On the Brink

In two days, hundreds of us will come together to change the world of work for women at the Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum. The speakers are incredible and what we will accomplish will be groundbreaking. Listen, learn, share, connect. See you there.

For several weeks now I've been telling you about the Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) and Rethinking Women, coming up soon on May 11th. So what is Women Business Collaborative and what does it do, you might be asking? As a matter of fact, it does a whole lot!

What does it take to really change the role of women in business? Vision, leadership and collaboration. That's the purpose of the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women. It takes place May 11th and we really hope you'll join us. Just read who is coming to speak and I think you'll agree that this is a gamechanging, one-of-a-kind event. Big things are going to happen—register now! 

It really is amazing—the number of high-powered, extremely accomplished women and men thought leaders we have assembled to speak at the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women. It all happens on one day and one day only, May 11th, which is coming up fast. Don't wait, register now! 

It's getting closer! Edie Fraser, Gwen Young and myself would like to personally invite you to join us and hundreds of others at the 2nd annual Rethinking and Accelerating Diversity and Women’s Leadership in Business Forum, sponsored by the Women Business Collaborative and Rethinking Women on May 11th. Our mission is to achieve equal pay, power and position for all women, everywhere. Join the movement!

Did you know that today, women own 40% of businesses in the US, which amounts to 12 million businesses? One way of looking at this is to say, wow, 12 million is a lot of businesses. But I am tempted to look at it another way. Why only 40%? Along the same lines, only 20% of funded companies have women founders, according to a 2019 EoY Diversity Report. Again, I question why only 20%? What is holding women back from founding companies? To try to get at some answers, I talked about all this and more when I was recently interviewed by Authority magazine for its interview series, “Why We Need More Women Founders.” You can find the interview here.

Are you ready to play a role in the future of women?

Now you can. A great opportunity is before you. I would like to personally invite you to join me and a powerhouse lineup of thought leaders, corporate leaders and entrepreneurs at the Women Business Collaborative (WBC) third Annual Summit: Empowering Through Gender and Diversity.

Register Now!

I've been interviewed a lot lately! Happily, they've all focused on the topics I love sharing about: my new book, Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, the challenges women and minorities face in the workplace, Blue Ocean Strategy, female entrepreneurs, the Simon Initiative, culture change, and of course, anthropology. So is there an underlying theme to these articles, which I share below? Yes. I would have to say that it is time to make change your friend. We've been through a pandemic. Millions have lost their jobs and businesses and are now trying to imagine what's next. Women are fed up with bumping into old myths that tell them what they can and can't do. New markets are being opened up by clever entrepreneurs looking for unmet needs. In short, change is all around us, and it's not slowing down. Time to embrace it, not flee from it!

I was recently a guest speaker on the Entrepreneur MBA podcast with Stephen Halasnik, and what we talked about was really significant. Yes, we discussed my new book, Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business, but we also delved into how the old ways of viewing gender and diversity are changing, not just for today but for generations to come. Stephen asked some great questions about the challenges women and minorities face in the workplace, and what businesses must do to change that negative environment so that inclusion becomes more than just a momentary catchphrase. I include below the press release about our podcast. To listen to our conversation, click here. My hope is that discussions like these will cause us all to think about what we can do to make workplaces, and society at large, less ex-clusive and more in-clusive. Enjoy.

"If the Golden Rule is to treat people as you want to be treated, the Platinum Rule is to treat people as they want to be treated. If you're truly a global citizen, you have to practice the Platinum Rule."  - Denise Meagles

Yesterday was International Women's Day, and the month of March is Women's History Month. How should we mark these two events? How do we adequately honor and celebrate all of the incredible things women have accomplished throughout history, their contributions to human civilization and culture and progress? It's a tall order. 

But a different way of looking at this is to ask, why do we need an International Women's Day and a Women's History Month? Is it because in spite of all our smashing of myths and shattering of glass ceilings, women are still not equal to men? Women of color are even more unequal.

At our Rethink with Andi Simon Roundtable which met today, we discussed this and a lot more. I'd like to share with you some of the ideas that were put forth because hopefully they can help us understand how to make the world better, for women, for men, for all of us. Enjoy and please share.