A shout out to all the incredible women out there

Happy Monday everybody! While I sometimes lag on Mondays, today is no ordinary Monday. It’s International Women’s Day (IWD) – a day that means a lot to me and I know many of you out there. International Women's Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity – an area where we still have much work to do. Let me share some soundbites from some recent Sunday morning reading: 

• Climbing the ladder: In senior management positions across corporate America between 2015 and 2020, the share of women grew from 23 to 28 percent in SVP roles—and from 17 to 21 percent in the C-suite. Progress but women remain dramatically underrepresented, particularly women of color. [1]
• A seat at the table: In 2019, women held on average only 26 percent of board seats for retail and consumer companies and made-up 14 percent of executives[2] Yet women make the vast majority of purchasing decisions.
• Broken rung: For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 85 women were promoted. At the beginning of 2020 women held just 38 percent of manager positions, while men held 62 percent[3]

 So, what to do?

Well, take this year’s IWD day theme - #choosetochallenge for example. A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. Let's all choose to challenge and do everything we can to create a gender-equal world. Something that has supported me throughout my career and life is my personal board of directors. It’s made up of people who I can talk to about my inner monologue without feeling like an imposter, ashamed or like I’m asking for too much. Complicated issues like feeling like a terrible mother when traveling for work, sticky situations with a former boss or even whether to change jobs and industries.

And now more than ever it’s time for you to reach out to all of the fabulous women in your lives and show them some love! On that note here’s a MASSIVE shout out to my personal Board of Directors – an incredible group of women mentors, leaders and friends who have helped me in every walk of life and to whom I owe an enormous debt of gratitude (in alphabetical order below 😊) 

• Beth Scheer (HomeBrew Ventures) - power VC and recruiter who recruited me from retail to tech and also a black lab mama
• Catie Meyer (my college roommate and rock star life coach) - literally sends group texts to my college gals of every Microsoft Retail post and picks me up off the floor when I’m in a parenting crisis
• Daphne Bransten, Lisa Bransten, and Anne Wooster (My Mom and Sisters) - What can I say, I won the mom/sister lottery. Loyal. Smart. Independent and I have to say good things cause they know all my transgressions.
• Deb Cupp (Microsoft) - my recruiting buddy, now b#da#s boss. Literally 6-8 texts a day on topics ranging from the latest Veronica Beard drop to closing deals.
• Eva Archer Smith (Executive coach) - an incredible inspiration, now universal life minister who always puts my head back on where it belongs
• Gabrey Means (Grow Marketing) - the original “It” girl at Banana Republic in the day, now an amazing entrepreneur and innovator
• Jennifer Olsen (UnTuckit, CMO) - an incredible retail innovator, creative force and my alter ego on left brain/right brain thinking for life, retail and, skincare
• Jill Standish (Accenture) - Retail Icon. My unexpected friend from my Salesforce days to RILA who brings her tribe along and is the living incarnation of Shonda Rhimes' “Year of Saying Yes”
• Lareina Yee (McKinsey) - thought leader and boundary pusher on fact base of Diversity & Inclusion. This post is reminding me we are long overdue a get together!
• Lisa Edwards (Diligent Corporation) - that friend and business leader who you call when you need the advice you sometimes don’t want to hear but is always right. Power player.
• Lisa McKnight (SVP and head of Barbie portfolio at Mattel) - my friend from Kindergarten who is now setting the stage for girl empowerment everywhere.
• Tina Sharkey (Consumer Brand Builder & CEO) - from BabyCenter to Brandless to “Mom of two Boys Club” an unbelievable force for community, good, and creativity

Let’s all celebrate women's achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality #choosetochallenge.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Shelley 

[1] Women in the Workplace 2020: The State of Women in Corporate America

[2] The retail diversity imperative | McKinsey

[3] Women in the Workplace 2020: The State of Women in Corporate America