Women A Rock Valley Publishing LLC publication 2021
IN BUSINESS
Empowered, successful and leading the way
Meet local businesswomen • Managing work and family • Financial mistakes to avoid
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2021 WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Fast-growing and highpaying careers for women
After a tumultuous year with many ups and downs, there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. Growing confidence that the worst of the pandemic may be behind us has led many people to take inventory of their careers. Women looking to change jobs soon may be exploring their options as they look for fulfilling, lucrative careers. The following are some profitable, in-demand career options, courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Forbes. com. • Chief executive officer: CEOs are instrumental in both public- and privatesector industries. They are the top of the managerial food chain, and as such, command competitive salaries. A female CEO can expect to earn a median income of $90,000-$95,000. • Civil engineer: The BLS predicts civil engineer jobs will grow by 11 percent by 2026. Civil engineers will be responsible for revamping aging infrastructure, including roads, dams and bridges. An average salary is $67,000 per year. • Nurse practitioner: Health care jobs are booming and in demand. Working independently or in collaboration with physicians, nurse practitioners provide primary care or specialize in various concentrations. Nurse practitioners earn a median annual income of $98,000. • Pharmacist: In addition to harboring a passion for providing quality health care to their communities, pharmacists often have a love for the chemistry involved in medications. Pharmacists must be licensed and possess a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Pharmacists work in retail settings, but also in hospitals and clinics. The average annual salary for pharmacists is $98,000. • Computer and system information manager: A growing focus on inclusivity
High-paying, stable jobs are out there for women who are in the market for a career change or trying to decide which fields to pursue. SUBMITTED PHOTO Women in Business
within STEM fields means now is a great time for women to pursue careers in these lines of work. Computer and information system managers plan, coordinate and direct the work of computer professionals while researching the latest trends in technology. Opportunities within this profession are expected to grow by 12 percent by 2026. Individuals in this field earn a median salary of $90,000. • Management analysts: Management analysts are brought in to find ways to make an organization more profitable or improve its efficency. Travel and consultation may be likely, so those
should be considerations. Management analysts earn an average annual income of around $75,000. • Software developer: Keeping up with the technological times means having up-to-date equipment and software. Software developers help to write code or design applications for company use. This is a quickly growing field in which professionals earn average annual salaries of $85,000. High-paying, stable jobs are out there for women who are in the market for a career change or trying to decide which fields to pursue.
How women can rebound from a layoff Every career has its ups and downs. Successful professionals often credit certain moments in their careers as catalysts that ultimately drove their success. Though such catalysts may be positive developments, like a wellearned promotion or timely advice from a trusted mentor, many a professional also has been motivated by events that were not initially welcomed, including layoffs. Many businesses were forced to lay off employees in the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study published in the journal World Development found that, during the pandemic, women were 24 percent more likely to permanently lose their jobs than men. As the world gradually emerges from the pandemic, many women may still be trying to reenter the workforce after being laid off. The following strategies can help that transition back to work go smoothly. • Reconsider your career path. People who look at layoffs as the catalysts for their success often do so because being
laid off allowed them to step back and reconsider the path their careers were on prior to losing their jobs. Such reflection may or may not compel a career change, but women can take time to reconsider if their previous field was something they want to get back into or if they want to pursue a different path. Perhaps it’s time to turn a passion into a profession? Or maybe the uncertainty of the pandemic has underscored the need for a career that’s more stable? Regardless of what they ultimately decide, women can spend time reconsidering their career path as they prepare to reenter the workforce. • Contact your former employer. Though certain workers, such as union members, may have a legal right to be recalled after being laid off, many professionals have no such right. However, that does not mean employers won’t want to bring them back as the economy begins to recover. In fact, many companies may prefer to do just that. The Adecco Group’s Compensation and Workforce Trends survey in October 2020 found that 68 percent of organizations that furloughed or laid
off employees during the pandemic intended to back-fill roles that were eliminated. The cost of training new hires and getting them up to speed on projects is considerable, and employers never truly know if new hires will mesh with coworkers. Those concerns do not typically apply when rehiring former employees. Women who liked their jobs and the direction their careers were going in prior to being laid off can check in with their previous employers about potential opportunities before they begin to look elsewhere. • Stay connected. Maintaining connections with colleagues and even former clients is a great way to avoid the feelings of isolation that can sometimes arise after a layoff. Staying connected also may be a great way to learn about new opportunities before they become known to the general public. Women were disproportionately affected by pandemic-related layoffs. Rebounding from such layoffs can be easier when women employ various strategies as they look to reenter the workforce.
US Department of Labor announces $3.5M funding opportunity to place more women in registered apprenticeships, nontraditional occupations The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a funding opportunity of $3.5 million for up to 10 grants to increase and retain the number of women in quality Registered Apprenticeship Programs and nontraditional occupations such as those in the manufacturing, infrastructure, cybersecurity and healthcare industries. Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau and its Employment and Training Administration, the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grant program supports community-based organizations to recruit, mentor, train and retain more women in Registered Apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations. Applicants must provide one or more of the following types of technical assistance: – Developing pre-apprenticeship, Registered Apprenticeship or nontraditional skills training programs to prepare women for those careers. – Providing ongoing orientations for employers, unions and workers to create a successful environment for women to prosper in those careers. – Setting up support groups, facilitating networks and providing supportive services for women to improve their retention rate. These grants seek to address the significant under-representation of women in apprenticeship programs and in general in high-growth, high-wage Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-related occupations. While women make up nearly half of the U.S. labor force, they comprise only 12 percent of Registered Apprentices. Registered Apprenticeships offer workers a pathway to the middle class and help companies recruit, develop and retain a highly skilled workforce. In addition to their long history in skilled trades such as construction, emerging and high-growth industries like manufacturing, infrastructure, cybersecurity and healthcare are increasing their use of apprenticeships. Read about the WANTO grant program, 2020 WANTO grant recipients and Frequently Asked Questions. Apply for 2021 WANTO grant at grants.gov.
2021 WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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Women face a myriad of injustices; Can a better world emerge? By Andi Simon, Ph.D. What does it say about our culture when moms and their children are facing unbearable pain and trauma during the pandemic? This crisis has simply amplified the way women in the U.S. are undervalued, or not valued at all. While it is widely known that America lags far behind all other industrialized countries in paid maternity leave, appropriate childcare and suitable work/life balance for mothers, the challenges of the current public health crisis have brought to the fore just how bad we are as a country, a society, and a culture. Why, we must ask, do mothers have to disproportionately bear the burden of household work, caring for their children and at times their parents, all the while earning 18 percent less than men, often with little or no employer or spousal support? How can this be? What are we missing in this story? As a corporate anthropologist and a professional woman who worked from the time my daughters were three weeks old (no paid leave then either), I have gotten past the anger and frustration and have, like many women I suspect, accepted this as just the way it is. But does it have to be?
Before the pandemic, women made up more than half the work force (58 percent), the first time in a very long time. Yet 40 percent of children are born to single mothers, at the same time that the role of men as fathers and co-caregivers has shifted, as has their role in the workplace. Only 69.6 percent of men are employed full-time, and 6.3 percent are unemployed (5.9 million), as of February 2021. The academic dropout rate for men is 20 percent higher than for women—6.2 percent don’t complete high school and 58 percent who start college don’t complete a four-year program (48 percent at private institutions). During the pandemic, 10 million jobs have been lost, over half of which were held by women, often women of color. In December 2020 alone, 140,000 jobs were eliminated, all of them held by women. Women, on the other hand, have generated most of the new jobs since the 2008 recession. Before the pandemic, they were owning and running 40 percent of the businesses in the U.S. Many of these businesses were second incomes; others were necessity businesses, from hair salons to solopreneurs, trying to thrive in a gig economy that since 2019 has grown to a third of the workforce.
To add one more injustice, our healthcare system is among the world’s worst for women. U.S. women have the highest maternal mortality rate among 11 developed countries, and one of the highest rates of C-sections. They also have the greatest burden of illness, highest rates of skipping needed healthcare because of cost, difficulty affording healthcare, and are least satisfied with quality of care they receive. One in three women in the U.S. report having emotional distress. Clearly, we need to transform the U.S. healthcare experience, quickly, into one that cares about women’s health. When, we ponder, will men who have the power to change our society get wise to the pain they are creating for women and do something to change it? When you add it all up, women seem like superheroes. They attempt to achieve worklife balance. They worry about childcare and parent care. They try to build careers and grow businesses, often with family and friends as the major source of funding. They bear and raise children and stive to provide healthy, safe environments for them, sometimes with little or no help. Is this as good as it gets?
I venture to guess that no, it can get better. It will get better. It must get better. How? By all of us, women and men, fighting for a new normal that is far better than the one that used to be, or that we find ourselves in now. And, by refusing to accept defeat. About Andi Simon Andi Simon, Ph.D. (www.andisimon. com), author of Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, is an international leader in the emerging field of corporate anthropology and founder and CEO of Simon Associates Management Consultants (www.simonassociates.net).
Three ways women can build, maintain professional networks Established professionals often tout the importance of building strong networks. In fact, a 2017 global survey from LinkedIn found that nearly 80 percent of professionals consider professional networking to be important to their career success. Professionals may see networking as a great way to land their next job, but establishing strong networks can pay dividends even for those people who have no immediate plans to leave their current companies. Small Business BC, a resource that caters to entrepreneurs in British Columbia, notes that successful networking can lead to referrals and new partnerships and raise the profiles of professionals and the companies they work for. The LinkedIn survey supports that notion, noting that one-quarter of professionals across the globe have established new business partnerships through LinkedIn Messaging. Of course, networking often helps people find new jobs as well, as the LinkedIn survey also found that 70 percent of people hired in 2016 found work at companies where they had existing connections. Women can employ various strategies to build strong networks and maintain those networks once connections are established. 1. Join professional organizations. Professional organizations provide great networking opportunities, serving as avenues to begin new business relationships. Many such organizations host annual conferences, and attending these conferences can help women maintain the relationships they develop through their participation in these groups. That’s an important benefit, as the LinkedIn survey found that 38 percent of professionals admitted they find it hard to stay in touch with their network. 2. Offer help as much as you seek it. The LinkedIn survey found that only
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SUBMITTED PHOTO Women in Business
48 percent of professionals keep in touch with their networks when things are going well in their career. By reaching out to a network when things are going well, women are showing a willingness to offer help as much as seek it. That can lead to stronger, more easily maintained networks. 3. Schedule networking each week. Build networking into your weekly schedule. Even the busiest professionals can find time each week to email someone in their network to see how things are going or share updates on previous collaborations. That’s a quick and easy way to maintain connections. The value of networking is undeniable. Women can take various steps to build strong networks and maintain those relationships for years to come.
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Tips for women running businesses, households in the age of remote work The question of where worklife ends and homelife begins took on new meaning when COVID-19 forced many women to work from home while simultaneously caring for children whose schools and daycare centers shut down. But as women struggle to balance work and home, they may find there are more similarities between the two than they realized, says Marsha Friedman, an entrepreneur, wife, mother of four, and founder and president of News & Experts (www.newsandexperts.com), a national PR firm. “I’ve always felt that running a business and running a household have a lot in common,” says Friedman, who is also the ForbesBooks author of Gaining the Publicity
Edge: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing Your Brand Through National Media Coverage. “It’s become even more apparent now that we are running our businesses from our households. In both situations you have budgeting, planning, and one-onone sessions to discuss challenges you are facing.” Friedman says being willing to rethink roles is important for working couples raising families under the current situation where the home temporarily has become the office. “Suddenly, women are managing both their work and their personal life in ways they did not have to before,” she says. Friedman says one way for women to
bring better balance to their lives is to apply some workplace strategies to the home, both during this crisis, and once it’s over. She suggests: * Consider your division of labor. In a business, people are assigned specific jobs and responsibilities based on the company’s needs. The same is true in the household, Friedman says. Jobs around the house need to be delegated, just as they are in a business. Prioritize what tasks must be done, she says, and decide who is most suited to take on each responsibility, whether it’s the mom, the dad or the children. * Be thoughtful about the way you delegate those jobs. “In business, my philosophy is matching up the interests and skills of the person to the needs of the company,” Friedman says. “You can do the same with household chores.” Consider whether one person is better skilled at a certain task or brings more passion to it. * Understand and appreciate each person’s role. In business, you interact with other employees and attend team meetings, which gives you insight into the scope of other people’s jobs and an appreciation for what they do. That can happen at home as well. “Even these days, in many families the spouse at work in an office doesn’t always see everything that’s involved in running a household,” Friedman says. “This stayat-home period has allowed them to see what happens at home when they are away. This can add a lot to the quality of the
relationship.” Eventually, most women who suddenly became remote workers will ease back into some form of their old life, where once again there’s physical separation between work and home. When that happens, don’t forfeit the progress you made improving that worklife-homelife balance, Friedman says. “If you made this work during the pandemic,” she says, “you don’t want to lose the ground you gained.” About Marsha Friedman Marsha Friedman, the ForbesBooks author of Gaining the Publicity Edge: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing Your Brand Through National Media Coverage, is a businesswoman and public relations expert with nearly 30 years’ experience developing publicity strategies for celebrities, corporations and professionals in the field of business, health and finance. Using the proprietary system she created as founder and President of News & Experts (www.newsandexperts.com), an awardwinning national public relations agency, she secures thousands of top-tier media placements annually for her clients. The former senior vice president for marketing at the American Economic Council, Marsha is a sought-after advisor on PR issues and strategies, who shares her knowledge both as a popular speaker around the country and in her Amazon best-selling book, Celebritize Yourself.
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Smashing myths that gave birth to the glass ceiling In 1986, a Wall Street Journal headline promised to explore a then puzzling problem: “The Glass Ceiling: Why Women Can’t Seem to Break The Invisible Barrier That Blocks Them From the Top Jobs.” More than three decades later, that headline still holds relevance. While women have made great strides, they still make up a small percentage of the top management at America’s largest corporations. But while obstacles remain, there is also evidence that the tide can turn. “As an anthropologist, I am watching women shatter these myths that have kept them from achieving the leadership needed in our society, today and into the future,” says Andi Simon (www.andisimon.com), a corporate anthropologist, founder of Simon Associates Management Consultants, and author of the upcoming book Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business. “It is time for everyone to rethink what women can do and how we should enable them to do it. Our society needs it more than ever as we recover from this pandemic and restore the vitality of our economy and our cultures.” One obstacle ripe for dismantling is that most corporate cultures are set up with a male leadership approach in mind, Simon says. “Unfortunately, men communicate a myth about women that emphasizes their soft sides, not their decisiveness, strength, and ingenuity,” she says. “Women might lead differently than men, but they can achieve remarkable results.” The latest statistics on female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies spark hope and disheartenment all at the same time. Women now hold 37 of those jobs, which is a record. But that’s a mere 7.4 percent of the total. Why aren’t women already further along in breaking down barriers that were talked about decades ago? Simons suggests a few reasons: * The system often forces talented women to give up before they reach the top. “Regardless of what women achieve, business leadership and society deem them to be less worthy of leadership roles and success,” Simon says. “Women find that the way forward is blocked, and at times they jump off the proverbial ladder rather than continue to fight to get to the top in companies, in government, and in maledominated cultures.” The good news is that in many cases they launch their own businesses. * The narrative society tells about women colors reality. Through most of human
history, men have controlled societies around the globe, along with the myths and narratives surrounding those societies. But Simon says that organizations from the Women’s Business Collaborative to groups like Women TIES (Women Together Inspiring Entrepreneurial Success) are helping change the culture’s narrative about women. * More role models are needed. “Momentum in changing the culture is hard to sustain without strong role models, communities of women, and a media that changes the narrative,” Simon says. She does her part in her book by showcasing female role models “who will encourage younger women to push forward into dangerous territory where they can be the talented success stories they want to become.” Here’s one more thing Simon has noticed when she applies an anthropological lens to the differing leadership approaches of men and women when solving problems. “Men think they climbed the Empire State Building and saved the damsel in distress while saving their clients millions of dollars,” she says. “Women think they mobilized a group of talented people who never let the client fall into distress in the first place.” About Andi Simon Andi Simon, Ph.D. (www.andisimon. com), author of the upcoming book Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, is a corporate anthropologist and founder of Simon Associates Management Consultants (www.simonassociates.net). A trained practitioner in Blue Ocean Strategy®, Simon has conducted several hundred workshops and speeches on the topic as well as consulted with a wide range of clients across the globe. She also is the author of the award-winning book On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights. Simon has a successful podcast, On the Brink with Andi Simon, that has more than 125,000 monthly listeners, and is ranked among the top 20 Futurist podcasts and top 200 business podcasts. In addition, Global Advisory Experts named Simons’ firm the Corporate Anthropology Consultancy Firm of the Year in New York – 2020. She has been on Good Morning, America and Bloomberg, and is widely published in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Business Week, Becker’s, and American Banker, among others. She has been a guest blogger for Forbes.com, Huffington Post, and Fierce Health.
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How women can make their way in male-dominated fields
Women working in male-dominated fields face many challenges, but such challenges can be overcome in various ways. SUBMITTED PHOTO Women in Business
Women have made great strides in various industries over the first two decades of the 21st century. Highly publicized pursuits of gender equality, such as the ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit by the United States Women’s National Team against the U.S. Soccer Federation, have done much to further the cause for women in a great number of industries. But the fight for equality is far from over, as evidenced by the array of fields that remain predominantly male. In 2017, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked the percentages of women in a variety of professions, ultimately finding that many professions are male-dominated. For example, the BLS found that only 20 percent of software developers were female, while roughly 63 percent of financial analysts are male. Each of those fields can be lucrative, suggesting women can benefit greatly from making inroads into these professions and others in which they are underrepresented. Women may face an uphill battle as they look to establish themselves and subsequently thrive in male-dominated fields. That challenge can be overcome by employing various strategies. • Build your network. Networking is essential for modern professionals.
Lessons learned from women business owners beating the odds Women-owned small businesses are an economic driving force. Today, nearly 13 million women-owned businesses nationwide employ 9.4 million workers and earn $1.9 trillion in revenue. Overwhelmingly impacted by the pandemic, 71 percent of women-owned small businesses reported a loss in revenues or sales in 2020, according to a recent study. Beyond cutting costs and applying for federal resources, womenowned businesses and entrepreneurs of color have had to get more creative than ever to navigate the uncertain economy. Consider these four lessons learned from women entrepreneurs who are beating the odds. 1. Seek alternative funding sources: In addition to tapping traditional bank loans, connect with a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, which offers lowcost capital with friendly repayment terms. Roxanne Best, owner of Roxtography, says she’s been able to stay afloat thanks to low-interest loans from Northwest Native Development Fund, a CDFI supporting tribal communities that received a grant from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, a roughly $420 million small business recovery effort. To help entrepreneurs stay open and support local jobs, the initiative is engaging CDFIs and nonprofits across the U.S. to provide women and diverse entrepreneurs with increased access to flexible capital and training. “We have been so inspired by the determination and perseverance of the many women business owners who we’ve had an opportunity to support. We made a way to work together with the
Lean into networking and establishing relationships with fellow entrepreneurs, seek advice and counsel from others, including financial advisors, and know there is support out there. SUBMITTED PHOTO Women in Business
small business community to offer a mix of resources that enable a sustainable and equitable road to recovery,” says Jenny Flores, head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy at Wells Fargo. 2. Make time for a business plan: 2020 taught us to plan for the unexpected, reinforcing that a business plan is critical for any small business. Tamil Maldonado Vega and her husband, owners of Raíces Brewing Co., say they don’t regret opening a Latino craft brewery right before the pandemic. While they have had hard times like everyone else during
closures and due to limits on seating and space, they felt prepared to handle those challenges thanks to a strong business plan, which they developed with the help of their banker. 3. Pivot from crisis to opportunity: Looking for new income streams? Being flexible while staying true to your business can help increase the chances of success. Kadijatu Ahene, owner of Dija’s Touch Designs, specializes in African print designs. During the pandemic, she shifted to an online model and expanded into making stylish personal protection equipment for first responders. 4. Find strength in community: Ranjana Hans, owner of Raw Roots Turmeric, says her community has supported her health and wellness business throughout the pandemic, and she’s learned the benefits of asking loyal customers to promote her products in their social networks. “I have always thought that having strong connections enriched my life, and over the course of this year, that’s become even more evident.” Susan Wallace, head of Small Business Lending Operations at Wells Fargo, says businesses can find more tips and resources for navigating the pandemic at the bank’s Small Business Resource Center at smallbusinessresources. wf.com/. “It’s important for women business owners to understand that they don’t need to go it alone. Lean into networking and establishing relationships with fellow entrepreneurs, seek advice and counsel from others, including financial advisors, and know there is support out there,” says Wallace. (STATEPOINT)
According to a global survey of nearly 16,000 LinkedIn members across 17 countries, 79 percent of professionals agree that networking is valuable for career progression. Networking also can make it easier for women to thrive in maledominated fields, as they can seek advice from professional colleagues, male and female, about hurdles they can expect. In addition, professional networks can serve as support networks as well. That can be invaluable as women face the challenge of establishing themselves in male-dominated fields. • Work with professional women’s organizations. Many professional organizations now cater exclusively to women within certain professions. Working with these groups places women in direct contact with peers with varying levels of experience. That means women will have access to people who have faced and overcome challenges at various phases of their careers. • Work with your employer. Wage gaps have narrowed in many professions, but that’s not the only way industries have become more accommodating to women. Many businesses now recognize the need to change not just their pay structures, but also their working environments to make them more accommodating to women. Women who encounter problems at work, such as routine resistance to their ideas and input, should discuss such frustrations with their employers. Women working in male-dominated fields face many challenges. But such challenges can be overcome in various ways.
Starting a business? Website trends to consider Starting a business? One of the first things you’ll need to do is build a website. Today a website is not only your brand, but it also provides the tools you need to operate your business, and is the central point for you to communicate with your customers. Web development platform Wix recently took a look at website creation data for the U.S. in 2019 and found some interesting facts. One significant statistic found is that 38 percent of visitors stop engaging on a site with poor design. That means that if you decide to start a business, it’s important to do it right. A key website feature to keep in mind when building your site is live chat. Almost half of sites implement a live chat feature to communicate with current customers and attract potential new customers. In any business, it’s important from the beginning to be responsive to customers, and doing so can be a key differentiator in growing your business. (STATEPOINT)
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