For WOMEN ONLY…Guys Please Don’t Read!
Posted in Business, Career
6 Comments »By Tami Gomez
Okay ladies…I want to share something with you that the guys don’t want you to know.
Historically, entrepreneurship has been a male-dominated pursuit, but many of the most memorable and inspirational entrepreneurs are women.
TechCrunch recently published an article by Penelope Trunk that made broad, negative and inaccurate generalizations about female entrepreneurs. The article lacks any real data to support its claims; and the author generalizes her anecdote into a statement about all women (and men).
The article opens with the headline, WomenDon’t Want to Run Startups Because They’d Rather Have Children, and continues with statements that are from a very sexist viewpoint. I cringed when the author stated that “women don’t want to give up their personal life in exchange for the chance to be the next “Google” and was shocked that she would boldly claim that “there is no woman running a startup with young kids, who, behind closed doors, would recommend this life to anyone.”
Articles like this are insulting to both women and men, and are dangerous ammo, using the stereotype that women are unfit to be entrepreneurs. It’s called subtle sexism, and it unravels the tremendous progress society has made toward the goal of gender equality. What’s even more disheartening is that this article was written by a WOMAN!
As a society, we should be exploring and understanding potential challenges preventing more women from becoming successful, happy entrepreneurs. Instead, this view blames the women. Applying one person’s decision to our entire gender is encouraging society to believe that women cannot be entrepreneurs because either they don’t want to be or because they’d rather have children.
With that said, let’s take a look at some women that have chosen to dig their stiletto’s into the ground and prove that women can be just as successful (if not more)than their male counterparts…
Suze Orman – Is the author of three consecutive New York Times bestsellers, The Road to Wealth, The Courage to Be Rich, and The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, and the national bestseller You’ve Earned It, Don’t Lose It. She is the personal finance editor on CNBC and the host of The Suze Orman Show, a national CNBC-TV show that airs every weekend. She is also a contributing editor to O The Oprah Magazine.
Julie Clark – A former English and art teacher founded The Baby Einstein Company in 1996. Her goal was to provide fun, interactive ways to expose babies and moms to the arts and nature. Julie’s first two videos — Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart — were filmed in her basement using borrowed equipment, and edited on a home computer. Five years, 30 children’s books,10 videos, and six music albums later, Julie sold Baby Einstein to The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed sum. In 2001, the year of acquisition, the company’s sales exceeded $17 million, and Baby Einstein-branded products could be found at retailers nationwide.
Stephanie Meyers – The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.”Though I had a million things to do, I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the back burner and sat down at the computer to write—something I hadn’t done in so long that I wondered why I was bothering.”Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons and potty training, and wrote it out late at night when the house was quiet.
Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight. With encouragement from her older sister (the only other person who knew she had written a book), Meyer submitted her manuscript to various literary agencies. Twilight was picked out of a slush pile at Writer’s House and eventually made its way to the publishing company Little Brown where everyone immediately fell in love with the gripping, star-crossed lovers.
Twilight was one of 2005′s most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list. Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an “ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults,” an Amazon.com “Best Book of the Decade…So Far”, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
So ladies… if you have a dream, go out there and get it. If you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth! Stop pointing fingers and saying you’re not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ISN’T YOU!
To Your Success,
Tami
Tami Gomez, who is commonly referred to as “The Female Tony Robbins” is simply known as “The Motivator.” She is a motivational speaker and personal improvement coach, specializing in Visualization. She helps women that are at a crossroad in their life by using cutting-edge visualization techniques so she can get you where you want to be. She is passionately committed to helping you live your passion and stay focused on becoming the best YOU.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TheWorkatHomeWoman, Daniel Rodriguez. Daniel Rodriguez said: For WOMEN ONLY…Guys Please Don’t Read! http://bit.ly/h7cHkT [...]
Saddened to read about that article you mentioned.
For me, the opposite of what that report says is true.
I left the Corporate world back in 2001 as it was sucking the life out of me and I had no personal freedom. I now run my own business and one of the beauties of it is it allows me to make a living but the business operates around my family life and being a parent.
It’s not about having it all, but being a female entreprenuer allows me to work AND protect my family life. It isn’t a case of if I choose one the other isn’t possible. And I am not unique. I see many other female entrepreneurs doing the same.
I wonder if they would be willing to run another article showing the flip side of that article that Penelope did?
I read the TechCrunch article when Holly tweeted about it, and it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.
Sweeping generalizations about women (or men, for that matter) tend to have a divisive effect. This may have been intended, given the fact that controversy drives website traffic.
I can kind of see Ms. Trunk’s position in the article. She just doesn’t quite get there. By the time she’s made her point, women readers may be too indignant to get it.
The title states that women don’t want to run “startups.” She doesn’t say that women don’t want to run “businesses.” In fact, she clearly states that “women start more businesses than men.”
She goes on to cite the fact that women only get 3% of the funding that men do. (I didn’t see any citation for this statistic.) She also states that women “start more lifestyle businesses.”
So, I think one problem with the article is that she doesn’t clearly define the word “startup.” People use the term in vastly different ways. I assume that for the author of this article “startup” equals “outside funding.”
Have I ever obtained outside funding for my business? No. Did I start my business to achieve a certain lifestyle? Yes. Are my decisions colored by the fact that I’m a mother? Absolutely! Did I make sacrifices? Without a doubt.
Had I not had a family, would I have started a business and sought outside funding? We’ll never know.
The author seems to be turning her own personal experience and resentments into absolute truths about men and women. For example, she states “there is no woman running a startup with young kids, who, behind closed doors, would recommend this life to anyone.”
How could you possibly prove or disprove that statement?
So, I took this article for what it very likely is – a rant by a woman who resents the fact that she had to make a choice between her business and her family.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that commented on the article and a big thanks to The Work at Home Woman for publishing it.
It’s my purpose and passion to teach women how to manifest their desires and make all of your dreams come true. We’ve spent a lifetime asking for things we want…it’s time to believe and RECEIVE!
Love and Light to each one of you!
Tami
For Women Entrepreneurs ONLY…Guys Please Don’t Read!…
Okay ladies…I want to share something with you that the guys don’t want you to know. Historically, entrepreneurship has been a male-dominated pursuit, but many of the most memorable and inspirational entrepreneurs are women. TechCrunch recently publish…
It is rather unfortunate that Penelope Trunk chose to write her article that way – but so great that women like Tami and all of you who are commenting are speaking up and representing the diverse population that we are.
Women like Stephanie Meyers and countless others who I am meeting in the blogosphere and in offices have been inspirational to me; I’m a mother of two preschool children who recently launched my own business and signed my first book deal. I work from home and manage my business, the household and the gazillion needs of my children.
Trunk’s article was disheartening to read as it puts me right in the bull’s eye for a failure – either my business or my marriage is supposed to tank, according to her.
But, I’m brushing it off as one woman’s perspective and experience. I’m loving what I’m doing – I’ve been creative in the ways I find support for myself so that I can be a parent, a businesswoman and enjoy dates with my husband.
I hope all the women out there in my boat don’t decide to jump because of this article. It can be a bumpy ride at times, but the view is just gorgeous when it’s smooth sailing. My husband, also an entrepreneur and involved parent, will tell you the same.