizing a void or opportunity in the market like this is also integral to Bansal’s business acumen, and this is how Venus ET Fleur got its romantic start — on Valentine’s Day in 2015, when Bansal’s then-boyfriend Sunny wanted to

send her some flowers to Canada from New York.

“He did a ton of research and was getting hit with different types of marketing. What I received wasn’t what was marketed online and that he had ordered. We realized there was a gaping hole in the luxury floral market and a huge discrepancy between what companies were marketing and what consumers were getting so we decided to fill that void.”

Bansal says that she likes to “problem solve,” a skill which has served her well over the years in overcoming business obstacles. This included streamlining her supply chain when a surprise Kardashian shout-out in the early days of the business caused inventory to immediately sell out, as

well as adjusting to the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adopting Bansal’s can-do and self-reflective attitude isn’t always easy.

Especially in extraordinary times such as these, finding time to check in and care for yourself can feel like a huge task, and this is particularly true of women, who studies have shown already take on more housework and caretaking duties than their male partners.

Bansal also points out that women can sometimes get in their own way when it comes to moving forward on a business or business idea. “I think women often have this self-sabotaging feeling or this overwhelming feeling of guilt that they should be doing something else or helping someone else,” she said. “It’s all about just believing that you can actually do it and amazing things will happen.”

As for herself, Bansal has no plans to stop where she is or rest on her laurels.

“Whenever I see a gap in a market, that really excites me. I like to create something that’s unique and different. I think that’s how I see myself growing within this industry or any other industry is just disrupting it and creating things that people haven’t really seen before.” n Lynne Daggett

Four MBA Students On Why They Went Back to School

Alexis Castorina Northcentral University

Saira Boghani Kennesaw State University

Lexi Young George Washington University

Ama Appiah George Washington University

Four women from vastly different professional and educational backgrounds explain why they chose to pursue an MBA degree, what they see for their future careers, and what advice they’d give other women.

Tell us more about your decision to obtain your MBA and why you chose this specific program.

Alexis Castorina: After earning a B.A. in journalism, my career path focused less on traditional reporting and more on public relations and marketing.

After working at a digital advertising agency and then in the marketing department for a large corporation, I realized I wanted to develop my business acumen.

Saira Boghani: With the advanced subject matter and a multitude of group projects, I wanted the opportunity to learn leadership qualities and enhance my critical and analytical thinking skills. I chose KSU’s MBA program because with the small class size and knowledgeable faculty, I knew I would get the one-on-one attention that I needed to succeed in this program and in my career.

Lexi Young: After working five years with the Department of the Navy in weapons development, I was ready to make a career change and elevate my leadership skills. I knew that earning an MBA, and from a school like GWSB no less, would set me up for success in the next chapter of my professional journey. The GW School of Business has a great reputation (last I checked, Financial Times rated us 34th in the United States which is amazing!). During the recruiting process, I learned how accessible the GWSB career center is and how extensive their business network is, which is overwhelmingly important when selecting a business school.

from my experience in STEM, while exploring my love for creativity through Communications. As a first-generation immigrant daughter of parents from Ghana, it has always been critical for me to view my studies through the cultural lens. Considering that the current business landscape lacks diverse representation in management and can often overlook cultural implication in strategy, it was important for me to learn management not only in curriculum but through the makeup of the student community.

Ama Appiah: As someone who was a double major in undergrad for Molecular and Cell Biology and Communications, I believed that obtaining an MBA degree would tie up all my loose ends. I have gained analytical and research skills

AC: Before jumping into any program, take the time to truly self-reflect and think about what you want your ideal life to look like and what that means for your long-term career goals.

Is an MBA a requirement for your career goal? If not, what

What advice would you give to other women thinking about getting an MBA?

are your motivations for wanting a graduate degree? Slowing down to think about the ROI of the degree (and not just monetarily) can help you make the best decision.

SB: Getting an MBA will equip you with confidence in your value so you can ask for what you want. It will challenge you to speak up and defend your position. The faculty and staff at KSU ensure that you have the support you need to succeed in the program and in your career.

LY: Do it! More than ever, women should earn their MBAs. We are dedicated, we are hard-working, and we are the future of business. Having a solid foundation and understanding of every angle of how companies operate and how best to manage finances, human capital, and other resources is critical to advancing professionally and setting yourself apart from your peers.

AA: Advice I would give to other women obtaining their MBA includes being intentional with what you want out of a program. Everyone’s educational journey is different and in order to receive the highest return on investment, you must closely analyze your strengths and learning opportunities and whether or not an MBA will be conducive to achieving these goals.

Applying to these programs are similar to applying for jobs (or oddly enough, dating).

As much as the university is interviewing you to see if you are a fit for their program, you are also interviewing them to see if they are a good fit for you. Regardless of what your mother may say, it is okay to be picky because like dating, obtaining your MBA is emotional and a time investment so why not get the best out of it? n

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Women Learners Become Women Leaders The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic stress across all demographics, but the crisis has struck women particularly hard.

Not only have more women than men lost their jobs during this time, but working mothers of school-aged children have also taken on more responsibilities at home as schools transitioned to online learning. Both factors might

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have derailed some women from their academic and corporate ambitions.

However, there’s also good news. A time of economic upheaval presents an opportunity for people to rethink their career aspirations, and business education is a great place to start. Many enroll in business school to refresh their skills, improve their employment prospects, or launch themselves into leadership roles. Others enroll to enhance their

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business acumen as they pursue a new entrepreneurial venture. The appetite for lifelong learning is robust.

Women who follow this path will find that graduate business education is now more accessible than ever. In efforts to make their student populations diverse and global, business schools are creating initiatives that not only encourage women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation students to enroll, but also provide support for them to thrive in their programs.

And while schools still offer traditional two-year full-time MBA programs for students who seek it, many options exist for people whose time is less flexible or who want to pursue education in a particular area of interest. For instance, fully online programs allow students to learn wherever they are, whenever they want. One-year specialized programs give students deep expertise in high-demand disciplines in a shorter timeframe. At AACSB-accredited business schools, these online and hybrid programs ensure the same high-quality education as traditional, full-time programs.

While a graduate business degree provides any individual with the essential tools to succeed, historically only about half as many women as men earn MBAs — but that number is growing. AACSB data reports over a 14 percent increase in the number of women earning MBAs in the United States since 2016.

And the degree pays off. According to 2018 U.S. Census records, the median annual salary for women with master’s degrees is $56,545. By contrast, the average starting salary for men and women who earned their MBAs in the July 2018 to June 2019 time frame is $104,200.

When women pursue an MBA education, they learn foundational business skills, develop critical leadership abilities, and build powerful networks. When they join companies and take leadership positions, they bring broader perspectives to every challenge. Their presence drives innovations that benefit both business and society. n Caryn L. Beck-Dudley, President & CEO, AACSB International

In order to build a successful startup, you first need to raise capital. And this can be especially hard for entrepreneurs who are women and women of color, who statistically have a harder time finding investors for their products than their male counterparts do.

Payal Kadakia, who founded the wildly successful tech startup Classpass, says she attracted investors with a combination of luck, networking, and a really great product.

Kadakia says when her business first launched, her first investors were people who already knew and loved her, and more importantly knew her work ethic. “Early days it was a lot of friends and family, people who really were believing in me, and kinda knew that I was the person who could tackle this problem that I was going out to solve. Which was about getting people

Payal Kadakia On Raising Capital and Starting a Movement PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER PATEY

The founder of Classpass breaks down how she got her business started and why a great team is even more important than funding.

to go to class and getting back to their passions,” she said.

If capital gets a startup off the ground, it’s the people who work there who really keep the engine running.

“I think that the most important thing for me was having the right people involved in the company from day one,” Kadakia said. In fact, she

says that finding a team of people who really care about the product and want to see it succeed is even more important than the funding (which comes second). “I really believe, especially when you’re building big ideas like this, it’s not about getting a loan. It’s about having a team that is energized to really go on this mission and sort

of solve every problem with you,” she said. “Because it really takes a team to build anything like this.”

While she has built a great team now, Kadakia says that in the beginning, she was in some ways going it alone. “I was a woman of color in tech, I didn’t have that many people to look up to,” she said. “I will say I looked up to people that were disrupting industries. Anywhere from Beyoncé to Steve Jobs to me was a disruptor that inspired me to think bigger and think differently in a way that other people hadn’t in my industry.”

But at the heart of it, Kadakia is most inspired by the people who use her product.

“I felt like every single time someone went to class I was giving them something that was such a gift,” she said. “To me my customers were always the center of my inspiration.

Like figuring out what amazing life they can lead on my product.” n Lynne Daggett SPONSORED

The University Where Over Half the MBA Students Are Women The George Washington University School of Business has reached a powerful benchmark: 57 percent of its Global MBA students are women.

The Financial Time’s latest Global MBA Top 100 ranking found GW Business and the University of California, Irvine had hit that benchmark in fall 2020, outpacing all other Global MBA programs in the country. The Forté Foundation, which works to deepen women’s foothold in business and business education, said GW Business was the only of its 53 partner schools around the world to cross the 50 percent threshold.

For more than two decades — through academic programs, co-curricular offerings and internal leadership

— GW Business has been advancing a culture of inclusion. Susan Kessler, director of graduate recruiting and admissions, said the school has worked to erase the notion that “the MBA was the old boys club” while stepping up a support system of academic advisers, mentors, and career coaches.

The school’s 25 stackable certificates have also proven attractive to Global MBA students who want deeper knowledge in specific fields. Kessler said the credit-bearing certificates provide both the specialization and flexibility women need to customize their coursework and the timing of their degrees.

“We have everything from certificates in traditional functional areas like management leadership

and finance to niche programs like corporate responsibility and government and nonprofit accounting to skill-building areas like artificial intelligence, business analytics, and cloud applications,” said Liesl Riddle, associate dean of graduate programs.

In fostering women’s inclusion, GW Business leads by example. Susan Phillips, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, served as dean for 12 years until her retirement in 2010, and Linda Livingstone was dean from 2014 to 2017, when she was named president of Baylor University. Currently, half the associate deans and a third of the research center directors are women.

Susan Kulp, a professor of accountancy, directs the MBA program.

The school’s strong international business curricula and well-connected global faculty drive a standout academic program. For two years running, the Financial Times has ranked GW Business’s Global MBA program No. 1 for international business in the United States, and No. 2 worldwide. n Mary A. Dempsey

To learn more about George Washington University and its programs, visit https://business.gwu.edu

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