Month: November 2022

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be clear on who you are and what you stand for. This will be a challenging road to walk and you will often encounter situations that you don’t agree with or hear things said that you don’t like. Are you going to stay silent and go along with it? Or, are you going to challenge the status quo?

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kendra Cole.

Kendra Cole is the Co-Founder and CEO of The CryptoMom App, a crypto investment management platform for women, made by a woman. Black-owned and woman-run, The CryptoMom App aims to close the crypto gender gap by providing the tools necessary to make cryptocurrency more accessible and digestible to women and moms. Her work has caught the attention of Amazon, who selected Kendra to participate in its Impact Accelerator for Black Founders, a prestigious program that supports underrepresented startup founders with the goal of building a more diverse cloud.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Everett, WA, where the majority of my early childhood memories were spent at my grandparents’ house. I come from a large family of 7 aunts and uncles and so many cousins, so there were a lot of wonderful memories: long days of playing outside with my cousins, cooking dinner with my grandmother, my grandpa reading to me every morning.

At age 5, my mom received a promotion at her job so we moved to Sacramento. This would be the first of many times I would witness the work ethic, difficult decision-making and long hours in the office with my mom. As a single parent, my mom worked shifts at GTE (now Verizon), so I often spent many nights doing homework and sleeping under my mom’s desk. While I’m sure she experienced mom guilt, the only thing I remember is having so much fun being able to go to work with her. At age 8, we moved again to Tampa for another job promotion, where I spent the remainder of my childhood until I graduated from high school.

Even with her unpredictable work schedule, my mom kept me involved in activities that I enjoyed, like dance class, gymnastics, softball and track and field. Being involved in competitive sports taught me so many valuable lessons, from building stamina to achieve long-term goals, to pushing myself to (healthy) limits both physically and mentally. These lessons stuck with me as I built my career and founded my own cryptocurrency startup.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

My career has primarily been in public relations and corporate communications, leading campaigns and events for global and startup CPG and tech companies. In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of supporting ground-breaking women-led businesses that are helping bring visibility to the issues most important to women, such as Black maternal mental health and equitable parental leave policies. As a working mom of three, I’ve had the privilege of having a supportive village that allowed me the space to continue pursuing various interests in my career, one of those being cryptocurrency.

About two years ago, my interest in crypto piqued, as I had heard about it on social media but wasn’t sure how to get involved. After researching basic fundamentals, I built the confidence to buy my first crypto asset but when I went to sign up for various exchanges, I was thwarted at various points, such as being able to verify my identity due to a name change as a result of taking my husband’s last name in marriage. Then, once I was finally on a platform, the technology wasn’t intuitive to me and the products didn’t serve me and my priorities in the various roles I see myself: career woman, mom, aunt, friend, to name a few.

After speaking with other millennial women, I realized that while my challenges were not rare, they were unique specifically to women. The more I looked into this, the more I realized women were being left out of this important discourse surrounding crypto as a means to building wealth. According to the Gemini State of Crypto Report, bitcoin was initially built around encouraging financial equity, but over 75% of crypto holders are men — creating an uninviting culture that gatekeeps women from participating in this $2.2 billion industry. This, coupled with my experience of working with inspirational women-led startups, led me to want to support the 10 million+ crypto-curious women who want to know more, but don’t know where to start.

Unlike any other platform that exists, The CryptoMom App allows women to buy and sell bitcoin, allocate it to meaningful products like college funds, and give the gift of crypto for special occasions. We also provide financial products and educational tools tailored to the lived experiences, careers, salaries, and technology preferences of women to make cryptocurrency investing more accessible and practical.

Financial independence has given me the freedom to live life by my own design. As a mom, I hope my legacy contributes to empowering female investors to take control of their financial destinies, and create financial independence for themselves, their daughters, and the generations to come.

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

In starting The CryptoMom App, I’ve been able to bring in my friends and family on this journey with me, which is the most fulfilling part of this. Our business is truly a family affair: my technical co-founder is my husband, my Chief UX/UI designer is my sister in law, my communications lead is my best friend. And our friends and family round is 90% funded by people of color and women. All of this serves as motivation to succeed.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Never take ‘no’ for an answer: There are going to be so many times potential investors or partners tell you ‘no,’ so thick skin is required. You can be open to feedback, but you don’t have to let it kill your dream. When we submitted for a local Chicago pitch competition, it took us three times before we won. Each loss taught us something and helped us sharpen our positioning and our pitch.
Listen to your gut: Women are often told to ignore that little voice inside of you and I would say, NEVER do that. Whether in business or personal, your intuition can save you money or even save your life.
Advocate for yourself: Women, in particular, often suffer from imposter syndrome and for good reason: corporate structures stifle women’s creativity, make it more challenging for women to advance their careers, and certainly discriminate against women of color. Until companies can make major changes to better support women,, it will (unfortunately) be up to you to find the mentors that can guide you to success. It helps to seek companies that have more diverse and supportive cultures.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome while working in a male-dominated industry?

So while I can identify obstacles that are in my path, I wouldn’t say that I’ve “overcome” them, but rather, that I’ve learned tools and methods to work through them.

I would say the biggest takeaway from working in the male-dominated fintech industry is learning to be OK with being uncomfortable. It’s not ideal, but most of the time when I walk into a room that is heavily crypto-focused, I’m surrounded by men, and specifically white men. Even if there are a few women in the room, it’s almost always white women. I’ve leaned heavily on my foundation, particularly attending Howard University where I gained the confidence and pride in my Blackness, my skills and my worth, to prepare me for situations like this. So while I’m often the only Black woman founder in the room, I’m rarely blindsided by the microaggressions that so frequently pop up in white male spaces.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

The work that I do for The CryptoMom App is not to gain legitimacy or acceptance from male peers. In the words of the great Shirley Chisholm, “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” To put it plainly, I do this because it’s time women claim their long overdue right to financial equity. We’re creating a platform that is truly different from anything else out there: It’s secure, not predatory in nature, and we are driven by the heart of our mission, which is ultimately the betterment of women and their financial present and future. Not everyone will like me or want to hear what I have to say and that’s OK. That’s not a ‘me’ issue; It’s a ‘them’ issue.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

First, it has to start at the top: C-Level execs must actively seek out a solution for this. Demand that DEI be a part of the company culture and priority. The fact is, we need white cis men to solve this problem, but you need the RIGHT men. It’s going to take the right people from all backgrounds to extend their networks to bring more diverse people, thought and experience to the table.

Ok thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Be clear on who you are and what you stand for. This will be a challenging road to walk and you will often encounter situations that you don’t agree with or hear things said that you don’t like. Are you going to stay silent and go along with it? Or, are you going to challenge the status quo?
Make your voice heard. In male-dominated industries, there will always be some guy talking louder, speaking AT (instead of to) people, or cutting you off. So be confident, clear and assertive when you speak. Make them hear you and make them listen.
Find a supportive circle. You’re going to need people who you can laugh with, commemorate with and celebrate your wins with so having a core group of friends is going to be key to your success. Finding or establishing employee resource groups of like-minded individuals will bring you additional support. Bonus if it’s a few people or even just one person who works in the same organization as you.
Get involved. It’s not all doom and gloom! Find ways to make the organization more fun, impactful and supportive. Maybe it’s getting involved in the office softball team or coordinating a book club. Finding or creating affinity groups allows you to learn more about your co-workers and also bring more value to your work life.
Be a student of life. Remaining curious allows you to be open to new ideas, new people and new perspectives. It will also keep you interested in your chosen career and industry.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male-dominated or female-dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

For any career, go into it with passion and excitement. Don’t let other people’s poor or negative experiences keep you from pursuing your interests. That said, make sure you research any company that you’re interested in working or interning for.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries, over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

There has been a major shift and focus on supporting women in the workplace, particularly in the STEM and FinTech industries. Conferences for female youth that celebrate individuality and providing opportunities and access to resources and education. As more women come into male-dominated industries, as leaders and as founders, there will continue to be changes in how we work in these environments.

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

Sara Blakely is an entrepreneur that I admire and would love to share mimosas with. I love her story of being a solo founder that was scrappy, creative and truly disrupting an industry. She has paved the way for so many women and it would be an honor to meet her.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Understand gender biases exist and are not going away. You have to manage your behavior within an organization and expect other people to have gender biases. It’s not about getting rid of them because that’s impossible but focus on a better awareness around them. Understand that as a woman, you’re going to be in a more difficult position than your male peers and you’re going to have to work harder to get where you need to go. That’s a fact.

Bobbie Collies is an insurance junkie that comes from an extensive background in commercial underwriting and P&C insurance carrier leadership. She is Chief Growth Officer at Coterie Insurance and a passionate servant leader who loves to help drive strategy and execution. She is a champion for innovation, customer experience, and a change agent. Some might describe her as a “intrapreneur,” always looking for ways to improve the organizations she works with by bringing new ideas to the table, and more importantly, seeing those ideas come to life.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

I started as a underwriting trainee out of college, working in various underwriting and underwriting leadership roles for different insurance carriers. Then in 2016, I was tagged to do a strategic research project at the company I was working for about how technology will impact the future of the independent insurance agency channel.

Delving into discovery and research about insurtechs, what problems they were solving and how they planned to solve them, enabled me to get a deep dive look at how the insurance industry was changing. I pulled multiple data points together to see where our overall industry was going and how insurance carriers would need to change their strategies to stay relevant.

The project brought me to the realization that the insurance industry was going to have a revolutionary change in how we do business. I had been in the industry for 15 years at that point and nothing had changed. The way we transacted business, acquired new customers, underwrote risk and serviced policies had been almost stagnant for a decade and a half. I had a unique opportunity that allowed me to see over the horizon and I wanted to be a part of the change wave.

Instead of sitting and observing, I wanted to be in the driver’s seat and get ahead of the future changes. I kind of became an insurtech junkie which ultimately led me down the path of joining Coterie Insurance.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Assertiveness — a lot of the time women are not comfortable with assertiveness in male-dominated workplaces. I tried to not hold back even if it was uncomfortable if I felt what needed to be said was best for our team or for our company. It is unfortunate that assertiveness can sometimes be perceived as aggressiveness, particularly for women. That said, I have worked hard on a delicate balance of the amount of assertiveness for any given situation, but it was and continues to be a learning process.

Emotional intelligence is something I worked really hard on improving over the years because that skill in and of itself is a very high predictor of success. Investing development in your emotional intelligence is one of the best investments you can make as a leader. It will serve you tenfold not only personally for your own development but also in the development of those on your team and any mentorship relationships. I continue to spend time working on emotional intelligence so I can be a better leader. That said, it’s been more difficult to exercise high levels of EQ in a virtual work environment. Common social queues are not as easily read through a video conference and the level of effort it takes to stay self-aware is much higher.

Lastly, a high level of curiosity. I always want to know and understand more which leads me to successfully executing on plans and developing strategies for success moving forward. Take the research project I worked on in 2016. Prior to that, I had not taken the time to really consider the impact technology was going to have on our industry. As soon as I was able to dig in, I realized how large the opportunity was and that forever changed the direction of my career.

Early on in my career, the largest obstacle was finding female mentors and leaders to aspire to as insurance was very male dominated. I was super fortunate when I first became a leader to have a female leader as my direct boss. That said, there was a lot of trail-blazing and breaking through male-domination earlier in my career. That was super challenging, as there were not a lot of other examples to follow. I had to figure it out as I went.

At points in time, I understood accomplishing a goal was more important than having an idea be mine. I would intentionally seed ideas with male leaders to take my idea and then present it so the idea would receive the respect and consideration it deserved. There were countless times when I would call a male leader to ask him to bring up an idea of mine because I truly felt it was best for the business. Sure enough, he would do so and the idea would be accepted when before, I wasn’t listened to when I brought it up. While not ideal, keeping my eye on what was best for the business served me well.

This might not have ever been intentional as to me, it’s more about what is the right thing to do to get results. I focused my energy on being the leader that my team needed to set them up for success.

It wasn’t intentional for me to say I need to get acceptance; I did what I thought needed to be done and the right thing for the business. Things fell in place for a result.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

It’s more about once women are in the door, how do you develop them? I love the idea of having female leaders mentor male high-potential leaders so they experience a balance on leadership between the genders. There is a different style women bring to leadership, and a style that can benefit every employee no matter their gender.

From a recruitment perspective, it’s difficult for a female to come into a male-dominated leadership team. You almost have to start with developing from within for higher roles, as well as making a concerted effort to recruit female board members, and then everything from there will fall into place.

If the entire senior leadership team and the board of directors are men, it doesn’t feel like there’s a clear path or career into senior leadership for women.

Understand gender biases exist and are not going away. You have to manage your behavior within an organization and expect other people to have gender biases. It’s not about getting rid of them because that’s impossible but focus on a better awareness around them. Understand that as a woman, you’re going to be in a more difficult position than your male peers and you’re going to have to work harder to get where you need to go. That’s a fact.
Having a male mentor as an advocate is important. In a male-dominated workplace, it’s critical to get the information you need to advance, and to have a better lens into how the leadership is functioning. Having a male champion that truly believes in developing women is key. Also, we must understand that men play a huge role in helping women in advance in male-dominated industries.
Get a female mentor to help you navigate through gender biases and their experiences so you’re not making the same mistakes they made. A female mentor provides guidance that a male mentor cannot. Not only can a female mentor be a safe haven, a woman can problem-solve specific situations unique to women.
Confidence — looking over my career, I’ve never let being the only woman in the room get to me. I lead knowing what I have to say or do is just as important as anyone else. Confidence tells me to keep raising my hand and to keep contributing because what I have to say is just as valuable as my male peers.
Assertiveness — women in both professional and personal relationships don’t always advocate for themselves or say what they need or want. We’re conditioned to get along. Women are less likely to negotiate their salary, putting them at a financial disadvantage. Being assertive means standing up for yourself and your ideas, and not being afraid to ask for what you want.

I don’t think it matters. I would advise her to chase her dreams — if the field is dominated by one gender, that’s circumstantial. If you’re truly passionate about the field and you can immerse yourself into it, do it. There will be different challenges in both paths. The way the world is going with more of a focus on DEI, there might be more opportunities in male-dominated industry. That shouldn’t be a trigger for the decision, however. Consider what you want to do, then find the right people to surround you. I highly recommend a personal board of directors. This is a group of people who can help you, coach you, call you out, and build you up in your career. That’s been key to my success.

I see more women in insurance having a seat at the table. The improvement in the future is seeing women expand their influence on decision-making, strategy, and leadership at their organizations. Just because women have a seat at the table, doesn’t mean there is true influence on direction of company. As more senior level women gain credibility over time, female influence in decision-making will increase.

Sarah Blakely who is the CEO of Spanx. She’s a fabulous human being, her leadership for her organization and her investment into women in general is admirable. I’d love to have coffee with her and talk through challenges, and understand her story at a deeper level.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mark Wolters Of Wolters World On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Just be kind to each other and pack a bit of patience no matter where you go. You never know what other people are going through, and showing a little kindness and patience with people could make their days a bit easier.

As part of my series about “How Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Wolters.

Mark Wolters is an award-winning travel vlogger and educator. With a keen eye for honest travel advice Mark has been producing travel videos and blogs for over 14 years. His Wolters World travel YouTube channel has over 210,000,000 views and 920,000 subscribers. When Mark is not traveling the world with his family, he is a Teaching Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was recognized by Poets and Quants as one of the top 50 undergraduate business professors and has received numerous other teaching awards. On his Professor Wolters education channel Mark strives to make marketing and social media education accessible to all people.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/c5708575615a4f173aaacb1e6e5dc8e6/href">https://medium.com/media/c5708575615a4f173aaacb1e6e5dc8e6/href</a>

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is your “backstory”? What brought you to this point in your career?

I have been traveling the world since I was 16 when I was an exchange student on a ranch in Australia, and have spent the last 30 years doing my best to see as much of the world as possible. I did my undergrad in the US, my masters in Germany, my PhD in Portugal and I have taught business in a dozen other countries around the world. I have always loved getting to know about new cultures, and I have used that as motivation to make numerous YouTube channels where I educate people on a variety of topics, from travel to business to food to languages.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you in the course of your career?

You know, whenever you travel with your friends there is always some way that you will be humbled. I was in New Orleans with two of my best friends from high school, and we were wandering around the French Quarter and this lady came up to me and said she was a fan and loved our videos. So, we spoke for a few minutes then another lady walks by and screams, ARE YOU WOLTER?! And I told her yes, and she also said she loved our videos and that she was a huge fan. We took pictures and went on our way. The entire rest of the day my friends kept saying how much they love WOLTER, and that they were also huge fans. The thing is, my name is Mark, but people will assume that my first name is Wolter since our channel is called Wolters World, even though in every video I start with “Hey there fellow travelers, this is Mark from Wolters World.” So my friends to this day, when they want to put me in my place tell me, “I’m your biggest fan… WOLTER.”

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I love to teach, and in my videos I want to help people learn. It doesn’t matter if it is learning how to have a great vacation, or how to run your business’s social media, or how to discover true local foods around the world, I want to help people learn to do things on their own. It is all about the democratization of education, if I can help other people learn, I feel I should help them learn. That is why I put so much content out on all of my YouTube channels. If I can help a mother start a part-time business to help support her family, or help a young family take their first trip with a new baby, or just help to put a smile on someone’s face, I want to do it.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

Realize that being successful online via social media is not about “getting lucky” or “going viral.” It is about having a long-term vision on what you want to do with your online presence. It takes a long time to make it in any industry, and as people tend to only notice YouTubers or Instagrammers when they are already huge, they forget that that success took time to build. Don’t start a podcast or YouTube channel thinking you will be quitting your day job in a few months. It can take years to build up the following that affords you the income that allows you to not keep that day job.

None of us can achieve success without a bit of help along the way. Is there a particular person who made a profound difference in your life to whom you are grateful? Can you share a story?

I would say that my wife has been both a protagonist and antagonist along the way. She told me once I was making too many videos, and not enjoying our travels. It seemed to her that our travels had become more of a job than a fun experience. This really got me to refocus on how and what I film and produce. Instead of making 12 random videos about various topics in each city we visited, I focused on making three thorough videos on that city. That helped me really change how our travels worked. I now film in the early morning while my wife and kids are getting ready, and when I come home from filming, we go back out and explore the cities we travel to as a family instead of the family waiting for me to film another video. It is funny how sometimes one off-the-cuff comment can have such a profound effect on you.

So what are the most exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I have started a new series called, “Ugly Tourists In” and the series focuses on the little things that tourists do that upset locals in various cities and countries around the world. It is funny because we are pointing out the little things that tourists would never even realize they were doing that annoyed the locals. It has been one of the most fun projects I have worked on, and the comments we get on those videos almost always have me laughing.

What are your “Top Five Ways That Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand” . (Please share a story or example for each.)

Influencers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, nationalities, genders, and more. However, there is one thing that, no matter, if they are an influencer on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter that they all worry about — how they can make money with their social media following. There are dozens of ways that influencers can make money online and offline, what I have here is a list of five of the most popular ways that influencers make money and use their influence to help pay their bills.

Platform Based Advertising:

The first way influencers can make money is basic advertising revenue that is run and supported by the platform they have their content on. The name varies by platform, but the overall scheme is the same. The influencer creates content for the platform and the platform places ads on said content. For example, YouTube has their Adsense programs. The program places ads before/during/after videos on YouTube, then YouTube splits the ad revenue with the influencer in a 55/45 revenue split.

Influencers can also make money by placing advertisements on their blogs as well. These can be in programs such as Adsense from Google or Mediavine or a number of other companies that supply advertising opportunities to brands.

Pros of Platform Based Advertising:

Influencers do not have to do much, the platform takes care of finding, curating, and placing advertisements on their platforms. Influencers can focus on content creation instead of searching for brands who want to advertise with them.

It is a passive way to monetize an influencer’s content.

Not every influencer is appealing to brands to set up brand deals, so this may be the only way for some influencers to monetize their content.

Cons of Platform Based Advertising:

The platform takes a percentage of the advertising revenue. This may be as little as 5% or as high as 55% or more.

Influencers may not have a lot of say in what type of advertisements show up with their content, and may have a negative impact on the influencers overall brand.

Some platforms require a certain level of production in order to join their program.

Affiliate Marketing:

One of the most profitable and lucrative means for influencers to make money online is to join affiliate marketing programs such as Amazon Associates. These programs incentivize creators to promote and sell products from the brand that has the affiliate marketing program. This way an influencer may get a percentage of the sales that come directly from their content. This could be an Amazon link to a product they featured in a post or a link to book a specific hotel from their website. The key thing is that influencers are affiliating themselves with different brands and those brands reward them for sales or traffic that comes to the brand’s own business and website.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing:

Many companies use affiliate marketing in order to entice creators to promote their products and services, so there are numerous opportunities to join affiliate programs.

The payout for bringing in sales to a firm can be substantial. Many influencers see double or triple or more the revenue from affiliate marketing programs over platform based advertising.

Influencers can choose which brands they want to work with so they can have brands that align with their business and their values.

Cons of Affiliate Marketing:

When influencers overuse and oversell affiliate marketing products they can be seen as a sellout, especially if the product they are trying to get people to buy does not align with their audience or the values that their content promotes.

There is no guarantee that the influencer’s audience will be enticed to buy the affiliated product, and thus the influencer earns no income off of an affiliate program if they do not sell any products.

The placement and use of affiliate marketing products can be stressful in finding ways that truly integrate the product into traditional content.

Crowdsourcing:

Some influencers are able to obtain funds from their audience directly through crowdsourcing. Platforms like Patreon or the YouTube Membership program allow fans of influencers to pay a fee in order to support their favorite influencers. This allows influencers to focus on creating content without having to work on brand deals or affiliate marketing programs.

Pros of Crowdsourcing:

Even small influencers can make money off of crowdsourcing. All it takes are dedicated fans who are willing to financially support a creator.

Microtransactions from as little as $2 a month can add up if the influencer can develop a large enough crowdsourcing community.

It helps influencers better connect with their core fans through additional paid engagements and websites.

Cons of Crowdsourcing:

Some crowdsourcing platforms require or at least request that influencers provide something extra for their paying fans. This may be merchandise, bonus content, live streaming events, or other services. These “freebees” may actually cost more time and money than what the crowdsourcing income brings in.

Not all influencers feel comfortable with a form of digital begging to their fans.

Brand Deals & Sponsorships:

With brand deals and sponsorships brands themselves may reach out to an influencer in order to work with them. The brand may pay the influencer directly for brand specific content or may want to just be associated with the influencer via a sponsorship. This may be a project where the brand pays a certain amount of money to be featured in one video, two twitter posts, and an Instagram story. Brand deals tend to be shorter than a sponsorship. Sponsorships may not directly require integration into content, however they may just want to be mentioned in a video or a post that the the content was sponsored by said brand.

Pros of Brand Deals & Sponsorships

They can be very lucrative if the influencer has the right audience that the brand wants to target.

Brand deals and sponsorships can help influencers’ credibility in the marketplace as they are now associated with established brands.

Brands may come with ideas for content that they think would work with integrating their brand with the influencer’s content.

Cons of Brand Deals & Sponsorships

Brands are very particular about how their brands are dealt with in brand deals. This may lead to numerous requests or changes in the finished post, certain rules that may change how influencers can use the product in their content, or who influencers are allowed to work with for a certain period of time after the brand deal content is released.

Not all brand deals fit with influencer’s content or audience. You may see this when an influencer is using a product or service that has little to no relevance to their main content theme, it is just because they were paid to use the product in a post.

Some firms want brand deals to be set up like an affiliate marketing program where the creator creates content for the brand, but only receives payments if the content drives sales for the hiring brand.

Merchandise and Digital Products:

Every influencer loves when they see their logo on a t-shirt or on a cup or a drink huggee. Merchandise can be a nice revenue stream for influencers as well. However, it is not as lucrative as the previous monetization programs in most cases. Thus it is important for influencers to choose which merchandise options fit best with their audience and change the merchandise offerings often so that fans go back to buy new merchandise. Additional to traditional merchandise like t-shirts and bottle openers influencers can develop digital products as well. These may be workbooks, worksheets, online courses, or other digital materials that their fan base would purchase.

Pros of Merchandise and Digital Products:

Fans become billboards for the influencer. The fans help spread the word of the influencer and their business.

It offers a way for fans to support their favorite creators and receive something tangible in the process.

Nothing beats the feeling of walking down the street and bumping into someone wearing your swag.

Digital products can be scaled to large numbers without having to deal with excess inventory.

Cons of Merchandise and Digital Products:

Supply chain issues and inventory management for merchandise. Where is the merchandise created, stored, and delivered from?

Headaches from lost orders, incorrect shipping labels, and merchandise returns.

Finding the right merchandise producer can take a lot of trial and error.

Digital products may be copied and made available for on the internet without the creator receiving any income.

Looking at these five ways influencers can make money online it shows you that there are numerous opportunities available for influencers to use their influence to help pay their bills and keep creating content to make their fans happy. Do not think that these are the only five ways influencers can make money. See our bonus video below for 20 Ways Influencers Can Make Money.

Bonus Video: 20 Ways Influencers Can Make Money

https://youtu.be/fVSJ76Kk4j4

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.

Just be kind to each other and pack a bit of patience no matter where you go. You never know what other people are going through, and showing a little kindness and patience with people could make their days a bit easier.

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 just see this. 🙂

Joseph Rosendo from Travelscope on PBS. He is a true traveler and wants people to see the world, so they can be inspired as well. He has inspired me to visit many destinations around the world, and I would just love to have lunch with him to talk about travel, culture, and how he got to where he is today.

What is the best way our readers can follow your work online?

They can find me on a few different YouTube channels. Our main travel and culture channel is www.youtube.com/woltersworld or if you want to know what you should eat while you are traveling the world you could find us at www.youtube.com/woltersworldeats. Though if you want to learn about marketing, business, and social media you can find us at our business education channel, www.youtube.com/professorwolters. If you just want to chat on social just find @woltersworld and we will be there on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Mark Wolters Of Wolters World On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Have a clear focus on the end result. Set goals for yourself and always have growth in mind. By knowing what you want, it’s easier to set a clear path to success. My goals have helped me identify what positions I want to work up to while also preventing me from being stuck in a job or role that was no longer serving me. Setting a plan, owning it and going after promotions will help define your career path and ultimately, help you grow.

Deborah Potter is the Chief Growth Officer of Metal Supermarkets Family of Companies. With more than twenty years of experience in product development, brand management and integrated marketing with franchise and industrial brands, Potter is a high performing leader who thrives in collaborative, fast-paced environments. Prior to joining Metal Supermarkets, her previous experience includes executive marketing roles at Concrobium (a Rust-Oleum brand) and Hallmark.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Quebec City, Canada to an American father (from the Bay Area) and a French-Canadian mother. When I was three, we moved to the south shore of Montreal. The area we moved to was predominantly French, so I only learned to speak English when I started school at about five years old, but most of my education was in all French until I graduated high school. After high school, I attended Vanier College in Montreal where I studied business and psychology and then went on to get my degree in psychology at McGill University.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

The journey to my career path was a bit of a fluke. When I graduated from McGill University in 1995, my plan was to take a gap year and from there, I would get my master’s in psychology. At the time, my cousin had just taken over his family business — a welding and industrial distributor in Montreal — and was growing so fast that he needed immediate help with purchasing. He asked me if I could help him for the summer and I accepted on a whim.

The day after I graduated, I started as a purchasing agent at his company. I had never worked in an office and knew nothing about purchasing. I made so many mistakes in the beginning that I am sure the office staff wondered what he was thinking bringing in someone with no business experience. But, within a month I had mastered the process and was “cranking” out hundreds of PO’s a week. By the third month, I started implementing process improvements and by the time summer was over, I decided I liked working in an office environment and found I had a mind for business after all. Back then, there was less of a focus on your degree being aligned exactly with your career path, so it allowed much more flexibility to pivot. In early September I was offered the position of purchasing manager and accepted it.

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

It is difficult for me to judge what stories people would find interesting, however for me the once-in-a-lifetime (at least so far) experience of being part of an executive team at Siamon’s International (Concrobium) during an acquisition by a large US company like RPM (parent company of Rust-Oleum) was certainly interesting and eye opening. I had been through an integration before at Hallmark when they closed down most of the Canadian operations, but an integration from an acquisition was very different. It was very much like a relationship. First the courting; information gathering such as: looking at our financials, assets, marketing collateral and the skills and experience of the team. This took many months and no stone was left unturned. Once the purchase was finalized (marriage) the focus was shifted on integrating all parts of the business and how we would work and together as one company. Of course, we could have no interruptions to the business and all this had to be invisible to our customers. Once the year-long integration process was complete and the dust settled, the reality set in that we were then part of the big corporate machine, with very little influence and impact on the future of the brand. That is when I knew it was time to move on (divorce).

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The number one character trait that has always been instrumental to my success is being a good communicator. In the past I’ve had leaders who would go weeks — even months — without communicating in-person or by email. I saw how their poor communication quickly eroded their teams’ motivation and found that if employees don’t know what their leaders are trying to accomplish, there is very little engagement. From those experiences I’ve learned to be an open, honest and very transparent communicator. I naturally want to communicate with my team on a regular basis. When I start a new position, I try to communicate the vision and goals of the department as much as possible, setting up weekly meetings in my first three months of a new role. Not only do I communicate my goals and ideas, but I am there to help my team. I build a sense of trust in a number of ways by listening, helping and getting to know details about each person and asking them what I can do to help them in their job and career development.

When I started as a product manager at Hallmark, I had a small team of four and immediately implemented regular team meetings and one-on-ones. I quickly realized that the team was dysfunctional, disengaged and all around unhappy. One team member in particular was on the cusp of being let go by the previous manager and was very disgruntled. After meeting with her regularly and listening to her story, I realized she had been blamed for a very costly mistake that, in my opinion, the manager should have taken some responsibility for. Once I had her trust and she felt the psychological safety we built, she became my top performing employee and was promoted the following year. If I had not been open to listening to her, I would never have uncovered this incredible employee, and she wouldn’t have improved.

The second character trait that has been instrumental to my success is my determination and grit. If I’ve learned anything from my career, it’s that feedback is not personal, it’s business. If you feel like you’re not being supported in something you believe in, you need to keep at it. If you pitch something to your team and they don’t seem on board, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Their initial doubt gives you the chance to go back and identify what’s missing. Sometimes you need more data and facts, or sometimes people simply need time to absorb your idea. I like having a team that challenges me and plays devil’s advocate. In fact, I encourage it because they become my voice of reason and motivate me to go back, reanalyze and work with my team to gather more information that can get us to the next level. If my ideas are initially turned down, I make sure to keep the conversation going. If you don’t have that determination, your voice will never be heard.

Lastly, I am very results-driven. As a leader in the business world, you need a result-driven mentality to properly grow a business. Being focused on results keeps you focused on the big picture, otherwise you get bogged down by the process and the minutiae which often becomes an unnecessary distraction. Focusing your attention on the goal and taking action will result in success. While you may not have all of the answers right away, you will be able to move forward more efficiently.

The biggest obstacle I encountered early in my career was not being heard. I’ve had countless experiences where I share an idea in a meeting and no one reacts, and ten minutes later someone else says the same thing and it’s the “best idea ever.” From those experiences, I’ve learned to repeat myself, take ownership of my ideas and own my place at that table.

I have also had to overcome gender stereotypes. Early in my career, I was a senior manager at a company where there were only 3–4 other women. We were subconsciously expected to take meeting minutes and order food for the team due to gender stereotypes. One day we said, “Okay, we’re not taking minutes anymore, it’s your turn,” and stopped. Be aware of when gender stereotypes start to creep in and know when it’s someone else’s turn to handle a task. Remember: it’s okay to say “no.”

Being a working mother was also a big challenge to navigate. Early in my career, a lot of men at my job had stay-at-home wives, so they didn’t have the extra responsibility of taking care of their children like I did. Thankfully, my husband and I split the responsibility, but the men at my company didn’t understand what it was like to take on that role. While this is handled much differently today, it’s surprisingly still an issue that many working mothers face.

Simply put, the main thing I have done to gain acceptance among my male peers is by working hard. You need to show people you are committed to the company and that you will do what it takes to get the job done. People will respect you when they see you’re putting in the time and the work.

Also, be sure to keep your skillset up. This can be challenging when also balancing family and work but showing that you’re constantly learning goes a long way to earn people’s respect. Several successful women I know have taken the time to earn additional certifications because they felt there was a gap in their knowledge base, and they continue to grow and thrive in their careers because of it.

But, all in all, my recipe for respect is as follows: work hard, be determined, have a goal in mind, have a strong support system, have confidence and go for it.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

If you work in a male-dominated organization, you have to make a conscious effort to recruit women. Obviously, don’t hire someone who is not fit for the job, but try to find women for specific positions, even if it’s challenging. Men and women often approach things differently so it’s good to have a mix of those traits on a team. And, the same goes for any minority group. The best teams I have worked on were a mosaic of people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Another way to enhance recruiting efforts to attract more women is to have a group within your organization dedicated to female empowerment. The group can host guest speakers and provide an environment for women to talk openly about empowerment in the workplace. If there are clear examples of ways you support the growth of women in your organization, they will be more likely to want to be a part of it, especially in historically male-dominated industries.

A supportive partner. I would not be where I am today without my husband. If you want to be successful in business, you need to have people in your life who unconditionally support you in your career and ambitions.
Own your confidence. To succeed in a male-dominated industry, you need to build your confidence. As women, we tend to stay in jobs that aren’t supportive of our personal or career growth because we don’t believe that we have other options. I have made the difficult decision to move on in my career because I didn’t feel I was valued and my skillset wasn’t being used. Women need to have the confidence to say to themselves, “I can do better.”
Have grit and determination. As I mentioned earlier, having grit and determination is essential to anyone’s success, but especially for women in a male-dominated industry. It can be incredibly intimidating for anyone to ask for a promotion — it takes a lot of grit. However, if you know that you are ready and deserving, you need to stand up for yourself and take control of your professional development. Most of my promotions I had to ask for and ended up being more respected and valued for doing so.
Know how to own your place. Knowing how to own your place in the company goes back to the notion of being confident in your abilities. A lot of women are often hesitant to share their opinions or ideas, but by withholding these thoughts you’re not only hindering yourself, but you could also be taking away opportunities for the company to grow. Have confidence in your work, ideas and opinions and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
Have a clear focus on the end result. Set goals for yourself and always have growth in mind. By knowing what you want, it’s easier to set a clear path to success. My goals have helped me identify what positions I want to work up to while also preventing me from being stuck in a job or role that was no longer serving me. Setting a plan, owning it and going after promotions will help define your career path and ultimately, help you grow.

Some women work better in female-dominated industries. However, if the friend was like me and was thinking about entering a male-dominated field, I would advise them to go for it. I have worked for industrial companies for most of my career and am often the only women at the boardroom table. I personally enjoy working with men, especially because it provides me the opportunity to help other women who want to work for that company or in that field. On that note, I would advise my friend to purposefully recruit women to her company, build a support group and provide mentorship opportunities.

As for her personal development, I would tell her to be herself, don’t overthink, speak up, be patient and have confidence. I’d also advise her to build relationships with her team members. The people I work with — male or female — are my peers. By getting to know them, they see me as “Debby, chief growth officer,” not “Debby, my female boss.” This takes away the male/female hierarchy, and I haven’t noticed gender differences being an issue like they might have been in the past.

Yes, I have absolutely seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries. While there are certainly still challenges, the younger generation of women don’t have the same barriers I had when I started my career. Women are more educated than ever before and have so many great role models to look up to.

60 years ago, women had the mental capacity to achieve what women are achieving now, but they didn’t think logistically they could do it. Now, that’s hardly a thought in a young woman’s mind. My 22-year-old daughter never thinks, “How am I going to balance work and home life when I have kids?” But, a few decades ago, that may have been what prevented many women from following their professional dreams.

Marisa Thalberg, the executive vice president and chief brand and marketing officer at Lowe’s, has always inspired me. She is very career-oriented, yet she’s not afraid to show her personal, “human” side.

She makes an effort to create opportunities for team building and facilitates “feel good” empowerment projects for women in her company and has won many awards for her accomplishments, including being named to Forbes’ CMO Hall of Fame. Overall, Marisa is not just an incredible leader, but she is an outstanding role model.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior…

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The Importance of Networking. Growing up, my parents told me to keep my head down and work hard. I thought that if I did that, I would be successful in everything I did. While it is important to work hard, that is not the only thing that matters. Building relationships is vital. Every opportunity I received was from a prior relationship. It was either a referral from an old boss or former colleague, a client, or even a mentee. It is important to build relationships with everyone around you as you build your career and don’t forget to nurture them along the way!

As a part of our interview series called “Women Of The C-Suite”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tricia Montalvo Timm.

Tricia Montalvo Timm is a first-generation Latina board director, venture investor, speaker, and author. She rose through the ranks of Silicon Valley advising high-tech companies big and small, culminating in the sale of data analytics software company Looker to Google for $2.6 billion. Tricia is one of the few Latinas to have attained the triple achievement of reaching the C-suite, joining the boardroom, and cracking the venture capital ceiling. She is on a mission to inspire anyone who has ever felt like an “other” in the workplace to embrace their true selves, own their identity, and achieve success and fulfillment in their life and career. You can learn more about her at triciatimm.com.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/3fe67e1654a32751eecc465b7376c3a3/href">https://medium.com/media/3fe67e1654a32751eecc465b7376c3a3/href</a>

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My parents were both immigrants to this country and wanted to create a better life for me. My mom was from El Salvador and my father was from Ecuador. They worked multiple jobs and prioritized our education so that we could live the American dream. Growing up, my mother would tell me that I could someday become a lawyer just like her grandfather and I believed her. I eventually graduated cum laude from UCSB and Santa Clara University School of Law.

I started my career as a corporate securities attorney working at a large corporate law firm in Silicon Valley. My practice entailed representing a wide range of companies from start-ups to large global public companies. After a few years, I transitioned to working as an in-house attorney for high-tech companies. When my kids were little, I decided to pivot from corporate life and stay home for a year. During that time I started a legal consulting business to afford me the opportunity to continue practicing law while having a more flexible schedule. Within one year, I grew that small business to over $1 million in revenue. After my daughters were both in elementary school, I returned to the workforce as general counsel. My most recent role was as the general counsel of Looker, where I led the company through a successful exit to Google for $2.6 billion. I am currently on the board of Salsify, a top B2B SaaS software company and a limited partner in several venture capital funds as well as an angel investor. I also just wrote my first book Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity at Work which chronicles much of my life as the only Latina in the room in corporate America.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

There are many interesting business stories, but I think the most interesting thing I experienced in my career that I did not expect was the power of authenticity in the workplace. I kept my ethnicity and being a working mom under wraps for most of my career for fear that it would hold me back. I did that for almost two decades and eventually, the toll of hiding was too much. After some self-examination, I realized that in order to truly belong, I needed to accept myself first and come to the workplace as my authentic self. Once I started doing that, my career soared! I did not realize the impact of being my authentic self would have on me and others. My life’s work is now to mentor, support, and inspire others. That is something I never would have dreamed of when I started out as a young lawyer almost thirty years ago.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. 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?

During my first year at the law firm, a partner asked me to write a legal memo for a case he was working on. He asked for the traditional kind of memo with the “To” and “From” headings and lengthy legal research and analysis. I spent weeks on this memo. I wrote, edited, and reviewed it more times than I can remember. I wanted to get it just right and without any errors.

When I finally felt like it was in perfect condition, I walked into his office and handed it to him. He looked at it and asked me to sit down. He glanced at the first page, looked up, and said, “Is this your best work?” “Yes,” I answered confidently. He glanced down again and then handed the memo back to me and said, “When you hand in a memo to a partner, the first thing you need to make sure is that you spell his name correctly.” I looked down and noticed that I had misspelled his name! I was shocked and embarrassed. But, then it got worse. He then continued, “And… you need to make sure you spell your name correctly.”

The lesson learned here is that sometimes we need to see the forest through the trees. When you first start out in your career you will find yourself overly focused on getting all the little details done “right” or “perfectly” and may forget to step back and see whether you addressed the big things. You don’t want to get stuck in the weeds!

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 about that?

When I was a second-year law student at Santa Clara University, I participated in their on-campus interviews. Given its proximity to Silicon Valley, there were a large number of law firms participating and I was thrilled to take advantage of this program. Since I was top of my class I received almost a dozen job interviews.

Of the twelve firms that I interviewed with, only one firm sent a woman to interview me. All the others were white older men. In interview after interview, my confidence in my abilities lessened and lessened with each man I spoke to. They were all accomplished and very nice men who I am sure had the best intentions but I could not relate to them. We did not share the same interests or hobbies and we had very little in common. The conversations felt very awkward and I blamed myself for not being able to establish a connection with them. With every interview, I tried to change myself a little bit more to try and make myself more relatable to these men in hopes that this would make a difference.

Ultimately, my efforts in trying to pretend to be one of them did not pay off. I did not receive a single call back from any of the firms that sent male interviewers. What was more heart-breaking for me was to see that while I was being rejected, my white male classmates with less stellar academic records than mine were getting multiple callbacks. I felt like a failure.

I had one interview left. This last one was with a prominent Silicon Valley law firm that specializes in high-technology companies. By this point, I had created a visual in my head of who was going to show up. Older white men with dark suits. To my surprise, two ladies in more casual but professional attire greeted me. I couldn’t believe it. We immediately connected. We shared stories about ourselves and our upbringings. I told them about my internships and what I had learned. We laughed and enjoyed getting to know each other. I felt so much more like myself during this interview and was so grateful for the environment that these two women had created for me. In this more comfortable setting, I was able to demonstrate the value I could bring to the firm.

Out of the twelve interviews, this is the only firm that called me back, and ultimately I got the job. While I still had many challenges ahead as the first or only in the room, I often think back to that day. If that firm had not sent those two women to the on-campus interview that day, my life would have turned out differently. That position gave me the experience of a lifetime — IPOs, M&A, venture capital financings, public company experience, and much much more. It opened up a path for me to eventually become a general counsel working with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and investment bankers.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

As a lawyer, I can tell you that making a difficult decision was almost a daily occurrence for me. As the general counsel, it was my job to provide advice and counsel to the CEO and the rest of the management team on which path to take when faced with risk. We were almost always in the ”gray area,” meaning there was never a clear answer. Each decision entailed taking some risk. It was my job to help weigh the possible consequences against the benefits of a decision and help the management team make a decision. Over the years, I learned that when representing a start-up company, it was important to keep moving things forward and that some risks were actually healthy risks to take. It doesn’t do anyone any good if I have negotiated a perfect risk-free contract if the business eventually goes bankrupt because we did not move fast enough to sign up customers.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

As an executive, you have the responsibility to not only establish the strategic vision but to set the culture. Not only are you trying to keep the business going and thinking about long-term growth, but every day you have to keep your team motivated and engaged. I believe that culture is becoming increasingly important to a company’s success and a CEO’s actions and the type of culture and values the company follows are now a strategic imperative.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?

I believe that some may think that the office of the CEO is easy. You get paid well, can make all the decisions, and have lots of resources. What can be so hard about that? But, in fact, it can be a very lonely position. As the CEO, you have the weight of the entire organization on your shoulders. You need to deliver value to your shareholders, answer to the board, and the lives of your employees are in your hands. Not knowing whether the strategy you chose or the decision you made is the right one can be very difficult. But you don’t have to make those decisions alone or in a vacuum. Successful CEOs have established a team of trusted advisors to support them. From a strong, cohesive team of executives to outside advisors, these people can help guide a CEO through the most challenging times.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Here are 5 challenges faced by women executives that are not typically faced by their male counterparts:

Men are usually presumed to be qualified for a position, while women often have to prove they deserve the position. That puts an extra layer of work on women that men may not have in demonstrating the value they bring to the job.
A woman’s leadership style may not conform to traditional norms. For example, a woman may be a bit more reserved or thoughtful in her approach, or she may lean towards collaboration and these traits may be construed as weak or as “soft skills” when in fact these skills can be very effective. You don’t have to be loud and aggressive to be a good leader.
Men tend to do a better job at self-advocacy. They are not afraid to let others know they are interested in a promotion or the next stretch project while women may stay quiet and wait to be recognized for their hard work. This type of “waiting for permission” holds women back from getting that next promotion.
Women commonly face microaggressions at work which start eroding confidence over time. Being mistaken as the assistant, constantly being interrupted, or being made to feel invisible are common experiences faced by most executive women in the workplace. This often leads to imposter syndrome.
If you are a working mother, you may have the additional burden of proving that you care about your career. Constantly being asked whether or not you are returning to work, whether you need more time to work on a project, or being passed over for a promotion to make your life “easier.” You are repeatedly trying to prove to everyone around you that you are committed to the job despite having children. Working fathers don’t face this issue nearly as often as working mothers.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

I did not think there would be so much math! I didn’t particularly like math in high school or college and thought that by pursuing a legal degree I would avoid having to make sense of numbers. But, in fact, there is a lot of math in corporate law. From cap tables to dilution, to financial statements to SaaS growth metrics, it is imperative that you get well-versed in the financial metrics that impact the company you are representing. In order to provide good sound legal advice, you need to understand how the company operates.

Is everyone cut out to be an executive? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?

No, not everyone is cut out to be an executive. I think to be an effective executive leader you need to be resilient, strategic, and have empathy. Leading a company will have its ups and downs and you need to have built resilience to navigate through the hard times. You also need to have a strategic vision for your company and be willing to hire the right team and then let them lead. You have to let go of the small day-to-day things and focus on the long-term vision of the company and always be planning for the unexpected. Lastly, you need to be a good manager of people. I think having empathy for your workforce and prioritizing a culture of belonging is critical to a successful company.

Someone with a fixed mindset who thinks there is a right or wrong way of doing things is usually not a successful leader.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

The Importance of Networking. Growing up, my parents told me to keep my head down and work hard. I thought that if I did that, I would be successful in everything I did. While it is important to work hard, that is not the only thing that matters. Building relationships is vital. Every opportunity I received was from a prior relationship. It was either a referral from an old boss or former colleague, a client, or even a mentee. It is important to build relationships with everyone around you as you build your career and don’t forget to nurture them along the way!
Creating Boundaries at Work. Starting off at a top-tier law firm as a young associate in the late 90s meant that I had no work-life balance. I was trained that way and it took me decades to realize that in order to be great at my job, I also had to have joy in other parts of my life. Working without a break was not the answer. Learning to set boundaries was an important part of that. One boundary that I am grateful I created was never missing family dinners. Every night no matter how busy we all were, the whole family would sit down at the table (phones away) and have a meal together. It was the one time during the day that we could put aside all the distractions of the day and connect with each other.
Belonging Begins with Self-Acceptance. As a first-generation Latina and perfectionist, I was always striving to be accepted by others. I judged my value based on how others perceived me. Over time, that eventually leads to frustration, bitterness, and burnout. Now I know that in order to have a sense of belonging it begins with accepting yourself first. Showing up as your authentic self and not trying to change or mold yourself into something else. This takes time, but it’s worth it.
Follow your Passion. Parents, counselors, and friends all have an idea of what you “should” be doing. The job that makes the most money or has the most prestige. But, often if you follow a path that does not align with your passion or values, eventually you feel lost or without a sense of purpose. My advice is to follow the job, cause, or activity that brings you joy. The job where you might be working hard all day but not realize the time went by because you were enjoying what you were doing or who you were doing it with. Your career should not be painful. It should be a place where you are excited to be growing and learning.
Find your People. When you are climbing the corporate ladder, you will hit roadblocks. In those times, you will need to have the right group of people around you to support you. Whether you need a mentor for career advice, a partner to pick you up when you fall or a colleague that reminds you of the impact you made at work, you will need all of these people to help you navigate through challenging times. It is especially important to find people who have similar lived experiences as you because you might have something unique about your life that only those that have experienced it can understand. Being able to have someone to turn to and who can really “see you” and understand you is vital.

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

I am deeply passionate about creating spaces of belonging. I think leaders and corporations who are not focusing on inclusion and fostering a culture of belonging at work will struggle to retain employees in the future. Right now two things are forcing corporations to reevaluate the workplace: the pandemic and Gen Z. Following the pandemic, employees started to rethink their lives, careers, and purpose. They are looking for more flexibility and fulfillment in their lives. Gen Z employees are among the most diverse in the workplace and are not afraid to speak up and ask for what they want. They are purpose-driven and looking for that in the companies they work for.

As leaders, we should be striving to create a diverse and inclusive workplace that represents the demographics of our country. In particular, I think that corporations are not seeing the value that Latinos could bring to the workplace. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. and are a driving economic force in our country contributing over $2.8 trillion to GDP, which if it were a country would be the fifth largest country. Yet, Latinos are the least represented in the C-Suite, the boardroom and in venture capital. This is a huge blindspot in corporate America right now. Imagine if companies started bringing more Latinos into positions of leadership that could identify this market opportunity, and create and design products to serve this market. Not only would revenues and profits increase, but we would be lifting up a community that has been underserved for so long.

I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with Brené Brown. Her work has had an enormous impact on my career. After two decades in the corporate world, I started suffering from anxiety and had reached burnout so I decided to seek help. My doctor actually “prescribed” me Brené Brown’s Ted Talk on vulnerability. My transformational journey began that day. Starting with The Gifts of Imperfection and all of her books after that, I slowly began my own journey toward self-acceptance. During this time of self-discovery, I had the opportunity to meet Brené Brown briefly at a women’s conference. I entered one of my stories in a Storyteller Contest (and won!) just to get the opportunity to get a ticket to this conference so that I could watch Brené speak in person. I somehow ended up backstage with her as I was waiting to receive my storyteller’s award and she was waiting to give the keynote speech. I couldn’t believe it! I asked to take a picture with her and she signed my book and wrote “Stay Brave. Keep Storytelling.” Two years later I decided to write my own book about my journey and to inspire others who may feel like they don’t belong in the workplace. I would love to share this story with her and let her know the profound impact her work has had on my life.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Power Women: Dr Azza Halim On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

In my opinion I think employers can contribute to employees’ wellness by implementing a mandatory annual wellness check covered by the employer along with nutrition/exercise counseling in order to enhance mental ad physical well-being which in turn would increase productivity and boost team morale. This in turn would focus on prevention rather than treatment which as we know, chronic illnesses are major burden on the Healthcare system so rather than treat we should be preventing disease.

How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Azza Halim.

Azza Halim, MD is a board certified Anesthesiologist as well as Aesthetic Medicine, Anti-aging, and Regenerative Medicine Physician.

Dr. Halim’s medical training began at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Dr. Halim did a research fellowship in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, she then went on to do her internship in internal medicine.

Dr. Halim completed her residency in Anesthesiology, along with subspecialty/fellowship training in critical care/trauma and pediatrics at Northwestern University along with Pain Management with leading authorities in the field. She went on to do further training at London Med.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you grew up?

I grew up in Manhattan and Princeton, with one older brother and very family oriented parents. My father, now a retired businessman, and my mother (stay at home mom) both always focused on work-life-health balance as well as proper nutrition, exercise and quality skincare.

We never ate processed food nor junk food/snacks as everything was freshly cooked. Also I was fortunate enough to travel the world with my parents, hence acquiring cultural diversity. As for staying active, that was also something I enjoyed as a child thanks to our family vacation adventures. I think this created a big foundation for my health awareness along with my mom’s emphasis on good skincare early on in life.

Was there a particular person or event that inspired you to live a wellness-focused lifestyle? Can you tell us about your main motivation to go all in?

I always had an interest in healthy living, beauty, and fashion since I was a teenager thanks to my upbringing and travel experiences. Both my parents were focused on a healthy lifestyle as well as maintaining natural aesthetic beauty, I truly believe our environment and family are very impactful early on in life as to how we perceive food, exercise, vitamins, attire, sleep patterns, our attitude towards life and so much more as they all become learned behavior.

Most people with a wellbeing centered lifestyle have a “go-to” activity, exercise, beverage, or food that is part of their routine. What is yours and can you tell us how it helps you?

I actually have few go-to activities that include: Yoga as it maintains flexibility, builds strength and incorporates meditation which all help with overall wellness and sleep. As for sports and other activities, I always enjoyed horseback riding, dancing, reading and painting.

The practice of yoga teaches you focus, which is very important for success. Painting is an art which I feel gave me the basis for my artistic eye as that is an inherent skill rather than a learned one. Many can learn art but not all can master it.

To live a wellness-focused life is one thing, but how did it become your career? How did it all start?

My interests always revolved around being a problem-solver, whether it was for technical, medical or personal challenges as it was a balancing act with work, family and recreational time. I always had a passion for helping others get their life on track yet didn’t do same for myself which taught me to take a step back and practice what I preach in order to be a better role model for others.

Also as I helped raise my nephews, I was very animate about their nutrition and exercise routines as well as skincare which helped translate to how I managed my teenage patients when parents brought them in for their acne which involved coaching them on how their diet affects their skin and their physical health.

Can you share a story about the biggest challenges you faced when you were first starting? How did you resolve that? What are the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

As a child I always took initiative and lead which carried on into my adulthood. That being said I was an overachiever and enjoyed being innovative and taking charge which was a challenge as a female in the world of Anesthesiology/Surgery. I worked twice as hard to attain credibility than my male colleagues, that taught me endurance and persistence which is why I take pride in all that I do and have achieved. Throughout my training and career, whenever I came across a medical dilemma or challenge, I strived to find a remedy which is what drew me into the world of Wellness/Integrative Medicine. I realized that the combination of traditional medicine and functional medicine enhanced my knowledge and options in finding solutions for my patients rather than a one size fits all approach. This is how I expanded my professional expertise.

Can you share with us how the work you are doing is helping to make a bigger impact in the world? Can you share a story that illustrates that?

I am constantly learning, growing and expanding my knowledge base when it comes to health, wellness and beauty as all are forever evolving and growing. For example, we have so many topical medications for various skin conditions yet as I have managed many in their 20s for acne scars and recurring acne, I take a different approach based on my functional medicine training that our gut microbiome and skin microbiome are responsible for our skin conditions that all take root as generalized inflammation. We know inflammation is cause of many ailments. This is where balance in our nutrition, wellbeing and lifestyle come into play. I first diagnose the cause so then I may formulate the proper customized plan for each individual to treat the cause not just the effect. I also apply this not just to skin health, but also to other ailments and beauty. I also focus on the positives we all have as unfortunately with all the social media pressure many feel, it’s important to not lose focus on reality to maintain stable mental and physical well-being.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Currently I’m working on developing products and perfecting my trademark treatments that I created to tackle beauty and wellness challenges that I see on a regular basis in my practice for when a patient comes to me with a dilemma, I am determined to help find a solution for them as I enjoy seeing patient satisfaction and quality results. I am currently working on few products that I can not disclose at this time.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

My strongest traits that have helped me achieve my success, I think, are my determination (never giving up), positive optimism (something my parents instilled in me), and self-confidence which all allowed me to be assertive enough to achieve whatever I set my mind to.

All of these traits helped me achieve various leadership roles in major businesses.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. Wellness is an incredibly broad topic. How would you define the term “Wellness”? Can you explain what you mean?

Wellness by my definition encompasses not just being physically fit but also good mental health, good self-esteem, balanced nutrition, self care and quality relationships. All of these are part of life balance which equates to true wellness.

As an expert, this might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Can you please share a few reasons with our readers about why focusing on our wellness should be a priority in our lives?

When one focuses on true wellness, as I defined above, then one is able to better appreciate, enjoy and reap the benefits of healthy lifestyle. If one does not have mental wellness and clarity then the physical wellness can be overshadowed, if one is missing the physical health and nutritional wellness components, that may contribute to low self-esteem which has a negative impact on mental health. So as you can see they all go hand in hand, which is why we do need to focus on attaining a healthy lifestyle from both a physical and mental perspective to attain balance and true happiness.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasingly growing understanding of the necessity for companies to be mindful of the wellness of their employees. For the sake of inspiring others, can you share steps or initiatives that companies have taken to help improve or optimize their employees’ mental and physical wellness?

In my opinion I think employers can contribute to employees’ wellness by implementing a mandatory annual wellness check covered by the employer along with nutrition/exercise counseling in order to enhance mental ad physical well-being which in turn would increase productivity and boost team morale. This in turn would focus on prevention rather than treatment which as we know, chronic illnesses are major burden on the Healthcare system so rather than treat we should be preventing disease.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Health and Wellness Industry”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Clinical experience/skills to properly assess the needs of each individual for customization

2. Having an Aesthetic Eye for natural beautification rather than looking “done” as beauty and wellness go hand in hand

3. Knowledge/Expertise to understand and interpret not just lab results but lifestyle impact and how to address/remedy things

4. Interpersonal skills to be able to develop good rapport, build trust and confidence as well as deliver the proper message to the patient

5. Proper Follow up for patient compliance along with setting Realistic expectations/goals for each individual

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

Educating the masses on how to Focus on supporting the immune system to boost health naturally with proper nutrition and exercise.

As I mentioned earlier I would like to see more prevention than treatment. Just as many are starting earlier in the Antiaging world of Aesthetics, also all should do same in regards to overall health as Antiaging in my book refers to not just the outer Aesthetic component but also Inner health as both are actually one.

This is why my practice focus has been integrating beauty and wellness together. As many of my patients who started feeling good internally then wanted to look equally as good externally and vice-versa so when I see a patient, my consultation is a complete consult from inside/out and head to toe.

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

Gwyneth Paltrow is a great representation of healthy living with a focus on inner and outer beauty, health and wellness and I’m a big fan of the Goop products!

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Instagram : Azzamdbeauty

My website is in process of updates but link is Azzamdbeauty.com for future link

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Power Women: Dr Azza Halim On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Angela Goff of Copper and June Parlour On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Angela Goff of Copper and June Parlour On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually, you find a hairstylist that understands you.” Likewise, many extension guests not only look for a stylist who produces great work, but one they can also connect with on a personal level. My guests entrust me with their hair and their life problems and aspirations alike. Many of them feel like family to me. The hair extension industry is a service-based one by nature, so the relationship cultivated between guest and artist is a key aspect of what keeps guests coming back.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angela Goff.

Angela Goff is the co-owner of Copper and June Parlour in Nashville, Tennessee. She has been installing extensions and giving her salon guests the hair of their dreams for over 20 years. Angela is also a fierce advocate of stylist education and launched the Angela Goff Collective, a mentoring program for new stylists looking to elevate their craft.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I truly love the beauty industry, dark sides, sharp edges, and all. Unfortunately, there are many people who look down on those of us who work in this industry. They don’t believe we will amount to much or that we’re worthy of being paid well. When I told my father I wanted to go to hair school, he said, “Oh, you will never make any money.”

But there’s a shift on the horizon. Many of us are demanding respect. We are learning to run our salons like “real businesses,” hiring accountants, creating amazing websites, and seeking the highest levels of quality education. We are paying our salon assistants and staff well and investing in social media marketing. Hair salons have some of the best social media of any industry, and that’s not an easy thing to accomplish. We are not only stepping up how we work behind the chair, but how we work in front of it too. There’s a change coming, and it’s been needed for a while now.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

While most hair stylists master the art of the color and the cut first, I specialized in hair extensions at the very start of my career. I’ve learned every method of installing extensions — and there are quite a few — so that I can be armed with the best, most up-to-date knowledge to educate my clients and my salon staff with. I choose to level up my career every day and to challenge every business strategy I have.

I have been a huge advocate of higher education since the beginning. I’ve spent countless hours and many, many years becoming the best in my niche and creating the most luxury experience for my guests. I want them to feel as though they are the only thing that matters to me while they’re in my chair. I also want them to know exactly how to care of their new hair when they go home. That’s the most important thing: that my guests can maintain their look on their own day-to-day. After 25 years of delivering an amazing experience and the highest quality work, I know I am like no other in this industry. And I’ve worked extremely hard to get here.

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 will never forget the day that I had a new guest walk through my door and her hair looked nothing like the photo she put on her intake form. She had mid-length hair that was straight and blonde in the picture she sent. When she showed up, her hair was short and curly. I about fell on the floor.

It was in that moment I learned to be very intentional with my initial consultations and collect every bit of information from the guest before they arrive for their appointment. I’ve actually had guests submit pictures of their hair from five years ago or longer in their intake forms. You can say it’s been a learning process from day one.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Britt Seva has made a huge impact on my business strategy. She is a very smart marketing strategist for stylists and salons. I have learned so much from her — I listen to her podcast every day and have taken several of her classes to advance my business.

But some of my biggest mentors are simply hard-working moms and dads who strive to be better every day. I love seeing my colleagues work extremely hard to become better versions of themselves.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Being disruptive can be an amazing thing, especially in this industry. In business, most people stick to the status quo. But making waves and bringing a new perspective to things is how we become better at business. It’s okay to to take your own approach. A saying I think speaks well to this question is: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Even though the destination might be the same, the path you take to get there doesn’t have to be identical to that of everyone else.

I like to switch things up so my guest can have a different, unique experience in my chair. After all, that’s what life is all about: new experiences. It’s a great thing when a system has withstood the test of time, but shaking things up peaks interest. It gets people’s eyes on you and what you are doing.

The hair and extensions industry is long overdue for a disruption. Forward-thinking stylists and extension artists are educating themselves on better business, elevating their crafts, and asking for the pay that they deserve. This is a change I am really excited about — styling hair is an art. It’s a transformative experience for the guest. And it’s time for everyone to recognize that, not for them to look down on the career.

While disrupting an industry is positive most of the time, disruption can have a dark side if it’s not executed in the right way. Trying to be different just for the sake of being different isn’t the answer. You have to be passionate and intentional about what you’re doing. That’s when people really love you for who you are.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

My mother always told me: “To whom much is given, much is required.” That rings so true for me today. When people give a lot to you, whether it be their money or time, they expect a lot in return. I always remind stylists in my education and shadowing programs that extension guests pay quite a bit for their appointments, so they expect the highest level of service in return.
“Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful.” This is a lesson I’ve learned over and over again in the salon: it’s not always about the actual hair that my guests walk away with. It’s about the confidence they gain from finally having their dream look and the renewed energy they can attack life with.
“Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually, you find a hairstylist that understands you.” Likewise, many extension guests not only look for a stylist who produces great work, but one they can also connect with on a personal level. My guests entrust me with their hair and their life problems and aspirations alike. Many of them feel like family to me. The hair extension industry is a service-based one by nature, so the relationship cultivated between guest and artist is a key aspect of what keeps guests coming back.

And one more:

“The best advice I can give to young stylists is to marry bald, so you have one less free haircut to do on your day off.”

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I just started a membership-based collective of stylists who want to refine and master their craft and level up in their business. The Angela Goff Collective is a tight-knit group of stylists who get to learn all of the top tips, tricks, and best-kept secrets I’ve gained throughout my 20+ years as an extension artist. I’ve been all about education right from the start of my career and I want to serve as the judgement-free source of mentorship and knowledge I wish I had when I was fresh on the scene.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I have always heard that women have a hard time working their way to the top in the workforce. But I feel differently. I have always felt empowered as a woman. As if I can do anything that I set my mind to if I work hard enough. I never felt that I won’t make as much money or be as successful because I am a woman. Instead, I know I can do much better than most men. Even though they can be physically stronger at times, women have the ability to be incredibly powerful business leaders.

Don’t ever think for one second that you, as a woman, can’t achieve something. You are powerful and strong. But if you don’t believe that, no one else will. Keep your chin up and keep pushing forward. You will do great things.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

The book Profit First taught me so many lessons about being a great entrepreneur.

I also love the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It changed my entire mindset on money and saving for the future. We are taught to work hard and save from a young age. But that’s not always the way to get what you want. Sometimes, it’s worth taking a risk and investing money that you worked hard for. It’s scary, but once you accept that sometimes you have to go into things with fear, it changes you. Not every single thing you do will be a success. But if you have one success out of 10 tries, you have done great.

I am also constantly listening to uplifting podcasts, especially by other mentors in my field.

Leading by example is one of the most powerful things you can do.

And I think kindness goes a long way. We are so busy in our daily lives that sometimes, we forget to be kind. Loving people right where they are in life is so important.

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

To love is a choice.

I learned that as a child, again during my teen years, and yet again throughout my adult life. Now I’m learning this in my salon every day: to love people where they are and not pass judgment.

This industry taught me that women want to be valued and appreciated more than anything else. A lot of the salon experience isn’t about the actual cut or color. Women want to feel loved and appreciated, and sometimes the salon chair is the place they go to feel those things.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow me at @angelagoffstyling on social media!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Disruptors: Angela Goff of Copper and June Parlour On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Power Women: Author JJ DiGeronimo On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful…

Power Women: Author JJ DiGeronimo On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be Present — For me to thrive, I must practice being present not only with what is happening around me but also within me. Assessing the energy within your body is essential to understand how you are holding and processing the flow that is likely impacting your thoughts and your next action. This is especially important if you sabotage situations that are opportunities to experience and align with more joy.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing JJ DiGeronimo.

Two-time award-winning author JJ DiGeronimo helps women raise their frequencies and empower their future impact through tried-and-tested strategies, mindfulness, and energetic practices. Formerly a leading woman in the tech industry, she now passionately strives to help women gain more seats at more tables by sharing the key findings that have helped her and countless others illuminate a path forward. Featured in publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Thrive Global, DiGeronimo is regularly an invited speaker for events and conferences. Her work includes three books, two podcasts, two global online communities, and in-person experiences. Discover her work at www.JJDiGeronimo.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

We were not the poorest in our zip code but had our fair share of church cheese and lottery dreams. Naturally, at an early age, I adopted the belief that there was never enough money.

Although my parents struggled on many levels, they did praise my brother and me for our hard work. Because they struggled financially, we were encouraged to contribute at an early age. My parents’ appreciation and praise grew as I moved from pool cleaner to baker to waitress, helping to provide for our household. These early external approvals were noted by my ego and likely drove the internal stories that kept me chasing professional milestones and accolades, working late nights, and feeding my competitive nature.

When I was in high school, I was lucky to have a dedicated guidance counselor, Mr. Mancuso. Although my ACT and SAT scores were low due to an undiagnosed case of dyslexia, he actively encouraged me to go to college.

Looking back, his investment was one of those guided moments in life in which I could have gone left, but his momentum and sponsorship pushed me right. I may have eventually aligned my life in that direction, but I suspect it would have taken me years to get on this path without his genuine help and belief in what was possible.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

I have learned that life is about opening doors, which can create different opportunities and pathways. Our commitments and how we align our time and funds create those pathways. I picked a computer information degree because I saw a college degree as a door opener that could lead to a better place. I was told during orientation that every student was hired out of the program. Back in 1991, I did not necessarily like computers, but after years of earning minimum wage, I wanted a well-paying job with more opportunities.

I signed up when I was assured that a four-year computer degree would land me a decent salary. I was uncertain of my abilities and fearful I would fail, but I was also determined to move beyond low-paying jobs that suck the life out of people’s dreams.

Even though the catalyst for a better salary drove me toward a degree and then a career in technology, I am lucky. As I found the work interesting and enjoyed the fast pace and ever-changing environment. However, I cannot tell you I would have selected this degree if my lack of finances was not driving my decision.

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

After twenty-five years and numerous milestones, I had hit a wall from overproducing, over-delivering, and over-committing. Quite frankly, I was over it, questioning all aspects of my life.

Even after years of leadership training, I did not know where to start or how to get the heck out of my own way. I had been beating myself up for years — from the demands I put on myself to the many times I said “yes” when I should have said “no.” I was my worst enemy, and I was ready for a shift.

I tried drinking more wine, sabotaging my marriage, and even considered driving away and never coming back. Luckily, I did not follow through on any of those wishes, as I later learned that those sabotaging thoughts were reflecting how unsettled I felt on the inside.

This undermining energy had been building up for years, but I had just continued to do what I did best — pushing through my to-do list with my head down. The actions that usually distracted me from my internal whispers had me questioning all aspects of my life, landing me in a therapist’s office while wishing for a hospital bed. I’d had enough, and I was ready to check out.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I RESEARCH:

I tried to convince myself that I was FINE. Yet my inner turmoil did not quit! It pushed me to seek new conversations, new classes, and new books. Not everything I discovered was aligned with and relevant to what my heart wanted, but throughout my seeking, I found new areas of excitement and new sources of energy, which I call fuel stations. These new activities energized my inner self and my Soul. This provided reprieve and balance as my fatigued mind continued to chase external metrics such as work milestones, titles, and accolades.

I SHARE:

At first, I questioned myself and felt nervous about sharing these new practices, yet I believe that my professional journey — which includes many moments of feeling uncertain, alone, defeated, and depleted — can inspire other women’s journeys. And maybe women will use the strategies to inspire others on their journeys as I have learned that Seeking often happens off the side of our desk; away from our jobs.

I SEEK:

Many people assume that when you are “successful” or when you get to a certain level at work or in life, you will experience bliss or joy. Well, this did not happen for me. Sure, I had moments of joy, but I also had many hours, even days on end, of feeling less than full. Little did I know, I had a sprouting purpose from within that was not satisfied by my external striving and goals. My internal guide, my Soul, was seeking alignment with my true life’s work.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?

It is essential to note that, as women, we have not been able to show up at work with all our tools and unique talents. The existing societal matrix apparent in most corporate structures is primarily designed by masculine energies.

There is harmony when masculine and feminine energy work together, and each of us has both energies. Masculine energy is often categorized as getting, doing, and defining, whereas feminine energy is more often associated with knowing, connecting, and being. Either of these energies could be more or less pronounced in some people or even some situations. With millions of search results on the differences, you could research this for hours, but my point here is too much of either energy makes things lopsided.

You pose an interesting question, as strong women could be viewed as women leaning too much into their masculine energy, which could make people feel lopsided and even uneasy about these women. Even though they are doing exactly what they have been conditioned to do: align, position, and strive at all costs, chasing success, power, title, salary, perks, financial freedom, and so on.

Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?

I now realize that this chase is an oasis. It creates an illusion that comes with a sea of obligations and expectations each week, requiring trade-offs and conditioning us to over strive for external metrics. As a result, these weeks turn into years that end up detaching us from our inner knowing, especially if we skip things that inspire us, which I refer to as our fuel stations.

It was not long before I found myself striving for this oasis of success, which drove me to rise early and go to bed late. My focus was defined by my schedule, relationships, and actions, and these unfolded into daily to-dos. I later came to realize that the path to professional success is rather predictable and often programmed into us at an early age.

Unfortunately, I did not think I had good examples of people ahead of me telling me to slow down, enjoy, or be present. That is not fair, because I may have had men and women sharing their wisdom, but I was too focused on and driven by chasing the oasis of success, power, and financial freedom that I did not listen to these whispers.

I justified my sacrifices and believed my schedule aligned with the “right” goals. However, I later realized that my focus was primarily motivated by stories I learned as a child and my fear of failure, which was deeply rooted in my ego.

As I look at these questions, I now realize that while I was working toward professional success, I was not present during most moments. Instead, I often planned for the future or reflected on the past. I worried about what I did or what was expected of me. I constantly questioned my actions and abilities.

I wish I had invested in a career coach much earlier in my professional life, as this could have helped me better understand who I was and what I was running toward.

What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?

The reality is you cannot control how people feel around you. isIf women are sensing that people are uneasy in their presence, each woman has to decide if she are working in the right circles and doing the right work that brings out the best in them.

Unfortunately, for many women and men, our work environments can, over time, cultivate us into a person that does not align with our desired or prefer energies or experiences. If you are someone experiencing a mismatch, it may be time to explore other ways to show up at work or in life.

I remember hearing a few years ago that when we point our fingers at others, the other fingers are pointing back at us. It is a good reminder for me in many situations that if I did not like the view, experience, role, subliminal messaging, or unconscious bias, I had to decide if I was ready for my next. Then make the decisions or actions to make it so.

What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?

To balance the masculine energy of the planet, the world needs more women at more tables to infuse more feminine energy and their truth, wisdom, and gifts into more discussions, decisions, laws, leadership, solutions, and offerings.

With perspective and personal growth, I am an active believer in a universal connection among all of us, providing numerous opportunities for us to help each other learn, grow, and awaken. For some of us, there are benefits in coming together, finding the space, and believing we are worth the time to explore our gifts to illuminate our paths.

This work empowers me, and hopefully you, too, to be more accepting, loving, and open to more women, young and old, sharing their knowledge, ideas, and wisdom.

The planet will shift, and it will do so with the help and likely leadership of women. So if this makes the majority uncomfortable, my words of advice for them is “get use to it!” As we need more women speaking their truth, leading the masses, and using both their masculine and feminine energy in more conversations, roles, and decisions.

In my own experience, I have observed that often women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?

As the famous quote by Ginger Rogers highlights, “I did everything that my partner Fred Astaire did, but backward and in high heels.”

Sure, I could share a specific story, but I think most have their own story and experiences that is more impactful to them than anything I can share.

We all know it is unfair and it times embarrassing when you are made to feel less than or not an equal.

But let’s remember it hasn’t been that long ago that women only had a fraction of the opportunity that they have today. We have made strides and being a powerful woman is shifting too. Yes, there is negative connotation at times, but there are also very positive outcomes, experiences, and milestones too.

Times are shifting again, and we women are more ready than ever to lead, lean in, and lean on to get our voices and opinions on records, in law, and in motion.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women leaders that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Everything!

I know women will understand this short but all-encompassing statement, whereas men may stop reading as they feel that I am not giving them the credit they deserve. Even with this, I think my one-word answer sums it up.

Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?

I, like many women, left little time for myself. I was busy working, taking care of family, and helping everyone and everything else that came my way. As a result, I cut myself out of my schedule too often, leaving myself depleted and, at times, very unhealthy.

Through all the stories and journeys women have shared with me, there seems to be a common trade-off for success that often robbed them of enjoyment, family time, and fun. And many find themselves, just like me, taking out the activities that bring fulfillment so they can check another item off the to-do list to avoid the potential embarrassment or fear of not being good enough.

The illusion of success, with its sea of obligations and expectations, requires trade-offs. It essentially conditions us to over-strive for external metrics and detaches us from our inner knowing. This often leaves us disconnected and drained.

I realize that not all women or men have the support they need from family and friends to take their own leaps. Even Sheryl Sandburg, author, woman in tech, and philanthropist, talks about the importance of your life mate’s support of your goals. Luckily, the mate I married, at age thirty, was on board with me selling my company stock and leaving my tech career to become an entrepreneur with a mission.

I think he believed that getting me off the road and out of the constant stress of a high-flying tech company would be a plus for our family and our relationship. Little did he know, I thrived on the stress, the job, the title, and the pressure. So much so that I had no idea how much it defined me, and my self-perceived value, and frankly how much

What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?

Funny, I believe I am still working on this and I am now fifty years old.

The pressure of time seems to be an issue when many of us think about making space for things that excite or inspire us. One trick I use to get out of my own way is scheduling reoccurring meetings inside my calendar to ensure it happens. To ensure I do not cheat myself of this precious time, I do not allow myself to dismiss these calendar invites and reminders until I spend that allocated time with people or on projects that fuel my light.

Those activities, off the side of my desk, also energized other aspects of my work and life. I later realized that those actions and activities fueled my internal light.

“Fueling My Light” became a term I coined in 2012 for aligning with meaningful activities that make you feel good, whole, and in the flow with things that matter to you. When you fuel your light, you create more momentum and positive energy in other areas of your life.

I work in the beauty tech industry, so I am very interested to hear your philosophy or perspective about beauty. In your role as a powerful woman and leader, how much of an emphasis do you place on your appearance? Do you see beauty as something that is superficial, or is it something that has inherent value for a leader in a public context? Can you explain what you mean?

Well, as much as I would like to sidestep this question or even pretend it doesn’t exist, it is an aspect women must consider based on the doors they want to open, roles they want to pursue, or messages they want to share.

How is this similar or different for men?

A few years ago, I saw how a newscaster wore the same suit for the entire year as a test, and no one noticed. Sure, men have to be put together but by no means have the same level of scrutiny, subjection, analysis, or judgment that women experience and especially as women age.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Be Present

For me to thrive, I must practice being present not only with what is happening around me but also within me. Assessing the energy within your body is essential to understand how you are holding and processing the flow that is likely impacting your thoughts and your next action. This is especially important if you sabotage situations that are opportunities to experience and align with more joy.

Intercept the Mind Chatter

There is no need to second guess where you are or have been. Now is the time to be honest about the fears that continue to creep up. Popular mind chatter fueled by fear is “I will not be ready or good enough.” In the past, I had been holding on to my stories, which created a flurry of mind chatter, and I had acted upon them as if they were non-negotiable. They had heavily influenced my confidence, decisions, and choices. I had not realized that I had the ability to manage my mind chatter.

Realign Energy

With more knowing, I have learned how to drop my internal focus from my head down into my heart — aligning with my heart chakra. Chakras are key points inside or outside our bodies that are focal points of circulating energy. It took me some time to learn how to focus on and then realign energy inside and around my body to create a more peaceful way of living.

Have Gratitude

Our lives are journeys with many steps and lessons along the way. Honoring where you have been and what you have learned is a vital piece of gratitude that is necessary before you can evolve toward new experiences and lessons. Being grateful for who we are and what we already have can empower us to look for the good, get inspired by what is, and even nourish our gifts.

Remembering Our Gifts

Each of us has unique gifts to share with the world. Don’t doubt yourself, your offerings, or your work. Your light is bright, and you are magical! Never forget that you have been hand-selected to share your gifts, wisdom, and insights your way.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Power Women: Author JJ DiGeronimo On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Kathleen Adams of Second 50 Financial On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and…

Female Founders: Kathleen Adams of Second 50 Financial On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Invest in yourself continuously. This means health, learning, and fun. Spend money to take advantage of 21st century breakthroughs to increase vitality and improve health; think outside the box for your health and education; combine it with fun travel or time with friends. (this is easier to do when you “know your numbers”).

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathleen Adams, Second 50 Financial

Kathleen Adams, CFP, CPWA, entrepreneur, co-founder of Second 50 Financial, LLC, and author of soon-to-be released “Second 50: Achieve Financial Confidence/ Increase Opportunity/Leverage Vitality.” She has been in the Lifestyle Preservation business for over 20 years, and together with her team, has developed a unique process to address the expanded needs of successful owners and entrepreneurs who are enjoying a wonderful lifestyle that requires a different type of plan.

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My story involves a significant career change triggered by my dad’s story of leaving a highly successful 40-year dental practice with an unsuccessful outcome. He enjoyed a fantastic lifestyle, loved what he did, and gave us an amazing childhood. He had no plans to stop working, however, an unexpected health issue forced him to do so. Despite having lifelong banking/tax/legal advisors, no one advised him of how to plan for a fantastic life without his business income. I was supposed to follow in his footsteps and practiced dental hygiene with him but did not have any interest in dental school. When things started going so wrong for him, I finally realized what I truly wanted to do and went back to school to study financial planning.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Finding out how happy people were that we had left a prestigious partnership with a big firm and how much people liked the fact that my colleague David Swift and I co-founded Second 50 together. Over and over again people said that they felt they got the best of both worlds working with David (younger and male) and me (in my Second 50 and female). We found that we then easily differentiated our roles with clients and were able to specialize in doing what each of us loves doing.

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?

My first goal was to be a hero to dental practitioners, especially dental hygienists who earned a good income, were typically female working part-time, and rarely had any retirement benefits. Hoping to maximize their hard-earned income and gain more financial knowledge, I wrote a column for their professional magazine and spoke at conferences. But no one had any interest! Not one person even wanted my complimentary consultation! I thought I was the perfect fit financial advisor for them. My lesson is be ready to pivot when Plan A fails and don’t be upset with yourself for the mistake….just learn from it!

My Dad was the biggest inspiration; however, my business achieved the most success by working with Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach. I had tried other coaches before that, but nothing compared to joining his community of big thinkers and utilizing his thinking tools. He and his members gave me incredible self-confidence; literally lit a fire in me to take strategic risks and move forward. It helped me feel “normal” because starting my own business later in life, as well as being female, often left me feeling alone and uncertain. There is nothing like having other successful entrepreneurs to brainstorm with because even your well-meaning family and friends won’t be able to help you in the same way.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

In my view, in the big picture for many younger women, it’s worrying about compromising time with their family, as well as lack of belief in what they can really do with their lives. We often, me included, don’t know what we really want to do, which is the absolute first step. Even if we change later, we need an initial destination.

The second issue is women don’t usually have a supportive team or community to help move them forward. To me this is critical for women in business, and it doesn’t have to be a women-only group. The third concern is the need for women to gain a better understanding of their own financial situation so they can move forward with more clarity and confidence.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

I believe that there should be more options for childcare including more quality day care and pre-school facilities. This is not an easy fix, however I feel there should be more help from local communities and states in this area, no matter what your level of wealth. There is a shortage of quality childcare.

I’d also love to see women have more exposure to fantastic coaching groups as that was a huge game changer for me. I do not believe they need to seek women-only groups as there is so much benefit in having a variety of mindsets and skill sets from men and women. As individuals, women need to believe in themselves and their capabilities — especially if they want to make a change later in life. The media and other authority sources must stop portraying women in their Second 50 years running around smiling on a beach or playing with grandkids. They are capable of so much more during this time in their lives.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

I believe we are excellent at building relationships which is an essential component of running a successful business. We are also amazing at learning new things as we go. Keep in mind that most women with a family get through the first pregnancy, then manage a family while still running the show at home or work while figuring out how to become a great parent- those are natural leadership skills plus lifelong learning. Essential components of a successful business owner. Lastly, we love to problem solve (family life creates nonstop opportunities!) and the majority of successful business owners are there to solve a problem. Think about who usually steps in first when an elderly parent needs help.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

That you must “pay your dues” to become a founder. I disagree. There can be a lot of time and work involved but sometimes your entrepreneurial idea blossoms more quickly than you might imagine and you find yourself running a business in almost lightning speed. Often it does take lots of hard work and some failures, but be ready for either. Also, that you will need a huge skill set and advanced education; it’s more about your unique ability and how you put it to use by leveraging your innate understanding of collaboration and delegation. Lastly, feeling like you need to be the know-it-all expert on most everything that makes your business a success. Its always going to be a team effort or a collaboration and this can create exponential growth.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

Founders are usually very entrepreneurial at heart and were either very restless being an employee or never wanted to be one. They are willing to take risks and not afraid to fail. This means maintaining your confidence, being ready to make decisions, and usually being a visionary who brings the future into the present. That isn’t for everyone. I firmly believe there are various kinds of people who become employees. The 9 am-5 pm group (do your thing and leave) or the “intrapreneurs” who see the importance of their position, take responsibility for it, have pride in their daily work, and feel they are a part of something bigger. In this case, they are fulfilled much as a founder, but with a risk level that lets them sleep well at night.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Know yourself really well. Take the right individual assessments like Kolbe and StrengthsFinder. I did both and was shocked at my results — each showed me traits and strengths I hadn’t considered. I thought I did things simply to help others but I am actually also an achiever who thrives on doing well. It’s better to assess yourself as an individual — just for yourself versus to see how you fit on a board or a team.

2. Get a coach and community. My best move came joining Strategic Coach. The right coach gives you tools to problem solve and strategize; the right people in the room keep you connected to “big thinkers” which is VIP in our world. Most great coaches will start with telling you to “know your numbers” which is key to running any business.

3. Invest in yourself continuously. This means health, learning, and fun. Spend money to take advantage of 21st century breakthroughs to increase vitality and improve health; think outside the box for your health and education; combine it with fun travel or time with friends. (this is easier to do when you “know your numbers”).

4. Delegate. Hire a team member before you think you are ready since you rarely think you are ready financially with a new business. Step into the most important role for your business based on what you love to do and are great at, then delegate or outsource the rest.

5. Ask for help. As you grow in knowledge and success it might become hard to ask others for help and risk looking less capable — don’t let this stop you from raising your hand. Know that there are tons of people smarter than you who are ready to help if you ASK.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

We are focused on helping people in their second 50 years have the financial confidence they need to truly enjoy this time of life when they stop working. This means we are also promoting opportunity expansion to allow the great wisdom and wealth of this generation to continue creating a positive impact on the world the way boomers have always done — whether it’s through a new company that solves a problem, a philanthropic project that may generate revenue while teaching others to help themselves, mentoring young people who also want to change the world; possibly allowing for reverse mentoring as young and old can learn from each other. As we do this, we are exposing them to the newest health research, bio-hacks, and cures available through my extensive resources acquired from highly specialized professional groups. There’s no wealth, no real joy, without health. We want people to live with the most vitality and good health possible, so they have a zest for life and continue to change the world no matter what their age.

My dream is to start the “Second 50 Movement” nationally, and then globally. The majority of people in their Second 50 years are boomers; one of the largest, wealthiest, most highly educated groups to ever enter this time in life. The 62–72 group will be filled with around 32 million Boomers every year. I want the world to stop viewing the aging population as a crisis and consider it an opportunity.

Boomers are by nature change makers and problem solvers. Imagine if we could start small communities across the country of like-minded people in the 60–90-year-old age group who are looking for something more to do with their money, time, and wisdom! Putting even a few brains in conversation groups or workshops together will create super brain power. Who knows what problems they could tackle around what they care most about — or what they might develop or create given their vast experience and wealth — or what they could learn together that they had never explored in their previous careers. My new learning passion is quantum physics and it’s opened a whole new world of possibility and people for me! The Second 50 Movement is ready to unite Boomers and help make the world a better place.

Kathy Ireland! She has done such amazing things with her life and her wealth. I didn’t realize until recently that she is also involved with financial education. It would be such an honor to connect with her and possibly learn more about how she generates such interest in her causes and business ventures while doing so much to help others.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Female Founders: Kathleen Adams of Second 50 Financial On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Yea Ji Oh of Streamline Studios On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Yea Ji Oh of Streamline Studios On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Have the mindset that the pie is not limited. That we don’t have to compete for scraps. We have the power to create opportunities. Don’t feel threatened by your peers. Instead, celebrate their wins. Only some people will be bought into that idea, but the dynamic at work will change when enough do buy in. You will have a support network that can pull each other up.

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Yea-Ji Oh, Division Director for Streamline Studios.

Oh oversees the company’s global strategic initiatives for growth and expansion. In her seven years at Streamline Studios, Oh has progressed from a Project Manager across game dev disciplines to the General Manager of an 80+ team of 3D Artists, Localization, and QA (Quality Assurance) Developers, She now uses use this knowledge and expertise in game dev management, building professional teams, and executive leadership to oversee production process and talent acquisition.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Korea and raised in Malaysia. Twenty years ago, I moved my family to a new country because I wanted to live in a foreign country and learn languages other than my mother tongue. Languages and cultures were always a huge interest of mine, and as a kid, I wanted to see the world and be part of a movement that changes the world. To a 9-year-old, the dream of changing the world meant leveraging my linguistic skills as a translator/interpreter at the United Nations. Kudos to my parents for not brushing off my childhood ambition. Their sacrifice and upbringing are what make me who I am today.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

The story comes full circle because being a Korean translator got me into the games industry. As for the childhood dream of changing the world, as the Division Director at Streamline Media Group, I’m creating social economic impact in emerging markets by connecting global talent with investment and projects in video games and beyond gaming.

Returning to how I got into games, I studied biomedical sciences, and a year before graduating, I realized that the career path in research just wasn’t going to bring the fulfilment I needed. So, I decided to take a gap year and came across Streamline’s job vacancy for a Korean translator. As cliché it sounds, the interview with Streamline was the pivotal moment that changed my life and eventually led me to discover that I enjoy working with people to help them find value and meaning in their careers.

Once in the company, I learned the production pipeline and management skills as a project manager. Being in the company during its period of rapid growth came with non-stop learning opportunities. I had years of real-life experience in brand and business management, so when there was an opportunity to lead a new brand under the Streamline umbrella as a General Manager, I had to take it.

As General Manager, I led two brands; an 80+ person team of 3D Artists, Localization and Quality Assurance (QA) Developers, and worked on huge game projects with global companies such as Capcom, Warner Bros., and Epic Games.

More recently, a new challenge presented itself as I was invited to work with the CEO’s Office as the company’s Division Director. In this new role, I oversee and guide special initiatives, including supporting the growth of Streamline’s latest production studio in Bogota, Colombia. Again, I credit my career and personal growth to being at the right place at the right time and with the right people at Streamline who weren’t afraid to take a chance on me.

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

My most interesting, embarrassing, and special memory in my career was when my father interviewed my manager when I first joined Streamline. I was a Junior Project Manager and had decided not to return to school to study biomedical sciences.

Quitting school to work in video games was not an acceptable career path in the eyes of the parents who invested and sacrificed a significant part of their life to afford education for their child. My father wanted to set the office building on fire. That’s how mad he was!

My manager back then, thankfully, invited him into the office to sit down with him and help him understand the industry’s growth potential and my possible career options. Essentially, my dad interviewed the company and the manager to check that I wasn’t making a huge mistake. To this day, I’m so thankful that my manager accommodated this ridiculous arrangement, which speaks to the kind of company Streamline is. They understood that different cultures meant different family values and were willing to go the extra mile for their employees.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

One, I’m an optimist and a realist. I was raised to look at what I have realistically (both the problems and opportunities) and figure out how to make the most of them. This skill has proved to be extremely critical. There’s never a perfect scenario when running projects or businesses, so success often comes down to the ability to creatively problem-solve with limitations. The underlying optimism and faith in self (the glass-half-full approach) also helped me navigate difficult moments.

Two, being result-driven. While completionism comes with its own challenges, it kept me going and helped me be resilient.

Lastly, ability to turn ambiguous concepts or requests, into tangible next steps. Having this skill as a generalist made all the difference and really helped me work on cross-departmental projects and with teams that are super technical.

The biggest obstacle came from me. First, breaking out of my own perception of my limitations, and trusting in my capabilities to say yes to opportunities. There is a set image of what ‘leadership’ looks and sounds like, especially in a male-dominated workplace. I had to stop comparing myself to that and had to accept that leadership can look and sound different for everyone. That it didn’t matter whether you behaved like a stereotypical image of a leader with charisma and a booming voice. That it didn’t matter whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert. What it came down to was being authentic, and comfortable in your own skin. To understanding people’s desires and maximising their strengths to achieve organization’s goals while linking it back to their personal growths to help them achieve their own goals.

I focused on delivering work and creating the most impact to support my colleagues, the company, and the network. Acceptance (both male and female) followed naturally. My co-workers do the same. At Streamline, we emphasize the importance of creating a diverse environment for ourselves and the newer generation entering the industry. We’re lucky to work with open-minded Founders who embrace diversity, and we work to ensure we can keep the same open opportunities and environment for those who are willing to put in the work and grow.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

I often meet people involved in recruitment who say they don’t look at gender, just skills. While it’d be an excellent approach in an ideal world, that’s not the reality. Attracting more women and diverse minds into your organization requires conscious, deliberate, and continued effort. Here’s some practical advice on how to improve diversity and allyship efforts in your organization:

(1) Get an objective assessment of the current situation in the work environment. Several employees are women and/or from diverse backgrounds. Your perception of diversity may be biased or skewed depending on where you are in the organization.

(2) Review the interview process for unconscious bias. Talk to your hires from diverse backgrounds to get feedback on what discouraged them during the application process. Sometimes things like requirements in the job opening and where the ads are shown affect your diversity pool from the start.

(3) Create a culture where everyone pulls each other up. An environment with psychological safety and a culture of sharing helps those from non-traditional backgrounds enter the industry and create internal networks that support each other. After all, retaining diverse talents is equally as important as recruiting them.

(1) Have the mindset that the pie is not limited. That we don’t have to compete for scraps. We have the power to create opportunities. Don’t feel threatened by your peers. Instead, celebrate their wins. Only some people will be bought into that idea, but the dynamic at work will change when enough do buy in. You will have a support network that can pull each other up.

(2) Don’t fall to cynicism. Creating change is a continuous and arduous process that can wear you down. Having a realistic outlook and wearing a black hat of pessimism purposefully to problem-solve is needed, but cynicism is unproductive and makes you fall into a victim mindset. Choosing realistic optimism helps you get up every day and pick yourself up when you fall (and you will). At the end, getting up matters more.

(3) Confrontation is necessary. It is not our job to be liked or impress others. Speak up for what you stand for. Be respectful, but do not compromise yourself or your values.

(4) Leverage your emotional intelligence. Emotions are not a weakness but a strength you can use to create genuine connections. Building a trust bank this way will help you in so many ways, including when trying to make a network, close deals, manage teams, and especially when managing confrontations and conflicts which are a necessary part of your work.

(5) Embrace the imposter syndrome as your superpower. Feeling of not being enough often comes from the ability to introspect and understand one’s limitations. It’s what keeps us grounded, realistic and constantly improving. If you’re able to master and own this feeling, and leverage it as strength to improve, you will have the perfect balance of humility and confidence which will make you a great leader.

Whether the male-dominated or female-dominated field should not be the primary driver of choice. Evaluate your purpose in life and how your career fits that purpose and goals. If the male-dominated field gives you meaning in life, and you’re honest and aware of the challenges you will inevitably face, then pursue it. We need more representation, so it should not be a deterrent if that’s where your passion lies.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

On the consumer level, there are improvements. According to a report by Accenture, the industry added 500 million new and more diverse gamers over the past three years. And the profiles of these new joiners have also changed: 60% are women.

Representation at the consumer level is important for creating awareness and interest in the industry, which helps tackle the issue from the grassroots level. I’m happy that the industry is recruiting more women, but we need to do better at retaining them. There is still much work to be done regarding representation at higher-level management and C-suites.

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

Phil Douglas Jackson — his leadership and way of helping individuals to achieve their best daily inspire me.

Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Yea Ji Oh of Streamline Studios On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.