Passions: Singing in a Rock Band

leather3_1_.jpgBy Heather Chapman (New York City)

Jennifer Flaa is a very busy woman. You might think that being the CEO of Vettana, a software quality assurance (SQA) company she founded twelve years ago, would be enough to keep her occupied. But, for this woman, it’s not. She has started a second company, teaches at the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center, and has written a book. Oh, and in her spare time Jennifer sings in a rock band she started a few years ago.

Despite the passion she has for technology—Jennifer was a Technology Management student at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC)—this field wasn’t Jennifer’s first love. That was music. Jennifer says she sang throughout high school in choirs and musicals, played three different instruments, and was her high school band’s drum major and conductor. Still, despite how much she lived for music, Jennifer says that she consciously did not focus on that when she went to college. “I consciously turned the music switch off when I went to college and started an engineering curriculum. I loved music but did not want to be a ‘starving artist’. ”

After graduating, Jennifer went on to work at NASA, writing and researching test cases for an experiment that was conducted via space shuttles. It was her experiences there at NASA that led Jennifer to eventually leave and move to the Bay Area, working for several startups. It wasn’t until after she burned out working for various startups, spending all her time and energy there—literally sleeping under her desk at times—that she went back to music. Jennifer took two years off from her professional career and spent her time singing with a local garage band, belting out blues tunes, and performing for six months in a local musical, where she played four different characters. But then, as Jennifer says, “she did it again,” starting Vettanna and “deep ended into work again, shutting off the music valve that majorly fed my soul.”

It took a divorce for Jennifer to actually stop and take a look at how she was living her, realizing only then that she wasn’t doing what really made her happy. “That’s when I started singing again and sought out a rock vocal coach that would help me develop a professional quality sound.” She also became the manager of a friend’s band, teaching herself about the music industry from the inside. She took the knowledge that she learned from that experience and started her own band, Urban Fiction, with her friend, Francois Didier Bouvet. Planning only on singing the songs that other artists had written, the suggestion by her coach to write her own songs took Jennifer completely by surprise. Hesitant at first, Jennifer disregarded his suggestion, but her coach didn’t stop there. “He told me to come back next week with not one but four songs…and I did. Of course they were crap. But we worked with them and he really taught me the [song-writing] craft. I write the melodies and lyrics and Didier Bouvet [her partner in the band] adds the groove and the awesome guitar!”

Jennifer says that she still struggles to find an acceptable balance in her life. “I work best in bursts and still ‘deep end’ into tasks, looking up and [realizing] it’s 4 a.m. and I’m still on a roll! It’s not a long-term strategy but it’s actually fun and rewarding to do from time to time. The truth is, the balancing is a process. I haven’t figured out yet if ‘having a balanced life’ means that the ‘balance’ happens each day or in a week, or in a month or over the year!”

Balancing act notwithstanding, Jennifer is always on top of her life and priorities by forming a clear vision of what she wants to accomplish. Then, she says, she “take[s] it and get geeky with it. I write a plan, map out what it will take to get from here to there, how long and what the tasks are along the way.” By prioritizing her tasks and taking things one-step at a time, Jennifer says, “by the end of the year I find I’ve accomplished quite a bit.”

Jennifer has found that since she’s again made music a priority in her life, she’s much happier. “The singing is my passion and I get so much juice, happiness, and energy from playing in that sandbox that it really feeds my soul and gives me energy for other things.”

Jennifer has a website, with links to her four different blogs, and she’s also on LinkedIn and Twitter, where she can be reached at any time.

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Women as Global Consumers WITI San Diego Regional Network Event

WITI San Diego presents:

Women as Global Consumers – Women are driving new Consumer Trends, Business Models and Technologies in the Communications and Entertainment Industry

Globalization has changed the face of the world, making us all into global consumers and giving us access to instant information. This has deeply affected women’s lives. For several years now, instant communication between continents and the spread of free trade have paved the way for a rise of a global consumer culture. Women aged 18 and over accounted for over 110 million consumers in both the US and Western Europe in 2005.

Space is limited; we encourage pre-registration to guarantee admission.

Take me directly to the registration form.

All registrations must be received by Wednesday, February 18, 2009

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Board’s Eye View: African-American Women on Fortune 500 Corporate Boards

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

As we reported last week, there are still significant barriers to African-American women rising in Corporate America’s ranks. Women of color—like many women—suffer from a lack of strong or existing strategic networks and work/life balance demands. Additionally, they are hampered by a lack of opportunity—the Catalyst Census of Women on Boards of December 2008 showed that the number of women in general and women of color in particular remained stagnant—and by inaccurate perceptions of African-American women’s capabilities.

Of the 471 companies surveyed, nearly one-fifth had at least one African-American woman on the board. Of the 15.2 percent of directorships held by women at Fortune 500 companies, only 3.2 percent are held by women of color.

If the truth expressed in past Catalyst studies—that the more women on corporate boards, the more likely there will be women in upper management of the organization—holds true for other under-represented groups, the following extraordinary African American women who sit on corporate boards will, by their presence and accomplishments, help create a climate conducive to including other women of color in the C-suite.

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Breaking The Glass Ceiling in Florida

iStock_000006589526XSmall_1_.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

New data from Florida supports a disturbing trend. The number of women in top corporate jobs and on boards of directors in Florida’s top public companies has dwindled over the past few years according to the 2008 Census by Women Executive Leadership. The census studies gender diversity in the executive suite and boardroom. It was conducted by WEL (Women Executive Leadership), a Florida-based organization that advocates, educates, and connects women, in conjunction with The University of Miami School of Business Administration. WEL last conducted the survey in 2006.

According to the report, the number of board seats held by women in the top 150 Florida companies was flat compared to 2007 but slightly down compared to 2006. Last year and in 2007, women held 7.4 percent of board positions compared to 8.7 percent in 2006. That means men hold more than 92 percent of the board seats in the top 150 Florida public companies. The number of female executives rose slightly from 5.4 percent in 2006 to 7.0 percent in 2008. When comparing census data from 2004, the changes are even more dramatic. In 2004 women held 67 executive positions at Florida top public companies but in 2008 they only held 49.

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GQ for Women Leaders

In a two day leadership programme you will discover the confidence to enhance your GQ™, or Gender Intelligence (download some GQ™ tips here), study the six distinguishing characteristics of female leaders, and be able to:

• Manage multiple priorities and balance different roles

• Manage conflict and politics

• Build instant rapport and trust with anyone

• Learn about Gender Intelligence in the workplace

• Learn the key to maximising performance and enjoying sustainable success

• Turn fear into power

• Learn the essence of leadership: self leadership and authenticity

Business benefits are tangible, immediate and long lasting. Previous delegates report increased motivation leading to inspired, confident leadership. For help making a business case to obtain budget to attend this seminar click here

Email us now or call our event management team on 0870 8031434 to reserve your place, and download the booking form from here (Word format, 330k).

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Managing Information Technology In Tough Economic Times

WITI New Jersey
Regional Network Event:
Managing Information Technology In Tough Economic Times

Please join ADP as our Chief Information Officer, Michael L. Capone, discusses “Managing IT in Tough Economic Times”. Mr. Capone will also address other relevant topics such as Green IT and IT Security.

Zena Brand, Senior Vice President for Product Strategy at ADP, will lead a discussion on Service Oriented Architecture and ADP’s Product Strategy.

Don’t miss this exciting program. Save the Date and Register today!!!

Space is limited; we encourage pre-registration to guarantee admission.
Take me directly to the registration form.

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Got Your GQ?

iStock_000008140633XSmall_1_.jpgContributed by Tracey Carr of Eve-olution.net

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 74 percent of companies have diversity programs in place. That’s a good start, but it sidesteps perhaps the most striking diversity component in the workplace: the personality differences between men and women. This is where we need Gender Intelligence, or GQ™ .


For every person in the workforce, man or woman, one of the following situations is familiar (if not frequent):

  • It’s a professional setting and all the men are shaking hands firmly. But, they either don’t shake the women’s hands, or they do with a limp, modified handshake.
  • It’s a meeting with two men and a woman. The men are focused on each other’s thoughts, while the woman is just trying to be heard.
  • A meeting starts and one of the male executives suggests that a female colleague be the note taker.

These examples are not meant to be biased against men. Rather, they’re just specific examples of the scenarios many female executives encounter on a daily basis. Either knowingly or unknowingly, both men and women fall into specific patterns and stereotypes in professional settings. When this occurs, the results are damaging for everyone involved, particularly for organizations that are denied potential returns from rounded, balanced teamwork.

This is exactly why we need to improve our GQ™ . Gender Intelligence is the ability to respond with finesse and savvy to gender generated issues. And here’s a shocker: many corporations are not ready to hear that men and women have different communication styles that can seriously impact their ability to work effectively together.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Handling Performance Reviews

istock_000005168521xsmall1.jpgContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

Some companies have regularly scheduled reviews, but some don’t. Furthermore, in this chaotic market, even regular reviews might get pushed off. With the downsizing and restructuring in today’s market, your job may have changed significantly. You may have more responsibility or completely different tasks added to your plate. So you want a review to make sure you’re on track to meet your goals (and to confirm what these goals are in this ever-changing market). It is important to use these reviews to your advantage – as a chance to make adjustments in your approach, identify blind spots and figure out how you can contribute value-added to others.

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Safeguarding Your Career in a Recession

The current credit crisis and recession is enough to make even the most confident professional woman uncertain about what the future holds in 2009. Instead of panicking, attend this highly interactive coaching workshop which will help you regain a sense of control over your career.

During this evening workshop you will regain a sense of confidence as you focus on what you do have control over, even during an weak economy. We will look at how you communicate and with whom you engage to ensure that your career is safeguarded and even developed during this turbulent period. You will learn steps to raise your profile and take control of the image you project to your boss, colleagues and those you haven’t even met yet, which will make you a treasured asset rather than the top of a potential redundancy list.

This course will be facilitated by Dr. Suzanne Doyle-Morris:
Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris is an executive coach with a passion for helping female professionals succeed. She has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University that explored the experiences of successful women in male-dominated fields, and a background working with women at UBS, Cisco, Clifford Chance, O2 and Microsoft. She is uniquely qualified to help female executives succeed, particularly in traditionally male-dominated industries and is publishing a book on this fascinating topic in spring 2009.

If this course is of interest to you, please email Sarah Lilley on slilley@womenin.co.uk or call on 020 7422 9213.

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The Glass Hammer featured on MyVenturePad.com

Nicki_Gilmour_1.jpgOur own Nicki Gilmour was featured in a podcast on MyVenturePad.com, where she shared her thoughts on the impact of the current economic crisis on women, her reasons for launching The Glass Hammer and the future of equality in the workplace.

Check out the podcast at: https://myventurepad.com/MVP/49418

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