Women in Business 2019 by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

2019

Women in Business empowered humility savvy

motivate passion business purpose believe

INSPIRE

success extraordinary

bravery

confidence self-belief assertive

discipline

enterprising persistence

Congratulations to my fellow Women in Business! Whether you are a CEO of a Family or a Leader in the Community, I am proud to be a part of this talented group of ladies! F545737-1

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

About this publication

October is National Women’s Small Business Month, an event championed by the National Women’s Business Council, a nonpartisan federal advisory council to the president, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Women still face many obstacles in the workplace such as sexual harassment, gender bias and wage discrimination. However, women have made advances across the business spectrum. We’re celebrating the success of women in business by highlighting Interior Alaska women who own and manage a variety of successful enterprises in our community.

Inside

Rachael Kvapil ........................................3 Andrea Sonnichsen ............................... 4 Pregnancy discrimination ..................... 6 Michaella Perez..................................... 7 Tracy Shoemaker................................... 8 Sheri Olesen ......................................... 10 Women’s hockey.................................... 12 Cost of discrimination............................ 14 Zalando diversity................................... 15 Gender wage gap.................................. 16 Workplace discrimination........................17

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Kvapil inspired by love of media, innate creativity By David James FOR THE NEWS-MINER

Rachael Kvapil of Pagesculptor Studios

ERIC ENGMAN/NEWS-MINER

hen Rachael Kvapil launched her multimedia marketing firm, Pagesculptor Studios, making a video involving mermaids and doing underwater camera work was not something she foresaw. But that’s what she found herself doing when a local aerial acrobatics school hired her to oversee a promotional piece.

“They got two performers who were guys who were pretending to be hearing the sirens’ song and running to them,” Kvapil said. “It shows them coming up with the silks and drowning them in the water.” “Thank God I’m a swimmer,” she added, “because I was underwater with goggles.” The slogan for Kvapil’s company is “Helping small businesses do big KVAPIL » 5

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Community engagement key to studio’s success FOR THE NEWS-MINER

ne of the first lessons Andrea Sonnichsen learned after opening Northern Whimsy Art Studio is that businesses have a way of developing themselves by remaining flexible and making adjustments. “My focus when I started this was doing art lessons,” she said. “Then the gift shop morphed into what it is.” Sonnichsen opened the Ninth Avenue art center this past January, and it’s been gaining momentum ever since. She said her initial idea was to create a space that could allow local artists to share their knowledge with students. “There are a few options here, but not a great selection,” she explained. “Teaching lessons is what I really wanted to do, and get other artists teaching because I by no means have enough knowledge to share all the things that are out there.” In April she added a gift shop to the mix, selling items that, she said, must be “Handmade, here in Alaska. Those are my qualifications. And quality. So far I’ve had fantastic artists come into the studio, and I feel very fortunate about that.” The success of the April gift shop opening caught her off guard. “There were so many people here that it was shoulder-to-shoulder in this little space.” Once the shop was open, Sonnichsen found

Andrea Sonnichsen of Northern Whimsy Art Studio that her customer base was different from what she expected. “I thought tourists would be more of my customers,” she said. “But it’s been really the locals and repeat customers. The community support has been fantastic. I’ve felt blessed.” This support fulfills her broader vision, which is to create a space that is open to everyone. “It’s always been my desire to have some kind of community arts center here in Fairbanks,”

she said. “Somewhere to go to learn new things.” Community and entrepreneurship are both deeply ingrained in Sonnichsen. She was born and raised in Fairbanks. Her parents are business owners, as is her husband. Thus, the idea of working for someone else always seemed foreign to her. So when her child reached kindergarten age and she had more time to devote to endeavors other than being a full-time mom, opening her own busi-

ness made the most sense. She wanted it to

be one that would allow her the flexibility to volunteer at her kid’s school as well. Sonnichsen and her husband found the downtown location in December and quickly got to work renovating it. “It had green shag carpet and pink walls. It was really special,” she laughingly recalled. When they pulled up the carpet they discovered a beautiful hardwood floor, which they refinished and which lends the studio a homey warmth. Classes began to be offered in January, and Sonnichsen used her connections in the local arts scene to find teachers. “I just look at their work, and if I think it’s something people would be interested in taking classes in, we try it and see how it goes. So far the classes have booked well. A couple times I’ve put them out there and within a day they’ve been booked.” Entering the retail market has taught Sonnichsen another important lesson: Let customers drive what’s offered. “The things that you

think will sell are not necessarily the things that do. Just because it’s not your favorite item does not mean that it’s not going to be somebody else’s.” Looking down the road, Sonnichsen wants to expand the class offerings. At the moment she has people teaching acrylic, alcohol ink, painting, sketching and more. Most classes are for anyone older than 12, but she wants to place more focus on kids in the 10 to 16 range, a group she feels is underserved. She also wants to reach out to homeschoolers. Surprised by the success Northern Whimsy has become, Sonnichsen said one of her biggest concerns has been to avoid getting overwhelmed. “Honestly, there was not a huge amount of forethought,” she said. “It just kind of fell into place for us. It’s been a fun project. I feel like it was sort of meant to be the way things came together.” David James lives in Fairbanks.

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By David James

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

KVAPIL

Continued from 4 things,” and it’s an approach she takes to heart. She started small herself, working out of her basement while holding down a full-time job. Her goal was to help small local businesses reach customers in an increasingly cluttered media biosphere. It was a natural fit for her, she said, because, “I have always extensively loved media. All sorts of media. Whether it’s video or audio or whatever.” Kvapil grew up in Alaska. Her father worked on the pipeline in the 1970s and most of her childhood was spent in Wasilla. After high school, she left for the Northwest for a few years but eventually found herself in Valdez, married and a mother. In 1997 her young family moved to Fairbanks, where she earned a bachelor’s degree

“When you’re making a video, I don’t care if it’s a video of us talking, or of your cats, you have an idea of who you are making that content for.”

— Rachael Kvapil

in journalism from UAF, with minors in marketing and communications. After graduating, she went to work for local television stations, advertising firms, and the Fairbanks Arts Association, where she honed her skills. Being highly self-motivated, however, meant that it wasn’t long before she was spending her off hours working for herself. “I started doing side projects in 2004,” she said. One of her earliest clients was the University of Alaska, and that required that she obtain a business license. Thus RKMA, which stood for Rachael Kvapil Multimedia Studio, was born. “It’s always

been a side gig for the most part,” she said. “It’s grown and it’s changed. It was originally mostly writing articles and freelancing them statewide.” Kvapil came of age with the internet, and she said keeping abreast of the rapid changes in online promotions has been key to her success. “I remember doing social media on a flip phone,” she said of her early days. As building webpages and shooting video eclipsed the writing portion of her work, she changed her business’s name to Pagesculptor in 2009, adding “Studios” in 2018. The name, she said, dates back to when she was in school.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

“I interned in college with Ice Alaska. They’re all ice sculptors. I was working on their web page. I thought, I’m not an ice sculptor, but I’m a page sculptor. So that was how it came about.” Kvapil said a big part of her work involves helping clients target their promotional materials to prospective customers. “When you develop media and media content for webpages, or for social media, you cannot separate the marketing component from it. When you’re making a video, I don’t care if it’s a video of us talking, or of your cats, you have an idea of who you are making that content for.” With that in mind, she tells prospective clients that they need to decide if a professionally produced marketing campaign will lure more customers than one they do for themselves. “There is a time and a money correlation. You have to ask

yourself, ‘Am I losing money by doing it for myself,” she explained. “Your phone is not going to get something that will be aired on the Super Bowl. A 4K camera will.” Investing in a 4K camera was a difficult decision for Kvapil, who generally tries to keep her expenses under control. “It was a small heart attack to pay for it, but it was worth it.” That said, she advises prospective business people to exercise financial caution. “You can do a lot with a little bit of equipment,” she advised. “You don’t need all the super highend bells and whistles.” In her field, Kvapil explained, inspiration is more important than technical finesse. Reflecting on the mermaid video, she said, “This is a professional client, but we’re also very creative. You can imagine it in many, many different ways.” David James lives in Fairbanks.

Traci’s Business Tips Don’t rest on your laurels. Instead, continue to seek out resources that help you to grow professionally. You also have a responsibility to ensure that individuals who are new to leadership positions have access to ongoing training and support as they develop their skills. A good investment for any leader is to hone your communication as well as conflict management and resolution skills.

If you feel guilty for enjoying non-work-related activities, stop that faulty thinking! Don’t let family, work, leisure and other aspects of your life suffer because you fail to practice self-care. Say “yes” to a lifestyle that supports your physical and mental health.

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How you bo unce back fr om professional setbacks, sets the tone for the work environm ent. If you sulk an d complain, your employees w ill follow your lead and soon ev er ything is do om and gloom. If you are re silient and bounce back with ne w and better ways to tackle chal lenges, employees w ill be more lik ely to embrace and contribute to the new directio n.

While you may believe that you are a “natural” leader, don’t lose sight of the fact that every leader has room to grow.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Pregnancy discrimination continues, 41 years after US ban By Dee-Ann Durbin

In this Oct. 4 photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at the SEIU Unions For All Summit in Los Angeles. For 41 years, federal law has banned pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. But the stories tumbling out show it’s far from eradicated. Prompted by Warren’s claim that she was forced out of a teaching job in 1971 because she was pregnant, scores of women have shared similar stories on social media.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

or 41 years, federal law has banned pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. But the stories tumbling out this week show it’s far from eradicated. Prompted by presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s claim that she was forced out of a teaching job in 1971 because she was pregnant, scores of women have shared similar experiences on social media. Police officers, academics, fast food workers, lawyers, flight attendants, administrative assistants and others say they hid pregnancies on the job or during interviews, faced demeaning comments and were demoted or even fired after revealing a pregnancy. When some raised doubts about Warren’s account — noting a 2007 interview in which she gave different reasons for leaving her job — women pushed back on Twitter and Facebook. Many say they accept Warren’s explanation that she has grown more comfortable since 2007 sharing the real reason she resigned from the school was because the principal hired someone else once Warren became visibly pregnant. “Pregnancy discrimination is real, and I believe Elizabeth Warren,” tweeted Dr. Diane Horvath, an obstetrician and gynecologist who works at Whole Woman’s Health, a clinic in Baltimore. Horvath didn’t even trust her own profession when she was interviewing for a family planning fellowship five years ago. She hid her pregnancy for 26 weeks during the application process, buying multiple suits to hide her growing belly. “It was just the worry that I was going to be seen as less reliable because I was a parent,” Horvath told The Associated Press. “There’s no good

AP PHOTO/RINGO H.W. CHIU

time to have a baby.” Horvath noted that she was privileged. She knew she could fall back on her medical degree if she didn’t get the fellowship. But many women aren’t so lucky. “The stakes are so much higher if people can’t get a job that will pay their rent and keep their kids from starving,” she said. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. In 1978, it was amended to forbid discrimination based on pregnancy in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay and job assignments in companies with 15 or more employees. The law is still evolving; on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide if it also bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status. Pregnant women have other

protections on the job. Impairments from pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, are considered disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and employers may have to offer accommodations for them. But complaints about harassment and other violations are common. There were 2,790 cases alleging pregnancy discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2018. That doesn’t include cases filed with individual states, or cases that simply aren’t filed because proving discrimination can be tricky. Employers may rescind a promised job, for example, without specifying why. “Employers have gotten much more discreet in acts of discrimination,” said Craig Barkacs, a law professor at the University of San Diego School of Business who successfully prosecuted one of the first cases of pregnancy discrimination

in the U.S. in 1992. Barkacs said the problem affects women broadly — even those who aren’t pregnant. “At some psychological level, there’s a paradigm of what an efficient workplace is,” he said. “Women even potentially becoming pregnant disrupts that workflow.” Barkacs thinks that’s changing. More men and partners of pregnant women are taking parental leave, following high-profile examples like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That could make employers less likely to penalize pregnancy as a disruption, he said. More comprehensive federal laws with tough sanctions would also help, he said. Some states require employers to provide unpaid leave and health care to women who are disabled by pregnancy, for example, but others don’t. Sonya Rosenberg, a partner with Neil, Gerber and Eisen-

berg law firm in Chicago who trains companies on employment-related legal issues, said employers often have a short-sighted approach to pregnant employees. “Pregnancy and childbirth take up a comparatively tiny amount of time in a woman’s overall career span,” she said. Companies that make accommodations for pregnant employees — and enforce those policies — will be more successful at retaining female talent. But Horvath believes real change will only come when the U.S. adopts more comprehensive laws promoting parenthood, including paid leave and subsidized child care. Even with the current laws in place, she says, many pregnant women don’t have the time, energy or money to pursue a discrimination case in court. “It’s never going to be written that you were fired for pregnancy,” she said. “It’s essentially unenforceable.”

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Perez stirs up lunchtime with lots of healthy options By David James FOR THE NEWS-MINER

“My little boy has a growing list of allergies, and I realized that Fairbanks lacked a place with options. Especially a drive-through place. There were not a lot of options here in town where people really understood allergies and intolerances.”

“O

— Michaella Perez

Michaella Perez of Cafe de Stir It Up. ERIC ENGMAN/NEWS-MINER ferent was opening Stir It Up, a coffee stand on Phillips Field Road, in November 2015. She found a building available in North Pole, moved it to its present location, and got it up and running. “Finding financing when you don’t have a standing business can be very difficult,” she said. “So I started the coffee hut on a lot of hope and faith and a personal loan.” Fortunately, she had a network to draw from. “I had a lot of support from family and friends for things that I needed. I started fairly small, and the more the finances came in, the more we expanded.” Building a customer base took time in the competitive drivethrough coffee stand market. She said she

found social media particularly helpful in attracting business. She also worked with a local radio promotion. “A big game changer for us was doing 50/50 Friday with the radio stations,” she said, describing the program where stations sell gift cards for local businesses at half their face value. The stations keep the money, but the businesses get advertising and promotion in exchange. “That is difficult because you’re handing away free product for your airtime,” she said. “But it definitely gained us some clientele.” Last year Perez decided she was ready to take the next step and expand to a sit-down eatery. She said choosing the location was easy. “I’d looked at this spot

for a long time. I made a call to the realty company and said, ‘Hey, I want to look at it.’ I had faith that if it was meant to be, it would be, and here we are. We signed the lease in December, and we opened in May.” The restaurant is open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Along with food, they serve cof-

fee from two roasters, Anchorage-based Kaladi Brothers, and also a new startup. “Lifeline Coffee Roasters is Fairbanks’ newest coffee roaster,” she said. “They are a veteran-owned business.” Owner Spencer DeWaele roasts the coffee in the srestaurant, providing Perez with a house blend. Reflecting on her experiences as a business owner for several years now, Perez advised those considering the same path, “Don’t lose yourself in starting your business. Self-care is very important. Make sure to block out a couple of hours a week for yourself.” Even more important, she added, “Don’t be afraid of failure. Because

failure is a stepping stone to success.” Another key ingredient is community involvement. Stir It Up engages in local philanthropic work. Her son has a support group for kids with food allergies that meets there. She’s hoping to offer painting classes onsite soon. And she’s taking part in the upstart Final Friday art event, offering music, art, and coffee tasting. “It does say outside, ‘Your community cafe’,” she said. “We want this not just to be a restaurant but a place where people can come together. On whatever note that is.” David James lives in Fairbanks.

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ptions for your dietary lifestyle guaranteed,” is how Michaella Perez described the menu at Cafe de Stir It Up, the breakfast and lunch place she opened this spring on the Old Steese Highway. Located in the spot formerly occupied by Speedy’s Subs, it’s a dinein and takeout version of a popular coffee hut she’s operated for four years. “We have gluten-free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian. We can accommodate almost anything.” Perez has a personal reason for wanting to cater to those with restricted diets. “My little boy has a growing list of allergies, and I realized that Fairbanks lacked a place with options,” she said. “Especially a drive-through place. There were not a lot of options here in town where people really understood allergies and intolerances. So that’s what sparked the coffee hut.” Perez grew up in Fairbanks and has a degree in early childhood education from the University of Alaska, but she said the java business has been the mainstay of her career. “I started in coffee when I was 16. It’s a profession I always found my way back to. After I got my bachelor’s degree and had taught for a couple of years, I wanted to do something different.” That something dif-

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Shoemaker’s Insight Bookkeeping focuses on the big picture By Kyrie Long KLONG@NEWSMINER.COM

Tracy Shoemaker, owner of Insight Bookkeeping. office,” she said, laughing. She set up a desk, complete with computers, and has files upon files for keeping her work organized. She works both remotely, for businesses

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KYRIE LONG/NEWS-MINER

that are far out of town, and onsite with clients. While she received her license to start up Insight Bookkeeping in January, Shoemaker said she did not

officially start taking clients until March, as a cancer diagnosis in the family resulted in her leaving the city for awhile. As it would happen, when she returned, her first client

Contact staff writer Kyrie Long at 459-7510. Follow her on Twitter at: twitter.com/FDNMlocal

Thank you Fairbanks for blessing me with your business! I look forward to serving you in the future! Top Producer. UAF Alumni. Involved in the community. Happily married. Mother of 3. Proud to be born and raised in Fairbanks and here to stay!

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ometimes, when a business starts out, it takes a while before owners are able to see the bigger picture — exactly how everything fits together in order to run smoothly. Tracy Shoemaker, owner and founder of Insight Bookkeeping, makes it her job to be the person who sees the bigger picture. Insight Bookkeeping is more than a bookkeeping company; Shoemaker does business consulting as well and loves seeing what makes a business tick. “I love running a business,” she said. “It’s not just the books, it’s how the whole thing ties together, and making it run more smoothly and getting everybody to come together as a team.” Shoemaker is a mother of three, all adults now, and has lived in Alaska since 1982. She has over a decade of experience in the business sector. She was the owner of the Flickering Wick in the Bentley Mall for 10 years and had worked in bookkeeping for another company before she left to start Insight Bookkeeping earlier this year. “So, I turned my oldest daughter’s bedroom into the

would be the Breast Cancer Detection Center. It felt “like it was meant to happen,” she said. The process of starting up the business was easy, Shoemaker said, adding that she believes people should “live their life with certainty” and, knowing what she was good at, she just went for it. She likes to work with people and running Insight Bookkeeping gives her ample opportunity to do that. She also loves running a business and she said it’s not about coming in and being in charge. “It’s about watching a business grow and the people within that business, the team, grow as well — not as only individuals, but as a team,” she said,” and that’s what my passion is, is to help others, and I don’t see it as a job.” Shoemaker presently has four steady clients. She works with a certified public accountant who refers people to her, but plans to do some of her own community outreach as well. Her website, insightbookkeeping.org, provides more details on the company’s offerings.

Tracy Vanairsdale – A woman in business HOW I BECAME AN ARCHITECT Why I love what I do: • Working with/for great people, challenge of solving design problems with purpose • Opportunity to make a difference/impact • Diversity – difference challenges as far as scope, location, client, etc. My message: To take opportunities, take risks and keep learning . . . work hard and play hard Not many children know what they want to be at an early age. Drawing plans in grade school was a pretty good sign that Tracy (Johnson) Vanairsdale was destined to be an architect. Her interest started with art in general and then developed with assistance of her dad, general contractor Fred Johnson, in his shop where she would test her skills at design and then building from the ideas. Jump ahead 40 some years, and today Tracy is a business leader in the architectural arena. Tracy is the sole woman owner, with her partners Roy Rountree and Mark Kimerer, for one of the state’s largest architectural and design companies with employees located in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Tracy manages the Fairbanks office and collaborates on high quality architecture designs while also overseeing marketing and business endeavors. Born and raised in Fairbanks, Tracy enjoys spending time outdoors, typical of being Alaskan raised. This appreciation of the environment, the seasons and the landscape is an important part of her approach to design solutions. “The changing of the daylight throughout the year and day, with sun angles and colors the light reflects, are small sensitive design opportunities.” Tracy’s path to becoming a business owner was aided by a series of advisors that guided her from high school internships with Gerry Myers (GDM), working through her degree at the University of Idaho at Design Alaska with Ken Champlain. These opportunities gave her the chance to test her interest with the idea of working in the industry. She was hooked. “I was fortunate to have great mentors who really took time and interest in my professional development, and that’s something I try not to forget….and so helping others grow and gain positive experience is important to me.” Working toward her Bachelor of Architecture, graduating in 1994, she was one of five females in a class of approximately 50. The ratio was similar at her first full-time job in an Architectural and Engineering Design firm. It was there Tracy met her now husband, David Vanairsdale, who is a structural engineer. In 2007, she became CB Bettisworth’s business partner and the first woman to invest and own part of CB&Co. Tracy has worked along side of Charles Bettisworth for over 25 years, collaborating on projects that positively impact local Alaskan communities. Tracy has had the opportunity to work on several local boards, such as the Rotary Club of Fairbanks, and the Alaska Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. In these examples, Tracy notes that these once male-dominated associations are now associated with strong women in leadership roles. “To have strong support and guidance has allowed me to pursue my goals in a profession that has been mostly male dominated.” Tracy has seen change and progress, working with more companies, specifically the leaders or owners of client organizations, general contractors, or engineering consultants. It is now common to have entire project teams with majority or all women. “I am inspired every day by my 36 coworkers, who are more than 50% women. They consistently challenge me to be better. I do my best for them and to serve our clients with purpose, while trying to have fun in the process.”

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Drag Off takes Olesen on a colorful journey

Sheri Olesen of Drag Off. ERIC ENGMAN/ NEWSMINER

By Nancy Tarnai FOR THE NEWS-MINER

heri Olesen, founder and owner of Drag Off, is a driven business owner, but it’s the friendships she makes through the work of her Fairbanks business that mean the most to her. Olesen, 39, created an all-organic skin care line for her own use after learning that some commercial products contain ingredients that can be toxic. She found a cold cream recipe and tweaked it, then decided to give her potions as Christmas gifts to her family. Her sister-in-law in Seattle shared some of the products with noted Seattle drag queen Betty Wetter, who tried the DRAG OFF » 11

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Thursday, October 17, 2019

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

DRAG OFF

Continued from 10 Drag Off makeup remover and loved it. Olesen offered to share her recipe, but Wetter said she wasn’t about to make the stuff; she just wanted to buy it. Thus, Drag Off was born in Olesen’s micro-factory (basement) two years ago. She connected with Faith Taylor, a drag queen in Florida while on vacation and further cemented her involvement in the drag community. As a marketing strategy, she attends RuPaul’s DragCon, a national convention for drag queens and admirers. Owning her own business is not new to Olesen. She previously owned the downtown business Chartreuse but gave it up when she became a mother. She recently launched a twounit Air BnB in downtown

“You have to be ready; you have to be persistent; you have to have grit. You can’t quit because something doesn’t go right. Be ready to take action.”

— Sheri Olesen

Fairbanks. Born near Spokane, Washington, Olesen came to Interior Alaska with her military family at the age of 4. At 17, she moved to Colorado but eventually came home to work in the special needs community and for Taiga Ventures setting up camps and expediting. “I never knew I was an entrepreneur,” Olesen said. “I just knew I didn’t like working for other people.” She credits her husband and her parents for supporting her endeavors and is thrilled with the juxtaposition of having a quiet home life with her family and still getting to hang out

with drag queens. “We have so much fun,” she said. “It’s definitely a special niche,” Olesen said. “But the products aren’t just for drag queens. It’s an intensive moisturizer that I even use on my kids’ rashes.” Drag Off has three lines: the Basic Bitch, the Betty (lavender, mint and vanilla) and the T (tea tree oil and baking soda). While she is working hard to make a profit, Olesen said her real purpose for running the business is to be able to give back. “My main goal is philanthropy,” she said.

She intends to offer grants that individuals and nonprofits can apply for. A particular interest is equality for LGBQT+ people, and she hopes to attend more Pride events around the country. Her goal for Drag Off is to eventually move out of her home and create a safe workplace for LGBQT+ employees. “It’s my way of improving things,” Olesen said. “I’m not resisting or fighting, but if I make money I can support people who resist and fight.” The biggest challenges are finding eco-friendly packaging and marketing her products. Her advice for other women is as bold as Olesen herself. “You

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have to be ready; you have to be persistent; you have to have grit. You can’t quit because something doesn’t go right. Be ready to take action.” Olesen said she’s put a lot more money into her business than she originally planned. “But I did promise my husband a Porsche — a used Porsche — someday,” she said, laughing. “And there have been tears,” she admitted. “There have been times I asked myself why am I struggling with this.” Her latest boost has been the inclusion in Beauty Backer, crowdsourcing for beauty product companies. Her website is drag-off.com. “I’m getting a great response,” Olesen said. “People who use Drag Off love it.” Nancy Tarnai has been writing about Interior Alaska lifestyles for the NewsMiner since 1995. She can be reached at njtarnai@gmail.com.

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Women’s hockey landscape has full attention of young players By John Kekis ASSOCIATED PRESS

AKE PLACID, N.Y. — Debbie Osborne eased into a seat inside Herb Brooks Arena and stared out at her 17-yearold daughter, Kayle, as a hockey game between the United States and Canada featuring girls under age 18 was set to get under way. A single mother who has a full-time job in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Osborne had arranged her work schedule in mid-August to be able to drive to Lake Placid to watch her daughter play, go back home and work her shift, then do it all again two more times. She didn’t want to miss anything. “For Kayle, watching her grow up and having all these dreams of getting to where she is, on the pathway _ and the hard work and the effort and the joy and the excitement and the ups and the downs _ it’s amazing,” Osborne said. “She eats, lives, breathes hockey. It’s just amazing to see her and the other girls at this level.” Dozens of young women trekked to Lake Placid recently to play, with many hoping it is a steppingstone to something greater: Playing in college, perhaps, maybe the Olympics or world championships, and more than a few harbor dreams

In this March 24 photo, Minnesota’s Taylor Heise controls the puck during the third period in the NCAA Division I women’s Frozen Four hockey championship game against Wisconsin in Hamden, Conn. A viable professional hockey league for women is the goal of the current crop of veteran players, and the youngsters who dream of playing the sport professionally when they get older. AP PHOTO/STEPHEN DUNN of making a living at hockey. A career. That road is a murky one for

now. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded in April

it’s great that they’re fighting for it. They’re ultimately paving the way for us and girls younger than us to have more success down the road. “I would love to (play professionally) eventually, so I’m hoping by the time I’m out of college it’s all figured out and secure because that is a goal of mine.” Taylor Heise of Lake City, Minnesota, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota and a member of USA Hockey’s U22 team, said she appreciates the solidarity the pro players have demonstrated. “Being part of this program means supporting one another,” Heise said. “Whether you’re on the younger team, the older team, it’s important to support one another as women. Even though we have a place to play because we’re in college, just staying with them and know that they have our support is really beneficial.” The term “Dream Gap” represents the missing link for women who fear that playing in college or the Olympics will be their last hurrah. And being a pro hasn’t been what most probably envisioned in their youthful dreams. Try living on $3,000 a year. “In 10 years I don’t want somebody to be in my shoes,” HOCKEY » 13

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after 12 years, and more than 200 players who formed the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association a month later all pledged to sit out this season while demanding a single, economically viable league — even as the five-team National Women’s Hockey League goes forward with its fifth season, beginning Saturday. The PWHPA elected to barnstorm and the first stop on its “Dream Gap Tour” featured some 80 players split over four teams for a two-day tournament last month in Toronto. It was some competition for national team players like American Brianna Decker who won’t be playing in a professional league this winter. “Our goal is to grow the game,” said Decker, who served as a coach in Lake Placid. “As the players get older, we want them to have a sustainable and reliable professional league to play in. Younger players are just honestly really appreciative of what we’re trying to do. They’re all on board.” Players like 20-year-old Cayla Barnes of Eastvale, California, who followed her four older brothers into the sport. “I think it’s a constant fight for equality that the older girls are wanting to get,” said Barnes, who plays defense for Boston College. “They have certain things that they want. I think

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HOCKEY

Continued from 12 said Liz Knox, a former CWHL goalie and PWHPA board member who works full-time as a contractor and also is a volunteer firefighter. “I don’t want somebody working full-time and trying to find time to squeeze into the gym and eat well. And let’s not even talk about getting enough sleep because that’s just out of the question for me. “Let’s level the playing field. Let’s give these women the opportunity to be the best athletes they can be because we really just don’t have that right now. It’s not because the product isn’t sellable, it’s because the product has never been sold.” Just as important as the crowds at the small arena in Toronto for the first stop of the barnstorming tour were the sponsors on board — Unifor, Adidas, Budweiser, the NHL Players’ Association, Secret, Bauer, Tim Hortons and the Toronto Maple Leafs among them. “I think we’re all starting to

understand the value of strong female leaders, be it in sport or be it in business or be it in society,” said former Canadian national team player Jayna Hefford, a Hockey Hall of Famer and member of PWHPA board. “I think sponsors are seeing that. That’s what this is creating. It’s about more than hockey and it’s about more than sport, in my opinion.” The PWHPA also scheduled tour stops in New Hampshire (this weekend) and Chicago (Oct. 18-20) with more in the planning stages. “I think for us it’s everything,” said 32-year-old Kacey Bellamy, a member of the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team last year. “Yes, we’re hockey players. But I think, number one, we try to be good role models. We are doing this for the next generation, and it might not benefit us, but we’re hoping it benefits the girls 10, 20, 30 years from now. “We’re just trying to put a great product out there just so that these little girls can have dreams like we did when we were little.”

Thursday, October 17, 2019

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In this Nov. 6, 2018 photo, United States forward Annie Pankowski moves the puck against Finland during the first period of a Four Nations Cup women’s ice hockey game in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A viable professional hockey league for women is the goal of the current crop of veteran players, and the youngsters who dream of playing the sport professionally when they get older. LIAM RICHARDS/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Companies that discriminate fail (eventually) Conclusion: Discrimination doesn’t pay. Although Becker wasn’t right when he claimed that competition would quickly drive all discrimination out of the market, he was right that bigotry represents an albatross around a company’s neck. According to Becker, bigoted employers will pay lower salaries to the people they don’t like, resulting in gender and racial wage gaps. But Becker also made a surprising claim that enraged many who had themselves suffered discrimination. He said that companies run by bigots would be driven out of the market by competition. In

a perfectly competitive market, companies that don’t pay employees what they’re really worth will be outcompeted for talent by unbiased companies, and eventually driven out of business. Obviously, that doesn’t happen in real life and there is lots of evidence that discrimination still exists. Becker was committing a common sin of

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century, the future Nobel-winning economist wrote about the economics of discrimination. His theory was, in a nutshell, that the people who make hiring decisions at companies are bigoted — they’d rather work with people of their own race or gender. Essentially, this is the same explanation that the banker gave me in the coffee shop.

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“T

he corporate world is a boys’ club, and it’ll always be a boys’ club,” said a banker who struck up a conversation with me a few years ago in a coffee shop near the university where I once taught. “Male managers are always going to hire men over women, because they feel more comfortable around men.” “Aren’t there some managers who just hire whoever’s best for the job?,” I asked. “Yeah, there are some,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on with those guys.” Gary Becker might have had an idea of what was going on. For decades in the mid-20th

economists — using an overly simplistic model to make grand, definitive claims. In reality, there are many factors affecting corporate performance other than the pure competition for talent. But just because Becker wasn’t totally right doesn’t mean he was totally wrong. Economic competition might not eliminate entrenched bigotry in society, but it could help erode it over time. There’s evidence suggesting that this is the case. A couple of studies in the late 1990s by economist Sandra Black, of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, showed how increased competition in the U.S. manufacturing and banking industries

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was followed by a shrinking of the gender gap in those businesses. In manufacturing, that competition was largely international amid the increase in foreign trade during the late 20th century. Black showed that concentrated industries, which were probably more insulated from competition to start with, saw more of a reduction in their gender wage gap when they were also affected by trade. In other words, when foreign competitors from places such as Japan and Europe forced U.S. manufacturers to up their game, competing for female talent — and giving women a much-deserved raise — was one way they did so. Black also finds that deregulation in the banking industry had similar effects. More recently, the evidence has multiplied. In 2013, economists Fredrik Heyman, Helena Svaleryd, and Jonas Vlachos found that companies that get bought out in a take-

over tend to increase their percentages of female employees. In older, established industries, it’s likely to be the less successful businesses that get bought out, so this implies that these companies were suffering in part because of their refusal to hire enough women. And in 2014, economists Andrea Weber and Christine Zulehner found that companies with fewer female employees than the industry average tend to have lower survival rates. An interesting new piece of evidence comes from a sociologist -Harvard University’s Devah Pager. Back in 2004, Pager conducted a field study of companies in New York City to find out which ones engaged in more racial discrimination. Research assistants of various racial backgrounds were sent out with identical resumes to apply for jobs at companies. Overall, white and Latino applicants got far more callbacks than their black counterparts. So discrimination was fairly widespread. Pager then kept track of which companies discriminated the most,

and checked back with them in 2010, after the financial crisis. She found that companies that had showed signs of racial discrimination were almost twice as likely to have gone out of business. That was true even after controlling for things like company size. Conclusion: Discrimination doesn’t pay. Although Becker wasn’t right when he claimed that competition would quickly drive all discrimination out of the market, he was right that bigotry represents an albatross around a company’s neck. Businesses can’t afford to let their gender and racial prejudices get in the way of rational economic decisions. So will the market eventually wring bigotry out of the business world? Attitudes like those of the banker in that coffee shop won’t disappear. They will no doubt continue to inspire wars of words on social media. But employees, managers and executives increasingly have to keep those attitudes to themselves, if only for the sake of the bottom line.

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Online retailer Zalando sets diversity target for management Associated Press BERLIN — Online fashion retailer Zalando says it wants at least 40% of its senior managers to be women within four years, following recent criticism that all five members of its management board are men. The Berlin-based company said Tuesday that it “aims for a balanced representation of women and men on its top six management levels, including the management board and the supervisory board, by the end of 2023.”

Zalando, which has about 14,000 employees worldwide, said the new diversity target “acknowledges and actively includes non-binary genders.” The decision goes beyond the legal requirement in Germany for leading publicly listed companies to have at least 30% women on their non-executive supervisory boards.

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Study finds prolonged gender wage gap among college graduates By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel THE WASHINGTON POST

en make more money just six years after enrolling in college than women do 10 years after entering schools, a wage gap that persists across public and private four-year universities, according to a study released this fall by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. The study used data from the College Scorecard, a government database that includes earnings for students who received financial aid, to gauge how quickly the gender wage gap sets in after college. The analysis focuses on students who entered school in 2001 or 2002, the most recent

cohort that includes six-year and 10-year data, and found men at the six-year mark pulling in roughly $4,000 a year more that women at 10 years. “We know there’s a gender wage gap, but this visualizes what that looks like at every college,” said Antoinette Flores, author of the study and a policy analyst at the Center. Flores created an interactive database that lets people look up the average earnings by gender at every public and nonprofit private four-year school. Wage disparities are especially acute at the nation’s most elite private schools. Men who attended universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton on average earn $26,000 a year more than their female classmates

a decade after enrolling. Harvard women bring home an annual salary of $54,045 less than Harvard men 10 years after starting school. Still, women at elite colleges or premier research institutions have the highest earnings, with an average salary of $75,000 10 years out compared with an average of $44,000 among women from other private nonprofit schools. Among public colleges, the wage gap ranges from a high of $13,000 a year for research universities to $10,000 for other state schools. Women who attended elite public colleges earn an average of $50,000 a year after 10 years compared with an average of $39,000 among women from other public colleges.

Flores said there is no single reason why the wage gap exists, but she suspects college majors and occupations play a role. Men may have landed jobs in high-paying fields, such as engineering or finance, but it is difficult to tell since the College Scorecard does not break down earnings by occupation or major. Differences in who enrolls in graduate school and what they study might also affect the disparity in pay. And women leaving the workforce to care for children and then returning to work could also put a damper on pay, the study said. As a result, Flores said paid family leave and high-quality child care could help narrow the wage gap. “There are a number of policy solutions that are in the

limelight right now, equal pay is one, access to child care is another,” Flores said. “But this study also shows the colleges can take a look at some of the differences in outcomes and keep students informed.” There are a few colleges where women earn more than men, but earnings for all students are significantly lower than other colleges. Of the 36 schools in this category, 25 of them are historically black colleges and universities, where women earned an average $6,500 a year more than men and average annual salaried ranged from $30,000 to $54,000, according to the study. A part of the wage gap at HBCUs may be caused by higher graduation rates among women.

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Thursday, October 17, 2019

Workplace sex discrimination claims are common ... but they’re not making it into court Joseph A. Seiner UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

everal cases addressing whether it’s legal to fire a worker because of their sexual orientation and gender identity were taken up by the Supreme Court this fall. While these legal questions deserve significant attention, those concerned about equality on the job should not lose sight of the broader, yet equally important issue — the continued prevalence of sex discrimination in the workplace as a whole. And while workplace sexual harassment has taken center

stage in the past couple of years, women are still facing these other longstanding problems of discrimination. Even if workers successfully convince the Supreme Court that sexual orientation should be protected by federal law, my work shows that their fellow employees will still be faced with the daunting task of trying to litigate such claims. In the vast majority of cases, these claims of discrimination don’t even make it to a court.

Voices not heard

Only about 6% of civil rights lawsuits in the U.S. find their

way to trial, according to a recent study that examined about 1,800 lawsuits filed in federal courts between 1988 and 2003. The study, discussed in a 2017 article published in the American Bar Journal, included not just cases of sex discrimination, but also those filed alleging discrimination based on race, age and disability. Of those that actually did go to trial, only about a third of the plaintiffs won their cases, the researchers found. That’s at least in part because rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court over the past decade have made it harder

to file complaints, and have restricted the ability of multiple plaintiffs to bring claims and share costs through a class action lawsuit. In the most widely publicized example, in 2011 the Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision against Walmart and prohibited more than a million women from making the case that the company engaged in unfair pay and promotion practices. In the 5-4 decision, the majority said that the women did not have sufficient “commonality” under the law to proceed as a class, arguing that the alleged victims “have little in common but their sex and this lawsuit.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticized that approach in her dissent, writing that

“the ‘dissimilarities’ approach” of the majority led it “to train its attention on what distinguishes individual class members, rather than on what unites them.” While the courts have been slow to recognize and punish sex discrimination, my research has shown that illegal workplace bias against women is pervasive. Here are three areas where it is a problem, though this list is not exhaustive. 1. Pay inequity Women make less money than men, as the U.S. women’s soccer team dramatically highlighted. In their lawsuit, they estimate that they are paid about 38% of what male COURTS » 19

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players earn. Pay gaps between men and women have existed for a long time. In 1960, surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that women working full-time made 60.8% of the median pay that men did. A male bank teller, for example, “received US$5.50 to $31 per week more than their female counterparts,” while a male machine tool operator “averaged $2.05 per hour compared with $1.71 for women,” according to a 1974 issue of the Boston College Industrial and Commercial Law Review, which examined the previous decade’s enforcement of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Today, women make 80 cents for every dollar a man is paid, according to the most recent data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Similarly, research by the University of Wisconsin, the Cass Business School and the University of Warwick shows that men are 25% more likely to receive an increase in pay when they ask for it. By making access to justice much harder for victims of workplace discrimination, the federal courts have created an additional barrier for women seeking equal pay. And my research has outlined the ongoing nature of this pay discrimination. 2. Hiring practices Even getting a job that is likely to pay them less is harder for women. For example, as a study

Men tend to be perceived more favorably by employers — even when men and women who are trained actors respond to interview questions in the same way. In perhaps the most famous study in this area ... an orchestra used screens to hide the gender of those auditioning for a position. Women were 50% more likely to advance in the process than they had been when evaluators could see their gender.

published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly showed, men tend to be perceived more favorably by employers — even when men and women who are trained actors respond to interview questions in the same way. In perhaps the most famous study in this area, performed by researchers Claudia Goldin and Cecilia Rouse, an orchestra used screens to hide the gender of those auditioning for a position. Women were 50% more likely to advance in the process than they had been when evaluators could see their gender. Other research has shown that women struggle to get jobs that require high levels of math skills. In those experiments, researchers from the University of Chicago, Columbia University and Northwestern University found that “male and female employers were twice as likely to hire a man than a woman when the only factor they observed was physical appearance.” These stereotypes persist even in academic settings. A study by Columbia University researchers

concluded that “prospective doctoral student emails with minority- or female-sounding names received fewer responses from faculty than those with male-sounding names.” Given the subjective nature of the hiring process, these claims are difficult to prove. In my research, I trace how this kind of discrimination persists, and how the subjective nature of the hiring process has caused some of these problems.

Pinning down the exact reason for this is difficult. It may be related to the disproportionate amount of time women spend raising a child compared to men, as well as the unfounded negative perceptions some employers may have of working mothers. Yet establishing dis-

crimination claims in the context of the glass ceiling is as difficult as doing so in the hiring process, as these effects often occur over the course of a long period of time. And as employment discrimination claims are now even more difficult to litigate, finding sufficient evidence to bring these cases is harder. One prominent — but not unusual — case As the U.S. women’s national soccer team competed in the final World Cup match against the Netherlands this summer, the crowd cheered, “Equal pay! Equal pay!” in the stadium. This overwhelming support for the players was in response to a lawsuit more than two doz-

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en members of the team filed in March, arguing that they are unfairly paid less than the men’s team. In challenging the pay practices of the U.S. Soccer Federation, the women became the latest example of just how pervasive sex discrimination is in the workplace. These teammates were able to draw attention to their cause. But many other cases of sex discrimination in the workplace languish or are prevented from getting their day in court. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/ workplace-sex-discriminationclaims-are-common-buttheyre-not-making-it-intocourt-120561.

3. Career advancement Women also struggle to get promoted after they’re hired. Even when just as qualified as men, women are 28% less likely to be hired for the job of a corporate CEO.

Childbirth

Childbirth may be a factor in the lack of advancement. In one study performed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, researchers found that “Twelve years after giving birth for the first time, women are [still] making 33% less per hour than men.”

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