Even Hurricanes Don't Stop Women Who Mean Business
Issue 207 — October 3, 2022
“You’re going WHERE?” people asked.
“Don’t you know hurricanes are pummeling Florida and the Caribbean? Isn’t Puerto Rico getting hit?”
Um, yes, but when I take a speaking engagement, I show up. Besides, after a summer in which my husband died unexpectedly, turning my world upside down, a restorative few days at a beachfront hotel, with an hour of speaking my only obligation, was just what my soul needed.
To speak at The Women’s Collaborative We Mean Business Conference, the brainchild of its organizer Sharon Jackson, I had to fly from Phoenix to San Juan. You can’t get there without a connecting flight in Charlotte or Miami.
Charlotte was my connection going to San Juan, Miami on the return flight. Now, in the many times I’ve flown through Charlotte, I’d never failed to have flights delayed or canceled. Not this time. At the beginning of the conference, Florida was experiencing the devastation of hurricane Ian. By the time I returned home to Phoenix, Miami was clear and Charlotte was getting slammed by Ian’s aftermath. I dodged a hurricane on both ends.
And the beach was spectacular.
While there were participants and speakers from all over the U. S., Puerto Rican women were in the majority. They definitely mean business: entrepreneurial, visionary, and collaborative. My biggest takeaway from the conference was that these energetic women will drive the island’s economy in the next decade. They are also philanthropic. Quite a few had nonprofits empowering women in addition to their main job or business.
Highlights — there were many, these are a select few
It’s not news that the media treats male and female candidates differently. But Alexandra Lugaro, CEO of the Foundation for Puerto Rico gave a particularly colorful rundown of what she experienced running for governor as an independent — the first person of any gender to do that in Puerto Rico. She was asked if she wore bikinis or one piece bathing suits, for example.
“You have to prepare 10 times more if you want to compete in any field with a man,” she said, noting that 75% of college students in PR are women, but only 22% are in decision-making positions.
The solution, she said, is not to adapt but to be fearless about dressing and doing exactly as we want. “The best kind of woman is a free woman.”
Catina Taylor, founder of DREAMS Consulting, took it a step farther, describing her mission as nothing less than “liberation.”
L-R: Maricella Herrera Avila, Catina Taylor, Silva Santiago, Yizette Cifredo, Lauren Conaway talk “Women Helping Women.”
Dr. Tina Brower-Thomas, Howard University Principal Investigator Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, spoke of how seeing “people who looked like me inspired me to be in STEM field” and her passion to inspire more young women of color to seek careers in her field.
Dr. Gretchen Diaz Munoz spoke to the need for leadership development to get more women in STEM. While women earn 40% of STEM degrees, they make up 28% of employees in the fields. We’ve often heard women in technology companies complain or “quiet quit” because of the bro culture where they experience microagressions, biases overt and covert, and even harassment. It’s exactly why I’m so passionate about raising the funds for Take The Lead to deliver cohorts of 50 Women Can Change the World in Technology, to develop those leaders who will not only be role models but will also create an inclusive culture that will enable their companies to retain the female talent they need.
Janet Manuel, Director of HR and DEI, City of Pittsburgh, soon to hold that position in Alexandria, VA gave me a big chuckle when she said, “You know it’s a good idea if you steal it.” I absolutely love and live by this piece of advice. I can see meta messages, how pieces can fit together, when others see lists. But I’m not someone who has lots of original ideas, and I’m quite sure one of the secrets of my success has been an openness to incorporate other people’s ideas. With credit of course!
A big highlight was a fireside chat with actor and director Kim Fields, who captivated the participants with her life lessons and great humor. She focused on dropping the labels; we’re not talking about a Latina woman, not a Black woman…just a woman. She also spoke about not being afraid to say “No,” something difficult for many women —and I’m one of them — because we’ve been socialized to think first of others.
Lauren Conaway, founder of InnovateHerKC conducted a lively interview with actor and director Kim Fields.
Some other speaker turns of phrase I heard repeated often:
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Don’t be a blessing blocker.
The economy has to align with our reality.
Because it was a businesswoman’s conference, I had prepared a sassy keynote titled “Intentioning: The Businesswoman’s Secret Power to Mastery and Money, without Misery.”
Unlike my uneventful travel, there were surprises waiting for me. First, I learned my books, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good, hadn’t arrived for the book signing scheduled right after my speech. My heart fell because I know that if you don’t have books available right after the speech, sales become few.
The next surprise would have been a relief if I’d known it in advance. As I was going onto the stage, I learned it would be a fireside chat format, facilitated by Orlana Darkins Drewery. She’s a terrific facilitator; I knew that from her facilitation of a webinar we did for the group earlier this year. So I didn’t have to worry about delivering a speech. I could speak spontaneously.
Orlana Darkins Drewery and I talk about #Intentioning.
Surprise three was being asked to join the final panel on women and money, ably facilitated by Virginia Rivera founder of SOLApreneur and Mujer Emprende Latina. Both of the scheduled speakers had canceled at the last minute due to weather issues on the other side of the island.
I’m hardly the poster child for this topic, though like a good doobie I agreed to do it. Actually I’m a good example of what women shouldn’t do, such as failing to negotiate my compensation during most of my career. So I admitted that and gave tips on running nonprofits and why women need to think bigger about their business goals, which I do know about.
In her speech, Lugaro told the group exactly what I say in all my training — you don’t need to be empowered. You have power already. Use it. That’s an excellent summation of the overall message of the conference. Women are metaphorically the hurricane of positive change.
Cofounder of The Women’s Collaborative Sharon Jackson is already planning for next year and I plan to be there.
Jackson said, “In spite of two hurricanes and massive flight disruptions, women joined together to change the narrative. We can’t change policy until we change the narrative.”
GLORIA FELDT is the Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker and expert women’s leadership developer for companies that want to build gender balance, and a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she teaches “Women, Power, and Leadership” at Arizona State University and is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Tweet Gloria Feldt.