Power Tools
Friday Round Up: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
It’s been quite a week between the lawmakers in Washington taking the debt-ceiling deal to the 11th hour and yesterday being one of the worst days in the financial markets since 2008. Yet despite all the chaos, this Friday’s Round Up is going deploy Power Tool #5 ‘Carpe the Chaos’ and keep marching forward to highlight some of the good, not just the bad and the ugly – we’ve had quite enough of that…
She's Doing It: And in combat boots!!
Did you know women are the fastest growing group of armed forces veterans with estimates of growing from 1.8 million in 2010 to 2.1 million by 2036? I didn’t until I read some recent reports.
Women have made great strides throughout the U.S. Military, serving in almost every position now. This is a big change in an organizational culture designed by men for men. Change as we know, can create chaos, or at least the feeling of chaos. This week’s “She’s Doing It” celebrates those brave women in uniform, and looks at how they are using No Excuses Power Tool #5, “carpe the chaos” when Janie comes marching home.
Read MoreFriday Round Up: Know Your History & You Can Create the Future of Your Choice
July 19th was the 163rd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention that is generally regarded as the start of the women’s movement in the U. S. So this week’s roundup has to be about power tool #1: Know your history and you can create the future of your choice.
Sandy Magnus and three other (male) NASA astronauts returned to earth early Thursday morning aboard the final flight of Atlantis. Magnus, 46, is an engineer and a veteran in space exploration since joining NASA in 1996. She now has the distinction of being the last woman ever to fly on a NASA space shuttle which is being retired after three decades of service. And she has a sense of history, and the historic nature of her own work.
Read MoreFriday Round Up: Aggregation Edition–What Are Your Faves?
This is a roundup of roundups. We are oversaturated with information from a multiplicity of sources and communications platforms. I don’t know about you but I am turning increasingly to trusted sources of aggregated news and opinion.
In the spirit of No Excuses Power Tool #8, Employ Every Medium, I’m curious about something. What news aggregations you check first thing in the morning?
Read MoreFriday Round Up: Does Gender Matter Anywhere Anymore?
After my keynote at the AAUW national convention last Sunday, I overheard an attendee tell her friend about the graphic I’d used of a hot dog with “No More” written in mustard on it. I didn’t have to say a word when I put the graphic on the screen for the entire audience to start laughing at the shared awareness that I was referencing now-former NY Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Stupid). And that by implication I was referencing the fatigue and disgust so many people feel about the seemingly unending waves of philandering politicians who thus far have been almost entirely male.
Read MoreFriday Round Up: The X's have IT!
While the flurry of puns and bad jokes are still ringing in our ears, it has finally happened that another high-ranking, supposedly tech-savvy Congressman resigned in a press conference that hearkened back to the days of Richard Nixon’s resignation.
Read MoreShe’s Doing It: Victoria Pynchon “She Negotiates” to Improve Dispute Resolution
Ever meet someone you instantly know is a force of nature and will be a great friend forever? I met Vickie Pynchon –attorney, mediator and arbitrator, partner in the She Negotiates Consulting and Training firm, prolific Forbes.com blogger, and author of A is for A**hole: the Grownups’ ABC’s of Conflict Resolution–during the worst icy snowstorm I’ve ever witnessed in New York City.
I’d blown off a chance to meet
Read MoreANNOUNCING She's Doing It: 9 Ways Highlights You
Today I begin a new series on the 9 Ways Blog, “She’s Doing It.”
As I’ve traveled the country talking with people at bookstores and speaking events, and as I’ve heard from hundreds of you via social media and e-mail, I sense a movement on the rise.
This week’s woman who makes no excuses is Linda Brodsky M. D. because she’s Expediting the Inevitable.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/21809836[/vimeo]
Read More“Power Unused, Power Useless” in Women’s Financial Choices, Says Jacki Zehner
Among the many impressive women I interviewed for No Excuses, Jacki Zehner stands out. The youngest woman and first female trader to become a partner at Goldman Sachs in 1996, Zehner is a founding partner of Circle Financial Group. She matches her business acumen and success with her strong commitment to philanthropy, including the Women’s Funding Network and Women Moving Millions groups that focus on women and girls.
But Jacki Zehner doesn’t stop with making and giving money; she’s on a mission to gain gender parity in the financial industry where women in leadership roles have traditionally been few, and to encourage women to invest their money in ways that help other women get a fair shake in the business world. We both spoke at the Women’s Funding Network conference in New York in April. I was honored when she subsequently quoted my belief that “power unused is power useless” in her blog.
I had a chance to talk with Zehner about her latest endeavors to advance women through financial power. Here’s what she had to say:
GF: Women have obviously always worked–whether at home or in the paid workforce, but our work has not always been valued accordingly. Now that we are 50% of the paid workforce, what are the most important one or two things women should do in your opinion to make sure their work is valued at the same financial level as men’s work, individually or collectively?
JZ: Though we are now over 50% of the workforce, we are still the vast majority in lower paid jobs without benefits and make on average only 80% of the male wage. Women at all economic levels have to become more active players to create a better collective financial future. How they can do that varies dramatically – from organizing locally to advocate for change, to funding organizations that fight for our rights in courts, to at the most senior level women CEOS and executives taking the lead in their organizations to finally, truly, drive for talented women to be represented in critical mass. (30%) We have power, we are just not fully using it. (No excuses…right Gloria??)
Read MoreDanica Davidson Explains How Writing Chose Her
We’ve talked about the power of our stories. Danica Davidson. shares her writing aspirations here. She’s gutsy to “wear the shirt” [link to a wts post] of her writing aspirations, and I’ll bet that’s why you’ll likely see her books on the shelf soon.
Danica is a professional freelance writer who is now actively seeking to publish a YA novel. She has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times and featured on the Guide to Literary Agents about her novel-writing. She has also adapted Japanese books into English. Please check out her website www.danicadavidson.com or follow her on Twitter @DanicaDavidson.
I’ve been telling stories as far back as I can remember. Even as a young child, I knew I wanted to be a writer. When I was in first grade I was habitually writing picture-books (which I also illustrated) and in second grade I made my first attempt to write a novel. By the time I was in middle school, I was writing novels regularly. This just came naturally to me, and I couldn’t imagine a life without writing. From the beginning I’ve wanted to share my stories, so I’ve never been one to write and hide my creations. I’ve had a drive to share them and to be a professional writer.
Even at age eleven I would go to writers’ meetings carrying my writing and trying to show them to adults. Not many of the adults took me seriously because of my age, but I could tell a few were impressed. Nothing came of it professionally, though. I began bringing my novels into school and sharing them with friends, who then passed them on to more readers. These readers also passed them on and soon I had a school fanbase, which was a flattering, honoring and wonderful thing. Around this time the Los Angeles Times covered me as an up-and-coming author.
I thought it would all come together for me then, but it didn’t. There was a family tragedy and my life changed. I had to work three part-time jobs while studying on my own to get my high school diploma. I worked at a feed store, I worked at a daycare, and I did reporting for the local newspaper. The newspaper reporting was somewhere along the lines of what I wanted to do, but the other two jobs were because they were what I could get and I needed the money. I was very much aware that many of my friends were goofing off and partying through their senior year as I struggled through low-paying jobs to make an income. I was in a very different world from most people my age, though I’ve also come to learn that too many other teenagers have to face the same reality. We don’t always get a chance to enjoy our childhoods.
I wrote when I had time, but so often it had to get pushed aside for more immediate needs. I began sending articles to magazines in hopes I could build up a résumé there and this would help me get my novels published.
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