Tag Archive for: Empowering women

Rachel Lockett: Vice President of Marketing, MAC Cosmetics

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Rachel Lockett“It might seem tough at first, but I’ve come to learn that you have to relax and enjoy the ride. No journey is linear where you must pass A and B, to reach C, or else you’re lost. That’s just not how it works,” says Rachel Lockett.

Lockett shares her thoughts on embracing a career pivot, building leadership skills through diverse experiences, prioritizing team development, and the importance of finding meaning in her work.

Pivoting from the Public to the Private Sector

Lockett’s path into marketing in the beauty industry took an unconventional route, beginning with a career in international relations. Working on the Mexico desk at the State Department while getting a graduate degree, she found herself intrigued by the macro subject matter and sense of altruism behind the work, but ultimately craved a faster pace and more control. This led her to pivot into the private sector, earning an MBA in marketing and finance and joining Johnson & Johnson’s international rotation program before landing a role at L’Oréal in New York.

She reflects, “I was interviewing at the UN while I was interviewing at L’Oréal, but the next phase for the UN was sitting for an exam. When L’Oreal offered me the job, I had to choose. I remember there being a lot of pressure to make a ‘right choice,’ feeling the weight of a decision that might be irreversible.”

Lockett recognizes that even though she felt the heaviness of the decision at the time, she is pleased with the way things turned out, particularly as she never even initially saw herself in the beauty space.

“Initially, I didn’t see myself as a ‘beauty girl,’ but my perception has changed over time. I’ve really grown to adore it. Throughout my career, I’ve delved into various roles in trade marketing, brand marketing, and consumer engagement, all within the beauty vertical. I’ve come to realize that I am, in fact, a ‘beauty girl’ and I proudly embrace this identity.”

Empowering Women to Express their Unique Individuality and Beauty

Lockett finds her marketing career in the beauty industry to be as dynamic as she anticipated, constantly offering new challenges and opportunities that energize her.

“The platforms, retailers and landscape of competitors are always changing…there is also the opportunity to work cross-functionally with retailers, media partners, and event activation vendors, making it both diverse and exciting.”

Her enthusiasm for the work shows through in what she has been able to accomplish, with her team winning an Ogilvy award and two Glossy awards for different brand campaigns. These achievements also reflect her commitment to finding innovative ideas to break through and “introduce MAC to a younger Gen Z consumer.” She continues, “a lot of these efforts have been specifically targeted around those goals and have successfully moved the needle in increasing our awareness among younger multi-ethnic consumers.”

Lockett’s aim for MAC is to continue to promote and expand diverse representations of beauty, whether it be body type, skin color and texture, sexual orientation, or gender, through thoughtful decisions around casting, who they feature on their story wall, influencers they work with, and people they feature on their social handles.

“All of those representations are really powerful, and they make a huge impact on how people see themselves and experience the brand’s transformative effect.” She continues, “it’s about encouraging self-expression and experimentation and affirming that everyone is beautiful in their own way.”

Becoming a Well-Rounded Leader who Uses Her Voice

Lockett emphasizes the dual importance of creativity and operational savvy in marketing leadership. While innovative ideas are significant, effective leadership also hinges on adeptly navigating organizational processes, securing resources, and assembling the right team. She advocates for cultivating leadership skills through diverse experiences rather than solely focusing on moving up the ladder.

“Success stems from a breadth of experiences. The broader your understanding and hands-on involvement across domains, the better equipped you will be to thrive in senior roles. Focusing on the richness and depth of experience versus the speed to get there will pay off in the long-term.”

As Lockett builds on her varied experiences to advance her career, she is committed to using her voice and point of view in how she shows up as a leader, particularly as a woman of color. Even though she finds the beauty industry to generally have more women in leadership roles, she notes that there are noticeably more men in the higher ranks of beauty.

She advocates, “As you move up, it’s important to bring your voice and your experience. Remember to speak up, because you bring a unique perspective and a richness to the conversation or strategy discussion that’s not always represented.”

Valuing the Development and Growth of Her Team

Building relationships and sustaining connections is another key element of Lockett’s leadership style, particularly when it comes to managing a team.

“As your team grows and as your profile becomes more visible cross-functionally, simple gestures like walking around the office, asking about people’s weekends, and fostering personal connections can make a big difference in their engagement and commitment because they know you genuinely care.”

Creating engaged and high-performing teams by letting everyone in on the “why” can also go a long way in making people feel included and that they are an important contributing team member.

“As you progress into senior leadership roles, you may gain insight into the ‘why’ of certain strategies, yet this information may not always trickle down to every team. Pausing to communicate the overarching vision to the broader group and explaining the reasons behind our collective efforts fosters camaraderie, understanding, and an investment from the entire team.”

Beyond engaging her team in the vision, Lockett fosters a strong team dynamic in being accessible and open to hearing feedback, demonstrating that the team has a voice and can influence change. She also looks for opportunities for the team to bond outside the office, whether it be a graffiti class or mini golf, so that the team can get to know one another in a more relaxed atmosphere, as she notes, “it can go a long way when down the line they might be in a challenging conversation or have to work long hours getting ready for a big launch.”

Coaching Helps Connect the Dots

Lockett’s insightful reflections on her development as a leader are testament to the value of executive coaching, a recent experience for her.

“Having external perspective has helped me connect the dots between my experiences and approach to things by having someone externally mirror it back to me. Also, through targeted resources and exercises, I’ve gleaned more insights into how other people learn and how I may need to adapt and present information to effectively communicate and engage with others.”

Lockett notes that the benefit of having someone outside the organization facilitate that reflective process is that it helps reveal potential limiting beliefs or behaviors that may not be beneficial, opening new possibilities for how to approach an issue.

“I’ve seen the impact of leadership coaching reflected in my ability to dedicate more time with my team, listen to their perspectives and advocate for what they need in a way that I may not have in the past.”

Making an Impact with the Relaunch of VIVA GLAM

Lockett is an inspirational leader who not only hopes to make an impact with her team, but also on a macro level through the relaunching of the MAC VIVA GLAM campaign. The charitable arm of MAC, VIVA GLAM has given over half a billion dollars globally to support organizations in their mission to create healthy futures and equal rights for all. Now thirty years after its founding, MAC VIVA GLAM has an expanded mission with new pillars including sexual equality, racial equality, gender equality and sustainability that all markets can tailor with grant funding.

“Being involved with VIVA GLAM is one of my favorite parts of working on MAC. I get to oversee the programs that we will run and the charities that we support, allowing me to play a role in making an impact on something – and someone – that is much bigger than myself.”

Reflecting on where she started with aspirations to work in international relations, she realizes, “finding what’s important to you and how to bring that into your work” is what she values most, and she is excited to have an opportunity to continue to do that in her leadership role at MAC.

By Jessica Robaire

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Shattering the Glass Ceiling Is Great But Why Are We Ignoring the Fallout?

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shattering the glass ceiling Shattering a glass ceiling has become synonymous with success for the working woman. Many individuals, groups and even some organizations dedicate energy, attention and resources to helping women do exactly that. But what happens when these women finally do break through the glass ceiling? What comes next?

Anyone who has ever had the surprise of dropping a glass cup or bowl knows that shattering the glass is only the beginning. React too quickly or carelessly and someone ends up with a cut or, worse, in the E.R. for stitches. Yet we aren’t reacting with the same care and caution for women who shatter the glass ceiling only to be left bearing the weight of the damage.

We expect the struggle to be over when a woman breaks through a glass ceiling but even when it looks positive on the outside, the fallout from breaking through continues to perpetuate harm. Even when women reach the proverbial top, many aren’t psychologically safe, which can lead to more damage and harm.

We see this as evidenced by an increased lack of inclusion and belonging often coming from both the team they have left and the new team they’ve just entered. Health and wellness suffer. Feelings of isolation and loneliness increase while the pressure to perform increases. Despite their achievement, they are still expected to work twice as hard to keep their new status and prove they deserve that status to the people who aren’t used to seeing a woman at the top.

The implications of leaving this reality unchecked are too high—it’s time to expand our care for women in the workplace to include those at the top of their teams, departments and organizations.

1. Acknowledge the harm.

Most women who shatter the glass ceiling have had an arduous journey. Acknowledging what they likely went through due to systemic injustices is a great way to show “I hear you and I see you.” This helps build the trust required to provide additional care for the aftermath of their journey.

2. Provide a mentor.

The journey does not stop once a woman gets into their first leadership role or rises in the ranks. It will be important that women are intentionally matched with those who can support and sponsor them as they heal and settle into their new roles.

3. Amplify women’s voices.

It’s critical that when a woman enters a new team, their voice is welcomed and valued. One great way to welcome any new team member is to prompt them for their feedback and opinions in meetings first. This will allow them to genuinely share their perspectives without feeling they must agree with others.

4. Applaud women publicly.

As important as amplifying a woman’s voice is celebrating their voice. When a woman comes up with an innovative solution to a long-standing problem or gives an amazing presentation, give credit where it’s due. Often women’s accomplishments are not uplifted or celebrated. Worse, their credit may be taken by someone who is more vocal. Applauding women is not limited to when they are in the room; coworkers should be as willing to provide credit when they are not around.

5. Check in.

This may be the simplest yet most important of the actions. Once a woman “makes it,” it’s often assumed that she will no longer face the problems that other women face early in their careers. Unfortunately, it can be just as hard at the top, and support from a supervisor will be an essential part of feeling a sense of inclusion and belonging. This support can look like scheduling quarterly career conversations outside of performance reviews, scheduling a lunch with the sole goal of getting to know the woman better and asking about how the employee would like to receive feedback and respecting that preference when possible.

6. Advocate for equitable resources.

Individual efforts like the above are great and they help, but we also need to advocate for company policies that support women after they shatter a glass ceiling. These policies include complementary safety measures that not only encourage women to grow and advance in the workplace but also guarantee continued protection and care as they move along their career path. Measures like mental health and pregnancy support for women pre and post promotion can help ensure that women and those in underrepresented groups safely reach their leadership destinations whether they’re working toward a C-Suite or the White House.

The harm many women experience after shattering the glass ceiling is not something we can ignore. Progress has not kept pace with changing demographics, and we are still seeing too many instances of women being in a role for the first time, especially those in underrepresented groups.

Women need our help now. It is not enough to fix this problem for future generations or plan to have a solution in the next 30 years. Whether you are in a leadership role or not, we all have a responsibility to ensure that women are celebrated, not just tolerated, and given equal opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. It’s not enough for a woman to be invited to a room to sit at the table; their voice needs to be heard and valued even after they shatter the glass ceiling.

By: Antoinetta Mosley is the CEO and Principal Leader at I Follow the Leader LLC, a strategic consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy, initiatives, and education. As a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP), Antoinetta has worked on a range of projects for organizations of all sizes, including small to global nonprofits as well as Fortune 500 companies and travels the country as a sought-after speaker on DEI, courageous conversations, and belonging in the workplace. She teaches DEI for Arlan Hamilton’s Arlan’s Academy, has been featured in The New York Times.

The opinions and views of guest contributions are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

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May Nazareno: Northeast Director of Major Gifts at IGNITE

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May Nazareno “Who you are right now in this moment is a gift. It is an offering that is meant to be shared, and you really don’t know how it sparks another person from the other side,” says May Nazareno. “What I’m trying to always ask is: can I create space, within myself and anyone I engage with, can I create the space for us to be truthful and real?”

Nazareno speaks to activating leadership in girls and young women, catalyzing change through storytelling, and how the world needs all of who you are.

Fundraising For The Future Pipeline Of Female Leaders

In her role, Nazareno creates a community of stakeholders across the Northeast who helps IGNITE “build a movement of young women who are ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders.”

Founded in 2010 to address the lack of political parity in the US, the national organization seeks to increase the number of women as elected officials, appointed to public boards and commissions, and in supporting leadership positions that make it possible for women to occupy those political spaces. By creating multiple entry points for young women to advance in political leadership, IGNITE pushes for a large-scale solution that has the capacity to flood the political pipeline.

Currently, with a team of 17 women who operate under a budget of less than $3 million, IGNITE is the only non-partisan organization in the US that provides sustained community-based training and support to nearly 13,000 + women and girls across 36 states. Currently, a top ten finalist for the $10 million dollar Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, IGNITE’s goal to train 100,000 women each year starting in 2025 could be in reach.

Her Own Bittersweet Experience In Leadership

For Nazareno, advocating for IGNITE is personal. “I had never seen myself as a political person, nor did I think that being part of the student government was an option for me when I was in high school or college.” She admits she fell into student government while in college, “because someone asked me to,” and that the opportunity to run for her university’s vice president position: “was entirely because the secretary of the Student Union just said to me: ‘what do you have to lose?’” Nazareno was met with a lot of resistance from her male peers – and even from other women. “It was the late 90’s and everyone’s questioning if you’re qualified enough.”

Despite Nazareno winning her election by a landslide, and during her tenure, raising significant funds and forging interconnectedness between different cultural and identity-based groups – she faced a hostile environment with no collective support behind her. “What makes IGNITE personal is that the typical IGNITE woman comes to our programs with a desire to solve problems in her community – rarely with a desire to run. And yet, when she goes through our trainings, she learns how to push past her fears of being isolated and pitted against the boys club – because we help her create a ‘girl gang’ of support. I often think what if IGNITE was around when I was in college? What would have happened to my life if I met other women like me, and got the mentorship and the networking needed to navigate a political life? Undoubtedly, I would have considered public service as a calling.”

Though highly encouraged on the path, Nazareno admits she was burned out. Her experience as an elected student leader at her university was surrounded by so much divisiveness – that while she considered pursuing law school – she turned to study playwriting.

“What I cared about the most was figuring out how to foster a shared interconnectedness between students who were passionate about their own identity politics. What were the things that we could understand and respect about each other rather than focusing on what drives us apart? And I knew that law wasn’t going to answer those questions. I didn’t want to tell people what to think. I didn’t want to get caught up in ‘I’m right’ or ‘you’re wrong’. I wanted to come from a place of encouraging deep self-reflection,” she recalls. “At the theatre, you watch conflict and see both sides of the story. You sit in the audience and decide for yourself.”

Catalyzing Dialogue Through a One Woman Show

To the disbelief of her parents, Nazareno rescinded her law school applications and set off to Seattle to become an actor, despite warnings that she’d be cut off from her family.

“I had a bag of clothes and a few books, my laptop, and my yoga mat – and there I was in this hostel in downtown Seattle when 9/11 hit. My Dad used to work at the World Trade Center…,” she laments. “And yet, everyone around me saw this moment as an isolated NYC problem.” She perceived it as both a national and international affair and watched as knee-jerk political reactivity took hold.

“I was impacted by the need to find a way to break through the bubble, not even having words for that. It’s 2001, we have no idea what’s happening, but you hold onto your bubble – to whatever you can to salvage any sense of normalcy,” she said. “The bubble cracked for me in 2003 when I had a family member who was the personal aide to Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, go missing.”

De Mello’s death in a hotel bombing in Baghdad and the presumed death of her family member, who then reappeared, catalyzed her to write a one-woman show entitled Dead Woman Home that she took to Seattle, San Francisco, Off-Off-Broadway in New York, and the Philippines. Nazareno’s intention was to challenge the depersonalized perceptions and opinions about war and the Iraqi people that could justify an almost instant reaction to go to war.

“This was my very first play and I wrote it almost twenty years ago. At the time, I wanted to ask audiences: do we realize the implications and the unnecessary incalculable loss of innocent life? Can we sit with that? If I was sharing this play now, what I really want to ask is this: today we live with growing hatred towards others – and often because there’s nothing left to feel anymore. Who among us still have the courage to love?”

Nazareno wanted to hear what people thought about our occupation in Iraq and connected with teens in juvenile detention centers, vets, and high school and college students from low-resourced communities. She intended to reach new audiences who didn’t have access to theatre and create space for civic dialogue that would inspire social action. Indeed, her play galvanized a group of grad students in the Philippines to submit policy strategies to the UN.

“When I met those grad students, I could have never predicted that kind of response to my play. It finally hit me: stories have the power to change people’s perception of themselves and the world around them.”

Flipping The Story to Empower Perspectives

After two years of touring, Nazareno returned to the U.S. and decided to try event management and fundraising. “I was proud that my show broke even during its run. I didn’t have any formal training in the logistics of producing my show. Everything about me was just scrappy and I wanted to formally learn how to raise funds.”

Nazareno landed a job at Stanford, where she was taken under the wing of Lorraine Alexander, who mentored her. “I was lucky. Lorraine was my first teacher and along the way, I met Theda Jackson-Mau and Kim Gerstman who also showed me the ropes. Learning from them ultimately changed my life. I realized that everything up to this point was preparing me to tell stories that inspire people to question their position in the world and what they can do with that position,” says Nazareno, who took a step away from the politics of theater. “In many ways, that’s been the throughline of my work. We all have stories, and our stories give us the capacity to influence and lead, but what does it mean to be a leader and how can we lead in a new way?”

“We are all part of the solution for a more just world,” says Nazareno. “That’s what I’m trying to get across in my work. When I was a teenager, I heard Mother Teresa speak at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and I was moved when she told us that God doesn’t have hands, but our hands.” Nazareno is adamant about IGNITE because the organization trains young women who come from historically marginalized communities to develop their leadership potential and recognize how their lived experiences are essential to creating a democracy that represents our country’s diversity.

“The narrative is often ‘I come from a low-income neighborhood, I was raised by a single parent, my father is in jail, my brother was killed, I didn’t go to an Ivy League school. I’ve got no credentials to lead and zero cash. Who am I to run?” says Nazareno. “And we flip the script and say: who are you not to? We’re here to convince each young woman that her whole life is what makes her qualified to lead. Right now, out of the 520,000 elected offices across the country, women hold 30.5% of municipal offices, 30.9% of seats in state legislatures, and 26.5% of seats in the US Congress. If we dramatically broaden our audience, and just 0.1% of young women run in the next decade we will dramatically increase the pool of female candidates in America.”

“Women are the backbone of our democracy,” Nazareno adds. “We have to shift our understanding and challenge this notion of ‘leadership material.’ We need to show young women that their leadership is needed and there’s a path to realize their ambitions. If we can do that, we can change the way we think about women leaders in America.”

“Right now, there are many people – mostly men – who sit in local government who have little or no visceral sense of what it means to live day-to-day in the communities where our young women live. This is why we train young women to realize that they are the best representation of what their community needs and what needs to change.”

“We’re at this tipping point where it’s abundantly clear that if we want our country to continue to thrive we have to invest in child care, mandate equitable pay for women, keep children and women safe from domestic violence and gun violence as national priorities, and make access to healthcare a fundamental human right – among a whole host of other things. Who knows these issues better than women? That’s why we must elect more women to get a seat at the political table, and that’s why IGNITE gives girls and young women the tools, networks, and resources to succeed in this environment. Not only will they run, they’ll win. And not only will they win, but they stay in the game…” says Nazareno. “In the midst of COVID, 13 IGNITE women ran for office across the country last year. This year, 21 IGNITE women have declared their candidacies. – That’s why I wake up every morning truly inspired.”

Showing Up As Who You Are

Nazareno feels the pandemic has been another huge catalyst to breaking our bubbles, realizing our interconnectedness, how deeply woven our lives are and how dependent we are on one another. Amidst so much divisiveness, she sees that we’re all presented with this question: how are you going to show up to this moment?

When it comes to reflecting on her journey and what motivates her day-to-day, it’s exactly that question. Nazareno’s own father came from humble means and wanted to become a cinematographer. But with his mother’s disapproval, he became the engineer he was expected to be. Nazareno dared the opposite.

“What I carry from his story is that while we make sacrifices and concessions along the way, we can’t forget the spark that lives inside us – especially now. As I see it, that spark is the essence of who you are. And it’s a choice to share it with others or hide it. How am I showing up? What am I bringing to the table?” she questions. “Am I really bringing me, or am I consciously dimming my spark, and if so, for whom – and why? And is it worth it? Or can I trust that bringing all of me – whatever that is in this moment – is enough?”

By: Aimee Hansen

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Voice of Experience: Raquel Rosenthal, CEO of Digilant

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Believe in yourself, be hardworking and tenacious, advises Digilant’s Raquel Rosenthal, but never forget that determination is a big part of success.

“Don’t let the little stuff get to you, but keep looking at the goals with your eye on the prize,” she says, an attitude that she attributes to her sales background.

“When you’re young and on a superstar path, you want to get there quickly, but you need to continue to work on yourself. With any blip, I kept focused and realized that even if my time wasn’t now, it was coming.”

Riding the Wave of Transformative Technologies

That determination has given Rosenthal a front row seat to the transformation of the digital world over her career. In college she worked at her campus radio station as a sales manager, then got a position at a local publication called the Advantage where she worked for a year before starting her own publication, which she ran for four years. “While I started on the traditional side, I focused my career on the digital advertising industry and emerging markets. I have always been entrepreneurial, which has shaped me and how I’ve grown my career,” she says.

While she loved advertising and selling, when she started her career at DoubleClick, a company acquired by Google, she realized she had found her passion. With the digital industry just emerging,it was an exciting challenge to work with large companies to convince them to pivot their marketing budgets. She held management roles at other tech companies, including Belo Interactive Media and dataxu, and then seeking a new challenge, she joined Digilant in 2011, ascending from Senior Vice President of Sales and Chief Revenue Officer to CEO.

“I feel very fortunate to have been part of this emerging field,” she says, adding that while she is proud that she’s been able to switch gears from being a contributor to becoming a CEO, even more so she considers herself a “turnaround” CEO. “I was able to leverage my revenue mindset and take the company from where it was losing money to today, where we are headed into our third consecutive year of growth,” she says.

Always on the forefront of emerging trends, Rosenthal closely watches the current landscape within the advertising space, where there’s been a merger of adtech agency services and consulting. “It’s significant when companies with that financial prowess enter the space, so we have been focused on retooling our company to ensure we can compete alongside the larger companies.”

Along with that, Digilant is focused on eliminating siloed data within organizations and the industry to help create a seamless customer experience. Rosenthal states, “we are shifting to a single source of truth to help understand how the consumer is looking to get their data and how analytics can help us improve the consumer journey.”

A Growing World of Opportunity

Looking at the talent landscape, Rosenthal sees many more opportunities for women in middle management and leadership positions than when she started, and although there are still fewer women than is ideal, she feels optimistic about what lies ahead. Using her own company as an example, Digilant has four women in executive leadership positions, attributed to recent growth.

With a focus on diversity of gender and culture, they have implemented “Women and Wisdom”,a monthly discussion group that covers a diverse array of topics, from gender roles to climate change, all chosen by women. A robust mentorship program is also key to helping elevate women.

Rosenthal believes it’s important to stay focused on your work, but in order to bring your best self to work and position yourself for success, you also have to focus on yourself. She says, “it could be walking the dog or reading a chapter every day, but you have to have something that helps you decompress and get away from work to bring that fresh mindset that breeds creativity.”

She definitely takes her own advice, including a daily three-mile walk with her dogs and setting aside time to read books on managing, such as Radical Candor and Good to Great. “People are in constant evolution, including myself, so I love to focus on those topics that will help both myself and the company.”

 

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Empowering Future Women Starts Today by Empowering Ourselves

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woman sitting at deskThe business world is still dominated by men. Sure, we’ve made inroads into the executive level, but we fill few seats — especially in the science field and the corner office.

Yet the statistics tell another story. Not only are we keeping pace with men in the boardroom, but we also run circles around them. Last year, Philadelphia venture capital firm First Round Capital unveiled findings that startup firms featuring at least one woman founder outperform those with solely male founding teams by 63 percent. And women play roles in the upper echelons of First Round’s 10 most valuable companies.

To vault forward in science (or any industry, for that matter), we need to look differently at leadership and our gender. Men and women aren’t wired the same, and to get where I am today, I’ve had to do things that don’t necessarily come naturally.

Women as Pioneers

Women leaders are trailblazers — the more we assert ourselves as leaders, the more other women will follow.

I didn’t realize I was breaking new ground until my daughter, a recent college graduate, said to me: “Mom, you know something? You’re a pioneer. When you were rising throughout the leadership ranks in the ’80s and early ’90s, the ratio of women leaders to men leaders was extremely low.”

She told me that a professor of hers had asked the students to raise their hands if their mothers held a senior leadership role in a company. Out of nearly 50 students in my daughter’s class, she was the only one whose hand went up. She told me, “Mom, you are a unicorn.” I never looked at myself that way. And personally, it meant so much to me to know that I stood out in her mind and had such a deep impact.

As women, we’re still dismissed on the basis of our emotional, connected nature. And our people-centered leadership styles are looked down upon by men — the very people who are often making the decisions about promotions and hiring.

Men vs. Women

Looking back on my career, I know there are some things I could have and should have adjusted that would have made it easier to advance. Growing up with only brothers, I believed I had a leg up on many other aspiring female professionals. But in terms of business, I didn’t really know the difference between a man and a woman. I thought, “I’m just a different sex, but we’re all equal.”

That thinking is a bit backward — even in today’s diverse world. Men and women behave and act differently in every situation. And as professional women, we need to embrace this fact and work it to our advantage. Back when I entered my field, I didn’t really take note of my female tendencies, and I strongly believe it may have held me back.

Leveraging Our Strengths

By nature, we aren’t nearly as boastful as men. We often recognize people around us as opposed to recognizing ourselves. But we need to be able to talk the talk and walk the walk. We need to sell ourselves as strong thinkers and business leaders.

We need to understand our value and make sure we can represent it correctly, whether it’s in front of a board of directors or our senior management. In general, we’re not programmed this way in our DNA, so we need to recognize how important this is and show our value in every aspect of our jobs.

We are much more conscious of physical responsibility and the people element in business and life. Women in a business setting will often say, “How are you doing, and how can I help?” We won’t find a man doing that.

And we don’t need to hear that we’re better than men. We need to know that we’re different and that in certain roles, that difference makes us stronger and “better.” Of course, the opposite is true, too; men are better than us at some jobs.

But we need to think about where our strengths are and leverage those advantages. Recognizing this will put us in front of investors and business leaders and boost our careers.

Our Path Forward

What can we do to build upon the foundation set by our predecessors and ensure that future women will carry on to greater success?

1. We have to work twice as hard as men. This is not only because we’re trying to overcome some of our natural tendencies, but also because it’s still a male-dominated world.

2. We need to be more selfish. We’re raised to be selfless; we don’t think of ourselves first. But speaking louder is the only way we’ll break into the boardroom. In a room full of men, we need to be heard.

3. We have to assume we’re all the same and that we deserve the same treatment. We should take more risks and wait until someone says “no” rather than avoid confrontation. Sure, we ask for more responsibility. But we don’t ask for or expect a raise or promotion to go along with that added responsibility.

4. We need to cultivate our passions and find a way to make a difference within that arena. Invest in a passion, build a business or project around it, and use it within a brand. It will help us get noticed and stand out in front of a group of men.

5. We need to work together and empower one another to build success among women. Springboard Enterprises is a great resource for women with an entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s not necessarily just for entrepreneurs — it’s for any woman who wants the firepower to move ahead in business.

We need to be pioneers for other women; it’s the only way to close the gender gap that still exists. The more we assert ourselves as leaders, take risks, and let our passion do the talking, the sooner “our day” will come when we will not only be 50 percent of the population, but also 50 percent of the leaders driving change in the world!

Valerie Palmieri was appointed president and CEO of Vermillion in January 2015 and joined the company in October 2014. She brought with her more than 30 years of experience in the diagnostic laboratory industry, holding sales, operations, and executive leadership positions in laboratory service and consulting organizations.

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