Day: September 11, 2019

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Own your worth!” with Dr. Tana M. Session…

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Own your worth!” with Dr. Tana M. Session and Candice Georgiadis

Own your worth! Women must become comfortable negotiating for higher starting salaries and annual increases based on reliable market data and research. Start talking finances with other men and women and share resources and information on salary ranges in your industry. Information is power!

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tana M. Session. Tana has built a successful career in Human Resources spanning over 20 years, where she has held almost every position available, including 10 years as the top HR executive for multiple organizations. Her experience has enabled her to embed her passion for Diversity, Equality & Inclusion in everything she develops and implements. In 2014, Tana established her award-winning, WMBE-certified coaching and consulting practice, (http://www.tanamsession.com), offering her expertise through speaking engagements, group and 1:1 coaching and Human Resources consulting. She was recently recognized as a Huffington Post “Top Female Expert to Follow,” and in 2019, Tana received her Honorary Doctorate (PhD) degree in Philosophy/Humane Letters. Dr. Session is an international speaker who has spoken at professional events throughout the U.S. as well as Bangkok, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica. Tana completed her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and her MBA in Organizational Psychology & Development. Recognized by the University of Phoenix as one of its Distinguished Alumni of Southern California, Tana also joined the team of UCLA Extension and California State University — Long Beach as an Instructor/Adjunct Professor. In 2019, Tana was selected as the only MBA alumni in American InterContinental University’s history to speak as the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony where she shared a powerful message to over 7,000 attendees in Houston and Atlanta. Tana is the author of three books, including the #1 Best-seller Get Your Career Life in Order. Tana has been a contributing writer for Forbes.com and BlackEnterprise.com, and has been featured in Huffington Post, Essence Magazine and on various television, syndicated radio and podcast shows. She is also a contributing Lifestyle Segment co-host for the nationally syndicated talk radio show, “In the Know,” where she shares career and motivational advice. In her free time, Tana likes to travel and spend time with family and friends. In June 2014, Tana and her family relocated from New York to Los Angeles. She now enjoys getting to know her new home state.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

I started my career in Human Resources over 20 years ago as an Administrative Assistant. Over the years, I have held almost every position in HR, including the top HR executive for multiple organizations. Today, I am a Human Resources Strategist, Award-winning International Speaker, Author and Career/Life coach.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

The most interesting thing that has happened to me since starting my own business was my trip to Bangkok. I got booked as a speaker at the Annual Women’s Leadership & Empowerment Conference hosted by the Tomorrow People Organization based out of Serbia. It was my first in-person international speaking event, and I learned so much about women around the world. My main takeaway after spending three days at the conference was women are not as different as we tend to think we are, regardless of nationality, religion or race. As women, we face similar issues and concerns around the world. This was truly an inspiring and eye-opening experience for me.

Can you share a story about the funniest or most interesting mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started my consulting/coaching business, I hid behind my corporate name, TMS Business Solutions, Inc. I was used to having my employer’s company name validate me. I quickly learned that would not work for me as an independent consultant. I had one person tell me my company name reminded her of a computer system company. I immediately hired a branding coach and changed to a d/b/a entitled TanaMSession.com, and rebranded my website and marketing materials. I’m so glad I made this pivot early in my entrepreneurial journey, which has made such a positive and well-received change in my business.

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2019, women still earn about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain three of the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

Here are three main factors I feel have caused the wage gap through the years:

1. The “Off Ramp” has been a major setback for most women as it relates to advancing their career and their salaries. Since women have historically been the primary caregivers for children, maternity leave has oftentimes stalled their careers. While the women were out on maternity leave or took extended parental leave, staying out of the workforce anywhere from six weeks to one or more years, their male counterparts have been promoted and received their full annual merit increases and bonuses. Most companies will prorate the annual merit increase and bonus for any employee who Is out on a leave of absence during the performance year, resulting in the increase and bonus being reduced by the number of months the employee was not working. This gap can broaden based on industry and occupation.

2. Women are by nature nurturers. This has hurt women when it comes to negotiating their salaries and increases. Negotiating is not a skill many women are good at or comfortable doing when it comes to their salary.

3. Gender discrimination and the intersectionality of gender and race discrimination has also played a role in the gender wage gap. For example, on average, black women earn $.63 on the dollar of white men, which is $.17 less than their white women counterparts.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

Through my work as a Career Coach and International Speaker, I provide women with strategies to successfully negotiate salaries for new jobs and promotions, and how to position themselves for higher salary increases and bonuses in their current positions. My female clients have experienced up to 35% increases in their salaries by implementing the strategies we developed, starting with knowing how to own their power and their worth.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Own your worth! Women must become comfortable negotiating for higher starting salaries and annual increases based on reliable market data and research. Start talking finances with other men and women and share resources and information on salary ranges in your industry. Information is power!

2. Whenever possible, do not disclose your current salary to a new employer during the interview or salary negotiation process. If you are currently underpaid, your new employer may offer you a lower salary than they budgeted for the position because their lowest offer may still be a significant increase over your current salary. There are several states who have made it illegal for employers to ask about current salary prior to making an offer to help decrease the wage gap for women and minorities.

3. Women should raise their hands for new and bigger projects to gain leadership experience and exposure to decision-makers. This will take some strategic self-promotion skills, but it is necessary to help elevate your career and your salary. Also, actively seek out promotions or new positions even if you do not have all of the listed requirements for the job. Men do it all the time!

4. Organizations should conduct regularly salary audits for all positions and compare female employees’ salaries against their male counterparts who are in the same job with the same or comparable responsibilities, experience and education. The numbers don’t lie! Put a plan in place to bring women’s salaries in alignment with their male counterparts, even if the increases have to be incremental over a 6–12 month period. Openly sharing the salary audit results and adjustment plan with employees will help boost employee engagement while holding the organization accountable along the way.

5. Organizations should regularly review the diversity, equality and inclusion of their leadership teams to ensure they are hiring and promoting the best person for the job. Also, review market data to ensure salary ranges are meeting local job market demands. This is a good time to make internal salary adjustments to current staff’s salaries to ensure internal equity and to help all employees remain competitive with the external job market.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The mission of my work is to help change the lives of 1 Million women and the men who love and support us. My movement is “Stop Being the Best Kept Secret ®” where I work with indivduals to help them move past historical and generational trauma and learn how to own their power, truth, healing, worth and destiny. The breakthroughs they have experienced in both their professional and personal lives have been my reward for the work I do.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” is “Rent your title, but own your character.” At the end of the day, I want to be remembered for how I served others and made a positive impact in their lives. Titles can be taken from you, involutarily or voluntarily, but your character and what people say about you when you’re not in the room is what will stand the test of time.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

The one person I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with is Bozoma Saint John. I have admired her from afar for years. Her authencity and ability to be unapologetically black throughout her career for Pepsi, Apple, Uber and now Endeavor has been inspirational to so many women of color. Her energy and spirt flow through her online presence and her keynote speeches. The way she shows up and supports her squad is also admirable. During our breakfast or lunch, I would like to learn more about her personal journey to truly owning her power and worth in corporate America, and hear her thoughts on what I can do to scale the work I’m doing to grow my brand and business and serve more people. Not to sound cliché, but of course Oprah Winfrey would be my second choice in case Bozoma is busy that day.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Own your worth!” with Dr. Tana M. Session… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Allow salary information to be shared” with…

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Allow salary information to be shared” with Shanna Hocking and Candice Georgiadis

Allow salary information to be shared — Many companies require employees to keep salary information confidential and they can penalize employees for speaking openly about their salaries, which limits women’s ability to understand when there are parity issues. One respected leader in my field told me her actual salary figure to give me a sense of what the market offers. Even more than the number, her candor made quite an impression on me. She told me: “We all rise together as women.” In turn, I have shared this with other women I have mentored through salary negotiations to help prepare them with the information they need to be successful.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Shanna Hocking. Shanna is the Associate Vice President, Individual Giving at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, providing strategic leadership and direction to a team of 35+ across annual, major, planned, principal, and international giving. Previously, Shanna was the Senior Director of Major and Planned Gifts at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she led the major and planned gifts program, and served as a senior fundraiser for the institution, engaging alumni primarily in New York City and London. In addition, she developed and directed Wharton Women in Leadership, an initiative to engage senior executive alumnae as volunteer and philanthropic leaders with the School. She previously worked in development at The University of Alabama, Duke University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Shanna frequently speaks, writes, and serves as a podcast guest on the topics of leadership, fundraising and career development. She has been published on Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Career Contessa, Forbes, and Motherly. Shanna’s expertise has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and Thrive Global. Shanna received a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and a B.A. in Modern Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE).

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

At 18, I knew I wanted to have a career in fundraising. I staffed an event for my alma mater where a donor honored his mentor with a gift to the university and I knew then I wanted to help create these opportunities to transform ideas, people, and places through philanthropy. I started as a development intern in college in the regional office for my alma mater. Over the last 18 years, I built a career in higher education fundraising and transitioned two years ago to academic medicine fundraising. Today I am the Associate Vice President, Individual Giving at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and I am also a speaker, writer, and podcast guest on the topics of leadership, fundraising, and career development.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

One of the most wonderful things about fundraising is that my career is all about people’s stories — what motivates them, what they want their legacy to be. I have been privileged to meet many wonderful people, including celebrities. It has been especially joyful to meet many book authors who have inspired and influenced me, both in my work and in my own writing.

Can you share a story about the funniest or most interesting mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early in my career, I had a big first meeting with a donor who had capacity to make a significant gift to the institution. After 10 minutes, he asked, “What can I do for you?” His candor caught me off guard. I mumbled something about being grateful for his time and that we hoped to get him more involved. He gave me the opening and I hesitated. Because I was afraid to ask, I missed an opportunity. I could have let that experience intimidate me; in this instance, it could have changed my career path. Instead I realized asking itself was my opportunity to serve others. Many years later, I coach every new gift officer I work with to anticipate and respond to this question. By being vulnerable about my own mistakes and teaching my staff to be prepared, I channeled fear into positively supporting others.

The gender wage gap is complex and the result of many factors. I would suggest that three of the factors are: some male-dominated occupations pay significantly more than industries or roles that mostly employ women; women are expected to behave differently when it comes to certain work behaviors, such as salary negotiations; and bias against working mothers. Recent research studies from Princeton and Harvard, on women around the world and in America, have both shown there is a “motherhood penalty” — women earn less after the birth of their first child.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

As an individual, I coach women to prepare for salary negotiations, I write and speak about the importance of women being able to ask for what they want, and I spend time considering the role that unconscious bias plays in hiring and negotiation.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Promote women’s financial security — Women need additional training on salary negotiations (that account for bias against women). Many organizations have started to offer coaching for women, but they are not broadly available. In addition to understanding how to ask for a raise or negotiate a salary, women could also benefit from money management training, which has historically been something that men were expected to do.

2. Eliminate the motherhood penalty — Women are perceived to be less committed to their jobs when they have children. This bias, in addition to the significant challenges in managing a successful career and home life, can contribute to why working mothers choose to leave the traditional workforce. I have experienced this bias throughout my career, once being told in an interview that I wouldn’t be recommended for the role, because I had a family at home — not because I didn’t have the requisite experience or potential to lead.

3. Consider salary transparency — This can mean many different things, whether publicly posting all salaries, being forthcoming about salary information in interviews, or committing to pay men and women equally. Many states no longer allow employers to request previous salary history, which has historically contributed to the gender wage gap.

4. Allow salary information to be shared — Many companies require employees to keep salary information confidential and they can penalize employees for speaking openly about their salaries, which limits women’s ability to understand when there are parity issues. One respected leader in my field told me her actual salary figure to give me a sense of what the market offers. Even more than the number, her candor made quite an impression on me. She told me: “We all rise together as women.” In turn, I have shared this with other women I have mentored through salary negotiations to help prepare them with the information they need to be successful.

5. Create affordable childcare options — When a family has to make a choice between paying the cost of childcare or staying home to care for children, this can affect the ability for parents to contribute financially to the family or advance their careers. This isn’t a women’s issue, but caregiving responsibilities have often fallen to women.

Unfortunately, it is not likely that the gender wage gap will disappear any time soon. These are suggested efforts to help us get closer to our goals. For there to be any significant changes, many of these efforts would have to be done together, rather than considering any one on its own.

My goal is to inspire a movement to “Be yourself boldly” — intentionally putting your truest, best self out there, because the world needs you.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Women, in particular, often credit their success to “luck”. Saying that things occur solely by chance discredits the role you play in making magic happen. You worked hard to get where you are and you should proudly share that with others. I think about this often in terms of how I can best be prepared. Most importantly, when the door is open, will you walk through? Recognizing opportunity takes courage.

I’d love to have lunch with Amy Nelson, Founder and CEO, The Riveter. I admire her commitment to helping women be successful at work, her own efforts to reduce the gender wage gap, and scaling the “maternal wall”, as she calls it.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Allow salary information to be shared” with… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Collaboration Over Competition” with Heather Heuman and…

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Collaboration Over Competition” with Heather Heuman and Candice Georgiadis

Collaboration Over Competition — I learned early on in my first business that some people find your energy, excitement and thinking outside the box as competition and don’t make you feel welcome. I allowed for this to dampen my drive when I was first starting out. I have since realized that there are indeed people that also believe in the power of collaboration. Continue to put out into the world what you want to see more of and you’ll attract more people that are excited when they meet someone doing great things.

As a part of my series about social media stars who are using their platform to make a significant social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Heuman, the CEO of Sweet Tea Social Marketing, host of the ‘Business, Jesus and Sweet Tea’ podcast and founder of Social Thrive Business Academy where she helps Christian business owners grow using social media marketing. She is an international social media speaker, strategist and consultant that specializes in helping businesses and brands discover how to grow in today’s noisy social marketplace with solid social media strategy that gets people to stop scrolling. Heather has worked with clients like Chick-fil-A, Wilson Sports, Chambers of Commerce and global brands during her 19 years in the digital marketing space. Heather lives in South Carolina with her husband and three kids and is the biggest fan of sweet tea you’ll ever meet!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Although I thought I was going to be a teacher inside the walls of a special education classroom as my career, circumstances quickly landed me on a different path. After needing a job quickly after a terrible personal devastation in my life in 1999, I found myself in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina as the Customer Service Manager at a local grocery retailer. The work was fine, but I was not in love with working crazy hours and holidays and found myself taking a $15,000 pay cut so I could work at a digital marketing agency as their office manager during regular weekday hours. Little did I know that this career change would be a huge pivot in my career, for the better. Over a two-year timeline, I was promoted to Project Manager and then transitioned to become a web designer and then later a graphic designer. This was the foundational bedrock for my love of digital marketing as you and I know it today.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

I wish I could tell you my most interesting story didn’t impact my bank account, but it does. Last year I found myself chatting on the phone with someone that had been referred to me on Facebook by an online mentor. That referral led to them becoming a client and I made $72,000 of income as a result of that one phone call in a 9-month window for my consulting and done for you services. This was transformational in my life and continues to solidify to me the power of social media marketing for business growth and why my new book, The Golden Rules of Social Media Marketing, was so exciting for me to write to get practical strategies out for others to use to grow their businesses too.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?

Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? For those of you that remember ICQ, it was one of the original instant messenger platforms and we used this as a regular means to communicate within the office at the digital marketing agency. I remember one afternoon messaging my co-worker and friend Melissa in the office about something completely not work related like going to her apartment at lunch and watching HGTV and I accidentally sent the message to the CEO. The lesson I learned from this was to always double check before sending texts, emails and messages to people.

Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?

My heart weighs heavy for the causes of human trafficking and fostering/adoption. And since I have been in business I have made it a top priority to use my social influence for the good of making a global impact among these areas. I donate 50% of the proceeds from a digital summit I created to help in fighting human trafficking. The course is ‘How She Built It: Growing Your Business Without Sacrificing Your Faith and Family’ and was specifically designed to help Christian women growing businesses. Additionally, 10% of the proceeds coming into my company are being donated to assist with fostering/adoptions throughout the United States. My husband and I are right now in the process of becoming foster parents and I’m leveraging social media to talk about that journey to foster. Our hope and prayer is that we share candidly about the journey to make it less scary for others that might be curious and serve as an outlet for them to hear from someone else that is walking in that journey. Too many times people shy away from these issues on social media, but the reality is, when people that have a heart for kindness and helping talk about the topics needing to be addressed, people are often times more willing to listen. Fostering/adopting may not be for every family, but if one family is inspired by our journey we will feel talking about it and using my social influence would be well worth it.

Wow! Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?

A family we know in South Carolina moved to Thailand summer 2018 to be the feet on the ground helping to fight human trafficking. They were willing to leave the comforts of their lives here in America to move across the world for this cause near and dear to my heart. So it was exciting for me to be able to send them a donation from the proceeds of my ‘How She Built It’ summit last year to aid in their journey of helping young girls and women in the red light districts of Thailand.

Was there a tipping point the made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many struggles and areas of possibility to give back to the world but I felt these two areas as ones to focus on. The human trafficking topic is something I started to learn more about in 2011 and as a mom of three young children, it truly breaks my heart to even believe this is an issue we have throughout the entire world. When it comes to fostering/adopting, I can’t really say anything in particular happened, aside from watching and loving the movie Annie as a young girl, other than that it has been heavy on my heart since I was a teen and I consider it a joy to help where I can.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

1) More Empathy- I think that we as a society often times look at everything from a selfish perspective and we lack empathy for others.

2) Be Kind — Conflict will arise but how we handle ourselves when we’re in conversation with others and doing life could use a heavy dose of kindness for all human beings.

3) The Golden Rule — Treat others the way you would want to be treated. When this is taken into consideration, we would not have many of the issues we have in the world today.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Business isn’t easy but it certainly is worth it when you are showing up and making an impact for your family to have the life that allows the freedom and flexibility you crave but also allows you to make an impact on the community around you. Here are the 5 things I wish someone told me when I first started:

1) Collaboration Over Competition — I learned early on in my first business that some people find your energy, excitement and thinking outside the box as competition and don’t make you feel welcome. I allowed for this to dampen my drive when I was first starting out. I have since realized that there are indeed people that also believe in the power of collaboration. Continue to put out into the world what you want to see more of and you’ll attract more people that are excited when they meet someone doing great things.

2) Comparison is the Thief of Joy — I am extremely motivated and driven to do well in the things I aspire to do and this holds true in business as well. Because I enjoy growing and pushing myself I found that I would start looking at how someone else was doing in their business and it would lower my own drive to keep going. When I realized that the person I needed to be comparing myself to was me and my journey, it became so much easier to not only keep focused but also seeing the small wins.

3) Growth Requires Strategic Action — If you spend so much time learning and not enough time implementing it is very easy for the vision to feel like it isn’t getting any closer. And it is also quite possible to be doing activities that aren’t going to actually bring you closer to your revenue generating goals. Therefore, make sure that your efforts you are focusing on are directly tied to your business growth goals and do those smart actions in your business.

4) Be the Hot Fudge Sundae in the Midst of the Vanilla Ice Cream Cones — I’m one of the first people to tell you vanilla ice cream is quite tasty and it isn’t boring. But, my point here is that among all the people that do what you do, your customers are looking for their person to help them with exactly where they are right now. When I first started my second business in 2014, I was focused on helping any business owner that needed help with their social media marketing. But the more clear I got and the more focused I got on my vision, I realized I had a calling to serve Christian business owners and brands that were wanting to not only improve their social media marketing but that also wanted to make a kingdom impact. When I made this shift in my business in 2015, it not only allowed me to stand out among all the people that are social media strategist, but it allowed for me to be the ‘go-to’ for Christian brands and leaders. When you are brave enough to know who you are and who you aren’t, you make it that much easier for your customers to know you are the ideal person to help them with what they need.

5) Being Vulnerable is a Sign of Strength — The world may make you feel the opposite. It may make you feel you are weak when you show emotion and become vulnerable, but I know that when you lean into your heart and you speak from the truth and experiences of your life, it makes you more human. No matter what people say, no matter what marketing done well may feel like to you, people connect with people. Sharing in your business and messaging about adversity, hardships, triumphs and grit allow for people to know you care and the values that drive your mission. At the end of the day we all have a choice on how we choose to be vulnerable with our team, with clients, with our family and with community. Lean into the story you have and realize you can be vulnerable and share those pieces of your life in your business and the circumstances of your past doesn’t define you. How you choose to live despite them does.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could inspire a movement it would be called Courageous Kindness. The world needs more people that are willing to just be kind. It is easy to love and be kind when others make us feel they deserve it or treat us exactly as we would like to be. Yet, we live in a time where people are hurting on the outside and lashing out,but look like everything is fine on the outside. My Courageous Kindness movement would empower people to treat others the way they would want to be treated, to demonstrate kindness unconditionally and to know that a smile and friendly tone can go a long way regardless of religion, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” This quote comes from Proverbs 18:2 in the Bible and has been a great encouragement to me to make sure that I keep an open ear and a willing heart to hear how other people feel, even if it is different from my own. It is so easy to separate the person from the topic, but when we realize at the end of the day we’re all part of the human race, I’d like us to be able to unite despite races, places of diversity and faith on a human level, something we can have connection on.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with Marcus Lemonis as he has been one of my biggest inspirations to my business journey as an entrepreneur. His adoption journey he shares on the wildly successful show The Profit helped me have a human connection with him as fostering/adopting is something that has been heavy on my heart since I was 15 years old. Having an opportunity to sit and talk to him about his growing up in Miami and business strategy would be an absolute dream.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Thank you so much for asking. It would be wonderful to connect with your readers on social. Seriously, social media is my jam and happy place. It is the bedrock of the two businesses that I’ve created and grown from scratch.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherheuman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherheuman/ (drop in my stories)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetTeaSocialMarketing/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherheuman/

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!

The Social Impact Heroes of Social Media: “Collaboration Over Competition” with Heather Heuman and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“We are seeing this “wellness” trend integrated into the guest experience not only in food…

“We are seeing this “wellness” trend integrated into the guest experience not only in food offerings, fitness and amenities, but also in the room itself” with Andrew Simmons and Candice Georgiadis

These trends in F&B have also adapted to a broader theme of “wellness.” This can be seen in the healthier food options and in how the local farm/fresh has become the new focus for a lot of brands. We are seeing this “wellness” trend integrated into the guest experience not only in food offerings, fitness and amenities, but also in the room itself. Rooms are trending towards a cleaner and smarter design, often including everything from water and air purification systems to therapy-designed lighting systems to aid in relaxation and stress reduction — all parameters and specifications are set by the guest via an app.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrew Simmons, the Director of Hospitality Studio for Nadel Architects. Andrew has experience in both domestic and international markets with projects ranging from “new build” hospitality and mixed-use projects to “renovation/re-purpose” in multiple markets in a variety of scale. He has over 24 years of experience and eight years in the Las Vegas market specifically. Some of the hospitality clients Andrew has worked with include: Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton, Marriott and Wyndham Grand. Over the course of his career, many of the projects Andrew has worked on have received international design awards and recognition. His experience shows him to be a proven leader and dedicated to solving complex problems by using creative thinking while effectively balancing client needs.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have been interested in architecture since childhood, from playing with Legos to becoming fascinated with castles in my early teens. Initially I had plans of going to the Air Force Academy as a sort of competition between one of my buddies who wanted to attend West Point; our family moved and the appointment process stalled, so I decided architecture is as cool as flying planes.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I was lucky to start my career working for John Portman in the early 90’s to around 2005. It was a great time to be a young designer working for an International firm traveling to Asia, the Pacific Rim and Eastern Europe doing big iconic projects. I have been lucky to visit and explore a lot of cities and cultures in the early days of transition to global trends. There are lots of stories about being a young architect seeing the world, meeting new and interesting people, and having some good times — but that’s probably a whole new series of interviews.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was working on a Hotel project (Westin) in Warsaw, Poland that was right next to the old WWII Ghetto District. We were pushing to get a signature building element into the project and the contractor was getting a little irritated with my efforts. At the end of the meeting he said (in a Swedish accent) “we don’t have time for your damn glass tube Andrew, we are trying to remove all the unexploded bombs we are finding without killing anyone.” That’s when I realized, it’s just architecture and we’re not in the losing lives business, but I did get my “glass tube.”

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Nadel is a very diverse design firm covering many markets and project typology. We often work on multi-family, retail and hospitality components individually or together as a mixed-use development. We have multiple experts in the field with vast experiences. This enables us to have a holistic involvement in planning as well as expression. The project not only gains efficient planning and programmatic adjacencies but also establishes a unified vision in terms of design and the quality of details. A good example would be our San Leandro waterfront development consisting of a 200 key Duel Branded Hotel, 300-Unit multi-family apartment building and multiple destination restaurants and event/amenities area.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?

Architecture is fairly unique in terms of an occupation because it’s a bit disjointed. It is controlled by the laws of physics, while also being completely subjective and unfortunately sometimes controlled by “trends.” I think the process of “cut and paste” design can be a big disservice to the industry and to a creative soul. I’ve always been a fan with the creativity of thought and exploration process; it’s really the most efficient use of time — an extra 20% of effort in the early design phase can often resolve 80% of the issues and achieve a more successful vision. In some of the overseas work, we would develop three schemes per project for the owners to review. This really forces exploration and more thought. The process can be applied internally to the firm in the early stages of the design phase as well as supplemented with collaboration efforts between design leaders.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I will also always be grateful to John Portman for giving me great opportunities and inspiring me in architecture, art and furniture. I’ve been lucky to be involved with many projects that have changed the skyline of cities across the world. When I was working at Portman, my architectural mentor was Richards Mixon who was one of I. M. Pei’s original associates when he was first staring out in the United States. Richards taught me the integrity of design, the purity of architectural massing, and detailing. We visited a Pei project and he challenged me to put a finger in a stone joint and walk around the entire building — it will always come back to the same place.

Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the travel and hospitality industries?

Although Nadel is based in California, we work in national and international markets; I currently live in Las Vegas and split time between the Santa Monica office. Las Vegas is unique in the hospitality market due to a variety of economic and tourist focused attributes. Nowhere in the world can you find the density of properties and variety of offerings than in Vegas where a 3,000 key hotel is a standard property for the city — there are more hotel rooms along Las Vegas Blvd between Tropicana Ave. and Flamingo Rd. (one city block) than there are in downtown Chicago.

I often refer to Las Vegas as an “experimental laboratory” for the hospitality industry in response to the ever changing need to rethink and redefine the large resort properties as well as the guest experience. This not only encompasses guestroom configurations and room-to-suite mix ratios, but also expands to amenities and public spaces. Day club Pool/DJ based amenities are beefing up while expansive check-in front desks are slimming down in favor of a more personal kiosk or personal device experience. Food and Beverage outlets are incorporating quick Grab-n-Go service options. For the typical room layouts, Vegas was one of the first markets to explore the open bathroom concepts and living space configurations.

Beyond the playful nature of room configurations, Las Vegas was one of the first markets to expand on the programmatic mix of typical guestroom versus suites to the point of embracing the “All Suite” concept. This can first been seen in the early 90’s with the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino further expanded on with THEHotel at Mandalay Bay (now the Delano) and most recently with Vdara at City Center. As branded standalone towers these properties capture not only the international markets but also the staple Vegas business and convention travelers. Further expanding on creative programming of property mixes and also catering to a specific market group, Vegas lead early with the “Hotel within a Hotel” concept. These properties usually exist in either the upper floors of a Hotel Tower or dedicated building and are known for their luxury of amenities and level of service. These branded hotels usually have a smaller room count and are served by dedicated private elevators enhancing the prestigious experience. This started with the Four Seasons at Mandalay bay and continues today with MGM/NoMAd Hotel (the renovated Monte Carlo), SkyLofts (MGM Grand) and Sky Suites (Aria) along with the branded Nobu Hotel as part of Caesars Palace.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing this innovation?

I wouldn’t consider the issue as a “pain point” but rather an effort to redefine how the guest interacts with a Hotel and their expectations. These trends that are currently being explored could be considered a reaction to the established typology: Services vs. Opulence and Wellness vs. Indulgence. For service, we are seeing personal experiences catered to the guests needs; this can be in the form of technology advances with personal devices to in-room automation which can both add to the ease of the guests experience as well as helping the efficiency of the property. Rooms filled with opulent materials, surfaces and décor are trending towards a cleaner and “smarter” room. Wellness is now being integrated into the guest experience not only in food offerings, fitness and spa amenities, but also in the guestroom. This ranges from water and air purification systems to therapy designed lighting systems which aid in relaxation and stress reduction. There is also an added benefit with the incorporation of room technology and wellness amenities. These new room types create a low-carbon/energy conservation experience that can be marketed to travelers’ demands as well as reinforce a company’s commitment to sustainability.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

I’m not sure if these new design trends are a disruption or rather an evolution of the guest’s demands and new desires. This really is a byproduct of changing trends and the need to adapt to the new Millennial group of travelers.

Can you share five examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers like to travel?

I think this new group of travelers and the shift in trends within the hotel market is developing to try to capture these guests. This group is no longer making hotel destination decisions based on just a hotel stay or room night booked; this “new guest” has become a lot more sophisticated in selecting hotels by the location based on an attribute rather than a price point or brand. These new influences can be directly associated with a robust economy, largely fueled by the growing Millennial population, as well as a cultural behavioral shift that now desires an experience above all.

I think a key word for this new influence in the hotel experience would be “immersion,” immersion into the city, destination and local characteristic distinct to the property location.

We are seeing the F&B outlets at a hotel respond directly to this influence and are adapting local character in a variety of ways ranging from pop-up restaurants, and food truck service, to integrating different local restaurants and bars to run specialty events. These experiences are looking to create more of a social gathering atmosphere and give a direct link for the guest to interact with local food and residences of the city or town. The Lobby bar has been replaced with a “living room” or “gathering place” for these interactions to take place. Often times these spaces are adaptable and transform from breakfast service/quick grab-n-go meals to evening cocktails with a smaller sampling of cuisine in a more tapas type of offering.

These trends in F&B have also adapted to a broader theme of “wellness.” This can be seen in the healthier food options and in how the local farm/fresh has become the new focus for a lot of brands. We are seeing this “wellness” trend integrated into the guest experience not only in food offerings, fitness and amenities, but also in the room itself. Rooms are trending towards a cleaner and smarter design, often including everything from water and air purification systems to therapy-designed lighting systems to aid in relaxation and stress reduction — all parameters and specifications are set by the guest via an app.

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

As a family we have been going to Punta Mita, Mexico for over a decade now. At first from Chicago, it was a break from the cold; but now that we’re living out west and in a warmer climate, it’s a nice break filled with natural beauty and family activities which allow us all to “re-set”. An ocean front suite at the St. Regis watching my oldest daughter surf, my youngest search for green turtles, and my wife and I having margaritas just doesn’t get any better.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I am lucky to have a great family that has supported me throughout my career, from starting in Atlanta, to relocating to Las Vegas. I personally feel that even with all the wonderful projects I have worked on, my greatest accomplishment are my two daughters. I think the “goodness” I have brought to the world will be two beautiful, smart, driven, talented, independent thinking women (with great taste in music) who outshine their daddy’s accomplishments and make the world and even more beautiful place.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Creativity of thought. In a world of instant gratification, robust technology, and growing artificial intelligence, I think taking a little time to think about an issue or problem and develop a creative solution will help elevate us all.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m a pretty active member in the LinkedIn community and Nadel has a robust social media program to include all the major media outlets. Please follow Nadel and learn of all the great projects our firm is currently involved in.

Thank you for all of these great insights!

“We are seeing this “wellness” trend integrated into the guest experience not only in food… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Women need to create a global movement on…

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Women need to create a global movement on the scale of #metoo because wage inequality is a massive issue throughout the world” with Kaiwen Wan and Candice Georgiadis

Women need to create a global movement on the scale of #metoo because wage inequality is a massive issue throughout the world. One of the things that brings the US and China together in this time of tense relations, for instance, is the fact that both have yawning gaps in wages between men and women. If the men of both countries wish to fight each other, so be it — but I think women can come together.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Kaiwen Wan. Kaiwen is a young, female, minority CEO, born in small-town China, educated in hardscrabble Appalachia, and sharpened in the alleys and boardrooms of New York City. She built Palapod, an application that enables people from all walks of life to become entrepreneurs, within a year of moving to New York, and raised over $100K in investment in the span of a single summer.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

I’ve always identified with the underdog in life, since I come a country where a women struggle under more than a thousand years of expectations. Later, in the US, I achieved an MBA degree, but even here in this land of equality for all, I found that women’s wages were below that of my male peers. Equally important, I also noticed that the people of Appalachia as well as my co-founder’s state of Michigan, whether male or female, were getting left behind, and with jobs being lost year by year, people needed something to guide them on the path to self-employment. This is the backstory which led to Palapod.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

When I launched this company, I was astounded by the serendipity of how things came together. I wanted to create my own startup team to become an example for all the other teams that I would be forming through Palapod. However, the problem was that I was actually kind of timid at meetings and events, but once I opened up and was willing to tell my backstory, people wanted to talk to me, and I felt I had something to offer, which increased my confidence.

Can you share a story about the funniest or most interesting mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was frustrated when I got my first case of founder burnout, and I thought it was bad. But then I realized that I’m building an application to help people become entrepreneurs, so it was an excellent data point for me to help other entrepreneurs! At the same time, I decided that I need to maintain a balanced life because I’m serving as an example to other entrepreneurs, and so I should be happy myself.

Women themselves haven’t awakened completely yet. Essentially, women still underestimate their abilities, fail to work together in many cases, and fail to come together and create enough positive communities. The community has united to fight against negative ideas, such as fighting back against sexual harassment through the #metoo movement, but we also need to come together around amazing things that we’re doing out in the world.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

We help women to know that they can make their mark in the world, and create something amazing — maybe even their own movement if they don’t give up. If women create their own businesses, find teams that truly believe in them, and build communities, anything is possible. Most importantly, female entrepreneurs don’t need to ask their bosses for a raise because they’re the bosses themselves!

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

1) Men need to take up the cause. It should not simply be seen as a women’s issue but a human issue.

2) Women need to create a global movement on the scale of #metoo because wage inequality is a massive issue throughout the world. One of the things that brings the US and China together in this time of tense relations, for instance, is the fact that both have yawning gaps in wages between men and women. If the men of both countries wish to fight each other, so be it — but I think women can come together.

3) We need political candidates to bring the issue to the forefront. This election season in the US is better because we have plenty of female candidates, but I also strongly support Andrew Yang because his “freedom dividend” would bring monetary compensation for the unpaid work predominantly done by women in our society, such as childcare.

4) We need more people to study the wage gap. When was the last time you heard of someone who double-majored in gender studies and economics, for instance.

5) We need more female entrepreneurs! That’s part of the reason I’m building Palapod because women need to know they can build something, and not simply within the tech bubble either — it’s a whole society movement. The other reason it’s great to have female entrepreneurs is that female entrepreneurs are also female bosses, and female bosses sure aren’t going to pay women less.

I think one of the most important things for the wellbeing of humanity is the protection of our environment and the creatures that inhabit it. As we speak today, the Amazon is burning, and creatures are dying by the thousands. We need to do something about this before it’s too late.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths.” -Laozi

To many people are stuck on small, petty things because they feel big ideas are too complicated, but actually some of the biggest ideas have some of the most elegant and simple solutions if people are willing to pay attention.

I’d like to meet up with Elon Musk someday because he’s a visionary like me and I think we’d connect. He wants to change society by sending humanity to Mars and other big ideas, and what I’m trying to due is create more Elon Musks in the world via my entrepreneurial innovations. I also admire how he pushes himself and drives forward past doubters to do something truly great.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap: “Women need to create a global movement on… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.